Dessert

Easiest Cut-out Sugar Cookies

I hope everyone had an amazing Easter! We sure did here in Chicagoland because it was 75 degrees and sunny! So beautiful. Spring has arrived, people are getting vaccinated for Covid-19, let’s get this show on the road! The show being life as we know and love it.

I made these sugar cookies for Easter and I’m so happy I found the perfect recipe! They are so easy and equally delicious, this is my new go-to cut-out. Some may say you do not need to chill the dough before rolling it out, but I say 30 minutes is key. Me and a room temperature dough do not get along. So, here we go… put on those aprons and let’s get started 🙂

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
Cookie cutters in desired shapes

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling)

In a bowl (I used my hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in extract and egg until combined. Add in baking powder and salt and beat until combined. I know! Different than your typical recipe. Last, slowly beat in flour 1 cup at a time until dough forms.

Seperate the dough into 2 discs and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. No more, no less.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly flour your work surface. Take out 1 disc of dough and roll to desired thickness. Thinner for a crispy cookie, thicker for a soft cookie.

Place cookies on prepared cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Allow to cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Store covered at room temp or in the fridge. Enjoy!

Cranberry Oat Muffins

Happy New Year! May this year be better than last! I don’t even want to mention 2020 so I’m not going to. Let’s all move forward and bake some cranberry muffins 🙂 These are so good! The perfect start to a new year, perfect for breakfast or snack anytime. Although, my husband and son don’t like cranberries so I guess more for me! I had exactly 1 cup of cranberries left over from Christmas and I didn’t want them to go to waste. Behold, these delicious muffins! I hope you all aren’t too hungover to make these, but if you are, there’s always tomorrow 😉

Start your ovens!

What you will need:

Muffin tin lined with cupcake liners

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

For the streusel topping:

2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter cut into small pieces
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, salt, baking powder and soda. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together egg and both sugars. Whisk in oil and sour cream until combined. Pour flour mixture into wet and stir until combined. Fold in cranberries.

Fill muffin pan just over half full and set aside while you make the streusel topping. To make the topping, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Using your fingers, smash the butter into all the ingredients until you reach a wet sand consistency. Put some on top of each muffin.

Bake for 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Store covered at room temp.

Candy Cane Cookies

Merry Christmas beauties! I made this post just in time! I’ve been baking like crazy over here and I’m just about done! Tomorrow I’m going to make an ugly sweater cake. Stay tuned to my Instagram to see how that turns out.

Anyway, about these candy cane cookies! So adorable, right?! My Aunt Lynn usually makes them every year for our family but since Covid…. you know…. I decided I would try to make them! I think they turned out ok but not sure if they taste exactly like my Aunts. Oh well! We’ll make do. They are actually pretty simple to make, the dough is great and easy to handle. The tough part is twisting and shaping into candy canes and making them all the same size. As you will see below, it’s not perfect but I don’t care! They bake up pretty good so just do the best you can.

I’ve heard that some people use almond extract in the dough, instead of the peppermint but for these I wanted them to be really minty just like a candy cane! Plus, I already baked another cookie with almond flavor so I didn’t want 2 cookies tasting the same. I only made 4 different Christmas cookies this year so we needed some variety.

All right, let’s get going so you can make these in time! Go ahead and start your ovens.

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Red food coloring
Crushed candy canes + tablespoon granulated sugar

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs and both extracts and beat until incorporated. Slowly add in flour mixture until dough forms.

Remove half the dough and put in plastic wrap and in the fridge. With the remaining dough, beat in red food coloring until you reach desired color. Then place that in plastic wrap and in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

In a small bowl, stir crushed candy canes and granulated sugar. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After the dough has chilled, take about a teaspoon of each color of dough and roll on a clean, dry surface (you may need some flour if the dough is sticky). Make sure both colors are the same length, then twist and form into a candy cane. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Fill cookie sheet with 6-8 cookies. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just beginning to brown on the edges.

As soon as the come out of the oven, sprinkle with the candy cane mixture. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Continue until you use all of the dough.

Store covered at room temp. Enjoy!

Again, just do your best and have fun with it! Have a very Merry Christmas!

One Bowl Brownies

I’ve made these brownies 3 times in a weeks time. My family loves them! So chocolaty and fudgey and easy to make! One bowl and a spoon is all that is needed. And since it’s Christmas time, you can add these quickly to your holiday dessert tray or cookie exchange! Or, just make them for yourself. No shame. Let’s get started!

What you will need:

8 x 8 inch square pan lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together cocoa, butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well. Add in vanilla and salt. Stir in flour until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared bake pan, smoothing out the edges and bake for 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before lifting out of pan and cooling completely.

Slice and enjoy! Store covered at room temperature or in the fridge.

White Chocolate Brownies

Ooey Gooey Chewies! That’s what my house is calling these brownies! They are so good, exactly what I have been craving. Basically a brownie but made with white chocolate chips instead of semi sweet chocolate or dark chocolate. So quick and easy to make, the perfect anytime dessert or snack. Oh, and the best part? You only need 1 bowl and 1 spoon which makes for easy clean up!

What you will need:

8 inch square baking dish lined with parchment paper

1/2 cup unsalted butter
6 oz. white chocolate chips
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large microwavable bowl, melt the butter and chocolate together in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well after each time until completely melted. Stir in sugar, salt and vanilla until combined. Stir in eggs until incorporated. Stir in flour.

Pour into prepared bake dish and bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool a bit before taking out of bake dish and cooling completely on a wire rack. Cut and enjoy!

Store covered at room temp or in the fridge.

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

It’s that time of year guys! Everything is pumpkin! And these cookies are perfect for sugar lovers everywhere 🙂 To me, they are the perfect fall cookie with a pumpkin spice flavor and powdered sugar glaze on top. Bonus, they are easy to make! So go get a pumpkin spice latte, turn on your oven and let’s bake!

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup granulated sugar (plus more for flattening)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

For the glaze:

3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and spice. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, pumpkin, sugar and vanilla. Beat in the eggs until combined. Slowly pour in the flour mixture until dough forms.

Scoop onto prepared baking sheet and flatten using the bottom of a glass. See picture below.

Press the bottom of the glass in sugar before pressing down the cookies so it doesn’t stick. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Allow to cool a minute on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

While cookies are cooling, stir together all ingredients to make the glaze. Drizzle over the cooling cookies. The glaze will harden after about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Store covered at room temp or in the fridge.

Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Fall is upon us and I can’t believe it! This summer kind of sucked but we made the most of it. I hope you all are healthy, mentally, physically, emotionally during these times. I’m definitely limiting my time on social media because I just don’t need any added negativity in my life right now. So instead, I bake something delicious for my family!

This cake is the perfect treat either in the morning with coffee or afternoon tea. Tonight I’m actually going to have it a la mode style with some vanilla ice cream. Yum! Instead of frosting, you pour a cinnamon glaze over the warm cake and it is finger lickin’ good 🙂 So, let’ go start our ovens and bake!

What you will need:

1 bundt pan, greased

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2/3 cup milk (preferrably whole)

For the glaze:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until creamy and smooth. Add in vanilla and 1 egg, beating until combined. Add other eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.

Slowly mix in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

To make the glaze, put all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly for several minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened.

Place a plate or some parchment paper under a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake over a wire rack. With a toothpick, prick a bunch of holes all over the top and sides of the cake. Pour the glaze over the cake and let it run over the sides and middle.

Slice and enjoy! Cover at room temperature or refrigerate. Serve warm with ice cream or as is! Enjoy!

CRISPY Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have so many chocolate chip cookie recipes but none that are crispy! And who doesn’t love a crispy cookie?! My dad LOVES a crispy cookie so I tried my best to find out what makes a cookie, crispy. There are so many different ingredients and techniques needed to create the perfect cookie and I still have not found it. Unfortunately when I made these, it was humid and rainy out and weather actually plays a factor in baking! Who would have thought? However, they are still good and I will share my recipe with you and also what to do if you want a more crispy cookie.

So, before the recipe, here are some key things to know if you want a crispy cookie:

  1. Use more white sugar than brown sugar.
  2. Do not chill the dough.
  3. Bake for 2 minutes or more than you would a normal cookie.
  4. Do not use too many eggs.
  5. Make sure your kitchen is dry and cool. No humid weather!

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Slowly add in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes (or longer if you want a super crispy cookie). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Store covered at room temp.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

49673b19-a98c-41a6-a9f2-c6a68b91d1f2

Hello again my beauties! I’m on a posting roll 🙂 I was tired of making chocolate chip cookies so I thought I would make something more fun. I have a funfetti cookie recipe but those are made with cake mix. These are 100% homemade but so easy. It’s a quick sugar cookie recipe with colorful sprinkles added in. And the best part? NO CHILLING NEEDED! So if you want to make your kids or friends happy this weekend with a delicious and beautiful cookie, make these guys 🙂

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat together butter and both sugars until soft and creamy. Add in egg and vanilla until combined. Slowly add in flour mixture. Gently fold in sprinkles.

Drop dough on prepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Store covered at room temp. Enjoy!

Brown Butter White Chocolate Blondies

edf60a5d-a497-43c6-a6c1-13dfae86c162

Wow, it has been a while since I wrote a post! A lot has happened over here at the Boyd household. Biggest happening is we moved! We bought a house in the burbs! We lived in Chicago for over 11 years and it was time to move on and get some space. So far we are loving it! The neighborhood is great and the neighbors are so nice, I’m glad everything worked out even during this pandemic! We sold our house for more than we expected and bought this house with money to spare 😉 Obviously I love Chicago so much and we will miss all our friends dearly, so at least we aren’t too far and can easily visit!

Ok, let’s talk about these brown butter blondies! Yum yum in your tum. If you’ve never made brown butter before it is a treat. It does take a lot longer than regular room temperature baking so just know that before going in. But I’m with you all the way! You won’t regret it I promise. So as always, read the entire recipe before starting and make sure you don’t burn that butter!

Let’s bake.

What you will need:

8 x 8 inch square bake dish, greased

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

In a saucepan, brown the butter over low heat. This takes about 10 minutes. The butter will melt, then boil and foam and then brown but once it browns it can burn quickly so you have to keep an eye on it! Once the butter is browned, set aside to cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the brown sugar in a medium bowl or mixing bowl. Beat the cooled brown butter and sugar until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Slowly add in flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Fold in white chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Enjoy!

Store covered at room temp or in the fridge.