Som' Bitches

Recipe adapted from two.thirty.ate

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
28 chewy caramels, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add peanut butter and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time until combined.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently fold in chocolate chips, and mix until just combined.
Using a two tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out dough then flatten in the the palm of your hand. Place caramel in the middle, then fold cookie dough up, pinching the seams to create a ball. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

If you know me, then you know that Peanut Butter Cookies are always a bust with me. Not that I don't love peanut butter cookies, but because I am THE WORST at making them. No matter what I do, they always end up terrible. After that famous episode of How I Met Your Mother where we actually met the mother, and she had made these cookies. When I watched that episode, I knew that I needed to make them. But with my terrible track record, I was SO thankful that my friend Kayla would make them. She taught me how, but for some reason every time I tried, they just didn't ever work. That is until I made them during the 2016 BYU/Utah Football game. I was SO stressed, that I had to do something. So while the game may not have ended the way I wanted it to, I have these cookies to help ease my pain.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Recipe adapted from PopSugar
  
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk

1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and cooled slightly

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the flour and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs. Whisk in buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter.

Pour buttermilk mixture into the well of the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Let sit while you pre-heat your skillet.

Heat a large, nonstick skillet to about 350 ºF. Spray skillet with your cooking spray of choice.
Dollop 1/2 cup batter onto skillet per pancake. Cook pancakes until bubbles rise to the surface and pop, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip pancakes and cook another 2 minutes.

Okay guys, pancakes are my life. I've never been great at them, which was fine because my Grandma Alice was amazing at them, and I always assumed I would find a man to love me and he would make them. You know, cause all men are great at making breakfast food. Well, I'm 27, Grandma Alice has retired from cooking, and I haven't been on a date in years. So, I had to suck it up and learn. I've made a lot of mistakes, learned that mixes are the devil, and that ain't nobody got time or the money to use cake flour, but I've found the recipe that embodies all of my favorite things about pancakes. I can now sleep a little better knowing that pancakes will be in my life for always. I may be lonely, but loneliness can be fixed with a stack of hot buttermilk pancakes.

Martha's Chocolate-Raspberry Cake

Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart

INGREDIENTS

CAKE
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon almond extract
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (61 percent cacao), melted and cooled
FILLING
24 ounces fresh raspberries (a scant 6 cups)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of coarse salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, then dump some flour in, and shake until coated with a light layer of flour. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, beat butter with sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond extract. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk in two batches. Beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in melted chocolate.

Divide batter evenly among prepared pans, smoothing tops with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through front to back and top to bottom, until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a small sharp knife around edges, then invert onto rack. Remove parchment and let cool completely, about 25 minutes. With a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes so they're level.

Filling: While cakes are baking, stir together 3 cups raspberries, sugar, salt, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over high, stirring frequently and mashing with the back of a spoon, until mixture comes to a boil, 2 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and clings to spoon, 7 to 8 minutes more. (You should have 1 1/3 cups.) Let cool 30 minutes. Stir in 2 cups raspberries, reserving remainder.

Spread half of filling over one cake. Top with second layer; spread remaining filling over top. Top with final layer, cut-side down. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour and up to overnight. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with remaining raspberries.

Fact: I am terrible at reading recipes lately, and once I get the ingredients together, I put them together using whatever method would work best based on the ingredients. Which is probably how I didn't catch that this should have been made using THREE cake pans. While my cake turned out okay, using three pans would've made it so much easier with the filling and frosting. #whoopsie This cake is RICH, and slightly tangy from the raspberries. I am definitely going to keep baking this chocolate cake recipe, and the frosting is to die for! I used almond extract instead of the raspberry liquor, mostly because I didn't want to buy (let's be honest find in my home) Chambord. I do like almond with raspberry together, so I was pleased with the result.

Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe from Martha Stewart
INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
Pinch of coarse salt
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (61 percent cacao), melted and cooled
3/4 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

Sift together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Beat cream cheese with butter and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until smooth. Reduce speed to medium-low; gradually add cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Pour in chocolate in a slow, steady stream. Add sour cream; beat until combined. Frosting can be stored in refrigerator up to 5 days; bring to room temperature and beat before using.