M&M COOKIES

The hubby and I have been going through an M&M phase lately. I bought a bag of them back in December thinking I would use the red M&M's for the nose in some Rudolph Christmas cookies that I actually did not end up making. The bag of M&M's was ripped open one night when only chocolate would do and over the course of January we had eaten the whole bag. I hadn't had M&M's in a long time and I forgot how addictive they are.

The other week the husband came home with yet another bag! Oh dear... This time I decided to spin straw into gold and make M&M cookies.

I always loved cookies made with Smarties when I lived in the UK and these are just like them: fun and incredibly tasty. I made a big batch for a baby party I went to recently; they're so colorful and cute.

These cookies are lovely and chewy which complements the chocolatey crunch you get from the M&M's. 

A bag of peanut butter M&M's mysteriously appeared in the apartment this week...

M&M Cookies: 
(makes approx 30)

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cup butter (room temperature)
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups of M&M's

Cream the butter and sugar together.

Add the vanilla and eggs and beat well.

Add the flour, salt and baking soda, blend well.

Add a cup of M&M's and mix in.

Drop tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet, separated well from each other.

Cover each drop of dough with more M&M's on top.

Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes (depending on how you like them).

   To see what else I'm up to, follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram

CHOCOLATE VALENTINE CAKES

I love making a cake for Valentine's Day; its pretty much the only time of the year when everything can be red, pink and heart-shaped with a huge dose of lovey-doveyness. Last year's rose petal cake was so delicious and romantic that I actually thought about making it again this year. In the end though, I decided to not even make one big cake, but rather little cakes with lots of chocolate and some cute decorating.

The red cakes ganache is made with white chocolate and red food coloring and the others have a dark chocolate ganache.

Heart shaped chocolate cupcakes:
(makes 18-24)

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons pure coconut oil 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Ganache icing:

• 200g good dark chocolate or white chocolate
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Sift together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk in the eggs, lukewarm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla until smooth.

Fill heart shaped cupcake liners 3/4 full with the batter (I used heart shaped silicone molds).

Bake for approx 20 minutes at 350F.

Allow to cool completely and then remove them from the liners and refrigerate while you make the ganache.

Chop all the chocolate up into very small pieces and put in a large bowl.

In a pot heat the heavy cream and butter until boiling.

Quickly pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth.

Put the cakes on a cooling rack with a baking pan underneath.

Immediately pour the ganache over the cakes and allow to drip down on a cooling rack.

Decorate as you like :)

   To see what else I'm up to, follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram