WHITE MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (with coconut oil)

Dear reader, I loved these cookies! They're light and summery, a little bit minty and and just sweet enough. I named them "white" because the coconut oil makes them so light colored, and it seemed appropriate for their fresh, summery taste. Plus, most mint cookie recipes end up green somehow, and I wanted to highlight the fresh white look. 

There's a teeny tiny hint of coconut taste to them, but it's so faint that my friends weren't able to identify until after I told them. It's just enough to add to the crisp, summery flavor. 

Also, I popped them in the freezer after a few days, and eating them straight out of the freezer turned out to be a GREAT idea. I'll definitely make these again (at least once) before summer's over. It seems like it might be a double-batch-and-freeze kind of cookie...

Enjoy!

WHITE MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(adapted from this recipe)

1 cup coconut oil, melted and somewhat cooled

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil, powdered sugar, and peppermint extract until well combined. Stir in egg whites and salt. Gradually mix in flour. Finally, stir in chocolate chips.

Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into balls, and flatten each ball gently with your palm. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until cookies are just barely beginning to brown around the edges. 

LITTLE BEE HIVE CAKE

Happy New Year, dear readers! I hope you've enjoyed a lovely holiday season.

I'm sorry I was away so long.

But I have a really cute cake to share with you.

For Nate's birthday, I'm all about the themed desserts.

Last year it was robots.

The year before that, it was video games. (If you haven't played the game Portal, I recommend it, and I don't play video games often.)

This year, it's bees. Yes, he loves bees. I mean, bees ARE awesome, aren't they? Our world would be a lot uglier and less delicious without them.

This would be so sweet for children's parties and birthdays. I have a friend who is thinking of using bees as a theme for her daughter's second birthday this month - how cute would that be? :)

BEE HIVE CAKE INSTRUCTIONS

This cake was for only two people (a quick, weeknight celebration kind of thing), so it's small. For this small cake, I used:

• 4-inch round cake pan (mine is spring form, doesn't have to be)
• 3-inch glass pyrex bowl

You can adjust the sizes according to what you have in your kitchen/how big your bee hive is going to be. I had all kinds of bowls and pans out, mixing and matching for a while until I found the right match. Just be sure your bowl is oven safe! 

I actually baked 4 pieces - 2 of the small round cakes, and 2 bowls - just to have a backup for each piece in case one didn't come out right or I made a mistake during assembly. Let the pieces cool thoroughly before assembling the cake. 

Assemble the cake just as you would a layer cake, with the bowl-shape cake upside down as the top layer. 

1. Level and shape the cake. Use a serrated knife to trim up both pieces until you get the shape you want. 
2. Put a thick layer of frosting in between the two pieces. 
3. Apply a crumb coat. 
4. Apply a very thick layer of icing (not perfect, just relatively even) all around the cake. Starting at the center of the top of the cake, use a small spatula or the back of a spoon to create a spiral all the way down the cake. Press just enough that the spiral is visible. (If you mess up, just smooth it out and start over!)

I prepared the full amount of cake batter for a regular cake recipe, poured what I needed into the small pans and the bowls, and made cupcakes out of the rest. I sprayed both the cake pan and bowl with cooking spray.

For the bees, I actually rolled and shaped pieces of yellow licorice from a mixed licorice candy bag that we had at home. I painted the black stripes on with black gel food coloring. You can use fondant, if you have those skills, or get creative with other kinds of candy. Anything small, yellow, and edible can get striped with a paintbrush and food coloring!

For the cake, I just doctored up a devil's food cake mix with an extra egg, some sour cream, and instant chocolate pudding mix. For the frosting I used this vanilla buttercream.

I sprinkled some graham cracker crumbs on top for a little added texture and color.

Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend!

NOVEMBER DESSERTS & A FALL PLAYLIST

It's falltime, everyone :)

Last week my mom texted me that it's snowing for the first time in my hometown (in Illinois), and I felt pretty sad to be missing it. Sure, months of bitter cold can get unpleasant, but the first snow is just magical.

Meanwhile in Cali I eased my snow-sickness with a falltime stroll through beautifully changing trees. People complain that there aren't seasons here, but it's not true. The leaves on the trees change colors later in the year, and stay colorful longer, so there are practically months of watching red/orange/yellow/purple leaves float to the ground and then crunching through them. Yes, we're lacking the crispness in the air, but I'm mostly over that now :)

Okay onto food. I'm not the biggest pumpkin fan, but I got an urge to eat something really fall-ish (hence these pumpkin-maple-cinnamon cupcakes), which inspired me to share some of my favorite November desserts. All of these are great inspiration for Thanksgiving, of course, whether you're hosting a crowd, staying curled up at home, or have been tasked with bringing dessert to a gathering.

CHOCOLATE BOURBON PECAN PIE

APPLE MUFFINS WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE CENTERS

PUMPKIN DREAM CUPCAKES (WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING)

 HOMEMADE CARAMEL SAUCE

If you're really in a pickle and need a last-minute treat, or if you want to give a homemade gift but don't have a lot of time, I recommend Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread Mix. It's $2.99, and it's yummy.

You should also check out my Caramel Apple Martini, which deserves to be enjoyed all the way through fall!

Last but not least, I'm sharing a fall playlist. I listen to a ton of music but don't usually make playlists for seasons like this. I've really enjoyed this one for getting me into a fall spirit, though. Hope you enjoy it, too!

If you have Spotify, here's a link to open the playlist in Spotify (it's called "falltime").

If you don't have Spotify, you can enjoy it here!