short&SWEET: Day 14 - Chocolate Cookies and Chocolate Cupcakes

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Isn't it appropriate that I am baking today for Valentine's day (which is of course February 14th) and it is our 14th day baking for our blog?! I am making homemade chocolate cookies and chocolate cupcakes (that aren't so homemade!) It is Valentine's day after all and that means CHOCOLATE (oh and of course because my brother Anthony loves my chocolate confections, so these are for him too!)!!!

First, I decided to try a chocolate cookie from Martha Stewart. The batter was fairly easy to make although when I had to sift my dry ingredients - flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt - my sifter decided to be dysfunctional. I got a brand new sifter for Christmas and have never used it before (maybe that was my problem?!) I thought I was using it correctly, but it was NOT working out. The ingredients were getting stuck in the sifter because it has two layers of mesh for the dry ingredients to get through. Maybe I was using it incorrectly because I was fighting with the thing for like 10 minutes! Lets just say, I managed to get the job done after yelling out loud at the sifter.

After I finally sifted my ingredients, I creamed together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in the stand mixer until it was light and fluffy. I then slowly added the dry ingredients until the dough came together. It then had to sit in the refrigerator for an hour to chill so I decided to start on my chocolate cupcakes.

I decided to go with the box of Pillsbury Devil's Food batter. As you all know, this is so delicious and is totally fool proof. I even bought festive Valentine's day cupcake liners to add a nice touch! The cupcakes came out great, they were light and fluffy and I couldn't wait for them to be cooled so I could frost them. I decided to get a little fancy with the frosting since I didn't make the batter from scratch. I used a pipping bag to make them extra special. I couldn't wait to share these with my family tonight!

Cupcakes Just out of the Oven!

Are these not the cutest cupcake liners?!

After the chocolate cookie dough was nice and cold I was able to scoop it out to make the perfect size cookies. I rolled each ball of dough so they were perfectly round and then dipped them in sugar. They only baked for about 10 minutes and they were cooked to perfection.

The cookies came out great and they were a perfect consistency, chewy in the middle and slightly crisp on the edges. I think everyone will enjoy these tonight.