Amazing Cookies

This is completely non-faith related, but it's my blog so I guess I get to post whatever I want. And these cookies are worth their own post.

I was scrolling through pintrest the other day (one of the many ways I spend my free time) and I came across this recipe. They are called "Twix Cookies" because of the 3 main components- a shortbread thumbprint cookie filled with caramel and a chocolate drizzle on top. I said they were amazing...

This recipe is tweaked a bit. It originally called for melted store-bought caramels but I decided to make my own caramel sauce, which is a lot easier and even more delicious then it sounds.

Since it's summer I have much more time to bake and cook (another one of the ways I spend my free time). These were definitely worth the effort and if you make them you will know why!

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 24 (mine made a few more)

Ingredients:
Shortbread
2/3 cup softened butter (about 10 tbs)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (just the yolks)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
Caramel sauce/filling:
1 cup sugar
6 tbs butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp salt
Chocolate drizzle:
chocolate chips (I eyeballed it, but I think about 1/3 cup)

Instructions (shortbread):
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine the butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla on medium until creamy
3. Add flour, beat at low speed until well mixed
4. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour
5. Shape dough into 1-inch balls
6. Make a hole in the middle of each ball with your thumb or a spoon. You want to make it pretty big for maximum caramel capacity but make sure there's a good lip on the edge so it won't spill over
 and place on cookie sheet
7. Bake for 7-10 minutes (I pulled mine out 2-3 minutes early and used a spoon to re-do the holes in the middle because they'd flattened out in the oven. Then I put them back in for the remaining time.)
8. Cool
Instructions (caramel sauce):
1. Put sugar in a medium sized pot and place over medium heat
2. Start stirring constantly to prevent burning (the sugar won't do anything for a couple minutes. Then it will get increasingly clumpy and eventually become a liquid)
3. Once it has reached a nice amber color and all the big clumps are gone, add the butter
4. It will bubble a lot, but keep stirring constantly for another 1-2 minutes (but no longer)
5. Add the cream and stir until combined for one minute
6. Remove immediately and stir in salt
7. Set aside to cool
Instructions (chocolate):
1. Put chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl
2. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stir until it is completely melted (I microwaved for 1 minute. Make sure not to over-do it again or it will get a weird texture and not melt)
3. Put in a small plastic bag and snip a VERY SMALL hole in one corner (normally I just drizzle with a spoon but it wasn't working out so I used this method. I highly recommend it because the chocolate drizzle came out looking very nice).

How to assemble the cookies:
1. Either while the cookies are still on the tray (but mostly cooled) or on a wire rack (probably with something underneath), fill the middle of each cookie with caramel. I used a spoon and eyeballed it. More than a teaspoon but less than a tablespoon. Be careful that they don't overflow, but if they do it's not a big deal. The most important thing is not to skimp on the caramel- it's super yummy.
 Important note!!!!: If the caramel has cooled too much and when you stir it it isn't a homogenous liquid, heat it over medium low and stir constantly. Some of the butter may separate and rise to the top, but you can either leave this or pour it out (CAREFULLY so you don't pour out all the caramel)(I know this from experience *wink*)
2. Sprinkle a SMALL pinch of salt on each of the cookies
3. Using the chocolate in the plastic bag, pipe/squeeze lines of chocolate on top of each cookie. They do not have to be perfect by any means. See the picture if you need an example.
4. At this point they are ready to eat, but you probably want to let the caramel and chocolate set a bit. I put them in the fridge for a while. But I completely understand if you can't resist the temptation to eat one then and there.
5. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave one or two for everyone else...

I hope that if anyone decides to bake these cookies they love them as much as I did! Now I'm off to eat my last one :( They've only lasted two days in our house

Jesus is my only friend

For anyone who didn't know, yesterday was the Feast of Corpus Christi where all us Catholics celebrate the fact that Jesus is TRULY AND ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST. Yep, that's right. It's awesome.

To celebrate, my parish had a vigil of adoration for the entire night, and I was lucky enough for the first hour with my youth group. That being said, my youth leader unfortunately didn't really advertise it much and I was one of the only ones there.

I was reminded of something St. Therese wrote in her autobiography Story of a Soul that has really stuck with me. She wrote:

"No one paid any attention to me, and I would go up to the choir of the chapel and remain before the Blessed Sacrament until the moment when Papa came to get me. This was my only consolation, for was not Jesus my only Friend? I knew how to speak to Him; conversations with creatures, even pious conversations, fatigued my soul. I felt it was far more valuable to speak to God than to speak about Him..."

That quote really spoke to me. I felt a connection to St. Therese, sitting there in the Church with not a lot of other youth around me.

I talked to Jesus a lot that night. There were a lot of things in my life that needed to be sorted out and talked through with Him, and I left with a much stronger sense of how my life is going. The next morning in mass I felt so much closer to Him too. I love spending time with Jesus. I just want to spend time with Him forever. Oh wait, that's heaven :)

Maybe I was exaggerating when I said Jesus is my only friend. But He's probably my best friend. I have other friends, and I do have someone who I consider to be my best friend. But at the end of the day, it's always going to come down to Him. He's forever and everything else is temporary.

Summer!!!

After weeks (or months) of craziness and work and stress, the long awaited days of complete freedom and laziness are here!!!

 

Ok I have a confession to make. I've been on summer break for a week now. I promised myself that I'd finally blog again as soon as school got out, but that didn't happen. When you stop doing something it can take a little bit to start again. But I'm back! Two months later, but I'm back.

I'm only one week in and I don't really know what to do with myself. When I'm asleep (or half asleep and lying in bed) I want to get up and be active and productive. When I'm awake I just want to sleep. I am a teenage after all. I'm pretty sure that I've more than made up for the hours of sleep I missed studying for finals.

I guess that's really why I'm writing this. To prove to myself that I am making use of the time I have to do whatever I want. I don't have a lot to share about my faith at the moment. I hate to say it but if I said anything else it wouldn't really be the truth. My faith kind of got put on hold these past few weeks. School and my social life shouldn't be the most important thing in my life, but it can be a slippery slope. Don't worry, I'm getting myself back on track for a awesome and God-filled summer.

However, I do have a few little things to share that I've spent a while thinking about this summer.

1. Music
A friend introduced me to the world of Spotify and since then I've been working on my own Indie-acoustic playlist. No, it's not Jesus Jams but it's the next best thing. Here's a few of my favorites:
          "Awake My Soul"- Mumford and Sons (this one is really good)
          "New Slang"- The Shins
          "Mountain Sound"- Of Monsters and Men
          "Wings"- Birdy
          "Photograph"- Ed Sheeran

2. Art
Art is one of my favorite things to do. Or draw. I decided to turn the rest of my English notebook into a sketchbook to fill this summer. It's coming along nicely. Doodling (or copying off of Pintrest) is very relaxing, and I would highly recommend it if you're ever bored.

p.s. those pictures aren't things I've drawn, just things I use for "inspiration" ;)

3. Books
I haven't exactly spent as much time reading this week as I would like to (too much time sleeping I guess). This may be because the humongous list of books I have to read is a little overwhelming. They aren't even required, I just want to read them for fun. It's amazing what a difference one hour of quiet reading can make. It can change your whole day. In summer when my days don't really consist of anything, reading can be very important.
I would give you a list of the books I want to read, but it's very vague and I honestly don't have one. Instead enjoy these nice pictures of books.