Food Fact Friday: It's Cookie Time!

I was passing by Target and saw the sign..."It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!". I tried to resist but my steering wheel magically turned it to the parking lot. I wonder how that happened....well, I did end up buying a box of Samoas, which are my all time favorite, besides Thin Mint. A couple weeks later, I was checking out the ice cream aisle at Publix, and there was Thin Mint Ice Cream and Samoa Ice Cream (limited editions). I'm not sure how long I'll be able to resist those. Here is some history on this tasty treat...


The first record of cookie sales by an individual scout unit was by the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in December 1917. In 1922, the Girl Scout magazine The American Girl suggested cookie sales as a fund-raiser and provided recipes. In 1933, Girl Scouts in Philadelphia organized the first official sale, selling homemade cookies in the windows of local utility companies. The first Girl Scout cookie recipe was a sugar cookie.

In 1936 the national organization began licensing commercial bakers to produce cookies. During World War II the Girl Scouts sold calendars rather than cookies, due to shortages of flour, sugar, and butter.


Licensed baking companies (there are currently two) can offer up to twenty eight varieties of Girl Scout cookies. The national Girl Scout organization reviews and approves all varieties proposed by the baking companies, but requires only three types: Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwiches (Do-Si-Dos) and Shortbreads (Trefoils). The other kinds can be changed every year, though several popular favorites, such as Caramel DeLites (Samoas) and Peanut Butter Patties (Tagalongs), are consistently available. The best selling cookie is Thin Mint, accounting for about 25% of cookie sales each year.

Boys can be nice: The Boy Scouts had the original idea of selling food (popcorn) in 1914. Later, they invented Tagalongs (peanut butter patties) and gave the idea to the Girl Scouts in 1956.

Something I'm Working On....

I'm trying to develop some recipes for Ultimate Recipe Showdown and Pillsbury Bake-Off. This is a dessert that came out really well! I just want to make a few tweaks to it...

The Return of the Pillsbury Bake-Off!

It's baaaccckkk (and I'm back from hiatus)! I am so excited to enter a recipe in this year's contest. I have lots of ideas, and I'll be practicing a lot starting in February. The 2008 Bake-Off was such an amazing experience, I really hope I'm lucky enough to go back a 2nd time.

Pillsbury is accepting entries through April 20th. Click here for rules and to enter. They have a few changes this year. They only have 4 categories instead of the usual 5. Also, Pillsbury will be selecting 90 contestsants, but there will be a head to head online voting contest for the last 10 spots. I think it's a fun idea which will get more people involved. The contest will be in April 2009, in Orlando.

Last year's winner was Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies. I have yet to try them out, but I heard they are delicious! So get your thinking caps on and your ovens ready! Who can pass up a chance for a million dollars?

Taste Test Tuesday: No Pudge Brownies

I was enjoying one of my new favorite pastimes, browsing the aisles of Publix Greenwise, when I spotted a mix for No Pudge Fat Free Brownies. My mind was racing, I knew I've heard great things of these before. I deliberated for a second...should I get the Original, Mint Fudge, or Cappuccino Fudge? Since I had never tried these before, I opted for the Original Fudge. I began to read the instructions for the brownies, and all it needed was fat free vanilla yogurt (I had plain yogurt and vanilla extract at home, so I decided to use that). I was slightly baffled, but was ready to give it a go.

Cost: 3.99
Serving Size: 1/12 portion
Calories: 110
Fat: 0g
Carbs: 28g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 22g
Protein: 2g
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5


I got home and immediately broke out the brownie mix. Just dump in a bowl, add the yogurt, and mix. How simple is that! The mix is super thick though, and my arms definitely got a work out. After baking in the oven for 34 minutes in an 8x8 dish, the brownies were ready. I let them cool for about 10 minutes, which was really hard to do! I attempted to cut them into 12 equal pieces according to the serving size. Since it was a Saturday...I let myself have 2 pieces..woohoo! I was impressed my the look of them. They looked moist and fudgy. Then I took a bite...it was SO good! The only reason I didn't give it a 5 was because it's a little bit too sweet (there are 22g of sugar per serving which is pretty high). But the chocolate flavor was great and the brownie was super moist and fudgy, just like it looked. I would have never guessed it was fat free! I will definitely be buying these again and again and again.

My First Daring Bakers Challenge!

Late last month, I decided to take the plunge and join Daring Bakers. I cook much more than I bake, so I thought this would be a great way to sharpen my baking skills. I was patiently awaiting my first challenge, then it finally arrived...Opera Cake (for the original recipe click here).

My first thought was, Opera what? I had never really heard of Opera Cake, but when I saw the pictures, of course it looked familiar. I have to admit I was a little bit intimidated, the cake looked yummy, but complicated for sure. Then I read the recipe and was even more scared, so I decided to procrastinate.

Last night, I finally decided to be brave and bake the Opera Cake. I re-read the recipe and decided to separate it into two days. Day 1 would be the Syrup (for moistening the cake), White Chocolate Mousse (the top layer), and Buttercream (the middle layers). Day 2 would be the Joconde (cake layers), Glaze (to pour over the Mousse), and Assembly.



Day 1: I was contemplating what flavor to make my cake. I love cherries and thought that would go great with vanilla and white chocolate (we could only use light colors and flavorings, no coffee or chocolate) so Cherry Vanilla it is.

White Chocolate Mousse - The Mousse was very simple. We were to add a flavoring to the Mousse so I added Kirsch (a cherry liqueur). It came out so well! I was thinking about all of the delicious things I could eat with it.

Vanilla Syrup - it was very easy, just boiling together sugar, water, and vanilla extract. This is used to moisten the cake.

The Buttercream - My last endeavor for the day...I was nervous because I had never made Buttercream with a hot sugar syrup and eggs before. I thought some catastrophe would happen, like the eggs curdling or the sugar crystallizing. Now I'm so glad I made it this way, I didn't have any problems and it had to have been the best tasting Buttercream I've made. It was super creamy and not as buttery as I thought it was going to be. I'll be following this recipe for any other Buttercream I decide to make. The flavoring of the Buttercream was vanilla, and I also sauteed some cherries with cinnamon and added them as well. Then I put all my creations in the fridge and was ready for the next day.



Day 2: Now I'm getting excited, yesterday was fun and everything tasted great. I couldn't wait to see what the final product came out like.

Joconde - We were supposed to use almond meal, but I decided to grind my own almonds. I was a little short on almonds so I threw in a little extra flour. The cake came out perfectly and tasted great.

Glaze - The glaze turned out good, perfect consistency for spreading. I had a little extra, so I put extra big spoonfuls on top of my mini Opera Cakes.

Assembly - This wasn't as bad as I thought. I used a biscuit cutter to cut circles, and spread the layers of Buttercream and Mousse on each piece. It looked good, but it did take extra time to do every individual piece. The scary part was the glaze, but that's okay if you drip some off the side...more white choclate goodness!

Baking an Opera Cake was definitely a challenge, but it was fun! I encourage everyone to try this out, it is not difficult, but it is time consuming (about 5 hours!). The final result tasted delicious. I will definitely be making this again and trying out some new flavors.

Double Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Last night I was craving something with peanut butter for dessert. I rummaged around and discovered an egg and chocolate chips (but no butter) so i thought I'd just go ahead and try to make cookies. After looking at several recipes, I came up with my own. They came out good! I'm going to try to eat 1 per day so I'll put a bunch in the freezer. This recipe makes about 1 dozen cookies.



1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy, natural)
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips & flour. Stir until peanut butter is thoroughly incorporated. Then add flour until incorporated, then fold in the chocolate chips. Drop in heaping tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 14 - 16 minutes (until the top of the cookie looks dry). Let cool for about 10 minutes then Enjoy!