Sugar & Cloth

I really love cake batter anything. When I discovered cake batter ice cream in college, my whole world changed. Literally. By like twenty pounds, which is why I no longer buy cake batter ice cream. Since I’ve been clean of that habit for a few years now, I decided I’d allow myself to make these cake batter white chocolate chip cookies, which did not disappoint. To make them, I followed this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction and modified it a bit:

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes about 2 dozen

• 1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/4 cup yellow or white boxed cake mix
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 and 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sprinkles plus extra to add on top

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, and baking soda.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed.  Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until creamy.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and sprinkles.
Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.  Chilling the dough keeps the cookie from spreading too much.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop rounded tablespoons of the cold dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Add more sprinkles on top of the dough before baking for more visible sprinkles when finished. Make sure to keep dough chilled when working in batches. Bake for 11-14 minutes until edges are slightly browned.  The centers will still appear soft, but the cookies will set as they cool.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

What’s your all-time favorite cookie? It might seriously be these once you try them!

I’m really trying to start focusing on the shop more. I swear.  To get my butt in gear, I decided I should offer a discount code! If you’re a Facebook fan you can find the promo code there, if not, you should be since that’s where all of the cool kids hang out.

In the meantime, I’ll be playing catch up on a thousand things. Hope you have a lovely thursday! xo Ash

I know that technically garden party season is ending here, but I couldn’t resist sharing this Australian high tea catered by my all time favorite Hello Naomi (I seriously have a girl crush on her). This party is so my style!

photographed by Lily & Bramwell 

When it comes to parties, for me it’s all in the details. I also really love fun send-offs and ways to get people into the partying on their own with things like confetti, which is how I ended up with these mini confetti jars as favors that also arm guests with a little celebration of their own! They’re super easy to make, and could be customized for anything from weddings, to birthdays, to goodies for your business. Who wouldn’t love a mini glass jar to take home and fill, anyways?

Things you’ll need:

• Mini jars (at craft stores in the jewelry section)
• Confetti
• Twine
• Hole punch
• Mini card stock labels (mine are Martha Stewart)

Fill each jar with confetti, and then cork them.

Hole punch the labels, and then personalize the tag if you want. I used a mini heart punch and wrote “Toss” on each label. Then used twine to tie them on.

What do you think, would you use these for your own event or wedding?

I really love all of the geometric shapes that are popular right now, but I wanted a way to use them that isn’t totally over done. Initially I thought of making geo planters, but somehow I settled on place card holders (I think it was sheer laziness, but don’t tell). I’m also still into the whole dipped trend too, I don’t know if that qualifies me as obsessive or not, but I combined the two anyways! Here’s how you can make your own with oven-bake clay and a little paint (or if you’re feeling lazy too, you can just buy mine)–

Materials:

• Oven-bake clay
• Clay knife/exacto knife
• Wax paper
• Paint color of choice
• Wet/dry sandpaper (optional)