Month: February 2013

Cake Batter Birthday Cookies


Another birthday-related post! Today is my friend Nikki’s birthday, so I made her these cookies. One of the very few great things about law school is that we all want to eat our feelings every now and then. So I get to bake a lot. If a cookie makes the day more bearable, you gotta roll with it.

I really enjoyed these cookies. The cake batter flavor is not overwhelming – and you can use chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or a mixture of both. The sprinkles aren’t necessary, but come on. Everything improves with sprinkles.

Cake Batter Birthday Cookies
Recipe source: Sally’s Baking Addiction
Print Recipe

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups white or yellow boxed cake mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips, or a mix of both)
1/2 cup sprinkles

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed. Mix in the egg and vanilla until creamy.
3. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix!
4. Fold in the chocolate chips and sprinkles.
5. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour. (I let sit overnight) You must do this refrigeration step otherwise the dough will be too sticky and the cookies will spread.
6. Preheat oven to 350F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
7. Scoop rounded tablespoons of the cold dough onto the cookie sheets. Make sure that the balls of dough are taller than they are wide (I’m not sure how this works, but it helps to make the cookies thicker and they will spread less).
8. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks for complete cooling.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Bumble Bee Cake & Cupcakes


I was asked to donate a cake/cupcakes to a charity event last year in Chicago. I somehow forgot to blog about these goodies until now. Whoops. The event was a Spelling Bee fundraiser and everything was bumble bee themed! I made a bee cake and a million bee mini cupcakes. Apologies for the less-than-stellar photos – I took them very last minute, when everything was all packaged up and ready to roll!

Mini Cupcakes:

  • I used yellow and chocolate box mixes to make the cupcakes.
  • I made a batch of chocolate buttercream and yellow-tinted white buttercream. Recipes for both can be found here.
  • I ordered the little sugar bees from Amazon.com, the rest of the cupcakes were decorated with sprinkles.

Bee Cake:

  • I used Wilton’s lady bug cake pan for this — and converted it, by decorating, into a bee!
  • One box of cake mix will be enough to fill the pan.
  • I decorated the bee with a small star tip, using the same icings that I listed above. You can attempt to make black icing, but it takes A LOT of black food dye to avoid a gray-ish hue.
  • The stinger was made out of brown fondant.
  • I was going to include wings on the bee, but they would have made the cake too tall to fit into the box. So the lil’ dude was wingless!

Birthday Cake Oreo Stuffed Cookies

Happy birthday to……… someone! It’s not my birthday and it’s not the birthday of any of my friends or family members, but let’s celebrate birthdays anyway! I saw these birthday cake-flavored Oreos at the grocery store and they were in my cart 0.2 seconds later. One of my favorite cookies ever is Picky Palate’s Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. I thought I could put a different twist on the same recipe – this time making them with the birthday cake-flavored Oreos. The result was amazing. My one and only regret is that I didn’t put white chocolate chips into these babies. I was going to and then realized that I was out of white chocolate chips — and the winter weather made me less inclined to go out and get another bag.

PS: If, by chance, today is your birthday — happy birthday!!!

Birthday Cake Oreo Stuffed Cookies
Recipe source: Adapted from Picky Palate
Print Recipe

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag white chocolate chips
1 bag birthday cake Oreos
1/2 cup sprinkles (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with white chocolate chips and sprinkles until just combined.
4. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo  is enclosed with dough.
5. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Valentine’s Day Ideas 2013

Valentine’s Day is two days away!! Here are some ideas if you’re looking to make a sweet treat.

1. Tootsie Roll Fudge
2. Chocolate Mayonnaise Cupcakes
3. Red Velvet Cake
4. Pink Ombre cake
5. Pear-Raspberry Heart Pies
6. Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
7. Fudge Brownies
8. Red Velvet Cupcakes
9. Neapolitan Rice Krispie Treats
10. Brownie Bites
11. Buckeye Bites
12. Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake
13. Cherry Chocolate Kisses
14. Conversation Heart Cupcakes
15. Conversation Heart Cookies
16. Black & White Heart Cookies
17. Mini Valentine Cupcakes
18. Conversation Heart Marshmallow Cookies
19. Pink Heart Cookies
20. White Chocolate and Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Mardi Gras Ideas 2013


Mardi Gras is February 12th – here are some ideas for New Orleans’ favorite celebration!

1. Mardi Gras Cake Pops
2. King Cake
3. King Cake Knots
4. King Cake Monkey Bread