Michelle Obama's Presidential White & Dark Chip Cookies

While flipping through an issue of Family Circle Magazine a couple months ago, I found a cookie recipe contest.

It involved First Lady Michelle Obama and the opposing candidate's wife.......

a lot of flour, sugar and chocolate chips were flung between them all in the name of friendly competition.

When it was all said and done Michelle Obama's Presidential White & Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies were the last cookie standing, winning the contest by a crumb! 

I had cast my vote for these purely based on the fact that they looked delicioso, but I never did officially give them a try.

So when one said muchacha had a book report due all about Our First Lady, I figured why not sweeten the deal un poquito ( a little bit) and hand out fresh baked cookies while delivering the speech!  ( Hey that's the perks of having a baker as a Mami).

Anyway the result was a tender cookie that had the taste of a shortbread with alternating bites of white and dark chocolate that gave it a yummy twist. 

I added in some red, white and blue sprinkles to give these cookies a splash of Presidential pizazz!

recipe adapted from: Michelle Obama white and dark cookie recipe
                                                                
                                                            Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 stick Crisco butter-flavored solid shortening
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup each- white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, mint chocolate chips (or Andes mint pieces) ( my cookies don't have the mint chips, you can also use another add in if your not fond of it either) ex, butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips
2 cups walnuts ( I didn't use any nuts, fear of peanut allergies for kids in class)


                                                                   Recipe
1.Heat oven to 375 degrees. In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter, vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract.

2.Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. On low speed, beat in flour mixture. By hand stir in white and milk chocolate chips, mint chips and walnuts. ( at this point I would suggest sticking cookie dough in fridge for about 20 minutes, my cookies were flatter because I skipped this step)

3.Drop rounded tablespoons onto un-greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. ( I like to take my cookies out right before they're too golden, to eliminate darker cookies)

4. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes: remove to wire racks to cool

Churro Pancakes

The number 13 by superstion standards is said to be a very unlucky number, especially if it falls on a Friday.

I've even heard of some people forbidding themselves from stepping one foot out of the house on Friday the 13th......maybe for fear of encountering a crazed weapon wielding man decked out in a super scary hockey mask. 

Yeah, it's funny how no one is at all terrified by a group of men on ice with long wooden sticks wearing them, but insert just a single man dressed in dark clothes slinking around your living room walls wearing one....... and that is a recipe for pure unadulterated fear!

Okay, okay so now that I've given myself chills, I will now say that the number 13 has been nothing but lucky for me, well at least so far in the year 2013. Why do you ask?

Well it's because this was the year that I posted one of my all time favorite recipe ideas and it became an instant internet sensation! 

When I posted my Churro Waffles , I could have never imagined that I would receive so much amor here, and here, oh and here too!  Not to mention that amount of pins they received on Pintrest ,here, here and here! ( Disclaimer, if you've never been to Pintrest this is a warning it is Highly, Highly addictive!) 

So after all this overwhelming attention and enthusiasm for my Churro Waffle recipe.....what was a girl to do?  Sit back and enjoy the honor?....

Nope,it was time to continue making your mornings just a little bit sweeter, actually a lot a bit sweeter.  So I figured why let waffles have all the sugar-coated fun?

These are, fluffy, cinnamony-sugar infused goodness.  Just as equally scrumptious as it's velvety primo ( cousin) the waffle, just in a different outfit!  So I present to you Churro Pancakes!

I've been dying to try this IHOP Pancake Copycat Recipe and I figured what could be better infusing yummy Churros with IHOP Pancakes!......Umm! Nothing!


                                                                Ingredients

1 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. Baking soda

pinch of salt

1 egg, beaten

1 1/4 c. buttermilk

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1/4 c. sugar

For Churro Topping-

1 cup of white sugar

1/4 cup of cinnamon

1/2 cup of melted butter

Optional-
chocolate syrup drizzle



                                                                Directions  

1.Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder,and salt. Mix the egg with the buttermilk and add to the flour mixture, stirring only until smooth.  

2.Add the melted butter and sugar. Fry on a greased griddle.  

3.Once fully cooked immediately pour melted butter on each side of the pancake, than dip each buttered side into your cinnamon/sugar churro mixture.

4. Forget coffee, proceed to wonder how you ever managed to live without these in your mornings ever before?!

Oh and by the way, regular Churros are sometimes served with or stuffed with rich creamy chocolate sauce.  Because it's always great to experience Churros in many different ways I added a little chocolate drizzle to these pancakes.  It's okay you can thank me later!

Punch, Drunk, Love- Corona, Fruit Punch Cocktail

Punch, Drunk .......what is it exactly?! 

When pondering the idea, one may have an image of an overtired young chico who is running around the house haphazardly ripping out toys and leaving them in tripping hazard trails behind him. Shrills of half-joy half-tears beaming  from this little chico echoes along the walls of the house. 

These irrational shrieks are coming from a place unknown to the overtired, unwilling to surrender sweet muchacho.  Until a knowing mother piers on and says to herself " he is punch drunk"!

She then makes her way to retire her weary little boy, lulling him into la la land...peace and quiet resounds the home once again.

Now me.....when I think of "punch drunk"....it brings me to a very different scene, una noche loca ( one crazy night) that I spent with( out of all the people with my very own ma-ma.)  This noche loca consisted of : a throng of eager woman, obnoxiously loud music, a stage and an extra fine group of respectable half-dressed men. 

Oh yeah, and multiple glasses of these fruity red drinks that tasted more like innocent cups of Kool-Aid than the mind-numbing, ogling enhancing, judgment altering libations that they were.

Now this Valentine's day whether your dealing with an overtired, irritated muchacho or experiencing what I now like to call " Magic Mike Moments" ending the night with a nice glass of "Punch, Drunk, Love will make it all go down a little easier!

                                                            Ingredients

1 bottle of Corona

1 oz. of Sky Cherry Vodka

1 bottle of Hawaiian Punch


                                                         Directions

1. Place grapes, oranges, cherries and a few apple slices at the bottom of your Mason Jar or Beer Mug.

2. Pour into your Mason Jar or Beer Mug 1/2 bottle of Corona, 1 oz. of cherry Sky Vodka and fill the rest with Hawaiian Punch.

3. Place in a pretty paper straw slip on a super jumbo marshmallow heart and enjoy the punch! Just don't get so drunk that you punch the one you love!

 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                 

Red Velvet Twinkies

Red is my absolute favorite color, and chocolate is my numero uno.........

so the moment I found Red Velvet I was totally in love! 

Some may describe red velvet cake as just chocolate cake in a red dress, but to me it's so much more. The taste is not so much a chocolate, but more of a cocoa.

It's a moist cake that's not really sweet at all, but slathered with cream cheese frosting that's tangy and sweet enough to keep you licking every mordita (bite) from your plump little fingers.

In honor of Valentine's Day and the untimely passing of the Hostess Twinkie, I decided to transform this southern classic cake into an conveniently portable iconic snack food. 

With a white chocolate drizzle, deep red sprinkles and a sweet gummy heart an American classic is brought back a la vida ( to life) in the warm comforts of your very own kitchen!

Obviously you'll need a Twinkie pan to bake in, if you don't already have one you can purchase them here.

Because I was super excited to just get to the good stuff, I decided to use a Duncan Hines Box Mix.  I was actually pretty happy with the results, the cake came out nice and moist yet firm enough to hold the filling inside.  If you must have a scratch cake recipe here is one to try courtesy of the
Food Network.

Although I occasionally use a box mix, I rarely if ever use a canned frosting.  I am a frosting chica and I love a little cake with my frosting if you know what I mean.  I could do frosting shots all day if it wouldn't send me into sugar shock!

                          


                                                               Cream Cheese Filling Recipe
 
 
                                                                       Ingredients
 

4 tablespoons butter, softened

 

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

 

4 cups confectioners' sugar

 

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

 

                                                                       Directions

 

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until blended. With electric

 

mixer on low, beat in the powdered sugar a little at a time until well blended. Beat on high speed until

 

smooth and creamy.

 

                                                           Red Velvet Twinkie

                                               Directions

                                                                     
1.Follow the directions on the box of your cake mix or scratch cake recipe. Add your cake batter to the Twinkie mold filling the cake wells 1/2 way. 
 
2.Once your Twinkies are completely cooled, fill an icing bag with a tip and on the underside of the Twinkie insert the tip and squeeze in the filling.
 
3. Melt 1/2 cup of white melting chocolates then with a spoon quickly drizzle the white chocolate back and forth over each Twinkie.
 
4. Shake sprinkles over the white chocolate and immediately place your gummy heart in the middle of your Twinkie.

5. Sit down, enjoy them and wonder how Hostess could ever let anything so wonderful slip out of their pretty little fingers!

Churro Apple Pie Waffles

I envy anyone who hasn't ever had the chance to taste all the crispy, crunchy, spicy sugary goodness that is a Churro! 

For me I consider them one of those super hero desserts that are in the league of their very own, they join the ranks of other long time dessert rock stars. 

The classic chocolate chip cookies, chewy fudge brownies, warm apple pies and rich vanilla pound cakes each one with the over bearing potential to plumpt your from any diet plan with one simple taste of a crumb.  There's almost nothing that could make them any better, oh how enticing they are in their very own straightforward decadence! 

The ideas of these desserts reaching anything more gratifying are almost non-exsistent!.........Until you welcome them to a world of pecans, walnuts & salty peanuts, white chocolate chips, dulce de leche. To a land where mounds and mounds of sweet whip cream make a pillowy bed for ripe red strawberries.  OHhhh, the possibilities are limitless. 

So that brings me back to my amor for everything Churro, in the couple of weeks since I posted my original churro waffle recipe I've seen them loved and adored by many!

They've been blogged about and blogged about, pinned and repined, all of this attention has not only thrust me into the cielo ( heavens) but it has also let me see just how many of you adora ( adore) Chrurros as much as I do! 

Which in turn caused me once again to think of Churros in all their super hero glory. and that lead me to ponder whether or not just like their rock star counterparts Churro Waffles could be any more irresistible? 

And the answer was an undoutable Si!!

Roll them in cinnamon- sugar love, dip them in the beloved melted butter, but this time stuff them with plump, tangy apples.   Wow, The result was perfect marriage! 

An American classic with a Mexican twist.......and a new breakfast tradition is born from such sweetness!






                                                                                 Ingredients 

1 teaspoon salt                                                                                                                                 

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 eggs                                                                     

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups warm milk                                 

1/3 cup butter, melted                                              
 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 3 shakes of cinnamon


For the churro topping-

1 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup cinnamon ( 1/4 cup if you don't love cinnamon like I do)

1/2 cup of melted butter


Apple Filling-  

1 can of Lucky Leaf Apples or any can you prefer

If your feeling really ambitious you can make your own apple filling.  I found a recipe here.                                                             

                                                                   Directions


1.In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; set aside.  Also at this time you can combine your churro topping and set it aside. Preheat waffle iron
     
2.In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture;  Next fold in three shakes of cinnamon beat until blended
      
3. At this time you can also melt your 1/2 cup of butter used to pour over waffles. Next generously spray your waffle iron with no stick cooking spray. Than ladle a little batter into a preheated waffle iron, gently place on 4-5 apple slices ( depending on size of your waffle iron, smaller size use 2-3 apples. 

4. Next add more batter on top of apples, be careful not to overflow waffle maker. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. ( Caution, mixing the apples directly into the batter yielded undesirable results for me)

5.Once fully cooked immediately pour melted butter on each side of the waffle and than dip each buttered side into your cinnamon/sugar churro mixture.

At this point if your mouth is not watering from the smell, check your pulse! 

Once again if your a sugar guru, you can add maple syrup. Or if your just interested into making this breakfast into a dessert add a creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream.......then proceed to devouring
( I mean sophisticatedly eating your waffles!)




                                                                    

Frost Bites- Powdered Sugar Soft Pretzels

Snack foods have never really been my thing, I'll gladly pass up a bag of potato chips or bowl full of salsa with chips with no regrets.

 It probably has something to do with the salty taste and the crunchy texture, neither of those tempt me at all. I'm more of a soft and sweet type of chica, give me a pretty pink box filled with soft and fluffy round donuts dripping with shiny vanilla glaze and I'm in heaven!

 Just the thought of them has me peering towards my kitchen trying to spy a crumb of soft cakey goodness!  But as they say" for every rule there is an exception" and for me that exception is soft pretzels.

 I've loved them since forever, the distinct smell of fresh baked salted bread twists caressing my nose from 5 stores down hit me every time I walk through those mall doors. Soft pretzels are like my salty kryptonite!

 If you can at all understand my love affair with soft baked pretzels, than you can figure out why I've been having a " bad romance" with these sweet bebe's. 

 And when I say bad, I really mean good! Well maybe a little more bad than good if you consider the fact that I may slightly be addicted to them, I've made them twice already in the last four days!! 

 What do you expect when my exception to the rule meets everything I adore.  Super soft salty bites of  pretzel rolled in powdered sugar love, True Amor!

recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour Recipe
                                                     

                                                   Dough Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

1 cup warm water

                                                    Coating Ingredients

1 cup very hot water

2 tablespoons baking soda

Kosher or sea salt

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup of powdered sugar



                                Directions

1.Pre-heat your oven to 475 degrees.


2.In the bowl of your mixer, sift together flour, salt, sugar, and yeast.

3.Add in 1 cup of very warm water and use the dough hook to mix it well. You could also do this by hand or use a food processor. Knead the dough until it is smooth.

4.Sprinkle flour in the bottom of a bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and cover it. Allow it to sit for about 30 minutes to rise.

5.After 30 minutes, knead the dough for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Divide the dough into 4 equal sections. Form each section into strips about 8 inches long and about 1 inch wide.

6.Cut each strip into about 6-8 pieces. You should end up with 24-32 pretzel bites.

7.In a shallow dish combine the hot water ( to speed up the process you can microwave the water for 2 minutes or you can boil it on the stove) with the baking soda and stir to dissolve.

8.Place the pretzel bites in the water/baking soda mixture and allow to sit for one minute. Then flip the pretzel bites and allow to sit in the mixture for one minute longer. Arrange the pretzel bites on a greased baking sheet.

9.Allow the pretzel bites to rest for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle with a bit of kosher or sea salt before baking them for 10-11 minutes, or until the pretzel bites are nice and brown!

10.While the pretzel bites are baking, melt 3 tablespoons of butter (1 minute in the microwave). Place the cup of powdered sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.
11.When the pretzel bites are done baking, immediately brush each bite with melted butter. Keep brushing the bites with butter until it is all gone. Then immediately place a handful of your bites in the bowl of powder sugar and roll them around until evenly coated.  The cooler they seem to get the harder it is to get the powder sugar to stick.

 If you are feeling really dulce ( sweet) you can serve them with a little chocolate dip to send you into a complete sugar rush!


Now if you are in a race for time and find that these sound so delicious that you just have to have them now!   Then you can take the fast track to yumminess, you can purchase pretzel nuggets in your grocer's freezer already made.  Follow the directions on the package, then jump to step 10-11 and race towards instant gratification!