They’re either too flat, too hard, too gooey, never perfect. I am a bit of a chocolate chip cookie snob, and have dejectedly defended my lackluster attempts…until these.

The dough is sweet and light, the chocolate chips are plentiful, and the walnuts, wow. This is actually a copycat recipe of the massive, famous Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies, but you don’t need to know that cookie to appreciate this one. Trust me, it’s good.

I think the key to keeping them puffy and not falling flat is using COLD butter. Yes, I usually preach about the benefits of room-temperature butter, especially for cupcakes, but using cold butter in this recipe really makes a difference. If I’m baking these in batches, I usually stick the bowl in the fridge while the first batch is baking. I’ve even heard of people freezing pre-formed cookies before baking.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
(adapted from Parsley, Sage & Sweet)

2 3/4 all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 sticks cold and cubed unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted

Baking Temperature: 375 degrees
Baking Time: 12-15 minutes

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until combined.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until blended and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time until just incorporated.
4. Stir in flour mixture until combined.
5. Gently fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
6. Divide dough into 2-tablespoon-sized mounds. Place each on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown.
7. Remove from over and allow cookies to cool on wire rack

Makes about 30 cookies

What’s YOUR favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe? Share in the comments!

Most peanut butter and jelly cookie recipes I researched were peanut butter cookies with a thumbprint filled with jelly. Um, that’s not like the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I know. I need my PB&J cookie to be a sandwich, too. Deliciously creamy peanut butter mingling with sweet strawberry jelly between two pillows of carbs. Well, I imagine anything between two pillows of carbs would be delicious.

I could have just put regular peanut butter in the middle of these, but who are we kidding. I need to buttercream-ize everything. Plus it made it easier to pipe it all nice on the inside of the cookies with it looking like a kindergartener made them. See?

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

For the cookies

2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Baking Temperature: 350 degrees
Baking Time: 10-12 minutes

My friend Ashley made these cupcakes a few years back, and the first thing I noticed was how unbelievably moist the beer makes the cupcake. Baking with beer is nothing new, but the combination of chocolate and smooth, malty Guinness is just amazing. I revisited the recipe on Smitten Kitchen and decided to give them a whirl.

The original (and many subsequent) recipe calls for a chocolate whiskey ganache, but since I was making these for coworkers, I figured I’d leave the Jameson for our happy hour. Even with just Guinness and Bailey’s, by the time these were devoured, my coworkers had dubbed them “boozecakes”. Next time, I’ll definitely fill these with ganache, and decide whether or not I want my recipients to be hammered.

Being a huge nerd, I decorated these things like crazy. And also listened to “The Wild Rover” on repeat.

I wonder what other treats I can make with beer and liquor?

Mmm. The Bailey’s in the frosting is just enough to give it a kick, but you can hardly taste the Guinness in the cake batter.

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Frosting

For the cupcakes (adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Food Network)

1 bottle Guinness
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Baking Temperature: 350 degrees
Baking Time: 17 minutes

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. Bring Guinness and butter to a simmer in large saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
4. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in a large bowl.
5. Add Guinness-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat until just combined.
6. Add flour mixture and beat on slow speed.
7. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
8. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely before frosting.

For the frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 tablespoon milk

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy.
2. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes after each), until the icing is thick enough to be of good consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar.
3. After all sugar has been added, add Bailey’s and milk and blend until just combined.

I’d heard about cake balls from Bakerella’s blog a while ago, but always assumed they were just that: balls of cake. Big whoop, I thought. Then, my amazingly talented friend Jen made some cake balls.

I know I’ve said simply “wow” for a lot of things, but wow.

Possibly the most amazingly perfect things I’ve ever tasted. If there was a cake ball diet, I’d be on it. I’d buy stock in cake balls if they were publicly traded. If it wasn’t a terrible idea, I’d name my firstborn Cake Ball.

The secret is that the frosting is INSIDE the cake ball, mixed with the cake. I know, right?! Genius.

I tried making reindeer cake pops (à la Bakerella), but their little heads were too top-heavy and I couldn’t keep them on the pops. Maybe next time.

Turned out pretty cute, yeah?

Reindeer Cake Pops

1 box cake mix (your choice)
1 can frosting (your choice)
Chocolate melts
M&Ms (brown and red)
Pretzels
Edible ink pen or black food coloring

1. Prepare the cake per instructions on the box. Allow to cool completely.
2. Crumble the cake into a large bowl.
3. Add in frosting and mix with a spatula until completely combined.
4. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate or freeze for about an hour.
5. Heat chocolate melts according to package. Roll each cake ball in chocolate until completely covered. Place on wax paper to cool.
6. Immediately press in pretzels and M&Ms.
7. Once completely cooled, use edible ink pen or black food coloring to draw on happy reindeer faces. Store in airtight container.

My most favorite cookies to make at Christmastime are peanut blossoms. You know, peanut butter cookies with a Hershey’s kiss pressed into the center. I’ve been making them for years and they’re always the first cookie to disappear.

This year, I decided to try something a little different: mini Reese’s peanut butter cups instead of kisses. And wow. Wow.

Wow.

These are absolutely amazing. I baked the cookies in a mini muffin tin, since the peanut butter cups are a little taller than the kisses.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
(lovingly adapted from AllRecipes)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Baking Temperature: 375 degrees
Baking Time: 8 minutes

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
2. In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy.
3. Mix in peanut butter until completely incorporated.
4. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk.
5. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
6. Place a 1-inch ball of dough into each cup of an ungreased mini muffin pan (should be a little more than half full).
7. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Even the professionals struggle with macaroons, says Meike Beck, chief home economist at the Good Housekeeping Institute. “Three seconds of overbeating and they’re ruined.” The institute spent a month making hundreds of batches of macaroons, trying to perfect a recipe. In the end it gave up. “They’re best left to the professionals. Macaroon recipes do work. But they are not consistent.” – Times Online

Sigh. Clearly I hadn’t properly prepared myself. Maybe I’ll try these…another time.

So I have the cocoa and eggs and big ‘ole jar of Nutella I was planning on using for the filling of the macarons. What to make, what to make…

Nutella brownies? Ok, sounds good.

I had seen a recipe for Peanut Butter and Nutella Brownies on Noble Pig a while back, but decided to tweaked it a little bit to make it extra Nutella-y.

On the first go-round, I made brownie cupcakes, because cupcakes are so goshdarn cute. However, if I were going to make them next time I would have to tweak the recipe a bit – because there’s more surface area on cupcakes, the brownie cupcakes were far too chewy and not nearly gooey enough. They were cute, though, especially with the turkey toppers.

The brownie bars, though…wow. Super moist and amazing.

Nutella Brownies
(recipe adapted from Noble Pig)

1 cup butter (2 sticks), melted
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup Nutella

Baking Tempurature: 350 degrees
Baking Time: 30 minutes

1. In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
2. Over low heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar and vanilla extract until well combined.
3. Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture, mixing completely after each addition.
4. Whisk in cocoa mixture to butter mixture until combined.
5. Warm Nutella in the microwave in 20 second intervals until softened.  Stir into the batter.
6. Pour into greased 9×13 baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Garnish with icing, hazelnuts, or chocolate chips if desired.

I’ve said before that I like bite-sized baked goods. Once you break out plates and forks and spoons, it becomes too much of an ordeal. Things like cookies, cupcakes, and mini treats are easy. You could grab one and walk away. Or walk back and grab more than one. Or sit down and eat a lot because they’re so small you’re allowed to eat more of them. Whatever works.

I had seen Bakerella make some pumpkin pie bites and swore I would try my hand at it, too. While I used a different recipe for the filling, I did use her idea of shaping the pastry dough into little pumpkins. Love it!

Also, I cheated a little bit. I used refrigerated pie dough. To a purist like me, it feels like I bought some Tollhouse Break-and-Bakes, stuck them in the oven, and pretended they were my own. But pie crusts have never been my forte so I’m totally fine with using refrigerated dough. Really, I am.

I drizzled melted vanilla chips on some. Adding some pecans or walnuts for garnish would also be cool.

Mini Pumpkin Pies
(design inspired by Bakerella)

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 9-inch unbaked pie crusts (usually comes 2 to a box)

Baking Temperature: 350 degrees
Baking Time: 15 minutes minutes

1. Remove pie crusts from fridge and bring to room temperature. Roll them out a little bit with a rolling pin to get more surface area.
2. In a large bowl, crack eggs and mix slightly.
3. Add pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Wisk until well combined.
4. Using a cookie cutter (or if you’re cheap like me, a cup with a 3-inch diameter), cut circles from the pastry dough and press in and around the top of the muffin cup. Make sure there is enough crust over the sides of the muffin cups. Using the overflow dough (or scrap pieces), fashion a stem and affix to pie shells. I alternate slots in the mini muffin tin so the sides of the crust don’t stick together.
5. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until crust turns golden brown.
6. Garnish with melted vanilla chips or chocolate chips, if desired.

Ogle the beautiful pumpkiny goodness and find the recipe after the jump. I used the classic pumpkin cupcake recipe and this time topped them with cream cheese icing.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs
splash heavy cream (optional)
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

Baking Temperature: 350 degrees
Baking Time: 20-25 minutes

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugars and butter until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add in eggs one at a team, beating well after each addition.
4. Slowly add flour mixture and mix on low speed until smooth. Add splash of heavy cream if desired.
5. Whisk in pumpkin puree until everything is well blended.
6. Line cupcake pan with paper liners, and fill each liner up a little more than halfway full of batter.  Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
(from AllRecipes)

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cold and cubed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and and sugar.
2. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually mix in the cream cheese cubes until well blended.
3. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

For the cupcakes, I just used a standard vanilla cupcake recipe (courtesy of Magnolia Bakery, of course). I used a standard vanilla buttercream for the frosting, but I bet adding in some cinnamon would be great.

When I was looking up banana cream pie recipes to adapt into cupcakes, I was shocked at how many called for regular vanilla pudding over banana slices….really? No banana-flavored pudding? Sigh. I figured I had to do it the old-fashioned way: making banana pudding from scratch.

As for the filling, I will warn you: it’s a lot of work. I got the recipe from Salon, of all places, and it called for a banana caramel with a traditional pudding base. You could just buy a box of Jell-o vanilla pudding and add in a couple of pureed bananas. but honestly, the homemade banana pudding is worth it.

To fill the cupcakes, I used the cone method, just like I did for the apple pie cupcakes. I topped these off with a crushed vanilla wafer garnish.

I recommend making the pudding first, and have it cool while you’re baking the cupcakes.

Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes

For the filling:

BANANA PUDDING

1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in pieces
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup banana caramel (see recipe below)

1. Reserve a couple tablespoons of milk. Combine the rest with the cream in a pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, making sure that the milk does not boil over.
2. While the dairy is heating, mix the reserved cold milk with the cornstarch in a heavy saucepan off heat. Make sure the starch dissolves completely.
3. Whisk in the eggs and add the sugar and salt.
4. In a slow, thin stream, pour the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking (this is called tempering). Once you’ve tempered in about half the milk, pour and whisk in the rest.
5. Set the pan over medium heat, and stir constantly and briskly, adding the butter piece by piece. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens to a pudding consistency.
6. Empty the pudding into a bowl. If you want to make sure it’s smooth, pour it in a fine-mesh strainer, and use your spatula to push it through.
7. Gently stir in the banana caramel and vanilla. Do not overstir as mixture will break down and become runny. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the pudding surface to prevent a skin from forming, and let it cool completely before putting it in the fridge.

BANANA CARAMEL

2 average to large bananas, very ripe
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water

1. In a blender or food processor, puree the bananas fully.
2. Combine sugar and water in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over high flame, and turn it down to a vigorous simmer. Try to avoid big bubbles splashing up too much onto the sides of the pot; those splashes can dry out, leaving the sugar to crystallize up there, and may cause your caramel to crystallize.
3. When you start seeing some color develop at the bottom, gently swirl the pan to distribute it; this helps the sugar caramelize evenly. Cook and swirl until the sugar is amber-colored and remove it from the heat, still swirling gently.
4. Pour in pureed bananas and stir vigorously with a spoon or heat-proof spatula, making sure to dig in the corners of the pan. Allow to cool fully before using in pudding recipe.

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Baking Temperature: 350 degrees
Baking Time: 20-25 minutes

1. Line two muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
6. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
7. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

For the frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
2. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes after each), until the icing is thick enough to be of good consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar.
3. Store at room temperature or else icing will set. Can be stored in an airtight container for 3 days.