100 Best Cookies Take Forty-Five: Chocolate Revel Bars

Today's recipie was picked by me, Rah, Caroline (she's 8), and Ab (she's 6). Does that explain why we skipped up to number 45? Ok sweet. 

Here's the only special ingredient: weird canned milk! We sometimes already have this in the cabinet, but we didn't today. 

I don't have pictures for every step today, so hang with me. 

Start by beating the butter, then add sugar and baking soda. 

Sodenote: Being home rocks, and one reason is that the lighting for the baking pictures is better than back in Birmingham. It doesn't really matter, but it's kind of nice. 

Add the eggs and vanilla, then add the flour. 

 

Now stir in the oats! The easiest way we found to do this was with our hands...you do you. 

Press two-thirds of this into the pan, spread chocolate* over it, then crumble the rest of the batter on top of the chocolate. 

*To make the chocolate, melt the butter, chocolate, and condensed milk over the stove, then stir in the vanilla. Easy enough!

Stick it in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes. 

Isn't it beautiful? You can see that I tried to make some of the dough into cookies; sadly I forgot about them and they burned. But the oatmeal dough was so yummy that I bet they would've been delicious! 

Here they are all finished! Aren't they pretty?

I'm not gonna give it you ya soft: Honestly, these weren't my favorite. 

I know, I know. Why did I do a whole post on it then? 

For learning! For truth! The people must know!! 

I guess it's because if I'm going to do this whole 100 cookie thing, I'm going to go all out. I'm going to report on *every* recipie, even if I wouldn't recommend that you make them. Though now I'm thinking that next time I dislike a recipie, maybe I won't go as in-depth with the step-by-step. 

The oatmeal dough was delicious, but I really disliked the chocolate layer. So even though I'm giving the "taste" category a low recommendation, you could maybe try the dough for cookies or make a different cover layer. Then again, why would you do that if you could just make oatmeal cookies?

Taste: 4/10

Visual: 8/10

Easy-to-Make: 7/10

Here's the link! 

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/chocolate-revel-bars/

100 Best Cookies Take Twenty-Six: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

We continue the Reble-Thanksgiving recipes with these cute dough balls you saw a hint of in the last post:

Here's the special ingredients for this recipie (If you're new here, "special ingredients" are those that I didn't already have in the cabinet, items I had to go to the store for.):

To make the cookie-dough insid, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. 

Add the flour...

and stir it up. 

Toss in the chocolate chips,

and attempt to stir them in. 

I say "attempt," because they didn't stir in very well. Far be it from me to say something has too many chocolate chips, but I willingly admit that these chocolate chips did not incorporate well.  See the chocolate chips sitting around the lump in that picture? All of those wouldn't go in. 

After trying to mix them with my hands for almost five minutes, I resorted to smashing the extra chocolate chips into the dough as formed it into balls. Here they all are! 

You can make them as tiny or big as you like; if you need enough for a party or want to keep some in the freezer, I'd suggest doubling the recipie. After this, stick the balls in the freezer, melt the chocolate, take out the hardened dough, and dip them! 

Because I was making these for Reble for Thanksgiving, I didn't get to dip them; she'll do that next week. But because, of course, I had to, I did try just a few. 

I dunked them in milk chocolate (not the milk/dark mix recommended by the recipie). Regardless, they were delicious! And so fun and cute! And (redundant for emphasis) yummy!

I'm a huge fan of this new recipie. I think cookie dough with no egg is so fun, and these looking like truffles adds even more fun! I'll definitely make these again. (and again. and again. and maybe tomorrow.)

Taste: 9-10

Easy-to-Make: 6/10 (It wasn't actually difficult, but the chocolate chips didn't stir in well and each ball has to be rolled and dipped, so it's a little high maintenance.)

Visual: Not sure because I didn't finish them out, but I'd guess 9/10 or higher! 

So there you have it! Make these fun cookie dough truffles for your next party. Or anything, really. Maybe make a batch, freeze them, and eat one per day. Here's the recipie link!

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles/

Update: I did indeed make these again, so here's some pics! We put sprinkles on some, and I thought that made them so cute. 

This was the first time I'd used a rack when dipping things in chocolate. It enabled lots of the extra chocolate to drip off without pooling like it would have on a tray. And when I moved them to the wax paper, they stayed round because most of the extra chocolate had dripped off already. I'll definitely do that again. Also, using a rack that only has lines going one way made it v easy to clean. 

Tuesday Fashion: Paolo Sebastian Autumn/Winter 2016 Couture Show

Paolo Sebastian just revealed his Autumn/Winter line at the Adelaide Fashion Fest. Somehow he managed to absolutely amaze me again. His designs are stunning, enchanting, marvelous. One day, I will wear one. Maybe. 

Here's the behind-the-scenes Instagram: 

(not that all of these weren't from Instagram...shh, don't tell.)

100 Best Cookies Take Twenty-Three: Chocolate Chip and Triple-Peanut Drops

These two recipes I made for Reble to bake for her family on Thanksgiving. Even though I had to package up most of the dough to put in the freezer for her, I made sure to bake one to eat so I could write a full report for you, my imaginary reader. 

(One day I'll probably tell someone about this blog, so maybe I should be saying my future reader. don't wanna offend anyone, even if they're currently nonexistent.)

We picked the recipie sitting in church (after church, of course), and I went over to her house later that evening to bake them. I tell you that because she wasn't home, and for the first time, I got to let myself in the house. I'm really part of the family now, guys! Hooray! Though honestly, they've treated me like family for almost a year now. So this just made it more official. 

I got in and whipped up recipie 26, then I came to 23. It was pretty simple. Here's the special ingredients:

Start with the butters:

and beat them together for 30 seconds. Don't short it, or it won't look beautiful! 

Add the sugars, baking soda, and salt. 

Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Then add the flour. Don't get confused: two different steps, only one picture. 

Then add the peanut stuff! 

Here's the dough all stirred together. Sorry it's lumped into Saran Wrap, I forgot to take a picture before I put it in the freezer for Reble. 

I baked a few, of course. To taste! To report to you!

Here's the cute, tiny cookies. 

Here's the report: 

Taste: 7/10 They were good, but didn't blow me away. Would I make them again? I'm not sure. (Helpful, I know. Maybe just decide for yourself if they look yummy enough, then try them if you want.)

Easy-To-Make: 8/10 Super easy to make, the only part that was a little bit time-consuming was unwrapping the Reese's and cutting them. But honestly, I like Reese's, so I didn't mind. 

Visual: 9/10 I thought they were so cute! And they looked unique because not many cookies have peanuts or Reese's bits in them.  

There you have it! Here's the link:

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/triple-peanut-and-chocolate-chip-cookies/

100 Best Cookies Take Two: Almond, Cream Cheese, and Caramel Swirls

After locating almond meal and making this recipie, I am now back in numerical order in moving through the recipie list. I made them earlier this week, and shared them with dozens of people because the recipie made so many cookies!

These are the special ingredients. I got the almond meal at Fresh Market, but I found out later they were cheaper at Target. 

First beat together the butter and cream cheese, then mix in the brown sugar. 

Add egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract. 

Now beat in almond meal and flour, divide the dough in half, and chill it. 

This leads us to ambiguous meanings of the word "chill" . . . I took it to mean freezer, because the freezer is faster. 

In the meantime, make the filling. All you have to do is unwrap the caramels and  put them in a...well, whataver kind of pan this is (or whatever kind of pan you have, for that matter!) and stir them while they melt.  

Then stir in the cream cheese. I was hoping the mix would make a beautiful swirl; I was disappointed. See? Looks kinda gnarly. 

At this point, the dough should be chilled, so roll it out on a piece of wax paper. Or, if you're me, squish it with your fingers on a piece of foil. Here's a picture of it in the freezer. I'm a little confused why it's flat in the freezer—did I chill it twice—so I'm going to assert that it doesn't really matter quite the order of the process. Just follow the recipie somewhat; it'll be fine. 

When your dough is flat and chilland your caramel is melted, spread half the caramel on half the dough. 

Then do the other half. When you finish, it should look about like this:

Because I was using foil, I peeled the dough sheet off the foil (then set it back onto the foil) before I spread the caramel on so that it'd be easier to roll up. If you use wax paper, though, I think you should be fine. 

Now just roll it up! This worked surprisingly well, better than I thought it would. 

Chill it for at least four hours (a joke, I know. who wants to wait?). I think it's so the swirl stays swirly. Important stuff, man. 

When it's time, preheat the oven and slice them up! I let mine sit out on the counter while the oven preheated because I thought it'd help them cook more evenly. 

As I baked them, I found that they were coming out of the oven brown on the bottom, but the top still looked doughy. I started flipping them over when they got to five minutes. I think they at least looked better, I'm not sure if it did much else. 

I'm going to be honest: This is not my favorite cookie I've made. But when they're coming out of the oven, and the caramel is hot and gooey, they're pretty irresistible. 

This picture is half what the bottom (tray side) of the cookies looked like, and half what the top side looked like, even when I flipped them. Both are pretty, it's just preference which you like better, I suppose!

So here's the verdict:

Taste: 8/10 (I wasn't the biggest fan of the almond flavor, and the cream cheese flavor in the filling wasn't my favorite either. They were still yummy, though, as you can tell by the score! 

Easy-to-Make: 8/10 (Just remember that the dough has to chill twice, so take that into account when planning your time.)

Visual: 8/10 (The element of swirl was so cute, fun, and unique! Cookies made from scratch don't often have a swirl. My inability to cook them evenly, which affected the appearance but not the taste, is the reason their score is low.)

Overall, these were fun to try, but this won't become a go-to recipie for me. This is the first time I've done a swirl, though, and it's made me interested in doing that in more recipes in the future. Chocolate and peanut butter swirls? Yum! 

Anyway, here's the link. The final verdict? Yummy, but not astounding. 

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/almond-caramel-swirls/

Music Monday: Selena Gomez's "Good for You"

When Taylor Swift tweeted a few months ago about how much she loved Selena Gomez's upcoming song, my anticipation was tempered by remembering Selena's most recent studio efforts. "Come and Get It," among other songs from her last album Stars Dance, was not above reproach, so I didn't look forward to this next single very much. Also, the new song was set to feature A$AP Rocky, and all of his music is explicit, so that wasn't a good sign. 

I regret to say that my hesitation about the song was justified; "Good for You" came out and, though it delivered musically, it was lyrically inappropriate.

I'd like to pause to quickly recap my views on music and the words I like to use to discuss it. I think this will help if you disagree with me, because then you can approach the rest of this post knowing our points of dissension:

"Above Reproach"— If a song is above reproach, it meets the standards of Christ. It doesn't have to be a Christian song, but its content must be appropriate. I expand on this in my initial Music Monday post, but basically it has nothing explicitly or implicitly inappropriate. I usually only listen to a song if it's "above reproach," though I'll sometimes make an exception when I think the themes and the way it addresses them is worth the override.
"Appropriate"— This explains whether a song measured up to the standard or not. Because my standard as a Christian is Christ, this is usually what this refers to, which usually relates back to the phrase "Above Reproach."
"Musically thus-and-such"— I recognize that my opinion on a song is easy to disagree with regardless of your personal beliefs. One thing I am more that willing to agree on is that the songs are often excellent as far as musicianship goes. Please, as you read my analysis of music, know that I know this. Usually if I call a song bad, it's because of the content, not the musicality. There are thousands of songs that I'd call bad that are musically really cool. 

But now, back to Selena Gomez.

I take issue with lots of things about "Good for You." But what matters more to me than my opinion on the morality expressed in her song is the feeling I get when I realize that Selena's beliefs and feelings are reflected by this song. I know that this type of dependent behavior is real, truly I do. But it breaks my heart that she believes it anyway, and I also hate for her to trumpet it in a song. I wish I could tell her that even though I know it's valid to feel like you have to please a boy, she doesn't have to live like that or focus on that. She doesn't have to work to be "good for" any boy, and if she does, he's not the kind of boy she should have. 

Lines like "gonna wear that dress you like, skin tight" and "leave my dress a mess on the floor, still look good for you" communicate desperation, and I want people to know that they don't have to be desperate! 

This song is about pursuing carnal desires to keep someone happy. Happiness is circumstantial; only pursuing Christ will satisfy. 

Sorry, Selena. Please know there is Someone who loves you more than that boy ever could.