Williams Winter Wonderland Cocktail

I love a good cocktail and this one is just perfect for the Holiday Season. Whether your having a party or just decorating the tree this cocktail will not disappoint!

TGFB Cookie Swap: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite blogs posted a few weeks ago about the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! I absolutely love the idea of getting packages of delicious goodies in the mail (who doesn't?) so I of course joined in on the fun!

We each were supposed to bake 3 dozen of the same cookie and ship one dozen to 3 other bloggers that we were matched with. In return we get three dozen different cookie packages back! It's a win-win!!

I looked through a lot of cookie recipes and decided to do one I've never done before. I also look through the blogs of my matches to check out there style and taste. I settled on a Southern Living cookie recipe and added my own twists.

They really came out great and were perfect for shipping. If you have relatives in far places and you want to bake some love to send to them, this is a keeper! The oatmeal in these wasn't over powering it  was mainly there for a bit of texture and chewiness.

This oatmeal cookie also had no raisins. I not a fan of raisins in my cookies and neither was one of my matches so that worked out great. The chocolate chips instead of raisins was a great swap and was just delicious in this oatmeal cookie!

Pin it, bookmark it, but definitely bake it! They were outstanding!

Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies

The night of the election I was just a little anxious about the presidential race and needed something to busy my hands. Baking has always been the best way to calm my nerves.

I took a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Cooks Illustration and added booze. I know right, everything is better with booze! These cookies are just delicious and absolute perfection!

I made mine thick because I like them soft in the center and crispy on the edge. But the recipe is totally versitle you can add nuts, white chocolate chips, or whatever you have on hand.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

These are my current obsession! Finally a healthy, delicious, sweet snack! The bars are chewy and very peanut butter-y. You can really play around with what other things you'd like to add to it. For this one I added dried apricots, cashews, and chocolate chips!

The great things about granola bars are many. You can use them as a snack. They are great on the go and kids love them. You can carry them hiking or on a walk or just to the office. You can crumble them over yogurt. And these also make great gifts during the holidays or anytime!

These really knock out hunger. There is protein in the nuts and peanut butter and fiber in the brown rice cereal and wheat germ. The recipe is so adaptable so play with it and let me know your favorite add-in's!

Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Frosting

A few years ago I purchased a small lavender plant because I love all things lavender and purple. After planting it in front of our house it grew exponentially over the following years. I would walk pass it on my way to the car or to check the mail and smile at the buds and flowers in the summer time. However, I never really did anything with them, that is, until this year.

While working in the yard a few weeks ago, I pruned my lavender bush of it's flower stems. I tied them together in small bunches and hung them in the closet of my craft room with the hopes that I would find something to use them for.

Then, like it was meant to happen, I ran across this recipe on Jessie's Kitchen-Chronicles and the light bulb went off so bright that it burst! I was having company that weekend and this recipe would be the perfect ending to our meal.

The cake is where the lavender is and the frosting is a delicious honey frosting. In my opinion, 2 1/2 tbsp of lavender was a little too much. Next time I'll just include 1 1/2 tbsp. The smell of these cupcakes filled my whole house! It was delightful! The honey frosting was the perfect pairing for this mini cake and really complimented the lavender nicely.

After dinner we served this with a drizzle of honey on top and with a delicious tea made right here in SC. I talked last year about the Charleston Tea Plantation and how to naturally remove caffeine from tea. I highly recommend serving this cupcake with tea. It goes so well together. Our guest's seemed to enjoy the experience of after dinner tea and dessert and I do believe this recipe will be repeated every year when the lavender gets pruned.

Hummingbird Bundt Cake

Normally, I don't style the food that shows up on this blog. The photo's of the food here are taken shortly before we eat it. However, I've been trying to work on my photograph and I believe my photo's are getting better and better with each new post.

This hummingbird cake is one of the first things I've made and went out of my way to style. I definitely think the photo's reflect that.

Now to the cake! I had a wonderful assistant in making this cake. My friend, RC, who blogs over at Bonbons & Biscotti, came over and spent the day with me. We talked, drank wine, and made this glorious and very simple bundt cake. It was so much fun and something I hope we'll do again soon. RC, makes some delicious family recipes on her blog with a focus on baking. I highly recommend you check her out!

The Hummingbird cake is a southern cake with the first known recipe published in Southern Living. Being from the south I was shocked and appalled that I had not only never made this cake before but had also never tasted it! It wasn't until I read Sarah Addison Allen's book The Girl Who Chased the Moon that I even ran across the mention of this kind of cake. In the book, which is one of my favorites, Julia Winterson is a bakery owner who makes magical cakes! It's a great read, all of Allen's books are.

The cake is normally several layers with a cream cheese frosting in between each layer but I found this version on the Bake or Break blog. I love bundt cakes. They're just so simple to make and you don't have to worry about fussing over layers.

For me, the cake itself was very banana bread-like but much lighter and not as sweet as I was expecting. I believe that is because there just isn't as much icing on this version. Little chucks of pineapple are like finding the prize at the bottom of the cracker jack box! The frosting is sweet but compliments the cake and doesn't over power it. Pecan's in this cake are key and give you a really great crunch factor!

Overall I loved this cake. I normally prefer chocolate of some form in my cakes but this is a great summer-time snack or dessert. It would be excellent for a dinner party or cook-out. I also think it makes a great breakfast or coffee cake!

Fiesta Margarita Cupcakes

Remember about a month ago it was almost Cinco de Mayo and I posted some of the decorations I was doing for our Cinco de Mayo party. In that post I also said I would be posting a recipe…well…I forgot. So I hope you’ll forgive the lateness of this post because the recipe is worth it!

At the end of April I was going back and forth on whether we should do a Cinco de Mayo party or a Memorial Day party. Fortunately, I decided on Cinco de Mayo. It’s just such a fun holiday! And being completely addicted to pinterest I was inspired to get my crafty-on for this gathering.

The table was decorated with 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper and tissue pom-poms. I also made matching napkin rings and cupcake wrappers out of the scrapbook paper. For drinking, instead of using (or buying) margarita glasses, I used mason jars. I wrapped jute cord around the top and added a printed cut-out of a lime. I also added my guest’s names translated and written in Spanish to the jars.

We held the party mostly outside because it was a really beautiful day and we’re all addicted to cornhole! There was a bit of a rivalry going on amongst some of us. Needless to say, while delicious, margaritas do not help my cornhole game. While we were outside I set up a table for our homemade salsa bar and drinks. (My Homemade Guac Recipe) This also served as the appetizer and went over great with my guests.

We did a taco bar for dinner, which was so yummy, and for dessert I made these delicious margarita cupcakes I found at RecipeGirl. Everyone seemed to really enjoy them and they were a great way to end the meal. I found some cute mini shot glasses that where a perfect cupcake topper and filled it with a shot of tequila!

The Cupcakes are very lime-y and the frosting is pretty sweet so go easy on it. I didn’t taste any of the tequila but it is an ingredient in the cakes! What I loved most about this recipe is that there is just enough leftover margarita that you can drink one while you're making them! Now that is fun baking, people!

We ended the evening with comfortable conversation on the back porch that lasted into the wee hours. It was a lot of work but I really enjoyed crafting-up this little dinner party. We always enjoy the company of amazing people, filling our home with loud belly laughter, and filling our tummies with delicious food!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

The Other Williams recently had a birthday! I really love birthday's. There is no better reason to celebrate other than a birthday. As you know The Other Williams is the cook in the family; however, I'm the baker!

One of The Other Williams' favorite types of desserts is anything with peanut butter in it. Recently we went to one of our favorite local restaurants, Stella's Southern Bistro! Their menu is as local as you can get here and the food is blow-yer-mind good but it's their Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie that will bring a grown lady to her knees!


It's one of our favorite desserts of all time and I thought it was high time I tried my hand at baking my own version of this masterpiece. I looked at several recipes and settled on Elizabeth from Sugar Hero's Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

There is a saying down south when something is really, really good and this is so good it will make you slap yo' mama! It's just like Stella's version and when I surprised The Other Williams (and her co-workers) with this on her birthday she was drooling! She loved it. So if you have a peanut butter nut in your family, we've found their new favorite recipe. Now get bakin'!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

I found the recipe for these little beauties while we were on our cleanse. It wasn't fair to find something so yummy to bake that was off limits. So just about as soon as we were done with the cleanse I went to work on these!

My mom used to pack Little Debbie into my lunch box as a kid. And my dad, who turns into The Cookie Monster (seriously!) at night, loved Oatmeal Cream Pies. So I've had some experience with the "real" thing. These however are by far much better!

Baked goods can not be left in my house because I have zero self control. So when I bake I normally send The Other Williams' co-workers a little goodie basket. It's a win-win. I get to bake and not eat it all and they get treats on occasion from The Williams Kitchen!

I made the full batch of cookies but only used half the dough. I am freezing the other half. I also only made half the frosting. This left us with not too many pies hanging around my house taunting me.

The cookies are really just delicious, not too sweet. The frosting is a different story, very sweet, but oh-so-good! Try it!

What was/is your favorite Little Debbie Snack Cake?

Chocolatey Mousse to die for!

A few weeks ago The Other Williams decided to surprise me with a special dinner! The dessert was a chocolate mousse! I'm normally not a mousse kind of girl. I would rather a piece of chocolate cake but when she put this beautiful thing in front of me, I was hooked!

The Other Williams does not bake, period. However this recipe isn't really baking anything so anyone can do this. It's super easy but make sure you make it in advance because it needs some time in the fridge to set up.

This is a great dessert for entertaining because you can make it ahead of time. I can not emphasize how chocolatey this dessert was. However it is very rich so watch the portion size. We only finished half of these. I'm hoping if I'm good I'll be surprised with these again very soon!

Once you get the base down the options are limitless. You can add extracts like raspberry or mint, top with all kinds of things, and really play with it. The Other Williams whipped up fresh whip cream and topped for chocolate shavings and a mint leaf.

Chocolate Banana Goodness

 

I found this video on youtube the other day and had to give it a try. They turned out delicious, messy, but delicious!

Almond Bars - Guest Post

Some friends of ours came up to camp with us over the weekend and Heather brought these delicious, mouth watering almond bars. They were just super yum and the almond flavor with the crunch was just on point. I asked her to do a guest post for us and, lucky us, she agreed. So here's Heather with the recipe for her Yummy Almond Bars!



If you like almonds, then you'll love this no-fail recipe. These bars were not only easy to make, but they have gotten rave reviews from my family and friends. Perfect for a fundraiser, elegant enough for a holiday party, etc. You can also try variations of extract & nuts such as banana extract and walnuts. Love these bar cookies for the ease of preparation and burst of flavor. This recipe will definitely be used again and again!

~~~
Almond Bars

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 bottle almond extract
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
sliced almonds

Mix first 5 ingredients with a mixer. Spread onto greased and floured medium sized cookie sheet(preferably one with 1 inch sides). Top with sliced almonds. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown. Sprinkle with confectioner sugar. Cool and cut. Makes approximately 24.

That's all there is to it! So simple.

Amish Friendship Bread

A friend of mine gave me the starter to this amish friendship bread. I'd heard of it before but never got a starter. It's a 10 day process to make this delicious sweet bread but it's totally worth the wait. At the end of 10 days you make 4 more starters to give away (or keep) and what's leftover you make into the bread. You can add just about any ingredients to this bread and to mine I added banana's, walnuts, and raisins. It turned out so great.

My recipe made two loaves and we froze one. We've been eating it for breakfast and snacking on it.

I've found a link for the basic recipe here. And if you want to make your own starter, check here, although I'm sure it's better to receive some from a friend. You can also buy starter here.

Zinful Poached Peaches with Whipped Cream

Yes, we're still following Michael Chiarello's meal and this is how he ended it! We didn't have this with the other dishes but it would go equally well with it. This really was pretty easy to pull off but I did make some adjustments from Michael's recipe.

First, next time I'll cut the peaches in half and pit them. It was difficult to eat with the pit still in there. I did ditched the yogurt because I just wasn't feeling it. Instead we use homemade whipped cream and it was delightful! Crème anglaise, melted or frozen ice cream would also be really great on this.

I can't even begin to describe the sauce. It was so sweet and grapey! It was truly sinful tasting and went beautifully with the peaches. It would also be very nice over waffles in the morning! Be careful when your making the sauce, it will make a mess if you don't watch it!

We used some small dessert bowls The Other Williams' mother gave us. I think it was a wedding gift to her parents because the initial is engraved on them. Anyway they are tiny and help with keeping our portions in check and I love them. They were the perfect size for this dish! All in all we thoroughly enjoyed this Zinful dessert!


Ingredients
* 1/2 cup homemade whipped cream or ice cream
* 4 ripe peaches, peeled, halved, and pitted
* 1 lemons, juiced
* 1/2 bottle Zinfandel (good quality, about an $8 bottle)
* 1/2 cup sugar

Directions
Toss the peaches with the lemon juice so they won't oxidize. Put the Zinfandel and sugar into a stainless steel pot over medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Add the peaches and simmer for about 15 minutes, covered. Remove the peaches and reduce the Zinfandel by about half, down to light syrup. Spoon the sauce over the peaches and serve with the cream or ice cream.

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Beatty's Chocolate Cake

If you didn't know that we love Food Network already you will after these next few posts. We have some favorites and Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, is one of mine. Specially I love her desserts and this one is no exception. I love and appreciate that Ina makes her desserts using quality ingredients and cooks from scratch.

I was watching her show a couple weeks ago and ran across this cake and just had to make it. It uses some amazing ingredients including a cup of hot brewed coffee in the cake batter and some espresso (or instant coffee) powder in the frosting. It sounded so much like my Espresso Brownies, that I couldn't pass it up.

It's not as wow as the espresso brownies but it certainly holds its own. Everything is extremely chocolate because the coffee really inhances the chocolate in both the cake and the frosting. The cake is very similar to a devils food cake and is super moist. The frosting is a light butter cream. I actually misread the directions and added a whole egg to the frosting instead of just the yoke so that might have a baring on the texture of my frosting. Regardless this was delicious! The Other Williams also loved it. So two big thumbs up from us!


Ingredients

Cake
* Butter, for greasing the pans
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
* 2 cups sugar
* 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Chocolate Frosting:
* 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
* 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
* 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder


Cake Directions

Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Frosting Directions

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

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Red Velvet Cake Balls

I've been watching with some interest the cake pop explosion on the baking/cooking blogs I read. I finally decided to give it a shot myself but took the shorter, easier, less wasteful route of cake balls minus the stick. The process is a little time consuming but most of it is waiting and not active. These turned out really yum and I'm pretty proud of them.

It's amazing what you can do with these things as far as decoration. Specifically for holiday's. Bakerella, where I got this recipe, is having LOTS of fun decorating these bite-sized treats as cupcakes, flowers, sheep, and so much more. I definitely recommend checking her blog out for inspiration.

I'll definitely be making these again. They were so good and so much fun!

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

Next time I do this, I'll do it over a double broiler because my chocolate kept hardening up. Also don't cut the freeze time, I did and some of my balls feel apart and put tons a crumbs in the chocolate. This made the chocolate not look as smooth. Hope you enjoy!

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Espresso Brownies

I can not believe I haven't added these to the food blog yet. They are by far THE most requested bake good I make. The Other Williams asks for these instead of birthday cake. Needless to say these brownies are irresistible and you can't just have one, so be warned. The fudgey chocolate of the brownies and chocolate chips combine so well with the sweet frosting and espresso powder. It's a powerful combination. I made these one time for The Other Williams to take to work and the guys there loved them! They actually requested them this time.

Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 (19.8-ounce) box brownie mix
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Whisk 1/3 cup of water, oil, eggs, and 2 tablespoons espresso powder in a large bowl to blend. Add the brownie mix. Stir until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, dissolve the remaining 2 teaspoons of espresso powder in the remaining 2 tablespoons of water in a medium bowl. Whisk in the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and butter and whisk until smooth. Pour the glaze over the brownies. Refrigerate until the glaze is set. Cut into bite-size pieces. Arrange the brownies on a platter and serve.

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Pumpkin Bread

Last week I made this amazingly yummy pumpkin bread. It turned out just great and the recipe made two very large loaves. You can also turn this into muffins. I do think next time I'll add nuts and raisins both of those would do very well in the recipe. Terri loved this also and we've been eating a little here and there for breakfast on the weekday. YUM!

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.