Tag: butterscotch

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

Monster Cookies

Sarah
Monster cookies
there's nothin' scary about these monsters...

So, I have this problem. It’s really really really hard for me to pick my favorite kind of cookie. I mean seriously. How can I choose between peanut butter, or chocolate chip, or oatmeal cranberry? And what about M&M cookies? Or cookies with peanuts? I’ll pick all of the above, please. But thankfully… sometimes problems have happy endings. Sometimes you can have your cake [cookie?] and eat it too. Now is one of those times.

To me, monster cookies are so great because they combine the best of the best. A peanut butter, oatmeal based cookie dough with bits of chocolate and nuts and dried fruit and candy. Ohmygoodnessdeliciousamazement. Plus, they can be totally customized to your desires and tastes and preferences without changing the integrity of the cookie. So, honestly, there isn’t much to say about these fantastic treats other than make them now. Because you know they’ll be good. As your custom creation they better be! 🙂

Monster Cookies [from Brown Eyed Baker]

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon corn syrup
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • sprinkle salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
  • 4 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup pretzel M&Ms
  • 1/2 cup plain M&Ms
  • 1/4 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Add eggs, sugars, vanilla, corn syrup, baking soda, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. In a small bowl, whisk together butter and peanut butter. Fold into the egg mixture, then add flour and oats and mix to combine. Finally, fold in the add-ins [peanuts, M&Ms, chips, and cranberries]–I used a wooden spoon to do so because the bowl of my mixer was practically overflowing! Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to set.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove from fridge and scoop dough onto cookie sheets in rounded tablespoons, using the spoon to press down slightly on each ball of dough to flatten it a little. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.

Note:

I made 24 cookies and one 8-inch cookie cake in a pie pan. The cookie cake was the result of an abundance of add-ins; I just pressed all the extras into the remaining dough. It was yummy!

Click here for the printable version: Monster Cookies

Question of the Day: What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

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Cakes, Desserts, Recipes

Butterscotch and Chocolate Yellow Cake

Sarah

Who doesn’t love a homemade birthday cake? Certainly not anyone I know! 🙂 This is a recent occurrence though. When I was growing up, I wasn’t the biggest fan of cake. True story. I would eat a piece at birthday parties and dinner, but I would never request it as a dessert of choice. Some years I asked for a “cake” of cheesecake instead. In fact, 9 times out of 10 I would rather eat fruit than chocolate. However, as I’ve gotten older, my tastes have changed. I still looooove fruit [and am LOVING the summer berries right now!], but I do enjoy cake and other chocolate-ly sweets too! In fact, here I am on my last birthday:

Sarah eating cake.Wowsers. What a flattering photo! 😉 Anywhoooo, now that I like cake, I’m always on the lookout for cake recipes. Mixes in a box are good, but the real good stuff is always homemade [with the exception of brownies. The best brownies I’ve ever had are from a box. Anyone care to remedy that? Just let me know!]. The following recipe is one I made a few months ago for husband’s birthday. It was fairly simple to make and the cake was divine–a delicious mix of buttery yellow cake and sweet chocolate and butterscotch chips, almost like a cookie in cake form. Yum! The frosting was good too, but I might have had better results if my cream cheese hadn’t been funky. Yeah… ugh. This cake was inhaled… so don’t say you weren’t warned. Without further ado…

Ben with his cake.

Butterscotch & Chocolate Yellow Cake

  • Servings: 12-14
  • Print

adapted from OddMom

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened [if using unsalted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon salt; otherwise, omit salt]
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for garnishing
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips, plus more for garnishing
  • cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, gently combine the flour and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, thoroughly mixing each in individually. In a liquid measuring cup, add the vanilla tothe milk and whisk until combined. Add half of the milk into the butter mixture, and then add half of the flour mixture. Mix well, and repeat. Using a spatula, fold in the butterscotch and chocolate chips.

Grease and flour [generously, so the cake doesn’t stick–keep a pastry brush on hand to remove flour from a cooled cake prior to frosting it] 2 9″ round cake pans. Using a greased measuring cup, fill the 2 cake pans evenly. One thing I like to do is alternate the pan I am filling up [1 cup of batter in pan A, 1 cup in pan B, etc.] to help ensure that the layers will be equal and not uneven. Cake surgery is not my forté!

Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cake should be golden and springy in the middle. Allow to cool in the pans for about 7 minutes, and then carefully remove to cool completely on wire racks.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the ingredients for the frosting.

Frosting

  • 8 ounces 1/3 less Fat “Neufchâtel” cream cheese [husband loves to say “Neufchâtel!”], softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa

In the bowl of an electric mixer or food processor, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and cocoa and then add in 1/3 cup increments to the butter and cream cheese, beating until creamy.

After cake is cooled, place one layer of the cake on a cake stand or serving platter or plate. Frost the top only, then place the second layer on top of the frosting, forming a cake sandwich. Continue to frost the cake, working from top to bottom until cake is frosted. Garnish with butterscotch and chocolate chips on top.

Serve to a hungry birthday husband [or wife or friend or mom or dad or sister or brother or cat… just kiddin’!], and be the hero of the night!

And if you have to transport the cake across town, then rig up a super cool contraption using blankets, a seatbelt, and a Captain Morgan box in your car to protect the yummyness!

Cake in the car

Or use something practical, like oh, a cake carrier. I’d like one… [hint hint!]

Cake carrier

Okay, off to dream of cake…and cake carriers…