Piña Colada Marshmallows

Do you ever just get an idea just stuck in your head that won't leave? And it just kind of sits there, rattling around inside your skull like it's a tangible thing until you do something about it?

That was me and these marshmallows.

I don't like piña coladas. I don't like coconut. I don't like rum. But the idea for these marshmallows would not leave me alone, no matter how many times I asked. I tried being polite. I tried being firm. I tried being mean. But it just kept poking at me. Lurking there just inside of my consciousness. Popping up whenever I went to bake something.

Honestly, I have less trouble with my characters, and it's usually a given that they'll find some way to rebel against me.

And the worst part was that I couldn't do anything about it, because the humidity was a killer. I wasn't going to try making marshmallows while the weather was so gross and wet and sticky. That, my friends, would have been a recipe for disaster.

But then, after 7 straight days of rain (I think I'm turning into a mushroom; it's still raining (as of when I wrote this on Tuesday)), the humidity finally cleared up, and I was able to get these marshmallows out of my head.

Not surprisingly, these are not my favorite. But I had so much fun styling them and rolling them in coconut and putting them in my pretty blue mason jars that I won from Kelli's Retro Kitchen Arts and using the little cocktail umbrellas I found in the dollar store, that I consider it an even trade. I also toasted the coconut, because I thought it would be prettier that way. :D

I also can't really speak to how much they taste like piña coladas since I don't drink piña coladas. They're sweet and cocnutty with a hint of pineappleishness. I also used a coconut bakery emulsion, which has a stronger and more complex flavor, but regular coconut extract would be fine. You don't really taste the rum, and I'm not sure if that's because I used clear Jamaican rum (it's the only kind I had, and I certainly wasn't going out to buy more), if it evaporated off, or a combination of the two. A splash of rum extract would fix you there, or skip it all together, using water in place of the rum, for a virgin version. If you want to be all inauthentic 'n stuff. :P

Piña Colada Marshmallows
Yield: Approx. 77 marshmallows

Ingredients
Approx. 4-6 oz. shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
2/3 cup rum, chilled*
3 packets unflavored gelatin2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup pineapple syrup**
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. coconut extract or bakery emulsion
A few drops yellow food coloring (optional)
Non-stick cooking spray
Powdered sugar

Directions
If desired, toast the coconut: preheat the oven to 325°F. Spread the coconut in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 5-10 minutes until lightly browned, stirring once midway through. Allow to cool completely.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add the chilled rum and gelatin and let soften. Spray a 7x11” baking dish with cooking spray, sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar, and spread an even layer of shredded coconut on top. Set aside.

In a LARGE saucepan, add the sugar, syrup, water, and salt. Heat on low, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Heat mixture to boiling. Let boil, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 240°F (the soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat.

Start the mixer on low speed, and CAREFULLY add the syrup to the softened gelatin (please utilize a splatter shield, if available). Increase the speed to high, and whip until the mixture is white, fluffy, and tripled in size, about 10 minutes. Add the extract and food coloring, if using. Using a rubber spatula sprayed with cooking spray, spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle liberally with shredded coconut and press down lightly. Let sit uncovered 8 hours or overnight.

Dust a cutting board with powdered sugar. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter sprayed with cooking spray, cut the marshmallows into 1 inch squares. Toss in remaining coconut and serve.

NOTE: The sugar syrup is extremely hot and can be dangerous if not handled correctly. Use potholders and splatter shields when necessary, and always avoid distractions when making any kind of candy.

*Replace with cold water for a virgin version, adding rum extract if desired.

**I used the syrup from a can of diced pineapple in heavy syrup (combined with some light corn syrup because there wasn't quite enough for a full cup), but any sort of pineapple-flavored syrup (such as sno cone syrup) should work as well.


Recipe by Kim

Fudge Frosted Brownies

Umm, hi all. I know I've been a bit of an absentee blogger this week. I'm sorry. I just, last weekend I wasn't able to bake anything new for you guys, and during the week...

Let's just not bring that up.

Anyway, the reason I wasn't able to bake anything new for you guys last weekend, is because I was too busy baking for, and then playing with this little munchkin.

My little M&M turned 1, you guys! And her mommy asked me to bake the cupcakes. And of course, since I'm a crazy person, I had to bake not one, but 2 flavors, make white chocolate tiaras to go on top, and make M&M her own special smash cupcake tower (which she didn't smash- apparently all babies have far too much respect for my hard work).

The cupcakes were a hit. I made my cherry chocolate chip (where I forgot the chocolate chips, heh) and my birthday cake cupcakes. And I received compliments like, "these are better than Funfetti!"

I kind of suck at photography in the real world. Sorry.

How do you respond to that, "Thank you for validating the time I spent developing these recipes by acknowledging that they are better than something that came out of a 99 cent box"? Look, I have no problem with people who use mixes, and I realize that those comments were meant well, but when I spent hours whipping egg whites and creaming butter and getting frosting to the perfect consistency, it should most definitely be better than funfetti.

(To be fair, that wasn't the only compliment I got, but that one really stuck out in my mind)

Oh, and also, I went to see Star Trek this week. What did I think? Well...

Yeah, that about sums it up. To be fair, that's how I felt after the last movie, too. And, looking at it objectively, I think the last movie was a bit better (some parts of Into Darkness felt a bit tacked on, especially Uhura's scene with the Klingons), but the last movie didn't have Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain.

And O.M.G. Benedict as the villain? Hkjklhjhnfewmrwer

He's the best kind of villain, too. Just sympathetic enough that you're not quite sure if he actually is the villain, that maybe Kirk should ally himself with Benedict's character, John Harrison, that maybe he's just that ruthless because that's what he was forced to be.

Crap, I didn't think I could be anymore in love with that man than I already was, but now he's been in Star Trek and he was brilliant.

Let's move on to these brownies before I go full fangirl.

I made these for my little cousin AJ's sixth birthday because I know he loves 2 things, chocolate and frosting.

Don't believe me? This is him eating a slice of the triple chocolate torte I made for my brother's birthday 2 years ago:

I think he liked it.

So I made some brownies with fudge frosting on top. These simple treats got overshadowed by Grammy's super cool volcano cake, but they did get a thumbs up from the birthday boy.

The brownie recipe was adapted from an old Home Ec recipe (like my Chocolate Pudding Brownies) called the Dampest, Darkest, Deadliest Brownies of All Time. They were called this because the original recipe used only dark brown sugar. My brownies do not fit the title because I was out of dark brown sugar, and ran out of light brown sugar. I could have added molasses to try and sub for it, but these ended up just firm and cakey enough to handle that thick layer of fudge frosting, while still being moist and fudgy in the middle. The perfect blend of brownie and cake.

And of course, the fudge layer is about as thick as the brownie itself. I don't have a problem with that, but if you do, you can use half the recipe on the brownie and then do what my mother loves to do with this frosting: keep it in the fridge and eat it like fudge.

Fudge Frosted Brownies

Yield: 16 brownies

Ingredients

For the brownies:

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 cups flour

For the fudge frosting:

12 oz. (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter or shortening

1/2 cup milk

3 cups powdered sugar

Directions

For the brownies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugars, eggs, vanilla, and salt until well blended. In a small saucepan over medium low heat, begin melting the butter. When the butter is half melted, reduce the heat to low and add the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is mostly melted. Remove from heat and keep stirring until smooth. Whisking constantly, slowly add the chocolate mixture to the sugar mixture, mixing until well incorporated. Fold in the flour.

Grease and line a 9x9 inch square pan with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake about 23 minutes, until the middle is just slightly underdone. Place on a wire rack to cool.

For the frosting: In the top of a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate chips. Carefully stir in the milk until smooth. Stir in the powdered sugar. Spread evenly over the brownies, and let sit until completely set.

Tip: For easier cutting, wait until brownies and frosting are completely cooled, and let chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes. Slice into squares, and let them come to room temperature before serving.

Brownie recipe adapted from my home ec class (original source unknown). Frosting recipe adapted from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook

Bananas are Good Frozen Nutella-Covered Bananas

This post is a little bittersweet.

Not the recipe. No, that's all sweet.

Today's the season finale of Doctor Who, which means I'll be switching up the series to once a month. No more Doctor Who Saturdays until June 22nd. *sniffle* As much as I love doing this weekly series (and having a legitimate excuse to go full-fangirl once a week), I can't keep this up until November. Moffat, you really should have worked that timing out better.

I had originally planned to do something elaborate and classic and fun for this little send off, but with the way everything's been going, I only had the stamina left for something simple. And you know what? Sometime's simple's better. Especially since this is a recipe that I know, without a doubt, would be Doctor-approved (well, at least so far as Nine and Ten are concerned. Though I have a sneaking suspicion Eleven would, too.)

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Bananas. Not completely sure why the Doctor loves bananas. Maybe because they're sort of gun shaped, so the Doctor can amuse himself by replacing people's guns with bananas. That's what Nine did to Captain Jack Harkness when they first met, you know. And to be fair, the Doctor also replaced the factory that produced Jack's gun with a banana grove. (He's a bit like MacGyver. He doesn't like guns.) Nine being Nine, he does this with an extra helping of sass, and this was one of the moments that made me fall in love with him.

 

And Ten accidentally invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early, declaring one of the top Whovian rules: Always bring a banana to a party. Bananas are good.

Eleven's not been as vocal about bananas, but he did pull the gun/banana switch on River.

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Clearly, potassium is essential to a Time Lord's health. And Nutella? Well, that's just universally essential.

Every time I've ever been to a Ren Faire, I've always seen frozen chocolate covered bananas. And with the weather getting warmer, and the banana being one of the Doctor's favorite foods, it seemed appropriate to try it out. But, I didn't really feel like melting chocolate. So I decided on Nutella, because bananas + Nutella= awesome. Then I sprinkled on some TARDIS blue sanding sugar (chopped hazelnuts would also be good) and I stuck it in the freezer. Really, it's so simple, I feel partly ashamed even calling it a recipe.

Then enjoy it in the comforts of your own home or spaceship, or increase the recipe to bring to a party. Because, let's face it. If you show up to a party with a bunch of bananas, you're weird. But if you show up to a party with a bunch of Nutella-covered frozen bananas, you are totally cool.

Frozen Nutella-Covered Bananas
Yield: 4 pops

Ingredients
Heaping 1/3 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
2 tbsp. coconut oil
2 bananas, ripe but firm
Sprinkles or chopped hazelnuts, for garnish

Directions
Heat the Nutella and oil together in the microwave on low power for a few seconds, until runny. Mix well.

Chop the bananas in half and insert lollipop or popsicle sticks. Line a dish or pan with waxed paper. Dip the bananas in the Nutella, roll in sprinkles or nuts, and place on the waxed paper in a single layer. Freeze minimum 2 hours, or until firm. Store in the freezer in an airtight container.

Recipe by Kim

Dark Chocolate Walnut Muffins

So, this week's been kind of boring. No real fun anecdotes to share with you. Although, I had a clogged ear that drove me nuts until the drops I was using finally...

That's not something you want to read on a food blog. Never mind.

Umm, I'm training another temp at the job. She's neither terrific nor terrible, but G and I need off on the same day, so we're willing to settle. And of course whenever she's there, the place goes dead. Like, how am I supposed to train the temp to deal with all the annoying stuff if all the annoying stuff doesn't happen?

Honestly, the one time I want the job to be at it's worst...

Umm, and I watched the Avengers with mommy on Mother's Day, and I think I may have turned her into a Tom Hiddleston fangirl. I should have expected that. Tom's such an excellent Loki, and his performance is mesmerizing. Not to mention that he really is a rather pretty man. Thought she wouldn't notice, but she did.

Iron Man quote FTW!

Also, I think I should be a member of the Avengers now, because I did the impossible. I made moist, flavorful chocolate muffins with walnuts and chocolate chips, and I made them healthy. 

Yeah, you read that right. Healthy. Chocolate. Muffins. 100% whole wheat flour. No butter. No eggs. Not a huge amount of sugar. Chopped walnuts for protein. Skim milk for dairy. Applesauce and mashed banana for fruit. And dark chocolate for teh noms.

Seriously, I put these suckers into a calorie calculator and got them at about 170 per muffin. Now, don't take that as gospel, because I had to make some odd calculations and some substitutions for ingredients they didn't have listed, but I wouldn't put the margin of error at more than 10 calories (can we tell I took a lot of statistics courses? Nah), leaving these well under 200 calories per muffin. Considering that these are chocolate muffins with chocolate chips and walnuts and real sugar, I'd say that's not too shabby.

And these muffins, they're good. Soft and moist, the whole wheat texture not at all noticeable, in case you're not a fan. They're not really sweet, but then, I'm not the hugest dark chocolate fan. Momma thought they were just sweet enough for a muffin (which is usually the opposite of the way things go. My mother never thinks I make things sweet enough) (I don't get my sweet tooth from anywhere strange, I'll tell you that), and being as I made these muffins specifically for my mother, we'll let her opinion reign. Besides, a little raspberry jam and you're golden. I also really love that these don't taste healthy. So many dark, rich flavors, and not a single one says, "I'm healthy!" Plus, with a simple substitution of soy or almond milk, these could easily be made vegan.

So shall we sum up? Chocolate: check. Walnuts: check. Chocolate chips: check. Rich, moist muffin: check. Healthy: oh heck yeah.

Director Fury, I'll be waiting for your call.

Dark Chocolate Walnut Muffins
Yield: 16 muffins

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder*
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup low fat milk (I used skim)**
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 small banana, mashed
1 tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 muffin tins with 16 paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry, mixing until well incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.

Fill the paper liners about 3/4 of the way with batter. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Bake about 16 minutes, or until the tops spring back when gently pressed. Allow to cool completely on wire racks.

*Regular unsweetened cocoa powder can also be used

**Soy or almond milk can be used for a dairy-free version

Recipe by Kim 

TARDIS Self-Destruct Buttons, AKA Jammie Dodgers

So you might remember when I said the 11th Doctor was a bit of a foodie? Yeah, he saved the world using a cookie. This cookie. Well, actually, he ate the cookie he used, but it was this kind of cookie.

I remember watching The Victory of the Daleks, which was the 11th Doctor's first encounter with the hereditary enemy of the Time Lords (involving Winston Churchill. Historical episodes are fun). The Doctor threatened the Daleks with a TARDIS self destruct button, and I remember thinking that it looked like a cookie. But, it's Doctor Who. The spaceship is a plywood box and the Daleks themselves look like pepper mills. Either the props department didn't have anything better, or the Doctor was bluffing with a cookie. Or the props department designed it specifically to look as cheesy as something from the original series. And one of the best things about Doctor Who is that there was an equal chance of each. (Well, probably not the first, as this reboot seems to have a pretty epic budget.)

Source

It ended up being a cookie, but he was promised tea.

See, that's funny, because Winston Churchill thought the Daleks were friendly little robots that were going to fight the war for him and be his little robot butlers and they kept roaming around the halls asking people if they wanted tea, which was funny but also mildly terrifying.

Just take my word for it, okay?

Yes, I own a plush dalek. That talks. Why does this surprise you?

This was one of the early episodes with Eleven, and his first encounter with the Doctor's oldest enemies, so this was an episode that really set the bar for this most recent incarnation of the Doctor.

And the fact that he fearlessly bluffed his way through an encounter with one of the most merciless races in the universe, one that completely despises him, with nothing but a cookie, was absolutely fantastic.

Umm, wait, no, Nine says that.

It was brilliant? No, that's Ten.

Cool. It was definitely cool.

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But maybe that's just the foodie in me talking. Still, it speaks a lot to the kind of Doctor Eleven is. Fearless, thinks himself a sort of cowboy, is actually more of a little boy playing cowboy.

Although he can totally rock a stetson. Which, as you may suspect, are also cool. Monks, however, are not cool.

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Don't you just want to pinch his cheeks?

That's not to say that the Doctor is always fun and light-hearted and full of devil-may-care antics, but he is whenever there are Jammie Dodgers involved. So obviously I had to learn how to make them, in case the Doctor ever shows up. How else can I ensure he takes me with him? And in case the Daleks ever show up, Imma need a fresh batch of TARDIS self-destruct buttons to protect me.

(Am I the only one who always hears the word 'obviously' in Sherlock's voice?) (Mixing my fandoms again. I can't help it! So much Benedict on the news with Into Darkness coming out, and so little Series 3...)

Jammie Dodgers are apparently quite a popular cookie (or biscuit, if you're a native) in England, but here in the good ol' U.S. of A. we have to make our own. Although we have cowboys, so there.

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Shut up! He doesn't count. He's not a real cowboy. He's just pretending. There are no cows in space.

...

Now's not the time for a Firefly reference. Stop it, fangirl.

Anyway, Jammie Dodgers are just basically a shortbread or butter-style sandwich cookie with, you guessed it, jam filling.

The recipe I used came from Dining With The Doctor...

Yes. There is a Doctor Who-themed cookbook, and yes, I own it. Surprised? Anyone?

...and while I can't speak to how authentic the recipe may or may not be, it was delicious. I mean, you can't go wrong with shortbread and jam. And this recipe uses brown sugar, which keeps the cookies from getting overly crispy, and adds that sort of deeper, molasses-y sweetness. Even G, who doesn't normally like sweets, loved them. Although Bossman said that next time, I should dust them with powdered sugar.

I told him next time, he could make his own.

My one problem with the recipe: it made a sh**load of cookies. And I even rolled them out pretty thick (because I hate rolling out cookie dough, and I was short a little flour, so the dough softened really quickly), so I probably could have gotten more. I've halved it for you

I mean, after all, the Doctor only needs:

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Because fezzes are cool.

Jammie Dodgers
Yield: 2-3 dozen sandwich cookies

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp. milk
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Approx. 1/4 cup your favorite seedless jam (I used raspberry)

Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl with electric beaters, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture, until fully incorporated. If the dough seems sticky, add an extra 1/4 cup flour. Separate the dough into 3 equal parts. Flatten into disks and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, 2-4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly dust your workspace with flour or powdered sugar*. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into circles using a 2 inch round or scalloped** cookie cutter. Using a small heart or round cutter, cut out the middles of half the circles (I used the bottom of my 1M pastry tip). Place about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Bake 7-10 minutes until the edges are set, and the cookies are a light golden brown. Let cool on the pan about 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Heat the jam in the microwave for a few seconds until a nice spreadable consistency. Spread a thin layer on the solid cookies, and top with the cutout cookies. Serve as-is, or dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

*I use powdered sugar because it tastes better, and you won't have streaks of flour on your cookies.

**Or use the one you got from the dollar store that falls somewhere in the middle.

Recipe adapted slightly from: Dining With The Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook

Use ALL the Doctor Who props!

Disclaimer: Treats & Trinkets does not guarantee that these cookies will save you from the daleks. Nor does it guarantee that they will cause you to travel through time and space with a certain two-hearted alien. We can only guarantee that these are some tasty cookies.

*Real Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links*

Browned Butter Toffee Whoopie Pies

With Biscoff Marshmallow Filling

Umm, you guys. This recipe, it's kind of fancy. Like super fancy. Like you might find it in a super chic uptown bakery fancy. But, it's whoopie pies, which are rustic and imperfectly perfect. And they have whole wheat flour which makes them homey and satisfying.

It's like a paradox. It shouldn't exist. But it does, and it's good.

Paradoxes are tasty.

I'm not exactly sure where the inspiration for these came from. I think it started because I didn't feel like softening butter, so I decided to brown it. Necessity is not the mother of invention, laziness is.

I'd had a jar of Biscoff spread in the pantry forever, since I kept swearing I would use it for something. I thought it would go well with the browned butter. I think that's what decided me on whoopie pies, the Biscoff filling idea.

Then I had some toffee bits in the freezer (I keep them in there so they don't go rancid) and some whole wheat flour, and I decided to throw them in there. Because I could.

And then I was super paranoid about them spreading too thin, so I used brown sugar and shortening to try and keep them fluffy. They were still thinner and chewier than I usually feel a whoopie pie should be, but they were too cakey to classify as cookies. (Next time I might also try some buttermilk instead of the milk, but I was too worried about the flavor to do it this time)

And together, that made fancy whoopie pies.

Also, did you know, if you mix together Fluff and Biscoff spread and powdered sugar, it turns solid? Well, not solid solid, but like those little foam beads inside bean bag chairs. It was weirdly fascinating. And when I added some cream to soften it up, it turned into a Gak-like substance. So I added in some shortening to sort of smooth it out. It was still super thick, but I was able to spread it on the whoopie pies. I kind of felt like a mad scientist. Mwahahahahahaha.

But they won't make you feel like a mad scientist. They'll make you feel fancy.

Browned Butter Toffee Whoopie Pies

Yield: 12 whoopie pies (24 individual cakes)

Ingredients

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 tbsp. solid white vegetable shortening (Crisco)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup toffee bits

Directions

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the butter turns a light golden brown. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Using electric beaters, beat the sugar and shortening on medium speed until well blended. Add the egg and vanilla, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold about half the flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Add the browned butter and milk. Add the rest of the flour and mix until fully incorporated. Fold in the toffee bits.

On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, drop the batter by the tablespoonful, leaving at least 2 inches between each. Bake about 10 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Allow to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe by Kim

Biscoff Marshmallow Filling

Ingredients

1/2 cup Biscoff spread

1/2 cup Marshmallow Fluff (or comparable marshmallow creme)

2 tbsp. solid white vegetable shortening (Crisco)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Using electric beaters, beat the Biscoff spread, Fluff, and shortening together at low speed. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, mixing until well blended. Add the cream, and mix on low until just combined, then increase the speed to high and beat until thick and smooth.

Recipe by Kim

Wookiee Cookies for Star Wars Day

Umm, I know this is supposed to be Doctor Who Saturday, but, umm, it's Star Wars Day? You know, May the fourth be with you? And, umm, my like favorite cookies ever are from the Star Wars Cookbook? So, umm, I just, I couldn't do a Doctor Who post on Star Wars Day, because... because I just can't. It's not the right sci-fi franchise, and it would be really wrong and the universe might implode or something.

And, umm, my pictures kind of suck because the sun was starting to set and I was really tired and I didn't notice my camera was on the wrong setting for most of them. So, this may not exactly be my brightest moment as a food blogger. But at least the universe is still intact.

And, I had a lot of fun staging the pictures, even if they are kind of bad.

See that VHS? That's the original Star Wars. From before George Lucas let his inner editor get the best of him. Tsk.

You see, what most people don't realize is that the rebels were fighting against the Empire because the Empire was hogging all the cookies. That's how they lured people to the dark side. Fiendish, but effective. The rebels were all, "hey, everybody should have cookies, not just people that agree with you." And Emperor Palpatine was all, "Whoever controls the cookies, controls the universe."

...

Wait, no, that's Dune.

And Han Solo, you already know he's a smuggler, but did you ever know what exactly he smuggled? That's right, cookies. How do you think he and Chewie met? Obviously Chewie was a black market Wookiee Cookie baker. And he was wanted by the Empire because they needed the recipe to these most delicious cookies. So he teemed up with our favorite scruffy-looking nerf herder cookie smuggler and they went into a mutually beneficial partnership.

And then Luke finds out that it is his destiny to free the cookies from the evil of the Empire. So there's this epic battle between Jedi and Sith Lord to decide who gets the cookies (and you see Han in the background? Can't you just see him saying, "I got your back, kid! We won't let him take back the cookies!")

But then Darth Vader goes, "Luke, [pssht] I am your father [pssht], and you can't have any cookies!"

And Luke goes, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Which is totally justified, because that's just way harsh.

But in the end, they get some help from some spear-wielding teddy bears (because, honestly, who better to save the cookies of the universe?), and they won and they danced around campfires all night eating cookies with magic Force ghosts until everyone had tummy aches and nobody wanted more cookies for a long while.

So a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I mentioned that I didn't really have a go-to chocolate cookie recipe. Except for Wookiee Cookies. But they're not a normal chocolate chip cookie. Oh no. They have cinnamon in them. Which doesn't exactly sound earth-shattering, but it makes a whole world of difference. The soft, yet chewy cookie, the two different kinds of chocolate chips, the brown sugar-y goodness, that all makes them exceptional chocolate chip cookies. But the addition of the cinnamon just adds that little something extra that pushes them light years ahead of any other chocolate chip cookie. These are some of my favorite cookies ever. I make them a lot, and I've never felt the need to adjust the recipe which is just unheard of for me. I love them, my family loves them, everybody loves them.

Just, keep a tight reign on your emotions while eating them. Don't want them leading you over to the dark side.

Wookiee Cookies
Yield: About 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars at medium speed. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Gradually fold in the flour, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonful on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, being careful to leave at least 2 inches between each. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to col completely.

Tip: Keep the dough chilled to prevent the cookies from spreading too thin.

Recipe from The Complete Star Wars Cookbook: Wookiee Cookies, Darth Malt, and Other Galactic Recipes

Note: The book linked, The Star Wars Cookbook, is not the same as the one I used; however, it is by the same author and contains the Wookiee Cookie recipe. I was not able to find my copy, The Complete Star Wars Cookbook, to link.