Butterfinger Puppy Chow

Happy Friday! Do you all have any fun plans for the weekend? I don't have too much going on but sometimes those are the best weekends. And anyways, next weekend I will be in Chicago so I definitely have a lot to look forward to and plan. If you have any recommendations for places to see or restaurants to check out, please let me know! You know I am always looking for a city's best bakery. 

I usually don't post anything on Fridays, but I was really excited to share this Butterfinger Puppychow. Up until last week, I had never tried Puppychow, or Muddy Buddies as some people call them. But maybe that was a good thing because this Butterfinger Puppychow is one of the most addictive snacks I have ever had. I had to sent the rest of the bag into work with my boyfriend so that I wouldn't eat it all. Given that I am a big-time snacker, I couldn't keep my hand out of the bag. And now I can't stop thinking about what flavor combination I should try next- any suggestions? 

Butterfinger Puppychow

Recipe from Your Cup of Cake

6 cups Rice Chex Cereal
1 cup milk chocolate melts
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup Butterfingers, crushed

Add the Chex cereal to a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the milk chocolate melts, peanut butter and vanilla extract. Melt in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Stir with a spoon and then put the bowl back in the microwave for an additional 15 seconds. Pour the mixture over the Chex cereal and stir until evenly coated.

Dump the entire mixture into a plastic bag, add the crushed Butterfingers and shake until evenly coated.
Pour the mixture onto a cookie sheet and let cool completely.

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cookies

I first made these Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cookies during the holiday season and have loved them ever since. Really what is not to love? Soft peanut butter cookies filled with butterfinger chunks and chocolate chips- sounds good to me. Butterfingers are always one of the candy bars I can't resist at Halloween and they are the perfect addition to these cookies. Of course you could leave them out altogether but I wouldn't recommend it. You would still end up with tasty cookies but you really would be missing out. 

I also love how this recipes results in perfectly round cookies every single time I make them. I love opening the oven to find round cookies- it really it the small things in life that excite me. In my book, this recipe is a winner not only because of the amazing flavor combination, but also because of the beautiful cookies it produces. 

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe from Picky Palate

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups crushed butterfinger chunks
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

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

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Mix until fully combined after each addition. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. With the mixer on slow speed, slowly add the dry ingredients.

Turn the mixer off. Add the crushed butterfinger and chocolate chips. Mix with a spatula until combined.

With a medium sized ice cream scoop, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown along the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Mini Snickers Stuffed Snickerdoodle Bites

I guess you could say that I like stuffing candy and other treats into my cookies. I just love when there is a hidden surprise inside of a cookie. First, I made these Caramel Apple Milkyway Chocolate Chip Cookies that were a big hit at a birthday in the fall. I followed those up with Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies, as well as Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt, both which were instant favorites. I really don't see an end to the stuffed cookies anytime soon.

The best part about this recipe is that it does not require any baking. Start to finish you can make these cookie dough bites in just 20 minutes. Simple and delicious- those are definitely my favorite recipes. Even if you don't have snickers bars on hand, you can make plain snickerdoodle bites. Everyone loves  snickerdoodles. Also just a note- I preferred eating them slightly chilled out of the refrigerator, but that it is just my personal preference. 

Mini Snickers Stuffed Snickerdoodle Bites

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
28 mini snickers bars
3 tbsp granulated sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugars and cream of tartar until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the heavy cream and the vanilla extract. Mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar and cinnamon.

Scoop out one tablespoon of cookie dough at a time. Roll the cookie dough into a ball with your hands and then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Chill or serve immediately. The remaining snickerdoodle bites should be stored in the refrigerator.

Yield: 28 snickerdoodle bites

Mini M&M Pudding Cookies

TGIF. I don't know about you guys, but I am so happy that the weekend is finally here. As I mentioned earlier in the year, it has been a busy few months for me. After starting a new job just three weeks ago, I am finally starting to get into the swing of things. However, I have to wake up really early to catch the train into Boston every morning, leaving me really tired by the end of the end. I find myself going to bed earlier and earlier each night. Hopefully once I move into the city I will be able to get into a better routine. With my busy schedule, it has been hard to find time to bake as often as I would like. I can't go too long without baking though. Whenever it has been a few days I start to get the itch and inevitably find myself in the kitchen again. 

These cookies were the result of one of my recent baking afternoons. You all know how I feel about pudding cookies, so I could't wait to try out these Mini M&M Pudding Cookies. Like always, the pudding mix resulted in incredibly soft and delicious cookies. I love that these cookies are miniature in size, meaning that you can have more than one at a time without feeling guilty. Or at least that is how I choose to think about it. And with a yield of about four dozen cookies, you are certainly going to have a lot of cookies to eat. 

Mini M&M Pudding Cookies
recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures (originally adapted from allrecipes.com)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups mini M&M's

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

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add the vanilla pudding mix. Continue mixing until fully combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition. Add the vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Stop the mixer and add the M&M;s to the bowl. Mix with a spatula until combined.
Using a small scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Enjoy :)

M&M Cookies

Is it still too early to be thinking about Valentines Day? I don't know about you guys, but I need something to get me through the month of January. It's just that January is somewhat of a boring month. There are no holidays to celebrate. The days are long and dark. And there is a lot of snow, at least in New England. So I obviously start looking ahead and baking festive desserts for Valentines Day. I started with these soft M&M cookies. I love M&M cookies, especially the giant ones you get at places like Panera.  Everything is better with chocolate and that is certainly the case with these cookies. 

These cookies use cornstarch, which makes them incredibly soft inside. If you have never tried using cornstarch in your cookies, you should definitely try this recipe. Trust me, you will be looking for other recipes to make using this secret ingredient. I made these cookies for Valentines Day so I used special pink and red M&M's for the occasion. Feel free to use regular M&M's or even chocolate chips instead. 

M&M Cookies

Recipe from Cooking Classy

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and diced into cubes
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (11 oz) bag M&M's

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk, mixing until combined after each addition. Add the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Stop the mixer and add the M&M's. Mix with a spatula until incorporated into the batter. Scoop out cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

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 :)

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 :)

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 :)