Amazeballs Take Two

Here is a second batch of Amazeballs I made for my husband's holiday work party.  The stick says "pwtv" which stands for Power Women TV, the company he's working with right now.  They tasted great, now I need to perfect the look.. particularly the top.  I'll be making these again soon.

Happy Chanukah

This post is a big one for me because it marks my first official year of writing this blog!  The first cookies I ever posted were Chanukah swirl cookies that I baked when going to my parents house to celebrate last year.  This year, my family came to my tiny apartment to celebrate the occasion.  I always forget how small my place is until there are 9 adults, 2 kids, and a dog running around.  It was definitely crowded, but I think the space (or lack there of) made the occasion more intimate and fun!  Anyway, it was no big shock that I'd be baking cookies.  After all, one of the reasons I got into baking is because of the "cookie contests" that my family has held over previous Chanukahs.  The rest of my family stopped competing a few years back, but I just kept on going... 

I don't have a story about the baking of these cookies, as everything went pretty smoothly.  Because of the intricacy of each cookie, they did take a number of hours (and over 3 nights) to make.  I made the icing with confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, and egg whites this time around, and a lot of my taste testers gave it rave reviews.  I think I'm finally getting this icing thing down!  Anyway, here are some pictures:

Amazeballs

I went to Florida for Thanksgiving this year, but I still found time to sneak in a little baking... ok technically I guess I can't call it baking because I didn't use my oven for this recipe, I used my freezer.  I made "Amazeballs" (named by my husband after he fell in love with them), for a Pre-Thanksgiving work Pot Luck.  They were chocolate chip cookie dough truffles with Reese's Pieces.

Now, based on the name and sound of this naughty-little-snack, you'd think that this was a quick and easy and successful experience right?  Wrong.

Brown sugar, you are the bane of my existence.

After posting some of my previous recipe experiences, some of you reached out to me with ways to soften brown sugar that had turned hard.  They were all great ideas, but most of them require at least a few hours of waiting in order for the brown sugar to soften.  When I decide to bake something, it is usually last minute, and I usually can't wait to get started.  So one fast idea stuck out in my head:  Put the brown sugar in the microwave.  Bingo.  One short step and my problem would be solved.

Fifteen seconds in the microwave.  I noticed just the tiniest difference, but I could tell it was working.  Fifteen more seconds.  A little more.  Thirty seconds in the microwave...  It was changing ever so slowly.  Being the impatient cook that I am, I came up with the brilliant idea to stick it in for five minutes while I ran down to Duane Reade to pick up a last minute ingredient.

You guessed it, when I came back up, the brown sugar had exploded.  Wait, it gets better.  I had put the brown sugar in a plastic bowl.  Why did I do that do you ask?  I'd call it a blonde moment, but since I'm no longer blonde I can't even use that excuse.  Anyway, this is what the microwave looked like:

Sad right?  That pile on the bottom was not just the brown sugar.  Nope, it was the bowl too.

After the brown sugar debacle, it was smooth sailing.  An easy mixing of ingredients and a fun fondue project.  And guess what, my husband said it was the best thing I ever 'baked' for him and I didn't even touch the oven.  It'll be our little secret.

Here is the recipe, I HIGHLY recommend it:

http://www.bakerella.com/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles/

Thank you Bakerella !