Cookie Pops

The picture does not do justice to how huge these cookies are. o_o The recipe calls for using a 1/4 cup mound of dough and putting a stick in the side. As you might imagine, a whole 1/4 cup of dough makes a large cookie. These have chocolate chips, oatmeal, and raisins in them, and they're decorated with frosting, candy, and sprinkles. ^-^ I could've gotten more creative with piping bags and colored icing, but my day was already pretty hectic, so I opted for a more basic decor. I don't like raisins, myself, but these cookies are yummy. The cookies themselves are pretty thick since they're so packed with stuff, and the icing makes them especially sweet. The recipe called for using wooden craft sticks (popsicle sticks) but I couldn't find any at Wal-Mart, so I opted for the Wilton 8" lollipop sticks instead. They worked out great! The cookies actually hold quite well on the sticks.

These cookies would be great for a party, especially for kids' birthdays or holidays. I'd give them... 3 1/2 out of 5, at least. Wow, so this is the end of the recipes of March. I've finished 19 recipes, and there are 50 left to enjoy throughout the rest of the year. Wish me luck!

Cheers!

~Jesia

Milk Chocolate Florentine Cookies

The cookies by themselves are plain but good. What makes them chocolatey is sandwiching them together with melted milk chocolate. Mmmm. <3 These are chewy yet crispy, which sort of reminds me of toffee. The batter was no trouble to make, but it does thicken up after standing a while which can make it difficult to spread like the recipe says. A couple of tips: 1. Make sure they're done enough; I recommend baking until at least the edges are browned. 2. When the cookies are cooled, peel the foil from the cookies instead of trying to peel the cookies from the foil. If the cookies aren't quite all the way done, they're more difficult to peel off and you'll end up leaving some of the cookie on the foil. =( But, even if this happens, it won't show once you sandwich the cookies with chocolate. And no worries if some of them break into a couple pieces - just piece them back together on the chocolate and it'll firm up that way. =)

These are tastyy~ I'd give them a 4 out of 5. <3 Yum yum. ^.^

Cheers!

~Jesia

Swirl-of-Chocolate Cheesecake Triangles

I'm not really into cream cheese or cheesecake, but this is tasty. <3 I've also never made cheesecake before, and while this isn't an actual cheesecake it does come close. You start with a graham cracker crust and pour cream cheese filling on top and swirl in a mixture of cream cheese filling and chocolate. Mmmm... This wasn't a difficult recipe. I had my apprentice Lucas crush up the graham crackers in the same way I did with the Chocolate Raspberry Layer Bars (in a gallon Ziploc bag with a rolling pin). Both the filling and the crust are easy to make, but since I had no prior experience with cheesecake-making I couldn't be absolutely sure when it was done baking. I just used my intuition; the recipe said to bake until it appeared set.

Like I said, these are yummmmy. They aren't fancy, but they're tasty. My parents love these. I'd give this recipe a 4 out of 5. To me, the chocolate is the best part. I just wish it was a little more diluted, spread out. As is, the swirls of chocolate are really rich, which is fine. This recipe came at a good time, because one of my best friends turned 21 last weekend, and her favorite dessert is cheesecake. =) Tonight we're celebrating hers and my other friend Caitlin's birthdays. Happy birthday Sara and Caitlin! <3

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Chocolate Mini Chip Holiday Cookies

Mmm, these are gooood. <3 Very very sweet with chocolate and icing. I made this recipe for my fish's "birthday," so they were all fish-shaped. =3 The only problem I had was with rolling the dough, but I've always had trouble with that, especially when it's right from the fridge. Luckily, Luke was there to do the rolling (he's stronger than me). He also helped me decorate. =) That's the best part of cut-out cookies is decorating them. They're a lot like sugar cookies in that they're dense and easy to break (depending on the shape you cut out). They were a big hit at the party; there were only a few left at the end of the night. I'd give this recipe 4 1/2 out of 5. They're yummy. <3

Cheers! And happy birthday, Lambda Driver!

~Jesia

Chocolate-Dipped Brandy Snaps

This recipe was SERIOUSLY difficult for me. I'm just glad I had the support of my assistant Lucas. It was no problem making the batter, though it is a strange recipe. It calls for only two teaspoons of brandy, so I went to the local value liquor store to find the smallest (hopefully cheapest) bottle possible. I told the girl behind the counter what I was looking for, and I ended up with a tiny shooter bottle of 80 proof brandy for 99 cents plus tax. Victory! It's amazing, even after putting the two teaspoons in the batter for the cookies, I still have plenty of brandy left. xP I have no idea what I'll end up doing with it.

Anyway, the recipe says to bake no more than six cookies at a time on an ungreased baking sheet. The batter looks like melted caramel, and when it bakes it spreads to a giant, flat, crispy cookie with holes. It's difficult to get them off the pan (before they harden and stick with no hope of getting them off in one piece) without ripping and compressing them. I found after a few batches that it's much easier with a really flat spatula. BUT, you have to roll them before they harden, and they're extremely greasy with butter and very very HOT! You're supposed to roll them over a wooden spoon handle, but I forgot to buy a wooden spoon. >< Anyway, the biggest problem I had with this recipe was getting the cookies off the pan and rolling them. It's really a matter of trial and error, but I recommend using a large, very flat spatula and either rolling them as you lift them off the pan with the spatula, or removing them all and then rolling them with your fingers (if you don't have a wooden spoon or something similar).

As far as taste, these things are pretty darn tasty. They're crispy, crunchy, and sweet with ginger and cinnamon. After they cool, you dip them in chocolate and sprinkle them with nuts. I made some with and some without nuts. I'd give this recipe, as far as taste, 4 out of 5, HOWEVER it was also a 5 out of 5 when it comes to difficulty. Or at least, I think so. I'm not sure I'll ever attempt these again, but if I do I'll make sure to get that wooden spoon!

Cheers!

~Jesia

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I'll be honest, this recipe was a bit of a challenge. I've never made biscotti before! Making the dough was no trouble, though, I did forget to toast the almonds before adding them. >_< I didn't know how to toast them, and I planned to look it up online but just completely forgot. I think it didn't hurt the recipe at all though, so that's good at least. =) It was interesting shaping the dough into two loaves for the first round of baking. Yes, "first" as in there are multiple. After baking the loaves for 40-50 minutes, you let it sit 15 minutes, then cut the loaves into 3/4" slices. You lay the slices on their sides on a baking sheet and bake them for another 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake them on the other side for another 10. I wouldn't recommend using your fingers... Hahaha. It hurts. Also, the biscotti are meant to be brittle, so they're easy to break. You must be gentle when handling them. (My assistant Lucas broke some, and I teased him a lot about ruining them. xP) The chocolate coating is optional, but I love chocolate so I totally did it. Although, I had to use twice as much chocolate as called for in the recipe to coat them all.

I braved the almonds and tried some biscotti (I'm obligated, after all). It was really good! <3 I mean, if I were to make some for myself, I think I'd use either miniature chocolate chips or white chocolate chips instead of almonds since I'm allergic, but other than that, they turned out great! I'd give this recipe a 4 out of 5. ^_^ By the way, from what I know about biscotti, they're meant to be brittle and dry, because you're supposed to dunk them in your coffee. I have yet to try dunking a biscotti in coffee, but I've done it with hot chocolate. It's great. =)

Here's to another month of sweets!

Cheers!

~Jesia