Starting a Garden!

       So, similar to many teens, I love plants. I have many in my room, around the house, and have a hydroponic garden in my family room. We have a nice flower garden in our backyard, but because my amazing mother has a black thumb, we've never really been able to do much with it. This year for 4H I decided that I wanted to start a garden in raised beds. After doing some research my dad thought he was going to be able to build me beds. I was telling my grandpa, who has an amazing green thumb, all about my plan, then HE GOT ME SOME RAISED BEDS!

       I've been keeping some starts on music stands in front of windows in my house, and just the other day I filled my boxes! I put compost, moist soil on the bottom of the beds, then some fertile black dirt on the top. After, I fully saturated the dirt, and let it sit overnight. Then I got up the next morning and saturated them again. I waited about two days after, for the boxes to fully settle and dry. If you can squeeze the dirt and make a mud ball it's still too wet, but if the dirt crumbles from your hand, it's time to plant.

       So flash forward a couple days and I PLANTED!!! I planted lettuce, cabbage, radishes, sweet onions, and broccoli in one raised bed. Then I planted, sweet peppers, basil, parsley, thyme, lemon thyme, potatoes, and peas in another! My grandpa, aka gardener extraordinaire, came up and helped me get it started! It all looked so nice and, if I'm being completely honest, it wasn't that hard of a process. The next couple of days it rained so I didn't really have to worry about making sure they had enough initial water.

        From today, It has now been a week since I planted (if you want to see videos of my process check out my tik tok @sophieschneblin)! My pea starts have been doing great!!! PLUS I have starts of radishes popping up!!! I did have some initial wilt in my cabbage and basil, primarily, but my papa did tell me that was going to happen so I have faith that they're going to come back strong! This process has been so exciting so far, and I can honestly say that I can't wait until everything is ready to harvest! I am so excited to take you guys on this journey with me. Please, please, please let me know in the comments if you guys like to see this kind of unconventional stuff on here, and what else you would like to see! I have a ton of ideas if you want to see them!

Don't Need a Reason because It's Technically Not Cake, Chocolate Chip Muffins

       I am down for ANY reason to eat dessert first thing in the morning. Seriously give me ANY occasion and I'll serve up pie at 7 am. With these amazing chocolate chip muffins you! (I mean it's pretty much cake for breakfast, that you'll want to make 1,000 times over).

       In a stand mixer, combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, until completely combined. Then I tossed in about 1 cup of chocolate chips until they were completely coated in the flour mixture. This will help the chips to not sink down into the muffins when baking.

Next combine your wet ingredients, in a small bowl. 3/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup oil, and 1 egg. I whisked this together until it was completely incorporated together. 

       I added this to my stand mixer until a batter was formed, and everything was mixed together. After that, I grabbed a cupcake pan from my cupboard and greased it, but you could also use cupcake liners. I scooped in my batter until each well was about 3/4 full. I lightly sprinkled on cinnamon sugar on the top of each of these before putting them in the oven. 

       I put these in a 400-degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. Or until they are golden brown. These are SO GOOD! I any even begin to describe. They are best warm, trust me on that. They have a crunch on the outside, but are soft on the in. The chocolate is all melty and delicious, and trust me, you don't need an occasion to make these. I hope you guys love my Don't Need a Reason because It's Technically Not Cake, Chocolate Chip Muffins.

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.

take ten minutes, it's so easy and delicious, I should really be doing my math homework, weeknight cherry pie

So let's get real here. I love pie; it is one of the great loves of my life. (not that I'm dramatic or anything). I've loved pie all of my life, sometimes I had a birthday pie instead of cake growing up. This year I have really gotten into making pies. I got this GREAT new pie book for my birthday, "The New Pie Book" which is AMAZING! Though the only downfall is that these pies are complex and brilliant and take all day to make. When I come home and want to make a pie, that is not gonna be the book I turn to. I have also recently discovered my LOVE for the Broadway musical "Waitress". I received tickets in September and actually got to see it in February. It was so gorgeous I can't even talk about it. As my mom and I were sitting in the theater before the show even started, someone told us about the Waitress pie book "Sugar, Butter, Flour", so naturally, we ordered it from amazon, before the show even started! Last night, I made one of the pies from it. It was so easy and delicious, plus I think it only took me about an hour. I came home from school today, and POOF it's all gone! Which, typically, would be flattering, but I wanted some pie! So, here is my take ten minutes, it's so easy and delicious, I should really be doing my math homework, weeknight cherry pie.

I have an overwhelmingly strong urge to make a pie, a lot. The only issue is, the urge usually comes after school, so I have no time to make my own crust properly. So to solve this unfortunate problem, my mom and I started keeping premade dough in the fridge! It's still delicious and cuts the work in HALF. No joke, you'll be making pie every night if you take my advice. I pull that baby out of the fridge and let it come to room temp for the top lattice of my pie. I happened to already have a bottom pie crust.  It is a locally made crust found in the freezer section of my grocery store, but there wasn't a top, that's why I needed to grab the premade dough.

All I had to do for the filling was empty a can of cherry pie filling into the bottom crust! I love this because it tastes delicious, and it takes 45 seconds. Cherry pie filling is very easy to make, but cherries aren't in season right now!

After you have to go through all the work of emptying a can into the pre-made crust, it's time to work on the lattice. Roll out your dough into a pretty thin width. Then I like to cut all of the cracked edges off with a pizza cutter until I have a nice, even square. After that, all you have to do is cut strips. Once you have your stripes, you place 3-4 lengthwise. When you start to place them width-wise, you have to lift every other strip to go over-under over-under. Then you put the strips you lifted down, and lift the strips you didn't lift before. This creates a lattice structure.


Once your lattice structure is done, pop it in an oven, that has been pre-heated to 425, for 40-45 minutes until the crust is nice and golden brown, and the filling is nice and bubbly.

Then slice, maybe add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and enjoy! I hope you enjoy my take ten minutes, it's so easy and delicious, I should really be doing my math homework, weeknight cherry pie!

Peach Nutmeg Biscotti Experiment

       Oh, biscotti quite possibly my favorite Italian food, don't tell pasta I said that, or pizza or gelato...just don't tell anyone. Okay, so now that we all know that I like Italian food we can move right along. My grandpa gave my family a whole bunch of fresh white peaches, delicious! I've been making pies, cobblers, and just eating them normally, but then I thought 'HEY! I should try to make a fresh fruit biscotti!' Biscotti is a hard cookie, typically dipped into a cup of coffee. They typically have almonds, chocolate, or dried fruit. Therefore, I decided to try and make fresh peach biscotti, and biscotti with dried peaches, which Kroger didn't have so I used apricots.

       I made one batch of biscotti dough and then split it in two, so the mix in amounts should be doubled if you ever make these.
       The way to make the dough is super simple, first, you wanna preheat your oven to 350. Then you want to line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it aside. So, to make the dough place 10 tablespoons of room temperature butter into an electric mixer, along with 1 1/3 cup of sugar. Cream those together, then add 3 eggs one at a time and mix after each egg. Then you want to add about 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp. of almond extract. This will make the whole kitchen smell amazing, and your dough will smell GREAT!

       Now it's time to get our dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl to where your wet ingredients are: combine 3 1/4 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 3/4 teaspoons of salt, and about 1-2 teaspoons of freshly grated nutmeg. I just kept adding nutmeg until it looked and smelled like Christmas in the kitchen. Combine all of your dry ingredients together until it's completely mixed together.

       Once you've finished with your dry ingredients, slowly incorporate your dry ingredients with your wet ingredients. This will create our dense nutmeg biscotti dough.

       This is where it got interesting. I split the dough in half, then I added about 1/3 cup of dried apricots and about 1/4 cup white chocolate chips in one half of my dough and mixed it thoroughly. Then I took the other half of my dough and mixed about 1/3 cup peaches (the small peach and half of a medium peach cubed) and about a 1/4 cup white chocolate chips. I gently folded this until all the components were all mixed a pretty.

       I took one of my lined cookie sheets and split my dried fruit dough in half. I gently floured my hands and took one half of my dough. Then I rolled the dough out to about 6-9 inches long, then I gently pushed down the dough until it was about 1/2 an inch thick. I then repeated this with the other half.

       Here's the thing about the fresh fruit dough: I started off the same way I did with the other dough, but it was too soft because of the fresh fruit. Therefore, I added some more flour until it was easy enough to roll out and flatten. After that, I popped one of the cookie sheets into the oven on the middle rack for about 25 minutes or it is golden brown. After the 25 minutes, take the cookie sheet out of the oven and cut the biscotti into pieces. Put that back into the oven for 10 minutes, then flip for another 10 minutes. Repeat the same thing with the other batch, unless you didn't make another batch.
       I love biscotti just like this, however, I also love chocolate. I melted some more white chocolate and drizzled it over the top of my cookies. Let me tell you each one is absolutely delicious in their own rights. The dried fruit tastes just like a classic biscotti, and the fresh fruit is soft and almost chewy. The fresh fruit is a little sweeter than the dried fruit, and I can't tell you how good it is. I really hope that you guys like these because YUM!