Jennifer Andrew

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8 Recipes Inspired by Girl Scout Cookies

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Girl Scout Cookie season is officially among us! On Sunday, I bought a box of “Caramel DeLites” (Samoas) and a box of Thin Mints. Samoas are pretty magical because I am not a coconut fan at all. I can’t stand it. But I love Samoas! Maybe a little too much (the box is, umm, already empty…). I’m not crazy about Thin Mints though, so I have many left still. If you were already planning to buy a bunch of GS cookies, here are eight Girl Scout Cookie-inspired recipes to tempt you even further.

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1. Trefoil Cookie Pops – Coupon Clipping Cook (These are caramel-filled, candy-coated and covered in sprinkles. Omg.)
2. Tagalong Peanut Butter Parfaits – My Baking Addiction
3. Spiked Do-si-do Milkshake – Yummly
4. Thin Mint Puppy Chow – Erica’s Sweet Tooth
5. Savannah Smiles Lemon Blueberry Parfait – Little Brownie Bakers
6. Seven-Layer Samoa Bars – Cookie Crazed Mama
7. Chocolate, Caramel, & Coconut Covered Samoa Pretzels – Love From the Oven
8. Homemade Tagalong Cookies – Bakers Royale

Selling Girl Scout Cookies, or being a Daisy/Brownie Scout in general was not for me. I tried it, but I felt awkwardly older than everyone else and never wanted to participate. I did however take a couple skills away from being a Girl Scout, including making friendship bracelets and reciting the Girl Scout Law, which I actually recite pretty often. :) What’s your favorite GS cookie? Are you participating in cookie-buying this spring?

Recipe Box | Lavender Bark

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The other day while I was walking through a very busy and festive Target store, I started thinking about lavender bark. I looked it up and found out that it is kind of a thing already but I didn’t see any recipes for the exact idea I had in my mind.

This recipe is largely adapted from Cathie Fillian’s peppermint bark recipe but I made a few changes to make sure it would taste like lavender. When it comes to baking and cooking, I have little to no skills so this is a really big deal! I am obsessed with this stuff. Is it Christmasy? I don’t know. But it is definitely delicious and giftable. :)

Lavender Bark Ingredients
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
12 oz white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1-2 teaspoons lavender buds

First, line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper. Then pour the 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream into a pan with 1 teaspoon of lavender. Let it steep for 5-10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Next, fill a glass or metal bowl with the semisweet chocolate chips. Place the bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. This is a homemade double boiler (you can see a good picture of one here), but if you have a real double boiler, definitely use that! If you’re using the “homemade” version, make sure you keep a utensil like a knife between the bowl and the pot of boiling water. This will let the steam out.

Strain the lavender buds from the heavy whipping cream and pour the whipping cream into the bowl of semisweet chocolate chips. Stir them until they are melted. Then pour the chocolate onto the lined cookie sheet, using a spatulate to make it into a smooth layer. Sprinkle some lavender buds on top and refrigerate for 20 minutes or so.

Then melt the white chocolate chips in a similar way to how you melted the semisweet chips. It is not a good idea to add lavender-flavored heavy whipping cream to the white chocolate chips. I learned the hard way and had to run to the store for more white chocolate chips to start all over. White chocolate is difficult to melt if it has contact with any sort of moisture. It’ll just harden and crumble or become translucent looking. I ended up melting the white chocolate in the microwave which worked like a charm. Microwave for 20 seconds, stir, and repeat. Anyway, you choose your method: double boiler or microwave. It will still turn out delicious.

When the white chocolate chips are melted, pour the mixture onto the semisweet chocolate and use a spatula to make it even. Sprinkle some lavender buds on top and refrigerate for a half an hour or so. Then break the lavender apart and you’re good to go! I think it would be cute to make shapes out of the bark with cookie cutters or to cut them into perfect squares. Next time I’ll try that.

Do you like lavender as a flavor? A lot of people don’t like the smell but love the taste.

If you’re baking anything exciting for the holidays, please share! :)

recipe box | brown butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies

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The other day, I was invited to a cookout party that was liquor themed. No restrictions, the food or beverages just had to contain liquor. I thought about making some bourbon baked apple ice cream until I remembered that ice cream takes two days to make! Then I did some research on boozy cupcakes and found some interesting recipes, including a mint julep cupcake one. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for cupcakes because I continued to look up recipes until I was in the baking aisle of the grocery store.

And then I came across a recipe for brown butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies from Bakergirl. Ummmm, okay! It took me a while to get all of the ingredients because, hey, I’m no baker lady. The recipe called for cake flour. I had no idea what cake flour was and it took me ten minutes to find it even though it was right in front of me. I need to start baking more. Anyway, the cake flour made these cookies giant and delicious.

I had to bake these as quickly as possible because I got a late start, but chilling the dough for an hour before baking it was a very important step – not one to be skipped. They ended up being a big hit at the party and when I got home, I brought the rest to my new neighbors. I met a ton of new people that night and while it may have just been circumstantial, I like to think it was because of the cookies. ;)

Cookies are my favorite food in the world, and cookies with bourbon turned out to super delicious. I wouldn’t call them “boozy” since the liquor is cooked out of it. According to Bakergirl, it just leaves a dark caramel-vanilla flavor.

Do you like adding bourbon or any other liquor to your kitchen creations?

 

ps. My love for cookies and my love for Carly Rae Jepsen were combined in this brilliant masterpiece. Feast your eyes upon “Share it Maybe” by Cookie Monster. You’re welcome, I guess.

:)

tasty popsicle recipes

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Summer is dwindling down (noooo…), and I’ve realized that I still haven’t made popsicles! I have never made them with anything other than plain old juice, but being creative with popsicles has always been an annual goal. I’m going to make it happen!

Before I get on my popsicle kick, I’d like to share some recipes I have come across that look pretty and probably taste amazing.

1. Citrus and Orange Blossom Popsicles – Murmures
2. Rosemary Grapefruit Greyhound Popsicles – Glitter Guide
3. DIY Refreshing Summer Popsicles – 100 Layer Cake
4. Banana, Hemp, and Salted Dark Chocolate Ganache Popsicles – The Artful Desperado
5. Striped Ice Pops – Martha Stewart
6. Salted Bourbon Caramel Pops – Autumn Makes & Does

I think what makes me most excited about this list is that popsicles can transfer over to autumn! Banana, hemp, and salted dark chocolate ganache…in a popsicle?!! This is making me so hungry.

Which recipes look most appealing to you? Please feel free to add other fun popsicle recipes to the list. :)

 

Don’t forget to enter the Gold House Paper + Press Giveaway to win some pretty landscape notecards! There is only about a week left. :)

Recipe Box | Baked Apple and Bourbon Ice Cream

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This week was monumental! Well, as far as ice cream goes. My aunt and uncle gave me an ice cream maker as a graduation present last spring and I kept waiting for the right time to use it. I know what you’re thinking. It’s always the right time to make ice cream. I agree. Last week, I gave it a try and made bourbon baked apple ice cream. I followed Emma’s recipe on A Beautiful Mess, which was super straight forward and easy. Making ice cream is way too easy to make, which could cause serious problems with my 2013 health goals.

I used a Rome apple from an apple farm by my aunt and uncle’s house. We stopped by on our way to the thrift stores last weekend, and we were given lots of apple samples (and some apple crisp!).

This ice cream flavor ended up being too good to be true! I think I could literally eat it every day. You can find the recipe here. And like I said, it was so simple to make. The next day, because I have no self control, I made more ice cream out of my two favorite flavors in the world. I’ll post about it in a few days!

Have you ever made ice cream? What is your favorite kind?

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