Safari Giraffe Jars

Safari Giraffe Jars!  Giraffe Cookies!  Well, kinda giraffe cookies.  I had time to make these cute animal jars but not time to go my usual crazy pants self for the cookies.   Why not?  Because these were for Pam's bachelorette party last weekend and I was too busy crafting all the things to cut out tiny giraffe cookies like I had originally planned.  But they are color coordinated and let's face it -- adorable.  So all is well.

I made two batches of shortbread cookies; one chocolate chip and one orange almond.  (Recipes below)

And then I alternated cookies as I stuffed them in these decorated giraffe jars. 

To make jars like these you will need:

1. Clean Mason Jars

2. Stickers/Label for the front (Michael's)

3. Giraffe ribbon (Etsy)

4. Giraffe Charms (Etsy)

5. Plain Cupcake Liners (Michael's)

6. Hot Glue Gun

General Assembly Instructions:

1. Hot glue the ribbon around the side of the lid.  (I found it easiest to tie the ribbon in a bow and then attach it to the lid separately.)

2. Fill jar with yummy cookies.

3. Place the top lid over the jar, and then cover it with cupcake liners.  Screw on the side lid over the liner.

4. Hot glue charm on top of the liner.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

I followed this recipe, but omitted the orange zest and juice and added 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips instead. 

Almond Orange Cookies

I followed this recipe, but added two small drops of orange food coloring instead.  Not enough to make them bright orange, just enough to make them more giraffe colored.  =)

Both recipes and flavors worked well together.  

But wait why was I making giraffe jars for a bachelorette party?  Because we went on a Safari, duh.   Pammy isn't big on the traditional Vegas-esque, drinking clubbing bachelorette parties and neither am I.  She's getting married at the zoo in September, so a Safari made sense.   And she's also going through a giraffe phase.  After all of this prep work  it kind of made me into a fan too! 

For the record the Safari was not in Africa. HAHA.  It was in Santa Rosa (Northern California) at Safari West.  Hopefully the bride to be had fun!  There were a bunch of animals to look at, we went glamour camping and took a "winos and rhinos" tour.  We dressed in animal print pith helmets and animal shirts.  Oh and I also made her wear a zebra veil that was attached to one of the hats because what on earth could she possible wear that day? You can see more pictures of the adventure on Pam's blog here.  

Aaaaand now it is time to plan Bachelor Party #2.  The life of a Maid of Honor is hard.  

xoxo,

Anna 

Eat Like a Bird: Trail Mix Cookies

Welcome to my obligatory January post about eating "healthy". This is ironic since this is, of course, a baking blog.  It also comes so late in the month that I think most people are over the always needed Christmas detox mentality.  But i'll sprinkle some of that in here to make us feel better ourselves.

These cookies are all about eating like a bird.  You can take that to mean many things. They are trail mix cookies -- which means it's a bunch of random things that birdies (or you) may like.  Sunflower seeds.  Almonds.  Oats.  Raisins. Chocolate chips.  Pretzels.  Birds would eat all that, right?   Or you can take it to mean, eat like a bird -- very little.  A few pieces of each ingredient are all that are in each of these cookies.  But how do birds actually eat?  All day long.  A mammoth amount compared to their body size.  Much like the frequency and quantity of baked goods that I consume in a day.   So really, the meaning is probably found in that last option.  Eat all the cookies.  All day long.  

The raisins and the chocolate chips make these cookies sweet, the pretzels and the sunflower makes them a little salty.  Part cookie, part trail mix bar really.   Part good for you?

Trail Mix Cookies

Makes 28, bake at 350* for 9 minutes.

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup oats

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup almonds

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1 cup pretzels

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl whisk flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon and salt and set aside.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

3. Add in egg and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated.

4. Add flour to sugar mixture slowly and beat on medium until it forms a dough. 

5. Fold in oats, raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds and chocolate chips into dough.

6. Using a medium sized cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and place onto baking sheet.  

7.  Break pretzels into small pieces and place on top of balls. (If you mix them in when you fold in the rest of the ingredients they will break.)

8.  Bake in preheated oven for around 9 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cook on rack. 

Truth be told, I had to make these bad boys twice.  The first time was a fail. The next two weeks I would frown to myself whenever I thought about them.  The second time I excitedly Instagrammed them with the #cookieredemption hashtag.   

If you use a small or a medium sized cookie scoop, they will fit into the mouth of a mason jar.  You can screw on the lid and give them away.  Cookies make the perfect present after all. 

If they are too big to fit, force them in anyways.  Make it work, 'cuz everything is cuter in a mason jar with a ribbon tied around it.  

Also since it's fake spring in California  (no rain in months, sunshine and 70* in January), these bright blue birdies make me feel extra happy.  It's like a jar of sunshine.  

xoxo,

Anna

Reindeer (Cupcakes) in a Jar

Sometimes I feel like I am a caricature of myself.  I don't even think i'm a real person.  I am that ridiculous. Or awesome.

I decided this Holiday season that what my life was missing was cute holiday antlers.  I spent a whole week running into drug stores and trying on reindeer antlers I could parade around in comfortably and with little to no shame.  It was hard to find a happy medium between too plain and too much Christmas cheer on my head.   But I found some!  Luckily I had a White Elephant party to attend so I didn't have to wear them just around in my room, in my matching reindeer pajamas.  The antlers, along with said reindeer pajamas, were what inspired these cupcakes in the jar first place. Might as well go all out, right?

The cupcakes are gingerbread latte flavored.  Like the Starbucks Holiday drink I binge on every year.  Yes I know, more gingerbread.  Molasses all over the kitchen for the second weekend in a row!  You could use any flavor you'd  like but why not make something seasonal to impress your friends?

Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes
Makes 22, Bake for 15 minutes at 350*

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2/3 unsulphured molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (hot) strongly brewed coffee

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg together.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat sugars, oil and molasses together, and add in eggs one by one.
3. Add in the flour mixture and the coffee in alternating additions to the sugar mixture.  Beat until fully incorporated.
5. Scoop batter into lined cupcakes and bake.  
6. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack until completely cool.  

Latte Frosting
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons VERY strongly brewed coffee

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
2.  Add 2 tablespoons coffee (or as much as you can before butter and cream cheese starts getting soft).
3. Slowly add in  3 cups powdered sugar by the 1/2 cup full.  
4. Add in remaining coffee.  Add in remaining sugar.


Reindeer Antlers
1 cup melted dark chocolate
1 bag pretzels
Assorted Sprinkles

Directions:
1. Break your pretzels with your hand or a knife until you get the antler "shape" you would like.
2. Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals.
3. Dip pretzel pieces in chocolate, cover completely and place on wax paper.
4. Before the chocolate dries, use sprinkles to decorate.  The sprinkles will adhere on their own if the chocolate is still wet. Make sure the antlers are dry before using.

Jar Assembly

Click here for instructions I used when I made my bunny jars last spring.  Easy peasy, promise.


Admittedly, the antlers were a little tedious to make but only because it is HARD to cut pretzel pieces into the right shape.

The last layer of frosting should be thick so that the chocolate antlers will stay in place.  You can also try making a small hole in the top cake layer with a knife and sticking the end of the antler there to keep it firmly in place.

Once I got to the sprinkle part I was having too much fun.  The possibilities are endless! Mostly I stuck with pretty snowflakes, some holly...

But I couldn't help myself.  Pink heart sprinkles exist for a reason.  I'm sure there are girl reindeer out there, right?

No?  Just me?  Just Anna the girl reindeer being ridiculous?  Yes, I did wear these all night long.  In every single picture.

Happy Holidays everyone!  Shop online, stay out of the mall, go to lots of boozey parties! Enjoy the next two weeks.  I know I will.  It's also my birthday this weekend and in case you are wondering there is no way that I will be baking ANYTHING.  Someone better bring me a cake.

xo,
Anna

P.S.  You can also stick some (stolen) Starbucks straws in these Gingerbread latte cupcakes if you're feeling lazy.  Still looks fancy pants!

Rabbit Food: Carrot Cupcakes In A Jar

I am having rabbit issues this week.  During Christmas, if you follow me in Instagram, you will remember that I was OBSESSED with gingerbread men.  And then with foxes on my clothes.  This season it's bunnies.   It started when I found these little Easter rabbit figurines (jax!) at Walmart.  I had been wanting to make cupcakes in a jar for months and thought they'd work well for some special Easter treats.  DIY, cute packaging, spray paint?  Right up my alley.

I spray painted the seals white and the rims baby blue and glued the bunnies on top.  I used smaller mason jars, the half pint glass ones.  It took a few days to let the paint dry but it was a fun project! Purple or green would have been cute too.

What kind of cupcakes did I bake?  Well my new motto is "eat like an Easter rabbit"!  So I did. They're carrot cake cupcakes of course. Rabbits may eat carrots, but Easter Rabbits eat sugar, for sure.  I used the same recipe last year, and still can't be happier with the taste and texture. Love the pineapple and the walnuts in the batter.  You can go here to see the recipe.

The frosting I changed up slightly, it's still pineapple cream cheese frosting but I used  2 tablespoons of pineapple-apricot preserves instead of pineapple juice.  Either will work, but I liked the stronger flavor that came through by using the preserves.

Jar Assembly

1. Bake as directed, let cool completely & cut in half, horizontally.
*If you don't wait for them to cool they will fog up your little mason jars.  Be patient.
2. Layer them into the jars: Cake, frosting, cake, frosting, cake frosting.
*You can either fit one or one and half cupcakes inside one half pint jar, depending on how generously you frost.
* I used a 1M tip and moved the jar as I squeezed.  My tip to you is NOT to frost against the glass, but about 1/2 an inch away from it to keep it clean and pretty.  When you put the cake on top, press down slightly and it will move the frosting to the edge.
3. Before you place a cap over them, add additional garnish to the top of the jars.

I tied them off with white and gold baker's twine and included those little wooden ice cream spoons.

  What child, or adult would not love getting one of these?  Best part it that you can keep the jar once the cupcake has been eaten, and save it to store something else.  That's a gift that keeps on giving right there.

This bunny is just TOO cute.  I can't get enough of him.  Or his little wooden spoon.

Happy almost Easter guys!  You will get one more Bunny post out of me this week, so stay tuned!

xoxo,
Anna