{Baking} 6 Valentine's Recipes To Try

Sugar makes my world go round (which you'll know if you follow me on Instagram), so when it comes to Valentine's Day, the more sweets the better. In between baking sugar cookies and stuffing my face with chocolate (truth), I often find myself creeping food photos on Pinterest this time of year. So if you have as big of a sweet tooth as I do, here are 6 must-try Valentine's recipes to try... and hey, I'm always around if you feel like sharing. xx

Conversation heart donuts | M&M chocolate chip cookies | Linzer cookies | Orange flavoured beetroot waffles | Red velvet soft pretzels | Peppermint marshmallows

White Chocolate Coffee Cookies

When I was in college, Whole Foods had this super yummy Latte Cookie that was basically a coffee cookie with white chocolate chips.  I'm not sure why or when they stopped making it in their bakery but ever since they stopped, I've been super craving it.  They do have a mocha cookie and another latte cookie now but it's not the same as the original.  I randomly bought white chocolate chips not knowing what I wanted to make and then suddenly the thoughts of those Latte cookies came to mind and it was a lightbulb moment like DUH why haven't I tried making them before?

So, these are super simple and easy to make and if you like coffee, you will love these cookies.  Since it's been so long since I've had one I can't quite remember if they are like the Whole Foods cookies but they are darn good. :)

I could not find any instant coffee powder in my grocery store except for this one.  I was a bit skeptical but it was great in the cookie.  (Oh and I got decaf since I was serving them after dinner, I didn't want to keep everyone up!)
 

Oh and something I learned along the way, do not try to use ground espresso or ground coffee.  It needs to be the instant coffee/espresso powder as they put extra stuff in there and it gives it a way stronger coffee flavor.  Using ground espresso doesn't give as strong of a coffee flavor that you want in these cookies.  

White Chocolate Coffee Cookies
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen

1/3 cup butter, room temperature 
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp instant coffee powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 F
Cream together butter and sugars in your mixer or large bowl
In a small bowl, beat egg, milk and vanilla extract together and gradually add to the butter/sugar mixture.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, coffee powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
Add the flour mixture into butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined
Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls, about an inch around, on your lined baking sheet.
Bake until cookie are golden at the edges, about 9-12 minutes.
Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sidenote: My favorite tool when making cookies is the cookie scoop.  It was one of those things that I put off buying forever because I was like "do I really need it?" but now that I have it, I can't imagine not having it when I bake.  The cookies all come out about the same size and I think the texture of the cookie even turns out better.  It's also great to use when scooping muffin or cupcake batter into the tins.  I love multi-purpose tools!  This OXO Scoop one is the one I use.  

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

So many things to blog about but so little time to do it!!  I've been a little MIA on the internets lately because I've been meeting with lots of awesome people and getting new ideas and have a few fun projects/events on the way!  Super excited for the next few weeks/months!  So anyway, that's why these cookies that I made for Valentine's Day are being posted so late but they are so yummy and work for any occasion, not just Valentine's Day.  The best part?  They are SO easy to make you won't even believe it.

Thank you to my husband who brings me flowers for no occasion at all but also never forgets on VDay either :)

I like to bake everything from scratch just because I think it tastes better (and any excuse to use my Kitchenaid Mixer - my favorite appliance!) but as I was looking for cookies to make for Valentine's Day I found these Strawberry Cookies and thought it sounded delicious and then when I saw that they were made simply with a cake mix I was like "WHAAA?"  I have never heard of such a thing!

Doesn't the dough look like strawberry sorbet? :)

Head on over to Love Veggies and Yoga to get the very easy to make recipe.  All you need is strawberry cake mix, butter, egg and vanilla!  She made a cream cheese frosting which I'm not a fan of so I took an easier way out and bought whipped topping from Trader Joe's and topped the cookies with sprinkles or made them "whoopie pie" style and sandwiched the whipped topping in between.  These are DELICIOUS and are so easy to make.  Everyone who I gave them to loved them, especially my husband!

My tips on the recipe... 

• Definitely take the time to let the dough chill in the refrigerator/freezer.  They really do spread a lot but they stay thicker if you chill the dough. 
• Make sure that they are cooked through by checking the bottoms of the cookies are browned.  She mentioned that they will be a little loose and jiggly but after you take them out they will cook more on their own.  This usually happens when I make cookies but not for these ones.  I had quite a few undercooked cookies so I ended up cooking mine for about 12-14 minutes as opposed to her 8-10 minutes.
• You don't need the cookie scoop like I used but I like to use it so I could get about the same size/shape for the "whoopie pie" style ones.

I've got a new post over on the Smarter blog... I'm a total heels girl but I've got a soft spot for certain flats, come see my favorite ones!