I guess it could have been the weather (50 and raining…just like home!). Or it could have been my new shoes.

Sorry, they’re a little dirty. I always hated Brooks, but when we were running shoe shopping a couple weeks ago I decided to try them. Going in I was pretty sure I wanted Newtons, but I liked these SO much more (and in the interest of full disclosure, I bought them with my own money and Brooks has no idea I’m writing about them). They’re light and feel just cushioned enough. I normally run in Asics 2170s, but these have become my shoe of choice.

Anyway, the run. I started out with a mile warm-up, then picked it up for three miles, which I ran in 6:53, 6:43, and 6:34 (whaaat?). I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in a tempo run, and since my 5K PR is 6:51 minutes/mile I think there’s a good chance I’m in PR shape. We’ll see…I may be making an attempt this Sunday.

Lately I feel like I haven’t been baking as often as I want to, so in addition to planning my weekly dinners, I’ve been planning for a couple baked goods every week too. First up was Black Bread (um, Heidi’s pictures are about a million times better than mine).

Rye bread with carrots in it is actually pretty good, who knew?

My sister gave me The Pastry Queen cookbook for Christmas and these brownies looked completely amazing. As my mom would say, they’re so sweet they’ll make your teeth curl, but to me that’s kind of a good thing.

Weekends are so much better now that I’m back at work.  I appreciate them about a million times more than I did when every day was pretty much the same.  Obviously it was great having Mike home all day on the weekends, but now there’s even more of a focus for both of us on spending quality time with Ellie.

There’s more time for enjoying tea, which has become my new Friday night beverage of choice.

I did end up having a beer after this, but I couldn’t even finish it because I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30.  Oh parenthood, you do crazy things to people.

There’s more time to savor the view out of Ellie’s window as the sun is coming up.  I was never really big on sleeping in, so this getting up before the sun comes up thing actually isn’t too much of a life change.

And more time for BAKING!  When I was driving home from work yesterday I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  But then I realized I’ve done that too many times, and I had plenty of time to bake something new.  Oatmeal snack cake seemed like a good idea, but adding chocolate chips was essential.  For some people, this is probably too indulgent for breakfast or snack, but it makes a great casual dessert!

Having my parents around has been really nice. I’m off again for Winter Break for two weeks starting this afternoon, and then reality hits in January. For right now, I’m just enjoying knowing Ellie is having a great time all day with her grandparents, getting to run with my dad in the afternoons, and not having to worry about getting all her stuff ready to go to daycare.

My sister flew down from Portland for a couple days this week, so we did Christmas a little early. She gave me The Pastry Queen Cookbook, which was what I almost gave her (at the last minute I switched to running tights and espresso flavored Gu). I’m SO excited about the recipes in that book.

My parents were insanely generous and got me a macro lens! Now I can get you a super up-close and personal view of everything I make!

These were inspired by a cookie I had at Bi-Rite creamery. I just found a basic chocolate crinkle recipe online and added some peppermint extract and crushed candy canes. I highly recommend adding them to your Christmas Cookie repertoire! They also make great gifts… I gave a few to my principal, vice principal, and department chair.

Those were supposed to be a hostess gift for the Christmas party we went to this weekend, but nope, I burned the crap out of 2 cups of mixed nuts (tossed with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger) because I read the cooking time as 45 minutes even though that was the cooling time. What a bummer. Fortunately we had everything on hand to make these cookies.

Soft chocolate cookies, rolled in sugar and dried coconut. Definitely good enough to make me forget about my embarrassing kitchen mishap.

Wednesday night, we took Ellie on her first plane flight. I was afraid she’d scream the whole time, but she did great (I think Sophie the giraffe helped).

She was alert and happy the whole time we were waiting at the airport, and then fell asleep as we were taking off. I still need to work on my fear of flying, but at least she seems okay with it.

Thanksgiving started with a 4-mile Turkey Trot.
We’ve done this run three or four times before. Last year I ran 3 minutes faster than this year’s 34:10, but it was still a really fun run.

It finishes in the zoo, so we went and checked on the elephants.

On the way home we made a mandatory stop at Starbucks. I wish I got to hang out with my sister more.

Now that it’s socially acceptable to put up Christmas decorations, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas cookies! I made a double batch of homemade oreos, and added some peppermint extract and red food coloring to the filling. Even though I doubled the cookie recipe, I made a single recipe of frosting and had enough (maybe I don’t fill them enough?) The recipe below should make about 45 modestly-filled sandwiches.

Recipe:

I made this cake for my grandpa’s birthday.

This is my grandpa, my mom’s dad. His birthday was October 22 or 23, depending on whether you choose to believe the state of Montana or his mother. He grew up on a farm in Montana, then ended up marrying my grandma, had 5 kids, and ran a music store in Eugene, Oregon.

I never got to meet him, because he died suddenly of a heart attack when my mom was 25. He wasn’t alive to see my mom get married or meet any of his eight grandchildren.

When he was still alive, he always had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream on his birthday. My mom has kept that tradition going and makes a chocolate cake for his birthday every year. This year, she used this recipe, and it really is the best.

This is the first year I’ve made a cake for him. Since I had Ellie, family has become a lot more important to me, and now more than ever I wish that I’d gotten to meet him.

Recipe:
(from My Baking Addiction)

makes 1 9″ 2-layer cake (I halved the recipe to make 1 6″ 2-layer cake)

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strong black coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease 2 9″ pans and line the bottoms with parchment.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, and mix on medium for two minutes.

Pour the batter into the cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.

But I am.  Oops.

I promised my sister I wouldn’t bombard facebook with a million pictures of Ellie… but I never said anything about the blog! I’ll try and restrain myself.

I did manage to tear myself away from her long enough to make some cookies for Mike’s boss as a thank you because  she sent us an absolutely ADORABLE baby book.  I am probably the least crafty/scrapbookish person on Earth, but this book is so cute I’m going to do my best to make it nice in case Ellie wants to look at it someday.

I am not very good at coming up with interesting cookies to make, which is why I’ve made my typical chocolate chip cookie recipe approximately 96,000 times. Why mess with a good thing? But then I was at Trader Joe’s and the white chocolate somehow made its way into my basket, and the next thing I knew, these cookies were in the works.

The recipe is originally from Martha Stewart, but I used semisweet chocolate in place of milk, and added white chocolate for contrast. They are crisp and crackly on the outside, and soft on the inside, just like all cookies should be.

Recipe:
(adapted from Martha Stewart via La Mia Vita Dolce)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces semisweet chocolate (chips or chunks)
6 ounces white chocolate (chips or chunks)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325° F. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

Melt the 4 ounces of the semisweet chocolate chips with the butter in the top of a double boiler.

Beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low until dough forms. Stir in the white chocolate and remaining 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate.

Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 13-15 minutes. They should still be slightly soft when they come out of the oven.

Let cool on the parchment paper on wire racks, then store in an airtight container.

I made them for my parents to thank them for a bunch of stuff.

For driving down from Portland to hang out with me until this stubborn baby gets here.

For bringing a TON of baby stuff from my aunt and uncle (I should probably send them some Thank You cookies too).

For taking me out to lunch yesterday.

Side Note: San Francisco vegetarians who like Banh Mi – you should get yourselves to Clement Street immediately because the smoky vegetable sandwich at Cafe Bunn Mi is incredible. I kind of want to go back again today.

For doing my dishes while they’re here.

For their willingness to be my faithful taste-testers (especially when dessert is involved.)

I know both my parents like malt and love chocolate, so these seemed quite appropriate, especially given the fact that they have a double dose of chocolate and malt!

I think they liked them!

If there’s anyone out there you need to thank, this is a great way to do it!

Recipe:
(from Baking From My Home to Yours)

makes about 30 cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate malt powder (Milo or Ovaltine)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 3 tbsp (11 tbsp total) butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups chopped Whoppers or Maltesers
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, Ovaltine, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Add half the dry ingredients and mix on low. Scrape down the bowl, add the milk, and mix on low until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until a smooth dough forms (it will look like chocolate frosting).

Fold in the Whopper pieces and chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoon onto the lined cookie sheets, leaving a few inches between cookies. Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until slightly puffy. Cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I was initially drawn to chocolate cupcakes with some kind of raspberry filling, and chocolate ganache on top, but when I found the recipe for chocolate raspberry ganache in The Secrets of Baking, I knew there was nothing else that would be more appealing. I wanted it to really stand out, so instead of making a chocolate cupcake, I made a buttermilk genoise from the same book.

The cupcakes initially looked like a complete failure when I pulled them from the oven. They pulled away from the sides of the pan and there were huge indentations in the tops. I found online that a bunch of other people had this problem, but realized it was actually kind of perfect because it made an ideal place to pipe the ganache.

I may try experimenting with other genoise recipes in the future, but I actually loved the way these turned out, and the flavor and texture were perfect (which to me is more important than how they look anyway). The only change I made to the ganache recipe was using chocolate chips because I had them on hand, and adding heavy cream while whipping to lighten the texture. The only thing I might change is to make 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 recipes next time, because I only had enough for a small rosette on each cupcake.

And if you happen to have any leftover raspberries or want to do something a little healthier, this mornings smoothie included a bunch of raspberries, a frozen banana, almond milk, chocolate protein powder, and chia seeds, and it was almost as good as a cupcake!
Recipe
(adapted from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard)

makes 24 cupcakes

cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
6 ounces butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together three times.

Set a saucepan of water over medium heat and bring to a simmer (turn down the heat if it starts to boil). Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and set it over the simmering water, whisking with a wire whisk constantly until a thermometer reads 110 F.

Using the whisk attachment of the stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar on high for about 6 minutes, or until pale and fluffy and a ribbon forms when drizzled from a spatula. Beat for an additional 2 minutes on medium, then turn to low and mix in the melted butter.

Fold in 1/3 of the dry ingredients using a wire whisk. Add 1/3 of the buttermilk and fold gently. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Gently stir in the vanilla.

Divide evenly among the cupcake tins, filling each nearly to the top. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden on top. The cupcake should not stay indented when you press gently on it with your finger.

Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (the tops may cave in, but that’s a great place to pipe ganache!)

When completely cool, top with the whipped ganache.

ganache
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 oz butter, melted
1 cup fresh raspberries, pureed and strained (about 1/3 cup puree), at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream

24 raspberries

Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the butter until smooth. Stir in the raspberry puree and mix until smooth. Transfer to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium high until the mixture is room temperature. Pour in the heavy cream and continue whipping until stiff enough to pipe.

Pipe a rosette onto each cupcake then top with a raspberry. Store in the refrigerator.