Happy Belated.. or maybe Early.. Birthday to Me

So I celebrated my 24th birthday almost ten months ago. And almost ten months ago Shauna came and visited me for my birthday and we made delicious ice cream sandwiches.  So what are my excuses for this late blog post? I moved out of my apartment,  I finished my job of two years, moved to Atlanta, and started Clinical Psychology grad school.. the list goes on but I don't really believe any of them are truly legit so I'll stop. Let's just say I'm sorry and I'm posting about these anyways because they were really delicious and we took beautiful pictures and they deserve to be shared.

Who doesn't love ice cream sandwiches? Delicious, soft cookies with ice cream? You can't really go wrong. Something easy to make and that doesn't require plates or silverware.. That's the type of dessert we were looking for to celebrate my birthday with 15+ people before going out. After perusing our different favorite blogs and online recipe collections we decided on ice cream sandwiches, and being the crazy bakers that we are we decided to make 3 different types of cookies: snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, and triple chocolate chunk. 

Made a little bit of a dent in my pantry. 

Snickerdoodles before and after- I love the way the cinnamon sugar looks.

Triple chocolate chunk before and after- the mini m&ms look so fun!

And we had to have a classic- the famous chocolate-chip cookies that you can always find at the Gonsalves home.

Yummm..

Laid out next to some Bud Light- ready to party..

Throw in some vanilla ice cream and there you go..

Snickerdoodle ice cream sandwich..

Doing a little mix-and-match..

Snickerdoodle Recipe:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinammon
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. Cream together butter, 1/2 cup white sugar and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder
3. Incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients
4. On a plate, mix cinnamon and 2 tablespoons white sugar
5. Roll cookies and cover in cinnamon sugar and place on lightly greased baking sheet
6. bake for 12-14 minutes at 325 degrees.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (adapted Tyler Florence's recipe):

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2  tsp salt
• 4 ounce semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda
3. Incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients
4. Fold in chocolate chips
5. Scoop cookies and place on lightly greased baking sheet
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini M&Ms

1. Cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt
3. Incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients
4. Fold in chocolate chips and M&Ms
5. Scoop cookies and place on lightly greased baking sheet
6. Bake for 9-12 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Anyone who knows me knows I love birthdays- I love other people's birthdays and I love my birthday.. I especially love celebrating my birthday all month. While even I'll admit 10 months is a little too much- let's say this is a kick-off two-months before my 25th, which is going to be a big one. That seems appropriate..

Also so does this song- given the gluttonous sugar consumption above and the fact that Shauna and I sometimes sing this to each other: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgxlAqjeio0&noredirect=1

Chocolate Molten Cake

Valentine's Day has never really been a big deal for me. I've sort of found myself to be following a Liz Lemon path, so I feel more like this:

Or this:

But really this:

I've never been one of those people that gets flowers or chocolates from their parents - I was told that my dad was mom's valentine and I would get presents when I found a valentine of my own (I was only slightly crushed). But when you don't have someone to buy you fancy chocolates, sometimes you have to make some for yourself.

I've been making chocolate molten lava cakes for years. It's always been for some birthday/holiday/reunion because I've only managed to make them in bulk. Which isn't really an issue because I always seem to be surrounded by people that love chocolate as much as I do. But since those friends and family are not close at hand and because there is no earthly reason for me to eat 18 chocolate cakes, I'll settle for a much smaller (and quicker) version of one of my favorite desserts.

When 2.. 

..become 1. 

Before

After

Chocolate Molten Cake
Serves one
*this recipe can easily be doubled if baking for two*

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the chocolate chunks from Trader Joes)
1 egg
4 tsps. sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. all-purpose flour.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a cookie sheet in the oven. Generously spray a ramekin with cooking spray. I used a 2 cup pyrex bowl, but I wouldn't go any larger than that.
2. Place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds. Mix to combine and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and sugar. Add the chocolate mixture slowly, be careful not to cook the egg with the warm chocolate. Stir until fully incorporated.
4. Add salt and flour and mix until just combined. Pour into ramekin/pyrex bowl.
5. Bake for 7-13 minutes - cooking time will vary depending on the size of the dish so keep an eye on it. (I put mine in for about 14 minutes and it was only slightly molten. For a more gooey center, the less cook time the better. But make sure that the top is set before taking it out.)
6. Slide a knife around the edge of the dish (if you sprayed/buttered the dish enough the cake should not stick) and invert onto a plate. Serve plain or with vanilla ice cream.

Grownup Snow Days

I remember how much I loved snow days as a kid. I would wake up extra early to wait for that phone call from the PTA snow tree. I'd be glued to the TV to see "BALDWIN: CLOSED" scroll across the screen. And that first snowfall was always so beautiful to watch.

When the phone rang it signaled one thing: FREEDOM. And so many snowmen. My brother and I would pile on the layers and head outside for a day that would usually end with me pushing him in a snow drift. And let's not forget this great movie.

These days snow days aren't as fun. It's not really a day off because remote access for work is a thing that exists. And then you need to dig out your car. By yourself. And it's miserable. Not to mention that this winter it seems like it's snowed every week.

But being snowed in means it's the perfect time for baking. For the last couple weeks I have been meaning to make blueberry muffins. I've been trying to eat fewer processed foods and I figured this would be a quick and easy breakfast option (I'll never give up my carbs). But I only have blackberries in the fridge - I've been mashing them into plain greek yogurt and it's been wonderful. So I used a variation of this recipe: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/blackberry_muffins/. And since this post is about muffins I'm just gonna leave you with this.

Dry ingredients

Wet ingredients

One of my favorite fruits

Be careful not to over-mix the batter

Yum

Yummier

Blackberry Muffins
18 muffins

2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 stick butter (melted) 
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries, halved

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease 2 muffin pans (I used canola spray). Position a rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and whisk together.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, yogurt, vanilla, milk, and butter until combined.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined. Gently stir in the blackberries. Be careful not to overmix.
5. Divide the batter between the muffin cups, until just full.
6. Bake for about 17-20 minutes. Check after 15 minutes - just stick a toothpick or knife in one or two muffins to see if it comes out clean.
7. Let cool in the pans for 2 or 3 minutes before cooling on a wire rack.