Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

Remember when I told you about these amazing cookies and promised to share the recipe? And, in true Emily fashion, I didn't.

Yeah, oops.  This post has been in my drafts box for three weeks.  FAIL.

February has been totally, out-of-my-mind crazy.  Between school, theater, and my body deciding to stop functioning properly, my brain's a little fried.  Deep thoughts and proper sentences are not happening.  But a picture's worth a thousand words, right? And I have lots of pictures!

So, for those of you who are just joining us, let me catch you up:  At the end of January, a few friends and I had a girl's night! We all went to my friend Charlynn's house and watch the SAG awards.  We all brought either a soup, salad, bread, or dessert to share.  I brought Asian Salad and these cookies.

Here's the original pin for the cookies:

Source: divine-baking.com via Emily on Pinterest

And a photo presentation for your enjoyment:

My first time making merengue.

For some reason, we keep the cocoa really high in my house.

You're supposed to roll the dough into balls.

Too messy for my taste.

Much better (and cleaner!)

Halfway done baking!

So good!

They got dad's seal of approval.

The finished product.

I need a better camera.  This picture doesn't do them justice. 

These were a little bit more work than your average cookie recipe, but they were so worth it! They were ever so slightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  And so rich and chocolatey—Perfect with a glass of milk! But be warned, don't breathe in while eating your cookie.  I learned that the hard way. 

Another thing I really like about this recipe is that it's gluten and butter free, so my friends with those dietary restrictions could enjoy them too! 

These were a hit at SAGs night :)

Natalie, Me and Lauren

Photo Credit to Melissa at Little Mrs. Married

I wish I had remembered to take a picture of my food before I ate it all! Tomato Basic Parmesan Soup, Sausage and Lentil Soup, Caprese Salad, and Swiss Poppyseed Bread.  It was all so good.

*Fun Fact: It took me 5 tries and a google search to figure out how to spell "parmesan."

Mel and I! I borrowed a few of these pictures from her, including this one. 

Photo Credit to Melissa at Little Mrs. Married

Me, Charlynn, Lauren and Mel

Photo Credit to Melissa at Little Mrs. Married

So  silly!

Photo Credit to Melissa at Little Mrs. Married

Charlynn's dog Sophie.  I spent all evening trying to get this picture!

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

*Recipe found on www.divine-baking.com

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray.
2. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in a glass bowl in the microwave, stirring twice.  (About 2 minutes) Cool slightly.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a large bowl to soft peaks.  Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar.  Continue beating until mixture resembles a soft marshmallow creme.
4. Whisk 1 cups sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.  On low speed, beat dry ingredients into the meringue.
5. Stir in lukewarm chocolate and half cup chocolate chips (dough will become very stiff.) Note: My dough didn't become very stiff.  I think thick might be a better word)
6. Place 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a bowl.  Roll 1 rounded tablespoon of dough into a ball. Roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on a prepared sheet.  Repeating with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart.
7. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes.  Cool on sheets on a rack for about 10 minutes, then place the cookies directly on the rack and let them cool completely.

Makes about 18 cookies.

Oh my goodness, I need a cookie now!

Kitchen Therapy

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.

I have neither the room nor the funds for a hand mixer, so I had to mix everything by hand.  So making the cookie dough and the frosting took forever! But it was so worth it!

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...