Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

Today is a very special day! It is on of my best friend and bridesmaid's birthday!  I celebrated with Tamara this weekend up in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin where we went out to a fabulous dinner and then had a good old-fashioned sleepover back at her place.  Tamara and I share a deep appreciation for cupcakes and so for her birthday I baked this outrageous Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes.  Everything is homemade!  I made yellow cake, homemade egg-less cookie dough, and dark chocolate frosting.  Check it out:

Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
For the cookie dough filling:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp skim milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips
For the frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 oz low-fat cream cheese
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup skim milk
3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. To make the cupcakes, whisk dry ingredients together.  Beat in wet ingredients.  Pour into prepared cupcake pan with liners.  Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
2. To make the cookie dough filling,  beat the butter with the brown sugar.  Then, ad in the vanilla.  Then, add in the flour and salt until just combined.  Beat in the milk until you have a desired consistency one tablespoon at a time.  Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.  Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then, core the cupcakes using a knife or cupcake corer and put the cookie dough inside.
3. To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the powdered sugar and then slowly add the milk and vanilla.  Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl on high, stirring after 30 seconds, until melted.  Beat in the chocolate.  Frost cooled cupcakes!

Enjoy :)

Mini Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Frosting

I have some pretty exciting news to share and it is not simply these gorgeous mini cupcakes!

Bri and I adopted a new kitty into our family!! Benny is now a big brother!  We found this amazing five-month old kitten through Hyde Park Cats and per a suggestion from our vet, we adopted him.  Benny has been a little hyperactive and crazy and we think its because he is young and we are not home very often.  So, we got a playmate for him!  Welcome to the family, Nigel!

And now, onto those cupcakes.  Mini cupcakes are pretty amazing plus they are a great way to celebrate our new little guy.  In fact, I have decided to eat healthy by only eating desserts that are mini or homemade.  Not sure this is considered a "diet," but at least it helps me focus on portion control without feeling like I'm really giving anything up.  And lets be honest, I don't think I can totally give up sweets.  I saw this recipe on How Sweet It Is and I simply adapted the cupcakes to include some slightly lighter ingredients and I made them mini which changes the baking time a bit.


Mini Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
Frosting:
4 oz low-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup natural, creamy peanut butter (I love Skippy)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
skim milk, if needed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 24 mini cupcake wells with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar with unsalted butter.  Beat in the egg until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flours with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add 1/3 of this mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.  Add in about 1/2 of the milk and 1/2 tbsp of vanilla and beat to combine.  Repeat with the flour mixture, then the rest of the milk/vanilla and then end with the rest of the flour mixture.  Divide the batter into your cupcake pan so that each well is about 3/4 of the way full.
4. Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.  Let cool completely.
5. To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth.  Beat in the sugars and vanilla until creamy.  Add in a few tsp of milk if your mixture is too thick.  Frost those cupcakes!

Enjoy :)

Sea Salted Caramel Brown Butter Cookie Cups

I feel like I've been slacking.  I know I don't post as much anymore, but what I really mean is that I've been totally skimping on sharing my amazing Chicago experiences.

I've been living in my apartment in Chicago for over a year now, and I really haven't shared all the amazing times I've had around the city.   I will be at an event thinking, "I should totally post about this," and I'll even take pictures so that I'm ready for the post.  But then, I forget, or get busy, or just get lazy.  So, I have ended up with tons of photos of amazing times that have never ended up here.  

This issue ends today.  I am going to start actually informing you all about how great Chicago is.  Starting with: Breweries.  Bri and I are huge fans of going to various breweries to take tours and sample beer.  Chicago is a fantastic place to do that!  So far, we have hit up two spots: Revolution and Half Acre.  Both breweries have great beer and we even had dinner at Revolution which was also fantastic.  If you are ever in town, try to find a brewery tour to take.  There are so many in Chicago and it is a really fun way to spend an afternoon.  

Today I also have an amazing dessert recipe to share!  I made these, brought them to school, and was told they were the best thing I've ever made.  Now, I get told that a lot, but truly these guys are delicious.  They also go along with the theme of amazing things that I am currently into because I am currently obsessed with carmel and sea salt.  I can't get enough.  I just ordered some dark chocolate sea salt caramels to support the school's band, and I bought the Dove ones from the store to keep in my desk.  I can't get enough! Sweet, salty, and delicious, these Sea Salted Caramel Brown Butter Cookie Cups are just divine!  

Sea Salted Caramel Brown Butter Cookie Cups

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

1 egg

1 egg white
2 cups mini chocolate chips

24 caramels

sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a mini muffin pan.

2. Place butter in a small sauce pan and melt over medium heat.  Continue to swirl the butter around over medium heat until it browns.  Remove from heat.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  

4. In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, sugar, and browned butter until well combined.  Beat in the egg and egg white until combined and then the vanilla.  Slowly mix in the flour mixture until just combined.  

5.  Fill each muffin well about halfway with cookie dough.  Press a caramel into each well and sprinkle sea salt over the top of each caramel.  Scoop cookie dough on top of each salted caramel and press into the muffin well.  

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookie dough just starts to brown. Let cool and remove from muffin pan.

Enjoy :)

5 Courses to Celebrate 5 Years

August, 3rd: Bri and I had a really great year.  One year ago, we moved into our apartment and celebrated our 4-year anniversary.  Now, we have been living together for a year and are on year 5 of our relationship!  It has been really great and I am so appreciative for all the amazing times we have experienced together.  To celebrate year 5, I thought it would be cute to cook dinner together and have 5 courses in honor of 5 years.  We shared this amazing meal and watched a movie and it was a quiet and lovely anniversary.

Zucchini Soup

Strawberry Poppyseed Salad

Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Feta and Peas in a Brown Butter Balsamic Sauce

Toasty Parmesan Tomatoes

Creme Brûlée Cupcakes

Creme Brûlée Cupcakes

Creme Brûlée Cupcakes
(adapted from Cooking Classy)

Ingredients:
Pastry Cream Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup skim milk
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
3 tbsp cornstarch
8 tbsp sugar, divided
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Cupcake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 + 2 tbsp sugar
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:
1. To make the pastry cream, in a medium saucepan, combine the cream, milk, 6 tbsp sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Heat over medium heat until you just start to see bubbles.  Turn heat to medium-low.  While cream is warming up, in a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 2 tbsp of sugar and the cornstarch.  (Save 2 of the egg whites for the cupcake batter).  When cream mixture is warm, take about 1/2 cup and slowly pour it into the egg mixture while whisking.  Continue to whisk and pour the egg mixture into the cream mixture.  Whisk until cream thickens.  Turn off heat and whisk in the 1 tbsp of butter.  Pour pastry cream into a bowl and cover with saran wrap so that the saran wrap is pressed against the pastry cream.  Cool in fridge for 2-3 hours.
2. To make the cupcake batter, in a medium bowl whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  IN a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg whites and egg, one at a time, until well combined.  Measure out the milk in a liquid measure cup and stir the vanilla into the milk.  Alternate adding the flour and milk to the butter/sugar starting with the flour and ending with the flour.  Beat until just combined.  Divide batter into 6 jumbo or 12 regular cupcake wells.  Bake at 350 for about 23 minutes.  Let cool completely.
3. To assemble cupcakes, spread the pastry cream over the tops of the cupcakes.  Sprinkle sugar on top and, using a kitchen torch, burn the sugar until it just starts to brown and harden.

Enjoy :)

4th of July Cupcakes

Happy 4th of July! 

I made cupcakes :)

22nd Birthday Celebration!

I don't know 'bout you...

Oh! So this is what T Swift has been talking about.  I totally know what it feels like to be 22 now :).

Today is my 22nd birthday! My mom keeps saying that she can't believe how old I am.  Frankly, I can't believe how old I am.  Bri gave me a really sweet card that talked about some of the things that have happened in the last year like running a half marathon, graduation, getting a job, and signing a lease on an apartment.  I can't believe I am old enough to be doing all that! I am so scared and excited about what the future holds and this birthday is a reminder of the fact that I am pretty sure I'm an adult now.

Last night, I had a really fun celebration with some of my friends downtown.  We went to RJ Grunts for dinner and then hit up a couple of bars in Lincoln Park.  It was a great night and we all had a really fun time!

Now, I am getting ready for a little birthday zumba with my mom and then grocery shopping for a birthday bbq!  We are having friends and family over tonight for a grill out and I am excited to keep the celebration going!  I also made my favorite desserts to share: Red Velvet Cupcakes and Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes.  I brought some of these in for my counselors at camp, made Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes for my campers, and now I have leftovers for today's party!

For the Red Velvet, I did the same recipe as the cake version, poured the batter into cupcake pans, and baked them for 12-18 minutes.  12 for the mini cupcakes and 18 for the big ones.  Then, I frosted them with my favorite cream cheese frosting:

16 oz light cream cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
milk or half and half as needed

Simply beat together and frost!

For the Funfetti, I followed the exact same recipe as last year and they came out super delicious! The campers were raving!

Heath Bar Butterscotch Ice Cream

My Dad's favorite candy is Heath Bar.  So, for Father's Day, I wanted to make him a yummy dessert that used heath bar!

I am also recently obsessed with making ice cream.  Now that I am home, I love that I get to use my stand mixer and my ice cream maker.  These are two appliances that I really miss when I am away from home and now that I am back I am a tad obsessed.

Speaking of obsessed, I am also a tad obsessed with Candy Crush Saga.  Like, it is ruining my life a little.  I can't stop playing! If you don't know what this is, don't check it out.  You will get addicted and you will regret it.  However, if you do know what I am talking about I'm pretty sure you understand where I am coming from.

This ice cream was super yummy and it is definitely going to be a go-to recipe of mine.  I basically made Alton Brown's Vanilla Ice Cream and mixed in heath bar pieces and a bit of butterscotch.  It was awesome.  Now I am going to play some more Candy Crush and eat ice cream...its gonna be a great night.

Heath Bar Butterscotch Ice Cream

Ingredients:
3 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla
1 cup heath bar pieces
2 tbsp butterscotch topping

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, heat half and half and cream until simmering.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow.  Slowly stir in the warm cream mixture until well combined.  Pour mixture back into the saucepan and heat over medium heat.
3.  Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  This will take a little while, about 15 minutes.
4.  Pour mixture into a bowl and chill for 4-8 hours.  I chilled mine overnight.
5. Once the mixture is chilled, pour into an ice cream make and churn according to your directions.  After about 10 minutes, add the heath pieces and butterscotch.
6. Once the ice cream is done, serve as soft serve, or pour into a container and freeze for a few hours until hardened.

Enjoy :)

Whole Wheat Blueberry Coffee Cake

So I attempted this coffee cake and it turned out terribly! I am sharing this with you because people seem to think I am perfect at cooking and baking and this is just not true.  I have to practice and learn a lot and sometimes things just don't turn out right.

Bri and I are moving in together and I feel like this coffee cake is symbolic of how I need to think of myself.  I am not always going to be perfect, neither is he, but if we work on ourselves and focus on our relationship, we will end up with something pretty awesome anyways.

For example, this coffee cake looked awful.  It stuck to the pan, it was mushy in the middle, the blueberries sank. However, if you closed your eyes and took a bite, it was pretty darn fantastic.  Super tasty and all you have to do is ignore it's imperfections because its a blueberry coffee cake and those things are tasty.  Also, I slathered on browned butter vanilla glaze, which admittedly made it look worse, but also made it taste heavenly! Oh man, I could have eaten that glaze straight out of the bowl...all of it.

I know that Bri and I are going to have to always work hard and focus on the positives  but I have faith that we are going to do great! I already taught him how to make risotto and it turned out amazing!

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Browned Butter Vanilla Glaze

Before the oven...looked pretty good :)

Coffee Cake Recipe HERE (follow this exactly because mine turned out like crap)

Browned Butter Vanilla Glaze:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Make the coffee cake and let cool.
2. To make the glaze, put butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and swirl continuously until butter is an amber color and smells fragrant.  Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Drizzle over coffee cake.

Enjoy :)

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes with Pretzel Crust

When Tamara and I were planning a dinner for Courtney's birthday, Tamara came up with an amazing sounding cheesecake idea: Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cupcakes with Pretzel Crust and Salted Caramel Glaze.  Yea, she's a genius.

I can't wait to share this recipe, but I am also excited to share my Half Marathon Training! I finally made it up to the double digits and Saturday was my 10 mile run! It went really well and I got to run on a beautiful day through the Madison Arboretum.  It was awesome.  This week I have some shorter runs planned for during the week and then on Saturday, I am running in the Madison Crazylegs Race! I can't wait! I've wanted to run this race all through my college career, but I have always been busy.  Finally, my senior year, I am crossing this one off my bucket list!

Speaking of bucket lists, I got another item checked off when my parents came to town Friday for the UW Marching Band Concert.  We went out for dinner at Roast, saw the concert, and then headed to the Ivory Room for a fun night of dueling pianos.  The bucket list item: my mom and I took a shot together! It was super cute.  We had a really fun time and it was awesome to have them here in Madison.

The rest of the weekend was jam packed with running, DTS Sister Bonding Sleepover, DTS Activation, and lesson planning.  I also spent some time coming up with new recipes and I can't wait to tell you about them!  I hope that everyone has a lovely day and enjoys this amazing recipe for Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes with Pretzel Crust!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes with Pretzel Crust
(Cheesecake Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour and Caramel Sauce adapted from Cooking Channel)

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 1/4 cups crushed pretzels
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For the Cheesecake:
16 oz light cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
For the Salted Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp sea salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 and place 16 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the crushed pretzels, powdered sugar, and salt.  Pour melted butter over the mixture and stir to combine.  Place 2 tbsp of pretzel mixture into each cupcake liner and, using a small glass, press the crust into the pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool.
3. Lower the oven temperature to 325.  In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Beat in the sugar until well combined.  Beat in the cream, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.  Beat on high for a few minutes until light and fluffy.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour batter into cupcake wells until it is almost to the top.  Bake for 30 minutes or until cheesecakes are no longer wobbly.  Let cool for an hour and then place in fridge for 1 hour.
4.  To make the caramel sauce, heat the sugar with the water in a medium pot over medium heat until completely dissolved.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil.  Continue to cook, without stirring, until your mixture is a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and cream.  Mixture will bubble violently.  Whisk until well combined and whisk in the salt.  Let cool completely.  Mixture will thicken as it cools.  Drizzle over cooled cheesecakes.  You can store the extra caramel sauce in the fridge.

Enjoy :)

Gluten Free Cheesecake

Well, today is the big day! I have my first day of high school.  I am obviously very nervous and excited all at once.  I am also stressing out a lot because I am supposed to have an ID by now, but when I went to the place to get one yesterday, the person who does the IDs was not in.  I'm not sure how I was supposed to plan for that one, but now I need to try and get one before school this morning, or after school.  I wish I was just fully prepared to go into school today.  I am excited because today I actually do get to start teaching geometry! I am a little nervous about how class will go, but I can't wait to meet the kids and jump right in!  I will let you all know how it goes soon!

Today I also wanted to share a recipe for a gluten free "healthy" cheesecake that I made.  I brought this in for the last day of middle school as a treat along with a bunch of cookies.  One of the students was gluten free and so I wanted to make sure I had an option for him to enjoy.  He must have enjoyed it because he said, "YOU ROCK!" on the way out of class.  It was pretty darn cute.  Unfortunately, I did not get any photos before the kids destroyed the cheesecake so the one below is from the website of the original recipe.  I adapted the recipe to make it even healthier by using vanilla greek yogurt.  It was pretty delicious!

Gluten Free Healthy Cheesecake (adapted from Simply Fresh Cooking)

Image Source: Simply Fresh Cooking

Ingredients:
2 8 oz containers of light cream cheese, at room temperature
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup non-fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani)
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2.  In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and eggs until well combined.  Pour mixture into a 9 inch pie dish and place in oven for 35 minutes.  Remove and let cool.
3.  While baking, mix the greek yogurt with the vanilla.  Once cheesecake has cooled for about 20 minutes. Spread this mixture over the top.  Place cheesecake in fridge for at least 4 hours.

Enjoy :)

Restaurant Week: Sardine

My first restaurant of restaurant week was Sardine. I went with my bestie, Tamara and we had an amazing time!  So, this is how it works: each person pays $25.  This gets you an appetizer, entree, and dessert.  This is how Tamara and I worked it: we each got something different, and tried it all! We make a pretty fantastic team! I am excited to share our dining experience with you!  This last semester of college is going to be a lot of exploring Madison and since I LOVE food, I'm going to share some great restaurant experiences.

We started off with the fabulous house wine for our drink and then shared two different salads as our appetizers.  Both were light, fresh, and delicious.  I ordered the Mixed Green and Bibb Lettuce Salad which came with shaved shallots, crispy chickpeas, beets and a sieved egg in a champagne tarragon vinaigrette.  Tamara got the Apple Endive Salad which had toasted walnuts, blue cheese, crispy squash and a black current vinaigrette.  

Following our starters, we enjoyed the salmon and chicken as our main dish.  The salmon came with french lentils, sautéed spinach, and portobello mushrooms in a tomato and beurre blanc...can we just look at that sentence in awe...The chicken was stuffed with gruyere and leeks and serviced with bacon, lardons, roasted carrots, turnips, new potatoes, and brussel sprouts in a riesling sauce.     My goodness everything was amazing.

As if dinner and appetizers weren't enough, we then got our desserts! Gianduja Crunch Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache and Vanilla Creme Brûlée!  We left totally stuffed and crazy happy. We sang at the top of our lungs in the car in the way home and then went out on a Sunday since it was a long weekend!

It was such a fun night!

Foodie Friends Friday: Growing Up Gabel and Shared Joy

This week, Foodie Friends Friday is back with a DOUBLE party!  This week you can win prizes from Growing Up Gabel and Shared Joy.  You can win a headband or earrings from Jennifer at Shared Joh and a knitted dishtowel from Camille at Growing Up Gabel!!!   Just follow the rules and link up your recipes! Also, host favorites will be featured on Daily Dish!  This week I'm linking up some of my favorite dessert ideas for Valentine's Day: Creme Brulee for Two, Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread, and White Chocolate Raspberry Heart Cheesecake!

Last Foodie Friends Friday was sponsored by Stacy and here were the winners:

And, of course, here were your top 3 voted and clicked recipes!

Most Clicked:

1. Pecan Pie Oatmeal

2. Wild Blueberry Turnovers

3. Creamy Jalapeño Chicken Enchiladas

Voted Top 3:

1. Apple Pie Bars

2. Ravioli

3. Gnocchi

Enter below and you might be a lucky winner!!

But first, here are this week's co-hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsview.com

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://walkingonsunshinerecipes.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Angie at A lil Country Sugar http://www.alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com

Kelly at http://www.adornedwell.blogspot.com/

Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings: : http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com 

Joanne at Winelady Cooks: http://www.wineladycooks.blogspot.com

Marlene at Nosh My Way: http://www.noshmyway.com

Jutta at Hungry Little Girl: http://www.hungrylittlegirl.com/

Erika at Chef Picky Kid: http://www.chefpickykid.com/

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Chocolate Chip Scones with Vanilla Glaze

Good Morning! Today I have a great recipe to share.  I made these amazing scones to bring in as a breakfast treat for our last student teacher meeting.  Every Monday, one of the teachers at the middle school would meet with all the student teachers.  This sort of "support group" was a great way to stay in touch with the school, learn about teaching, and be open to talking to each other about our experiences.  We talked about stresses in our university classes, difficulties with student teaching, and successes both through school and our outside lives.  On top of these therapy sessions, we learned about practices used at the school for discipline, school culture, and teacher collaboration.  We heard from guest speakers such as the vice principal and a first year teacher.  Also, we got to see sample interview questions.  These meetings were incredibly informative and helped me to feel even more part of the school.  It was great to have this as a support system in my first semester student teaching.  I can't believe that we arrived at our last meeting and that in a few short days, I will be off to high school.  I hope to find ways to continue to connect with staff and students as I enter my next semester of student teaching.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Scones with Vanilla Glaze (adapted from Food Network)

Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup Non-Fat Greek Yogurt (I used Vanilla Chobani)
1 egg
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a baking sheet.
2.  In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together.  Cut in the butter and using your hands, pinch the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles wet sand.
3.  In a separate bowl, combine the greek yogurt with the egg.  Pour into the flour mixture and stir to combine.  Do not over mix.  Stir in chocolate chips.
4.  Form the dough into a ball and press into a circle.  The circle should be about as thick as your hand.  Cut the circle like a pizza to form 8-12 wedges.  Place on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool.
5.  Make the glaze by mixing all the ingredients together.  For a thicker glaze, add more sugar, for a thinner glaze, add more milk.  Brush over cooled scones.

Enjoy :)

Creme Brûlée for Two

Today I have to get a TB test...yuck! I am really scared so I think I am going to go for a run first to calm my nerves.  Also, I really need to work out because I haven't in days and I am going out to dinner tonight at an amazing Italian restaurant with my friend, Tamara.  I am afraid that if I get the TB test first, I will pass out and then be unable to run.  If I run first, I can totally pass out and then comfort myself with amazing food.  That is much more of a winning situation.  This whole passing out thing is pretty standard for me.  I basically turn white as a ghost every time I have to get blood drawn, shots make me queasy, and even getting my ears pierced for the first time made me faint.  It's pretty pathetic.  I have been improving of late so hopefully today will go well!

I found a lovely recipe for Creme Brulee for Two over at Dishing the Divine.  Creme Brulee is one of Bri's favorite desserts and so it seemed appropriate to make it to go along with our little home cooked meal while he was visiting.

Creme Brulee is the best.  It is the perfect combination of sweet, creamy, rich, and delicious   However, you don't feel that full after because it's not dense like cake, brownies, or cookies.  Plus, it is fancy.  It just looks fancy.  All that caramelized sugar on top and the fact that it is French.  I love it.  And, it is so simple because of how few ingredients you use to make it! We had everything on hand except for the cream.  We were able to prepare it in 15 minutes before I had to run off to work and Bri monitored the baking/cooling process from there.  Then, we invested in a cheap kitchen torch to finish them off with the caramelized top.  That torch worked terribly and now I am looking into purchasing a nicer one.  I mean, I am going to need one ASAP if I am going to make creme brulee all the time, which I will.

Creme Brulee

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup + 2 tsp sugar
3 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300.  

2.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

3. In a saucepan, combine the cream and 1/4 cup of sugar.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and let cool for 15 minutes.  

4.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until broken up.  Slowly stir in the eggs to the cooled cream mixture.  Divide mixture among two 6 oz. ramekins.  Place the ramekins in a baking dish.

5.  Carefully, pour the boiling water into the baking dish until it reaches about 2/3 up the sides of the ramekins.  Make sure not to get water into the ramekins.  Place the pan in the oven for 50-55 minutes or until creme brulee is only slightly wobbly.  Let cool for two hours and then place in the fridge to chill for 4 hours.  

6.  Sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar over each ramekin and caramelize with a kitchen torch.  Place back in fridge for 30 minutes to set. 

Enjoy :)