I ended my vacation today with baking 40 White Russian Cupcakes for a going away party for a friend. I'm glad to say they were a hit. I even got to finally use a couple of my displays that were gifts from family. The tiered "tree" was a gift from my Gram, and the ferris wheel was a shower gift from Kim. So cute!
I then came home to make one of my favorite meals in this household, my Shepherd's Pie with Stout and Shallot Gravy. Since the first time I made it, which is what I posted a while back, I have changed it up each time. Now when I make it, I make the gravy in a medium saucepan as I brown my beef, and I pour half of it into the ground beef and mix it all in with some corn and carrots. I make my pie as usual, and while it's cooking, I transfer the gravy from the saucepan to the saute pan that the beef was in and let it continue to cook down on low to form a thicker gravy that I then drizzle on top of my serving. Why do I this? Well, for one, it's awesome. Also, Dan doesn't like gravy, so I mix it in with the beef to give it the flavor and then Dan doesn't have to drizzle (or drown as I do) his serving in the gravy.
Also, as the pie was cooking, I started to make these cookies that I was supposed to make before Christmas. I can't believe Christmas was only last week, it already feels like it was forever ago. I had a box of milk chocolate brownies on hand, but I recommend using dark chocolate. They need just a bit more richness. I also would prefer just the plain cookies without the frosting and peppermint candies, but that's just me, I'm not a sweets person anyways. I also don't make cookies often, so that's an item I want to work on making some more of, especially checking out sugar cookies and royal icing. I'm not so sure I'm going to have the patience for it. This recipe made about 28 cookies, but my sheets allowed for 24 to be made at a time, so I ditched the dough for the last 4. The frosting was about twice as much as I needed, so a lot was wasted. I recommend cutting back, maybe even half, so you don't end up with so much frosting.
Peppermint Brownie Cookies
from Cooking Classy
1 box brownie mix, preferably dark chocolate
1 and 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
6-9 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
**This makes a lot, maybe cut everything in half
About 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease two cookie sheets.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the brownie mix, flour, brown sugar and salt. Add the eggs and milk and mix until combined. Add the butter and mix until well combined. Mix in the vanilla.
3. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheets, you should be able to fit 12 on a sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.
4. For the frosting, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, and about 6 tablespoon of cream. Add the vanilla and beat again. Add more cream, one tablespoon at a time, to soften it to your desired consistency.
5. Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with peppermint candy pieces.
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| No, I did not make this cake, but it was awesome! |
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