Birthday Bakesplosion!-Rice Krispies AND Mini Cinnamon Bites

So...about that...baking hiatus...thing...

BEFORE YOU JUDGE, just, hear me out. I can explain. It's not what you think. 

Unless you are thinking that I spent three hours baking copious amounts of sugary, buttery, artery clogging sweets while simultaneously clogging my arteries by eating them as I baked. 

But here is the thing, it's my birthday this weekend. I'm turning the big TWO-OH. Twenty. Veinte. Er shi-no longer a teenager-sui.  And this year I am celebrating in New York! Woohoo! 

Okay fine, turning 20 is another one of those insignificant birthdays. Like turning 17, or like Kelly Roland from Destinys Child (sorry but not really). But the way I see it, my 20th birthday is essentially the pregame to my 21st, so why not do it Big. Why not live every day like it's our 21st? Because we would die of alcohol poisoning? Say wah? 

                                   

Once again, I will be staying with the Kamen in his apartment. And I wanted a way to outwardly thank him and his room mates for lending me a crash pad and for always supplying me with certain liquids, so that I don't get thirsty. Yeah. Hence the massive baking spree. Hence me making not one, but TWO awesome desserts. After all, I am baking for three boys. And again, the theme here is doing everything Big, capish? 

So cast your judgmental eyes away.  Just because I am turning 20 does not mean I am turning into a more responsible, mature adult who actually follows through on certain promises. SSShhhhh...

Dessert 1: RICE KRISPIES

                                   

Doesn't this just look..so..right?

Rice krispies are the best because they're so easy to make, and finally got me to use up all the marshmallows we had in the house. Only too bad because now I am just going to buy another box...and another box...and another...because these rice krispies are too yummy and too easy not to make. And since they don't require added sugar, they're just the right amount of sweet that doesn't make you feel sick. AKA you can eat this stuff forever. AKA I am a hippo. 

                               

And then melt it with butter, and it becomes even more...right.

                                 

                                 

Then proceeded to melt some chocolate 

And dump it on top, in keeping things RIGHT

Followed by sprinkles, in keeping things birthday themed

I did leave some of it chocolate-free, for the less-sweet-inclined (cough the Parents)

And after letting them sit, I cut them up into squares. Cute and YUM. 

Happy birthday to me indeed

Difficulty: 2 

Willingness to make again: 8 

Over-all: 9.5

Notes: 

1) The chocolate on top is pretty dang sweet. For non-birthday related occasions, I would stick to either a thinner layer of chocolate or just not having any. For a teeny pinch of added sweetness, just toss a itty bitty bit of sugar into the melted marshmallows. 

http://cookiejartreats.blogspot.com/2012/05/festive-fruity-rice-krispies.html 

Dessert 2: MINI-CINNAMON BITES 

Oh boy, oh boy, did I do something right. 

These mini cinnamon bites have restored my faith in my mini muffin pan, after the brownie mishap. And the base recipe for these mini muffins is awesome: they rose properly (I think I am getting better at estimating how much baking powder is necessary), slid off the pan easily, and even let me finally use some nutmeg. Which tasted delicious. 

Since I am still obsessed with my jelly, I decided do experiment by filling half of the mini muffins with a chunk of jelly.

I filled the bottom, plopped in some jelly, and then put more batter on top. Like a sandwich.

Post-baked, you can see the jelly peeping out

Cross-section: DEEEElicious! Jelly can do no wrong, my friends. 

So what makes these cinnamon bites isn't the actual muffin itself, but the glaze you make to go on top of it. 

Now, brace yourselves folks, this is one of those things that separates true bakers from the faint of heart:

No your eyes do not deceive you, that is indeed butter, sugar and cinnamon. 

Sometimes, you just got to do what you got to do.

Melted together to form a delicious, sweet glaze

Before 

(Feel free to note the Batman episode in the background) 

Dunk! 

Tada!

Here you can see my first batch, post baked, without the glaze 

And this is after taking a little swim

In my second batch I performed another experiment, being the scientist I am 

Where I dumped a whole bunch of jelly directly on top, for kicks and giggles

Which resulted in this. I still ate it. The end. 

Difficulty: 4 

Willingness to make again: 10 (SO GEWD)/ -10 (MY JEANS...!) 

Over-all: 9.9 

Notes: 

1) Not sure why these did not brown out like in the picture, but they were definitely baked for just the right amount of time

2) I am going to use this base muffin recipe in all future muffin endeavors! It can easily be modified by adding chocolate chips, bananas, blueberries, etc. Oh boy...

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/muffins-that-taste-like-donuts/ 

EDIT: OHMYGOD these tasted EVEN BETTER the next morning because all the glaze soaked in. KILL ME, bydrowningmeintheseminimuffins, NOW. 

                                   

                                   

In conclusion, I have made myself, and some boys very, very happy.

Embarking on NY adventures part 2 in T-minus 3 hours! Weeeeeeeeee!

TL;DR: IT IS MY BIRTHDAY and I am going to New York and I wish to not become a hippo.

Trickster Tofu Lettuce Wraps

I tricked you, didn't I?

Into thinking that you were eating chicken, because of the color. Or Chinese duck, because of the traditional leaf wrap. Or a taco of some sort? Because of the avocado.

PSYCH. You have all fallen into my diabolical, vegetarian TRAP! QUEUE EVIL LAUGHTER.

Sorry, I amuse easily. Or watch too much batman. Or both. 

But seriously, these lettuce wraps are bomb-diggity-freaking-gewd. So good, that the baking-hiatus doesn't sting as much. They're the Watson to my Sherlock (shout out to the BEST SHOW ON TELEVISION. sherlock4lyfe). The Selena Carlyle to my Batman.  Don't think of it as deception, think of it as a gift, from me to you. Think of it as sweet baby jesus wrapped in a lettuce leaf, that is how splendid they are.

They are healthy.

And easy to make.

With a delicious taste

That fills even *my* bell-eh

You don't need that many ingredients

And they are very...

...very photogenic 

Tell me you don't want to come over here and gobble one of these up right now. I dare you to.

Difficulty: 2
Willingness to make again: 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Over-all: 9.9
Notes:
1) Next time, going to add some crushed peanut on top to make it more crunchy, because frozen corn isn't as crunchy as fresh corn off a husk is (and no, I am never going to buy regular corn over frozen corn, ever. Sue me)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/02/vegetarian-lettuce-wraps/

Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies of Death x2: A Beautiful but Sinful Modification

Oh...My...God.

This is what rock bottom must feel like.

Like 9 cookies being engulfed alone, in your kitchen, at 11:30 pm.

I can't believe I just shared that. Please do not judge me. I already sort of hate myself.

Am I the only one who also finds this mouth watering as well? Yes, just me? Then I'll just take...that...and hideinacornertoeatitbymyself. CIAO~

Remember when I made those peanut butter fudge cookies of death that one time and practically morphed into a baby killer whale?

Well, as they always say: become a baby killer whale once, shame on you.
Become a baby killer whale twice.....jesus christ....WHYYYY did I not heed my own advice? *shoots self*

merp

Because, as I mentioned in that past post, I wanted to remake these cookies with jelly, that's why. And I finally did it.

                                       

And now I am going to sound like a bi-polar hypocrite. But o-my-GAWD what a beautiful idea. They tasted amazing. Phenomenal. SEN-sational. OUT OF THIS WORLD DELICIOUS. mMMMMMmm mmMMmm MMM. I die.

Zero regrets. Baking with jelly is the next. big. thing. people, you heard it here first. It is simply the best.

Just the right amount of sweet. Soft without being overly gooey. Delicious granola crunch. Warm gooey jelly. Perfect peanut butter flavoring.

Hey, hey, you....JELLY....right now?

Over-all: 9.9
Willingness to make again: ...... *
Notes:
1) Since I was low on oats, I used some of the Mom's healthy cereal to make up for it. BEST IMPROVISATION EVER. The cereal was delicious and added more crunch than the oats would have alone. 
2) AGAIN, did not put enough jelly on top. I keep forgetting that that shiz spreads like no other. GUHHH, should have learned the first time with the chocolate sauce. STUPID STUPID STUPID.

You can see from these two photos how unattractive the jelly looks post-baked, because I didn't add enough :( 

But the important thing is that it still tastes like a million angels singing in your mouth

* So, here's the thing. While I really do have no regrets on my epic consummation of love with these beautiful, sinfully glorious cookies, it did serve as a wake up call. I may have a problem. With sweets. And eating them at a rate that will shoot me straight into obesity with zero pit stops. And it's sad because now I just want to bake with jelly every day of my life. And then eat it for the rest of my life. But I think I am going to go on a baking hiatus for awhile. Because who am I kidding? "Sharing my sweets with my co workers and friends lalala I am so nice!" really translates into...well...eating 9 cookies straight out of the oven at 11:30 pm. Sigh.

Here you can see me a fatty little asian girl noming on cookie batter with chopsticks. Oh wait, that's me.

So from now on I am going to try to distract myself by finding extra bombdiggity savory recipes. These are more useful to me anyhow because I need basic sustenance to survive when I go back to school, not cookies and more cookies (sadface) (being a responsible adult sucks).

TL;DR: Jennifer the baker is currently on hiatus after a (orgasmic) unfortunate incident. Please leave a message while she drowns in her own tears, after the beep. 


*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*