One Classy Cookie

I had every intention of making french macarons with Italian brown sugar buttercream today. Unfortunately I was out of almond meal so no macarons. Le sigh. I was spinning around the kitchen looking for something to bake, when my sister came down the stairs with this in her hands:

I know what you're thinking. BFD it's a Reese's. I know, I know but if you look closely it says 2 8oz cups. Yes sir two giant Reese's.

That's my sister. She's too pretty to be a doctor, but she is. I find it terribly ironic she works in health care and is holding a pound of Reese's. Whatevs.

But what could I do with these half-pound pieces of heaven? Aha! A cookie! A GIANT cookie!
I stumbled upon Martha's recipe for skillet cookie, so I went with that but nixed the chocolate chips.
Start by creaming together 3/4 cup of butter (1.5 sticks) with 1/2 cup of white sugar and 3/4 cup dark brown sugar.

Add two teaspoons of vanilla along with one egg. Stir stir stir!

In a separate bowl combine two cups of flour, one teaspoon baking soda and a half teaspoon of salt. Pour that into the butter/sugar mixture.

Make sure to not stir too much or you'll end up with a giant tough cookie.

Press into a greased pie plate.

Press one of the Reese's cups into the center of the dough and lick your fingers clean.

Don't worry if the Reese's is sticking out because the cookie will rise around it. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Hehehe. I honestly baked this because I thought it would be funny, but it's actually quite good.

Reese's Pacman! If you happen to have an oversized Reese's, try this out! I suppose you could make the individual sized ones but what fun is that?
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 giant Reese's

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a pie dish.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg. Combine.
3. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture.
4. Press into pie dish and place Reese's in the center.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes. Don't overbake!

I'll leave you with some eye candy for the night.

Hi my name is Hailey and I'm a bread addict

I love bread. I mean I really love bread. If I could I would eat it with butter for every meal. I once ate an entire loaf of Whole Foods Seeduction bread in one sitting. I have no shame. One of my favorite things to do on a snowy day, well any day really,  is bake my very own loaf. I love the yeasty smell and the stickiness of the dough. I usually start out with a basic recipe and then I add whatever I feel like. Today I used the King Arthur Flour recipe for oatmeal bread and then I added poppy, sesame, and sunflower seeds. It came out of the oven 15 minutes ago and I've already had a piece. Fine I had two pieces. OK don't judge me I had four pieces.

The recipe is super easy so don't be scared!

The first thing you need to do is combine the yeast and warm milk. I used 1% but anything will do.

You then combine the rest of the ingredients into a KitchenAid with a dough hook. I suppose you could do this with good ol' elbow grease but I am far too lazy.

Mix until you get a shaggy dough. Your mixer might sound like it's about to explode, but just ignore that.

After it's done mixing shape it into a ball and place in a greased bowl.

Here's the hardest part, waiting! Cover the dough with a dishtowel and place it in a warm area. I always turn my oven on and place to bowl on the counter next to it. Leave it for about an hour. When it is done rising give it a nice little punch right in the center.

Form the dough into a log shape and place in a greased 9x5 loaf pan.

Cover it one again and let it rise for about and hour, maybe a tad longer if it's not high enough. Once that's done place the the dough in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. Easy, non?

Please excuse the icky photo, I was shaking with excitement. Slather the bread with copious amounts of butter and prepare to be whisked away to carb heaven.

*Recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour
Ingredients

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast*
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
• 3/4 cup seeds (optional)
• *If you use active dry yeast, dissolve it in the warm milk before combining with the remaining ingredients.

Directions 


1) In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) till it's smooth.
2) Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow it to rest for 1 hour; it'll become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk.
3) Shaping: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface, and shape it into a log. Place the log in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, cover the pan (with an acrylic proof cover, or with lightly greased plastic wrap), and allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till it's crested 1" to 2" over the rim of the pan.
4) Baking: Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes of baking.

The Start of Something New

Well hello everyone! Where do I even begin? After following so many blogs over the years I have finally decided to start my very own! I'm a ballet dancer and I absolutely love to bake. I have a tiny cat named Madeline, simply known as kitty, whom I just j'adore! This blog will follow my adventures in the kitchen and everyday life. So ladies and gentlemen strap on those aprons and wipe down the KitchenAid, things are gonna get messy!