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Category Archives: Dessert


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Wisconsin Badger Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

These cookies were my first attempt at making sugar cookie cutouts and decorating with royal icing. I obviously have a few kinks to work out (hellooo messy piping!), but I think my cookies will start to look better with practice. Even though these cookies were time consuming, the end result was so worth it. I’ve got new decorating tips and cookie cutters on my wishlist now – I can’t wait to make more!

Wisconsin Badger Cookies {sugar cookie cut-outs with royal icing} | doughseedough.net

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for one hour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

  1. Fit stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of the mixer and cream until light and fluffy.
  2. Beat in egg and mix until well incorporated. Add in cream cheese and mix until well incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add in one cup at a time to butter and mix until well incorporated.
  4. Cover dough and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough into 6 even balls. Keep dough in fridge until ready to roll out. Working with one ball of dough at a time, roll out into 1/4-inch thick. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters (I used a football, Motion W, and Bucky Badger).
  6. Place cut-outs onto prepared baking sheets and bake for 8 – 12 minutes or until dough is no longer shiny. You do not want the cookies to brown.
  7. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookies.
  8. Once completely cooled, store cookies in a tightly covered container until ready to decorate.

adapted from The Kitchn

Royal Icing

3/4 cup warm water
5 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2.25 pound bag of powdered (confectioners) sugar
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

  1. Place warm water and meringue powder in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk for 30 seconds or until thick and frothy. Add in cream of tartar and whisk for 30 more seconds. Carefully add in all the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
  2. Fit stand mixer with paddle attachment and mix the icing on low for 10 minutes. Alternately, whisk by hand for 10 full minutes or use a hand mixer for 10 minutes. Icing will be thick and creamy.
  3. Place plastic wrap directly onto icing in bowl and cover bowl with a slightly damp towel until ready to use.

recipe from Sweetopia

Now, on to decorating these cookies! I used three gel icing colors to make these cookies (black, brown, and red) and kept a portion of the icing white. After mixing the colors, I thinned my icing to a “10 second icing”. 10 second icing means that when I run a knife through the icing, the line that appears smooths out completely in 10 seconds. If it took longer than 10 seconds for the icing to disappear, I thinned the icing out with a couple drops of water at a time until the 10 second consistency was reached.

Wisconsin Badger Cookies {sugar cookie cut-outs with royal icing} | doughseedough.net

For decorating, I used piping bags and #1, #1.5 and #2 tips.

Now for technique: I can’t even begin to explain the technique of outlining and flooding. I’m going to instead point you to Sweetopia’s really, really great post on cookie decorating tips. After you read through her post, read on to see how I timed out my decorating.

  • Day 1: outline and flood the cookies
    • Football: outline and flood in brown with #2 tip. Let dry 24 hours.
    • Motion W: outline and flood in red with #2 tip. Let dry 24 hours.
    • Bucky Badger: outline and flood Bucky’s face, hands, and legs in white with #1.5 tip. Let dry for 1 hour. Outline and flood Bucky’s shirt in red with #1.5 tip.
  • Day 2: detail work!
    • Football: pipe white details with #1.5 tip. Let dry 24 hours.
    • Bucky Badger: pipe black face details with #1 tip. Outline face, hands, and legs in black with #1 tip. Add black detailing to hands and legs with #1 tip. Pipe white stripes and W onto shirt with #1 tip. Let dry 24 hours.


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Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping | doughseedough.net

I’ve finally given in to pumpkin. Pumpkin treats, that is. I suppose it’s that time of year – leaves are turning, it’s getting colder, days are getting shorter… there’s even a threat of snow around here.

I love all things pumpkin except for pumpkin pie. Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cinnamon rolls… you name it, I’ll eat it. This pumpkin cake has won over my heart. It is definitely the pumpkin treat of choice for me. I will eat and eat and eat and eat until it’s gone. Seriously, it’s that good. Pumpkin cake with a streusel topping and some icing – what can be better than that?

I came across this recipe when I was looking around for a brunch dish for a work party. I made the coffee cake and it smelled (and looked) so good that I knew I couldn’t wait until the next day to eat it. So, I made another one. Big mistake. Mike and I ate about a quarter of the cake that night. And then we kept eating it the next day… and the next. And then it was gone. I was heartbroken when it was gone because I was also out of pumpkin. I stocked up on pumpkin this weekend so I can make sure we have a steady supply of this amazingness for a couple weeks 😉

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping | doughseedough.net

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake
serves 10

for the streusel topping:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup dairy free butter substitute (I use Earth Balance)

for the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup plain almond milk

for the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8×11 or 9×9 baking pan and grease with butter substitute or nonstick spray. Set aside.
  2. To make the streusel topping, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a fork, two knives, or a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.
  3. To make the cake, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, maple syrup and milk until well combined. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and use a spatula to smooth out the top.
  4. Sprinkle prepared streusel topping over the batter and gently press down into the batter. Bake in preheated over for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  5. When cake is almost done baking, make the glaze. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and almond milk and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Serve immediately, or keep at room temperature for up two three days.

recipe slightly adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction


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Happy Anniversary! Celebrating with Dairy Free Carrot Cake

Here’s a very, very happy three year anniversary to my taste tester, dish washer, and biggest supporter – Mike. I can’t believe it’s been three years since we’ve said “I do”. It was a perfect day. We were surrounded by family…

Photo by Alacrity Photography

friends…

Go Badgers! Photo by Alacrity Photography

and lots and lots of cake.

Photo by Alacrity Photography

Seven flavors, to be exact. This was one wedding detail that I refused to give in on. I didn’t want a monstrous cake covered in fondant. I wanted seven of my favorite types of cakes from Manderfield’s Bakery:

  1. Chocolate Symphony: “…layers of rich chocolate cake, dreamy chocolate mousse, smooth chocolate buttercream, and sweet chocolate ganache.“
  2. Chocolate Truffle: “Tasty chocolate cake… filled with fudge & covered with creamy chocolate icing and rich truffle.”
  3. German Chocolate: “Chocolate cake is filled with fudge and whipped cream, then covered with a layer of rich caramel, coconut and nuts.”
  4. Raspberry Snowball: “Luscious raspberry filling, white chocolate mousse, and vanilla cake are all surrounded by fluffy whipped cream.”
  5. Strawberry Mousse: “…moist vanilla cake filled with plenty of juicy strawberry filling and amazing strawberry mousse.”
  6. Carrot Cake: “Delectably moist carrot cake is surrounded by tasty cream cheese icing with toasted pecans & flaky coconut.”
  7. Turtle Torte: “…chocolate fudge cake is topped with rich caramel, toasted pecans & whipped cream.”

On our first anniversary, we had some Chocolate Truffle cake my mom had saved from our wedding night. Thank goodness for moms, right? It hadn’t even occurred to me to save some wedding cake in the middle of all the excitement. I remember my mom giving me the cake the next day, and I (stupidly) just shoved it into the freezer without wrapping it properly. Well, it tasted pretty gross a year later. Surprise. I took one, maybe two bites before quitting. Mike finished it like because he isn’t one to waste cake. Especially a chocolate cake.

On our second anniversary, I did a little better. I went to the bakery with the intention of buying the cake that we had cut: Chocolate Symphony. Unfortunately, I found out that these have to be pre-ordered (fail). So, I settled on another cake that we had at our wedding… we’re 90% sure it was the Turtle Torte. Apparently our memories are awful – we’re aging really, really quickly.

Now, it’s our third anniversary, I’m avoiding dairy, and we’re two hours from Manderfield’s. I wanted to continue with our tradition of eating wedding cakes on our anniversary, so I set off to create a dairy free carrot cake that was as good as our wedding carrot cake. Not an easy feat, I tell ya. But here’s what I came up with! Here’s to hoping that we have many, many more cakes in our future!

Photo by Alacrity Photography

Don’t be scared off by how not-so-pretty this cake is. It’s absolutely delicious. Moist with the perfect amount of spice.  I’m still working out the kinks in dairy-free baking. The cake itself turned out awesome. The frosting, a bit runny, Some day, I will perfect dairy free cream cheese frosting. Until then, kinda-runny dairy free cream cheese frosting will have to do 😉


dairy free carrot cake | doughseedough.net

Dairy Free Carrot Cake
serves 10 or 1 happily married couple 😉

2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pound carrots, peeled and shredded (about 3 1/2 – 4 cups)
dairy free cream cheese frosting, recipe below
1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by lightly greasing and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. In a small cup, stir together lemon juice and almond milk. Let sit for 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, oil, pineapple and vanilla until well combined. Add in dry ingredients until just combined. Add in the carrots and stir until just combined.
  5. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  6. Allow cakes to cool for 30 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Carefully remove the cakes and peel off the parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on the wire rack before frosting.  Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of frosted cake before serving.

dairy free carrot cake | doughseedough.net

Dairy Free Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounce container of dairy-free cream cheese, I used GO Veggie!
1/4 cup dairy free butter substitute, I used Earth Balance
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound powdered sugar

  1. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and beat until well combined. Slowly beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting is thick and fluffy.

cake and frosting adapted from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy


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SNAP Challenge: Day 4

Today’s Feeding America prompt: “Are you worried about your groceries running out before the end of the Challenge? Do you feel you are eating a healthy, balanced diet? What nutrition decisions did you have to make?”

In a word – yes. I am worried about running out of food. I think that’s something that I’ve mentioned on a daily basis in my summary posts. I have the tiniest bit of money leftover and I keep thinking about what I can do with that money just in case we run out of food.

I think the menu is healthy, but not as healthy as we normally eat. Our house is usually stocked full of fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. This week, we only have a few fresh produce items. We have free garden produce – tomatoes, zucchini, hot peppers and I purchased bell peppers, bananas, and grapes. I usually buy exclusively whole grain pasta, rice, and bread, but this week the only whole grains I purchased were the whole wheat bread and oatmeal. I was able to buy some boneless, skinless chicken breast, but I bought 85% lean ground turkey instead of my usually 93% or 99%.

I’m also not used to the lack of variety we have. For example – I don’t think I’ve ever eaten oatmeal every single day (sometimes several times a day) before this. I like to switch up my breakfast items! Before, I would choose between cereal with almond milk, a breakfast sandwich, egg and veggie scrambles, or half a bagel with Tofutti cream cheese and some fruit. I’m not huge on “sweet” breakfast foods (pancakes, waffles, and the like have no place on my plate during breakfast!), but I love savory breakfast foods! I got sick of eating oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar by the end of Day 2 and ended up making a savory oatmeal with spices mixed in. Mike found it revolting, but it was just the change I needed!

For the MyPlate recommendations, we’re pretty darn close to meeting all minimums except for dairy. I’m getting no dairy at all. Like I’ve mentioned before, I can’t handle it any more. I didn’t fit lactose-free milk into our budget. I’m not a big milk drinker anyway, so getting rid of that was no big deal to me. Mike’s getting some from cheese, but not nearly enough. Something to work on for next time, I guess…

All that said, I am so thankful that we have a garden. Even though it’s 2 hours away, Mike was able to bring down cherry tomatoes, zucchini, herbs and a few hot peppers from the garden the day before the Challenge started. In a way, it kind of feels like cheating… but when I think about it, we haven’t really used much from the garden “stash” at all aside from the hot peppers and my occasional cherry tomato snack.

Snack wise, we’re doing a lot better. I don’t have access to any of our popcorn supplies (gosh, I miss kettle corn), rice cakes, or baking supplies. Another thing I really miss? Chocolate from my favorite Appleton chocolate shop, Wilmar’s. I’m obsessed with their cherry pie chocolate bar: milk chocolate with Door County dried cherries, almonds, and sea salt. Swoon! I keep a bar in my desk drawer and I eat one piece almost every day when I’m in the office. Having the bar in my desk drawer and not being able to eat it is hard. Mike doesn’t have access to his go-to snacks either. Good for our waistlines, not so good for our mood.

What we ate today:

  • Breakfast: savory oatmeal with an egg (me), whole wheat toast with peanut butter and raisins (Mike)
  • Snack: cherry tomatoes and grapes (me), grapes and a cookie (Mike)
  • Lunch: three bean turkey chili with elbow macaroni,
  • Snack: nothing for me… I ate it all in the morning 😦
  • Dinner: sweet & sour chicken with rice (Mike) and pepper chicken with rice (me)
  • Snack: peanut butter with raisins (Mike)

I think Mike and I were both struggling with not having a snack or dessert, so I whipped up a batch of healthy cookies for us. I had to improvise with what we had purchased for the SNAP Challenge. They’re super simple (4 ingredients!!!) and surprisingly tasty!

healthy 4 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies | doughseedough.net

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
makes 1 dozen cookies

2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
½ cup raisins

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
  2. Mix bananas with oatmeal and peanut butter until well combined. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.
  3. Roll into 1.5” balls and place on prepared baking sheet 2” apart. Gently press down on each cookie with the bottom of a cup to flatten slightly.
  4. Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.


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Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles

Well, I’m now closer to 30 than I am to 20. At first, I was distraught over this realization. Looking back on it, though, 26 is off to a pretty dang good start. I got to celebrate with my family over the weekend and then the actual day of my birthday was fabulous. In fact, my 25th birthday sucked in comparison.

Sushi!

 

This birthday was pretty great.

  • I had a good day at work (have I mentioned I love my job?)
  • Went for a nice run with Mike (instead of going out for drinks – how grown-up of me!)
  • Went to Takumi for a sushi dinner (totally amazing)
  • Annnnnd best of all – I was surprised with a dairy-free cheesecake by Mike. I melt a little every time I think about that cheesecake. Excuse the cell phone pic, but it’s the best I can do at the moment!

dairy free cheesecake | doughseedough.net

A little background: I’ve recently cut dairy out of my diet because I’ve been developing some not-so-fun reactions to it. I’m really struggling because I’m a dairy-lovin’ gal. Cheese, Greek yogurt, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream, cheese… you name it. After all, I do live in Wisconsin! Going cold turkey on dairy was hard. It’s still hard…

That delicious dairy-free cheesecake with raspberry sauce made everything better, though. It was so good – I still can’t believe that it was dairy free! I’m going to get him to remake it someday so I can blog about it. Yummmm.

So, while I don’t have the cheesecake recipe to share with you today, I do have some snickerdoodles! These cookies were one of three types of cookies that I brought in to work for my birthday treat. All three were delicious, but these turned out the prettiest. I don’t know about you, but I definitely “eat” with my eyes first. I’ll beautify the other two cookies and get those recipes up as soon as possible. Promise 🙂

soft & chewy snickerdoodles -- no shortening! | doughseedough.net

Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles
makes 2 dozen cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

for rolling:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or use a hand mixer to beat butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add in sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
  4. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon for the topping.
  5. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the prepared cinnamon-sugar mixture.
  6. Place cookies on prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until puffy and soft. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

slightly adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction


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Salted Fudge Brownies

Holy smokes, I can’t believe it’s August already! Life is a little crazy right now. We have the Big (-ish) Move on Saturday to prepare for and our house is a disaster. I can’t figure out what I want to bring down to Madison and what I want to leave in Appleton. I have a new job starting on Monday. Don’t get me wrong – my life is hectic, but I love it.

After speaking with a friend recently, I realized just how blessed I am. I got into a dietetic internship on my first try. I passed my RD exam the first time I attempted it. I landed a job right away. And now? Now I’m moving on to an even better job. Best of all, I have the most amazing and supportive husband next to me. I have so much to be thankful for.

I haven’t been cooking much because we have very little food in the house and I don’t want to buy more before the move. Stupid me didn’t prepare for this move very well. If I had any sense, I would have stockpiled some posts and scheduled them for the next few weeks. Instead, I have nothing. So DSD might be a little empty for a couple weeks while I rebuild my life in Madison.

That brings me to these brownies. Mike asked if I could make a treat for him to bring in to work. I heard several rave reviews about these salted fudge brownies and I decided that those were definitely the treat I would make. It worked out perfectly because I already had all the ingredients at home. The results are definitely rave-worthy. I’m a little sad that I had to give them away because they were so good. So good that I snagged a piece for Mike and I to share and sent 15 instead of 16 brownies to work. Oops 🙂

I plan on stocking up on more unsweetened chocolate soon because I need to make more of these. I have even heard that these are perfect for freezing individually and then microwaving for 15 seconds later on for a magnificent, fudgy treat.

Salted Fudge Brownies | doughseedough.net

Salted Fudge Brownies
very slightly adapted from Eva Bakes, via Food and Wine

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon Maldon sea salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 metal pan with foil, draping foil over the edges. Generously butter the foil.
  2. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate, whisking occasionally, until completely melted.
  3. Remove pan from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. One at a time, whisk in sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour, mixing well after each addition.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle salt on top and gently swirl into batter using a toothpick.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 – 35 minutes, or until edges are done but center is still slightly gooey. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with a little batter.
  6. Let brownies cool for 1 hour at room temperature. Place in refrigerator and chill for 1 more hour.
  7. Life brownies from pan by grasping the foil overhang and place on a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares. Serve at room temperature.


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Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been craving cookies like crazy lately. On Sunday night the craving was so bad and I (sadly) didn’t have any cookies in the house. Wait, I take that back. I had Girl Scout cookies, but those weren’t going to cut it.

I decided to experiment and whip up some peanut butter cookies. Then I decided to make them better with mini chocolate chips and some chopped peanuts. Mini chips are my newest baking fave. I don’t know why I don’t use them more! They are perfect for cookies because they distribute more evenly in the batter than big chips. You’re pretty much guaranteed chocolate in every nibble!

If you’re a fan of soft, cake-y cookies, these are for you. They are so light in texture and absolutely delish. I was a bit hesitant to use the word “healthy” for this cookie, but this is probably one of the better-for-you cookies that I’ve made. After all, there is not a trace of added oil or butter in this recipe. And no butter or oil means I can eat more cookies, right? Right.

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | doughseedough.net

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together peanut butter, applesauce, sugars, vanilla, and eggs until smooth and well combined.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir into wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and peanuts.
  4. Wet hands with water* and roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 12 – 14 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.

*I had to wet mine with water because this dough is really darn sticky. Alarmingly sticky. But don’t fret. Wet your hands, roll the dough, and the cookies will bake up perfectly!


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Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies | doughseedough.net

I think I have a problem. I can’t stop eating these cookies. Seriously. They are making their way into my mouth 3 at a time, several times a day. I’m eating so many of them that I haven’t really eaten a proper dinner in a few days because I’m seriously just stuffed full of cookies. The only time that I am sans-cookie is at work. And that’s only because I force myself to walk out the door without a bag full of them. I need to keep a few hours of my life cookie-free, after all.

I have 2 sad cookies left in my cookie jar. The good news is they are super easy to whip together. The bad news is that it’s a million degrees (and humid!) out and the thought of turning on the oven makes me want to cry. I think I’ll have to wait until it cools off so I can bake more of these. And this time I probably won’t share.

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies | doughseedough.net

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
slightly adapted from Cooking Light

1 1/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, gently whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl with an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together sugar, brown sugar, and butter until well blended. Mix in vanilla and egg until just blended.
  4. Stir in flour mixture by hand until just combined. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
  5. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place 2″ apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until edges of the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool on pan for 2 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.


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Lightened Up Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Strawberry and rhubarb are the perfect combination. Fresh-picked strawberries and just-harvested rhubarb are even better. I always try to find new rhubarb desserts that don’t involve strawberries, but I can’t help but go back to an old favorite – strawberry rhubarb crisp. Some day I will branch out and try something new, but I’m in no real rush.

This version is a bit healthier. There’s less sugar and butter in the recipe. It’s perfect, because it allows the tartness of the rhubarb come through and blend perfectly with the natural sweetness of the strawberries. There’s something just so dang good about fresh-picked strawberries that will never, ever match up to grocery store berries. Ever. I mean, just look –

lightened up strawberry rhubarb crisp | doughseedough.net

 

Now look at all that goodness baked into a perfect crisp.

lightened up strawberry rhubarb crisp | doughseedough.net

Lightened Up Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

for the filling:
1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2″  pieces
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the topping:
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients until well combined. Pour into a 13×9 baking dish.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the dry topping ingredients. Stir in the melted butter and Greek yogurt until well combined. Place spoonfuls of the toppings over the filling. Gently break up the topping with your fingers or a spoon until it is well distributed over the top of the filling.
  3. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, or until filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

 


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Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting | doughseedough.net

My last post was a week and a half ago. I got back from vacation last Tuesday and meant to post a vacation recap (aka photo-dump a select few of the thousands of pictures we took) and a recipe later last week. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Life got a little… crazy.

Let me back up to a month ago. I applied to a really awesome nutrition program consultant job. I didn’t think I would get a call back from them. Fast forward about a week: I get a call for an interview. I go to the interview, it goes fine, and I don’t think much more of it. Fast forward again to last Wednesday.

I got a job offer. I cried, called Mike, and didn’t sleep for the next two days. They needed an answer by Friday, and I hadn’t had time to fully process everything yet. Taking this job would mean moving back to Madison, our college town. Mike’s business is in Appleton. Our families are in Appleton. We have a house in Appleton.

After several long discussions and a total of 6 hours of sleep in two nights, I called them back and accepted. We’re moving back to Madison! Kind of. I’m estimating that I will be spending 1/3 of my time in Madison at the office, 1/3 of my time traveling to my sites,a nd 1/3 of my time in Appleton. I still can’t believe that all this is happening. Needless to say, I have a lot to prepare in the next month for the big transition. It looks like the travel yoga mat I bought for vacation is actually going to get put to some good use!

Anyway, I will spare you the photos from my vacation (for now) and instead share with you these cupcakes that I made for Mike’s birthday over the weekend. My handsome hubby turned the big 2-5! Mike gave me the go-ahead to make whatever birthday treat I wanted. Perfect.

These cupcakes were to die for. Seriously. Make these now. Everything from the cake (moist, fluffy, and chocolatey with a hint of stout) to the frosting (creamy, caramely deliciousness) is perfect. In fact, I ate all the extra frosting with pretzels and ate the rest of the caramel with a spoon. Don’t judge, because when you go finish reading this post, you will go and make these cupcakes. And you will eat all the leftover frosting and caramel, too.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting | doughseedough.net

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
makes 24 cupcakes

for the cupcakes:
3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-12 ounce bottle Guinness Extra Stout (or other stout beer), room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

for the salted caramel:
1/2 granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

for the salted caramel frosting:
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
mini pretzel twists  to garnish, optional
sea salt to garnish, optional

  1. To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 24 muffin tins or line with cupcake liners.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the stout, butter, vanilla and eggs. Beat together until combined. Mix in Greek yogurt until smooth and well combined. Carefully stir in dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time.
  4. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until cupcakes are domed in the center and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in pan before place removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  5. To make the salted caramel: place sugar and water in a 3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir carefully until sugar is dissolved, being careful not to touch the sides of the pan. Bring mixture to a boil and stop stirring. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until mixture turns a deep amber brown color, about 10 minutes. Remove mixture from heat and carefully stir in whipping cream and vanilla extract. Let cool for 1 hour.
  6. To make the frosting: In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until well combined. Add in 1/2 cup of caramel and mix until fluffy.
  7. Frost cooled cupcakes with salted caramel frosting and drizzle remaining caramel on top. Garnish with a mini pretzel twist and a tiny sprinkle of sea salt, if desired.

cupcake recipe barely adapted from Food Network and frosting recipe adapted from Carla’s Confections