german chocolate cookies

German Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter, at room temp

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 1/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 TB vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugars and butter on low until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Beat in the vanilla. Add the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Let cool. Make the topping.

Makes almost 3 dozen small cookies.

Coconut Topping

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (1 12oz can)

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

4 egg yolks

3/4 cup butter

1 TB vanilla

3 cups coconut

(1 cup chopped pecans) optional

Mix milk, sugar, eggs, and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cook for 2 minutes. Take off of heat, stir in vanilla and coconut. Let cool.

(this is a full recipe- you will only use half. I like to freeze the leftovers for another batch later on. I do it so that I don't waste half a can of evaporated milk. Feel free to half it!)

Chocolate Frosting *this recipe has been halved*

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

one half of 1/3 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

Beat cocoa and melted butter on low. Alternately add the sugar and the milk, mixing well after each addition, ending with the milk. Beat in the vanilla.

(from the Hershey's cocoa package)

Assemble the cookies:

Put a dollop of the topping on each cookie. Drizzle the chocolate frosting on top of the coconut. Store in the fridge, but they taste best at room temperature. Keeps well in the fridge for about a week.

lemon coconut cookies

Lemon Coconut Cookies

1 pkg lemon cake mix (betty crocker is the best)

1 egg

1/3 cup water

Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine all in a medium bowl and beat on medium high until fluffy. Using a cookie scoop, portion out onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until light brown on the bottom. Let cool. Make filling.

Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

2 8oz pkg cream cheese, at room temp

3/4 cup butter, at room temp

4 cups powdered sugar

1 TB vanilla

3 TB heavy whipping cream

2 cups coconut

Fill cookies:

place about 2 TB of filling on the bottom of a cookie- sandwich with another. Keep in the fridge, but they are best eaten at room temperature.

chocolate coconut cupcakes

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

1 pkg Betty Crocker Chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup butter, at room temp

3 eggs

1 1/3 cups water

Place all in medium mixing bowl. Mix on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes.

Portion out into a lined muffin pan using a 2TB cookie scoop, 2 scoops in each one. Bake at 350 for 17 minutes. Let cool.

Coconut Filling

1/2 cup butter

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

1 TB vanilla

1 cup coconut

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar, mix well. Add vanilla. Stir in coconut.

Chocolate Frosting

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup melted butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1 TB vanilla

1/3 cup milk

Add the cocoa to the melted butter and mix well. Alternatley add the sugar and milk, beating well after each addition, ending with the milk. Beat in vanilla.

Putting them together:

After cupcakes have cooled, scoop out the middle of each cupcake. I like to use an apple corer, it's easy to get a perfect cylinder of the middle of each cupcake without destroying it. Be careful not to go all the way down to the wrapper.

Pipe filling into each cupcake, about 2 TB in each one.

Pipe frosting on top of the cupcakes. I used a star tip, and just made a few stars around the filling.

Then I topped them off with a Ferrero Rocher Garden Coconut bon bon. Fancy, right? Well, I found them on sale somewhere, so I grabbed a few boxes. They are hard to find unless there is a candy holiday going on. (christmas, easter, valentines)

(vegan) cinnamon rolls

I used to make these gooey treats with my friend Nathan. We found a regular roll recipe and adapted it for cinnamon rolls. They are delicious!

Cinnamon Rolls

2 cups soy or rice milk
1 cup water

4 TB dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 TB salt
3/4 cup margarine
2 tsp liquid lecithin, or vegetable oil

8 cups flour, divided plus more for dusting

Filling:
2 TB cinnamon
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 stick margarine, melted


Pre-heat oven to 400. Microwave milk and water for 3 1/2 minutes, set aside. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix 2nd group of ingredients together on low. Add milk, and slowly mix for about a minute. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook. Add 4 cups flour, mix until smooth. Add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time. Turn out on floured surface and knead well, or until it's no longer sticky. Place in a medium bowl, place that into a large bowl filled with hot water, and cover with a towel. Let raise for 15 minutes. Punch down, and divide dough in half, then cover one of the halves with a towel.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Brush half the butter onto the dough, leaving about a half an inch border all around. Mix the sugar and the cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle half the filling onto the dough, then press it in. Tightly roll the dough to form a tube. Using a serrated knife, cut off the end, then cut the tube into 1 1/2 inch slices. Place cut side down on a greased cookie pan, leaving room for them to rise. Cover, and let raise for 15-20 more minutes.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Makes a little over a dozen rolls.



Frosting: (optional)

1 oz pkg Tofutti cream cheese, at room temp
1 stick margarine, at room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together the margarine and cream cheese. Add the sugar, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Smear onto cooled rolls.

Store rolls in the fridge.

(vegan) sugar cookies & buttercream frosting

Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
2 TB lukewarm water
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup soy or rice milk
1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 375. In a ramekin, mix together the egg replacer and the water. Cream together margarine and sugar. Add egg. Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, ending with the milk. Beat in the vanilla. Roll out onto floured working surface, and cutout with cookie cutters. For crispy cookies, roll the dough out thin. For soft cookies, roll the dough out so it's almost 1/4 inch thick.



Space the cookies out so that they won't expand into each other while baking. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Don't let the tops of the cookies brown, they are done when the bottoms are lightly browned. Let them cool for about 7 minutes before attempting to move them- you don't want your shapes to break. Let them cool on a wire rack completely before frosting them- you don't want melted frosting!

"Buttercream" Frosting

1 cup margarine

6 cups powdered sugar

6-8 TB soy or rice milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp almond extract

Beat margarine in a medium mixing bowl until softened. Add 3 cups of the sugar, mix well. Blend in 4 TB of the milk, then add the rest of the sugar. Beat in the extracts. If frosting is too thick, add more milk.

You can add food coloring at this point. Since margarine is not as stable as butter, it's best that you only make pastel colors with this frosting. It also will "melt" a lot faster- so it's best to store the frosted cookies in the fridge until ready to serve.



These cookies are amazing! They taste like the "real" thing!

Enjoy!