Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been seeing this recipe popping up all over food blogs for the past couple months. This lovely creation was first made by Jenny at Picky Palate. I fell in love with these fattening goodies as soon as I laid eyes on them. Jenny is my hero.

A very soft chocolate chip cookie surrounds an oreo that becomes soft itself with a slightly gooey cream center once baked. These cookies were awesome, they did not disappoint! That's coming from a person who doesn't really like chocolate chip cookies. I enjoyed them best right out of the oven with a tall glass of milk for dunking. YUM! :)

You can find the original recipe at Picky Palate.

Make them right away. Then watch them disappear much quicker than it took to whip them up. It is so worth it.


Helpful Hints
*I wasn't too sure on how big of a scoop to use for the cookie dough, or exactly how long to bake, so I just experimented a little. (I used a small scoop, about the same size as the oreos.)

With these cookies I used slightly mounded scoops of cookie dough, and baked for about 11 minutes. The cookie dough spread slightly more, was less browned on top, and had a slightly more gooey middle.

These cookies I used a level scoop of cookie dough, and baked for 13 minutes. The cookie held it's shape better, tops were lightly browned, the inside was still very soft, but not as gooey.

Both cookies were amazing. I didn't really have a favorite, but if I HAD to pick one over the other I'd go with the first ones.


-Jess

Brown Butter Banana Bread

I've been in love with brown butter ever since the Brown Butter Ice Cream recipe. I'm always trying to substitute it for regular butter whenever I can. The most recent recipe I've tried using brown butter is Banana Bread. I was hoping the flavor of the brown butter would be more noticable in this bread than it was, it seems the bananas are just too powerful for it to shine through. Nevertheless, this recipe makes for some amazing banana bread.

-Jess

Irish Soda Bread

Keeping it traditional with a simple Irish Soda Bread. This bread is probably the easiest bread I have made in that it doesn't require kneading, and goes from bowl to oven in less than 10 minutes. Simple! Irish Soda Bread has a nice crispy crust, and a fantastic, moist center. This is definitely my new go to recipe whenever I'm in the mood for bread. It was perfect paired with Irish Stew. :)

Irish Stew

Okay, I'm not Irish (as far as I know there's not a drop of Irish blood in me, could be wrong), and I've never been to Ireland, but there's something about St. Patrick's Day that I just love. I think it's the color green, my favorite. Maybe it's that I have an excuse to drink beer (some of which is green!). Oh, and don't think I've forgetten about the FOOD! These may not be the reasons this holiday began, but they are damn good enough for me to want to celebrate it.

I wanted to make a traditional Irish dinner in honor of the holiday, what better place to look for a recipe than Donal Skehan's blog? He is Irish, afterall! This recipe is traditional, with the exception that it uses beef instead of lamb. It's an amazing one pot stew that comes together pretty quick. It has a wonderful taste, and just the right amount of chunky veggies. Served with some Irish Soda Bread, this is the perfect St. Patty's Day dinner. :)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

One of the dishes we enjoyed at Alexis' baby shower.
I have shared this recipe before, but I love it so much that I feel it deserves to be shared again. :)

-Jess

A Baby Shower

My younger sister, Alexis, is expecting a baby girl very soon.

I wanted to make a cake for her baby shower. We got together so I could show her some photos of cakes I thought were cute, and she put together a picture of exactly what she wanted. Her idea was adorable, and I couldn't wait to bring it to life.

I am thrilled with the result of this cake! I was able to match it nearly perfectly with Alexis' drawing, and she loved it. I should mention this is only the second big cake like this that I have made.

The bottom tier is a styrofoam cake dummy, used to add height to the cake without the need of extra unneccesary cake. Second tier is Strawberry Cake with a yummy Strawberry filling. Third tier is Vanilla cake with Bavarian Cream filling. The whole cake is covered with Marshmallow Fondant, and the decorations on 1 & 2 are also MMF. 3's decorations are buttercream frosting. And the whole thing is topped off with an adorable pink baby elephant sugar cookie.

Everything in and on the cake is homemade by myself, except for the fillings which were purchased at Orson Gygi here in Salt Lake just to save myself some time.




Mommy & her cake



Cutting the cake



I used the famous White Almond Sour Cream Cake recipe for the cakes. This is a doctored cake mix recipe. I usually try to avoid recipes like this, but this cake is wonderful. It tastes amazing, it's very moist, and has a great dense texture that is perfect for stacking and carving cakes.





Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Filling

Vanilla Cake, Bavarian Cream Filling

There were a lot of other yummy foods at the shower.

Chicken salad croissant sandwiches, a spicy pasta salad, buffalo chicken dip, tortilla rollups, and sugar cookies.
I thought they were all so good that I'm going to share the recipes for everything in the following weeks. :)

I had a lot of fun celebrating the new life in my family. This will be my first niece, and I can't wait 'til the day she arrives!