Day 29 - Congo Bars

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Even though Hurricane Irene is on the way, I decided I might as well bake a little in case we lose power and I'm unable to use the oven tomorrow. I found a recipe last week called Congo Bars on Bakerella.com and they are a cross between chocolate chip cookies and brownies… also known as blondies. If we're going to be without power for a day [hopefully not more] we might as well have a yummy treat on hand!

I actually had most of the ingredients on hand for this recipe: flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, eggs,  butter, chocolate chips and vanilla extract. First, I sifted together the flour, baking powder and salt and set it aside. Then, I mixed the softened butter and light brown sugar together until the butter was incorporated into the sugar. Next, I added the eggs and vanilla, and then slowly added in the flour mixture. I left a little flour aside to toss the chocolate chips in before I added them to the batter. This is a trick to prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the pan while they bake.

I poured the batter into a 9x13 baking dish and they were ready to bake for about 45 minutes.

Ready to bake!

When they came out of the oven they looked and smelled amazing! Can't wait to share these with my family when we are stuck inside during the storm! 

All done!

Stay tuned for next week :)

Day 28 - Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Sunday, August 21, 2011

I recently started visiting the website Bakerella.com [thanks to a co-worker for the suggestion] and I was instantly a fan! Besides the website being adorable and fun, there is such a great variety of recipes. Part of what makes each recipe look so good is the fabulous photos that will make your mouth water! As soon as I saw the Cookies and Cream Cupcakes I knew that I had to try these.

Today was the perfect rainy day to bake and I decided to try out the Cookies and Cream cupcakes. The batter was sooo simple to put together. First I whisked the dry ingredients together [flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt]. In the same bowl, [I love receipes that only use one mixing bowl] I added eggs, oil, milk, vanilla and hot water and mixed the whole thing together. The batter was very watery but according to the website, that's how they are supposed to be.

Once the batter was ready, I prepared the cupcake tins with the cupcake liners and the Oreo's. The website suggests two different ways to put the Oreo's in, you can either leave the Oreo's whole or crumble them up, but I decided to try it both ways. I poured the batter over the Oreo's and put them in the oven to bake for about 17 minutes.

When the cupcakes came out they looked awesome! I decided to use a store bought vanilla frosting and I  crushed a few Oreo's so I could dust the top of the cupcakes with cookie crumbs. When the cupcakes were cooled I added the decorations and they looked scrumptious! I asked my little brother and his friend to test them out [tough job they had] and they loved them! The cake was really moist and they looked adorable!

This recipe is definitely a keeper, kids and adults alike with love them!