The Declaration of Indpendence...and amazing chocolate buttermilk cookies!

Recipe: Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies
Song: Jimi Hendrix's cover of "The Star Spangled Banner"

As you know, I wasn't able to make myself a cake for my birthday. That meant that I was left with all of the ingredients to make the yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing. One of those ingredients was buttermilk, and I had to use it before it went bad.

Let me just say that Google is amazing. It's always come in handy for me, and it came to the rescue once again by giving me Kadie's  chocolate buttermilk cookies, that were featured on her blog, Barefoot and Baking. You see, I didn't want to waste a full carton of Buttermilk, so I googled "cookies to make with buttermilk." And that's how I came across Kadie's blog. This recipe was so good that even though I was short on cocoa powder the first time, and had 3/4 c less of chocolate chips the second time, the taste of the cookies were still amazing! I went to two 4th of July Parties last weekend, so I ended up baking two batches of them. And guess what? The cookies vanished both times! Once you have one of these cookies, you'll want to have another one. In fact, one of my friends ate five of them, and someone else I know ate three! Anyway, here's the recipe I adapted from Kadie's below. I made some changes to it to make it a little bit healthier.

This platter wasn't full for long!

Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies

These are just as good as they look!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup butter
a little bit less than 3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 t vanilla
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. (Every recipe tells you to do this first, but I usually do this once I'm sure
    everything's measured out because I move slow sometimes!)

2.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together baking soda, flour, and salt.

4. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl (about 30 seconds to a minute).

5. In a large bowl, combine the warm melted butter with the cocoa powder, and whisk everything
    until the mixture is very smooth.

6. Once the mixture is smooth, whisk in the egg, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla. Gradually stir in the
    flour mixture until no streaks of flour are present.

7. Add the semi-sweet chocolate chips, or divide the dough in half to make two different kinds of
    cookies. I would've experimented by using two different types of chocolate chips for this recipe,
    but I was in a hurry!

8. Drop by spoonful onto the prepared pan about 2 inches apart. This is important because these
    cookies really spread!

9. Bake the cookies for about 10-15 minutes, until they are set on the edges.  The middle will be
    doughy but firm up as they cool.

10. Once the cookies are removed from the oven, they should cool for a few minutes on the pan
      before cooling completely on a wire rack. 



Because I baked these cookies for the 4th of July, I decided that a patriotic song would go perfect with them. That's why I chose Jimi Hendrix's cover of "The Star Spangled Banner." Click here to watch him play it!

If a ton of people (myself included!) enjoyed these cookies, I'm sure you will, too! Happy belated 4th of July!

*All rights to the original recipe go to Kadie of "Barefoot and Baking."
*All rights to the song "The Star Spangled Banner" go to Jimi Hendrix

Snap. Crackle. Pop. Happy Birthday to Me!

Song: "Birthday" by The Beatles

Recipe: Rice Krispie Treat Cupcakes (or Rice Krispie Treats in Cupcake form)

I loooooove making Rice Krispie Treats. They're quick, they're easy, and they're better for you than many other desserts! I'm also a huge fan of marshmallows, and love crunchy foods.

Now I'll admit that I really wanted to make myself a cake for my birthday, but I was just too lazy to do it. I'm also trying to eat healthy and wanted to make better choices since I was eating out twice that week-once with my family, and once with my friends. I also wanted something that was liked by many people, so that I wasn't stuck with a lot of leftovers. That being said, Rice Krispie Treats are the perfect thing to make since everyone loves them. My little cupcakes were so good that some of my friends even had two of them! I even brought the leftovers to work on my last day (which is a whole different story). One of my managers ate four of them for lunch-there's nothing wrong with that!

Basically what I did was shape the warm Rice Krispie Treat mixture into cupcake shapes, instead of just pressing it into the pan. I should tell you that this was challenging, and you need to move quickly before the mixture sticks to the saucepan, but if you want to be creative and try something new, definitely go for it! I've posted the recipe that I adapted from Kadie's blog, "Barefoot and Baking" below:

They taste just as good without the icing!

Rice Krispie Treats:

What you'll need:

6 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal
1 tsp vanilla extract                                 
5 c. miniature marshmallows
4 Tbs. butter


How to make them: 

1. Place cupcake liners into muffin tin.
2. Melt the marshmallows and butter in a LARGE saucepan over medium-low heat.
3. As soon as the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and stir the mixture until it's combined.
4. Now add the Rice Krispies and stir until the cereal is coated well. 
5. Quickly take a spoon and drop the mixture into the cupcake liners. You can also shape the mixture with your hands if you 
    like once it's in the liner.
6. Decorate the treats if you please. I originally bought a pink, glittery Betty Crocker decorative icing tube for my cake, so I 
    just put dots of it all over the cupcakes.
7. Share and enjoy!



Obviously, the song that will go with this recipe is a birthday song. I decided to use "Birthday" by The Beatles. Here's a clip of the famous British band performing it.


*All rights to the original recipe go to Kadie of "Barefoot and Baking."
*All rights to the song "Birthday" go to The Beatles.