Carmel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip Cookies for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

 

I was super duper excited to be a part of The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap this year. It's where you get to bake cookies and send them to 3 other food bloggers, and then 3 different food bloggers send their cookies to you! This was a great idea since I love baked goods from other people, and I love getting gifts in the mail!

I made these Carmel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip cookies from Maggie's blog, and they are so salty and sweet at the same time, it's awesome! 

  

I think this cookie swap was so fun, and I'm definitely doing it again next year. It was a little hard to figure out the timing of making the cookies and then shipping them the next day so they don't get too stale by the time they arrive! But I hope they turned up okay to my 3 people.

 

The first batch of cookies I received was from Amanda k by the Bay, and they were really good! They were a ginger Swedish cookie called Pepper Kakor.

The next cookies I received were from Fatgirl Hedonist, and they were a Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Chip cookie. So yummyyy!

The last one's I received were from Not Starving Yet, and it was a classic Gingerbread Man cookie! How festive!

Is it sad I'm already looking forward to doing next year's cookie swap? 

Caramel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields: approximately 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (OR semi-sweet)

1/2 cup caramel bits or chopped caramel (Kraft sells the caramel bits)

1/2 cup crushed pretzels

Sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt;  set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in until thoroughly combined.

 

Add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in chips, caramel bits and pretzels.

Using a large cookie scoop (about 2-3 tablespoons), drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  Top each cookie with a sprinkling of sea salt.  Bake for 9-12 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. The tops will not brown. I took mine out at about 11 minutes and the result was a perfectly soft, chewy center!

 

Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes.   Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.

Maple Glazed Pumpkin Bread and Hot Chocolate

 

Hi guys. I'm posting this amazing maple glazed pumpkin bread now before it's past pumpkin season! I barely made it, but I was determined to make something with pumpkin before Thanksgiving was over. I got the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction, and made it into a loaf instead of cupcakes. Then, I took the maple-glaze from my buddy Sugarplum's blog, and it was an amazing combo! I really love pumpkin and maple together. I dunno if I mentioned it before, but those Maple-Leaf cookies from Trader Joe's are my weakness.

Here is the recipe!

Maple Glazed Pumpkin Bread 

(adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction and Sugar Plum)

Ingredients:

• 1 and 3/4 cups (220 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (227 grams) pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray one loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, toss the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together until combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs together until combined. Add the pumpkin, oil, milk, and vanilla until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do NOT overmix the batter.
Pour in loaf pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Maple Glaze 

• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat together butter, confectioners' sugar, maple syrup and vanilla, in a medium bowl, until well combined and smooth.  Baste glaze on top of bread.

I entered the Brownie Competition again for Pastry Chicago, and made Salted Carmel Mocha Brownies. They weren't the prettiest, but they tasted good! I even made a trial batch and brought them to work, and everyone there loved them. So I was hoping to win one of the prizes, but nope. There were 35 other brownies entered, and they all looked so cute and delicious! Oh well, I've tried my best.

Joshua Johnson from the French Pastry School did a demo and made these Chocolate Brownies with Sablee and Orange Marmalade, and they were soooo good. Yum. And they are pretty, too!

Oooo man, I finally went to the restaurant that has been on my "list of restaurants to eat at" the longest! And it was amazinggg! I met my friend Emily there for dinner, and we split a sandwich and mac and cheese so we'd have plenty of room for dessert. Then we of course each ordered a medium hot chocolate with homemade marshmallow, and the pumpkin cheesecake so we wouldn't have too much chocolate.

I was amazed at how good the hot chocolate was! Luckily, they let us put the rest in to-go cups and take home what we couldn't finish.

I also had a lovely dinner at Lillie's Q, because Brandon and I have been on a BBQ kick lately. It was so cute in there with the Ball jars for cups, and they had hush puppies for an appetizer! 

I got the sampler of pulled pork, chicken, and tri-tip (like brisket) and then my favorite type of fry, sweet potato fries. These had a really awesome seasoning, and I might even say they were one of my favorite sweet potato fries I've had....

I need to find a White Elephant gift for our gift exchange at work, and these would be so awesome!!

 

Pecan Pie Pringles? Hmm, I thought they'd be really good, but they are strange. They have a real maple-y flavor, which I usually love, but combined with potato it's sort of weird. Nice try Pringles!

I'm ready to eat my mom's Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday for the first time in 4 years! Oh it's been toooooo long since I've gone home for Thanksgiving!