Caramel Apple Milky Way Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Caramel Apple Milky Way Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. Phew. There are a lot of flavors going on in these cookies. But that is a good thing. I brought these cookies to the birthday party of my boyfriend's mom this past weekend. Happy birthday to her and her friends :) Anyways, these cookies were a hit. No offense to all of the other cookies at the party, but everyone loved these cookies and they were gone before anything else. I even saw one kid take one and then come back for three more a few minutes later. Not that anyone could blame him. 

When people first take a bite, they assume it is just a regular chocolate chip cookie. But baked inside each one is a mini caramel apple milky way. Have you seen these in stores? I found mine at Target- big surprise there. I actually ran out of milky ways before I finished making the cookies, so there were a few plain chocolate chip cookies in the cookie tray. Hopefully no one was too mad if they ended up with one of the cookies without a milky way inside.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Caramel Apple Milky Way Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from Picky Palate

Yield: 5-6 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

10 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 bag caramel apple milky ways

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until combined and creamy. Add the vanilla and eggs and continue mixing until fully incorporated. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until fully combined. 

Stop the mixer and add the chocolate chips. Mix with a spatula until combined.

Using a small ice cream scoop or a teaspoon, place one scoop of cookie dough on top of a caramel apple milkway. Then take another scoop of cookie dough and place in on the bottom the milky way. Seal edges together and place on a prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Enjoy :)

Halloween Funfetti Cookie Sandwiches

Happy Monday! I have one more Halloween recipe to share with you before Wednesday rolls around. I absolutely love all things funfetti so this recipe was a no-brainer for me. Two soft funfetti cookies with a creamy buttercream frosting in the middle- what is not to love? The black and orange sprinkles, along with the orange tinted buttercream, makes it the perfect treat for Halloween. But this recipe can easily be adapted for all Holidays or special occasions. Just switch up the sprinkles and food coloring. 

As I sit here writing this post, we are waiting for Hurricane Sandy to hit Massachusetts. The rain started yesterday afternoon, but there hasn't been any wind or other signs of a Hurricane yet. School was cancelled and buildings are being evacuated, so everyone must be expecting the worse. I hope that everyone in the Northeast stays safe throughout the storm! If you are stuck inside for the next few days but still have power, you can always make some cookies! Enjoy!

Halloween Funfetti Cookie Sandwiches
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod (Cookie recipe originally adapted from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body)

Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup black and orange sprinkles

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp heavy cream
Orange food coloring 

Cookies:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and continue to mix until fully incorporated.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. While the mixer is on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.
Turn off the mixer and add the sprinkles. Mix with a spatula until combined.
Form cookie dough into small balls, about 1 tbsp in size, and drop onto the baking sheet. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Allow cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Frosting:
In a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. While the mixer is on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.
Add the salt, vanilla, almond extract and heavy cream. Beat for about 3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. 
Add the food coloring and mix until combined and desired color is reached.

Pipe small amounts of frosting onto each cookie one at a time and sandwich with another cookie.

Enjoy :)

Candy Corn Drink

This drink is sure to impress all of your friends on Halloween night. When I first saw it in a magazine a few weeks ago, I thought it was really fun but didn't know how easy it would be to get all of the different layers to stay on top of one another. Well it turns out it isn't hard at all. The key is to place a wooden spoon over the gelatin layer and gently pour the orange soda onto the back of the wooden spoon. I know this might sound weird, but trust me it works!

I didn't have any extra candy corn around the house or else I would have added some to the top of the pitcher. You definitely don't need to do that though, this drink is fun enough on its own. I especially think that kids would enjoy this candy corn drink.

And did I mention how easy it is to make? I have been so busy in the kitchen the past two days, baking halloween themed desserts and something to bring to my boyfriend's mom's birthday party this weekend. It was nice to at have at least one recipe that was not only easy to put together, but also easy to clean up. That it is the best part :)

Candy Corn Drink

Recipe from Better Homes and Garden: Fall Baking 2012 Edition

1 4-serving size package of lemon flavored gelatin

1 cup boiling water

2 cups mango nectar

3 1/2 cups orange carbonated beverage, chilled

1 cup whipping cream

2 tbsp honey

In a large bowl, combine the boiling water and gelatin. Stir with a spoon until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Stir in the mango nectar. Pour the entire mixture into a clear 2-quart pitcher and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 2 hours. The mixture should thicken but not set. 

Take a wooden spoon and hold it above the gelatin mixture. Gently pour the orange soda over the back of the wooden spoon. 

In a medium bowl, combine the whipping cream and honey. Beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Either pipe or spoon the the mixture on top of the drink.

Before serving, stir to mix all of the layers.

Enjoy :)

Dark Chocolate Spider Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Are you ready for Halloween yet? Only one more week to go. I thought I would share another fun Halloween recipe with you today. How cute are these little spider cupcakes? You can add these spider cupcake stands to the list of things from Target I definitely don't need, but still buy anyway. That list is a lot longer than I care to admit. But I knew I wanted to make spider cupcakes as soon as I saw them so into my shopping cart they went. I also found the candy eyes in the Halloween aisle of Target, but you can also get them at Walmart, Michaels or online. 

Even if you can't find the spider cupcake holders that I used, you can easily use black licorice to construct the spider legs. Then your spiders would be 100% edible! I told you that I love baking Halloween recipes. You really can get so creative during this time of the year. Plus it is the one time of the year when it is acceptable to make food that doesn't look very appetizing. Although I still think these spider cupcakes are really cute, not exactly a spooky dessert :)

Dark Chocolate Spider Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Cupcake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart, Ganache recipe from Georgetown Cupcake

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

For the Ganache:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

Chocolate Sprinkles and Candy Eyes for decoration

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Add the eggs, water, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix until fully incorporated and smooth. 

Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Ganache:

Combine heavy cream and chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl set on top of a pot of barely simmering water. Allow chocolate chips to melt completely, stirring throughout the process. Make sure to keep stirring as you do not want the chocolate to burn. Once melted, remove from heat and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes.

Take cooled cupcakes and dip into the bowl of chocolate ganache one at a time, making sure to completely cover each of the cupcake tops. Return to cooling rack and allow the ganache to set for 2-3 minutes. 

Add chocolate sprinkles to the cupcakes and candy eyes on top. 

Enjoy :)

Maple Syrup Pancake Muffins

My boyfriend has been asking to have pancakes for dinner for the past few weeks. While I haven't gotten around to making actual pancakes yet, I decided to make these maple syrup pancake muffins for him this past weekend. I think that was a fair compromise :) These muffins really do taste like pancakes soaked in maple syrup. 

After the muffin batter was already made, I looked at the recipe and noticed that it only resulted in a yield of approximately 10-12 muffins. While that might be enough muffins for some people, I need to feed a whole basketball coaching staff when I bake. By the time my boyfriend and I finished breakfast and I took some home to my photograph, there certainly would not be enough for all of the coaches. So we decided I had to make another batch. This time I switched things up and added some mini chocolate chips to the batter. In the end, I'm glad we ended up making two batches of these muffins because I think the chocolate chip version was my favorite. Who doesn't like chocolate chip pancakes? Feel free to add your favorite pancake fixings to the batter though :)

Maple Syrup Pancake Muffins

Recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures (Originally adapted from Joy the Baker)

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

7 tbsp unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Maple Glaze:

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. As the butter melts, it will begin to bubble and eventually turn brown in color. As soon as it turns brown, remove from the heat and keep whisking.  Allow the browned butter to cool. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, egg york, maple syrup and vanilla. Slowly add the cooled brown butter and continue to whisk until combined.

Fill each cavity of muffin tin about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool on a cooling rack. 

Glaze: 

Combine the maple syrup and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly, until syrup is thick. 

Once the muffins are cooled, use a fork or knife to poke holes on the top of each one. Dip each muffin into the syrup mixture one at a time. Repeat this step if desired.

Enjoy :)

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Is it Friday yet? This is a really busy week for me because it is midterms week! You see, I took time off from work in September to go back to school and finish getting my CPA license. Only five more classes now stand between me and that license. Anyways, I had two midterms yesterday and one more tomorrow. Almost done! It has definitely been a long process, so I will be glad when I am finally done with everything. 

Over the weekend, I decided to take a break from studying and make a pumpkin pie milkshake for myself. I actually drank this milkshake for breakfast on Sunday morning. A milkshake is an acceptable breakfast, right? I made myself one very large milkshake, but you could split it up into smaller glasses and share with your friends. I just wasn't in the mood to share mine :)

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Recipe adapted from Dine and Dish

1/3 cup pumpkin 

1/2 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp Pumpkin Spice flavored Jell-O Instant Pudding Mix

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 cups vanilla ice cream

Sprinkles for decoration

Place all ingredients in a blender. Secure lid of the blender and mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy. 

Pour milkshake into a tall glass and add sprinkles on top.

Enjoy :)

Wormy Dark Chocolate Brownies

Are you having a Halloween party this year? If so, you should make these wormy dark chocolate brownies. They are super easy to make and the perfect addition to any Halloween themed party. With the crumbled brownies and gummy worms on top, they almost remind me of those worms in dirt pudding cups. Do you remember those? There used to be a restaurant near my house that had those on the kids menu. I used to love going to that restaurant just so I could order the worms in dirt for dessert. The gummy worms were the best part :) I should really recreate that recipe sometime because now I am really craving one of those worms in dirt pudding cups. 

I have a bunch of other fun Halloween themed recipes coming up soon. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and it is so much fun to create these fun and spooky recipes to share with everyone. Now I just need to find a Halloween party to attend. Any ideas? I will bring the desserts :)

Wormy Dark Chocolate Brownies

Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger (as seen in People Magazine on October 24, 2011)

8 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

4 large eggs

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla

20 gummy worms for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking pan and set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Make sure to stir occasionally as the chocolate is melting.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add the yogurt, oil and vanilla and mix until combined. 

Add the melted chocolate and mix until fully incorporated. Finally add the flour mixture and mix until smooth and combined. 

Transfer the mixture to prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the pan to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Once cooled, cut into 24 brownies. Crumble 4 brownies to use as garnish. Serve remaining brownies with crumbles and gummy worms on top.

Enjoy :)

Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Praline Frosting

My boyfriend and I finally had the chance to go apple picking this past weekend. But where did all of the apples go? I guess we should have gone earlier in the season because most of the trees were bare. One woman told us to head over to braeburn apples, insisting that they were great for baking. There were definitely tons of braeburn apples left to pick, but we were the only people on that side of the farm. No wonder she wanted us to head over in that direction. 

Either way, my boyfriend found some good braeburn apples to pick. He did a great job climbing trees and finding apples for me to bake with. Then we walked around the rest of the farm and found a few more apples to pick. Definitely not a lot of good choices though.

In the end, I made the most of our braeburn apples and whipped up this apple cream cheese bundt cake with praline frosting. I had been eyeing this recipe for a long time and am glad I finally had the opportunity to make it. The cake is packed with chopped apples, pecans and a thin layer of cream cheese filling. It is the perfect cake to celebrate fall flavors. Hope you enjoy friends! 

Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Praline Frosting

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker (originally adapted from Southern Living)

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1 cup pecans, toasted slightly and finely chopped

Praline Frosting:

1/2 light brown sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter

3 tbsp whole milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12 cup bundt pan and set aside.

Cream Cheese Filling: 

Using an electric or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Add the egg, flour and vanilla, beating until fully incorporated. Set aside.

Cake: 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, spices, baking soda and salt. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, canola oil, applesauce and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and whisk using fully incorporated.

Gently mix in the apples and pecans. 

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Top with the cream cheese filling, making sure that it is spread out evenly in the pan. With a knife, gently swirl the cream cheese filling a few times. 

Pour remainder of the cake batter on top of the pan. Make sure the batter completely covers the cream cheese filling.

Bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. 

Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the cooling rack and allow it to cool completely. 

Praline Frosting:

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking the whole time. After 1 minute, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Slowly whisk in the powdered sugar until mixture is fully incorporated and smooth. 

Pour frosting over the top of the cake and add extra pecans on top. Allow frosting to set for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy :)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

With all of the pumpkin baking I have been doing this fall, I can't keep enough pumpkin stocked up in my kitchen. I buy more every time I go to the grocery store, but it still isn't enough. I just can't get enough pumpkin during this time of the year, so bear with me for a few more recipes. I am sure you don't mind too much.

Out of all the recipes I have made this fall, these muffins might just be my favorite. Not only do I love the warm pumpkin flavor, but the cinnamon streusel topping puts these muffins over the top. All of the original muffins were gone within two days, so I must not be the only one who really likes them in my house.

Tomorrow I will give you a break from all of the pumpkin and share a recipe for a delicious apple cake I made earlier this week. But I can't promise that the break will last too long. I was in the kitchen earlier this week experimenting with new pumpkin recipes. It is a tough job, really. 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod 

Muffins:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1/3 cup water

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon Streusel Topping:

1 1/4 cup oats

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

6 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks

Muffins:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter muffin pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, water, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla until combined. Slowly mix in the flour mixture. Whisk until fully incorporated. 

Cinnamon Streusel Topping:

In a small bowl, mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined. Mix in the butter with your hands. The end result should be a crumbly mixture.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full with the pumpkin mixture and then sprinkle the cinnamon streusel on top of each muffin. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool on a cooling rack before serving.

Enjoy :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

I can't believe I waited this long to share a cupcake recipe with you. I love cupcakes (see exhibit A) and I especially love baking homemade cupcakes. Decorating is the best part. Sometimes I like to use fondant, but sometimes I just use candy or other food to top my cupcakes. For these pumpkin cupcakes, I kept it simple by adding pumpkin candies on top. You could also use candy corn or your favorite Halloween candy. These pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes are good on their own, but I love the addition of cream cheese frosting on top. Pumpkin and Cream Cheese are a great combination.  There is even a slight hint of pumpkin in the frosting- yum! 

Despite the threat of rain, we finally got to go apple picking this past weekend. We were a little disappointed by the number of apples on the trees though. Maybe we need to go earlier in the apple season? That being said, I did come home with two bags of apples and am ready to start baking some apple treats. Stay tuned for apple recipes coming up soon!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe from the Boston Globe- October 26, 2011

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup chocolate chips

Pumpkin candies for decoration

Frosting:

1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tbsp pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

For the Cupcakes:

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

In a electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for about 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding in the milk and the pumpkin. Mix until fully combined.

Set the mixer to the lowest speed and add in the flour mixture slowly. Once fully combined, stop the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips by hand. 

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. 

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

For the Frosting:

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in the pumpkin and vanilla and beat until fully combined. Slowly add in the sugar until mixture is smooth and creamy. 

Stop the mixer and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour before use.

Frost cooled cupcakes and add pumpkin candies for decoration.

Enjoy :)

Maple Pecan Monkey Muffins

Happy Friday! After an entire week of rain, the sun is finally out this morning! The only good thing about this week's rain is that baking is the perfect activity for a rainy afternoon. So baking is what I did and I made you these Maple Pecan Monkey Muffins. Have you guys ever had Monkey Bread? Small, sticky pieces of dough covered in brown sugar and cinnamon, baked together in a bundt pan. Sounds good right? Well these muffins are individual sized versions of the popular recipe but still just as good. 

These honestly might be the easiest muffins I have ever made. The recipe calls for refrigerated biscuit dough, which is cut up into small pieces and dipped into a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. The best part is the ooey gooey maple syrup butter on the bottom of each muffin. Feel free to add more maple syrup to the top of each muffin if you like.

Do you guys have any fun plans for this weekend? My boyfriend and I planned to go Apple Picking on Sunday, but it looks like it is supposed to rain again all weekend. Bummer. Hopefully we get a little bit of sun at some point. All of this rain is also messing up the 5K training I am supposed to be doing. If you know anything about me, you know that I am not a runner. And all of this rain is just one more excuse not to run, which is not good with my race just about one month away. Yikes! Maybe I will go for a run now while it is nice out...or maybe I will just go have another muffin :) 

Maple Pecan Monkey Muffins

Recipe from Very Culinary

1 can of refrigerated Grands Biscuits

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

Melt maple syrup and butter in the microwave. Pour mixture into each cavity of the muffin pan, distributing evenly throughout each. 

In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon until combined. 

Cut each biscuit into eight small pieces of equal size. Place each piece into the brown sugar and pecan mixture, making such that they are evenly coated with the mixture. 

Place five coated biscuit pieces into each cavity of the muffin pan. 

Sprinkle any remaining brown sugar and pecan mixture on the top of each muffin.

Bake for 18 minutes or until muffins are golden brown in color.

Enjoy :)

Chocolate Cookies with Candy Corn M&Ms and Butterscotch Chips

October means that Halloween will be here before we know it. Do you have a costume picked out yet? Every year I always have so many costume ideas, but then I can never find exactly what I had in mind. I never use any of my good ideas and my list continues to grow! I still have a few more weeks to find the perfect costume for this year though. 

Even though I don't have a Halloween costume picked out yet, I already planned out all of the Halloween desserts I want to make throughout the month. Baking with Halloween decorations and all of the seasonal ingredients is so much fun. I wanted to start things off with these chocolate cookies with candy corn M&Ms and butterscotch chips. Have you seen the white chocolate candy corn M&Ms yet? I found them in Target a few weeks ago and they really do taste like candy corn. So much fun!

These cookies are soft and fudgy. Did I mention that they are packed full of M&Ms and butterscotch chips? I cut one open so you could see all of the white chocolate and butterscotch goodness inside. The yellow and orange M&Ms make these the perfect cookies for Halloween! Feel free to use plain M&Ms  instead if you can't find the candy corn ones :)

Chocolate Cookies with Candy Corn M&Ms and Butterscotch Chips

Adapted from Picky Palate

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup candy corn M&Ms

1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Using an electric or stand mixer, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. 

Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until well combined. 

Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until fully incorporated. 

Add M&Ms and chips, mixing for another 30 seconds or so.

Use a medium scoop to scoop cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Cookies should be about 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes until cookies are baked all the way through.

Allow cookies to cool on pan before transferring to a cooling rack. 

Enjoy :) 

Baked Maple French Toast Donuts

Good morning October! How did you get here so fast? Last night was the first night I really had to bundle up under the blankets, but I am not complaining. I love the cooler nights and everything else about fall. As long as December doesn't come around too quickly, I will be happy.

In honor of the cooler weather, I made some maple french toast donuts for you to enjoy this morning. These lightly spiced buttermilk donuts are simple to make. Just combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix, mix, mix until combined. They only need to bake for about seven minutes or so. Cover these babies with a sweet maple glaze and extra powdered sugar and you have yourself the perfect little treat.

I have been on a major donut kick lately. After making these pumpkin spice donuts a few weeks ago and buttermilk donuts earlier in the summer, I can't stop pulling out my donut pan to bake. French Toast is one of my favorite breakfasts so I was especially eager to try it out in donut form.

After all of my praise for these donuts, I have to admit that they almost didn't happen yesterday afternoon. When I got back from the grocery store, I realized that we didn't have any buttermilk. Don't you hate when that happens? Anyways, I really didn't want to go back out in the pouring rain but I'm glad that I finally did. Otherwise you probably would have been stuck with another pumpkin recipe today :)

Baked Maple French Toast Donuts

Recipe from Bakingdom

Struesel Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter, cut into smaller chunks

Donuts:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

2 tbsp butter, melted

Maple Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Butter donut pan(s) and set aside.

Streusel Topping:

Whisk together the sugars, flour, cinnamon and salt until combined. Add the cold butter chunks and combine with your fingers. Freeze the streusel topping mixture until ready for use.

Donuts: 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices until combined. Add in the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter and stir for about 30 seconds. Make sure you do not over-mix the batter. Fill each cavity of the donut pan about 3/4 full. Remove the streusel topping from the freezer and sprinkle on top. 

Bake for about 7 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Transfer donuts to a cooling rack. 

Maple Glaze:

While donuts are cooling, combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, milk and vanilla in a small bowl. Stir with a spoon until combined. When donuts are fully cooled, drizzle the maple glaze on top. Also sprinkle powdered sugar on top of donuts as desired.

Enjoy :)