Chocolate Orange Gems

Today I have decided to make Chocolate Orange Gems with the recipe coming from the M&M's Fun Stuff Cookbook. The name of this tasty treat isn't very self explanatory so they are kind of like lemon bars but orange with frosting. Let's get started!
To make these non-lemon bars you will need:

• 2/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup of firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups M&M's candies
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade

Before doing any preparations to make the bar itself you will need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Now we can start the fun stuff. to begin "In a large mixing bowl, cream [butter] and brown sugar until light and fluffy," (Weber 20). After the first two ingredients are creamed, beat in your egg, orange juice and orange peels. The orange peel and juice is used to make the flavor last in these scrumptious bars.

Next, in a separate, medium sized, mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. "Then, slowly add the dry mixture into the creamed mixture," (Weber 20). After both mixtures have been combined, add in the M&M's candies. Before adding all the dough into an ungreased pan, we are instructed to reserve one cup of it but then spread the rest of the dough evenly.

After that step has been completed, spread your orange marmalade evenly over the dough within a half inch of the edges. Then you want to take the reserved dough and, in teaspoons, randomly drop the scoops on top of the marmalade.

Finally, bake bars in your oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. While the bars are cooking you can make a vanilla glaze to go on top of them if desired.

To make this glaze you will need:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of warm water (to your desired consistency)

To place the glaze on the bars meticulously, put the glaze in a resealable plastic bag and cut the corner of it off. But be sure it is no more than 1/8 of an inch so it doesn't come out too fast.
Make sure the bag is sealed and drizzle the glaze over the bars, after they have completely cooled, into lines to get the perfect presentation for your pastry.

As you can see the glaze I made didn't turn out exactly as planned, it looks almost watery in this picture but it was thicker in person. This wasn't may favorite thing to make in the world but it didn't taste terrible. Hope you do better than I do when making this!

What is marmalade? How is it different from jam or jelly?

Colorful S'mores Squares

S'mores has always been one of my favorite deserts and things to make with the family so when I saw this recipe in the M&M's Fun Stuff Cookbook I had to try it. Let's not wait! Let's make them ASAP!

To make this amazing dish you will need the following items:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 3/4 cups M&M's candies
• 1 cup marshmallow crème

To start this baking process preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 13x9x2 inch pan then set aside. Then in a "Large [mixing] bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy," (Weber 110). After that beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. After all other ingredients are put in add the one cup of the M&M's candies. Then, put the graham cracker crumbs on the bottom of the pan and put the batter on top of it and bake for about 30 minutes.
After taking the crust out of the oven "Dollop marshmallow crème over the hot crust," (Weber 110). Spread the crème evenly on the crust and sprinkle the remaining M&M's over it. Finally bake it again for five more minutes and cool completely.
Now you probably notice my lack of pictures but that's because I messed up while making this desert. I didn't realize the graham cracker crumbs were a crust until after I combined the crumbs in the batter with made it this really sandy texture and was not appealing to the eye or to the taste buds. I know you cant make it all perfectly on the first try so this is just an example of how you really need to be paying attention to what you are doing so you don't mess up like I did!

What was your biggest mess up when it comes to baking and what happened?

Dare to Dip 'em Donuts

Today I decided to attempt to make donuts from the M&M's Fun Stuff Cookbook. I have baked two different recipes from this book already and they weren't as advanced as donuts so we will see if this tasty treat will be a success or not.
To make this hopefully delicious treat you will need the following items:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• Chocolate glaze
• 1/2 cup M&M's candies

I'm not going to lie, making these donuts makes me nervous because I've never fried anything before and I know that you have to leave the donuts in for just the right amount of time so they are that perfect golden brown color with the nice fluffy middle. Let's not delay this any longer, we just have to do it.


To begin making the dough you will need a large mixing bowl to first combine your "butter and sugar until light and fluffy,: (Weber 59). Then you will need to beat in you egg and vanilla extract. Next, in a separate medium size bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt (Weber 59). When this is done, we are instructed to wrap the dough and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

To pass the time away I suggest cleaning up your kitchen a little bit so you have less to do at the end. Then with that being done we can make the chocolate glaze to top the donuts off. To do so you will need:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of unsweetened coca powder
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of water
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To begin making this, in a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar and the coca powder. Finally stir in the water and the vanilla. To get the right consistency you need to stir until the glaze is smooth and runny.

Now that the dough has been refrigerated, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough so the thickness will become about 1/2 of an inch. Now the book says to use a 2 1/2-inch ring cookie cutter but because I don't have one of those I am substituting that for a plastic cup and cutting out the middle with a smaller round object.

The next step is to "heat about 2 inches of the vegetable oil to 375 degrees F in a deep sauce pan," (Weber 59). When you put the donut dough in the oil to fry it leave the donut in for about 30 seconds on each side or until it turns that lovely golden brown color. Now you can also fry the donut holes to but for about 10 to 15 seconds per side. After the donuts are removed from the oil drain them by putting them on a plate that has paper towels between the actual plate and the donuts.

After the donuts have completely cooled, you can dip the donuts in the chocolate glaze that was prepared earlier. Finally, to add the finishing touches, place the M&M's on the glaze to give it the fun and colorful look to them

Now these donuts didn't turn out as planned but it was still really fun to make them. I over cooked them slightly but they were still delicious with the chocolate glaze and the M&M's to top it off. Next time I decide to make donuts from scratch, I'll know what not to do when actually cooking them! Enjoy this recipe!!

What's your favorite kind of donut to eat/make?

Peanut Butter Mini Muffins

Hey I'm back with more how-to's and recipes from the official M&M's Fun Stuff Cookbook. Today I decided to make "Peanut Butter Mini Muffins" (Weber 78). After baking the last time I've gotten my confidence up and decided to use the recipe and instructions as an outline and take these mini muffins and make them supersized.


Here's what this book said to gather for ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup (or half a stick) of softened butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup of buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/4 cups M&M's mini milk chocolate candies

This recipe is a step up from the last because there is no premade dough to use so you have to broader your skills to making it from scratch. This will get me from amateur to starter faster than you can say mini muffins.

Now the first step to making this is to preheat the oven to 350 degrees and to lightly grease your muffin tray or to put foil liners in the trays. After doing this set aside for future preference (Weber 71).

Next, in a large bowl, cream together peanut butter, butter and the sugars until the mix is light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Then in a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually mix in the dry mixture to the rest of the wet ingredients.

After it is well combined evenly disperse the batter into each muffin tin and sprinkle the M&M's on top of each before putting it in the oven. When you are ready put the tray in the oven set the timer for 15-17 minutes depending on the power in your oven. You will know that the muffins are done when you insert a toothpick and take it out and it is clean. As soon as you can take the muffins out of the tin and out them on a wire cooling rack then enjoy!!

 

 

 

What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

Peanut Butter Marble Cookies

When it comes to baking I'm not typically the first to volunteer to take on the project but for this assignment I decided to take on a baking book to expand my abilities in the kitchen. This being said the first recipe I read and decided to make was "Crispy's Irresistible Peanut Butter Marbles" (Weber 81).

Ingredients you will need are:

• 1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough
• 2 cups M&M's minis milk chocolate candies
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal (optional)
• 1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Now, being an amateur at baking I though this recipe is a good start for me because it calls for pre-made dough rather than me having to make it from scratch.

The first step in the instructions is (after washing your hands of course) to separate the ingredients into two separate large mixing bowls. With the peanut butter dough, 1/2 cup of rice cereal and 1 cup of M&M's in one and in the other the sugar cookie dough, cocoa powder and stirring in the other 1 cup of M&M's and 1/2 cup of rice cereal (Weber 81).

The next step is to marble the cookie. Before reading this recipe I never thought that "marble" is a term used in baking but I looked it up and found out that when they say "marble cookies" they don't mean the kind of rock that you use for you kitchen counters, but they mean the aesthetic of the cookies should have the swirled marble look. To give the cookie this marble look you take half of the peanut butter dough and half of the now chocolate sugar cookie dough and mix it together. This book also gave a very important tip to making this kind of cookie: don't over mix the cookie (Weber 81). This may seem like a simple and unnecessary thing to be saying but if you over mix the two dough's then the marble look will be lost. After you finish doing this repeat this step with the other two halves of the dough.

In the third step you are instructed to form your marbled dough into two 8 by 2 inch logs and to wrap them in plastic wrap. Post-wrapping the book says to "refrigerate logs for at least two hours" (Weber 81).

 

Almost there.......

Done!!!

After the two short hours you are almost ready to get your bake on! My advice is to preheat the oven as soon as you take the cookies out of the refrigerator so when you are ready you can put the cookies in right away.

The final step is to cut the logs into the cookies (so about a fourth of an inch for each slice) and place them about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. After that you are ready to put them in the oven (which hopefully was already preheated at 350 degrees) for 12 - 14 minutes. Weber said to take them out when they are looking slightly browned. Finally, let them cool for one minute on a cooling sheet and either enjoy or store in a tightly closed container.

Even after making these cookies and reading through all the steps and tips I still cam up with a couple questions that I haven't found an answer to:

Why is it necessary to refrigerate the marbled cookie dough for so long and what would happen if we skipped that step?

Weber, Louis, ed. M&M'S Fun Stuff Cookbook. N.p.: Publications International, n.d. Print.