I'm coocoo for coconut

When I was about 3 years old and my sister was at her dance class, my mom and her friend Catherine who's daughter was also in the class would take me to the cafe across the street and I would always order a chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon. Catherine would always ask for a taste, and I would reluctantly let her have some, but to freak me out she would say "Oh don't worry Kelsey, I just want the chocolate part", since she knew that was my favorite part.
Almost 14 years later and I still remember those days, so this year at her annual New Years day soup party, I decided it was only right that I made chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons.

I looked around online at different recipes, and ultimately chose one from Joy of Baking, based on the picture, because I wanted them to come out as close to the ones that I used to order at the cafe as possible.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons:

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
3 cups sweetened shredded coconut

1. In a stainless steel bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt. When this mixture is warm to the touch, and nice and creamy, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, flour, and coconut. Cover and refrigerate for about two hours, or until firm.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Place small mounds (heaping tablespoons) of the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

4. Once completely cooled, dip halfway in melted chocolate and set on a parchment-lined tray. Chill until chocolate is set, about 5-10 minutes, before serving.





They came out perfectly. I think they were a little more meringue-y and a little less coconut-y than the ones from the cafe, but they were just right.
When Catherine saw what they were, she instantly understood why I made them and gave me a huge hug. I think that it was a good idea making them for the party.
Sorry, I do realize that this post sounds like a writing assignment for like a 4th grade journal, but whatevs, I was out of school for 2 weeks and my brain has almost entirely turned to mush. I promise my writing quality will improve in the near future.

Peace. Love. Coconut.

The best way to spread holiday cheer is by singing loud, for all to hear.

Or baking. That works too.
Or, better yet, doing both simultaneously.

Maybe you have figured out that I am watching Elf, the greatest holiday movie ever made. Will Ferrell is my life. Good grief.


Since last night was Christmas Eve, my friends (more like cousins, really) came over for our big dinner, and so I made cupcakes. I cannot believe how long it has been since I have made cupcakes.
Since it is a special day, I used Magnolia Bakery's Chocolate Cupcake recipe. If I had my way, I would eat Magnolia Bakery cupcakes all day everyday. But I live in California, so that is a bit of a challenge. Oh well.

To make them, I did this:

Magnolia's Chocolate Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (see Note)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

5. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. At the bakery we ice the cupcakes with either Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream.





Instead of doing a chocolate buttercream though, I chose to frost half of the cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream rolled shredded coconut, and the other half with a peppermint buttercream sprinkled with crushed candy canes. I used the Magnolia buttercream recipe, to go with the whole theme of the cupcakes haha.

Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting*

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.)


*For half of the frosting I added 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract and about 2 drops of red food coloring (for a kind of pink candy cane kind of look).


These ones I just frosted with the vanilla buttercream, then rolled in shredded coconut. I think they look, I don't know, 'snowy', or something.

They were definitely a hit. The peppermint ones got a lot more love than the coconut ones, but in my humble opinion I personally thought the coconut ones were more appealing. Oh well, more for me I guess.

Peace. Love. Cupcakes.

Now THOSE are some special brownies....

So, remember how I said that I would post about my special brownies later? Well, wait no more, they're here!
Introducing, my spectacular Peppermint Bark Brownies.
Now, I am quite aware of the fact that I am probably not the first or the only person in the world to think of making peppermint bark in the form of brownies, but nonetheless, I am still super proud of myself for coming up with these, and they have received much praise over the years.
I thought of the concept freshman year, and ever since it has been a must-make of the holiday season.

I just use the same basic One Bowl Brownies recipe, but of course, they are very embellished.

Then crush 4-5 regular size candy canes and put them in a bowl.





Once the brownies have cooled for about 10-20 minutes, melt an 11 oz. bag of white chocolate chips by putting them in a heat proof bowl on top of simmering water (and stirring constantly until melted completely). Then, pour the melted chocolate on top of brownies (which have not been cut yet) and smooth out with a spatula until a smooth thin layer covers the entire thing. Sprinkle crushed candy canes generously all over white chocolate, and then place the entire thing in the fridge and chill until chocolate has hardened, about 20 minutes.



Cut them carefully, trying not to crack the white chocolate layer.

I like them a lot, but honestly, I think it is just me, but they are too sweet. I can only have a small one once in a while because I just can't really have that much sweet in one dessert.
Other people who have had these generally tend to disagree, which is fine with me, I love making them and people love eating them. And that's what its all about.





Peace. Love. SPECIAL Brownies.

Modest Mouse Cookies

Yet another recipe from the Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies magazine.
This time: mouse cookies.
Oh my stars they are the absolute cutest things in the entire world and they are actually pretty yummy. I made them for the Nutcracker cast party last night, and all of my friends loved them. Reid took forever to eat hers because she was too scared to mess it up.
They were actually pretty easy to make, but I think next time I make them they will come out better because I was kind of experimenting with techniques and stuff.


^ Marissa enjoying one of the mousie cookies.


^ Ella eating one of the cookies. You can't really see the cookie itself but gosh I love this girl, so I just had to put this picture up.

Mouse Cookies:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1 large eggs
1/4 cup sliced natural almonds
licorice rope
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped*

* I just used chocolate chips and they worked fine.





1. Whisk to combine flour and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. beat in extract, then egg. Reduce speed to low, and add one-third flour mixture. Gradually add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. Halve dough and shape into disks; wrap each in plastic, and chill 2 hours or up to 1 day.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll about 1 tablespoon of chilled dough between your palms to form 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch-long oval shapes. Slightly elongate one side to form face. Gently pinch bridge of nose to form eye sockets. With a pairing knife, make 2 small slits at top of each shape, for placement of ears. Place 2 sliced almonds into slits. Place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

3. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are light golden brown on bottom and around edges, and tips of ears are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks, and immediately insert a wooden skewer* about 1/2 inch into mouse's round end. Remove skewer and insert curved length of licorice for tail. It should adhere to the still-warm cookie. Let cookies cool completely on wire racks.

4. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Turn off heat; keep chocolate warm until ready to use, stirring occasionally. Place melted chocolate in a parchment cone or resealable plastic bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner. Pipe chocolate in tiny dots to form eyes and nose. Chill until chocolate is set, about 20 minutes. Cookies can be stored in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature up to one week.

*I found that using a chopstick worked better to get the licorice to fit.



I loved them. My friends loved them. Everyone loved them. I think it is safe to say that this is going on my top ten favorite things I've baked, and these might have to turn into a new holiday tradition.

Peace. Love. Mice.

Short and sweet.

I made shortbread. That's about all there really is to say. The recipe is from, of course, Martha Stewart. As I said, I will be/am been using a lot if her recipes during this season, but I promise that when the holidays are over I will go back to mixing things up.
Anyway, here is the recipe.

Classic Shortbread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
2 sticks butter, softened, plus more for pan
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees, with rack in upper third. Whisk to combine flour and salt in a bowl.

2. In a seperate bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down side of bowl as necessary. Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture all at once; mix just until combined.

3. Butter an 11 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch rimmed baking sheet, and line with parchment, leaving a 2 inch overhand on long sides. Butter parchment. Using plastic wrap, press dough onto sheet. Leave plastic on dough, and chill 20 minutes. Score in 32 rectangles (each about 3 by 1 inches); pierce dough all over with a wooden skewer. Chill 30 minutes. Bake until golden brown and firm in center., about 40 minutes. Transfer cookies, on parchment, to a wire rack; let cool slightly. Cut along scored lines into fingers, and let cool completely.





They were so yummy. This is my favorite shortbread recipe I have tried so far. The magazine had some variations on it like walnut fingers, lemon shortbread and brown sugar wedges, all of which I think I will be trying in the near future.
I made these 2 days ago and they are already gone (not all me, my family contributed to eating most of them). I think these were definitely a success.

Peace. Love. Shortbread.

Ginger family

Bahahaha. I saw this box of cookies at Safeway the other day.



Not the best choice of words, I must say, but I certainly found it pretty freakin hilarious.
Anyway, I am not the biggest fan of gingerbread cookies, but I thought I would give Martha Stewart's gingerbread recipe. I really feel like I should be doing a "Julie and Julia" with me and Martha Stewart's holiday recipes, since that is the main source of my recipes for this season (I bought her holiday cookie magazine a few weeks ago and her holiday desserts one last year). But I am making other recipes too, and I'm only making a selection of the Martha recipes.
Anyhow....I made these gingerbread men for my friends in the Youth Company on friday since it was Nutcracker time and I figured we could use some holiday treats. I actually liked the way they tasted better than any other gingerbread cookie recipes I've tried in the past.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup softened butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
2 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups all-purpose flour (plus some for work surface)



1. Beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add egg; mix well. Beat in molasses, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Reduce speed to low, and add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing just until incorporated. Divide dough into quarters; shape into disks. Wrap each well in plastic; chill 3 hours or up to 1 day.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 disk of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out shapes using gingerbread people cutters and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough.

3. Bake, 2 sheets at a time, rotating halfway through, until cookies are firm to touch, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer cookies on a wire rack to cool completely. Ice and sugar as desired.



As I said, I actually enjoyed them, which is unusual for me since I don't really like gingerbread. The whole process was quite a production though, and I am happy that they are a once-a-year kind of thing.

Peace. Love. Gingerpeople.

Are those "special" brownies?

To put it simply, no.
That's the problem with bringing brownies in to school. That is always the first question people ask me. No, of course I didn't put weed in them. Why would you think I would be stupid enough to bring weed brownies to school? Come on guys, give me a little credit here.
Also, i save my special brownies (which are not made with cannibutter or anything to do with that!) for later on this month, because they defined are a must for the holidays. But as for today, I just made the simplest brownies possible. No nuts, no chocolate chunks or chips, no nothin. Just pure, wonderful brownies.
Sounds boring? Maybe. But they have been very popular in the past.
I love brownies. I feel like they are sweet and rich enough as is. Just chocolate and a little bit of powdered sugar and that's it.

Wow, I realize I'm not making these sound very great, but trust me, they're the bomb dot com.

BAKER'S ONE BOWL Brownies:

2 Ounces Unsweetened Chocolate
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour



1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Spray foil with cooking spray.
3. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour ; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
4. BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool completely. Use foil handles to remove brownies from pan before cutting to serve.

Peace. Love. Browniesss