Hi there, and welcome to the very first post on Ann Bakes Cakes! I can’t tell you how excited I am to be finally embarking on my baking blog journey, and I hope you join me for this fun (and delicious) ride. I’ve been a sugar addict my whole life and dabbled in baking throughout my childhood. But it wasn’t until my mid-20s that I became an avid at-home baker. Over the years, I’ve made an array of cakes, cupcakes, buttercreams, cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, pies, cheesecakes, caramels, meringues, compotes, curds, pastry creams, glazes, ganaches, and even French macarons. And I have even more sweet treats still to explore!
What Inspired This Blog?
Baking and decorating can feel pretty intimidating when you’re just starting out – especially while scrolling Instagram and Pinterest. I’ve had a number of friends reach out to me when faced with a baking challenge – their kid’s birthday party, the holidays, school bake sales, family parties. etc. I steer them towards my favorite recipes, flavor combinations, and tools, plus tips on decorating (like how to pipe a perfect cupcake swirl). And now I want to share my baking know-how with a larger group.
What Should You Expect From My Blog?
- A variety of recipes for sweet treats – from breakfast to dessert (and treats in-between). These recipes will be a mix of my own creations as well as callouts to some of my all-time favorite recipes that I want to share with you.
- Mouth-watering flavor combinations – to me, flavor is the most important element of anything I make. Yes, we all love beautiful cakes and desserts, but we’ve also all been burned by dry cakes, bland flavors, and frosting so sugary it hurts your teeth (and that says a lot coming from me). I hope to build up a collection of flavorful fillings, frostings, and cakes that we can mix, match, and tweak for any occasion or season. Plus, I’ll steer you towards to quality ingredients that will set your treats apart.
- Decorating tips and how-tos – I’ll provide links to my favorite decorating tools, so you can set yourself up for success. When possible, I’ll also break up tutorials according to level of effort and difficulty (not always the same). For example, a post on how to pipe buttercream flowers would include both simple rosettes as well as full-bloom roses.
I look forward to our upcoming baking adventures together, but for now, let’s get baking!
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Today, I’m starting us off with something nostalgic that can be easily dressed up for Valentine’s Day – strawberry milk cookies. I don’t know about you, but every now and then, I like to treat myself to a cold glass of strawberry milk. And we all know milk’s ultimate companion is the cookie… so why not strawberry milk cookies?! (My husband thinks the combo is total overkill, but not everyone can run with the wolves.)
Ingredients for Strawberry Milk Cookies
To make these pretty pink treats, I started with a standard chocolate chip cookie and made my adjustments from there. Now, when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, everyone has their preferences. Alton Brown even dedicated an episode of Good Eats to “the chewy,” “the thin,” and “the puffy.” I typically fall into the chewy with crispy edges group, but for my strawberry milk cookies, I aimed for a nice of mix of chewy and soft. Let’s run through some of the key ingredients…
Strawberry milk powder and brown sugar: First, I replaced the white sugar in my recipe with strawberry milk powder. Normally, I add more brown sugar than white for flavor and chew, but I needed the strawberry milk to be the star here. I landed on equal parts brown sugar and strawberry milk powder, and I was very happy with the results.
Butter: Softened, melted, or browned, butter is essential to any delicious chocolate chip cookie. For this particular recipe, I went with room temperature butter. Although I love the chewiness you get from melted butter, I didn’t want my strawberry milk cookies to spread too much in the oven. Softened butter gives you a soft, slightly puffy cookie.
Eggs: Another tip for achieving chewy cookies is to use one egg and one egg yolk instead of two whole eggs. Egg whites are wonderful for whipping up meringues and creating delicate chiffon cakes, but not so helpful when making moist, chewy cookies.
Vanilla extract: The love story between me and vanilla goes way back, and I will definitely get into that in a future post. For now, I will simply note that vanilla enhances other flavors, adding warmth and depth to baked goods and buttercreams alike. I went with Madagascar vanilla extract here (although, I wouldn’t be opposed to trying out Tahitian vanilla extract next time).
Flour + cornstarch: If you checked out the Alton Brown link, you’ll see that he plays around with bread flour for “the chewy” and cake flour for “the puffy.” I’m sticking with tried and true all-purpose here, but I do add a little cornstarch for a softer cookie. Fun fact: a common substitute for cake flour involves measuring a cup of all-purpose flour, removing two tablespoons of it, and replacing those two tablespoons with cornstarch.
Kosher salt: I love using kosher salt in my cookies, because the bigger salt crystals hold up better during the baking process. With only ½ teaspoon, it’s not a strong salty/sweet mix, but every now and then, you get a nice bite with that touch of salt. ::chef’s kiss::
White chocolate chips: While I love chocolate and strawberries, I wanted my chips to bring a milky, creamy flavor to my strawberry milk cookies. My all-time favorite white chocolate chips are Guittard’s Choc-Au-Lait Vanilla Milk Chips. These high-quality chips are made with Tahitian vanilla, and they have a lovely flavor and texture. However, I’ve only been able to order them online – through the Guittard site and Amazon. If you prefer a more readily available brand, I’ve heard great things about Ghiradelli’s Classic White Baking Chips, which also include vanilla extract in their ingredients list.
How to Make Strawberry Milk Cookies
These cookies are easy to make and the dough comes together quickly. The toughest part, as always, is the chill time. Anyone else get tempted to swipe one of those raw cookie dough balls from the fridge, or is it just me?? Moving on…
1. Start off by sifting the dry ingredients – flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt – into a large bowl. Sifting will aerate your flour and break up any lumps (no one wants lumps in their batter). Give this mix a quick whisk to make sure everything is fully incorporated then set the bowl aside.
2. Cream your softened butter with the brown sugar and strawberry milk powder using a stand or hand mixer. If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. Beat until fluffy, pale pink, and gorgeous (seriously, check out the photo on the left).
3. With a fork, lightly whisk your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, then slowly pour them into your mixing bowl. If you want to amp up the color a bit, go ahead and add a few drops of pink food dye.
4. Slowly add your dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Stir in your white chocolate chips (about 9-10 oz), and check out the full directions below for decorating your cookies with the reserved chips!
6. Portion out your dough, form into balls, then pop them in the fridge for 2 hours.
7. Bake your strawberry milk cookies until the edges are golden. Cool, drizzle extra white chocolate if you’re feeling fancy, and enjoy with a glass of plain or strawberry milk!
Let me know in the comments below if you’d like to see a homemade version of strawberry milk using fresh strawberries and vanilla!
Strawberry Milk Cookies
Equipment
- Stand or Hand Mixer
- Medium Cookie Scoop
- 2 Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Mats
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup Nesquik strawberry milk powder
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 drops pink food color (I recommend a gel color, such as Americolor or Wilton Color Right)
- 2 ¼ cups (280g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 12 oz white chocolate chips, divided (I highly recommend Guittard Choc-Au-Lait Vanilla Milk Chips or another high quality white chocolate)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift together your flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. Give this mixture a quick whisk to ensure everything is well mixed then set aside.
- In stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), cream your butter, brown sugar and strawberry milk powder until fluffy and pale pink. Scrape down the sides of your bowl at least once while mixing.
- Lightly whisk the egg, egg yolk and vanilla in small bowl with a fork. Set your mixer to low and slowly pour your eggs into the creamed mixture. Add 2-3 drops of pink food coloring, then increase the speed until everything is smooth and lovely shade of pink.
- With your mixer on low, slowly add your dry ingredients to the butter mixture until just combined. Stir in the white chocolate chips, reserving either ¼ cup for the tops of the cookies or ½ cup for a decorative drizzle.
- Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop and your hands, form the dough into balls and place on a baking sheet for chilling. I was able to fit all 24 dough balls on a single 17" x 11" sheet. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Letting your dough rest deepens the flavors and prevents spreading in the oven.
Time to Bake!
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Remove your dough from the refrigerator and arrange 2" apart on your baking sheets. I was able to fit 8 cookies per sheet.
- Bake each sheet for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden. Did you reserve chips for the tops? Pull the cookies out after 8 minutes, add 2-3 chips to each cookie, and pop them back into the oven for the remaining 2-4 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.
Make It Extra
- Melt ½ cup white chocolate chips (see tips below in the notes). Pour into a 12" piping bag and snip off the tip. Once the cookies are fully cooled, drizzle the melted chocolate over the tops and immediately sprinkle with Valentine's Day themed sprinkles.
- Enjoy your cookies with a glass of strawberry milk!
Notes
Tips for Melting White Chocolate:
- If you’re using the Guittard Choc-Au-Lait chips, place ½ cup of white chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave for 15 seconds at 50% power. Stir the chips and microwave for an additional 15 seconds. At this point, the chocolate should be warm enough to fully melt with vigorous stirring, but it will look like a thick paste. Do not try to continue heating it in the microwave. Overheated white chocolate will seize up and become grainy. Instead, simply add a splash of boiling water to your bowl and stir to loosen up the paste. Continue adding splashes of boiling water until you reach a drizzling consistency.
- Microwave Meal Prep has a great article with tips on how to melt white chocolate in the microwave: https://microwavemealprep.com/how-to-melt-white-chocolate-in-the-microwave/
- You can also use candy melts from your local craft store, which melt very easily and come in a variety of colors (Sweet Tooth Fairy even has a strawberries and cream flavor!).
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