Sally McKenney's Blog, page 165

Photo A Day, December.

My final Photo A Day! Thanks for following every single day of my whirlwind year from my apartment flooding, my cookbook release, a trip to Mexico, a visit to Colorado, wedding festivities, moving back to Philly, getting married, meeting bloggers, and meeting you. December came and left as quickly as I bake through a bag of chocolate chips. A contradicting (yet balancing?) little mix of Christmas cookies and spin classes, this final month in 2014 was filled with it all. Including watching our wedding video for the first time.

I am never dancing in public again.

114 miles in December! Since June, I’ve been aiming for at least 100 miles per month. Whether that be power walking, running on the trails, or on the treadmill. It began as a way to feel my best on our wedding day, but my speed and energy increase has been motivation to keep going strong. If you’ve been doing it with me, let’s keep it up in 2015.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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How To Make Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza.

Here’s how to make authentic-tasting Chicago deep dish pizza. Complete with the buttery crust, slightly sweet tomato sauce, and a thick layer of cheese. 

Warning: this post has about 1,000,000 step-by-step photos and lots of little explanations to go along with them. Might want to grab some coffee.

I recently looked at my website’s stats and came to find out that Chicago is my most popular city in the US. I have more Chicago readers than any other place in this country. That’s crazy awesome because I love Chicago. As a little tribute to my #1 city, I’m finishing one blow-out year with a Chicago inspired recipe.

I’ve only had the pleasure of having real, authentic Chicago-style pizza a few times in my 29 years. And those few times have been enough to convince me that Chicago-style pizza is incomparably good. Better than good. That pizza is life changing.

Ok maybe I’m slightly exaggerating but that’s par for the course, eh?

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Funfetti Sheet Cake.

Soft and buttery vanilla sheet cake filled to the brim with sprinkles. Topped with my favorite creamy vanilla frosting and, as expected, more sprinkles.

Here’s a giant cake filled to the brim with sprinkles. It’s topped with sweet and creamy homemade vanilla frosting. It’s big enough to feed an army of sprinkle and cake and frosting lovers. Is there a better way to end a wonderful year??

Yes! Add more sprinkles on top.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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2014 Recipe Superlatives.

Here we go again! The annual Sally’s Baking Addiction Yearbook Superlatives. A post dedicated to looking back at the most popular recipes in the past year.

See 2012 Recipe Superlatives and 2013 Recipe Superlatives.

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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls.

Soft, fluffy, buttery cinnamon rolls you can begin ahead of time. Save time in the morning and have everyone wake up to warm, fresh, cinnamon goodness!

I love all things sweet rolls. Orange, blueberry, cherry, caramel apple, pumpkin, you name it. But sometimes? Nothing and I mean nothing beats a classic cinnamon roll.

Most of my sweet roll recipes can be started the night before, but none of their doughs are actually developed to be an overnight recipe. Today’s cinnamon roll dough gets better with age. Or you know… overnight… making it a perfect make ahead recipe.

They’re dreamy.

This is a wonderful brunch if you’re entertaining this holiday week or anytime throughout the year. (Anytime is cinnamon roll time.) The dough is made the night before. Allow it to rise, roll it up tightly, slice into rolls, cover tightly, and pop in the refrigerator. The next morning, remove the rolls from the cold air and let rise for 1-2 hours before baking.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Cinnamon Chip Scones.

Tender and crumbly, these simple cinnamon chip scones taste like cinnamon rolls and are packed with sweet cinnamon chips!

Otherwise known as the best coffee pairing in the entire world.

So. I’ve been a fruit-in-my-baked-goods lover for my entire life. I’ll take a big fat blueberry muffin over a double chocolate muffin any day. A strawberry scone over a chocolate chip scone. White chocolate cranberry cookie over a chocolate chip. You get the idea.

My fruit loving world turned upside when I took my first bite of this cinnamon insanity

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Strawberry Pomegranate Sangria.

A cheery and bright red wine sangria filled with strawberry and pomegranate. 

CHEERS! We’re here. The Friday before Christmas. I have no clue where this past month went. Oh, that’s right. I spent most of it holed up in my kitchen baking the world cookies and toffee and cupcakes. When I finally took a break from butter and sugar and frosting, I made a pitcher of this sangria for date night. Date nights are still going strong! It feels good to forget about technology one night a week. Says a full-time blogger who even has an IG account for her dog. Typical.

We drank an embarrassing amount of this ourselves as we put up our tree. Merry Christmas indeed!

If you’re looking to entertain these last couple weeks of the year and not just drink at home by yourself – that’s ok too – then you have to try this sweet, yet tart sangria. It’s perfectly fruity and festive and uses two of my favorite fruits.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

You haven’t had a chocolate chip cookie until you’ve had a brown butter chocolate chip cookie.

Warning: These brown butter chocolate chip cookies will make your clothes shrink.

Wink wink.

So, we made it to the final recipe in my Christmas Cookie Palooza. I’ve seen about 4857029145 cookies go in and out of my oven this past month. Kevin’s coworkers have never been more well fed, my friends have never been so sugared-up, and my treadmill has never seen so much of me. Also: the only things in my freezer are peas, cookies, the top tier of our wedding cake, cookies, ice cubes, cookies, and biscotti. All in a good month’s work.

 Are you sick of cookies ye… I can’t even finish asking that. Cookie monsters, we are.

Let me present you with the grand finale. brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Or you can call them by either of their 2 nicknames: Not Your Regular Chocolate Chip Cookies and/or The King of Cookies. Both quite fitting.

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Christmas Funfetti Cookies Supreme.

Buttery soft sugar cookies exploding with sprinkles and topped with a simple swirl of vanilla frosting. And more sprinkles. Always more sprinkles. 

For the recipe, please see the original Funfetti Cookies Supreme post. 

I took my Funfetti Cookies Supreme recipe and added a whole lotta Christmas.

Like, a lot.

These are my favorite drop sugar cookies. For a cookie cutter sugar cookie recipe, please check out my Holiday Cut-Out Sugar Cookies. The recipe itself is pretty straightforward, but there are a few helpful tips to read before you begin. I really want you to make these! Not only because I live and breathe sprinkles, but because they are so good. Really really good. They blow any store-bought sprinkle cookie out of the water.

You’ll probably look at this recipe and wonder why I add an extra egg yolk and some cornstarch. Neither are traditional sugar cookie ingredients, you’re right. However, there’s a method to my madness.

For the egg yolk: though I could certainly use 2 full eggs instead of 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, I’ve learned through the years that the yolk is where all the goodness hides. Eggs are an indispensable ingredient when it comes to cookie baking; they aerate, aid in setting, provide structure, leaven, emulsify, and thicken. Most importantly? They are used as a binder in cookie recipes. Using more egg whites in a baked good typically yields lighter, fluffier desserts. More yolks create a denser treat with a richer flavor– which is exactly what we want in cookies like this! You know how my Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies are so chewy, thick, and fudge-like? The extra egg yolk plays a huge role in that.

Oh, and the eggs– make sure they are room temperature. Typically, when a recipe calls for room temperature butter, the eggs should be room temperature as well. That’s something I picked up on recently. Room temperature eggs incorporate quicker and more easily into the dough, which prevents your cookie dough from being overmixed and allows your cookies to have uniform texture among the batch.

For the cornstarch: if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I love using cornstarch in some cookie recipes. It’s a miraculous little ingredient, pulling heavy weight in the chilling and baking process. It helps thicken your cookie dough as the dough chills and keeps your cookies soft as they bake. You will love how soft these frosted funfetti cookies are!

Also… don’t forget to chill the cookie dough. I know I always remind you, but it’s so important. Set aside enough time to do so; your cookies will spread into one massive, unattractive cookie… mess… on your baking sheet if the dough is not sufficiently chilled.

Even though the cookies are supreme, I think the frosting is the star of the show. I love this vanilla frosting. I like to add a pinch of salt to offset its sweetness. Especially when it’s spread onto an already sweet sugar cookie. Enjoy, sugar cookie lovers!

**Click HERE for the recipe, comments, questions, and reviews.**

Oh, and grab a glass of milk. You’ll need it. 

 

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Funfetti Cookies Supreme.

Buttery soft sugar cookies exploding with sprinkles and topped with a simple swirl of vanilla frosting. And more sprinkles. Always more sprinkles. 

How typical. An explosion of sprinkles and sparkles and ornaments and sugar for one of the last recipes in my Christmas Cookie Palooza.

But these here cookies? Well, they’re anything but ordinary. They’re the kind of buttery, soft and chewy sugar cookie that will make anyone, of any age, smile ear to ear. They’re the first to go on a cookie platter (I know from experience– notice how there’s none here?). A birthday, holiday, celebration kind of cookie. A sprinkled dessert so jolly, they’ll make Santa blush. I call these funfetti cookies “supreme” because that’s just what they are.

Supremely awesome. Just like my triple chocolate scones.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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