Almond Cookies

I made these a couple weeks ago...I can't really remember why anymore, but it was after my final final exam of my undergrad college education. I brought them to my boyfriend--I think he was studying for an exam--and left a couple for my roommates. I think they were pretty good, definitely an almond taste (I think I added a little more than the 1 teaspoon though) and they came together quickly and easily.

Almond Cookies
Recipe From allrecipes.com

1 stick butter
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.

Beat together the butter and 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix into the butter mixture until just incorporated.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.

Bake in the preheated oven until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Spread the 1/4 cup confectioners sugar on a plate; roll the cooled cookies in the confectioners' sugar to coat.

New Blog Name!

I'm graduating on Sunday! You know what that means? It's suddenly going to be weird if my blog is called "A Cake for College", because I'll no longer be in college!

So I've changed URLs to ragebaker.blogspot.com. My old URL redirects to this new one, so it's okay, but you should probably save the new URL just in case. I would have greatly preferred the URL "ragebake", but that was unavailable, so ragebaker it is. It's kind of a joke with me and my friends--I tend to bake when I'm really angry, or "raging", and I've come to call the act of my baking "rage bake". Fun, right? Hopefully.

Anyway, I've been really busy but also have been baking a ton, so you'll see some new stuff soon!

Snickerdoodles

I've made a couple versions of the classic snickerdoodles before, but so far I think these are my favorites! Of course I still think these Chai Snickerdoodles are something you HAVE to make, but they have a different flavor for the regular snickerdoodles. Definitely I'll make these again as my current go-to snickerdoodle recipe!

Snickerdoodles
Recipe from Food.com

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.

Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.

Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.

Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.

Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture.

Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.

Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.

Remove from pan immediately.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This recipe was delicious and really easy! I've been wanting to make lemon poppy seed muffins for a while and finally got a hold of some poppy seeds so I made these about a week ago. They were really delicious both warm and after a few days! I'll definitely make these muffins again.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Recipe From Connor's Cooking
Found On Katherine's Martinelli

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for sprinkling
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a standard 12 muffin pan or a jumbo 6 well muffin pan (or use cupcake tins). Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and lemon juice.

Make a well in center of the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Add the melted butter and use a rubber spatula to blend with quick strokes, being careful not to overmix the batter; it should still be slightly lumpy. Gently stir in the poppy seeds and lemon zest. Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until slightly puffed and golden, 20-22 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool slightly on a wire rack.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

First I was going to make this cake last year. Then a few months ago. Then finally, yesterday night, I made it for my apartmentmate, Marrisa's, 22nd birthday!!

It was easy and fun to make! I thought I'd screw it up with that whole marbling-with-the-knife step (I always do...I can never do it right!) but it turned out not to really be marbling it or swirling it at all. It turned out absolutely. PERFECT. It was soft and delicious and wow, exactly like cinnamon rolls (though yes softer) without all the yeast and the waiting and stuff. EVERYBODY loved it, and it was completely devoured by the end of the night. This cake got a better response than ANYTHING I've ever baked. Kinda surprised me.

So for Marrisa's birthday, I got Lucy to keep her awake til midnight (her birthday is today!) by making her play Settlers with some of the guys. Then I brought all my supplies over to Le's kitchen to bake the cake, and got some of Marrisa's good friends to meet us a little before midnight outside our apartment. It worked perfectly. Marrisa expected us to do something later in the day--not for a whole train of people to barge in right at midnight!!

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Recipe by The Girl who Ate Everything

Found on Lovin From the Oven

Cake:

3 cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup (1 stick) real butter, melted

Topping:

1 cup (2 sticks) real butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

3/4 cup chopped pecans, (optional) (always measure the nuts first then chop them)

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs and vanilla. Next, stir in the 1/2 cup melted butter. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

Next, for the topping, mix the 2 sticks of softened butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and pecans until well combined. Drop evenly over cake batter by spoonfuls and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center.

For the glaze, mix powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth and pour over warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.