Mint Chocolate Cakies

I was inspired to do something with our leftover holiday chocolates so it wouldn't go to waste. So I thought I could try my chances with using Andes Chocolate Mints as an icing and it worked out perfectly! This is a really easy cookie to bake and it's actually made from cake flour (hence, "cakies"!). An old friend showed me this trick and it not only makes everything easier, it makes the cookie super soft!

Ingredients

• 1 box chocolate fudge cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 16 pieces of Andes Chocolate Mints, each broken in half

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Mix cake mix, eggs and vegetable oil in medium bowl. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place sugar in a small bowl. Roll cookie dough in sugar, then place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches away from each other. Bake 8-10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center of cookie. Place cookie sheet on cooling rack.

While cookies are still warm, gently press a piece of Andes Chocolate Mint into the center of cookie. Repeat until all cookies contain a piece of chocolate mint. Beginning at the first cookie that you pressed, use the back of a spoon to swirl chocolate across the surface of the cookie. Let cool completely and enjoy!

Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes

A couple friends and I made these cupcakes for my 24th Birthday. Although it takes quite a bit of preparation, the outcome is well worth it! They have more of a muffin-like thickness but the vanilla coconut flavor is great!

Ingredients

Reduced Coconut Milk

• 2 cans (at least 12 oz) of unsweetened coconut milk

Cupcakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup reduced coconut milk, room temperature

Frosting

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup reduced coconut milk, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes, toasted

Preparation

Reduced Coconut Milk
Using a deep saucepan, bring two cans of coconut milk to a boil at medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and boil until amount of milk has reduced to 1 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally. The milk will splatter—prepare to get messy! Remove from heat, transfer to a separate bowl and cool to room temperature. You may do this step in advance, and store it in the fridge for up to two days.


Toasted Coconut Flakes
Preheat oven to 325 with rack in center of oven. Spread coconut flakes on a baking sheet, making sure they are singly layered. Bake for 14 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Directions

Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 with rack in center of oven. Line about 18 muffin cups with liners or, grease muffin pan and lightly sprinkle with all purpose flour. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Using a mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat on medium-high until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Frequently scrape down the sides of the bowls to incorporate entire mixture. Beat in vanilla. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Add 1 cup reduced coconut milk. Mix on low speed until just blended. Fill muffin to only 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cupcake. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.


Frosting
Using mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1/3 cup reduced coconut milk, vanilla and salt. Scrape sides of bowl to incorporate entire mixture. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
You can use a pastry bag, or even just the back of the spoon to apply the frosting to the cupcakes. For the picture above, I just used a spoon. Just be sure that the cupcakes are completely cool before decorating, otherwise, the frosting will run right off the sides of the cupcake! If decorating with a spoon, be sure to use a light hand and take care not to touch the cupcake with the utensil. This may cause crumbs to be pulled up into the frosting! Finally, lightly top off each cupcake with as much coconut as you like!


Johnson Dodgee, Abigail, and Bon Appetit. "Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting Recipe at Epicurious.com." Epicurious.com: Recipes, Menus, Cooking Articles & Food Guides. Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. <http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vanilla-Bean-Coconut-Cupcakes-with-Coconut-Frosting-352095>.

Oatmeal Coconut Lace Cookies

I wanted to make a sweet but healthier snack so I searched for an oatmeal recipe, and found this! It's not entirely healthy but it's definitely one of my favorite oatmeal cookies! I did change the recipe a tiny bit for my preference. This is what I did...

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Decoration

• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped and melted
• 3 oz white chocolate, chopped and melted

Materials

• 2 cookie sheets
• non-stick liners e.g., parchment paper, silpat, silicone baking mat.
• 1 tsp measuring spoon
• 2 ziplock sandwich bags

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 with baking rack in center of oven. Line cookie sheets with non-stick liners.

Bring a small pot of water to a simmer. Place a metal bowl on top of pot. Make sure the bowl is large enough so that it is not in direct contact with the water. Mix butter, sugar and salt in bowl until melted. Add coconut, oats, flour and cinnamon. Stir until just mixed. Turn off heat, but keep the bowl on top of the pot to stay warm.

Use a 1 tsp measuring spoon to measure and drop rounded scoops onto the non-stick liners. Make sure the drops are at least 3 inches away from each other. These cookies spread a lot!

Bake in oven 8 minutes, or until bubbling with brown edges.

Let sit on non-stick liners, on a cooling rack,  for about 4 minutes—or until set. Relocate cookies directly onto cooling rack.

Be sure that non-stick liners are clean and dry before reusing.

Let all cookies cool completely.

Meanwhile, you can melt the chocolate if you haven't already done so. Let chocolate cool completely. Transfer to ziplock sandwich bags. If you don't have anyone helping you, use a tall cup. Position the bag so that one of the bottom corners is at center of the cup. Fold the top of the ziplock bag over the edge of the cup. Slowly scoop the melted chocolate into the center of the cup.

Lay cookies out on a cookie sheet that will fit into your freezer. Snip a tiny hole in the corner of the ziplock bags. The tinier the lines, the fancier they look! Decorate the cookies using quick zip zags. Place the tray in the freezer for about 3 minutes to let the chocolate set.

Wiseman, Shelley, and Gourmet. "Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookies Recipe at Epicurious.com."Epicurious.com: Recipes, Menus, Cooking Articles & Food Guides. Dec. 2008. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Coconut-Oatmeal-Lace-Cookies-350924>.