After many months of debate and being unable to decide whether or not to make a food blog, I’ve finally taken the plunge. So behold, my first post.
Today my friend Micah and I decided to bake something. Something with chocolate is what he said but then texted me at 2am and asked for a muffin tin (with associated paper cup things) to make banana cupcakes. I conceded but then decided I still wanted something with chocolate (what else is new?). So, looking through my recipe catch (aka an email saved with links to delicious cookies I want to try) I found these red velvet cookies and we made them along with Spiced Banana Crumb Muffins. Our friends approved them as delicious and I hope you find them delicious too.
So I got this recipe from one of my favorite/funniest food bloggers and made a couple of changes to it, my notes are in bold. Also, since red food coloring is enhanced by vinegar in red velvet cookies I decided to add it. Only my friends had every type of vinegar in their house except regular vinegar. Micah, who’s a chemist, suggested I use vodka and said it would work the same. So we tried it and maybe it worked because despite complaints by other bakers that their cookies were brown, mine were a nice reddish color. Also, I baked these cookies for about 9-10 minutes instead of 10-12 because they were smaller than hers. I would also suggest a good baking sheet because ours burnt on the bottom and I think it was because of the sheet we used.
Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from How Sweet Eats)
Yield: 12-15 cookies (if you make them about an inch they make about 25)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and combine until smooth. Beat in red food coloring.
3) Stir in cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
4) Using an ice cream scoop (or any other spoon), scoop out 1-2 tablespoons of dough and set on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
5) Let cool on sheets for two minutes and transfer from baking sheets and cool on wire racks. Which we don’t have but instead used paper towels, which seemed to work too.
1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and combine until smooth. Beat in red food coloring.
3) Stir in cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
4) Using an ice cream scoop (or any other spoon), scoop out 1-2 tablespoons of dough and set on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
5) Let cool on sheets for two minutes and transfer from baking sheets and cool on wire racks. Which we don’t have but instead used paper towels, which seemed to work too.
Now the muffins. I’ve listed the recipe here but you might try the recipe itself because it has some great step by step pictures.
Delicious Spiced Banana Crumb Muffins (adapted from Wiseblueberry)
Muffin Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup melted butter
Delicious Spiced Banana Crumb Muffins (adapted from Wiseblueberry)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup melted butter
Crumb topping ingredients:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of cloves
1 tablespoon of room temperature butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of cloves
1 tablespoon of room temperature butter
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375º F. Line the muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
2) In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
3) In another bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
4) Stir the granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla into the mashed banana until uniform. Slowly add the melted butter, and stir thoroughly into the banana mixture.
5) Once the wet ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the bananas are mashed well (some pieces may still be visible), stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until uniform.
6) Allow the batter to rest for a few minutes as you prepare the crumb topping. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and 1 tablespoon of room temperature butter
7) Using a fork, cut into the butter and mix into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
8) Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup approximately 2/3 full. Top each muffin with crumb topping.
9) Bake the muffins at 375 degrees F for 17-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. (I don't know if our oven runs hot, but we baked them for just 13 minutes and found them to be adequately baked)
10. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
1) Preheat oven to 375º F. Line the muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
2) In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
3) In another bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
4) Stir the granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla into the mashed banana until uniform. Slowly add the melted butter, and stir thoroughly into the banana mixture.
5) Once the wet ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the bananas are mashed well (some pieces may still be visible), stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until uniform.
6) Allow the batter to rest for a few minutes as you prepare the crumb topping. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and 1 tablespoon of room temperature butter
7) Using a fork, cut into the butter and mix into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
8) Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup approximately 2/3 full. Top each muffin with crumb topping.
9) Bake the muffins at 375 degrees F for 17-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. (I don't know if our oven runs hot, but we baked them for just 13 minutes and found them to be adequately baked)
10. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
Well that’s it folks, I hope you’ve enjoyed my first post and knowing myself (I can barely manage to answer emails in a reasonable amount of time) there won’t be another for a while but I’m sure I’ll be making lots of recipes in the meantime.
Happy cooking!
