Thin Mint Truffles

This past week, we noticed a lot of Girl Scout Cookie sales around Boston, and felt the need to buy some Thin Mint Cookies.  These cookies are a big favorite and we always see recipes for Thin Mint Truffles around this time of year, so we wanted to try them.

This was a very simple recipe, but you should be warned, these truffles are addictive!

Thin Mint Truffles

1 Box of Thin Mint Cookies

8 Ounces of Cream Cheese

1/2 Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder

12 Ounces of Dark or Milk Chocolate Chips (whichever you prefer)

6 Ounces of White Chocolate Chips

Take the Thin Mint Cookies and break them up by running them through a food processor a few times.  Then, mix the cream cheese and cocoa powder into the crushed cookies until they are thoroughly blended.  Once blended, roll the dough into small balls.  Place the balls of dough on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and put in the fridge for about 15 minutes, to firm them up.

Next, melt the dark or milk chocolate either over a double boiler or in the microwave. If using the microwave, put in for 1 minute and if they aren't melted, continue in 30 second intervals or until smooth.

The next part, can be a little tricky.  Take the truffles out of the fridge and dip into the  melted chocolate using two forks, spoons, or whatever tools you find most useful.  Make sure to tap the excess chocolate off before placing the truffles on the cookie sheet or on a cooling rack, to let the chocolate drip.  

While the truffles are drying, melt the white chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave on 30 second intervals or until smooth.  Place the melted chocolate in a pastry bag and drizzle over the top of the truffles.  You can also use green food coloring to tint the chocolate like we did and drizzle the white and the green chocolate.

Put the finished truffles in the fridge for about 30 minute or until the chocolate is completely dried.  Then enjoy!

Midnight in Paris

As a follow up to Friday's post on Academy Awards snacks, we wanted to give you a few more ideas on how to jazz up your viewing party.  One of our favorite movies of 2011, Midnight in Paris, is nominated for Best Picture, and we couldn't be happier!

The movie inspired us to make our take on a Kir Royale, which we will rename the Midnight in Paris for Sunday night's festivities.  You simply take a bottle of champagne and top it with Creme de Cassis, or a Black Currant Liquor.  Pour these drinks in fancy champagne glasses and pair with some Honey Goat Cheese Toasts like we did.  Your guests will feel like they are partying in the Belle Epoque!

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards are just around the corner and like the two of us, we are sure most of you can not wait to watch the Red Carpet. In preparation of our viewings, we wanted to give you a few pointers on how to make your Sunday night of celebrity watching, feel like you are part of the party.  

Popcorn - To jazz up your popcorn put it in a fun container like the one we found at the dollar store. One of our favorite way to make popcorn is by popping it on the stove with the Whirley Pop.  There is nothing better than eating hot popcorn!

Candy - We made Martha Stewart's Movie Theater Bark which consists of melted bittersweet chocolate, raisins, pretzels, and salted peanuts.  We placed all of the candy in clear bags and closed them off with gold stickers like they use on the award envelopes.  

Decor - Find some old trophies from school or work events and make them into centerpieces.  It can be a fun way to relive some great moments of your life and you might just want to get up and give a speech yourself.

So grab your snacks and stay tuned for our Academy Award Cocktail !

Good Morning Scones

Like many of you, we had Monday off from work, and nothing sounds better on a day off than cozying up with a hot cup of tea and a scone.  We decided to make these fresh Lemon Ginger Scones and they were delicious!  These are made with buttermilk, heavy cream, and lots of lemon zest and crystallized ginger, so they are moist and flavorful.  These were the perfect way to start our day off!

Lemon Ginger Scones

2 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger (about 1 two-inch knob of fresh ginger)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position rack in center of the oven. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, briefly mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, sugar, and crystallized ginger until combined. Cut the butter into 8-10 pieces and add to the flour mixture; paddle for about 30 seconds on medium low speed until the butter is somewhat broken down but there are still pieces about the size of a grape. 

Meanwhile whisk together the buttermilk, heavy cream, egg, and fresh grated ginger until thoroughly combined. With the mixer running on low speed, pour in the liquid and continue to paddle for another 20-30 seconds until the dough comes together. There will probably still be a little loose flour mixture at the bottom of the bowl.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Gather and lift the dough in your hands and turn it over in the bowl so that it starts to pick up the loose flour at the bottom. Turn the dough over in the bowl several times until all of the loose flour is mixed in. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently roll it out the dough about an inch thick. Using a 3.5 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles of scone dough, rerolling the scraps as necessary until they are all used up. 

Bake for about 40-45 minutes until the scones are a light golden brown. Cool on a cooling rack and brush evenly with lemon glaze.

Fresh Lemon Glaze
Yields 1/2 cup or enough to glaze 10 lemon scones

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons lemon juice

In a small bowl whisk together the confectioners sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Glaze can be made ahead and stored for up to a week at room temperature.

* Recipe from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang

Let them eat Cupcakes!

Today we are celebrating co-founder Jaye's Birthday!

(Which just so happens to be a very special baking occasion here at Sugar & Bows.) 

She was surprised with this Marie Antoinette inspired vase from Anthropologie and
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Buttercream frosting.  Yum.

  These cupcakes were so good Marie would have suggest cupcakes instead of cake.

Happy Birthday Jaye!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup softened butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 box yellow cake mix

1 1/3 cups water

1/3 cup canola oil

3 eggs

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.

Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full.

Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

*Recipe from allrecipies.com.  This recipe contains raw eggs. 

Birthday Candy Kabobs

A friend of Sugar & Bows recently made these Candy Kabobs for a candy lover's birthday party.  They are kabob skewers with different kinds of sour ribbon, fruit chews, and other sour candies.  She topped them with a licorice swirl and then a mini chocolate cupcake frosted and topped with Nerds, the birthday girl's favorite.  These were delicious and kept us energized with sugar all day!

Can't wait to make these soon!

Snap, Crackle, Love

A great treat to hand out to your Valentine are these Rice Krispies Hearts.  We created these hearts by cutting Rice Krispies treats into a heart shape with a cookie cutter.  We then dipped them into colored sprinkles and drizzled white chocolate.  Once they were cooled we stuffed them in the cellophane bags and tied them with colorful baker's twine. 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

A perfect Valentine's Day breakfast for your sweetie!

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

(Yields 12 muffins)

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

3 cups flour

Filling:

5 tbsp butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375°

In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla and egg. Add the buttermilk, then the flour. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Roll the dough into a 12-inch by 24-inch rectangle. Spread with butter, then sprinkled with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Roll the dough into a log beginning with the wide side. Stretch the log slightly as you roll to keep a tight seam. Cut the log in half, then each half in half again. Each of these small pieces will yield 3 cinnamon rolls.

Place the rolls in a greased muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. 

While the muffins are baking, mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together for the icing.  After the muffins have cooled for 5 minutes, top with icing and enjoy!

Brownie Bites

Looking for an easy Valentine's Day treat?  

How about a package of heart shaped brownie bites! 

We used a heart cookie pan to bake these and once the brownies were cooked, we topped them with chocolate ganache and festive sprinkles.  Place these in a small red bucket with doilies, wrap in cellophane, and give to your Valentine.

Overtime

Overtime

New York Peanut Butter Cup Mini Cheesecakes

vs.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Mini Cheesecakes

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

4 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup (1/2) stick butter, melted

12 bite size peanut butter cups

Filling:

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°.  Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a a standard muffin pan.

To make crust, in a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter until crumbs are moistened.  Press crust into bottom of each muffin cup. We used the bottom of a small glass to press the crumbs into the cup.  Place 1 peanut butter cup into the center of each crust.

To make filling, beat cream cheese with a electric mixer until fluffy.  Add sugar, flour, and vanilla, beating well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Spoon cream cheese mixture over peanut butter cups and crust. 

Bake until just set, about 20 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before serving.

vs.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for tins

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for tins

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Cream

Chocolate-Ganache Glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour standard muffin tins. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Warm milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in dry ingredients.

Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add milk mixture to batter, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each halfway. Bake cupcakes until light gold, about 15 minutes. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Let cool.

Using a serrated knife, cut each in half horizontally. Spread 1 tablespoon vanilla cream on each cupcake bottom. Sandwich with top. Spoon glaze over each, and serve immediately.

* Mini Cheese cakes came from Paula Deen and Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes came from Martha Stewart.

Half Time

Half Time

JPP Pizza Rolls

vs.

Welker's Maple Wings

Pair the appetizers with your favorite beer from the region. 

We went with Brooklyn Lager for the Giants and Samuel Adams Lager for the Patriots.

Pizza Rolls

Frozen Garlic Dinner Rolls

Pizza Sauce

Pepperoni (3 pepperoni per roll)

Shredded Cheese

Heat oven to 375°. Spray regular size muffin tin with cooking spray.  Defrost rolls for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Make a horizontal slice in side of each roll, cutting almost all the way through and making a pocket, but leaving attached 3/4 of the way around.  Spoon about 2 teaspoons of pizza sauce into the pocket in each roll.  Then stuff the roll with chopped pepperoni and cheese (about 1 teaspoon).  Place in muffin cups and press gently to close.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

vs.

Maple Wings

2lbs Chicken Wings
1 Stick of Butter, Melted
1/2 Cup of Dark Maple Syrup

Pre-heat the oven to 475°.  Place chicken wings on a cookie sheet in one layer.  Bake for 5 minutes. 

While the chicken is cooking,  mix the maple syrup and butter together.

After the wings have been in the oven for 10 minutes, remove the wings and baste with the maple syrup and butter mixture. 

Return the wings the oven for another 10 minutes, and after they have cooked, rotate the wings, baste again and return to the oven for another 5 minutes or until golden brown.

* Pizza Rolls are from Pillsbury and the Maple Wings are from New England Recipes.