Fruit Dip

This recipe goes way back to Valentine's Day. :) I wanted to have a fruit plate with dip as one of our appetizers (for some reason I thought the two of us needed three appetizers...who knows what I was thinking!). I did a quick search on allrecipes.com, and found literally hundreds of options. I knew Paul wouldn't like anything that had marshmallow fluff in it, so that narrowed things down quite a bit.

I finally settled on this recipe. It was very easy, very quick, and very yummy! I just tried to find the original recipe on allrecipes so that I could link to it, but I couldn't find it. Sorry!

Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix (smaller size, 3.4 oz)

1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip), thawed

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 c. powdered sugar

1 c. whole milk

Directions:

Whip all ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Chill until ready to serve.

I thought this dip was especially good with grapes and tart apples. It's not exactly good for you--ha ha--but it is definitely fun! :)

Cheesecake Bars

I made these for my Oscar party this year, and they are GOOD. Simple and tasty! You can garnish them however you want, and if you aren't in as big a hurry as I was, you can make them much prettier. ;) At first, slicing them didn't go very well, but then I ran the knife under warm water between cuts, and it worked magic!

Yet again, this recipe comes from the ever reliable My Kitchen Cafe! :)

Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

8 T. butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 T. brown sugar

3 T. flour

1/8 t. salt

Filling:

2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

2/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1/4 c. sour cream

2 t. lemon juice

1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch baking dish with foil (allowing edges to hang over the sides), and grease the foil.

Combine all ingredients for the crust. (I like to do this in a big ziploc bag and moosh everything together with my hands, but you can also do it in a bowl.) Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and press down evenly. Bake for 12-18 minutes, until it is beginning to brown. Cool crust on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy and smooth. Gradually add sugar, and beat for about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until completely combined. Beat in sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla. Pour filling over crust and bake 35-40 minutes, until sides are set and center is slightly jiggly.

Cool completely, uncovered, on a wire rack for 2 hours. Then, cover with foil and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours (can refrigerate overnight). Before serving, remove bars from pan using the foil on the sides, and slice into squares. Like I mentioned, running your knife until warm water between cuts can work miracles.

Enjoy plain or garnish as desired! :)

Here's a link to the original recipe: Cheesecake Bars.

Banana Bars with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

There are so many wonderful desserts over at My Kitchen Cafe! I have tried several of them, and have yet to be disappointed. This is another winner! Who doesn't need another idea for what to do with those overripe bananas? And the frosting? It's so light and fluffy (far from healthy, of course ;) ), I may keep using it on all sorts of things in the future!

(Sorry for the dark picture! It was a stormy day, and I had trouble finding a good place to take a picture.)

Banana Bars

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 t. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 c. mashed, ripe bananas (about three bananas worth)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a jelly roll pan (you can also use a 9x13 pan with an additional 8x8 pan).

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and sour cream. Stir in baking soda and salt. Stir in flour. Last, mix in the mashed bananas.

Spread evenly into prepared pan(s), and bake for 20-25 minutes (a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

*Note: If you want something less sweet or complicated, I think these bars would be delicious on their own with a light dusting of powdered sugar. :)

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar (granulated and powdered both work, though powdered dissolves better)

1/8 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until smooth.

Oh man, I could go for a big one of these right now (okay maybe two or three ;))! They are so very tasty! Here's a link to the original recipe (with a much better picture!): Banana Bars with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.

Apple Cider Pudding Cake

Alright folks, today starts a massive effort for me in catching up with posting my recipes. I have tried so many wonderful new recipes in the past couple months! I really would like to post them all here! I'm calling it my version of nesting (I'm not prone to the real kind, unfortunately. ;) )

What better way to start than with a glorious dessert from the ever-reliable My Kitchen Cafe! (By the way, check out her newly redesigned site. It's pretty slick!)

I made this on Valentine's Day as the finale to my lavish and over-the-top dinner that I prepared for Paul. I overdid things that night, that's for sure. Two people do NOT need three appetizers, FYI. ;)

This dessert was delicious, though! I know the season for apple desserts is pretty much over now, but if you ask my husband, he would say apple desserts are wonderful all year long! So, here it is.

Apple Cider Pudding Cake

(Please forgive the messy counter. Like I said, I did a LOT of cooking that night. And by the time I was dishing this out and taking pictures, I was SO ready to crawl into bed and go to sleep!)

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ginger

1/4 t. nutmeg

1 egg

1 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. milk

2 T. butter, melted

1 t. vanilla

2 c. Granny Smith apples, chopped

Boiling mixture:

1 c. apple cider (apple juice works too, that's what I used)

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. brown sugar

Streusel:

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 T. butter (cold)

Directions:

Grease 8x8 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare cake batter by whisking together the egg, brown sugar, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg) until just combined. You can combine the dry ingredients separately first like the original recipe calls for, but I rarely do. Gently fold in chopped apples, and spread into your prepared pan.

In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider, cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar to a boil. Carefully pour boiling mixture over cake batter in prepared pan, and bake for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare streusel topping by combining the flour, brown sugar, and cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can do this using a pastry cutter, two forks, two butter knives, a food processor, or--my preferred method--your hands. After the cake has baked for 35 minutes, sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the cake and bake for 8-10 more minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the top cake layer comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream! :)

The pudding layer gets somewhat absorbed into the cake layer as it cools, so this dessert is much better immediately after being cooked. Paul and I, of course, couldn't finish the whole thing by ourselves, so we had leftovers. It was still tasty, just not quite as good as the first day.

Here's a link to the original recipe: Apple Cider Pudding Cake.

Enjoy!

Nutella Banana Pockets

This photo doesn't do this treat justice. I was totally craving something sweet, but didn't want to go too far off the deep end, so I found this simple recipe at Off the Wall and it was perfect! I think I need more experience with Phyllo dough.

Ingredients:

6 phyllo sheets

3 tbs butter, melted (I just used PAM)

Nutella

Banana, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Put down one sheet of dough, spray with PAM. Place another sheet of dough on top, spray and repeat one more time.

Use a pizza roller or knife to divide the dough into 5 strips. Spoon some Nutella on one side of the strip, place a banana slice on top, and then cover with a little more Nutella.

Wrap the dough up into a triangle, like you were folding a flag. Spray with a little more PAM, stick in the oven, and bake for about 10 minutes!

Here's the original recipe. I summarized a little, but they have really good pictures. P.S. they have some more yummy looking food too!

Fudge Puddles

The first recipe of the year that I post is a dessert. Does that say something about me? Probably. Brian and I love to try new dessert recipes on Sunday. In fact, last summer we would try a new dessert every Sunday. That was one yummy summer. Last Sunday Brian went to allrecipes.com and typed in the ingredients that we had. The recipe for fudge puddles came up and we couldn't help but try them out (even if just for the name)! They were delicious and fun! I also like that I usually have all of the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips*

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Cream butter, peanut butter and white and brown sugars. Mix in egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into creamed mixture (I actually didn't sift the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. I just added them all here). Shape the dough into 48 balls, 1 inch each. Place each ball in one compartment of a mini muffin tin*.
For filling, put chocolate chips in a double boiler* over simmering water. Stir in milk and vanilla, mix well. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately make wells in the center of each using a melon baller (we just used a small spoon). Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then carefully remove to wire racks. Fill each shell with the chocolate mixture.

* We don't have a mini muffin tin, so we just used a regular one and it worked out great. We just put a bigger size ball in each (I just used my cookie scoop and it made 22). They only took 14 minutes to cook. If you use a mini tin I would cook them for a shorter amount of time because you don't want them to be crunchy.

* We also didn't have milk chocolate chips so we used all semi-sweet chips and they tasted great. I bet it would be good both ways.

* I didn't use a double broiler. We just combined all ingredients in the pan and heated it on low until the chocolate was melted and it thinned out.

Original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fudge-Puddles/Detail.aspx

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookie Cake

I absolutely love this cake! It's very impressive looking and so simple. The best part is how it tastes though. I have made this cake twice for two different birthdays and plan to make it again many more times.

Ingredients:

1 (18 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
4 baker’s semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
1/4 cup butter, cut up
1 (8 ounce) package Philadelphia Cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Topping
12 Oreo cookies, coarsely crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare and bake cake mix in two 9-inch round cake pans (I used 8 inch and they turned out fine) as directed on package. Cool in pans 5 minute. Invert onto wire racks; remove pans. Cool layers completely. Place chocolate and butter in small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2 minute or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minute. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add the whipped topping and cookie crumbs; mix lightly. Place 1 of the cake layers, top-side down, on serving plate; spread with the cream cheese mixture. Cover with the remaining cake layer, top-side up. Spoon glaze over top of cake. Let stand until set (I didn't...I like the chocolate a little melted). Store in fridge.

* I put some cookie bits on top of the cake the first time and then not the second time...both ways were delicious!
* It looks like a ton of filling when you put it in the middle, but trust me, put it all. You will like it.
* Recipe found here: http://dineanddish.net/2009/04/standing-ovation-recipe-chocolate-covered-oreo-cookie-cake/

Brownie Trifle

We tried this recipe when some of my family was in town way back in April. It was a big hit! Very very easy (seems like the theme of the recipes I post) and very delicious.

Ingredients:
9X13 pan brownies, cut into bite size pieces
1 large or 2 small boxes of chocolate pudding (made)
1 large container of Cool Whip
1 package crushed toffee bits (I used a bag of crushed Skor)

Directions:
In a trifle bowl layer half brownies, half pudding, half Cool Whip and then half toffee bits. Repeat layers using remaining of the ingredients. That's it! Yum! I want to have some now.

YUMMY Cinnamon Rolls

I actually remembered this time to take pictures and not only the final product of these wonderful cinnamon rolls but a step by step process of how to make these cinnamon rolls. I honestly have to say I have been on top of it lately and I am quite proud of myself! :) Not only on this blog but on my own blog!

Melt in your mouth Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients: (3 different bowls, 4 if you count your mixer bowl, such as the kitchen aid)

First bowl: medium

3 cups of milk

2 cubes of butter

Microwave for 4 minutes or until butter is melted - let it cool down for a little bit before mixing the yeast and flour mixture to it.

Second bowl: small

3 Tbls of yeast

1 tsp of sugar

1/4 cup luke warm water (make sure it's not too thick, add a tiny bit more water if it's clumpy)

Let it rise until it literally doubles in size (it will foam up)

Third bowl: large

1 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

6 cups flour (my mom and I both use all-purpose- the blue bag?)

Mix together thoroughly

plus 5-6 cups of more flour later - you will add this after mixing all the bowls together*- I am just making you aware that there is 12 cups of flour total not just 6 cups like I initially thought

If you are mixing it using a wooden spoon use the third bowl as your main mixing bowl.

If you are using a mixing machine (kitchen aid) use that bowl and start my pouring in the Milk/butter bowl (first bowl) then the flour mixture (third bowl) then the yeast.

* My kitchen aid is small so if you have a larger kitchen aid you should be fine, but in my experience I started in the kitchen aid and I eventually had to dump the dough back into the third bowl and finish mixing it by hand.

Having mixing all of the bowls together the dough will be very sticky. But you are not done yet.

Add 6 eggs to the mixture- mix well.......*then slowly add one cup at a time of flour (5-6 cups)- I usually put five cups of flour into the kitchen aid then put the dough back into the large bowl then add the last cup. If you haven't already, place the dough back into the third bowl to let it rise. Once you add the 6th cup try not to handle the dough to much.

Before:

So try and mix the dough as gently as you can. The dough should be really soft. Not firm like homemade pizza dough. Soak a kitchen towel with very hot wa

ter (as hot as you can stand) and place on top of bowl, over the dough. Let it rise for at least 2 hours. It will double in size

After:

This is my third bowl or large bowl - Can you see the difference? - it doubled in size

Pull a third of the dough out of the bowl and place on a generously floured counter or table top. Gently roll out the dough using your hands not a rolling pin. You don't want to flatten the raised dough too much. Like I said earlier, try not to handle to much. It will look like a long oval.

Pour melted/soft butter on top, I like to use my hands, it's faster. Sprinkle Brown sugar (with my hands) and cinnamon on top of oval dough. You can also add nuts or raisins at this time if you like.

Roll up dough into a circle. Cut dough with dentalfloss. Just place under rolled dough, cross and slice. Do not cut with a knife, all that you will manage to do is flatten the dough. You want the dough to be soft and fluffy. I would make the slices smaller then I did. You will see how big I made them.

Before:

Place sliced cinnamon rolls on a greased cookie sheet. Let it rise another hour. I just let it rise over night. I did everything up to the point of letting it rise some more. That way you can wake up and all you have to do its put them in the oven.

After:

There's not a huge difference here but you can see that they grew a little bit. I made the cinnamon rolls to the right a little too big. Unless you like them big. I was able to make 2 dozen rolls but if you were to make them smaller I am sure you could make 3 dozen.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the rolls look slightly brown.

Take out of the oven and brush melted butter on top. Drizzle glaze on top

Glaze:

2 Tbl butter

1 Tbl milk

A little bit of vanilla extract

Powder sugar (just keep adding powder sugar until you get a thick consistency. You don't want it too runny, but you want it runny enough to allow it to drizzle.

The FINAL Product! YUMMY!

Trifle ( It honestly needs a new name for how good it really was)

I made this for my 2nd anniversary and it was absolutely delicious!!!

1 (3oz) package of strawberry gelatin (jello)
1 (3.4 oz) package instant cheesecake pudding mix* (Jeff doesn't like cheesecake so I used Vanilla)
1 (11 oz) angel food cake loaf
2 cups of strawberries
2 med bananas
Blueberries - this wasn't in the recipe but I add some anyways- it was really good
1/2 pint whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Mix jello according to pkg. directions. Refrigerate until slightly thickened. (I put 3/4 cup boiling water, 1/2 cup cold water, and ice cubes- it helps it thicken a lot faster - remove remaining ice cubes)
2. Mix pudding mix according to pkg directions. Set aside.
3. Cut angel food cake in half. Break up one half the cake and place in 3 quart trifle bowl- ( I just used a big glass bowl- whether it was trifle bowl or not I have no idea)
4. Cap, wash and slice strawberries into halves. Sprinkle one cup berries over cake in bowl (this is also where I added the blueberries)
5. Pour one cup thickened jello over cake and fruit.
6. Slice one banana over mixture in bowl. Top with half of pudding.
7. Whip cream in small mixing bowl with sugar and vanilla
8. Spread whipped cream over pudding layer.
9. Repeat layers, ending with whipped cream and garnish with extra berries, if desired (I also as added blueberries on top as you can see)

*Substitute vanilla or white chocolate instant pudding mix, if preferred

Scotcharoos

I always loved when my mom would make these. My Mom and Jennie made these when they were out here recently for the baby's arrival and we made them again this last weekend because they're just that good!

Ingredients:
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:
In saucepan mix corn syrup and sugar over heat until just starting to boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Pour over rice krispes (in large bowl) and mix until evenly coated. Spread mixture in greased 9x13 pan.

In saucepan, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips over low heat until melted. Pour over bars and spread evenly. Let cool until chocolate sets up. If you want them to set up quickly put them in the fridge/freezer.

Dessert Improvisation

On Sunday, I asked Paul if he wanted me to make something for dessert. He said, "Yes, I'd like something smooth and creamy." So, I looked in the cupboard and decided to make up a dessert. (Big step for me!) I had a graham cracker crust, bananas, pudding, chocolate chips, whole milk, and a can of Reddi Whip on hand. This is what I made:


It was nothing fancy, but it tasted good (and it was smooth and creamy ;) )!

Here's my "recipe":

Quick and Easy Chocolate Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients:
1 large box cook and serve vanilla pudding
2 c. milk (for pudding)
1 graham cracker pie crust
1 large banana, sliced
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 T. whole milk (cream would be better, but I didn't have any)
whipped cream or Cool Whip for topping*

*I would have preferred cool whip or fresh whipping cream for the topping, but I didn't have any. If you use Reddi Whip like I did, you should top each slice as you eat it rather than topping the entire pie ahead of time. The canned whipped cream breaks down in the refrigerator into a puddle of melted goop. Eww.

Directions:
Prepare chocolate ganache layer by melting the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl over a pot of boiling water. Once the chocolate is completely melted, stir in the milk (or cream). Pour into the bottom of your crust. Place in the freezer for a few minutes to allow the chocolate layer to cool and harden slightly. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding over the stove using one less cup of milk than it calls for. Remove the pie from the freezer and add a layer of sliced bananas on top of the chocolate. Next, pour the pudding over the bananas and refrigerate until cool and set up. When you are ready to serve the pie, top with whipped cream or Cool Whip.

Like I said, it's a very simple dessert. But it was fun for me to create it myself using just the ingredients we had in the cupboard. I recommend you try it sometime! (And post your recipes and pictures! :) )

Cream Puffs

These were the prize for our annual Oscar Ballot competition at our Oscar Party this year. (Yes, I know the Oscars were a month ago. I'm slow. ;) )


The nice thing about cream puffs is that they aren't nearly as difficult or complicated as they seem. Here is my family's tried and true recipe (in three parts):

Cream Puffs (the pastry part):
Ingredients:
1 c. water
1/2 c. (one stick) butter
1/8 t. salt
1 c. flour
4 eggs

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until the mixture forms a ball (this only takes about a minute). Remove from heat and cool for ten minutes (this is important because if you add the eggs when it is too hot, they will start cooking and make the dough lumpy). Add eggs one at a time. Each time, stir well with a wooden spoon until the egg is completely incorporated. This is the key to good cream puffs, and it gives your arm quite a work out.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. Drop dough onto the baking sheet by the heaping spoonfuls. I like to make my cream puffs pretty small so it makes about 24 cream puffs. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes. Cream puffs are done when they are golden and the peaks are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes:
This recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. As you can see, there isn't any sugar in the puffs themselves, so they can be used for appetizers or lunch items if you want to fill them with chicken or tuna salad, or anything else you can come up with.

Cream Puff Filling
Ingredients:
1 large box vanilla instant pudding
1 pint whipping cream
milk

Directions:
Prepare pudding according to the directions on the box, using only half the indicated amount of milk. While pudding chills, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the pudding gently, until the cream and pudding are completely mixed together. This makes enough filling for two batches of cream puffs. It's a lot. :)

There are two ways to fill the cream puffs. Either you can slice them in half and scoop a generous amount into each one, or you can poke a hole in each one and fill them using a frosting bag and wide piping tube. Slicing them in half is much easier and faster, but also messier.

If you like your cream puffs without chocolate on top, you can simply sprinkle some powdered sugar on top at this point and call them done. :) If you are a chocolate lover, like me, continue on to the final step.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting:
This recipe comes from the side of the Hershey's Cocoa container.
Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter or margarine
2/3 c. cocoa
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk
1 t. vanilla

Directions:
Melt butter in the microwave. In a medium heat-safe (pyrex glass or metal works well) bowl stir together melted butter and cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk or more powdered sugar as needed. Stir in vanilla.

At this point, the frosting is finished. However, my dad likes the frosting on his cream puffs to have a fudge-like quality (and so do I :) ). In order to achieve this, he holds the bowl of frosting over a stove burner (hence the heat-proof bowl) on medium-low heat, stirring continuously until it just begins to melt. At this point he pours the chocolate over the filled cream puffs in a thick layer. If the frosting starts setting up before he has finished topping the cream puffs he holds it back over the heat to soften it again. Because he partially melts the frosting, it sets back up and ends up having a consistency that is more like fudge than frosting.

They end up looking great and tasting amazing! :) Enjoy!


(Either serve the cream puffs immediately, or refrigerate them until serving. They don't last very long in the fridge, so I wouldn't make them too far in advance.)

Undisputed Best??

I have already shared my family recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have long believed that this was the best recipe to be had. Whenever I come across new recipes that claim to be the best, I have to give them a try to make sure they really aren't better than mine.

So, you can imagine what I felt when I came across this blog: Good Things Catered. She has a list of popular recipes on the side, and one of them is for Chocolate Chip Cookies. UNDISPUTED best, she calls them. This woman used to be a caterer, and all of her food looks perfect and delicious. I was enthralled. I had to make them.

And guess what? They ARE the best. They really are delicious. They are big and chewy and chocolatey, and they look like the type of cookie you can buy at a bakery (only they taste better than bakery cookies usually do).


Her recipe is very specific and detailed, so I would recommend taking a look at it in her own words on her blog here: Best Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Here's the recipe in my words:

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies*
Ingredients:
2 c. plus 2 T. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter**, melted & cooled until warm
1 c. brown sugar, packed (I used my traditional dark brown, but I think she uses light brown)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

*OK, I realize that different people look for different things in a chocolate chip cookie. But as far as my experience goes, this is the best traditional, no-frills recipe I have come across.

**Her recipe specifies unsalted butter, but I didn't have any when I first tried the recipe and they were still delicious. The second time I made them I used unsalted, and they were even better.

Directions:
The original recipe has you combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, but you know me, I didn't do that. ;) You can choose for yourself.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in the microwave and set aside to cool until just warm (if it's too hot it will cook the egg). I found it best to partially melt the butter and then stir it until it is completely melted. That way the butter wasn't too hot from the start. In a large bowl, mix together both types of sugar and the melted butter. Add the egg, the egg yolk, and the vanilla and mix until combined. Add salt and baking soda, and briefly mix. Add flour and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and combine either with the mixer, a spoon, or your hands. I really find that my hands work the best. ;)

Prepare cookies by rolling a scant 1/2 cup (just estimate) of dough in your hands. This is quite a bit of dough. Remember, the cookies are big, and this ball of dough is for two cookies. Pinch the dough slightly in the middle and pull it apart. Place balls of dough, rough side up, on two ungreased cookie sheets (she says to line the cookie sheets with parchment paper, but I don't have any). Continue preparing cookies until you have 24 cookies, 12 per cookie sheet (I use light metal jelly roll pans). Place both sheets of cookies in the oven, one on a lower rack and one on an upper rack. Switch the cookie sheets halfway through baking. Bake for 16-18 minutes total. Cookies will be slightly golden. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for a while (roughly 5 minutes), until they can be moved without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before storing. Makes 24 big (delicious) cookies.


Enjoy!

Caramel Brownies

This is one of our favorite desserts. I think it would probably be more accurately described as a cookie bar because of its consistency, but either way, they're pretty yummy!

Ingredients:
1 German chocolate cake mix
3/4 c. melted butter
2/3 c. evaporated milk
50 caramels (one package)
chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

Directions:
Mix cake mix, 3/4 c. melted butter and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Spread half the mixture in an ungreased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Meanwhile in a saucepan melt caramels with 1/3 c. evaporated milk over low heat until completely melted. Remove bottom layer from oven and let cool for a moment (I usually only wait a few minutes) then pour caramel over the top. Sprinkle chocolate chips all over caramel (I never measure just sprinkle them all over). Spread remaining cake mixture over the top (I pat the dough between my hands to form little patties and put them all over the top). Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I know you're probably all tired of pumpkin recipes since the holiday season, but I need to post this recipe here. I made it back in November, but I will definitely make them again sometime! They were DELICIOUS!

Hopefully some of you will remember seeing this recipe and give it a try next fall. Or, there's no rule against having pumpkin things in other seasons! Go for it!

I first found this recipe at Baked Perfection, but she found it at Annie's Eats. I think I ended up looking at both versions of the recipe when I made them. Here's the link to the recipe at Annie's Eats: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. The direct link to the recipe at Baked Perfection doesn't seem to be working, but you can find it under her pumpkin label.


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients:
Muffins:
3 c. flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. ground cloves
1 T. + 1 t. pumpkin pie spice*
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
4 eggs
1 1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. sugar
2 c. pumpkin puree

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar

Streusel Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. + 1 t. flour
4 T. butter, cubed
1 1/2 t. cinnamon

*I googled a replacement for pumpkin pie spice since I don't actually have it. It's just a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.



Directions:
Prepare filling by mixing together cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer and whip until smooth. Form a log with the filling on top of foil or plastic wrap. Make sure the diameter is small enough that it will fit inside your muffin cups. Wrap up log tightly and freeze for 1-2 hours.**

Next, prepare the muffin batter by combining the eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin with an electric mixer. Add the dry ingredients (original recipe has you combine the dry ingredients separately): flour, spices, salt, and baking soda. Mix on a low speed until just combined. Set aside.

Then, prepare the streusel topping by combining all the ingredients together with either a pastry cutter, two forks, or two butter knives.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper wrappers. Fill each wrapper halfway with the pumpkin batter. Remove cream cheese log from the freezer and cut into 24 equal slices. Place a slice in each muffin well. Fill the muffin cups with the rest of the batter. Top with streusel topping. The muffin cups will be pretty full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

**I wasn't patient enough to let the cream cheese log freeze this long. It's harder to handle when it isn't all the way frozen, but it works. It's messy, though.

These were a big hit at Paul's office. I think I ate like four of them right away. Oops. ;)

Crockpot Chocolate Dessert

Yummy Dessert! Of course I forgot to take any pictures- Again.

1-6 serving pkg. instant choc. pudding
3 c. milk
1 chocolate cake mix
Ingredients to make cake mix

Place pudding and milk in bottom of greased crockpot
whisk until smooth
in separate bowl make cake mix following box directions
pour cake batter carefully into crockpot to cover pudding- do not mix.

cook on high for 1.5 to 2 hours
serve with whipping cream and your choice of garnish- crushed peppermint sticks or cinnamon bears, or fruit etc.. The red looks really nice with the brown.

Serve immediately- Enjoy!

Banana Cream Dessert

This is one of my relatively new favorite desserts. Banana cream pie has always been a favorite and this is way easier and every bit as good in my opinion (a little bit richer).

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 and 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. melted butter or margarine
3 T. sugar
Filling:
1 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
12 oz. Cool Whip
4 bananas
2 (3.4 oz.) boxes instant vanilla pudding
3 c. milk

Directions:
Stir together crust ingredients and press into a 9 x 13 pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes (I usually do about 8). Cool.

Mix together in a bowl (using a mixer) powdered sugar, cream cheese, and 9 oz. of the cool whip. Spread over crust. Cover with sliced bananas.

Mix 2 boxes of pudding with milk for a couple minutes and spread over bananas. Spread the rest of the cool whip on top of that. Refrigerate.

*I found this recipe here at cooks.com and then I changed it a bit. It called for a crust made of butter and flour and I prefer graham cracker crust. Also, I usually let the pudding layer set up for a little bit in the fridge before spreading the cool whip on top.
*It doesn't need very long to set up, but I usually refrigerate it for an hour before serving it (it probably doesn't even need that long).

Almond Poppyseed Mini Muffins with Glaze

Way back when we went to Crate and Barrel and bought our grill pan, we also bought a mini muffin pan. I finally used it for the first time yesterday! I needed to bring a dessert to the ward new member social, and I completely forgot about it before yesterday, so I had to make something with ingredients I already had on hand. I turned to...you guessed it! Allrecipes.com!

This recipe is for Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze, but I saw in the comments that someone had made mini muffins with batter they had leftover. So I did some research on how long to bake mini muffins, and decided to give it a shot! They were a big hit! All 72 mini muffins are already gone.


Almond Poppyseed Mini Muffins with Glaze
Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking powder
3 T. poppy seeds (this was a LOT of poppy seeds...2 T. may have been enough)
1 1/3 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
2 1/4 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 t. almond extract

Glaze:
1/4 c. orange juice
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract
2 c. powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini muffin pan. Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds. Add oil, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and almond extract and mix well. Spoon into prepared muffin pan. About 1 heaping tablespoon per muffin. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Meanwhile, prepare glaze by mixing the wet ingredients and then adding powdered sugar until it reaches the desired consistency. I used all 2 cups.

Remove muffins from pan and transfer to a wire rack. While still warm (but not too warm! don't burn yourself! ;) ) dip the top of each muffin in the glaze. Allow excess to drip off before returning muffins to the wire rack to cool.

**Spray muffin pan between each batch so the muffins are easy to remove.

**The original recipe calls for butter flavored extract. I don't even know what that is, let alone have it in my cupboard. The comments on allrecipes.com said it was ok to leave it out, so I slightly adjusted the amounts of vanilla and almond extract to make up for it.

**By the way, as you know, I always let the measuring spoon overflow into the bowl when I'm dealing with vanilla. Almond extract on the other hand, is rather strong stuff. I never let the measuring spoon overflow with it, in fact, I always slightly underfill the measuring spoon.

Here's a link to the original recipe if you'd prefer to make bread instead of muffins: Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze.

Kaylene's Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a recipe I got from my friend, Kaylene. They are always a big hit with whoever I make them for. :) Even if it's just me. Ha ha. I made them for playgroup last week, and the little kids loved them even though they have oatmeal in them.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1 c. (2 sticks) soft margarine or butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 c. peanut butter
2 c. and 2 T. flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 1/3 c. oatmeal (not instant)
1 bag chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend butter with sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter, mixing well. Add salt and baking soda. Add flour and blend well. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned.


The recipe makes tons of cookies (I was living off of them for a few days after I made them ;) ). Enjoy!