TGIF!!!! For reals, because Monday-Thurday were monster days. And now that its friday, I can dig a hole and hide in it until it’s at least 30 degrees with some sunshine. (I might never get to come out.)
A few things I will bring in my hole:
food (lots of food and coffee, lots of coffee)
a soft blanket and pillow
a few books, preferably with pictures, on farming and gardening (think spring!)
the entire series of the Fresh Prince of Bel-air and a device to watch it on
toothpaste (I can use my finger to brush my teeth)
But before I leave for my hole in the ground, I made these little cake bites to get my people through the weekend. Sweet little lemony bites of rich dense cake dipped into bittersweet chocolate. (I am just so nice) They have all the pleasure or cake without the need of a fork and are much easier to give away then a big slice of cake. Plus, they are fun to make. My little sister helped and did most of the chocolate dipping. Then she and another little used their mouths to clean up the chocolate mess. It was an afternoon of chocolate all over the kitchen fun day.
So make some bites to have and to share. Or if you, like me, are digging a hole to hide in, make a batch of bites to bring with you. That’s the beauty of cake covered in a harden chocolate shell, they travel really well.Simple lemon cake stuff. Flour, baking powder and salt whisked together, Sugar and soft butter in a bowl. An egg, some vanilla, milk, and of course, the lemon.
To make the batter, cream the soften butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Zest lemon(1 big or 2 small) into bowl with the juice of the lemon(s), the vanilla and the egg. Beat until combined. Now beat in the dry and then the milk. Keep beating for another minute until all mixed. Batter should be light and fluffy.
Batter goes into a greased and floured 9×13 baking sheet and stuck into a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes (You can use a 9×9 baking pan. Just bake fir another 10 minutes and you will end up with thicker bites). Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes and flip to remove cake from baking sheet. Cut cake into small pieces (I cut 4×6 to get 24 bites) and place bake into sheet and into freezer (I stuck mine outside, it was -2 degrees ) for at least 2 hours.
Frozen bites ready for the chocolate coating… Bittersweet chocolate chips and a little bit of coconut oil. Melted together all nice and shiny smooth.Now dip and slather those bites in the melted chocolate.
Oh what a lovely sister I have.. Look at her dunk….. like a boss!Fully coated and placed on a rack for the chocolate to harden. I ended up sticking the rack in the freezer for 10 minutes…They harder really fast in there.
And now you have some it, bites of cake covered in chocolate. 1 bite, 2 bites…5 bites. Eat however many you want because its Friday and because there small little bites and just because you can.
Now if you need me, I’ll be in my hole.
-C
Chocolate Lemon Cake Bite
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) soft butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1 large or 2 small lemons
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Add butter and sugar to a large bowl and beat on medium unit light and fluffy. Ass in vanilla egg, the zest of the lemon and the juice of the lemon. Beat to incorporate. Now beat in the dry and lastly the milk.
Grease and flour either a 9×9 pan or a 9×13 baking sheet. dump batter in and smooth out. Stick in oven and bake for about 3o minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle comes out clean. Remove and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. Flip cake to remove from pan. Cut cake into bit sized pieces, 4×6 is a good size, and place back on baking sheet and stick into freezer for at least 2 hours.
When cake bites are as good as frozen, get the chocolate ready. Take the chocolate and the coconut oil and either melt in a double boiler or the microwave. Mix until smooth and make sure to full incorporate the oil. Now remove the cake bites from the freezer and dip each bite into chocolate, trying to full coat all sides. Stick onto a wire rack or a parchment lined pan to harden. They can be stuck back into the freezer to harden faster.
Once chocolate has harden, your good to go!
Because it is cold outside. Because I had an hour to kill before I needed to leave the house and because I wanted to make a sweet treat for the mister (who had been dealing with frozen pipes all day) and for the little littles that I was going to hang out with. My original idea was to just make regular old snickerdoodles, but as I was riffling around my tea drawer for a mid day tea (it’s usually coffee, but I am trying to cut back on drinking one thousand cups a day) I got hit with a little inspiration. Chai tea spiced snickerdoodles. Yes! a nice black chai, full of flavors or cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, allspice, and pepper. So many good time tastes. And while I am at it, why not add some chocolate to that mix, because, well just because.
Chai, chocolate, and sugar equals….Bada da da….. awesome Cookies! And who doesn’t want awesome cookies?
The stuff…Flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and allspice. Cocoa powder, brown and white sugar. Veggie Oil (you can use butter, or vegan butter instead for a chewier cookie) vanilla, a little vinegar and a nice cup of chai tea… Also a little bowl of cinnamon and sugar to doodle the cookies.
The sugars, oil, tea, vinegar, and vanilla go into a big bowl. Beat for a minute on medium, then add the rest of the stuff and beat some more until fully incorporated…. Simple simple.
Preheat the oven to 375 and get the cookies all dressed up in a cinnamon sugar suit by taking globs of dough and kind of rolling it into ball (perfection is not necessary) Drop dough balls into the cinnamon sugar and toss around to fully coat. Place on cookie sheet and give a good smoosh to flatten the cookie balls out to about 1/2 inch thick. Now into the oven for about 9-11 minutes to bake.
Aahhhh…….pulled from the oven and placed on a rack to cool. Fluffy, chewy, pillowy soft and spicy cookies. Oh the smell of so good!Made extra large to make extra little littles happy. The best part? I made each little sing me a song for a second cookie… I am the greatest!
Heres to a Happy Hump Day!
-C
Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles
The stuff-
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Chai teabag steeped in 1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cups vegetable oil (can substitute butter or vegan butter for a more chewy cookie)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons each of cinnamon and white sugar to coat cookie balls in
Preheat oven to 375
In a cup, steep tea bag in 1 1/4 cups boiling water. Let tea steep for 10 minutes.
In Large bowl, add sugars, oil, vanilla, vinegar and steeped tea and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients (besides cinnamon and sugar for coating) and beat on low until everything is fully incorporated.
Add the cinnamon and sugar to a small bowl and mix together. Take globs of dough and roughly formed ball then drop into cinnamon sugar and toss to coat. Place coated balls on cooke sheet and smoosh down so cookies are about 1/2 inch thick. Place in oven for about 9-11 minutes or until cookies are just barely cooked through. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.
My suggestion for sharing….If they want one, make them sing and dance for it!
Those are some for real chocolate chip cookies…….for real.
This is probably one of the first recipes that I ever really knew by heart. Some recipes I can bring up in my head, but if I haven’t used it in a while, I usually have to check to make sure I got it right… Not these… Chocolate chip cookie are forever imprinted in my brain.
Chocolate chip may seem like a simple cookie, but trust me, its more complex then one may think. There are so many little factors that really affect the over all cookie: The baking temperature, the exact perfect time to pull the cookies out of the oven. Weather the butter is hand mixed or beaten, softened or melted. The color of the baking sheet and how long you leave the cookie on the sheet before placing on the coloring rack…….This cookie is as much about method as it is about ingredients. ….But don’t let that scare you..you got this. Just don’t think that these are a mindless act of baking. You have to be committed, keeping on the oven the whole time these cookies are baking………….. It’s so worth it.
Full disclosure here…I have been making these cookies the same way for so long so I am not exactly sure, but this might actually be the same recipe as toll house. I haven’t looked….Either way…I have tried out other chocolate chip recipes and this one has always come out on top.
As usual, I forgot an ingredient in the line up…the chocolate chips, oh and the pinch of salt.. But rest assure, even though not pictured, there are indeed chocolate chips in these cookies!
Pre heat the oven to 375.
Room temperature butter creamed with both the white and brown sugar. Before you add the butter to the sugar, smash any of the big chunks of brown sugar. The key to my recipe is not melting butter or using an electric beater, it’s all hand mixin, no electric mixing(you could use a kitchen aid, but I don’t have one so I think you should use a wooden spoon too), plus it’s a good arm work out. Mix mix mix. I find smearing on the side of the bowl helps too. Mix/smear until both sugar and butter is a unified color and consistency, Once that happens, add the two room temperature eggs, the vanilla and mix a little more,
When everything is mixed, add the dry ingredients and mix that until fully incorpaerterd….
Take a minute here and sniff……I love the smell of cookie dough, it’s a happy smell.Now for the chocolate chips. I use only 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips… You want just enough in each cookie, but don’t want to overwhelm it with too much chocolate. The cookie is as much of the star as the chocolate. See how may cookie sheet is nice and silver and clean? For a long time I used a very dirty and dark baking sheet. I would make cookies and they always seem to come out slightly burnt. Got myself a new baking sheet and……perfect cookies. If your baking sheet is dark, I would recommend using parchment paper.
Your ready to scoop and bake….my suggestion. Make 2-4 cookies for your first batch, or what I call the tester batch. I swear, there is some law of the universe that says the first batch always is overcooked. I have excepted that and learned to only make a couple for the first batch Scoop mounds of your preferable size(I do a spoonful) and place on sheet with each mound having good amount of spreading space. Place in preheated oven..
Now here is the really important part!!!!Baking time is essential to how your cookie turns out. If you want a more soft and chewy cookie, bake for about 7-9 minutes or until the cookies are just barely turning brown…just barely. They might seem a little undercooked, but the cookies will cook a bit more once pulled from the oven Trust…I know what I am talking about. .Let them cool for about a minute on sheet before transferring them to rack. If you like more crunchy milk dipping cookie..bake for 9-11 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Lovely right…
Now you have gone and done it…Made fantastic cookies!!! Maybe you are going to share? No pressure, but it is the holiday season. For real, you can’t go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie, every loves it. and then will in turn love you too.
Get people to like you with Cookies!!!! hahahaha… but you know its true!
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 white sugar
1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda
In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, cream together the brown and white sugar with the room temperature butter. Add eggs and vanilla and stir. Now add the dry ingredients and….. then the chocolate chips.
On a light-colored baking sheet to a parchment line sheet, use a spoon and drop a constant size mound of dough, leaving room for expansion. Place in oven for 7-9 minus until cookie is barely turning brown. Remove and let sit on sheet for another minute before transferring to cooling rack. Keep doing this until all of you dough is gone…
THE LOVELY CRAZY
September 19, 2015 by maximios • Blog
A few things I will bring in my hole:
But before I leave for my hole in the ground, I made these little cake bites to get my people through the weekend. Sweet little lemony bites of rich dense cake dipped into bittersweet chocolate. (I am just so nice) They have all the pleasure or cake without the need of a fork and are much easier to give away then a big slice of cake. Plus, they are fun to make. My little sister helped and did most of the chocolate dipping. Then she and another little used their mouths to clean up the chocolate mess. It was an afternoon of chocolate all over the kitchen fun day.
So make some bites to have and to share. Or if you, like me, are digging a hole to hide in, make a batch of bites to bring with you. That’s the beauty of cake covered in a harden chocolate shell, they travel really well.
Simple lemon cake stuff. Flour, baking powder and salt whisked together, Sugar and soft butter in a bowl. An egg, some vanilla, milk, and of course, the lemon.
To make the batter, cream the soften butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Zest lemon(1 big or 2 small) into bowl with the juice of the lemon(s), the vanilla and the egg. Beat until combined. Now beat in the dry and then the milk. Keep beating for another minute until all mixed. Batter should be light and fluffy.
Batter goes into a greased and floured 9×13 baking sheet and stuck into a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes (You can use a 9×9 baking pan. Just bake fir another 10 minutes and you will end up with thicker bites). Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes and flip to remove cake from baking sheet. Cut cake into small pieces (I cut 4×6 to get 24 bites) and place bake into sheet and into freezer (I stuck mine outside, it was -2 degrees ) for at least 2 hours.
Oh what a lovely sister I have.. Look at her dunk….. like a boss!
Fully coated and placed on a rack for the chocolate to harden. I ended up sticking the rack in the freezer for 10 minutes…They harder really fast in there.
And now you have some it, bites of cake covered in chocolate. 1 bite, 2 bites…5 bites. Eat however many you want because its Friday and because there small little bites and just because you can.
Now if you need me, I’ll be in my hole.
-C
Chocolate Lemon Cake Bite
Add butter and sugar to a large bowl and beat on medium unit light and fluffy. Ass in vanilla egg, the zest of the lemon and the juice of the lemon. Beat to incorporate. Now beat in the dry and lastly the milk.
Grease and flour either a 9×9 pan or a 9×13 baking sheet. dump batter in and smooth out. Stick in oven and bake for about 3o minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle comes out clean. Remove and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. Flip cake to remove from pan. Cut cake into bit sized pieces, 4×6 is a good size, and place back on baking sheet and stick into freezer for at least 2 hours.
When cake bites are as good as frozen, get the chocolate ready. Take the chocolate and the coconut oil and either melt in a double boiler or the microwave. Mix until smooth and make sure to full incorporate the oil. Now remove the cake bites from the freezer and dip each bite into chocolate, trying to full coat all sides. Stick onto a wire rack or a parchment lined pan to harden. They can be stuck back into the freezer to harden faster.
Once chocolate has harden, your good to go!
Chai, chocolate, and sugar equals….Bada da da….. awesome Cookies! And who doesn’t want awesome cookies?
Preheat the oven to 375 and get the cookies all dressed up in a cinnamon sugar suit by taking globs of dough and kind of rolling it into ball (perfection is not necessary) Drop dough balls into the cinnamon sugar and toss around to fully coat. Place on cookie sheet and give a good smoosh to flatten the cookie balls out to about 1/2 inch thick. Now into the oven for about 9-11 minutes to bake.
Heres to a Happy Hump Day!
-C
Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles
The stuff-
Preheat oven to 375
In a cup, steep tea bag in 1 1/4 cups boiling water. Let tea steep for 10 minutes.
In Large bowl, add sugars, oil, vanilla, vinegar and steeped tea and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients (besides cinnamon and sugar for coating) and beat on low until everything is fully incorporated.
Add the cinnamon and sugar to a small bowl and mix together. Take globs of dough and roughly formed ball then drop into cinnamon sugar and toss to coat. Place coated balls on cooke sheet and smoosh down so cookies are about 1/2 inch thick. Place in oven for about 9-11 minutes or until cookies are just barely cooked through. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.
My suggestion for sharing….If they want one, make them sing and dance for it!
This is probably one of the first recipes that I ever really knew by heart. Some recipes I can bring up in my head, but if I haven’t used it in a while, I usually have to check to make sure I got it right… Not these… Chocolate chip cookie are forever imprinted in my brain.
Chocolate chip may seem like a simple cookie, but trust me, its more complex then one may think. There are so many little factors that really affect the over all cookie: The baking temperature, the exact perfect time to pull the cookies out of the oven. Weather the butter is hand mixed or beaten, softened or melted. The color of the baking sheet and how long you leave the cookie on the sheet before placing on the coloring rack…….This cookie is as much about method as it is about ingredients. ….But don’t let that scare you..you got this. Just don’t think that these are a mindless act of baking. You have to be committed, keeping on the oven the whole time these cookies are baking………….. It’s so worth it.
Full disclosure here…I have been making these cookies the same way for so long so I am not exactly sure, but this might actually be the same recipe as toll house. I haven’t looked….Either way…I have tried out other chocolate chip recipes and this one has always come out on top.
Pre heat the oven to 375.
Room temperature butter creamed with both the white and brown sugar. Before you add the butter to the sugar, smash any of the big chunks of brown sugar. The key to my recipe is not melting butter or using an electric beater, it’s all hand mixin, no electric mixing(you could use a kitchen aid, but I don’t have one so I think you should use a wooden spoon too), plus it’s a good arm work out. Mix mix mix. I find smearing on the side of the bowl helps too. Mix/smear until both sugar and butter is a unified color and consistency, Once that happens, add the two room temperature eggs, the vanilla and mix a little more,
Take a minute here and sniff……I love the smell of cookie dough, it’s a happy smell.
Now for the chocolate chips. I use only 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips… You want just enough in each cookie, but don’t want to overwhelm it with too much chocolate. The cookie is as much of the star as the chocolate. 
See how may cookie sheet is nice and silver and clean? For a long time I used a very dirty and dark baking sheet. I would make cookies and they always seem to come out slightly burnt. Got myself a new baking sheet and……perfect cookies. If your baking sheet is dark, I would recommend using parchment paper.
Your ready to scoop and bake….my suggestion. Make 2-4 cookies for your first batch, or what I call the tester batch. I swear, there is some law of the universe that says the first batch always is overcooked. I have excepted that and learned to only make a couple for the first batch Scoop mounds of your preferable size(I do a spoonful) and place on sheet with each mound having good amount of spreading space. Place in preheated oven..
Now here is the really important part!!!!Baking time is essential to how your cookie turns out. If you want a more soft and chewy cookie, bake for about 7-9 minutes or until the cookies are just barely turning brown…just barely. They might seem a little undercooked, but the cookies will cook a bit more once pulled from the oven Trust…I know what I am talking about. .Let them cool for about a minute on sheet before transferring them to rack. If you like more crunchy milk dipping cookie..bake for 9-11 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Now you have gone and done it…Made fantastic cookies!!! Maybe you are going to share? No pressure, but it is the holiday season. For real, you can’t go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie, every loves it. and then will in turn love you too.
Get people to like you with Cookies!!!! hahahaha… but you know its true!
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Preheat oven to 375.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda
In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, cream together the brown and white sugar with the room temperature butter. Add eggs and vanilla and stir. Now add the dry ingredients and….. then the chocolate chips.
On a light-colored baking sheet to a parchment line sheet, use a spoon and drop a constant size mound of dough, leaving room for expansion. Place in oven for 7-9 minus until cookie is barely turning brown. Remove and let sit on sheet for another minute before transferring to cooling rack. Keep doing this until all of you dough is gone…
COOKIES!!!!