Double Buddy Bake S'more Cookies/Cookies and Cream Bars

Ah, yes, SUMMER TIME is here, therefore the baking has increased substantially! There have actually been a good 4 or 5 bakes since the last post, mostly done by Natalia and her amazingness. She baked Twix cookies very reminiscent of those posted earlier on the blog in addition to some chocolate chip cookies that were delicious as well. Today we have a special post though, it was inspired by Stumble as I have had time to just chill out on my computer and find amazing recipes/things I could bake. The post is coming relatively quickly after the bake due to the time I have outside of work and also because I would like to point out that I AM GOING TO CHICAGO for a week this upcoming week and needed to clear off my camera anyway. So yeah, here we go!

So the first recipe that I fell in love with on Stumble was this cookies and cream cookie/bar that looked irresistible. The ingredients were basic: Marshmallows, butter, and an entire package of Oreos...yeah, can't really go wrong with that trio now can we. So it's basically a Rice Krispies treat but with processed Oreos instead. Just had to microwave half a cup of butter with the 5 cups of Marshmallows, then combine the package of Oreos into the poofy cloud of marshmallows as pictured below.

From there we just had to place it into an 8x8 pan and let it sit and form into what would become the picture above. They were quite delicious and probably the easiest thing I have eer baked. It helps to have a food processor of course to break down the oreos.

Next were the S'more Cookies. These were definitely a bit more complicated, but at the same time were very fun to bake. We basically used Jet Puff or whatever it is as the marshmallow and make an 8x8 smore. Ground up graham crackers as the base and cover (with some other ingredients as glue), jet puff stuff on top of the 2 king size chocolate bars placed on top of the bottom graham cracker layer.

My buddy today was house mate Will!! So here he is taking a nice bite out of the product s'more cake lol. It too was very tasty, and now we are fat due to the 128 in^2 of cookie we were forced to eat. Ratings for the cookies are as follows:

Cookies and Cream Bars: 7.5/10

S'more cookies: 9/10

Buddy Bake Glazed Lemon S-Bends and Blueberry Cakelets/ Rice Krispies Treats/Peanut Butter Choc Chip Peanut MandMs Cookies

Well, this post is very much overdue to say the least. Anyway, the first part of the post is about my buddy bake with Tricia!! We met through a friend and knew immediately that we had to bake with each other. We finally got the opportunity a month or so ago to get together and bake, and since we hadn't been able to bake since long before, we decided to go HARD (bake multiple cookies)! We landed on Glazed Lemon S-Bends and Blueberry Cakelets. I couldn't decide if the cakelets really counted as a cookie, but they definitely tasted good enough to be considered a cookie and definitely worthy of making the blog. Tricia decided to add some yogurt morsels to the batter, and this turned out to be a great idea!! Anyway, the baking process was pretty typical of cupcakes for the cakelets, but kinda new for the s-bend cook

ies. They were the type where you have to pipe them out, so we had to use a plastic bag. This has always been questionable for me. I have tried piped cookies before but they

failed miserably because the bag just ripped and then it was just a block of dough, which I could have easily attained without a bag. Luckily, they had some pretty tough bags which ended up being strong enough to withstand the pressure. The cookies turned out great and because the lemon glaze turned out delicious as well, we decided to put it on the cakelets too. This also resulted in a tastebud explosion, as can probably be attested to by Rajiv, Aaron, and Ryan haha. Unfortunately, we did not have time for the third cookie that we had hoped to make, but soon enough, it will be baked!

The next bake happened to be the last bake in the old apartment (if it really counts as a bake). It was simply rice krispies with M&Ms in it. Good, yes, perhaps too many M&Ms, yes, but still delicious, nothing exceedingly new or exciting really, but mmmmmm, I love Rice Krispies treats.

The final part of this post is dedicated to possibly the worst bake of all time :( Luckily I wasn't alone and got to bake with a friend I met through Will, Natalia!! It all began with which cookie we were going to bake. EVENTUALLY, we decided to go to the store, just pick a candy, and put it in a cookie. I love peanut M&Ms so I thought we should make a cookie with them. And to spice it up we could add peanut butter and chocolate chip morsels...great idea right?? Well, turns out, though the idea was there, the recipe just wasn't happening. I haven't gotten quite good enough at baking to just guess all the ingredients (though I wish to someday), but it is due to the little experience I have that I would basically screw up the dough. We began with a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. While I was going through the ingredients though, there was no salt, and I thought that that was required for chocolate chip. I cross-checked with two other recipes, and they had some, but for some reason, I decided to keep up with the first recipe because I felt like I had used it before, but I decided to add some salt. Anyway, the flour to liquid ratio or something ended up being way off, and the cookies turned out very cake-like and didn't taste much like a M&M Cookie. Unfortunately, I mass produced these cookies because they have been in high demand (lol), but unfortunately, I will not be able to distribute these, due to the fact that my baking rep would be ruined. So, ratings for the month of cookies

Blueberry Cakelets 8.5/10

Lemon-glazed S-Bend 8.5/10

Blueberry Cakelets with lemon glaze 9/10

Rice Krispies with M&Ms 7/10

Peanut Butter and Chocolate chip Peanut M&M cookies 3/10

Thanks for reading!!

Subway Cookies

I know that there has not been much activity on here once again, but I would like to make a shout-out to Karen Clark for visiting us down in San Diego this last weekend. It was like we hadn't been apart for more than a year, and it was every bit as fun as I was hoping it would be.

But on to cookie talk...

I just want to compliment Subway on having perfected the recipe/cooking time for their classic cookies. Obviously, Subway doesn't make the best cookies in the world (I mean, such magic happens right here on this blog...haha jk), but they are definitely worth the combo price! The white chocolate cookies are quite delicious, and rival the best of them out there. Their new cookies, the raspberry cheesecake cookie (though I think it's some sort of artificial raspberry thing with white chocolate [nothing having to do with cheesecake]), are also quite delicious. The cashier tempted me with a warmed up one, and so I gave in as usual. It was rather delicious, something that I have gone back for (multiple times) since.

I've decided that I have problem...like cookie monster in this clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C4-TsaNENo&feature=related

but yeah, almost every time I go to Subway I basically end up getting the combo with the cookies and the drink. Now, normally this would be okay considering I am typically a pretty active guy, that probably doesn't need to be stressing about his food intake...HOWEVER, this quarter has been intense, and I've had quite a number of commitments that have taken me out of the 'being fit' department and I'm a little worried I might have to take a little break from the cookies...but we'll see, chances are I will just keep on giving in to the call of the cookie.... but seriously...the ones at Espresso Roma are delicious too. Try them! White chocolate oatmeal cookies! So good. All the cinnamon-y taste you want in an oatmeal cookie without the raisins, but with white chocolate, an interesting idea I might have to pursue myself.

Anyway, I just thought I'd post something so that I could have something up just in case there are actually people out there interested in this blog. Hopefully come out with a bake when I'm done with finals and get back from LONDON!!! SO EXCITED!!!

Subway Cookie rating...7.75/10

Twix Cookies Buddy Bake

Wow!! It has been a long time since I baked (and posted)! Sorry to anyone out there that might have missed the delicious cookie pictures. As usual, I have come back ready to find an even better cookie! I left you guys with one of the best cookies I have ever tasted (the Blueberry, White Chocolate Soft-Bakes), but the ones I had picked out for this bake surely had the potential; they combined two of my favorite things to eat: TWIX and cookies!!! How could these possibly go wrong???

Side note: This is not from the book

Anyway, there are a couple of things that needed to be decided on before getting down with the baking...First, what kind of cookie would be the base cookie in which the Twix would be mixed? Second, how would the Twix be in the cookie?? There are a few options for this...in the mix (haha and if you don't see why this is funny then you suck), on top crumbled, or on top in one piece. I was personally worried about how the caramel would cook for good reason...Way back when my friends and I baked a cake with marshmallow in it...yeah, bad idea...the marshmallow hardened and the cake was basically inedible. Of course, caramel is different, but still, I had my worries. I decided to go with a Snickerdoodle base as those are delicious and basic, and I figured the cookie would compliment the twix nicely. Also, the cookie would be baked with the snickerdoodle, but on top rather than inside...

Also, THIS IS A BUDDY BAKE, FEATURING ADAM!!

I met Adam when I started bussing at Islands. He's a server there and I honestly don't remember how our initial interactions went...all I remember is that I decided he would be worth talking to when he mentioned my cookie blog (haha jk). He was a follower of sorts and was interested in baking with me. So I believe it was like within two weeks of him asking me that we met up.

Baking-wise, these cookies were pretty simple, I mean, they were snickerdoodles, so nothing complicated. As always, the baking time was the only uncertainty because this oven sucks so much.

So there really wasn't much to these cookies. The simple deliciousness of them is what really got me as usual. The less work you have to put into an amazing cookie the better, I always say.

The cookies turned out amazingly and I would have to say one of my favorites right off the bat. I only wish that I had tried some of the twix in the mix to see how that would have turned out.

Overall rating, 9.5/10. Go Twix Cookies

And I would like to end this post with a quote from Cookie Monster that I had as my facebook status for awhile but that deserves to be on here as well.

I'll try to bake again real soon! Thanks to all of those that follow so religiously!!

‎"Sometimes me think what is love, and then me think love is what last cookie is for. Me give up the last cookie for you."

Blueberry Chocolate Soft-Bake Cookies

Buddy Bake Time with Susan and Lauren!!

Susan, Lauren, and I are all UCSD students, but we are also all Homestead High School alumni. I've known these kids for years now and to be honestly, don't remember for sure how we met. I believe it was probably freshman year when I started hanging out with the Sunnyvale kids...yeah that sounds about right, and through band of course. So yeah, we have known each other for some time but unfortunately have not hung out a whole lot over our time here in college. SO FINALLY, we are baking together.

Today's cookie was a special one. I think TOMO? picked it? Either way, they looked delicious. They had the makings of a perfect cookie...blueberry, WHITE CHOCOLATE, SOFT-BAKE!! I was seriously super excited to bake these. Also, as much as I enjoyed baking they Coffee Crunchies, they still got a little overcooked, so I really wanted to succeed and not have any burnt cookies.

Ingredient-wise this was way different than the last two cookies...lots of wet ingredients...MILK even, which I have only used in a couple of recipes to date. Just to make these even more promising, they involved cinnamon, which, lets be honest, it is hard to have too much of. We started mixing the dry ingredients, and by we, I mean Susan, putting way too much baking powder into the bowl...but don't worry, she salvaged it and ensured only the proper amount, or at least close to it, was present.

From this point on, it was messy!

The dough was super soft and mushy, and just plain wet. It was definitely looking delicious, and much more like dough than had the previous two bakes. So we loaded up the cookie sheet (yes the recipe only called for one) and we threw them in the oven. Due to previous burnt cookies, I was determined to get these out in time. I think I got them out 7 minutes early again, and found that they were basically PERFECT. Just had to let them cool for a few seconds before I tested the fresh-baked half of the cookie tasting.

That time finally came, and I wished it would never pass. These cookies were amazing; Cake-like, almost snickerdoodle-esque until one got some of the white chocolate, then it became a succulent combination of cake and white chocolate, but it wasn't over...then the blueberry hits ya, (and thanks to Lauren's very selective process) we had some of the ripest blueberries ever in the cookie. The explosion of fresh blueberry onto the tastebuds wrapped up the experience known as the Blueberry Chocolate Soft-Bake Cookies. Also, because of preparation and ease of assembly, these cookies are getting the first ever 10/10! Yes, it finally happened, the best cookie I have ever made, and thus far tasted. I didn't think this book had what it took to satisfy my sweet tooth, but it did.

I would also like to thank Lauren for all of the very nice pictures, she documented this bake very well.

Coffee Crunch Cookies

Buddy Bake time with Brittney!

Me and Brittney are newly found Chem buddies. We apparently had Chem 6B together during Spring last year then enrolled in 6C unknowingly together again for summer. We both talked to Anthony who pointed out to us that we are in the same class, then eventually met up to study together like 3 weeks into the summer session. After finals, once there was finally time to bake again, I posted the PB cookies and she asked to be in the next buddy bake. About 5 minutes after she asked on facebook, I called her up and within the next hour we were at the store getting ingredients for these next cookies...Coffee Crunch Cookies.

After such a fail on the PB Cookies, I was really excited to get back into it and have a successful cookie. I let my buddy choose them and I was immediately anticipating success because unlike the peanut butter cookies, this required old fashioned wet ingredients...butter and sugar. Alternatively, I was a bit wary because I am not a huge coffee fan. They were pretty simple cookies, nothing crazy about them. I freaked out a little bit when we were supposed to have dough. Once again, kind of like the PB cookies, we had a dough that was very crumby, and not very stick-together-y. We continued anyway, and found that although kind of difficult to form cookies with, it was possible, and we eventually had two cookie sheets worth of cookies.

SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS OVEN. It is ridiculous. I thought that I took cookies out of the oven early back at our on-campus apartment (like 3-5 minutes), but that has nothing on what has to happen at this place... 8 minutes went by of the 15 (to 20) required by the recipe and the first cookie sheet was basically overcooked. :( I hate when cookies get burned, and theres basically nothing I can do about this. I even turned down the setting on the oven because I was anticipating the fast cooking.

I guess for next time, I'll just have to set it even lower and check just as early. Anyway, the rest of the cookies came out okay, still a little crispy on the bottom, but otherwise pretty delicious. We both happened on the rating of 7/10. Thanks Brittney!!

Peanut Butter Cookies Buddy Bake

MMMMMmmmm. Peanut Butter cookies right?? How could these ones go wrong?? They did, and they went horribly wrong. After searching through the recipe I realized that there were a few things that were a bit abnormal, I suppose all of which may have affected the outcome. These included peanut butter (we used the stuff that separates), honey, oil (instead of butter) and Anthony baking with me...

But before I get into the baking, let me fill you in on him. His name is Anthony and we are officially neighbors, but we actually met a couple of years ago, initially because we lived in the same res hall, but also because we would compete together (until he couldn't keep up with the novice boat) on Crew haha. Anyway, we both moved into the same complex and he was around, so I made him bake with me. Also, Anthony has a hard time with the days of the week, so take it easy on him.

There he is...

So, we mixed the wet ingredients which were the three things i listed earlier (no sugar or butter, weird right?) And after that, put the dry ingredients in (which, interestingly enough, had nutmeg and cloves, never used them before). After mixing them all together, the "dough" was very dry, and as Anthony said, "If we added raisins, it would look like trail mix." After rechecking the recipe like three or four times, I knew that we hadn't missed anything, and since I had seen dough reminiscent of this before, I figured, well, maybe it'll come out alright. I tasted the dough and it tasted alright. I was hoping it would have tasted a bit stronger, but no.

After the dough problems I had an even worse one...I burnt the cookies. As you know, this is never okay. You can see in the picture how badly some of them were burned. Luckily, our oven is too small to hold both pans at once, so the second one I was smarter about and got them out 3 minutes earlier. We tried the burnt ones and they were disgusting. Not only were they burnt, they were like powdery when the fell apart in your mouth...another sign of being too dry i suppose. The unburnt ones came out and they weren't much better. The only difference was the burntness of them. Anthony agreed, but kept eating them...

Well, to rate the cookie, I'd have to say 1.5/10....to be generous. Never again with this recipe