Root Beer Sandwich Cookies

Root beer cookies with root beer filling. Yup. It's all root beer around here and it's good. Like amazing good. The cookie itself is soft textured, almost like the consistency of an oatmeal creme pie. The filling--yes with that same yummy root beer flavor--is thicker than buttercream, more like an Oreo filling with a root beer kick. My filling got used up before the cookies and I had every intention of stuffing those extra cookies full of vanilla ice cream for a root beer float sandwich, but...let's just say the cookies alone are really good!

My friend Kate (pictured with her cutie son Chad) had a birthday last month. Kate's a root beer fan so as soon as I saw this recipe, I knew it would be her birthday baking. In fact, I was so excited to get these to her that I shipped them out without taking a photo. And the few extra that I had (hey, you have to taste test) got devoured by Dave and I before I realized I had no photo! Luckily Kate is sweet enough (and thankful enough for the cookies) that she took some shots for me. Thanks Kate!

Homemade Twinkies

Yup. I made them and they are awesome. I'll ignore the whole Twinkie shortage outrage of 2013 and just say, I'm glad I stumbled across this pan at Bed Bath and Beyond for $4. Yup, I bought the pan for cheaper than an actual box of Twinkies. And they are easy. Plus I can pronounce everything in them. Oh, yeah, and they taste good. Better than the real thing, I think. The cakes are light and fluffy with just about nothing to them and the filling is sweet and creamy, slightly thinner than the store-bought version but perfect for these homemade treats. I'm so excited to have this pan. If you follow me on Facebook, then you might have seen me suggest running to the clearance department of your nearest Bed Bath and Beyond with your 20% off coupon for the ultimate baking equipment score. Hopefully they still have some left!

S'mores Whoopie Pies

Milk chocolate and marshmallow filling squished into graham cracker cakes make for a perfect, delicious and fun dessert. I'm a huge whoopie pie fan, and I love smore's (hello cookies and brownies and well, brownies), so the idea of whoopie pies in that delicious combo of flavors seems like a no brainer. The cookie of these whoopie pies mimic graham crackers because they are made with crushed graham cracker, but a soft, cakey version of the traditional crisp outside of a s'more. Melted Hershey bars and a marshmallow filling bring it all together. And a glass of milk and you are all set to enjoy a s'more and think about an end to this cold winter, looking forward to some warm campfire nights this summer.

Funfetti Whoopie Pies

Funfetti time! Because tomorrow is my birthday and nothing says happy birthday like sprinkles. Lots and lots of sprinkles. I love whoopie pies but I haven't made them in ages. So since I got a new whoopie pie pan for Christmas (with my donut pan), I figured it was time. There are a handful of whoopie pie creations I'm looking forward to trying, but funfetti called my name. Soft, fluffy cakes oozing with marshmallow filling and rolled in more sprinkles seems like the right thing to do. The flavor is delicious and I think the marshmallow filling is just the right sweetness without making you want to pull your teeth out. My friend Rachel thought they could be sweeter. So just know going in that it'll either be spot on or little undersweet.

Gingerbread Men Sandwich Cookies

Gingerbread cookies are a must for Christmas and I make some version of them every year. So this year when I saw the idea of making them into sandwich cookies, I couldn't resist. I made sandwiches out of gingerbread men, stars and trees, because I like to party. The cookies are soft and flavorful, made with molasses, cinnamon and of course, ginger. The filling is perfect for sandwich cookies, creamy and sweet, and has the perfect texture to combine cookies without oozing out the sides like messy frosting. I really need to make more sandwich cookies--they are fun and you can get away with eating two cookies and frosting but look like your only having one.

Cranberry Orange Pinwheels

If you've been following me for a while, you know I love swirled cookies.  I've got so many different flavors and am always looking for more--mint and fudge, almond and sugar, cinnamon and cranberry, peanut butter and chocolate.  I just love these cookies because they are so much fun to make.  It might seem like a lot of steps, but I still think they are easier than regular roll out sugar cookies, and there's the bonus of tons of flavor.  These cranberry and orange swirls are stuffed with fresh cranberries and pecans, sweetened with brown sugar.  It's a lovely combination and I'm really glad I picked up this recipe for my swirls this year.  Sweet and nutty with a nice sugar cookie base.  Cranberry and orange are one of my favorite holiday flavor combinations, and the addition of pecans works so well.  These are officially on the holiday cookie list.

Snickers Cupcakes

Hungry? Hungry for chocolate?  Maybe some peanuts and caramel?  Well grab a huge glass of milk and let's get to town.  Dave looked at these and said they looked intense.  I responded, "Eh, we've got milk," because these cupcakes are rich, delicious and might just be my favorite new cupcake.  The rich, chocolate cupcake is stuffed with chunks of Snickers candy bars and caramel, topped with a creamy caramel buttercream and more chunks of Snickers.  Heaven.  You need these.  They might just change your life.  Or just put you in a nice sugar coma for an afternoon.  Either would be good.

Pumpkin Roll

As you may know, I don't generally do cakes.  I've make a few here and there, but I don't have the patience for decorating, so I stick to the things I love--like cookies and muffins.  But, like any good Girl Scout, before I hang up my apron in defeat, I do like to give a good try to anything.  So the idea of baking a thin cake and spiraling it up with filling to make a rolled cake was a challenge I'd be willing to accept.  While seemingly difficult, I thought it was more about engineering that actual patience with details so since decoration was not necessary, I might be able to succeed here.  And who knew I could do it?  While there are a few tweaks I'll make for my next go around, I loved this cake and this process.  Dave was in awe and could have finished the whole thing if I'd have let him.  The cake has perfect texture with a lightness to it, not dense or heavy.  The cream cheese filling is sweet but not sickly and the addition of fiori di sicilia (like I did in the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins) offers a slight citrus note the complements the pumpkin and spices, as well as the lightness of the cake.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

These are deceptive little monsters.  Oh, they look so innocent with their perfect pumpkin hue and their tasty streusel-y topping, like a lovely little fiber-filled muffin with a little sweetness.  Then you bite it and bam!--cream cheesey goodness all wrapped up inside.  These muffins are amazing.  I took them to a meeting and they went untouched for a little while.  Then someone had one.  And someone else noticed they weren't "normal" so they grabbed one.  And of course the other side of the table caught wind of the hidden treasure in these muffins and before I knew it, well, let's just say I didn't bring any leftovers home.

Homemade Oreos

A great debate ensued after I made these cookies.  As you know, Dave is my got-to Chief of Dessert Recognition, often decides that the names of various recipes don't quite match the finished product, such as when he renamed these and these.  The actual name of these cookies are Homemade Oreos, but Dave thought they were too good to be called simply Oreos.  He wanted a bigger, better, more fantastic name to really define the goodness of these cookies.  And he threw out my idea of Faux-reos (which I thought was clever when I saw it on other blogs).  Unfortunately he didn't decide on anything before I posted today.  Even Ernie got into the discussion while he was beside himself enjoying what he called OMG-reos, stating he wasn't going to have anything to drink for an hour so he could savor the taste.  Then Dave started pondering why anyone would buy a regular store-bought Oreo when you could make these (answer: to dip it in chocolate or make truffles).  But honestly, these are delicious.  Because they are thicker than the machine pressed wafers from the package, they are a little bit softer, but overall it's a crisp cookie on the outside with a perfect intensity of chocolate.  And the cream filling!  Oh my, I can't believe how spot on that taste and texture is.  And all so simple.  Start to finish was about an hour and for it to be so perfect a replication, there is no reason not to try your hand at these.

Inside Out Carrot Cake Muffins

I don't even know where to begin with these.  These are amazing muffins.  Full of crazy delicious flavor, pretty to look at, and a wonderful treat for brunch or a pot luck.  And I don't even like carrot cake.  Not sure why, it was just never a flavor that I could get into.  If carrot cake was an option, I'd most certainly choose anything else, and if it was the only thing, then I'd just forgo dessert.  I like veggies and I like desserts, but I guess I just preferred if they minded their own business and kept to themselves.  But these.  Oh, these are a muffin I can get behind.  I took them to work for a morning meeting where they were well received.  Then around 3 pm the meeting chair wandered into my office, asking, "Do you have anything sweet left from the meeting?"  I did, shared with him, and he said, "These are so good.  What are they?"  Is that not the best compliment?  It screams "job well done" when someone admits they have know clue what they are eating but it's so damn good I just want more.

This recipe is a recovery from a carrot cake I tried to make that FAILED.  Ug.  It was beautiful, fragrant, perfectly golden and the cream cheese frosting smeared beautifully on it.  Then I sliced into it to find it was completely undercooked despite my having tested it numerous times.  (Stupid oven...you just wait until the appliance guy shows up and gives you what for.  Or at least I hope he gives you what for and doesn't tell me I need a new oven.)  (Don't worry--I'd sliced the cake before I took it to work and was able to have enough time to whip up something else to take that day.)  The next week, discouraged by my cake catastrophe, I took to Pinterest hoping to find something I could make in a carrot cake-style.  I searched "carrot cake muffins" and this pin was practically the only picture that showed up.  I remembered that months ago I'd actually pinned this King Arthur Flour recipe myself, but forgot.  This recipe is amazing.  It was super quick to put together, even with layering the batter and filling.  It uses Fiori di Sicilia, which I realized I'd picked up last fall when I visited the King Arthur Flour store but hadn't used yet.  It's a wonderfully unique flavoring that provides a subtle citrusy flavor (don't worry if you don't have any, you can omit it and still have a lovely muffin).  I actually really liked how the filling broke through the surface of the muffins--they look very inviting and delicious, but I think next time instead of doing two scoops of batter on the bottom and one on top of the filling, I'd do the reverse.  I just didn't seem to have enough batter to cover the top of the filling in the muffin tins.  Either way, these are amazing and have definitely made me a carrot cake convert!