Madewell x Milk

Years ago when I lived in Brooklyn I found this bakery called Milk Bar and  I became obsessed immediately. Their cookies were amazing, they were complex, and just delicious       There wasn’t anything I ever tasted like them before.

When I was living in Brooklyn and then New Jersey and I didn’t have a lot of friends am I started baking out of the Milk cookbook and it kinda saved my life. I had my kids that were small and I was stuck in the house so I didn’t really have anything else to do so I baked. And the recipes in this book are very complex we’re talking 4 different steps just to make a cookie, crazy stuff!!

But anyways I read it over and over again and I just like fell in love with them.  I felt like this bakery was my soulmate, I’m not gonna lie.
This is actually how and why I started my blog. The name itself ‘Cookies And Daydream’ is from baking cookies out of the Milk Bar Cookbook. The second post on this blog is about Milk Bar! It’s crazy! 
So now they did  a collaboration with Madewell   I love them too! I wear their jeans every single day and their T-shirts are amazing. So I am incredibly excited about this!

Like the T-shirts they came out with has a little pocket and it looks like a cookie is being dunked into the pocket it’s adorable, needless to say I totally got it. 

So I feel like my life and Milk bar have been intertwined for years and I love it! 

I can’t wait to make some cookies out of the cookbook for Christmas! 

Now I just need to get my hands on that apron. They didn’t have it at the store we went to and it’s sold out online. I guess I’m going on another road trip. Hahahaha. 

XoxOXox 

Steph 

Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies

This week I have been baking my little butt off. First were the Fruity Pebble cookies now it's Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow cookies and as you may be able to tell they are exactly the same I just use different cereal. 

Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies
Makes fifteen to twenty

Ingredients
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) room-temperature butter
1¼ c. granulated sugar 
2/3 c. light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract 
1½ c. flour 
½ tsp. baking powder 
½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. kosher salt 
3 c. Cornflake Crunch
2/3 c. mini chocolate chips 
1¼ c. mini marshmallows

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugars; cream together on medium-high 2-3 minutes. With a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl, then add egg and vanilla and beat 7-8 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step or risk overmixing.) Scrape down sides of bowl.

3. Still on low speed, paddle in cornflakes and chips until just incorporated, about 30-45 seconds. Paddle in marshmallows.

4. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a 2-oz. ice cream scoop, portion 1/3 c. dough at a time onto pan. Pat tops of dough domes flat. Wrap pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. (Do not bake room-temperature disks — they will not hold their shape.)

5. Heat oven to 375°. On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, arrange chilled disks a minimum of 4 inches apart. Bake 18 minutes, until cookies are browned on edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. Leave them in oven for another minute or so if they still seem pale and doughy on the surface.

6. Cool cookies completely on pan before moving them to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Cornflake Crunch
Yields about four cups

Ingredients
5 c. cornflakes 
½ c. milk powder 
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
9 tbsp. butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 275°.

2. In a medium bowl, with your hands, crush cornflakes to ¼ of their original size. Add milk powder, sugar, and salt; toss to mix. Add butter; toss to coat. (As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal, creating small clusters.)

3. On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, spread clusters and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.

4. Cool completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for one week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep with one month.

First make the Cornflake Crunch. Put the Cornflakes in a large bowl and  crush with your hands. Then add the milk powder, sugar and salt. Toss to mix. 

Then pour in the melted butter. 

Mix around and pour on a baking sheet. Bake at 275° for 20 mins. 

Now make the cookie dough. 

Whip together the butter and sugars 

Add in the egg and vanilla 

Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Then add the cornflake crunch and chocolate chips. 

Scoop out cookie dough and freeze. Then bake at 375° for 20 mins. 

These are the best cookies ever. They definitely take all day to make but they are soooo good. 

As soon as I make these cookies my friends devour them all. I think I got to eat one. Hahahaha. But having my friends enjoy my cookies makes me happy :)

XoXOXxo

Stephanie 

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Fruity Pebble Marshmallow Cookies

It my birthday.... Week ;) yaaayyy!! So I'm also making it Awesome Cookie Week! So it will be like it's everyone's birthday :)

I'm starting with the most fun cookie and that's the Fruity Pebble Marshmallow Cookie. Now your probably telling yourself, 'come on, that can't be a real cookie' but I assure you, it is. And it's actually in my favorite cookbook, so I'm not even making it up. 

This recipe is a little more difficult but it's definitely worth it. 

It has 2 steps... Make the Fruity Pebble Crunch first!

Fruity Pebble Marshmallow Cookies
Makes 12 - 17 cookies 

Ingredients
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) room-temperature butter
1¼ c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1½ c. flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. kosher salt
3 c. Fruity Pebble Crunch - see below

1¼ c. mini marshmallows

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugars; cream together on medium-high 2-3 minutes. With a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl, then add egg and vanilla and beat 7-8 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step or risk overmixing.) Scrape down sides of bowl.

3. Still on low speed, paddle in Fruity Pebble Crunch until just incorporated, about 30-45 seconds. Paddle in marshmallows.

4. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a 2-oz. ice cream scoop, portion 1/3 c. dough at a time onto pan. Pat tops of dough domes flat. Wrap pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. (Do not bake room-temperature disks — they will not hold their shape.)

5. Heat oven to 375°. On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, arrange chilled disks a minimum of 4 inches apart. Bake 18 minutes, until cookies are browned on edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. Leave them in oven for another minute or so if they still seem pale and doughy on the surface.

6. Cool cookies completely on pan before moving them to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Fruity Pebbles Crunch

Makes 2½ cups

2½ cups Fruity Pebbles - ¼ (17oz) box 

¼ cup milk powder 

1 Tbs. sugar

¼ tsp. kosher salt 

6 Tbs. butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 275°.

2. In a medium bowl, with your hands, crush fruity pebbles to ¼ of their original size. Add milk powder, sugar, and salt; toss to mix. Add butter; toss to coat. (As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal, creating small clusters.)

3. On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, spread clusters and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.

4. Cool completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for one week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep with one month.

Pour Fruity Pebbles into a bowl and crush-

Add milk powder, sugar and salt. Mix and then add the melted butter.

Mix together and spread on cookie sheet. Bake at 275° for 20 mins. 

Set aside to cool. Now make the cookie dough :)

Whip together butter and sugars- 

Add egg and vanilla- 

 

Mix for about 8 minutes. Then add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Add Fruity Pebble Crunch and Marshmallows- 

Scoop out cookie dough and freeze. 

Bake at 375° for 20 mins. 

  

It like a delicious, buttery, crispy (but still gooey) piece of heaven :)

Enjoy!

XoXOXxo 

Stephanie

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Kitchen Sink Cookies

Logan had his birthday, over a month ago, actually. And when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said cookies. So that's what he got. And I made the best ones evvvvver!!! 

Kitchen Sink Cookies, I call them that because you can put in whatever ingredients that you want. 

This is the basic recipe and then you can add or subtract anything. 

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Yields: 3 dozen large cookies

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp baking soda

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

3 sticks butter, room temp

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

2 cups chopped pecans (8 oz.)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
• In an 8-quart bowl, beat butter on medium speed, until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.  
• Gradually beat in sugars and continue beating after each.  
• Beat in eggs and vanilla.  
• Stir in flour mixture until just combined. 
•  Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans- put the coconut and pecans in a food processor and chop them up into finely. 
• Take a ice cream scoop and scoop out the dough. Pat tops of cookiedough down. 
• Bake for 16-18 minutes. 
• Cool on cookie sheet till cool. 

If I don't have enough chocolate chips or something, I'll add a hand full of pretzels or potatoe chips. You can even put in different nuts or dried fruit. 

These cookies are so crazy that my mixer wasn't big enough for them. So please use the biggest mixing bowl you have!

This was before I added the oats!! 

 You can also put them in the freezer and bake them whenever you want!

These are my favorite cookies, for sure. I hope they will be your favorite too :)

XoXOXxo 

Stephanie

Burning Down the House

Aw man, what a blllahh week. I feel like I can't do anything right this week. Ugh.

No joke. 

I tried to make 2 different types of cookies this week. Both of which I make allllll time time. Both turned out awful. Wtf?! That is the most frustrating thing ever! I took pictures of every step and everything! The cookies themselves are kind of difficult to make but that shouldn't matter, I've made them a million times. 

So I guess this just goes to show, it doesn't matter how good you are at something's, you can still f**k up. 

Here are my jacked up cookies. 

They are still delicious but look kinda awful. 

I would feel bad giving this ugly cookies to a homeless person. 

Ok, maybe I went to far there because homeless people love my cookies ;)

The other recipe didnt turn out so awful but it was super easy so it's hard to mess it up. 

And anything that is make with confetti cake, I'm a fan of. 

That includes these Gooey Butter Cookies. Thanks Paula :)

Ingredients-

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
1   (18 ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
1   (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1   egg
1   stick of butter, room temperature

Directions

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner’s sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and gooey. Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

So much better :)

They are like little cake pillows. 

Delicious. 

Maybe I can't bake because I can't stop thinking about what I'm going to wear on HGTV!! I need 3 different outfits to wear on camera. This is a very important thing! 

Someone please help me!!! 

XoXOXxo 

Stephanie

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Bridal Shower

This weekend we went to Tyler's hometown. His brother is getting married and his wife-to-be was having a bridal shower. So I made some delicious cookies and a cute 'here comes the bride' banner. 

Sprinkle cookie dough- 

Frozen cookie dough-

The most perfect delicious cookie :)

The bridal shower was at an old hotel that's a restaurant now. 

It was super cute :)

My banner and cookies :D

The beautiful bride-to-be, Tara and her little sister. 

It was a beautiful day too. After the bridal shower I went antiquing with my mother-in-law and her sister. It was so much fun! 

I wanted to take this guy home. 

 

Hahahahaha. He was so soft and cuddly. It looked like he was giving high-fives! I love taxidermy. I want to get a Beaver giving a thumbs up. Hahaha. That would be so fun. 

I should of bought this hat. 

I wish I could go to antique stores all the time. I think my kids would break everything that's not already broken. Ha! 

I'm taking the kids to my hometown this Tuesday. We are going to Jubilee Day on Thursday and on Friday we are going to Hershey Park! I'm so freaking excited! I think I'm more excited than the kids are. Haha. 

I hope everyone had a good weekend and a magic Monday :D

XoXOXo

Stephanie 

Cooooookie Time

Lately my kids have been loving the book, 'If You Give A Mouse A Cookie'. And that makes me happy because I too love this book. I remember reading that and 'If You Give A Moose A Muffin'.
So in honor of the book I decided to make classic chocolate chip cookies. I love cookies. They are so perfect, more perfect than a cupcake. You can eat them warm or cold. You can put them in your pocket and eat them on the go. You can take them to a new neighbor or put them in a lunch box. I could go on and on.... But its difficult to make cookies in my household because my kids snatch cookies off the cooling rack so fast. I will make 3 dozen and end up with a dozen in the cookie jar!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 sticks salted butter, softened
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch - this is the trick!
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In the bowl, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3. Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5. Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely. Makes approximately 3 dozen.

Combine sugar and butter.

Add egg and vanilla. And beat until combined.

Mix in flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. And mix until completely incorporated.

Add chocolate chips and mix with a spoon.

Yum! Delicious cookie dough :)

Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheet and push them down slightly.

Bake for 8-9 minutes. The bottom will be brown and the top will look undercooked. Let sit on baking sheet till cool.

Move to cooling rack till completely cool.

These cookies are my absolute favorite! They are a million times better than any store bought, mass produced cookie. Unfortunately, they were Logan's favorite too and now he has a cavity. So today we are going to the dentist. I'm not going to lie, I am so nervous and I'm not getting anything done!! I hope he behaves well and let's them fix it! Oh gosh!!! Breath, Steph.

Well enjoy the cookies and wish me luck!
Oh and HAPPY FRIDAY :)

XoXOxOXo
Stephanie

Where Brooklyn At

I went into the city today.
It was perfect.
I was going to go yesterday but it was rainy and yucky.
It was beautiful out this morning! As soon as I got into the car one of my favorite songs was on the radio. Don't you love when that happens?!
Today I went to one of my favorite stores in Brooklyn, Stella Dallas Living.

It's a vintage household store. It has curtains, quilts, boots, jewelry, crates, just about everything. As its all vintage. Old, dusty and full of history.
But they didn't open till 12:30. It was 11:45. Ugh.
So I went to another one of my favorite stores, Milk.
Milk is a bakery. Kind of.

They have amazing, never-thought-of-that stuff. Like cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookies. Whhhhaaaaa?!?!

Yea, they are awesome!
So while Dylan ate cookies.

I waited.

And ate a bagel bomb. It's an everything bagel with panchetta and scallions cream cheese in the middle. Yum.

Then finally Stella Dallas Living was open.

I loved all the vintage curtains. I think I'm going to make some. But first I need curtain rods.
Hmmmmm....

One of the things I miss about Brooklyn is all the creativity. Everyone is different. Nobody is afraid to be different either.
It's great. All different cultures all together.
It's truly beautiful.
Here are some pictures I took while we lived here.

Go out and do something creative!
I'm going to make curtain rods out of industrial pipes.

XoXOxOXo
Stephanie