Cinnamon Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Hi there, chickadees!

It's election season and the polls are in full swing. Let's take one of our own, shall we?

Stand up if you've ever had chocolate frosting.

(Yay! The whole room is standing!)

Now stay standing if you've ever had cinnamon cake, or a cinnamon muffin, or some other kind of fluffy cinnamon cake-y thing.  If not, take a seat.

(Yay again! Most of you are still standing!)

Now, stay standing if you've ever had cinnamon cake paired with chocolate frosting.  If not, sit your bum down.

(Aw, bummer. You all sat down. I liked it better when you were standing. We could've had a dance party if you were all standing.)

The results of this poll: You should all make this cake so we can have a dance party.

Nowhere near as flashy as in-your-face cupcakes with their fancy wrappers, mile-high frosting, and sparkly sprinkles, this cake is quietly bold in its pairing of cinnamon and chocolate, and that's exactly what makes it so appealing. If it were a kid in school it would be that quiet, quirky girl who wears her hair in different braids every day and maybe doesn't raise her hand all the time, but who does have something interesting to say when the teacher calls on her, and who everyone--even the popular girls--secretly admires.

(Not that I have any experience with that sort of thing...)

As the results of our poll show, the pairing of cinnamon and chocolate doesn't get nearly as much attention as it deserves. And while it seems like this cake would be more at home at a tea party than a dance party, I like to think it's happy just being itself and making an impression where it can--be it at breakfast, snack time, or dessert. And who knows--if it's like that quirky girl, it has preferred dance parties to tea parties the whole time.

Happy baking and dancing!

-Katie

Cinnamon Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Adapted from Dorrie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours, via The Food Librarian and Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Makes 9-12 servings

Cake Filling

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional – you can’t taste it, but it amps up the chocolate flavor)

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used semisweet chocolate chips ground in the food processor)

Cake

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk (I used skim milk and it worked just fine)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Frosting
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (again, I used semisweet chocolate chips)
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1.  Center rack in oven and preheat oven to 350 F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper. Place pan on a baking sheet.

2. Make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and espresso powder. Have your chopped chocolate ready to go as well.

3. Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour liquid ingredients over flour mixture and gently whisk until you have a homogenous batter. Now, using a rubber spatula, fold in butter with a light touch, just until the butter is absorbed. You'll have a smooth, shiny batter.

4. Scrape half of batter into pan and smooth top. Sprinkle chocolate over batter and dust with cinnamon-sugar-espresso mixture. Cover with rest of batter and smooth top again.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake is puffed and beginning to pull away from the sides of pan; a thin knife inserted into center will come out clean. Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let rest for 15 minutes before unmolding onto another rack. Peel off paper, invert onto the first rack, and cool to room temperature right side up.

6. Make the frosting: Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and fit bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring gently and often, just until they melt. Be careful not to overheat the mixture so much that it thins out; the chocolate should be smooth, very shiny, thick and spreadable. (If it thins, leave the frosting at room temperature for a bit, until it thickens a little.) (Note: I had to add a little extra butter to my frosting for it to thin out.)

7. Using an offset metal icing spatula or a table knife, spread frosting in generous sweeps and swirls over the top of cake. Allow frosting to set at room temperature, then cut cake into 9-12 squares.

Storing: Wrapped in plastic, cake will keep at room temperature for 2 days. It can be frozen for up to 2 months, but it's best to put cake in the freezer unwrapped and then, when the frosting is firm, to wrap it airtight; defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.

Mardi Gras Cupcakes

Kate and I first made these festive cupcakes a week ago for a spectacular Mardi Gras party. With three colors of cake, cinnamon frosting, and sparkly sprinkles, they were the perfect (and portable) substitute for the traditional New Orleans King Cake. We even hid a little plastic baby in one!

(Hold on. A plastic baby?!? Yes, a plastic baby! To read more about this Mardi Gras tradition, click here.)

Last night, I made another batch, but not in celebration of Mardi Gras, a.k.a. Fat Tuesday or Eat-As-Many-Pancakes-As-You-Want-Day. This batch I made in celebration of a very special group of people - twenty-two college students who have decided to spend their spring break on a service trip to New Orleans.

My colleague and I will accompany these exceptional young students as they connect with the community of New Orleans, sharing their love of the arts through teaching and building hope with Habitat for Humanity. It shall be an exhilarating and exhausting week full of friends, fun, and hard work.

As an advisor on the trip last year, I was overwhelmed by all the giving taking place throughout the week - the gifts of time, talent, and self that the students offered the community of New Orleans, and the gifts of hope, history, and heart that the city and its people gave back to them.

As we leave the Big Apple for the Big Easy, I figured the least I could do was offer these young givers a gift of my own in the form of - what else? - a New Orleans themed sweet treat.

For such a spectacular finished product, this recipe is surprisingly simple. Here's all you need to know: Just separate the batter from a box of yellow cake mix into three bowls, add food coloring (for the brightest colors, use the gel variety), and drop a heaping tablespoon of each color batter into muffin cups. Bake as directed. For the frosting, beat some cinnamon and vanilla (no need to measure) into store-bought vanilla icing. Frost cupcakes with an offset spatula or frosting bag, add sprinkles or sparkling sugar, and voila! Mardi Gras madness!

These are for you, NOLA team 2012. Let the giving begin!

-Becky

Recipe adapted from Sweet Tooth. Makes 24 cupcakes. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Mardi Gras King Cake

Hey everybody!

Beck is back from New Orleans, where she didn't crash the 15-person van. Yay, Beck! We knew you could do it!

Perhaps Becky will tell you all about her trip soon (well, about the food at least), but in the meantime, I'll tell you about the New Orleans treat I cooked up while she was gone: A Mardi Gras King Cake.

Did you know that King Cake is basically a giant cinnamon roll?!

Yeah, I didn't either! But it's actually even better than a giant cinnamon roll because it's got confetti-colored sugar on top, and a little baby king inside.

A naked baby king, if you go to the same party store I did.

...But I guess that's neither here nor there.  Let's just not think about the naked baby inside the cake, okay?

Confetti-colored sugar and plastic baby aside, there's another reason I like King Cake more than cinnamon rolls: it's a treat that's meant to be shared. The tradition states that whoever gets the baby in their slice must host the Mardi Gras gathering or bring the King Cake the following year. The very cake sets up the expectation that you'll share in this celebratory meal - and therefore in each other's company - in the year to come.

Good food and good company: two things that will make anyone feel like a king.

A note about the recipe for those of you as scared of using yeast as I am - it's not as hard as it looks. Make sure you have a warm place for the dough to rise and a little patience, and you're set. Mardi Gras is all about turning the world topsy-turvy, after all; perhaps it's time to throw your old baking habits out the window and try something new. And hey, even if the cake doesn't rise correctly, you still get to make it  pretty with green, purple, and yellow sugar. And a naked baby.

Enjoy!

-Katie

Mardi Gras King Cake

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Makes 1 cake (easily doubles to make two cakes)

• PASTRY:
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast)
• 1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
•  
• FILLING:
• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 
  
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
•  
• FROSTING:
• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• juice of one orange
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• milk as needed to reach desired consistency

GARNISH

green, yellow, and purple sparkling sugars

plastic baby, crown, or chocolate coin

• 
  

Directions

1. Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.*
2. When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the egg. Stir in the remaining white sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. When risen, punch down.
4. Preheat oven to 335 degrees F. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
5. To Make Filling: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, 1/2 cup flour, and melted butter and mix until crumbly.**
6. Roll dough into large rectangle (approximately 10x16 inches). Using an offset spatula or spoon, spread cream cheese mixture in a thin layer over dough to within 1/2 inch of long edges, all the way to short edges. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture over the cream cheese and spread evenly.  
7. Roll up dough tightly like a jelly roll, beginning on a long side. Bring the ends of roll together to form an oval shaped ring. Place ring on prepared cookie sheet. Grease a small oven-proof bowl or ramekin and place in center to help maintain center hole while cake rises and bakes. Cover cake with plastic wrap or tea towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown.
9. Transfer cake to wire rack. While cake is still warm, push baby into bottom of cake, and frost.  Sprinkle with colored sugar.

*If using instant yeast, omit proofing step and instead just add water to milk mixture, and add yeast with flour.

**For a different flavor, try using canned pie filling in place of the cinnamon brown sugar mixture.

Other notes

On yeast: I am by no means a yeast expert (I can count on one hand the number of recipes I've tried involving yeast). What I do know is that keeping the dough warm while it rises is essential. I have found that the best method for me is turning on the oven and letting the dough sit on the stovetop. 

Apple Spice Cake

It still feels like summer around here (83 degrees yesterday!), but fall is starting to creep in, little by little. While summer is still my favorite season, there are lots of things I love about autumn in NYC:

1) I get to legitimately start thinking about what I want to be for Halloween. Anyone have any ideas?

2) I have an excuse to purchase a $5 pashmina or a $10 hat from the guy on the corner, because I "forgot" mine this morning and now I'm a little chilly.

3) APPLES.

I'm sorry, California, but your apples simply don't compare to the ones we get out here. Also, because we New Yorkers walk everywhere, our commutes take us right through the middle of farmer's markets. That means there are juicy, orchard-fresh, bigger-than-your-fist sized apples everywhere we go. And don't even get me started on the apple cider donuts...

Needless to say, I could barely wait until after Labor Day to try this apple spice bundt cake. The cake turned out beautifully: moist, dense, spicy with cinnamon, and with a pleasing variety of textures thanks to the chewy apple chunks and crunchy nuts. Since I was traveling with this cake, I paired it with a caramel glaze, but I'm sure it would also be fabulous served with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce as the original recipe suggests.

In the end, I'm not sure I like this cake as much as mine and Becky's signature apple cake, which is more like carrot cake made with apples (hopefully we'll post that soon!), but this is definitely a crowd pleaser perfect for fall dinner parties, or even a brunch.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I can hear the apples in my fridge from all the way over here. They are screaming "Eat me! Eat me!" I think I'll go put one of them out of their misery.

-Katie

Apple Spice Cake
Cake adapted from Martha Stewart
Glaze adapted from All Recipes
Serves 10

For cake:

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 to 4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups)
1 cup chopped assorted toasted nuts, such as pecans and walnuts (optional)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Nonstick cooking spray with flour

For caramel glaze:

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray; set aside.

2. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. Combine vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs; mix on high speed with an electric mixer until lemon yellow.

4. With mixer on medium speed, gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated.

5. Add apples and, if desired, nuts, to batter; mix to combine. Add vanilla, mixing until incorporated.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 75 to 90 minutes.

7. Remove from oven. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto rack; turn cake right-side up to cool completely on rack.

To make caramel glaze:

8. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in heavy cream and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and boil vigorously for 90 seconds, or until sugar is a deep amber color. If you start to smell burned sugar, take the caramel off the heat immediately.

9. Remove from heat and beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. If mixture is too thick to pour, add more cream 1 teaspoon at a time.

10. Working very quickly, pour glaze over cake. (This glaze hardens super fast!)

Mini Donut Muffins

 

There are many reasons I chose to make these mini donut muffins:

1) They are cute.
2) They involve the holy trinity of melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar.
3) They eliminate the need to choose between baking muffins and making donuts, and as everyone close to me knows, decision making is not one of my stronger suits.

The reason I will make these again though, is not on that list, because I didn't know it before I made the muffins.  That reason is that besides being cute, holy, and a perfect example of a good compromise, these little babies are darn tasty.

To prove my point, let's look at a math problem:

Katie made a batch of mini donut muffins.  She used four mini muffin pans that each yielded 12 muffins.  When the muffins were cool (okay, maybe while they were still warm), Katie ate 10 muffins, her sister Becky ate 12 muffins, and Becky's boyfriend the Music Man ate 3 muffins (because he had already eaten 2 actual donuts).  Katie then took the remaining muffins to work, where Friend E ate 10 muffins, Friend S ate 5 muffins, and also shared a tip on the best way to eat them.* How many muffins were left for Katie's other co-workers?

 

 

Are you having flashbacks to fourth grade math class yet?

Fortunately, my fourth grade math teacher, Mrs. Bilanin, was good at her job, and therefore I know that the answer is 8 muffins.  Mrs. Bilanin also had a very cute son a few years older than us and we all had huge crushes on him, but that's neither here nor there.  Though I do wonder what he's up to these days...

 

...(pardon this short break while I innocently Google/Facebook stalk Mrs. Bilanin's son)...

 

Yep.  Still as cute as ever. 

 

 

But back to the muffins.

My point with that little math problem is that while the three main characters - me, Beck, and Friend E - may not be known for our powers of self-restraint, we also don't indulge in just any old thing.  These mini donut muffins were GOOD.  They really did taste like little tiny cake donuts.

Do you think it would it be too forward of me to send a basket of these with my phone number to Mrs. Bilanin's son?  :-)

 

*Tip on How to Eat Mini Donut Muffins from Friend S: To get the most cinnamon-sugar goodness, eat the muffins upside down! 

Mini Donut Muffins

adapted from CHOW via Framed

Makes 48 mini muffins

Coating:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Muffins:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for coating muffin tins
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature (sour cream or plain Greek yogurt may be substituted for the buttermilk)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature


1. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Lightly brush a mini muffin tin
with some of the melted butter, then coat with flour, tapping out any excess; set aside. Reserve
remaining melted butter for applying the cinnamon-sugar coating.

3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. In a small
bowl, whisk together milk and buttermilk. Set both aside.

4. Beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

5. With the mixer set on low speed, beat in a quarter of the reserved dry ingredients. Then beat in a
third of the reserved milk mixture. Continue to alternate until all of the remaining ingredients
are incorporated, finishing with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix.

6. Fill the prepared muffin tin wells to just below the rim with batter. Bake until muffins are lightly
golden and firm to the touch, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Repeat buttering and
flouring of muffin tins until all batter is used.

7. To coat the muffins, dip tops of muffins in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar. Roll slightly to generously cover entire top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

8. For jelly doughnuts, allow the muffins to cool and use a small pastry tip to make a hole in the bottom of each. Fill the pastry bag with your favorite jam, jelly, or citrus curd and squeeze some into the muffins.

Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce, and a song

When Becky and I were growing up, our family went on a lot of day trips.  On the car ride home, we always made up a song to the tune of "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah."  For instance:

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!
We had a Jelly Belly Factory Day!
At Old Sacramento we almost went broke,
and at Budweiser we all got free Coke!

(Note: The over-21 crowd got free Bud, obviously.  But us young'uns were pretty darn excited about the free Coca-Cola. It smelled way better than beer.)

 

I got to go on a day trip with some new friends recently.  You know what's coming, right?

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!
I went a-peach-pickin' last Saturday!
Hayrides and bubbles, ice cream and sun,
Who knew farm labor was so much fun?!

(Yes, I know that "sun" and "fun" are the boring-est words on the planet to rhyme.  But quality lyrics are not the point here.  The point is to be silly.  Be silly!)

Have you ever been peach picking?  No?  Well then today's your lucky day!  I happen to have some photos from our outing.  I'll take you on a tour.

This is the peach orchard.

This is a just-picked peach.

This is a just-picked, half-eaten peach.  Yum.

 This is the adorable baby I got to go peach picking with.  Couldn't you just eat her up?! (Note: You should not actually eat her.  She is not a peach.)

 This is our (not yet) 20-pound bag of peaches.

And this, my friends, is what we made with (some of) that 20 pounds of peaches.

Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce from The Pioneer Woman. It's ooey, it's gooey, it tastes like you went peach picking and maple-syrup gathering all in one day.

(Maple-syrup gathering - is that a thing? Can you do that? If so, someone please tell me where...I'm feeling another zip-a-dee-doo-dah coming on already.)

If you don't have a peach orchard near you, go pick some peaches from your local market and make this peach crisp right away. You'll be very glad you did.  And if you happen to write a song about it, please do share!

Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce
from The Pioneer Woman
Makes 8 servings

• 5 to 6 whole fresh peaches (best when not overly ripe or soft)
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
• ½ lemon
• 7 tbsp real maple syrup, divided
• 1-½ cups whipping cream
• 3 tbsp light corn syrup

For topping:
1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt using a fork or pastry blender. Cut butter into small pieces and gradually add to flour mixture until evenly mixed.

For filling:
2. Peel and slice peaches into a bowl. Add the zest from half a lemon. Squeeze juice from lemon half and stir in with peaches and zest. Add 2 tablespoons real maple syrup to peaches; stir well.

3. Pour peach mixture into a small pan (8” or 9” square) and cover evenly with crumb topping.

4. Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crisp and brown on top. (I baked mine for about 40 minutes after the foil came off.)

For Maple Cream Sauce:
5. Pour whipping cream into a saucepan. Add 5 tablespoons real maple syrup, 3 tablespoons corn syrup, and stir over moderate heat until thickened and reduced by about one-third, approximately 15 minutes.

6. Refrigerate mixture until it is cold and thick, or set the saucepan into a small bowl of ice.  Stir the mixture until cool and thickened, about 15 minutes (ice will melt and turn into ice water).

Drizzle sauce over peach crisp. Serve warm.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

My favorite thing about New York summers are the picnics. So many picnics. True, some of them end up happening on concrete or gravel or against the sides of buildings in the pouring rain, but still - blankets and food and conversation shared among friends make me happy. Picnics are good things.

Lucky for us, picnics are also prime taste-testing opportunities. Recently, a conversation with a friend went like this:

Friend T: Want to come see this great Shakespeare company on the Hudson River? We can have a picnic beforehand!

K&B: Totally! We'll bring a treat to share! (Duh.)

Friend T: Yay!

The day before the show...

B: Kate, what should we make for the picnic tomorrow?

K: Something with chocolate?

B: No - too melt-able.

K: Oh yeah. Bummer, dude... Bar cookies?

B. Nah. We ALWAYS make bar cookies. I'm tired of making bar cookies. I mean, I love me some Peanut Butter Magic Bars. And Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. And Oatmeal Lemon Creme Bars. And Oatmeal Carmelitas. And...so on and so forth. But I'm feeling like doin' somethin' different.

K: What about cupcakes?

B: No way, Jose! I ain't carrying cupcakes on the subway, AND on the train, in THIS heat. Are YOU?!

Oh, the challenges of baking in NYC. You gotta love 'em, and you gotta live with 'em. In the end, we decided on something easily transportable that sports a bit more wow-factor than your regular old bar or drop cookie: cake in cookie form.

Alone, the spiced, moist cookies that bookend these delectable sandwiches are nothing special. But squish 'em together with some cinnamon cream cheese frosting and, voila! You've got a genuine carrot cake taste in finger-food form. Just picnic-perfect!

-Becky

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies via Picky Cook
Makes about 3 dozen sandwich cookies

Carrot Cake Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3 large carrots)
1 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cups toasted chopped walnuts (I forgot to toast them, and they turned out fine!)

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

2. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 3 - 4 minutes). Add eggs and vanilla and beat on medium until well combined.

3. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix on low until just combined. Do not overmix!

4. Stir in oats, carrots, raisins, and walnuts by hand. Chill dough for at least 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6. Scoop dough by level tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. (I used a cookie scoop to do this, which worked well.) Using the bottom of a glass or the palm of your hand, flatten each cookie to approximately 1/2 inch thick.

7. Bake until browned and crisp around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating halfway through. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Cooled cookies can be stored in airtight containers overnight. If stacking, separate layers with parchment or wax paper to prevent cookies from sticking to one another. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Place cream cheese in medium bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth.

2. Gradually add butter and continue beating until well blended.

3. Add confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla and continue beating until smooth.

4. Spoon frosting into a large piping bag, or make your own by cutting one corner off a ziploc freezer bag.

5. Pair cookies by size, turning one upside down. Pipe one to two tablespoons of frosting onto each upturned cookie.

6. Place top cookie on frosting and gently smoosh down until frosting reaches edges of cookie.

Cookies may be stored in airtight containers for two days. If stacking, separate layers with parchment or wax paper to prevent cookies from sticking to one another. If storing overnight or if it's especially hot outside, store in refrigerator (the sugar in the cream cheese frosting should keep it fresh for about a day, but it's best to keep them in the fridge to be safe if you're not serving them that day. Let come to room temperature before serving).

Match Monday: Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

PROFILE
In my own words: Hola, amigos y amigas. At first I was wary about this whole online dating thing, but my friend Snickerdoodle Cupcake had some success on here, so I figured, why not? 
For fun: I'm a joker.  I love playing tricks on my friends, especially sneaking up on them (in a nice way of course).
Favorite things: Mariachi music, surprise parties

I'm looking for someone who's ready to try something new...and isn't afraid to get a little spicy, if you know what I mean.

Today's Match Monday treat was suggested by Traveling Teacher Guy.* Double-T G. used to give assemblies to school kids as part of a traveling museum, and now teaches 5th grade full time.  He enjoys walking from the Upper East Side to Union Square, just because.  Lost frustrates him to no end, but he still insists on watching it.

Maybe that's why he and I didn't really hit it off - I gave up on Lost a long time ago.  But, me and this cookie he suggested? Dios mio. There is definitely some chemistry entre nosotros.

Oh, they look innocent enough, alright.  You pick one up thinking it's a regular chocolate cookie.  You bite into one and realize it's a chocolate cookie with cinnamon.  Then you swallow one and...

Dios mio.

The cayenne catches after you've swallowed, smirking and saying "you didn't see that coming, did you?"  But it's not too spicy - it's just spicy enough to leave a lingering, comforting warmth on your throat and tongue.  A warmth that's so comforting - nay, inviting - that I couldn't help going back for seconds and thirds.

We're re-christening these cookies though.  We're calling them Wait for It Cookies, because after you take that first bite and swallow...well, you'll know what I mean.

This cookie has another surprise - it's vegan.  Now, before you go running and screaming in the other direction, I can vouch for vegan cookies.  You see, the absolute BEST cookies Becky and I make are a vegan recipe.  No one has ever NOT liked those cookies - they are out of this world.  But, that, mis amigos, is a recipe for another day.  You're just gonna have to wait for it.

Buen provecho!

- Katie

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (aka Wait for It Cookies)

Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar via Culinary in the Desert

Makes about 24 cookies

For the cookie dough

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons soy, almond or regular milk (if using regular milk, the cookies won't be vegan)
2 teaspoons vanilla

For the sugar coating

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cayenne and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, maple syrup, milk and vanilla. Pour mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined.

4. In a shallow dish, stir together sugar and cinnamon.

5. Roll dough into walnut sized balls, then gently flatten each ball into a 2" disc. Place once side of the dough disc into the sugar coating, pressing to adhere. Place dough, sugar side up, onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them at least 2" apart.

6. Place into the oven and bake until the cookies have spread and are crackly on top, about 9 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and place baking sheet on a wire rack - let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:

- We used a heaping 1/4 tsp of cayenne.  They could afford to be slightly spicier, so next time we'll try closer to 1/2 tsp.

- We used whole milk.

- Ours were done after 9 minutes in the oven.

- For whatever reason, the last batch of cookies we baked didn't crack as much as the first, I think because the dough got pretty warm sitting out on the table between batches.  Next time we might try storing the dough in the refrigerator between batches.