Chocolate Malt Texas Sheet Cake

You have important work to do this week. Yes, in the midst of end-of-the-school-year parties, making teacher gifts, planning summer vacation...you're going to make this cake. You are.
(Really though, make this cake.)


I was literally walking down the peanut butter aisle in the grocery store when the idea for this version of a Texas sheet cake came to me. Why? I have no idea. I do know that I'll be walking down that aisle more often, hoping for more divine cake intervention.


Texas sheet cake is traditionally a moist chocolate cake with a chocolate pecan icing. This one, however, is a CHOCOLATE MALT Texas sheet cake. Both the cake and the icing are flavored with malt powder.


Instead of pecans, the icing is topped with Whoppers.
[Note: do NOT open the Whoppers before making the cake...unless you want to have to run to the store for more Whoppers because you've inadvertently eaten the entire container. *ahem*]


There's something so nostalgic about malt. Whenever I have a chocolate malt or malt-flavored anything, I'm transported to the 1950's.

Copyright © 1978 Paramount Pictures Corp. Credit: © 1978 Paramount Pictures / Courtesy: Pyxurz.*

I blame the movie Grease for these malt associations... "to you from me, Pinky Lee!"  Can we please make malt shops a thing again?



The cake is super moist and the icing is silky and shiny. Cut it in big pieces. Have two. Maybe with a chocolate malt.


Chocolate Malt Texas Sheet Cake
{adapted from Ree's Chocolate Sheet Cake, make one 18"x12" cake}

for the cake:
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup malted milk powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup salted butter
4 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1 cup boiling water

for the icing:
14 TBSP salted butter
1/3 cup malt ed milk powder
4 heaping TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
6 TBSP milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped Whoppers

Preheat oven to 350.


In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, malt powder, and salt together. Set aside.


In a large measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda together. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Once melted, stir in the cocoa powder. Pour in the boiling water and stir together for a minute. Remove from heat.

Stir the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. Stir in the buttermilk mixture. Continue stirring until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 18"x12" half sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the icing. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the malt and cocoa powder until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar, stirring over low heat until smooth and most of the lumps from the sugar have dissolved. Keep warm while the cake bakes.



Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven, pour the icing over the cake as evenly as possible. Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes, then scatter the Whoppers over the top, pressing in slightly. Cool the cake in the pan, then cut into large pieces for serving.



Chocolate Malt Texas Sheet Cake..."to you from me, Pinky Lee!"

Chocolate Cheesecake-Filled Strawberries

Go ahead and turn on your printer. You're going to want this recipe.


Not only are these Chocolate Cheesecake-Filled Strawberries habit-forming, fantastic, stupendous...they're also something you need in your arsenal of recipes for bridal showers, brunches, dinner parties, and well, random Tuesdays.

 *this post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar

There's no baking here. You'll spend about 40 minutes making the filling and prepping the strawberries. Then, they spend a little time in the fridge setting up, but your work is finished.


[Note: yeah, I have about 237 pictures of these guys; they're just that pretty.]
I used a star tip for piping the cheesecake filling. The first time I made them, though, just to test the recipe, we literally spooned the cheesecake into and onto every strawberry we could get our hands on. Not fancy, but still delicious.


Oh, for transporting...place two strawberries in each cavity of a cupcake carrier or a muffin tin. If you're traveling more than a few minutes, you'll want to keep them chilled.


I'm sharing the recipe for these over on Imperial Sugar today.
Go ahead and print it, I promise it's going to be one of your go-to recipes.

17: Yellow Cake with Cookie Dough Filling and Fudge Frosting

Jack turned 17 last month. Let me pause to process that. 17. 17!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK. Thanks for giving me that moment. For his 17th birthday, Jack actually had two cakes. One was for his actual birthday and one when we went to dinner with a few friends.

{Note to self: I want two cakes on my next birthday.}


Every year, I ask Jack what kind of cake he wants. I remember when he was 3, he wanted "blue" cake. The next year, he wanted "green." This year, I think he was overwhelmed with choices. He couldn't decide, so I gave him a few cookbooks to look through and a handful of blogs to peruse. He finally came down to, "whatever you decide will be good."
Alrighty then.

My kid loves cookie dough. He loves chocolate. He loves cake. Done and done.

This cake did not disappoint. As a matter of fact, I cannot WAIT to make it again. Inspiration was pulled from three different cookbooks: Cake Ladies, The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook, and Hershey's Fabulous Desserts.


Don't make it for your second birthday cake....make it for your first. (And then, maybe your second.)



Yellow Cake with Cookie Dough Filling and Fudge Frosting
{makes 1 3-layer cake}

for the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened +more for the pans
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated and room temperature
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup half and half, room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 TBSP vanilla extract

for the frosting:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup natural cocoa
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup hot milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

for the filling:
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans. Cut a circle of parchment to fit inside the bottom of each pan. Place in the pans; butter the parchment. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition. Once all yolks have been added, beat the mixture for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. In a large measuring cup, stir together the half and half, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix on low speed, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.

In another bowl, use a whisk attachment to whip the egg whites until the hold a stiff peak. In three additions, fold the whipped whites into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 24-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto wire cooling racks.

[Note: if making the cake the day before, wrap the warm cakes in plastic wrap, then in foil. Freeze. Take out of the freezer an hour or so before frosting.]

make the frosting:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add cocoa and stir until smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and milk until smooth. Add the chocolate mixture and the vanilla, mixing on medium speed for 5-10 minutes, until thickened and smooth. Once mixed, set aside to thicken to spreading consistency, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

While the frosting is setting up, make the filling:
Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add in the milk and vanilla, mixing until combined. On low speed, mix in the flour and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Place a dab of frosting in the middle of the serving plate or cake stand. Place on cake layer on top. Spoon some frosting into a piping bag and snip off the end to make a large opening. Pipe an edge on the top of the cake layer (to hold in the filling). Spread half of the filling into the piped frosting. Repeat. Add the top layer and cover the cake with the remaining frosting.
(Eat several spoonfuls of frosting as you go.) ;)

Chill the cake  to set. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

*recipes adapted from Cake Ladies, The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook, and Hershey's Fabulous Desserts.

**post contains amazon affiliate links. thank you!

***MAKE THIS CAKE!

****The end.

Mandelhoernchen: Chocolate-Dipped Almond Horns

First things first: MAKE THESE. Just do it. Put it on your list. You won't be sorry. 


Now to clarify, I am not German. I don't think we have any German heritage. I do like beer and pretzels, but that's about it. I mention that to clarify that I really don't know what I'm talking about here as far as these being authentically German.


Mandelhoernchen. Almond Horn Cookies. My first encounter with these was in Chapel Hill, NC when my aunt and uncle took us to this wonderful German Cafe and Bakery. I'm not kidding when I say that I wanted one of everything in that place. (It's called Guglhupf....it's actually in Durham.)

As we were gazing into the bakery case, I was texting my German friend, Claudia, asking her all sorts of (probably ridiculous) questions about all of the treats and if she knew what they were.

{Let me add here, that Claudia is really FROM Germany. I'm so happy she lives in Texas now so that I get to be friends with her. She's beautiful, sweet, patient, and funny...has 5 gorgeous children...and I could listen to her say "yah, yah" all day, every day.}


At the bakery, I decided on the Mandelhoernchen...and it was love at first bite. I love all things almond, and those chocolate-dipped ends? Well, that just puts these over the top.

For Claudia's birthday, I really wanted to make her a traditional German treat. I looked online and in cookbooks, and kept coming back to those almond horns.


The cookies are made with marzipan and almond meal. The texture is chewy and light...a bit like a macaron.



Once the dough is made, the cookies are rolled in slivered almonds (I could only find sliced almonds with the skins...use either) and formed into crescents, or horns.


I eat a lot of cookies, and these are some of my very favorites. I said on Instagram that I tested a cookie before giving them to Claudia. I lied. I "tested" two. (Sorry, Claudia. I really didn't want to give you sub-par cookies. It took two to be sure.) ;)

I followed the recipe from Serious Eats to the letter.  My only notes:

• the recipe calls for the cookies sitting on the baking sheet for 10 minutes after coming out of the oven. If your pans are thin, you might want to take them off earlier.
• for the chocolate, I used Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate (the bar). The amount called for makes just enough to cover the cookies, so don't be tempted to swipe a few spoonfuls prior to dipping. 

Here's the recipe from Serious Eats. I am seriously making these again SOON. Maybe I'll run two over to Claudia.

Hearts and Stripes Forever...

Picking a favorite cookie is like picking a favorite child. Well, that one is actually easy for me since we only have the one, BUT...I can imagine.


I was talking with a 4H group last week (why did I now know about 4H when I was in school...and is it too late for me to join now?); one of the students asked what my favorite decorated cookie is. This one popped into my head.

I have lots of other favorite cookies, but this one I love for its simplicity, I love for its stripes, I love for the colors. I love it.


Time to revisit the Double-Decker, Stripey Valentine Cookie!
*portions of the post were originally published in 2012

I have a deep love for the horizontal stripe.  I know, I know, they are not figure-flattering.  So, how about if we EAT the horizontal stripes, instead of wear them?  That won't make us look fat, will it?

{Don't answer that.}



These are some of the simplest cookies to make.  And what makes them extra special is that they're double-decker!  The cookies are just attached with a bit of royal icing...it's like yummy, yummy glue.


To make the cookies, you'll need:

• square and small heart cookies
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Super Red, Bright White and your choice of stripe color (I used turquoise, egg yellow, regal purple, and super black.)
• disposable icing bags
• coupler and icing tips (#3 & #2)
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks

First, use a #3 tip to outline the square cookie.  I used a #3 here because I really wanted the outline to show.  Switch the tip to a #2 and outline the hearts in red.

Go ahead and save some of this piping consistency red icing.  You won't need it until the next day.  You can just plop the icing bag right in your fridge.

Thin the red icing with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup. You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin. Count of 2-3 is good. Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a rubber spatula to pop any air bubbles that might have formed.  Pour into a squeeze bottle.


Fill the hearts with the flood icing, using a toothpick to guide to edges and pop large air bubbles.  Set aside to dry overnight.

Thin the white icing and the colors for the stripes, using the method described above.  Transfer to squeeze bottles.


Working 6 cookies at a time, flood the square cookies with the white icing.  Guide to the edges and spread with a toothpick; pop large air bubbles.

{We're working 6 cookies at a time here to give the white a few minutes to set.  It helps prevent bleeding. If you wait too long, though, the icing won't lie flat on the base color and will be raised up.}

Starting with the first cookie flooded, add stripes in the colored icing.

Let the cookies dry overnight.

The next day, remove the reserved piping icing from the fridge.  I like to let it come to room temperature, but you don't have to.  You may need to remove the tip and push a toothpick through if the tip is clogged.


Squeeze a little of the icing on the back of the small heart cookie.  You don't need much, and you don't want it to ooze out the sides.


Gently press it onto the square cookie.  Let dry for about 30 minutes to an hour to set.


I'm definitely partial to the black stripes, but the other colors are fun, too! Hello, yellow!

Are you dreaming of decorating Valentine cookies, yet? 

Old-Fashioned Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Warm and comforting, simple and timeless, this old-fashioned spice cake just makes me so happy.


*this post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar.

I've mentioned before that my mom was a really good cook and baker. She was known in our neighborhood for her homemade cinnamon rolls (and would make them for our neighbors when they had out-of-town company) and Italian Cream Cake.


One thing I love about my mom, though, is that she was not a food snob. Yes, she rocked homemade cakes, cookies, and cinnamon rolls, but she was not above using a boxed cake mix.

There was one boxed mix in particular (I'm guessing in the late 70's, early 80's) called Stir 'n Frost. Inside the box was a cake mix, frosting packet, and even a PAN!

Spice cake is the only flavor I remember my mom buying...and I've thought fondly of that cake many times over the years.
(Anyone else remember this???)

FINALLY after all of these years, I decided to try making my own. I'm not sure what took me so long. I will say that there were many fails leading up to this recipes. I think because I had such fond memories of this cake, it was hard to make one that lived up to those warm and fuzzy memories.
This one does.




The cake itself is richly spiced with lots of cinnamon and clove. The cake is topped with a tangy and sweet cream cheese frosting that is the perfect foil to the spiciness. Have it for dessert, have it for a snack, heck...have it for breakfast, I did! Just make it.



I'm sharing the recipe for this cake over at Imperial Sugar.
Go grab the recipe and make some spice cake memories of your own! ♥

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Back to school = back to cookies.
{Not that I've taken a break from cookies over the summer or anything.}


A funny thing happened when I posted a picture of these cookies on instagram yesterday. Someone piped up and said that when she sent a cookie in her child's lunchbox, she got a note home requesting that she only send "healthy snacks." So the next day, she sent TWO cookies. That is my kind of woman right there. #mompower #cookiepower
Dear schools, don't mess with a mother's right to make her child cookies. You will have a revolution on your hands. The end.


Jack started his junior year in high school today. < insert questioning how the summer went by so quickly and how in the world my child can be this old here. >

Is he too old for me to be baking cookies for his lunchbox and after school snacks? NEVER.


Let me tell you about these cookies. First, I love a soft, puffy cookie, but these are not those. Because of the caramel bits baked in, I wanted a chewy, thin, buttery cookie. These are basically a version of the good ol' Toll House Cookie (thank you, Ruth Wakefield, American hero) with a few twists.

First, I subbed over half of the flour for Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. This is optional; feel free to use all-purpose flour for the entire amount. If you do bake them as I did, be sure to use pastry flour, not regular whole wheat. Two, I added Kraft caramel bits. These are small pellets of caramel...they bake up wonderful and chewy. Look for them near the chocolate chips. Speaking of chocolate, I used chocolate chunks...

....clearance chocolate chunks. Classy. Guys, could YOU pass up clearance Scharffen Berger chocolate? I think not. Finally, the cookies are hit with a pinch of Fleur de Sel sea salt before baking. Don't skip this. Look for Fleur de Sel in the grocery store, or order it online.

Are you ready to make these babies?


Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 & 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup Kraft caramel bits
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks (Scharffen Berger, preferred)
Fleur de sel for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment. Whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars together until well combined and creamy. Beat in the vanilla and eggs, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.


Stir in the flour, then stir in the caramel bits and chocolate chunks.


Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to dollop the dough onto the cookie sheets. Leave at least 2" between cookies. Sprinkle a pinch of fleur de sel onto the top of each cookie.

Bake for 11 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is baked through. Leave on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

*links may be affiliate links.

Lunchbox, after school snack...breakfast? Whatever the case, MAKE THEM.