confessions of a sweet tooth

This past weekend we took to the road and made our first voyage to SoCal since we have lived out her in California. I of course checked the bakery scene beforehand and as fortune would have it, we made it to one of the bakeries on my list...Sprinkles in Beverly Hills. It was a bit of a drive, but I daresay it was worth it. Above is the picture of Rachel with her cinnamon sugar (for the record, she did enjoy it despite the look on her face!), Adam selected a red velvet and I went with the milk chocolate...it gets me every time! They were definitely enjoyable, not too sweet or overpowering and not too airy, there was just the right amount of cakey density to them. One thing that I really appreciated was the look of the place. Although it was tiny, it was well laid out with it's shelves of cupcakes neatly nestled into their individual spots carefully chiseled into the trays they rested on. I found it interesting that only a few were displayed up front. They were constantly refilling....

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins 2 extra ripe bananas 2 eggs 1 c. packed brown sugar 1/2 c. butter or margerine (melted) 1 t. vanilla 1 1/4 c. flour 2 t. baking powder 1/2 t. cinnamon 1/2 t. salt 1 c. chocolate chips Mash bananas well with fork or potato masher. In a bowl, beat mashed bananas, eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla until well blended. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips after adding flour mixture to banana mixture. Mix until all blended. Spoon into well greased muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes **It seems inevitable that the once too green bananas that I purchased what seems like only a few days ago become the lone one or two overripe, bordering on black creatures lurking in my fruit bowl. Since I'm the type that likes only the perfectly ripe banana, not too crunchy or too soft, I find it helpful to have a good recipe for those bananas gone wrong...and it works out perfectly...the muffins are delicious ...

Although I can't claim to have made these cookies, I most definitely can claim to have eaten them (and photgraphed them :)) They were baked my my little sister Angie, who I'm trying to convince to start a bakery with me someday...although we are both quite novice at this point, I think we definitely have some potential! The recipe for these cookies comes from a book called "Big Fat Cookies" By Elinor Klivans. What a great name! I love the layout of the book including the photos, which by the way is my latest dream job: food photographer, how fun would that be? Lemon Ginger Cookies cookies 2 c. all-purpose flour 1/2 t. salt 2 1/2 t. ground ginger 1 t. ground cinnamon 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 c. powdered sugar 2 t. finely grated lemon zest 1 t. vanilla extract 1 c. (about 4 oz.) whole blanched almonds, toasted, and finely ground lemon filling 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar 2 t. finely grated...