Valentine Treats

This past weekend was Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year so there was a lot of eating and celebrating going on. . Therefore stuff to post on my blog! :) This post will be about Valentine's.

My little cousins for NorCal were visting for New Year's and they LOVE helping me bake. They like to do things such as stir, crack eggs, and decorate. Here's what we made...

Valentine Cupcakes...
These were red velvet cupcakes decorated with Valentine colors. My cousins and my sister decorated them and we put them on our cupcake stand. Here is a list of all the things needed to make these cupcakes...
Red Velvet cake mix
Cream Cheese Frosting
Red Marshmallow Fondant
Pink & Red Sprinkles
Pink Sparkly Decorating Gel




Hug Cookies...
You have probably seen Peanut Butter Blossoms (those Hershey's Kiss cookies) before. I made a derivative of that cookie. Instead of Hershey's Kisses, I used Hershey's Hugs and chocolate cookies. There is a recipe for this cookie on the package of Hugs but it called for brownie mix and I didn't have any or want to use it. I decided to get a recipe from one of my cookie books. I used the Double Choc-n-Chili Cookie recipe minue the chocolate chips and chili (see below for the recipe). I also accidentally forgot to add the brown sugar so my cookies turned out less chewy and less sweet. I actually liked them, but I would prefer having the brown sugar in them b/c brown sugar is what gives cookies that chewy texture associated with cookies.

Cheesecake...
I made 2 cheesecakes earlier this week. One was for a birthday celebration for my friend, Greg. The other I kept at home for the weekend. I had leftover marshmallow fondant from the cupcakes so we decorated the cheesecake with it. I used Tyler Florence's The Ultimate Cheesecake recipe minus the lemon blueberry topping. The cheesecake had a good texture, not to fluffy and not too dense. I would have to say it would be more on the dense, than the fluffy side though. It was a good basic cheesecake and I think it would have been awesome with a berry topping. Next time, definitely!

Double Choc-n-chili Cookie Recipe... 
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
3.4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
14 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
Candied Chilies (1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 3 fresh red Thai chilies, chopped finely - Stir sugar and the water in small pot over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add chilies, boil, 2 minutes; cool. Strain, discard syrup.)
1. Prehead oven to 350 degrees Farenhiet. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Make candied chilies
3. Beat butter, vanilla, sugars, and egg with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Stir in sifted flour, cocoa, and baking soda in 2 batches. Stir in candied chilies and chocolate.
5. Roll leven tablespoons of dough in balls; place about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake about 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet.

White Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

First, a little about white whole wheat flour...

It is made from whole grains and can be use in substitution for all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. It has more nutrition and fiber than regular all purpose flour like whole wheat flour but a milder taste and lighter appearance. I guess you can say its an intermediate between the two. Whole Wheat is also know for many health benefits, for example, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. (flour picture)

I had gotten some white whole wheat flour for Christmas. I have never used it before, so the other day I decided to make chocolate chip cookies with it. 

I used this recipe from the flour package....

2 cups of White Whole Wheat Flour (I used Baker Josef's from Trader Joe's. It's pictured above)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 12 oz. package of chocolate chips (I used 2 cups but you can use more or less depending on your preference)
1 cup of chopped nuts if you please
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine flour, salt and baking soad in a bowl and set aside. Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, softened butter and vanilla extract. Beat until creamy. Add eggs (one at a time) and beat. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips (and nuts). Drop approximately 1 inch mounts onto a non-greased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Makes approximately 24 cookies. 

The cookies turned out great! The looked only slightly darker and grittier than cookies made with regular flour. It was barely noticeable (my family didn't really notice the difference). The package said, "for wholesome, mild tasting baked goods" and it wasn't lying. The cookies were less sweet and definitely more wholesome. I prefer the taste of these over my usual Tollhouse cookies, which is also excellent. I guess it will just depend on my mood and what I have on hand that day when it comes to which cookies I will make. I look forward to experimenting with white whole wheat flour some more!

(The pictures of the cookies were taken with a camera with a fish eye lens that I borrowed from a friend)