White Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunchers

These cookies, which I've had my eye on for quite a while, were good but I would defintely make a couple of changes:

1) Decrease the amount of white chocolate chips from 1 bag (approximately 2 cups) to 1 cup. White chocolate chips are incredibly sweet and, while I normally have quite the sweet tooth, these were too much for me.

2) Add the Cinnamon Toast Crunch whole, rather than cruching it up slightly. When I added my crushed cereal to my stand mixer, the cereal got crushed up even more so that the cereal was barely noticible in the cookie.

3) Increase the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal by about a half a cup.I think the cookies could benefit from a little more Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavor.

Photo Courtesy of Picky Palate

White Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunchers
(Source: Picky Palate)

2 sticks softened butter
1 Cup packed brown sugar
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon real vanilla extract
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal, slightly crushed up
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined. In a large bowl combine the flour, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal, baking powder and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the white chips until just combined. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough and place onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until edges just start to turn golden brown.

2. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk!

3 dozen cookies

(Not Really) Lofthouse Cookies

You've heard of Lofthouse Cookies before, right?

Those incredible addictive cookies that are white as snow, soft, almost as crumbly as polvorones, and have a lot of flavor from whatever blend of extracts are used?

Yeah, those.

I tried to recreate them this weekend for a bridal shower I was hosting. I did a lot of internet research before starting. I can't tell you the reasoning behind which recipe I finally chose, other than that it boasted that they tasted "exactly like Lofthouse Cookies."

Well, it wasn't entirely true.

They were not as puffy as Lofthouse Cookies. They were also not as soft, and the edges were almost crunchy and I defintiely didn't overbake them (You know how I am with cookies). You could taste the oil in the cookie, so much so that I had to add extra vanilla to try to balance out the flavor.

So, as of right now, the hunt is still on. Next time I will either be trying the version found on Cookie Maddness or Cooking with Carrie.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies
(Source: bon appécookie)

Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour

Frosting:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 (1/2 stick) unsalted butter softened
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp half and half (or whole milk)
5 drops food coloring

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Cream together the butter, oil, and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl sift together the remaining dry ingredients. Combine with the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.

3. Refrigerate dough or roll into evenly-sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Leave on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To make the frosting, beat together all ingredients well, adding milk and food coloring last for desired thickness and color. Frost cooled cookies generously and add decorations as desired.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

This ice cream is good. Really good. The the clean and light cinnamon flavor made my taste buds dance. I will definitely make this recipe again and again and again and again. And, despite the recent arrival of autumn, I will definitely be trying even more ice cream recipes in the near future.

Cinnamon Ice Cream
(Source: The Perfect Scoop)

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
Ten 3-inch cinnamon sticks, broken up
2 cups heavy cream, divided
5 egg yolks

1. Warm the milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks and 1 cup of the heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Once warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

2. Rewarm the cinnamon-infused milk mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon and discard them. Pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

4. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (should reach 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

5. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.