Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bars

I have been craving chocolate chip cookies lately but haven't really had the time to sit in the kitchen all day and make batch after batch. So when I saw this recipe on Dozen Flours, I figured it was a quicker way and why not add a little cinnamon in there. These turned out really good and the cinnamon made my apartment smell awesome! I halved the entire recipe and made them in a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bars

1 cup butter, at room temperature

3/4 cups white sugar

3/4 cups packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoons

1 tablespoons of cinnamon + 1/2 teaspoon

1 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons salt

2 cups chocolate chips (you can use chocolate chips that are the same, or change it up. I used 1 cup of semi sweet morsels and 1 cup mini semi sweet morsels. Note: you can substitute one cup of the chocolate for one cup of roughly chopped nuts of your choice)

Preheat the over to 375F.

Grease and flour (I use Pam with Flour) 1 9 x 13 inch pan.

Combine all the chocolate chip and sprinkle 1 tablespoons of flour and a shake or two of cinnamon. Use your hand to coat the chocolate chips and set aside. (This helps the chocolate chips not to sink to the bottom of the the batter while baking.)

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and both sugars together until well combined, about 1 minutes. Add eggs (all at once) and the vanilla and beat for 1 minute on medium until thick and well combined.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well each time. The batter gets pretty thick.

Use your hands to add the chocolate, trying to avoid the handful of cinnamon flour that's sitting at the bottom of the bowl. Using a mixer blend it for a few second until the chocolate is well distributed into the batter.

Scoop the batter into the pan. Bake for 10 minutes and remove the pan from the oven and hit it on the counter to force the air out of the batter. Put the pan back into the oven and continue cooking until the center passes the toothpick test. I kept checking it every 3-5 minutes. DO NOT OVER COOK! The dough along the perimeter will cook and brown faster than the middle and that's okay. You want the center to be just at the point where they are done, so it might look like they are slightly under cooked. Mine too about 18 minutes.
When they are done, remove from the oven and hit the pan on the counter again. Use a knife to cut around the edges of the pan and leave 'em alone for a while.
When the pan is cool enough to touch, place onto a cooling rack. Let them sit until totally cool. I gave it about 3 hours.

These turned out so great...the cinnamon with the chocolate is such a great combo! I cut them into bars for all my co-workers to enjoy! Print This

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Slowly I am chipping away at the list of recipes I want to try out, so after dinner last night I decided I wanted to bake something. Since it was a little late, I decided to make something quick, I chose the Cinnamon Roll Cake. I first saw the recipe on 3B's...Baseball, Baking & Books but the original post came from Abby Sweet's. This was a super simple recipe and it smelled awesome while it was baking.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Yellow Cake Mix
4 eggs

¾ cup oil

1 cup sour cream

Mix by hand and pour in 13 x 9 greased baking pan.

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Mix and pour over cake batter.

Swirl into batter with knife.

Bake @ 325 for 40 minutes. (Mine took about 35 minutes)

Let cake cool 10 – 15 minutes before icing.

Icing: 2 cups powdered sugar

4 tbsp milk (I used a little more than 4tbsp)

Pour over warm cake.

My friends at work loved it! They usually wait a little while before tasting whatever I bring, but since this was somewhat breakfast-ish they dug right in!

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Smore's Cookie Bars

A few weeks ago when I found 3B's...Baseball, Baking & Books , I slowly went through Ingrid's posts and printed page after page of recipes I wanted to try. One of those was Smore's Cookie Bars. I have always liked smore's although it has been quite some time since I have made or had one. I figured at some point I would get around to making them, I just needed a reason.

The last few times we have gone to the grocery store there has been a display on the end of the baking aisle with all of the ingredients for smore's and every time I pass it, I ask Scott do you like smore's? Usually I get a weird look or an I guess. (Totally not the answer I wanted!) I was just hoping he would say yes and give me a reason to try these out.

However, a few days ago one of my co-workers stopped by my desk to look for any sort of treats I may have brought, when he didnt see a container he gave me a look. He said he was like a trained dog and since I have been bringing things so often he kind of got used to it. That was all the push I needed to make Smore's Cookie Bars.

S’more Cookie Bars from Baking Bites

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8 graham crackers)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 king-sized milk chocolate bars

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and/or line an 8-inch square baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.

The dry ingredients mixed with the butter mixture.

The first layer of dough spread out in the pan.

4. Place chocolate bars over dough (2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate if necessary to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick).

5. Spread the marshmallow fluff over the chocolate.

6. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles or panels and laying them together).

7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

This is what it looked like right before going in the oven.

Coming out of the oven.

A few hours later after they cooled...yummy!

Since I was taking these to work I went ahead and doubled the entire recipe and used a 13 x 9 inch pan. Also I used a little bit extra of both the graham crackers and marshmellow fluff. Roughly 18 graham crackers and 2 jars of the fluff. These really turned out awesome, and I have already been asked to forward on the recipe. Try this you will not be dissapointed.

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Snickerdoodle Blondies

After the rave reviews I got from the Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake I knew the next recipe I had to try was Dozen Flours Snickerdoodle Blondies. I decided they would be the perfect treat to bring to a friends lake house for Memorial weekend.

To say they were good is just a total understatement...more like perfection! Everyone loved them, in fact some guys actually hid them in a cabinent so they didnt have to share with other people. I ended up making these 3 times over Memorial Weekend for different BBQ's and had very few left over.


This is a photo right as they went in the oven. I must have not taken any pictures after they came out, so I guess that means I will just have to make them again to week.



Snickerdoodle Blondies

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish.) Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter. (I used a peanut butter spreader to spread the dough in the pan. It made it much easier to handle.)

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.


Thanks Julia this was one of my favorite recipes I have ever made. They even cracked my boyfriend, who is on a total health craze. Print This

Turtle Cupcakes

My best friend Sharon had a party for her fiancé, Jon's, birthday this past Friday. She asked me to make some chocolate cupcakes for the event. I knew which recipe I was going to use, but I wanted to decorate them specifically for him. So, after some thought I decided to do something using turtles. That has always been his nickname since he got a turtle tattoo on his back one night in high school.

So I went to the internet and found the cutest turtle cupcakes. So I took this as a start and improvised a little as I went.

They turned out so cute and he was so surprised!

For the turtles I used the ingredients below:

Green Food Coloring

Green M&M's

Tootsie Rolls

Green Fondant cut into circles for the face

Mini Brown M&M's for the eyes

Pink Writing Icing for the mouth

Another picture of the other cupcakes...

Rich Chocolate Cake found on Bakerella (Recipe from Bundt Classic Recipe Book)

1 (18.25 oz.) pkg. dark chocolate cake mix

1 (3.4 oz.) pkg. instant chocolate pudding

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup warm water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Line cupcake pans with baking cups.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips.

4. Mix 2 minutes on medium speed.

5. Increase speed to medium-high; mix 3 minutes.

6. Stir in chocolate chips.

7. Spoon into cupcake pans.

8. Bake at 350 for around 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean and cool.

Made about 30 cupcakes.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (From Bakerella)

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 box (1 lb) confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1-3 Tbsp milk

Cream the butter and cream cheese with a mixer.
Add the cocoa and vanilla.
Add the confectioner's sugar in small batches and blend on low until combined. Scrape down sides with each addition.
Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until you get the consistency you desire.

Buttercream Frosting (Also from Bakerella)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (room temperature)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1b. 10X powdered sugar

1-3 teaspoons milk, half and half or cream

Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth.
Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.
If you want your frosting a little creamier, add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture.
Then, just use icing colors to tint the frosting the color of your choice.

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Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake

After stumbling upon Dozen Flours blog I quickly learned we share the love for everything snickerdoodle! Her snickerdoodle bundt cake first caught my eye as something I could bring to work for everyone to try. So that night my boyfriend was at work and that just left me lots of time to experiment in the kitchen with no interruptions. It turned out beautiful and wow did it smell so good!

This is what the pan looked like before pouring in the batter. It made the yummiest crust!

I thought I had a picture before I put in the oven, but I guess not. I think I was just so excited for it to be done I forgot!

And here it is when it came out...

Flipped over and ready to eat!

Here is receipe from Dozen Flours

Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup white sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix together really well and set aside. Preheat oven to 325F.

Here's the exact way I made the crust: Using a spray product like Pam with Flour (I LOVE this stuff -- seriously its changed my life!), generously spray a 9 inch Bundt pan, being careful to cover all the nooks and cranies, as well as the center tube. (Note: If you don't want to use Pam with Flour, you can just grease the pan with shortening.) Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. You should only need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar, but you want to try and evenly coat the inside surface of the pan, including the tube. Save the remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture and set everything aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Beat just the butter on medium speed for one full minute. Add the white sugar and mix for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and blade and add the brown sugar.

Mix for 2 minutes until the mixture looks light brown and uniform in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each for 1 full minute. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream; beat well. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over top the cake.

Spread the rest of the batter into the pan and sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top. (If you run out of cinnamon sugar, you can mix just 1/4 cup of sugar + 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together for the top of the cake. It should be more than enough.)

Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This cake turned out great and everyone really enjoyed it. The only thing I may do differently next time is add more cinnamon sugar mixture in the midde of the batter. Maybe even trying to add another layer of the mixture and batter.

I couldnt wait to try a piece, so I just cut a tiny sliver.

My 2 friends at work, Kevin & Stacey sure are loving the new baking bug I caught. Thanks guys for always being my taste testers now that my boyfriend is "eating healthy"!! Print This

Baby Shower Cupcakes

In April I helped host a baby shower for my cousin, Courtney. She was doing her nursery in pink and brown so I decided I would stick with that color scheme for the cupcakes as well. I did both yellow and chocolate cupcakes alternating with pink vanilla buttercream and chocolate cream cheese frosting.

For the decorations on the cupcakes, I had several different baby themed candy molds I purchased from Wine and Cake Hobbies online. They have everything baking related you could ever need!

I used both pink and brown candy coats for the cholocate toppers. (And white for a few!)

One a little closer up...


One more picture with the entire dessert table including our diaper cake.


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Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

This is my first attempt at blogging so bear with me as I learn my way. I have no clue what I am doing :)

A few months ago I discovered a passion for baking and have since been hooked to all the latest baking blogs. So I figured it might be fun to start my own as well.

Anyways feel free to leave a comment and check back soon and see what I have been up to.
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