When I moved into my apartment, I discovered that I really love to cook and bake. I just found it to be really relaxing. One of my favorite things to do used to be making dinner for my (now ex-) boyfriend. I loved sharing what I made with him and I loved how much he loved it. But after the break-up, I had no desire to go back into the kitchen. It was (and still is) just huge reminder that I couldn't make him spaghetti or hamburger helper or cake balls anymore and that just makes me sad. And without any appetite, it's not easy to get excited about cooking. Despite this, I've still been collecting recipes online so that when I do feel ready to get back into the kitchen, I'll have something to make.
Tonight, I took a huge step. Tonight, I baked.
The Recipe: Bakerella's Red Velvet Cakesters (Like Oreo Cakesters, but way better)
It's a really simple recipe that comes together pretty quickly...or so I imagine. You see, I'm in a college and I have a really tiny kitchen.
First, and possibly the most important step: You put on that super cute apron that you got at World Market for $10!
And yes, I did pull my hair back before I actually started baking.
The cookie dough has three ingredients: Red Velvet cake mix, eggs and butter. Really simple (if you have a hand mixer..haha). So you start with this:
And keep stirring and stirring and stirring until you get this:
And finally, 30 minutes later, when you think you're arm is about to fall off, you get this:
Pop those into the 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes and now it's time to move on to the cream cheese frosting! Cream cheese, butter, vanilla and a ton of powdered sugar. Mmmmm!
If you were really smart, you would have taken the butter out of the fridge way before you even put on that really cute apron so that it could soften. I am not really smart and thought I would cheat and soften the butter in the microwave. This usually works if you don't forget that you're microwaving butter immediately after you set the microwave for a minute.
Yeah, I melted and entire stick of butter in the microwave. Take two: I put the butter in a bowl. Much less messy.
Since I didn't have a hand mixer, I decided to kind of "mush" the butter and cream cheese ahead of time so that when I put them together, they would be easier to combine.
Yumm! Maybe I should have made bagels...
Now would be an appropriate time to sneak a peek at your cookies :)
Yummy :)
Now it's time for the powdered sugar. The recipe calls for a pound, but I stopped a half cup short because I was adding the sugar only 1/4 cup at a time to make the mixing easier and my arm was protesting. Plus, it kind of tasted perfect.
At this point, the cookies have come out of the oven and cooled a bit (unless you have a hand mixer....) and you can assemble!
They're so cute!
I used my fantastic roommates as guinea pigs and we deemed the Cakesters a huge success! Just make sure you have some milk when you eat them! They're really rich, so you will definitely need milk.
I got about 16 Cakesters out of this recipe (and had a TON of leftover frosting). I want to bring them into work tomorrow, but I might cut them in half so that there will be enough for everyone to have a taste.
Even doing this the caveman way, this recipe was super easy and delicious!
Bakerella's Red Velvet Cakesters:
Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies:
1 box any brand red velvet cake mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
2 eggs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Mix ingredients until combined
- Drop spoonfuls of cookie batter on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart
- Bake for 10-12 minutes
- Cool
Cream Cheese Filling:
1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
1-8 oz. package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1lb. box of confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
- In a mixer, cream butter, cheese and vanilla.
- Gradually add sugar and mix until smooth
Makes about 12 cookies or 12 cookies sandwiches.
I will admit, I got pretty sad once the cookies were done because I couldn't share them with my (ex) boyfriend. Usually this was something I would bring to him as a little treat or a pick me up. But tonight was a step. A small step, but a step nonetheless. And it was therapeutic. It was nice to get back to doing something that I enjoyed so much before everything kind of turned upside down.
And now time for the 30 Day Photo Challenge!
Day 8: Faceless Self Portrait.
......
Does anyone have any clue what that means?
Something tells me that is not what the creator of this photo challenge had in mind...
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