homemade girl scout do-si-dos party!

 
I was shocked to discover a recent Girl Scout poll that showed Samoas are America's favorite Girl Scout cookies, followed by Thin Mints and then Tag A Longs! Where is the love for MY favorite...Do-Si-Dos?!? When I saw that they were ranked #6, I couldn't believe it. What could be better than two peanut butter oatmeal cookies sandwiched with peanut butter frosting? Seriously, America? The lemon cookies ranked higher than Do-Si-Dos? That's crazy!

And I have THE cutest girl scouts in my neighborhood. Two adorable sisters who are dedicated to the Girl Scout mission & EXCELLENT cookie salesgirls. I think they sell around 3,000 boxes every year. We're always excited when they make the rounds to take our order.

Since I found out Do-Si-Dos are SO under-rated I decided to spread the love by making a homemade version and sharing it with you. This is my take & they are my new favorite cookies! I made them twice this weekend. The recipe is almost identical to my PB Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies MINUS the chocolate chips PLUS peanut butter frosting. GO Do-Si-Dos!

Do -Si-Dos
adapted from allrecipes.com
Click HERE to print recipe only

makes 2 dozen sandwich cookies

cookies:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned or quick oats

frosting:
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or milk

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and peanut butter. Add in sugar & brown sugar & mix. Add egg and vanilla and blend. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in oats.

2. Lightly spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and drop cookie dough by tablespoon onto pan. I use my small Pampered Chef scoop to measure the cookie dough. You can flatten the cookies a bit before baking but I didn't because I like fat cookies.

3. Bake 8 minutes or until cookies are barely set & barely browned on the bottom. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then remove to cooling rack.

4. For frosting: Cream butter & peanut butter. Mix in powdered sugar. Add whipping cream & beat until creamy. Spread the frosting between two cooled cookies. I used 1 cookie scoopful of frosting on each sandwiched cookie.

 5. Totally unnecessary but if you want to jazz them up you can roll the edges in mini chocolate chips, crushed peanuts, chocolate sprinkles or mini m&m's.

pina colada cupcake frosting party!

I had a request for pina colada cupcakes and went right to work experimenting with flavors and recipes to come up with something spectacular. I started by adding coconut & pina colada drink mix to an old fashioned pineapple upside down cake recipe. YUM! But the BIG STAR of the show was the pina colada FROSTING and that’s the recipe I want to share with you immediately.

It's SO delicious; I think I would scrap the cake & just serve shots of this frosting! It is the perfect tropical delight for those warm summer days by the pool cold winter evenings by the fire! Yes, it’s the middle of November & I’m STILL in denial that summer is over. One taste of this & I'm back to July! My recipe is alcohol free but you could definitely add rum or rum extract to the recipe for the authentic pina colada kick.

I used THIS non-alcoholic Master of Mixes Pina Colada Mixer & it’s so good. It’s basically lots of sugar, cream of coconut & pineapple juice. It’s available at most grocery stores. If you prefer not to use it, you may substitute equal parts of pineapple juice and cream of coconut. Another unusual frosting ingredient I used is Jello brand Coconut Cream Instant Pudding mix, just the dry powder, straight out of the box. 

Pina Colada Frosting

click here to print the recipe only

Yields: 3 cups frosting

1/3 cup dry Jello Coconut Cream Instant Pudding mix (a full box has about 1 cup)

1/3 cup pina colada drink mix

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoon coconut extract or to taste (you may prefer 1 teaspoon)

2 tablespoons pineapple juice

½ cup salted butter

½ cup solid vegetable shortening

4 cups confectioners sugar

OPTIONAL: ¼ teaspoon rum extract OR 2 teaspoons light rum

1.     In a small bowl, add instant pudding mix, pina colada mix, vanilla extract, coconut extract, pineapple juice & rum or rum extract, if using. Whisk together until thick and smooth. Set aside.

2.     In a large separate bowl, cream butter and shortening with electric mixer.

3.     Add pudding mixture to creamed butter mixture.

4.     Add confectioners sugar one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed after each addition until smooth and fluffy. If thinner frosting is desired, add additional pineapple juice.

This makes enough frosting for 24 cupcakes, decorated as shown. I garnished them with toasted coconut*, fresh pineapple slices & well drained maraschino cherries. 

*To toast coconut in the microwave, place 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut on a paper plate, cook on high with set microwave for one minute. Don't walk away. Watch it like crazy & pull it out several times and stir it up and put it back in until perfectly toasted. It will take less than 2 minutes.

carrot cake with cream cheese frosting party!

 

Don't you just love a LAYER CAKE, especially on a pretty pedestal cake plate? Anytime I walk into a bakery I'm immediately drawn to them. They just seem to equal a party to me with their multiple layers of delicious cake stacked with double or triple the frosting! Don't wait for a party; make today a special occasion with this carrot cake!

It is definitely ooooh & ahhhh worthy and is on point for a classic carrot cake. I've had many carrot cakes in my day and this is the ONE! Some carrot cake recipes call for pineapple, coconut or raisins, which you can add if you want. I'm a old-fashioned, simple girl and like mine chock full of fresh grated carrots, spiced with cinnamon, frosted with silky smooth, melt in your mouth, cream cheese frosting and garnished with toasted chopped nuts.

I got the recipe from one of my clients. She brought me a giant piece of this cake to share with Mark & I was in HEAVEN! Mark & I are both thankful that she shared the recipe with me because I didn't get home with his half. The original recipe is from Joy of Cooking and she made some minor changes which I followed exactly.

Carrot Cake

ingredients:

3/4 pound (about 2 1/2 cups) peeled & finely grated carrots
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup safflower, vegetable or canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper. I used 9 inch cake pans today but decided I prefer 8" so the cake will be a little taller.

2. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & ground cinnamon. Set aside.

4. With an electric mixer, beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored (3-4 minutes). Add the oil slowly in a steady stream while mixing and then beat in the vanilla extract.

5. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.

6. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots.

7. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After 5-10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper and cool completely.

9. Make frosting & roasted nuts below.

10. Place one cake layer onto your serving plate. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Place the 2nd cake onto the frosting and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. If desired, garnish with toasted nuts. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

 Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter. at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 to 3 1/2 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

With electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on low speed until blended with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powered sugar and beat until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. You want the frosting to be soft and smooth. If it's too stiff it will not go on the cake smoothly. You can adjust the amount of powdered sugar a bit or add a teaspoon or 2 of milk if you need to adjust the consistency of the frosting.

I also garnished the side of the cake with toasted, chopped almonds. Toasted pecans or walnuts would also be delicious.

Toasted Almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 cup of raw whole almonds in an ungreased pan. Bake for 5 minutes, stir nuts and bake for another 3-5 minutes. I chopped the nuts with a large knife because I wanted them on the chunky side & my food processor chops nuts too finely for what I wanted on this cake. You could also use a food chopper or just buy your nuts already chopped.

Immediately after frosting cake, before the frosting crusts, place some nuts in your hand and press them into the side of the cake over a large piece of wax paper. Allow excess nuts to fall onto wax paper, turn cake and repeat until all sides are covered.