Wow. I haven’t baked / made anything in awhile! Can’t believe the last time I uploaded a recipe on here was back in December. I guess I gotta get diligent with baking again!

Anyway, I think Oreos are the best invention next to the iphone. I remember never really liking them while growing up, but man - these are soooo good when they are made into a dessert. Cookies n cream ice cream, oreo cheese cake, on ice cream / froyo, oreo cupcakes… you name it. GAH THEY ARE SO GOOD. 

I remember watching the movie Parents Trap and there is one scene when Lindsay Lohan eats an oreo with peanut butter. I tried it — it CHANGED my life. I like to eat oreos with peanut butter more than dunking them in milk. Call me weird, I don’t care, it tastes almost as good as heaven LOL. So I made this pudding / trifle thing for my new spring / summer LG. It was a hit. It’s a perfect summer dessert!

Yields 1 - 9 x 13 in. rectangular pan 

Ingredients

1. Crush cookies into bite size pieces. Reserve 1 cup for top. Melt butter and mix with rest of cookies. Press into 9x13 pan. Put in freezer for 5 minutes.

2.Blend 1/2 of the whipped topping, all of the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar. Spread over crust and place cake back in freezer

.3.Prepare instant pudding with the milk according to package directions then spread over top of cake. Spread the remaining whipped topping on top of the pudding then sprinkle with the remaining cookies. Keep cake refrigerated.

It’s kinda cheese cakey / pudding! But yeah enough said, it’s OREOS.

Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?recipeID=7995&origin=detail&servings=24&metric=false

I love cheesecake. I craved it so much that I decided to make a super easy and fast cheesecake (not the kind you have to make the crust yourself) - using pre-made graham cracker crust! :) Super easy, and really delicious! It’s only been a day but I’ve killed most of it already…

Yields 1 - 9 in. pie

1) Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, juice, and vanilla

2) Mix with electric mixer until well blended. Add egg yolks; mix well again.

3) Beat egg whites until stiff in separate bowl. Fold egg whites into cream cheese mixture.

4) Pour all into ready crust. Bake 55 minutes at 300 degrees.

5) When cheesecake is cool, top with fruit fillings and refrigerate.

Before and after baking :)

The filling will expand a bit and will calm down after cooling!

Soooooo goooood :)

Simple and super tasty <3

Recipe from: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1813,146177-237193,00.html

Well, I made these lemon bars with my friend and dongseng Michelle during the finals week! If you like citrus, vitamin C infused dessert, these are for you! :) It was yummayyyy. It’s more delicious if you bake with others!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

Yay :) Success!

Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-lemon-bars/detail.aspx

I’ve already posted this recipe somewhere on this blog, but I felt like it should be posted again because EVERYONE loves this recipe. It’s like all-time favorite for everyone who has tried it. These are really good, I admit it and it’s so easy to make! 

Yields 1 - 8 x 8 in. pan (double it to make 9 x 13 in pan cake)

270 g white chocolate chips

120 g unsalted butter (or heavy whipping cream - I recommend this!!!!)

120 g granulated sugar

15 g green tea powder (available at Asian markets - Hua Xing on Washtenaw)

3 eggs

150 g all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1) In a pot, place butter, green tea and white chocolate chip. Melt until well-blended. (Supervise it well, otherwise white chocolate will burn…)

2) In a bowl, combine eggs and sugar together until well blended.

3) In a separate bowl, sift flour and baking powder.

4) Add melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk quickly, so the egg doesn’t cook… :((((

5) Mix in flour mixture into #4 mixture, combine until well-blended.

6) Pour the mixture into a well-greased pan.

7) Bake @ preheated oven 350 F for 15-20 minutes (check after 15 minutes)

NOMS.

I love red velvet… I think most people know that already, if you have been following my blog! But yeah, this time, I made a whoopie pie version of this fantabulous red dessert! If you are wondering what whoopie pies are, they are just HUMONGO sandwich cookie / cakes. They are also known as Black moon, gob, black-and-white, bob, BFO, Big Fat Oreo. Just like the red velvet cake, the origin of these pies is controversial. It originated from the New England part of the United States, or an Amish traditional dessert. Who knows - it just looks and tastes good!

Yields about 2 dozen assembled pies (so total 48 single cookies)

But I think I made about 60 pies (120 single cookies)?? So I did not follow the exact portion of the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

I love oreos, therefore I love baking with them. Well, this recipe does not require baking, it looks and tastes similar to cake pops. :) It’s simple, easy and really tasty especially if you have sweet tooth! 

*Depending on how big you make them, it will yield different numbers. I made about 69~70 of these!

HOW TO MELT CHOCOLATE

Place unwrapped chocolate in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 30 sec.

HOW TO EASILY DIP TRUFFLES

To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Use 2 forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove truffles with forks, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place truffles on prepared baking sheet; let stand until firm.

HOW TO STORE

Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Doesn’t everyone love cheesecake? Who doesn’t love cheesecake? ;) With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I decided to bless my LG by baking them a cheesecake - since I won’t be seeing them until next…. Monday - Wednesday? Yup. That’s a long time. After talking to Kevin about what kind of cheesecake to make, I decided to make oreo - why not, anything oreo is two thumbs up for me! :d

Yields 1 - 9 in. springform pan

• 1 package oreo cookies (~39 cookies)

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

• 3 (250 g) packages PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 3 eggs

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 16 of the cookies in resealable plastic bag. Flatten bag to remove excess air, then seal bag. Finely crush cookies by rolling a rolling pin across the bag. Place in bowl. Add butter; mix well. Press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
2. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Chop or crush remaining 12 cookies. Gently stir half of the chopped cookies into cream cheese batter. Pour over prepared crust; sprinkle with the remaining chopped cookies.
3. *There is a special baking method in the bottom!!!!! PLEASE LOOK. Bake 45 min. or until centre is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Cut into 12 pieces. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

<Making the crust>

<Making the filling>

<Baking method - in a pan, fill with water, then wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan with foil to prevent water from seeping in. Place in the pan and bake like that! This prevents the cheesecake from turning out dry…>

<The Aftermath>

Recipes from:http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-philly-oreo-cheesecake/

HOWDY. 

For our Marvel Thanksgiving Dinner dessert, we decided to make Peach Cobbler instead of pumpkin or sweet potato pie - it’s too typical, ya know? :) 

I stumbled upon this one recipe - which is apparently the recipe of this FAMOUS BBQ restaurant in Texas - SALT LICK! It was featured on food network.

In fact, I’ve been there! 3 1/2 years ago - my brother took me and my sister. We had all-you-can-eat buffet for $14, and they had pictures / autographs of many famous people in the restaurant. It’s a franchise in the state of Texas. We went to the one in Driftwood, Texas, which is in the middle of nowhere, 45 minutes away from Austin.

Look at the review here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-salt-lick-bbq-driftwood

August 2009 - Driftwood, Texas. In front of Salt Lick with Paula

Me and my brother

Twinsies

OH YEAHHHH THIS IS HOW TEXANS EAT

EVERYTHING IS BIGGER AND BETTER IN TEXAS :)))

Okay, this isn’t the center stage of this blog post….. it’s about the PEACH COBBLER!!!!

I thought this tasted good, but I’m not sure what other people thought of it… should ask!

Yields 1 - 9 x 13 in pan

Batter

1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup room temperature milk
1 room temperature egg
Filling
1 (28 ounce) can sliced peaches, drained
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1) Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2) Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder & salt.
3) Stir in milk & egg.
4) Pour evenly over melted butter.
5) Combine peaches, sugar & spices and spread over batter-DO NOT STIR!
6) Bake 35-45 minutes at 350°F until batter comes to the top and is golden brown.
7) Serve warm with ice cream.

http://dessert.food.com/recipe/peach-cobbler-31901

Happy Halloween (not really)! :D

Growing up, I remember Halloween being my favorite time of the year. I always dressed up as a witch and went trick-or-treating with a jack-o-lantern. The first time I went trick-or-treating in the States, I collected SO MUCH candy that it lasted for about 3 months afterwards! A huge confession - I trick-or-treated until I was a freshmen in high school! 

But ever since I accepted Christ, I stopped dressing up like a witch, and did not celebrate Halloween haha. But I am very fond of the memories I had during childhood. I was thinking of a way to bless my Life Group, and wanted to make something Halloween-y, but did not want to go too wild (graveyard cake, witch’s brew - that would be inappropriate to bless my LG haha). SO I decided to make an iconic Halloween candy baked goods - Candy Corn cupcakes!!!! I love candy corns. They probably are my favorite non-chocolate candy even though all it is sugar, sugar, sugar, corn syrup, honey. And playing with food coloring was really fun :D

Pumpkin candy corns!!!! These kinds are my fave :D

Aren’t they adorable? :)

Yields 24, but somehow I only got about 20 cupcakes….

Ingredients:

1 package (18 1/4 ounces) white cake mix

2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

Yellow & Red Food coloring

1 container (16 ounces) vanilla frosting or I used cool whip frosting (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cool-whipped-frosting/)

Assorted decorations, such as orange sprinkles and candy corn

1. Prepare cake mix as directed on package, adding vanilla. Divide batter in half. Tint one batch yellow with 1/3 teaspoon yellow food color. Tint second batch orange with 1/4 teaspoon yellow food color and 1/8 teaspoon red food color. 

2. Fill each paper-lined muffin cup 1/3 full with yellow batter. Gently add orange batter on top of yellow batter, filling each muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake as directed on package for cupcakes. Cool cupcakes on wire rack. 

3. Frost cupcakes. Decorate with sprinkles and candy corn.

1/2 the batter got red + yellow coloring to make orange

The other 1/2 batter got yellow dye (yellow dyes are strangely orangish)

It’s becoming yellow

It’s becoming orange

LOL that one cupcake with just a regular candy corn - I ran out of the pumpkins

Aren’t they so cute and pretty?!

Did not want to eat them cuz they were too cute…

two other containers with regular candy corns

I wish I had better pics of the inside - but this is how the inside looks like! So prettyyyy

Phil and Joe eating them cupcakes after LG :)

Recipes: http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Desserts/Candy-Corn-Cupcakes.aspx

I remember the very first time when I used food coloring - it was during easter egg dyeing activity in elementary school. I had fun, but I got a bit creeped out at the idea of eating color. Ever since then, I unconsciously avoided food coloring. I thought I would never buy it on my own. Until many years later, when I wanted to bake red velvet cake a month ago. I was rummaging through my baking cabinet one day and discovered 4 different food coloring sets (green, red, yellow, blue). Then I thought, ‘Why not’ bake with them - and it’s been fun! :]

This past Monday was my lovely friend Amanda’s 22nd birthday, and I decided to bake these Andes brownies in addition to her customized journal. They taste just like Andes mint chocolate, so if you LOVE those, you’ll loves these guys too!

Yields 1 - 8 x 8 in. pan

Ingredients (I would double the recipe provided here though - brownies were too thin for my liking :p)

Brownies

either any brownie recipe or

100 g semi-sweet chocolate chips

50 g unsalted butter

1 egg

50 g granulated sugar

45 g all-purpose flour

15 g cocoa powder

Mint Buttercream

100 g confectioner’s sugar (powdered)

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

20 g heavy cream

10 g unsalted butter

A drop of green food coloring (or mix blue and yellow food color - art class!)

Chocolate Ganache

100 g semi-sweet chocolate chips

20 g heavy cream

1) In a medium pot, melt butter and chocolate chips on medium-low heat as you stir constantly (make sure they don’t burnnn) 

2) Once #1 mixture is melted, mix in egg and sugar.

3) Then sift in flour + cocoa powder into the wet mixture above.

4) At a preheated oven of 180 C = ~350 F, bake for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool COMPLETELY.

5) Mint Buttercream: Mix all the buttercream ingredient together until well mixed. Set aside.

6) Ganache: In a small pot, melt chocolate chip on medium-low heat until melted. Stir in heavy cream.

7) Assembling: On top of the brownies, spread the mint buttercream evenly. Then pour melted chocolate over.

8) Stick it in the freezer for however long until everything sets firm. Leave out the brownies at room temperature before enjoying! :D

Making the brownie:

Making the mint buttercream

Making the ganache

Assembling the whole thang 

I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate + mint combination, but I like Andes chocolate and I REALLY LOVED THIS! Will make again :)

Amanda loved it too ;]

Recipe from: http://blog.naver.com/chanmooll

This time - its brownies!!!!! You can either use a brownie mix or from scratch. I used my favorite brownies recipe and tweaked it a bit by adding whole oreo cookies! It rises a lot once it’s baked, turning into a scrumptiously fudgey brownies with a surprise inside! :D

Yields 1 - 9 x 13 in pan

1 cup granulated sugar

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4 Tablespoons water

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

AS MANY OREO COOKIES AS YOU WANT

*Preheat oven to 325 F

1) In a pot, combine sugar, butter and water and stir over medium heat until melted.

2) Put pot off the heat and mix in chocolate chips until they are well-combined.

3) Mix in eggs and vanilla extract.

4) In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt - then add to the chocolate mixture.

5) Mix until well combined.

6) Pour 1/2 the batter into the greased pan. Arrange whole oreo cookies. Then pour the other 1/2 batter on top until oreos are well covered (doesn’t have to be completely)

7) Bake for 25-30 minutes

8) Cool and cut and DEVOUR.

After baked!

You see whole oreo cookies inside the brownie? :)

It’s very rich, fudgey brownies!!! <3

I’m not sure if I crave Oreos (the cookie itself) on regular basis, but I sure do love oreos - anything! I love oreo crumbs on my froyo / ice cream, cookies ‘n cream ice cream, oreo cupcake, oreo with peanut butter!

This Nabisco cookie was established in 1912, and it makes everything taste so much better! :d

I’ve made oreo cakes before, but I was thinking of innovative ways to make oreo baked goods… since I love it so much. HEnce, I made this oreo blondies for hospitality meeting! People loved it :)) It tastes like oreo + more!

Yields 1 - 8 x 8 in. square pan

Ingredient

I LOVE red velvet cake. I think they are the most aesthetically-pleasing-to-the-eye cake ever. Dark red, decadent cake with white creamy frosting. Essentially, it’s a chocolate cake with red color dye in it. But who knew this cake would become SO iconic in American baking?

So much for being a history major… I had to research for the history / origin of this cake - this is who I am Historian + Baker:

The origin of this MARVELOUS cake is still a mystery. Some says that it’s a southern specialty, some say that it came from Canada. 

There is  a famous legend / truth though - a woman was staying at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York around 1950s, and was served this red cake. She was so pleased that she requested the baker’s name and the copy of the recipe. Then came in her mail at home, a copy of the recipe and a bill charging the woman $100-200 (this is rather a huge range). She got so angry that she began sharing the recipe to EVERYONE. Then became the famous red velvet cake.

HAHAHA. I’m not sure how true that story or the origin is, but all I know is I LOVE this cake. Looking at it makes me so…excited. Oh, red velvet, where did you come from??

I’ve always baked this cake with Duncan Hines Cake mix, but this time, I made it from scratch for celebrating birthday on the Hospitality team. I had to substitute some ingredients because I didn’t have enough…so I was scared if it would even taste good. But…it tasted so good… I think I killed two pieces when it wasn’t even my birthday -_- so here we gooooo!

Yields 1 - 9 x 13 in pan or 2 round 9 in. pans

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 Tablespoon of unsweetened, cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (did not have enough oil so I added some butter and olive oil LOL)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1-2 oz. red food coloring (this is about 2-4 Tablespoons. I only had enough for 2 Teaspoons…)
• 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar
• 1/2 cup of prepared plain hot coffee (don’t skip this ingredient)

After baked - moist :)

Frost the cooled cake :)

The verdict / fate of the cake at the birthday celebration…

I had about two of these. It was an addicting taste.

Bleeding red velvet cake anyone? :) 

Will definitely make this cake again! <3

Cake recipe from: http://divascancook.com/2009/11/the-best-red-velvet-cake-recipe-easy-homemade-moist-with-southern-flair.html

Cream cheese recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-cheese-frosting-ii-2/

The reason I hate buying bananas is because they ALWAYS go bad. I never finish them because I don’t like eating just plain bananas. Once again, I had 3 bananas that were overripe sitting on my kitchen counter. 

I also don’t like making just plain banana bread… it sound so boring and I just know how it tastes like, you know? So I was thinking and thinking and decided to make something different! What goes awesome with bananas? PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE. That’s right. So my baking began last night with my favorite ingredients added. 

The result? These are so delicious! :D Seriously… usually, I feel uncomfortable baking with peanut butter because they tend to make breads dry, but this bread is really moist! The secret ingredient? Heavy cream :) I love baking with heavy cream (much more than butter or oil)! Try these - they are yummy!

Yields 1 - 9 x 5 in loaf

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 creamy peanut butter (I used honey roasted)

3 overripe bananas, mashed (leave some chunks for texture)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease one 9 x 5 loaf pan.

2) In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl, mix sugar and heavy cream together.

4) Into the sugar and heavy cream mixture, mix in peanut butter and mashed bananas.

5) Add in flour mixture into the liquid mixture. Mix until well combined.

6) Add in milk and mix well until it forms a batter.

7) Add chocolate chips and mix well.

8) Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes until when the toothpick is inserted, it comes out clean.

9) Set aside and cool before cutting. 

<Before Baking>

<After Baking>

Dannngggg sooooooo puffy!!!! This is my favorite part of baking. Comparing before and after of how much the dough has risen. This is awesome. This is why I bake.

It smells good too :)

Very moist!

Another one of my brownie series! I decided to try this recipe because I realized I never baked anything with butterscotch chips. I’ve made ton of baked goods with white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips, but never butterscotch. I baked these for my LG last Saturday when we were studying together and they LOVED it! Some people thought the butterscotch chips were bacon -_- I didn’t get to try it because I realized I didn’t make enough, but as long as other people say it’s good, it’s worth making them again! :)

Yields 1 - 9 x 13 in pan (I halved the recipe though)

Ingredients