chewy red velvet chocolate chip cookies.

I know I know I've made red velvet cookies and posted them on here before but I just had to try this new recipe and share them with you because they were beyond delicious!

Just a few notes about this recipe...I doubled the recipe because the website I got this from (listed below) said it only makes 12-15 cookies. And that just isn't enough cookies in my opinion (plus I wanted both Grant and I to be able to share some at work)! Doubling the recipe worked great- I made the cookies smaller and got 5 1/2 dozen.

I used Nestle Toll House's Dark Chocolate & Red Morsels and they were AWESOME.  I got them on sale after Valentines Day and finally got around to using them. Although I highly recommend using dark chocolate chips, I believe any kind of chocolate chips would work great- white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or semi sweet chocolate chips. 

Speaking of chocolate chips, you could use a whole bag for this recipe if you wanted to because there's no such thing as too many chocolate chips!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon red food coloring

1/2-1 cup chocolate chips* 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add egg and vanilla and combine until smooth. Beat in red food coloring. 

3. Stir in cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt until just combined, scraping down the sides when needed. 

4. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Scoop out 1/2-1 tablespoon of dough and set on baking sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes.

Recipe Credit: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2010/10/red-velvet-chocolate-chip-cookies-from-scratch/

homemade funfetti cake.

I had the honor of making my sister in law's birthday cake last weekend. I heard she liked funfetti cake so I just had to make this version. It was homemade, incredibly moist, and most importantly delicious.

The frosting was also to die for, seriously. It was rich and creamy. It calls for heavy cream which sounds deadly but it's all worth it for the flavor. 

The birthday girl!

Ingredients:

CAKE

• 1 and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup yogurt  (plain or vanilla; or greek yogurt; or sour cream)
• 3/4 cup milk (cow's milk; or soy milk; or almond milk)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup sprinkles (not nonpareils)

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3-4 cups powdered (confectioners') sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. 

2. Spray a 9-inch springform or baking pan (round or square) with nonstick spray. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

4. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in the sugars vigorously getting out any brown sugar lumps - mixture will be gritty. Whisk in egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. 

5. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick. Slowly stir in sprinkles, but do not overmix because the sprinkles will bleed their color.

6. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil (loosely to avoid the top from sticking to the foil). Bake for 13-17 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

7. To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if mixture is too thick. Add 1/4 teaspoon (or more) if frosting is too sweet. Frost cooled cake as desired and top with sprinkles. There may be leftover frosting depending how much you wish to use.

Recipe from http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/03/19/easy-homemade-funfetti-cake/

banana blueberry coffeecake.

Coffeecake is already a wonderful thing but coffeecake with bananas AND blueberries make it even more wonderful. This breakfast treat was moist and rich. It was a positively perfect combination of banana bread and a blueberry muffin. It'll make your mouth and belly happy. Guaranteed. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Instructions:

1. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add 3/4 cup of the flour, and beat just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture.

2. To remaining butter/sugar/flour, add 1 cup flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and nutmeg. Mix until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, mashed bananas, milk and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.

4. Pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch pan and sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until both topping and cake are golden brown. 

Recipe courtesy of http://cookwithsara.blogspot.com/2009/08/banana-blueberry-coffeecake.html

cookies & cream cookies.

These cookies, hands down, are the best cookies I've ever made and maybe even tasted. I hardly ever get this excited about the things I bake but these cookies were different. The oreos and the white chocolate chips are a perfect combination. I wouldn't change this cookie recipe one bit. It's too perfect and delicious! I found this recipe two weeks ago and have already made them twice!

Look at that chunky deliciousness.

What you need:

2 1/4 cups flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1/2 cup white sugar 

1 (4.2 ounce) package Oreo Cookies 'n Creme pudding mix 

2 eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 cups white chocolate chips 

15 Oreo cookies, broken or chopped 

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Cream butter and sugars, add pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda with a whisk then add it to the butter mixture. 
4. Stir in the chocolate chips and Oreo cookies. 
5. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. 
6. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven until cookies tops barely have a touch of brown. 

The source of these gems: http://cjaneinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/04/cookies-n-creme-cookies.html

soft-baked monster cookies.

M&Ms, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and oats all in one recipe?! Say what? I say awesomeness. Also I'm not a huge fan of crispy, crunchy cookies but I do just love soft, chewy cookies which is exactly what these are! These cookies are really easy to make (and clean up after!) so get baking my friends!

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour 
1/2 cup oats
3/4 cup M&Ms 
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. 

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Mix in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla (in that order). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the baking soda and flour. Do not overmix. Fold in the oats, M&Ms, and chocolate chips. If the dough is very soft and unmanageable by hand, chill the dough for 30 minutes before rolling.

3. Rolls balls of dough, about 2 Tablespoons of dough per ball, onto prepared baking sheet. Press a few extra M&Ms on top for looks, if preferred. Bake for 9-10 minutes - do not bake past 10 minutes. The cookies will appear undone. I took mine out at 9 minutes, which is recommended. Slightly press down the baked cookies with the back of a spoon, since the cookies only slightly spread in the oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cookies will firm up as they cool. 

Recipe from http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/01/15/soft-baked-monster-cookies/