Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie

A few months ago, my best friend posted a link to Picky Palate's blog on my Facebook wall, which featured this chocolate chip cookie stuffed with an Oreo. Originally, I had set the idea aside thinking this was kind of a weird concept, and not very "creative." 

Well, to go back on my word, I obviously made these monsterous two in one cookies. This cookie recipe has been flooding the foodgawker, pinterest, and food blogging world. I finally caved last week and decided, that I too, needed to follow the trend. 

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Hot-Chocolate Cookie

Hot Chocolate Cookies. Or, you can call them Chocolate Surprise Cookies. Regardless, the name sounds pretty awesome. Hot chocolate flavor packed into a cookie with a marshmallow on top, this sounds promising.

Unfortunately, these cookies disappointed me. The chocolate cookie dough baked to be pretty dense. The chocolate flavor was dark, but also a tad chalky. These tasted like chocolate graham crackers, or chocolate teddy grahams, which if you like that taste, then you will love these. However, I am not a fan of either of these delights, and therefore I wasn't a huge fan of these cookies.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prior to Easter, the food blog world was flooded with cute, pastel-candy-inspired-embellished baked goods. There were so many ideas for Easter themed baked goods, it was a tad overwhelming. Personally, I'd rather eat something that tastes good, then looks pretty when decorated. Hence, I made carrot cake.

This carrot cake is absolutely delicious. It is light, moist, and includes only the essential ingredients. This recipe is from one of my mom's friends, who I will call "D." Over spring break my mom brought bake a couple of D's carrot cake slices home. I ended up eating all of them over the course of a couple evenings.

Almond Poppyseed Muffins

I love muffins. They are soft, yet firm. They are light, yet cakey. They are technically a "breakfast food," but you can certainly eat them at anytime of the day. They are versatile, and easily adaptable, all things that I love about baked goods, are packed into that simple liner.

Poppyseed muffins are hands down my favorite. Throw in some almond flavor and slivers on top, and the combination becomes my best seller, and ultimate weakness when it comes to pastries. Poppyseed muffins remind me of some of the few good memories from high school mornings. My mom always bought me the giant four-pack of towering poppyseed muffins from our local market. She always froze them, to "preserve them," as she says. I got used to heating up a muffin from the freezer on a daily basis. Enjoying a giant warm muffin, with a large cup of chai tea is how I mustered up energy for my daily 5 a.m. (yes 5 a.m. extracurricular activities that I like to say helped get me into college...) days.

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

Spring has truly sprung, the sun is shinning on a daily basis, and I am welcoming the start to a brand new quarter this week!

I made these coconut macaroons over my spring break last week (hence, the beautiful lighting from my Mom's kitchen, something that is seriously lacking here at school!). I absolutely love coconut, and it's not an ingredient I have gone out of my way to buy down here at school. However, when I was home, and had a fully stocked fridge and pantry open or me, I had to satisfy my craving.