Hi.

I’ve noticed you around these parts a lot.  I made you some cookies.  I’m glad you’re here.  

Maybe we could sit down and you could shell out some advice.  I just have one question.  Gimme your gut.  What’s it thinkin’?  This might seem silly, but what else is new?  I really need your help with this.

Couch.  Should I buy a couch?

Just the thought of a real life couch in my little apartment gives me all sorts of unreasonable anxiety.  Yeesh.  I thought I would only buy a couch… a big fluffy couch… when I was an adult and I had my life aaaaaaaallllllll figured out.  Well… I’m pretty darn sure I’m an adult, and I’m pretty darn sure I’ll never actually have it all figured out…. so I might just need to buck up and buy the darn couch, right?  

Couch.  It’s just a couch.  Somehow… it seems like so much more.  What do you think?

I’ll trade you your thoughts for these ridiculously good cookies.  Deal?  Deal.

There are a few things you should know about these cookies…. wait!  Do you know what dulce de leche is?  Dulce de leche is like a thick, milky, caramel sauce.  It’s made when sweetened milk is slowly cooked and boiled down to deliciousness. I buy the jarred stuff because it makes my life easier.

 This recipe from Dorie Greenspan makes one whole heck of a lot of cookie dough.  Phew!  This recipe makes about 30 sandwich cookies.  That’s a lot.

Even with the dulce de leche, brown sugar and granulated sugar, these cookies aren’t as sweet as you might think.  Surprising… I know.  I added a bit of sea salt on top of the dulce de leche I spread into the sandwich cookies.  Amazing!

The one small downside to these cookies?  They sure aren’t as pretty as I wanted them to be…. but oooh so delicious.

Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

     recipe from Baking: from my home to yours

     makes 30 sandwich cookies

     Print this Recipe!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup store-bought dulce de leche, plus more for filling

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the upper third of the oven.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until just softened and broken up a bit.  Add the 3/4 cup dulce de leche, brown sugar and granulated sugar.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate.  

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients all at once.  Mix only until the flour is just incorporated.  You may need to finish off the mixing with a big spatula.  

Spoon the dough onto the lined baking sheets using a heaping teaspoon of dough for each cookie.  The dough will be soft and this might be a bit messy.  Leave 2 inches of space between each cookie for the baking spread.  

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes.  The cookies will be honey brown with a light crust, but still very soft when they come out of the oven.  Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing to cool.  

Once the cookies are cooled completely, spread them with dulce de leche and sprinkle with a bit of sea salt if you like.  Keep well wrapped for up to four days.

This morning I stood under a blossoming orange tree that hummed with honey bees.  I found my way under this tree after a walk through my neighborhood on one of those mornings that couldn’t decide if it wanted to laugh or cry.

The sidewalk showed evidence of midnight rain.  The smell of rain on asphault… ooh so perfectly dreamy.  The sky, bright blue with clusters of pure white and angry grey clouds.

The air was just cold enough to chill me through my sweater and carried the scent of orange blossoms nearly a block.  That’s the scene that lead me, arms hugging my chest, to the bee humming orange tree, live with blossoms and heavy with fruit.

The scene screamed of Spring.

Standing there under that tree, it felt like life was just bursting out into the world.  What a pure expression of life and beauty that tree was this morning.

Happy Spring.

Have some life… enjoy it!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes are a spring classic.  Right?  I paired mine with Dulce de Leche Buttercream, but feel free to groove on with a classic Cream Cheese Frosting.  These beauties are unadulterated carrot yum, the kind of treat you might find at a church bake sale…. like, the best church bake sale ever!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

adapted from Martha Stewart

Print this recipe!

makes about 28 cupcakes

• 4 cups peeled and finely grated carrots
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved for another use (or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
• 1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves