Do you remember when you started drinking coffee?  Did you start young or a little later?

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you remember your first baking experience?  Did you make cookies?  Or brownies?  Or something more complex than those?  I remember baking cookies for the first time and totally being clueless that there is such a thing as 'over mixing'.  Over mixing is never a good thing; we must all remember that.  But unfortunately for me, I sure did mix the cookie dough quite vigorously.  Let's just say those cookies weren't the easiest/most pleasant to bite into.

Hazelnut Cocoa Chocolate Chip Brownies

Where my 'I'd rather stay at home than (insert whatever it is that you'd rather not be doing)' buddies at?!

Funfetti Birthday Cake

A happy birthday to you if today happens to be the day you came into the world xx years ago!  If it has already passed, still, happy birthday, gal/pal!

So...what was your birthday cake for this year?  Did you have a pro make it? Or did you DIY?

Because I did. 😎

(This is going to be a long post! You've been warned!)

Carrot Cake Cookies

A rant of sorts is what you'll be reading from the jump. 😬

Double Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

...and a variety of sprinkles on the top for aesthetic purposes only (let's be real here).

So, hello.  Here I am again, unable to start a blog post despite doing this blogging thing for years now.

Nutty Dark Chocolate Cookies with Cranberries

Before I bake anything, I write down the recipe on a notebook first and then triple check if I have copied everything.  Not gonna lie but I'm guilty of skipping an ingredient or procedure when I was just starting with baking.  But truth be told the same thing still happens to me to this day!

Have you ever caught yourself missing an ingredient when you've already placed everything in the oven?

I know.  Such a catastrophe, right?  I baked a banana cake once...and forgot about the sugar.

Mocha Cheesecake Brownies

It all started with a block of cream cheese.  

The original plan was to make bibingka and sprinkle the cream cheese all over it.  But a banana leaf needed for lining the pan was always forgotten and never made an appearance in our household.  Days turned to a week and I started to crave for something really chocolaty.

And bibingka is definitely not chocolaty!

Churros

Truth be told, the only reason I took the plunge and made churros was because our oven is in bad shape.

Like it still has power and heats up but the temperature dial is broken.  I know I could just get an oven thermometer but ehh!  Plus, I also wanted to know how churros made from scratch differ or be similar to the ones we buy.

Red Velvet + White Chocolate Cookies

It's perfectly understandable for little kids to get really excited when they receive something, right?  I think the same applies to adults, too!  Please don't burst out laughing but my goodness even I couldn't believe how happy and excited I was when I got two glorious kilos of flour.  Like I smiled one wide smile, buddy!  In my mind I was doing a happy dance and then stopped because 'Abigail, it's just flour, stop'.  

And then I remembered this adorable scene from Stranger Than Fiction where Harold gave Ana flours instead of flowers (get it?!):

Source: http://caffeinated-much.tumblr.com/post/49928250894/the-sweetest-moment

100 points to Harold for being a cutie pie and practical at the same time!  Please, I know you'd be excited to receive bags of flour, too, if you love to bake!

Matcha Crinkle Cookies

I knew right away that matcha will be a favorite after my first bite of my first ever matcha-flavored food.  It was a humble yet glorious lil muffin and its insides were softly tinged green (!!!).  Since then whenever I see 'matcha' on a blog, Pinterest, tumblr and everywhere else, I just go nuts and seconds later, I'll be reading up on that blog post and bookmarking it after.

I even bought freaking soy milk just so I could make iced matcha latte!  Have you ever tried making iced matcha latte?  Without a bamboo whisk? Which I didn't know was called that prior to reading up on homemade matcha lattes.  

Oh well!

Salted Double Chocolate Caramel Cookie

Since Adele's 'Hello' came out, I can't help the strong urge to start every post with "hello, it's me".  So...

Hello, it's me.  With no copyright or infringement whatever intended.  I love you, Adele! Keep on blessing us with more heart-wrenching, emotion-busting anthems that we all will sing along to for years and years.

Brown Butter and Honey Pistachio Blondies

Let's start this post by me telling you, dear gal/pal, that I made these blondies* the moment I got out of bed.  Actually before I got out of bed I had to debate with myself (who doesn't!?) if I should get up now or in 10 or 30 minutes...

So there I was in the kitchen, in my PJs, socks and crazy bed hair and not yet fueled by coffee, making quite a noise as I gather the ingredients needed for this recipe.

Banana Chocolate Cake

Have you ever paid attention to recipes on boxes of flour and sugar?  On the containers of cocoa powder?   On the cartons of cream?  No?  Yes?  My answer?  I usually don't.  I usually just throw the box and not even glance on whatever was printed on the back.

I can be such a real recipe snob.

But it's never too late to change all that!

Taisan (Filipino Chiffon Cake)

Ever been to a Goldilocks store?  You most probably have seen a loaf enveloped in a golden crust, topped with butter, sugar and cheese.  You most probably caved in and bought one.  Or two.  You most probably couldn't wait til you get home and enjoy a slice or even finish the entire thing.

Coffee can help you down all that goodness.  They are a perfect pair, believe me.

And that's what we're making today, folks!  Taisan a la Goldi's!

Lemon Graham Squares

When I think of graham crackers, images of gooey and ultra sweet s'mores come to mind.  Immediately.  Like there's nothing else to think of other than that, right?  But what if you aren't feeling s'mores at the moment?

I know.  Strange.

But when you do feel unfeeling s'mores, gather the lemons life (or your local market) may give you!  This one right here is going to be good.  Real good!

Chocolate Cherry Cake

The original plan was to make mini cakes.  Mini Black Forest cakes, that is.  I looked for recipes on the Web and there are a lot.  Some range from doable to 'oh dear maybe next time' complicated.  Some use store-bought cherry pie filling while some cook up their own.  Some use liquors while others leave it out.  Some use only this kind of cherries while some use that kind of cherries...and so on!

It seems everyone has their own way of making Black Forest cake and whatever works for them, great!  Right?

Coffee and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I could have gone the usual route and baked a regular chocolate chip cookie.  But why would I do that, right?  Most especially when there's a huge ass bottle of instant dark roast coffee in the pantry!

So I looked for a recipe where it is used and found one!

Whipped Chocolate Buttercream and Chocolate Cupcakes for two!

I have a scenario for you:  Your best friend of more than a decade (and counting) subtly hinted that she'd like for you to make her birthday cake on her birthday (of course).  And you, being the wonderful friend that you are, may have said yes or pretended not to hear but really, you're already planning what flavor and design you'll be doing with the upcoming birthday girl's request.

Let's skip to a couple of weeks and into the day.  The birthday.  The day you'll be 'surprising' your best pal with cake.

Funfetti Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you also have those days when you want to bake something?  Like you don't know what yet aside from it has to be fuss-free.  Ridiculously delicious but easy because it could be too hot in your kitchen or it's already quite late in the evening.

But you just have to bake something!