New Site Design!

You may have noticed that there's a new design going on. Unless you don't really pay attention to what the blog actually looks like. In that case .... I guess you could just ignore this post.

Anyway! I enlisted the help of my insanely talented big brother [he's also a photographer! & he does tutorials and stuff] to design a logo and some business cards for me [you'll see those soon]. He helped me choose a new color scheme - turquoise & coral with a really buttery yellow and soft green accents. I was doubtful at first, but now I love it! But the rest was up to me

At first glance, you'll notice that the background is the turquoise color and the header is completely different. You can see that I added my social media icons right in the header under the links to my other pages.

Now if you scroll down a bit, you'll see that I changed up the sidebar a bit. I added a search bar [super helpful!] and a recent posts widget [so handy - I love this one!].

And allll the way at the bottom, I added a couple of things to my footer. First, I added a little blurb about me on the left side. And on the right side, I added a list of my absolute favorite blogs that I read every single day.

But my new favorite feature is definitely the recipe index. I've always had a recipe index, but it was just a jumbled list. Now it's broken down into categories and you can simply click on a picture to choose a category. I worked really hard on this part and I'm so happy with how it turned out!

So take a look around and let me know what you think of the new look - I'll bring you cookies [seriously, Monday's post is all about cookies]. Happy Saturday! Have a fabulous weekend :)

xoxoxo,
Angelyn

Banana Cream Cupcakes

I went to get my passport this past Tuesday.

The whole process was ... eventful. We went to the passport place, but I realized that I had forgotten the pictures I got taken. So we went to get them retaken, but their machine was jammed. So we met up with my brother who had picked them up for me. We go back to the passport place [for the second time], but the pictures were the wrong size! So we leave again, and head to a nearby drugstore where they take pictures. Turns out, you can't wear white when you're getting a passport photo taken. Can you guess what color shirt I was wearing? Yup, WHITE. Ugh. 

So my mom and I had to get an employee to unlock a bathroom for us so we could switch shirts. Then I got the picture taken and we had the employee make sure it fit the template. It did.

We went back to the passport place and thankfully, the third time was the charm. Afterward, we had some lunch and I had a chocolate banana cream smoothie and it was absolutely phenomenal. I want to go back everyday and have one. Banana is my favorite  fruity flavor.

So I made some Banana Cream Cupcakes. I've been dreaming about these cupcakes for a while. I've long been wanting to make banana flavored cupcakes [it would have been really helpful to have these cupcakes around after getting home from the whole passport fiasco]. I was contemplating making a box of banana cream pudding and filling the cupcakes with it, but I wanted more of a real banana taste. The pudding tastes a little fake. 

But anyway. I'm so glad I didn't go with the pudding because the cupcakes were perfect without it! I used my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe and added in some ripened bananas. Then I topped it with a simple vanilla buttercream [I have yet to conquer banana buttercream], vanilla wafers and banana slices sprinkled with lemon juice.

Mmmmm bananas. My new favorite cupcake I think..

Banana Cream Cupcakes (Sources: Cupcakes - Buttercream)

Prep Time: 30 minutes       Total Time: 45 minutes + cooling

Cook Time: 15 minutes      Yield: about 18 cupcakes

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup buttermilk

2 ripened bananas

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

10 tablespoons butter, softened

1-1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

Vanilla wafers

Banana slices (sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with liners.
In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil, beat.
Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined. Scrap down the side of the bowl.

Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add to the batter. 

Fill each liner about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Stir the heavy cream, vanilla and salt together in a small bowl. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the heavy cream mixture. Beat the frosting for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. 

Pipe on top of cooled cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a vanilla wafer and a banana slice if desired. Store in an airtight container.

By the way, my new passport photo looks like a mug shot. No big deal. Happy Friday! 

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Grab a box of Kleenex and prepare to "awwww!" incessantly.

Cause I have the cutest story for you.

It all started last November when my brother bought me a golden David Sigal wallet for my birthday which I absolutely love and use basically everyday. And then, a few weeks ago, on the day before I was supposed to get my grade for the last presentation of the semester, he came into my room and saw it on my desk. Then he was all "Oh, you still use this? I'm so glad you like it.." and kind of futzed around with it, but I didn't think anything of it.

Then he told me that I should text him my grade when I get it [I also didn't think anything of this because he helped me practice for all of my presentations this semester, so I knew he'd be interested on the grades I got for them].

The next day, I texted him a picture of my grade [which was an A by the way] and he texted back saying "Awesome! Call me when you're done with class." So I finished up class and called him. He told me to open my backpack and get my little purse out and open up my gold wallet [the one he got me] and look under my school id. There was a gift card to Subway and a note from him telling me how proud he was that I was getting good grades and to keep working hard and doing well.

I almost sobbed right there in the hallway.

Needless to say, we ended up going down to Subway [you guys know I love my Subway!]. I never realized it before, but they have these soft chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips. And they're really good! So I decided to recreate it at home. I think I did a pretty good job because these Double Chocolate Chip Cookies were wonderful and some of the best I've ever made. So you should make them. Also you should go to Subway cause it's pretty good.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (Cookie base adapted from: Picky Palate)

Prep Time: 10 minutes        Total Time: 20 minutes + cooling
Cook Time: 10 minutes       Yield: about 3 dozen cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add to wet ingredients. Add cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake 9-11 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

My brother is a pretty incredible guy. 

Half Baked Brownie Bites

I had my last final this past Thursday.

And then life seemed pretty normal for a few days. Until Saturday. Until it hit me. It hadn't really sunk in that I was actually done with school. I finished my first year of college! But then on Saturday afternoon, as I was baking a couple of different batches of cookies [duh], I realized that I really didn't have anything to do.

I'm almost always going through my to-do list in my head, but there was nothing. No papers to finish up, no math problems, no case studies, no homework! The only things I could think was either baking something or some blog work. But baking & blogging isn't really work for me - I'd much rather do that than homework!

So I'm feeling pretty good. I've got my first year of college under my belt & a 4.0 GPA this semester so far [only 4 of my 5 grades have come in yet].

I also have brownies. And brownies are quite possibly better than finishing up the school year and having good grades. Especially these brownies. Because they're topped with cookie dough [!!!].

A while ago, I made these half baked cookies [the name comes from the Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor]. The ice cream has brownie chunks and globs of cookie dough in it. I've never had it, but I can only assume it's phenomenal. But I've been wanting to make those cookies again, only a little differently.

I baked the brownies in mini muffin tins [mini brownies for the win!]. And I topped them with straight up cookie dough. Not cookie dough buttercream. Just cookie dough. And then I drizzled a little melted chocolate on top. I don't think that I even need to tell you how incredible these Half Baked Brownie Bites were. But they disappeared so quickly, it was almost embarrassing.

Half Baked Brownie Bites (Brownies adapted from: Joy the Baker)

Prep Time: 15 minutes         Total Time: 25 minutes + cooling
Cook Time: 10 minutes        Yield: 4 dozen brownie bites

8 oz. unsweetened chocolate
12 tablespoons butter
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 stick butter, softened
6 TBSP brown sugar
6 TBSP sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 TBSP milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a few mini muffin tins.
Place chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a stand mixer, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla until pale and thick. Pour the chocolate mixture in and mix until completely incorporated. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
Cool completely.
In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars. Mix in vanilla, egg and milk. Stir in flour and salt.
Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag. Pipe a little dollop on top of each mini brownie.
In a microwavable bowl, melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring every 30 seconds. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the brownies. Let set before serving. Store in an airtight container.

I kind of want to have these for breakfast ... Happy Monday! 

weekend stuff {05/18/13}

[Follow along on Instagram!]

I had finals this week & it was a busy one, so not too many pictures.
But it was also the last week of my first year of college, so it was a good one :)

Happy Saturday! Have a wonderful weekend :)

xoxoxo,
Angelyn