Goodies By Anna

Spring Flower Sandwich Cookies with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Filling

For this years Easter treat I decided to forgo the traditional eggs and bunnies and went with these super cute Spring Flower Sandwich Cookies filled with a delightfully tart-yet-sweet Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting.

 

 

 

The dough for these cookies is a traditional spritz cookie dough that is usually forced thru a cookie press to create little shapes. For these spring flowers I filled a fabric (reusable) piping bag with some of the dough and piped them out using a Wilton 1M tip.

 

 

 

I originally saw this idea on a terrific baking site called I Am Baker. She piped out beautiful rosettes but it was really hard to pipe out those rosettes so I decided to go for these "spring flower" shapes instead! To get a spring flower shape, hold the piping bag perpendicular to your baking sheet and basically squeeze down until you get the desired shape you are looking for! That's it!

 

 

 

I kept my piped dough flowers at a 2" diameter so that they would bake evenly. To keep each flower the same size I made a template of six 2" circles and placed the template under my silpat on top of my baking sheet. I left the template under the silpat while baking and didn't have any problems. After the cookies cooled I piped a little Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting using an Ateco #867 tip on to one cookie then sandwiched it was another. Here is how you can make your own.

 

 

 

You can find the entire recipe for the cookies here. Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees and lining a baking sheet with a silpat. If you are using a template go ahead and place it under the silpat. Place baking sheet into refrigerator to chill.

Cookies: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and sugar until creamy then beat in the egg and the extract (I used 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract & 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract). Beat in the flour mixture until a dough starts to form. Add few drops of pink food coloring to ting the dough a nice deep pink color.

 

 

 

Transfer around 1/2 cup of dough to a reusable piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M closed star tip. I used a reusable fabric piping bag because I was afraid that a plastic piping bag might burst because of the thickness of the dough. Holding the bag perpendicular to the chilled baking sheet, squeeze down to get a "ruffled petal" look.

 

 

 

Repeat until you have six 2" flowers piped onto the baking sheet. You can sprinkle the cookies with a little pink sanding sugar for a little extra sparkle. Bake for 10 minutes or until very slightly golden on the edges. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely before filling. Tip: Try to cool your baking sheet in the fridge in between batches to keep the cookies from spreading too much.

 

 

 

Filling:

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces (226 g) cream cheese, at room temperature

2/3 cup (76 g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean crush extract or vanilla bean paste

Place the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the sugar, and mix on the lowest speed to combine. Add the vanilla bean crush extract and mix for 2 to 3 minutes, until completely smooth. The frosting can be used at this point or refrigerated for up to 3 days. If it has been refrigerated, let it sit at room temperature until just cool to the touch, then transfer to a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth.

Place frosting into a piping bag fitted with an Ateco #867 tip and pipe a small mound in the center of one cookie and sandwich it carefully with another cookie. Keep filled cookies in an airtight container in the fridge.

Peanut Butter Smoothie Bars

Sometimes I am just in the mood to make something easy and delicious. This is where bar cookies are really king! Most bar cookies consist of mixing up a batter, smoothing it into a pan and baking, what could be easier than that?

 

 

 

These Peanut Butter Smoothie Bars are a peanut butter lovers dream! The bars bake up very moist and fudge-like lots of rich peanut butter flavor. To provide a little texture and crunch, I omitted the chocolate chips from the recipe and instead added 1 cup of lightly chopped salted peanuts and even more peanut butter flavor by stirring in a cup of peanut butter chips and sprinkling even more chopped salted peanuts on top just before baking.

 

 

Whew, that's a lot of nuts! In around 30 minutes you have the best peanut butter bars around! Here is how you can make your own.

 

 

You can find the entire recipe here. Start by lining a 9" x 9" baking pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with Pam. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

 

 

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and peanut butter together until smooth and combined. Add the sugars and beat until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Mix in the cup of peanut butter chips (I used these instead of chocolate chips) and I added one cup of lightly chopped salted peanuts to the batter as well. Smooth the batter into the prepared pan. I topped the batter with 1 cup of lightly chopped salted peanuts and a little sprinkle of sea salt.

 

 

 

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and the edges pull away from the sides of the pan. I recommend cool in  the pan for around an hour before cutting to get the cleanest cuts. Of course, if you can't wait you can always dig in while they are still warm!

 

 

 

Ooey Gooey Caramel Pecan Brownies

These are the most amazing decandent brownies because have everything going for them: lots of rich chocolate, gooey salted caramel and toasty crunchy pecan nuts! All these layers bake up into one one rich and delicious brownie that is just begging for a tall glass of milk or hot cup of coffee. The secret to these brownies is after baking, letting them sit overnight and chilling them well in the fridge before cutting. This allows all the flavors to come together and for the caramel to firm up making cutting a whole lot easier. But even if you can't wait that long, they will still be delicious! Here is how you can make your own.







There entire recipe can be found here. Start by lining a 9" x 13" baking pan with foil and spray with Pam. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


In a large microwave safe bowl combine the chocolate and butter. Microwave at 1 minute intervals, making sure to stir well between each interval. Transfer melted chocolate to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until incorporated. Mix in the flour and salt until just combined. Divide the batter in half and evenly spread one half of the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven but keep the oven on! Let the brownies cool for 20 minutes.







While the brownies are cooling, toast the chopped pecans in a medium skillet or medium heat until golden brown and fragrant. Divide the nuts into two bowls and set aside to cool. In a microwave safe bowl, mix together the caramels and cream and heat for 30 seconds at a time until smooth, mixing well between each interval. At this point I stirred in around 1 Tablespoon of sea salt into the melted caramel for a nice sweet/salty mix. Stir half the nuts into the caramel and spread evenly over the cooled brownie layer. Scoop the remaining brownie batter in large spoonfuls over the caramel layer and spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and remaining nuts. I also sprinkled on a few teaspoons of sea salt on top for a little extra flavor. Bake for 20 minutes then let brownies cool completely before cutting. Store brownies in airtight container at room temperature.







Cooling & Cutting Hints: I let the brownies cool completely on a wire rack. Then I covered the pan in plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight. The next day I quickly cut the chilled brownies into 24 squares: four down and six across. As the brownies come to room temperature the caramel will become melty and gooey and all the flavors will meld together nicely! Store the cut brownies at room temperature. To prevent the caramel from melting all over you can individually wrap each brownie in waxed paper or place each square in its own cupcake paper before storing.