Snickerdoodles

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I've been trying to actively try the recipes/crafts I pin otherwise I'm just pinning for nothing! This is a real great recipe. The snickerdoodles comes out soft and chewy. And it's always a plus when it was easy to make!

makes 16-20 cookies

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon for dipping

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk. If dough is still crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on baking sheet. Lightly press down on dough to flatten it. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to try this Award Winning chocolate chip cookie recipe I found on allrecipes.com but I really feel uneasy about a recipe that calls for instant pudding mix. When it comes to cookies, I like to use whatever I have and I don't know about you, but I never have instant pudding mix on hand. Plus, since having the kids, I'm trying to move away from using cake mixes after I found out they have hydrogenated oils in them and trying start cooking from scratch (When I do use cake mixes though, Trader Joe's has one with no trans fat and is delicious...I used it for the pistachio cupcakes I made for Bao's birthday).

Anyways these cookies were fun to make since the kids helped me. I didn't have to refrigerate the dough and it still came out super puffy and a little cakey. I'm guessing from the baking powder. I'm not one for cakey cookies but the kids like it and I cut the sugar a little bit because of the addition of M&Ms. Since Valentine's day is coming up, we went with a cute Valentine's edition of M&Ms that only had red, white and pink M&Ms in the bag. Unfortunately, a lot of these ended up in the kids mouth right before bedtime. I hope these as much as they do! Enjoy!

Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 3/4 Cup sugar
• 1 Cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons pure vanilla
• 3 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 oz bag chocolate chips
• 1 bag M&M’s (you’ll have some left over) & various sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until well beaten. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Place flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl; mix.

Slowly add to wet ingredients until combined. Hand mix in chocolate chips. Do not mix in M&M’s or sprinkles in with the batter – they go on last.

Drop down by the teaspoon onto a parchment lined cookie pan, than press M&M’s or sprinkles onto the top of each cookie and bake.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until edges are golden but the middle may be soft still.

Cool in pan for about 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Pistachio Cake w/ Pistachio Swiss Meringue Buttercream

For Bao's birthday, she requested pistachio cupcakes with pistachio swiss meringue buttercream. We've made the buttercream before but I don't remember making a cake. I found a good one on Allrecipes.com and copied it down below. The batter is really runny but it actually rises fine. I even used leftover batter in my Babycakes Cake Pops Maker and it was perfect.

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
7 drops green food coloring (I omitted this and it was still pretty green)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
In a large bowl mix together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, water, oil, almond extract and green food coloring. Blend ingredients, then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.
Pour into prepared 10 inch tube pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes (16-18 minutes for cupcakes), or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

We made this for Bao's birthday and it was a hit. Delicious and creamy and most importantly, easy to make!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temp
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (half Jack, half cheddar cheese)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapenos
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapeno, diced
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Preparation:
In a food processor, add the first 7 ingredients and process until smooth. You do not need to drain either can of peppers. Dice the 2nd can of jalapenos and hand mix into the dip. Spread the dip into a greased 2-quart casserole. In a bowl, mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and melted butter; mix well. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the dip and bake in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for about 20 minutes. You want the top to get browned and the dip to be heated through and bubble gently on the edges.

Do not over cook this dish or the mayonnaise with separate and you will have a grease puddle in your dip. Serve with Buttery crackers or a sliced French baguette.

Banh Chung Chien (Paula Dean Style)

This is really not a recipe, but more of a epiphany. As any good 'ol Vietnamese (or in my case a Chinese whole really appreciates Vietnamese food) knows, banh chung is good, but when you chien it, it gets that much better. Now, if you are able to kick up the chien'ing (Americanized verb tense of a Vietnamese word) process, even better. For this, we can take inspiration from Paula Dean, then queen of adding butter to everything. Using butter to chien the banh chung gives it an additional layer of flavor that

Makes 5 servings (about 4 slices per person)

Ingredients

• 1 5x5 square banh chung (preferably one made by Thi's Ba Noi) sliced into 1/4 in thick slices
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/8 cup cu cai (pickled diakon and carrots) drained
• Sriracha to taste

Directions

1. Using a 12 in skillet, heat butter over medium-high until it stops bubbling
2. Add 4-5 slices to skillet. Cook until golden brown and then turn each slice over and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown.
3. Plate each 3-4 slices topped with the cu cai and Sriracha.

P.S. Thi is going to attempt her own Banh Chung recipe next Tet so stay tune.

Blueberry Vanilla Bean Mochi Cake

My friend Randy recommended this cake so I tried making it last night. If you like mochi, you will love the texture of this cake. It's also very easy to make. I didn't even need to whip out the KitchenAid. I did this one all by hand.

adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Makes one 9X13 pan, or 24 squares

• 1 lb box of Mochiko flour (3 cups equivalent)
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 14 oz cans of coconut milk - not lowfat (I used two cans of 13.5 oz)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup of butter) melted and slightly cooled
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out
• 1 cup of blueberries, washed and picked over

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 baking pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mochiko flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup (4 cup capacity), beat eggs, then add coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla bean. Mix together until vanilla bean is well distributed.
4. Carefully pour the wet ingredients over the mochiko flour mixture and whisk until mixture is smooth and uniform in texture.
5. Pour batter into greased 9X13 pan. Carefully smooth out the top. Sprinkle blueberries over entire surface.
6. Bake for 90 minutes, until top is golden brown and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
7. Allow cake to cool for about 30 minutes on a rack, and then carefully flip it out and cut into 24 squares, or the size of your choice. Can store mochi cake for three days, covered.

Avery's Sugar Cookies

I ate these at Jessica's baby shower when she was pregnant with Avery. So I decide to just name them after Avery to distinguish them from the other sugar cookie recipe I have. These are delicious, moist, soft and addicting. The frosting isn't the thin kind that you do a color flow with...even those look cute, they harden up to be too hard. This is a softer frosting so decorating isn't as "clean" but it's delicious to eat. Sometimes you gotta sacrifice "cuteness" for deliciousness. After all, we're talking about food, right?

Sugar Cookies
Yields about 24 cookies | Bakes in 7 minutes

2/3 cup butter, soften
¾ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer, medium to high speed, for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides occasionally. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.
Divide the dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough for 30 minutes, or until easy enough to handle.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough out at a time into 1/8 inch thickness or a smidge more. (A thicker cookie will cook up softer and more moist). The key to a successful batch is consistency. Make sure the dough is rolled out evenly and the cookies on each sheet are the same thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes. Place 1 (or ½) inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 7 minutes, or until the edges are firm and bottoms (not sides!) are very lightly browned. If the sides of the cookie starts to look golden, take them out before they are overdone or burnt! Transfer to a wire race and let cool. Frost if desired.

Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 box powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon almond extract (the secret ingredient)

In a mixing bowl, beat softened butter on high for 30 seconds to a minute. Add 1 box of powdered sugar and beat on low until sugar clumps up around butter. Scrape bowl. Slowly add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time to butter and sugar. You may need more or less than 2 tablespoons to get the desired consistency. Continue to beat at medium speed until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and almond extract.
Beat thoroughly to incorporate, adjusting vanilla and almond extract to taste.
Note: The more milk used, the wetter the frosting , the longer it will take for your cookies “to set”. It is agood idea to let frosting set up before stacking and plating the cookies (usually an hour or more).

The kids decorating cookies for Santa! -Christmas 2011