doubletree chocolate chip cookies

Woah. Haven't updated this blog in the longest time.

With everything going on though, I've been feeling a little restless so I thought it was time to dust it off and start showing up around here again.

I've been seeing posts about how great the DoubleTree Hilton chocolate chip cookies are. Have you ever tried them? I haven't. But so many people claim that they are some of the best so I needed to know for myself. And that means making them at home.

homemade filled chocolates

There isn't a new video today {I'll be back with one next week!} so a fun little recipe will have to do!

I've always thought that making homemade chocolates, especially if they're filled, would be difficult. You need to temper the chocolate. You want them to be shiny. You hope they come out of the molds. You hope they come out of the molds without breaking!

With so many things to worry about, I put off making filled chocolates for a long time. A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to face my fears and just melt some chocolate and see how it goes. I had a silicone Disney ice cube tray laying around and decided that it would be the most perfect mold for my first attempt at homemade filled chocolate. If they didn't turn out, at least they were cute, right?

Jokes on me because homemade filled chocolate are the easiest thing in the world to make! So easy in fact that once you read through this recipe, you'll want to do it yourself.

peanut butter m&m chocolate chunk cookies

If you follow me on Instagram, then you probably saw that I made cookies over the weekend with red, white, and blue M&Ms. And if you guessed that those cookies were going to end up on the blog - then you are correct!

These are super easy to whip up {you don't need a stand or hand mixer!} and you can use any kind of M&M variety really. Either way, I promise you'll love them!

ryder cup m&m cookies

If you follow me on Snapchat {sheriann_snaps} and Instagram, then you'll know that I'm at the Ryder Cup! And I'm so incredibly excited to be here! We left on Monday night and have going to the golf course every day to just walk around and see Team USA and Team Europe practice a bit before the real action starts today.

If you don't know what the Ryder Cup is, let me give you some information. It's one of two {the other being the President's Cup} team competitions in golf and happens every two years. Team USA will face off against Team Europe {consisting of players from Great Britain, Ireland, and continental Europe} in three days of matches. Today and tomorrow there will be four matches in the morning and four in the afternoon. Sunday consists of just singles matches, and that's where we get to see some real action. Team Europe has won three of the last four Ryder Cups, so it's about time we bring it home for the USA!

I baked up a batch of really simple M&M cookies last weekend before we left to help get into the spirit of things. Of course, you don't have to specifically make them with any event in mind. The sugar cookie dough itself is really delicious so you could just throw in M&Ms and call it day! In fact, I'm already thinking these would make a really great go-to Christmas cookie...

Ryder Cup M&M Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
5 ounces M&Ms

Directions:
1. Cream together the butter and sugars in a mixer. Then, add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is incorporated.
2. Add in the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix together on low until combined.
3. Chill the dough for at least two hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Scoop out a teaspoon amount of dough and roll it between your hands to form a ball. Only place 6-9 cookies per sheet because these will spread a lot.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. If they look under-done, let them sit on the baking sheet for another 5-6 minutes and they'll be perfect!
7. After about a minute out of the oven, press your M&Ms into the top of the cookie just slightly. Press hard enough to have them in the dough but not all the way through the bottom of the cookie.
8. After 5 minutes of cooling on the cookie sheet, move them to a cooling rack and ENJOY!

five must-make fall apple recipes

The first day of fall is just days away! I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am. Autumn is my favorite season for just about everything - the fashion, the makeup, the weather, the food. And while it's not quite time to break out the big sweaters and riding boots, it's certainly never too early to get dig into the seasonal food.

I am not a pumpkin fan at all, but I love just about anything apple. I've shared some really delicious recipes in the past for cinnamon sugar apple doughnuts, baked apple cider doughnuts, and Milky Way apple blondies. And as much as I love those and already have plans to bake those soon, I've always looking for more apple recipes. I've found five that I think sound so perfect and tasty for the season that you {and me!} need to make immediately!

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls // Little Spice Jar

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Brown Butter Glaze // Camille Styles

Glazed Apple Fritters // The Kitchn

German Apple Cake // Sweet Phi

Chocolate Almond Baked Apples // Maebells

toffee chocolate chip shortbread + the open!



Two things I love: golf and baking. I've done other posts similar to this where I combine the two by baking up something that reminds me of a major location. I've done pimento cheese and chocolate cake with pistachio buttercream for the Masters, Arnold Palmer baked doughnuts for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and shortbread cookies for the British Open. Well, if we're going to be completely honest, I wasn't all that happy with the cookies I baked up for last year's Open. So for this year, I decided to try a new recipe with chocolate chips and toffee bits. These turned out SO. GOOD. I brought extras to work and my coworkers loved them. A success in my eyes!

Since shortbread cookies is still new to my repertoire, I followed this recipe step-by-step from The Kitchn but eliminated dipping them in chocolate. I'll try that out the next time I make them...

Wondering why I chose shortbread cookies? The 145th British Open is taking place at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. Shortbread originated in Scotland so it just made sense. Plus, who doesn't love these crumbly buttery cookies?

pistachio chocolate cake & the masters

It's Masters Monday! If you aren't aware, the Masters Tournament, the first golf major of the year, starts on Thursday and I am very excited. The Masters if my favorite of the four majors so I always look forward to this one. It's one of the prettiest courses you'll see, I promise!

Last year, I tried my hand at making pimento cheese because it's one of the most spreads and sandwiches served at Augusta National. This time I wanted something sweet and something green to represent that iconic green jacket the winner receives. Before this, I'd never had or made pistachio buttercream before but am a total fan now. Plus, pistachios, raspberries, and chocolate must be on the best flavor combinations ever.

Seriously. EVER.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:
1 cup AP flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry preserves for filling/spread

Pistachio Pudding Buttercream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 package pistachio pudding {a 3.4 oz package}
2 1/2 - 3 cups confectioners sugar
4-5 tbsp cold milk
Green gel food coloring (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease and line two six-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, coca powder, baking soda, baking powder, instant espresso, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. You can do this my hand {what I usually do for this cake} or with a stand or hand mixer.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix until well combined. There shouldn't be any lumps left!
5. Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let cool for five minutes in the pans. Then, remove and let them cool on a wire rack.

Pistachio Pudding Buttercream:
1. With a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add the entire package of pistachio pudding mix and one cup of the confectioners sugar. Make sure the mixer is off!
3. Mix on low and incorporate the rest of the ingredients, alternating between the milk and confectioners sugar. If you like a sweeter frosting, add the full two cups and five tablespoons of milk. If not, just add another cup and a half and about four to four and half tablespoons of milk.
4. If you're using the green gel food coloring, add it in here at the end. I used 11 drops of Leaf Green from Americolor to get the color in the pictures.

Assembly:
1. If necessary, level the bottom layer of your chocolate cake. You get to eat the extra! Otherwise, place the bottom layer on the cake stand.
2. Spread a layer, as thick or thin as you'd like, of raspberry preserves, leaving about a one inch gap from the edge of the cake. Place the second cake on top.
3. Frost your cake with the pistachio buttercream and ENJOY!

cadbury creme egg hand pies

My favorite Easter candy is definitely Cadbury Creme Eggs. I know they've been around for quite some time, but I didn't try them until two years ago. Now, whenever I see them pop up in stores before Easter, I buy a few - some to snack on and some to bake with. The past two years I've put them in brownies, something you definitely need to try, but I wanted to do something different this year. After seeing so many images of creme egg croissants floating around on Pinterest, I decided to do something similar and came up with these!

These Cadbury Creme Egg Hand Pies are super, super easy. But you have to freeze them overnight. If there's anything you remember from this recipe, it's that these chocolate and fondant eggs need to be frozen. Otherwise, they'll just melt once you put it in the oven. And no one wants a melted chocolate hand pie. Or maybe you do... It'd probably still be delicious.

Ingredients:

Cadbury Creme Eggs {or Cadbury Caramel Eggs, I used both!}, frozen overnight

Refrigerated pie dough, store-bought or homemade

1 egg

A splash of water

Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. If you're using homemade pie dough, roll it out to about 1/8-inch thickness. If you're using store-bought pie dough, all you need to do is unroll it onto a lightly floured cutting board.
3. Using a cookie cutter/biscuit cutter/bowl that is 5-6 inches in diameter, cut out your pie discs. For reference, I used store-bought for this recipe and only got two discs per crust.
4. Unwrap your frozen Cadbury Creme Eggs and place it in the middle of the disc.
5. Whisk the egg with a splash of water. Brush the edge with the mixture and fold one side over to seal the hand pie. Crimp with a fork or spoon.
6. Brush the top with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
8. Let cool before eating since the filling will be very hot!

 

arnold palmer baked donuts

One of my all-time favorite drinks is the Arnold Palmer - a mix of iced tea and lemonade that is  so delicious and refreshing. The drink is named after the legendary golfer, Arnold Palmer. "The King", as he is affectionately called, said he always made the drink for himself at home and, as his story goes, ordered it one day in Palm Springs when a woman overheard him and copied him. From then on, the drink had a name and became increasingly popular.

Now, I'm not just talking about this for no reason. Tomorrow is the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational so I thought it would be an Arnold Palmer-inspired treat with you! I whipped up these cakey donuts over the weekend and loved them. They've got just the right amount of black tea to match with a slightly sweet yet tangy lemon glaze. It's the perfect thing to have for breakfast or as an afternoon treat with a cup of hot tea. Or with an ice cold Arnold Palmer of course...

Ingredients:

Black Tea Infused Donuts:
1 cup water
7-8 black tea bags {I used Lipton}
2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter {room temperature}
2 egg

Lemon Glaze:

1½ cups confectioners' sugar
Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. In a kettle or in a bowl in the microwave, heat the water until lightly boiling. Add the tea bags and steep for 30 minutes. Allow tea to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 325°F and grease your donut pan.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
4. Mix the sugar and butter together with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer.
5. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined.
6. Pour in the tea liquid and continue mixing until fully incorporated.
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients while mixing. Mix until the batter is completely smooth.
8. Transfer the batter to the donut pan using a piping bag, spoon, Ziploc bag... whatever your preferred method is. Pipe the wells about 2/3 full.
9. Bake for 12-13 minutes.
10. Let the donuts cool in the pan for about five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Lemon Glaze:
1. In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice.
2. Dip the completely cooled donuts into the glaze. You can either dip these twice or drizzle the remaining glaze over them.

Enjoy!

valentine's day chocolate desserts

Cheesecake Swirl Brownies // Molten Chocolate Espresso Cakes // Chocolate Meringue Cake with Fresh Berries // Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie // Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cake // Cranberry Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

The last Valentine's post for the week is probably my favorite. I love baking and desserts and chocolate so of course this weekend would be one of the best times to combine the three {not like there's ever a bad time} and whip something up. I've been looking around for some inspiration and these caught my eye immediately. Some are light and airy, some are fruity and creamy, and the rest are intense and decadent. None will disappoint!

If you follow me on Instagram {@sheriann_}, you may see what I end up baking for Sunday!

chocolate peppermint baked donuts

One of my favorite holiday flavor combinations is peppermint and chocolate. I started thinking about making these donuts before Thanksgiving. Seriously! I've been waiting over a month to make these.

And now I'm sharing the recipe with you! You can make these this weekend or next week. It would be a great Christmas morning addition to your breakfast spread! I have it on good authority that these are even better the second day. So make them the night before Christmas so that you don't have to worry about anything on Christmas morning and will have the most delicious chocolate and peppermint donut. Everyone will love you. I promise.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake Donuts:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder {dark cocoa powder works well here}
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk {I used skim milk}

White Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
3/4 cup cream

Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease your donut pan with non-stick baking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, melted butter, sour cream, and milk.
4. Transfer the batter to a piping bag or just a Ziploc bag and snip off a corner. Pipe into the donut wells about 2/3 full.
5. Bake the donuts for 13-15 minutes. When you touch the top, it should spring back.
6. Let the donuts cool in the pan for 5-8 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

White Chocolate Glaze:
1. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 45 seconds. Stir and melt in 20 second increments until melted. Note: Don't keep microwaving this until all the white chips are completely melted. You should stir in between because the heat should help melt the remaining chocolate chips. White chocolate seizes much sooner than regular chocolate!
2. Stir in the sifted confectioners' sugar. Another note: I was lazy and didn't do this and it shows. If you want a smooth glaze, you need to sift the sugar.
3. Add in the cream until you get a thick but still pourable glaze. You may not need the full amount.
5. Dip the completely cooled donuts in the glaze. Place back on the cooling rack with parchment paper underneath to catch the excess glaze. Then, sprinkle or place the Andes Peppermint Crunch on top.

Enjoy!

milky way apple blondies

... Or what to do with all your extra chocolate Halloween candy. If you ever end up with some extra candy, you need to add it to this blondie recipe. Anything from plain Hershey bars, Milky Ways, Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms - whatever you have on hand will be great! I am just especially partial to this apple, chocolate, and caramel mix. It's like a caramel and chocolate apple that's just so much easier to eat. I can guarantee that it's a recipe that everyone will love! I dare you to try and eat just one...

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped Granny Smith apples {or any good baking apple}

1 cup chopped Milky Way {about 8-9 fun sized bars}

Directions:

1. After chopping your Milky Way bars, place them in the fridge. This ensures that they don't melt while you prepare everything else!

2. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray your 9x13" pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Make sure there's a little bit of overhang so that you can easily take out the blondies once they're done baking.
3. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and sugar. Mix together until well combined.
4. Add in eggs one at a time and mix until combined.
5. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
6. Add you wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix together.
7. Fold in your chopped apples and Milky Way pieces.
8. Spread the batter evenly in your baking pan.
9. Bake for 27-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

ENJOY!

baked apple cider donuts

If I were to make a list of my all-time favorite recipes, these baked apple cider donuts would be there. I was beyond excited to make these and was thrilled with the results! Apple cider donuts with a glaze? Or apple cider donuts with a sugar coating? Well, I couldn't decide on whether or not to use a sugar coating or a glaze so I decided to do both. They're both equally delicious, and neither will disappoint. Once you make these, you'll be adding them to your fall must-bake list every year. Trust me, apple cider donuts will be your fall go-to.

Ingredients:

Donuts: {adapted from The Farmer's Daughter}
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup apple cider
1/4 cup buttermilk

Apple Cider Glaze: {adapted from Freutcake}
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar {To be honest, I eyeballed this. Better to start with a 1/2 cup and go from there.}

Sugar Topping:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tbsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease your donut pan with non-stick baking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the softened butter and eggs until fluffy. {It's important that your eggs are at room temperature and that you're unsalted butter is softened at room temperature! Otherwise, the butter will re-solidify when you add the apple cider and buttermilk.} Add the apple cider and buttermilk and mix well.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Do not overmix!
5. Place your batter into a pastry bag or a ziploc bag. Then, pipe into the prepared donut pan, filling each mold about 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool on a cooling rack before dipping into the glaze and topping with sugar.

Apple Cider Glaze:
1. Bring the apple cider to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer until reduced to about 1/2 cup, about 5-8 minutes. Keep an eye on it! Then, transfer to a small bowl.
2. Add the confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth.
*The amount of confectioners' sugar is dependent on you. I wanted a thicker glaze so I kept adding a tablespoon of confectioners' sugar at a time til I had my desired consistency. And if at any time the glaze becomes too thick for your liking, just add in a tablespoon of apple cider til you get it where you want it.

Sugar Topping:
1. Mix together the light brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Top donuts with sugar after dipping in the apple cider glaze.

shortbread cookies & the british open

The third major, the British Open, of the year starts tomorrow! This year it will be at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, the "home of golf". It's always more fun to watch golf on European courses because links golf makes for prettier and much harder courses. It will be interesting to see who wins on Sunday with Rory McIlroy out for a bit with an ankle injury and Jordan Spieth on a roll after his fourth win this year.

My parents actually left for Scotland to watch the Open on Monday and I'm quite jealous! I thought that since I'm not there to watch in person, I'd make a traditional Scottish treat to have while watching on TV. I decided to make shortbread cookies and really struggled with it. I finally had success {third time's a charm!} with this recipe from Ina Garten {can always rely on her for a good recipe} and followed it exactly. The only suggestion I have is to use good quality European butter, which has a higher fat content than American butter. We really like Kerrygold in our house.

Happy cookie making!