Skor Sugar Cookies

This is one of those "Uh-oh... What have I done?" recipes...

Justin and I used to live around the corner for this adorable little breakfast and lunch place called The Bag Lady Variety, with awesome retro decor, the friendliest people, and also the greatest breakfast in town. What they also have are the most divine cookies I've ever eaten, and Justin's favourite... Skor sugar cookies. We would buy them out of these cookies every single time we went without any regret.

Now that we don't live near The Bag Lady anymore, we go less often, and this means less Skor cookies. I've tried before to make a copy cat version with no luck. But this time, I found a better sugar cookie that tastes exactly like them, and is also super easy and quick to make! And now it's... "Uh-oh... I will be making these a lot now."

So prepare yourself for one of the greatest cookies you will ever eat!

Skor Sugar Cookies

2-3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup soft, salted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk (optional)
1/3 cup Skor toffee bits

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 3-4 dozen cookies

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, soda, and powder together. In a large bowl or electric stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth.

Add in the dry ingredients gradually. If you find the dough isn't coming together very easily, add in a little bit of milk. I found this helped to keep things moist.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and space at least 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. The dough will spread out quite a bit when baking so it's best to leave more space than less. Flatten the balls slightly with the palm of your hand and sprinkle with toffee bits. Flatten again to press the bits into the dough. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees F, and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The cookies will be very soft when they come out of the oven, which is key to a moist and chewy cookie. If they are not soft, cook them for less time. This means that you need to use a spatula that is as large, or larger than the cookie so that pieces don't break off when you transfer them to the wire rack. Be very gently as they may squish if you touch them too hard.

Enjoy!

Apple Spice Muffins with Crumble Topping

"Wait a second...", you're thinking, "didn't you make these for your last post?"

Well, sort of. I made apple spice mini cupcakes. Actually, I made them twice because they were so delicious (and everyone love them). And since it's the best time of year for baking and apples are almost done, (plus I had a few apples to use up) I'm at it again. I was looking for something in the realm of breakfast, and muffins are always the best thing for breakfast.

Another awesome thing about this recipe, is that sometimes you want crumble, but don't want to go to the extra effort of making it. In this recipe, all you do is set aside some of the dry ingredients before you add the wet ones, and voila! Your crumble is made! Super duper easy! So, here we go...

Apple Spice Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, soft
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup grated, peeled, and cored apple (about 2)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine flour, oats, sugar, powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 1/2 cup of this mixture, and stir in cinnamon and nutmeg.

Beat eggs, milk, and apple in a small bowl (for best results, grate the apple last, or sprinkle lightly with lemon juice to prevent browning). Add to dry ingredients all at once, stirring until just moistened. Spoon into a 12-cup muffin pan lined with paper liners or greased. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the batter and press down gently.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.




Enjoy!
Optional: devour all 12 muffins in less than 24 hours.

Apple Spice Mini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

Ahhhh... tis my favourite season. The season of sweaters, colourful trees, and fall treats! Pumpkin, apple, and warm spices.

These mini cupcakes are a delicious, bite sized taste of autumn, and were a perfect addition to Sunday night Thanksgiving dinner that we had last night. Turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing! Yummm!

Apple Spice Mini Cupcakes

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped Granny Smith apples (3-4 apples)
juice of half a lemon
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and line your mini muffin tins with paper liners, or grease well. This batter should get you at least 72 mini cupcakes (that's six 12-muffin tins). I made exactly 78 mini cupcakes, which was six full tins, and one half-tin. Remember to fill the empty cups half full with water to ensure the muffins bake evenly, if you need to.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, salt, soda, powder, and cinnamon. Set aside. Peel, core, and chop up your apples into very small pieces (remember, if you are making mini cupcakes, you want the pieces to be proportional to the size of the cupcake), and toss in a bowl with the lemon juice. This will keep the apples from turning brown. Also, make sure to remove any bruised parts of the apple and discard.

In a large bowl, or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the eggs, sugar, oil, milk, and vanilla. Make sure not to whisk too much. Add in the chopped apples, and stir well. Then, add in the flour mixture, and fold in with a wooden spoon or spatula. Be sure not to over mix the dry ingredients either. Stir until it is just incorporated and the batter is slightly lumpy.

Using a tablespoon (roughly the perfect amount of batter for the mini tins), spoon the batter into the paper liners, or until they are 2/3 full.

Bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Make sure you are checking on them more frequently, as they will cook faster than normal sized cupcakes. If you are making regular cupcakes, bake for 25-30 minutes. It may also be a good idea to rotate the pans around the oven halfway through to ensure they are all baked through evenly. While they are baking you can prepare the frosting.

Cinnamon Buttercream

1 cup butter, soft
3 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons cream or milk

Mix all of the ingredients until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. To help get it fluffy, you may need to use a fork and whisk it quickly.

Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag with any decorative tip you like. I found that these mini cupcakes had great flavour, so you don't want to overpower that with too much icing. Just a little in the center to give it a little bit extra flavour is plenty!

Enjoy!

A peek into my baking corner, featuring The Big Apple,

where all my tasty creations are made!