Luscious Lemon Scones

       With coronacation is FULL swing, I am baking every day, mainly out of boredom. I've made cakes, cookies, muffins, brownies, ect. seriously, the list goes on and on. Arguably one of my best creations so far, are these lemon scones. They are yummy, crisp, soft, sweet, tangy, and so so delectable. Here is my recipe for luscious lemon scones, with a lemon glaze drizzle. 

       The first thing is to, as per usual, grab a bowl can combine dry ingredients. 2 cups of flour, 1/2 sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt all in a bowl together, and mix it on up.

       Then take 1/2 cup of cold butter and cut it into little cubes. Take a pastry cutter (or a fork if you don't have a pastry cutter) and blend that sucker up. Until it's all combined, close to the consistency of course meal. 

       After you've got that, grab a small bowl. In that mix an egg, 1/2 cup half and half (heavy whipping cream or buttermilk with also work), 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and the zest from 1/2 a lemon. Whisk that together, until completely combined. Make a little well in the bowl with the dry ingredients, pour the liquid ingredient into that bowl. Then mix together until a dough has formed. 

       Once you've got the dough mixed, DON'T OVER MIX IT, place it on a piece of parchment. Cut the ball of dough similar to cutting a pizza; in half horizontally, vertically, then diagonal until you've got 8 triangles. Then sprinkle each one with a little bit of sugar, before popping them in the oven.

       Cook in a 425-degree oven for about 12 minutes until they are golden brown. While these are cooking, in a bowl combine about 1/2 cup of powder sugar, the juice from 1/2 lemon, and the zest from half a lemon. Whisk until completely combined, should be runny. 

Once the scones have cooled a bit, drizzle on one glaze. I let them sit overnight for the glaze to set, (I also made these at like 9 at night), so we had these for breakfast. These are SO SO SO GOOD!!! You will not regret anything if you give these a try! 

Make your own Mocha so ya don't get Corona

       So, I absolutely adore coffee. I love making and getting coffee. Being quarantined with the siblings and father also means that I need A LOT of caffeine. Since this winter, my mom and I have been determined to figure out how to make our own, delicious mochas. Well let's be honest, my mom did it the first couple times with me, but I am now the Mocha Master.  These are a sinch to make, and so tempting, warm, and inviting.

       The very first thing you need to do is pick a hot chocolate. I like to pick good quality hot chocolate, usually, consisting of chocolate shavings or this SCRUMPTIOUS salted caramel powder mix that I got from the grocery store. I used salted caramel today, I usually just figure out what I'm in the mood for and go from there. You can make this in the microwave, there is nothing wrong with that. However, I really like to make it on the stove, I think it tastes better, but if you're in a pinch the micro will work as well. Depending on how many mochas I'm making depends on how many people want them, but I usually go with about 3/4 cup of milk per mocha.

       I let the milk get to a simmering point before I had about 1 1/2 Tbs of my mix (or I just add chocolate shavings until I think there's enough). I stir until it's all combined, and then pour/ladle it into my mugs.

       Next is kinda tricky. I have this AMAZING princess tea cake coffee that I really like to use with regular hot chocolate, but it's not espresso sized, so I just switch mugs halfway through (when making 2 mochas) so each mug gets the right amount of coffee, or you could just use more hot cocoa. However, I find it easier to just use an espresso shot. It provides the perfect amount of coffee flavor and caffeine level. That's what I did today, and it's so so yummy with the salted caramel hot cocoa.

       The final touch, for me, is to add some whipped cream/cool whip/whip some heavy cream with a little bit of sugar. This is such a nice topper because it melts into the mocha (if you don't eat it off the top), and is just so dang delicious. I also got some caramel and dark chocolate sauces to drizzle on top because I'm extra like that. I hope you guys love these as much as I do, because seriously, I have one every morning, and I have no regrets.

One-Bowl, Delicious, Fudgy, Ooey-gooey, Overly-chocolaty Brownies

       Let's establish a couple of things right off the bat. I love chocolate so freaking much! When I make cookies, I don't measure the chocolate chips, I just keep adding until the mixer can't mix anymore. With Coronacation in full swing, I need something to keep my mind off of everything. My cousin, Rory, from Minnesota and I have video-chatted every day and we make dessert or dinner, and just have a ball. This has allowed us to make sure we are doing something productive every day, other than the 1-2 hours of homework we have. So today, I decided to make my One-Bowl, Delicious, Fudgey, ooey-gooey, overly-chocolaty Brownies. These are so so so easy, soft, chocolaty, and might just change your life. I have some VERY important tidbits on how to make brownies on my Instagram, @mykookiekitchen.

       First thing is first, the wet ingredients. Take 1 cup of melted butter, BUT make sure the butter is cool, to your mixing bowl. It's important that the bowl isn't too small. then 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup TIGHTLY packed brown sugar, 4 ROOM TEMPERATURE eggs, and 1 Tbs of vanilla extract.

       A very important thing about brownies is to not over mix them, you want to make sure they are completely combined, then turn off the mixer.

      When you're done with the wet ingredients, you add the dry. Sift 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of cocoa powder into your wet ingredients. It's important to sift them because you want all the brownies to be light and fluffy from the air, that sifting gives it. You can add 1 tsp of instant espresso powder if you have it, but it's self-quarantine time, no one is worried about the instant espresso. Let's be honest during an epidemic no one is going to try your brownies and ask if they have any espresso powder in them.

       Now that you have your batter all combined, GENTLY fold in your chocolate. I like to use nice chocolate in big chunks that I can cut, but again there is a pandemic, and I can't run to Kroger to get some chocolate. So, I had to use chocolate chips. About 1 cup, but let's be real, I used at least 1 1/4 cups.

       Then, I put the batter into my pan (first I sprayed it with Pam, then lined it with parchment). After that, I sprinkled about another 1/4 cup of chocolate chips on top of my batter. I put that pan into a 350 degree oven and cook for about 25 minutes.

       It is kinda difficult to determine when brownies are done cooking. The pan will remain very hot even once you've taken it out of the oven. For yummy, fudgy brownies, you want to pull them when there are still some crumbs on your toothpick. They will finish setting up once you've pulled them. Either before you put the pan in the oven, or as soon as you take them out, I like to sprinkle a little bit of flakey salt on top of the brownies for a nice sweet-salty thing happening.

       I hope you guys love these as much as I do. They are such a fun, quick treat to make, especially while in self-quarantine.