CookTeen

A Rewind on 2012

by Chelsey on January 6, 2013

Last year at this time, I had just finished my first semester of college, I was nervous getting ready for sorority recruitment, and I didn’t know what the next semester would hold for me. Here I am, one year later and looking back on the past year, I couldn’t be more thankful for the people who have came into my life. While my blog may not have been on the forefront of my attention, it was always in the back of my mind.

Here’s to the start of a new Cookteen, I turn 20 this April and look forward to what life has in store for me. Until then, here’s my life through my iPhone and instagram over the past year.

We went on a snow tubing retreat

And then were initiated!

And went to lots of hockey games!

SLOPE DAY!

Lastly, there was formal..

And then summer came…with lots of DELICIOUS smoothies

A super fun trip to florida, with some technical difficulties getting there

But I Jetski-ed for the first time!

And enjoyed the sunsets

a 10k with my seester! <3

Fourth of July Fireworks!

And an end of summer trip to Atlantic City!

OH and I held a baby duck…and dropped it…ignore the petrified face.

At school, we had some fun with ugly sweaters

And nice dresses..

And bright pants…

And my prince ended up being a duck, not a frog

In Ithaca, they do Hanukkah fire and ice style.

‘

I saw this beautiful winter rainbow at home

Went ice skating in Central Park

And saw the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller center, dodging tourists galore

And I baked, and didn’t blog..
Reeses in an oreo in a chocolate chip cookie.

Oreo pound cake

And red velvet s’mores brownies

Naturally there’s more, but I cant overload you tooooo much

To a wonderful 2012 and an optimistic 2013.

With love and cupcakes,
Cookteen

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Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Peanut Butter M+M’s

by Chelsey on July 24, 2012

There are certain things in life that I just want to bottle up and carry with me everywhere. Sunsets are one of them

I mean really, who would NOT want to see this pretty sunset in Marco Island EVERYDAY!

Iced Coffees with soy milk (from Starbucks) I mean I can bottle those up and drink them ALL THE TIME, but then I would never sleep, not that I do…

Family FaceTime Chats while I am at school. I have a good feeling every member of my family will bug me about posting this..oh well!

Rosemary Salt Bagels with cream cheese, lox, tomato, onions and capers from College Town Bagels in Ithaca.

My trip last summer to Sedona, AZ.

My friends. Until August 17th…

This guy…

AND the smell of cookies baking in your oven. Seriously, there should be a Febreeze baking line that smells like yummy desserts baking in your oven. Now only if I could figure out a way to bottle the smell of THESE chocolate fudge cookies with peanut butter M+M’s… Until then, you’re just going to have to make them!

Is it just me, or does anyone else loathe dragging out their stand mixer? Any recipe that eliminates the need for the mixer is a winner in my book! These just use a bowl and the power of your own arms…

2 bowls. The one on the left has brown sugar and white sugar and the one on the right has flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. Of course you don’t NEED two bowls (just at the dry directly into the other bowl) but I had time so I premixed it all.

Then you add cooled browned butter butter, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk and vanilla into the sugars.

Give it a stir then add in the flour/cocoa powder mixture.

Once its is combined I added the peanut butter M+Ms..you could use any kind but the peanut butter ones gave it more flavor! Plus, they taste AMAZING!

Mound of dough..

To form the cookies, you create 24 balls of dough the break them in half and reattach them so the jagged parts are facing out, as shown.

Bake from 10-12 minutes and VOILA! Delicious cookies.

They have the nutty flavor from the browned butter AND peanut butter and have the perfect amount of chocolate. The crunch from the M+Ms is much needed between the smooth texture of the cookies!

Recipe: Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Peanut Butter M+M’s
Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup All-Purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
pinch of kosher salt
1 bag peanut butter M+Ms (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)

Heat a saucepan over medium-low heat and add butter. Whisk constantly until brown bits appear on the bottom (about 5 minutes), then remove and let cool completely ( I place in the freezer to speed up the process, I’m impatient.) Once cool, add to a large bowl with sugars and whisk until completely smooth. Add in egg and egg yolk, whisking until combined, then add in vanilla.

Add in the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Stir to combine. Then add in the M+M’s and mix. (I used my hands) Be careful not to break the M+Ms.

Roll the dough into 24 balls and then break each apart and reattach with the jagged part facing out.Place dough, rough side down, on a lined baking sheet. about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden and inside is still soft.

Recipe adapted from How Sweet Eats

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Peanut Butter Buckeye Bars

July 10, 2012

My mom called me yesterday asking for me to bake something because today was a coworker’s birthday. At first my only notes were that he likes peanut butter and chocolate..in only honesty, who doesn’t? It’s my second favorite combination of flavors. Sweet and salty has to be my first, they balance each other perfectly! Anyways, [...]

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Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies

July 6, 2012

It’s been a long time coming, but last week I FINALLY decided to whip out the big camera, bake and blog. And bake I did..so many cookies and brownies, so much sugar, so much chocolate… But then I left the next day for Florida and well didn’t blog. I was waiting to blog because I [...]

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Kony 2012

March 7, 2012

(source) Last night I attended a screening of the new documentary to make Joseph Kony a household name. Prior to this showing, I had never heard of Joseph Kony and didn’t know what he was doing. Now that I know, I cannot just sit back and accept what is currently going on in Africa. It [...]

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Cookeen @ Cornell

December 19, 2011

First semester DONE AND DONE. It feels like it flew by yet at the same time so many memories have been made and friendships formed. As I was looking through the photos on my phone trying to come up with a story to describe my time at Cornell so far, I realize how much has [...]

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{It’s} About Time

September 12, 2011

HI! I will be back eventually with a post about college, it’s been the most amazing thing yet I am super duper busy so for now here is a review about About Time protein powder…Enjoy! After having tonsillitis and my wisdom teeth out this summer, smoothies have become a major obsession of mine. However, often [...]

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Corn + Squash Pesto Succotash

August 17, 2011

This summer has flown by. I can’t believe that I am done interning and that I leave for school TOMORROW! I was always just excited for school, but as it looms closer, nerves are taking over. The past few nights I have been having dreams about various aspects of college or something relating to college. [...]

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Oil Free Pesto {Vegan}

August 13, 2011

I think somethings wrong with me. I was super responsible the other day, I turned my T.V. and computer off by 10pm!!! This never happens, I normally futz around on my computer until waaaay later and then watch tv to fall alseep. But not last night. Last night I turned the tv and computer off [...]

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Gluten Free Chocolate Cherry Cookies

August 8, 2011

Everyday around 3pm, the wonderful folks at L’Auberge would put out a few plates of cookies for their guests to enjoy. Sometimes there was peanut butter cookies and other days they had white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. But, everyday they also has this plate of goodness. At first, I didn’t know that they were gluten [...]