My new favorite cookie!!

I'M BACK!

I have had a great time just hanging out with my family and our newest bundle of joy! She's doing great and growing like a weed!! We also got a surprise as her daddy was able to come home from his deployment to meet her. Unfortunately he missed the birth, but he still got to meet her before heading back out into the desert. It was a wonderful holiday. I hope yours was wonderful!!

My parents were here to help out over the holidays and my mom shared this fabulous recipe with me. I just had to share it with you all. It's officially my new favorite cookie. So YUM!!! And really the possibilities are endless as to what you can put in the cookies. This was originally a Paula Deen recipe. I've seen her make it on her show a few times and just never did anything about it. I regret that more than you know!! These are fabulous!!! Hope you try them soon!!

Monster Cookies
adapted from a Paula Deen recipe*
* 3 eggs
* 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
* 1 stick butter or margarine, softened
* 1/2 cup mini m&m's
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips
* 2 heath bars, chopped (or 1/2 cup toffee bits)
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not over bake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags


*We had some fabulous meals over the break and I'll be back soon to tell you all about them!*

Halloween Cookies

Have I mentioned that Halloween is my favorite holiday? Yeah it really is!!!! Tomorrow we have a pumpkin carving activity at the church and were asked to bring chips or a dessert. Well, i'm ambitious (or a glutton for punishment....who knows!) so we are bringing both. But instead of buying cookies I decided to try some decorated sugar cookies (again). I won't bore you with the long and drawn out story that is my trial with sugar cookies. I really love those iced sugar cookies but whenver I tried to make them at home they crumbled and the icing was less than stellar. So I was THRILLED when I stumbled upon this website that helped me. I also got a great cookie recipe from THE HUNGRY HOUSEWIFE . HOORAY!!!!
So here you go!!! The recipes and pictures to go with them!


Halloween Sugar Cookies

1 C real butter(NO SUBSTITUTIONS)

1 C sugar
1 egg

1 1/2 t almond extract (you could use vanilla too)

3 C flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in eggs and extract and mix to incorporate.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.

Shape the dough into 2 flat disks and wrap in waxed paper and place in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours.

When you're ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Cut to your desired shape

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes.

Remove onto cooling racks when you're done and let cool completely.

Decorate as you like.

Royal Icing
(this will cover approximately 3 dozen 3.5 inch cookies)

1 pound powdered sugar
5 TBSP meringue powder
scant 1/2 c. water
a few drops of extract (optional) - I didn't use extract this time around

Combine the meringue powder and water with a whisk attachment using an electric mixer. Beat until peaks begin to form. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. (You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) If using an extract, add it then beat for a few more seconds to incorporate.

Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing or divide and color using gel paste food colorings.

(The most important step: sift the powdered sugar!I don't know why....it just works better!!.)

This "stiff" icing is perfect for outlining and even for building gingerbread houses and monogramming. To fill in your cookies, add water to your icing a little at a time until it is the consistency of syrup. This technique of filling a cookie with thinned icing is called "flooding."

and viola you have radically decorated cookies that will thrill the people you give them too!!!

cut and cooled cookies

use the stiff icing to make your outlines

the "flooding" icing should be runny

once flooding icing is placed on cookie-use a toothpick to get into the nooks and crannies

start decorating with the finer details

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

If you get Kraft foods Food and Family magazine then you have this recipe. If you don't.....hold your horses you are in for a TREAT!!!!!!
These little bars are rich, and DIVINE!!! I made these almost immediately after getting the magazine. So yum!!! (I am substituting what I used in this recipe instead of what the recipe suggested)


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
1 pkg devils food cake mix
1 pkg (3.9 oz) chocolate fudge instant pudding
1/2C melted butter
1/2 C cold whole milk
2 Hershey's plain candy bars, chopped and divided
1 C chunky peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13x9 in pan with cooking spray. Mix first 4 ingredients in bowl. The mixture will be thick. Press half the cake mix mixture into prepared pan.

Bake 10 min. Sprinkle half of the chocolate on top of cake mixture. Top with peanut butter. Cover with remaining cake mixture and chocolate.
Press gently with spatula. Bake 15 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate 4 hours before cutting into bars.
This needs to stay in the fridge after it bakes so just be prepared with room to store it.

HAPPY EATING!!!!

More cookies!

Made some cookies for a sister at church last night. We just had to snag one for tasting purposes. They were good. Of course they were chocolate so I knew they wouldn't be bad!!!!

Mint Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
1 box devils food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 C veg oil
1 tsp vanilla extract (you could use 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 mint for an added punch-I didn't have the mint so I used all vanilla)
Andes Mint Baking chips

Mix ingredients. Place by tablespoon fulls (more or less depending how big of a cookie you want) on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Mine baked perfectly at 9.

Cool and enjoy. They went perfect with a glass of milk. Yum!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!

Lasagne in the Crockpot and Yummy Cookies

For Sunday dinner we had a craving for lasagna. So I gathered up the stuff to make it and once we got home from church I threw it in the crock pot. Lucky for us we get out of church early enough that I didn't have to worry about it before hand. Here you go, the best way to make lasagna.

Crock Pot Lasagna
1 box regular lasagna noodles
1 jar of favorite spaghetti sauce
4 C shredded mozz cheese
2 C corn
1 bag fresh spinach
1 container ricotta cheese
1 pound ground beef
1C dehydrated onions

Brown ground beef with the onions. Drain. Add sauce. Spray inside of crock pot with cooking spray. Once warmed through ladle a small amount on bottom of crock pot. Place noodles and layer ingredients. Continue with layers until crock is full. Layer them in whatever way you like. Once finished with the layers rinse out the sauce jar and pour that water/sauce mixture over the top. Top with the rest of the cheese.

Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Mine cooked for 6 and came out PERFECT!!!!! I was really worried that the noodles in the middle might not be done, but this whole this was perfect. I was in serious amounts of heaven with this and had 2 helpings because of it. The down side to cooking it in the crock instead of the oven is that the cheese doesn't brown on top, but we were ok with that. It was divine!!!



Afterwards, we got the cookie bug. So I whipped up these gems.

Cinnamon Chip Cake Mix Cookies
1 box yellow cake mix with pudding
2 eggs
1/2 C veg oil
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C cinnamon chips

Mix ingredients and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Mine cooked for 9 minutes and were perfect. These are not going to be crispy, they are very chewey and really hit you with the cinnamon after the first bite. The husband thinks I need to start selling cookies....I guess that means he liked them! They really are scrumptious and were a BIG hit with everyone! Now if I just had some ice cream.......

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner and a desert that even the kiddos can help with!

Happy Friday all! I hope your week has been a good one. Our little monkey is now feeling 100% better and running and playing all over the place. Thank you for all your thoughts and concern! We have felt it!
Now onto the food! (My favorite part of the day!)
I have mentioned before that i have this really neat little cookbook called 101 THINGS TO DO WITH RAMEN NOODLES. It's really interesting and I have found some yummy things to make. This one was no exception. I did tweak it a little bit (because that's what I do -hehe) but otherwise I followed the recipe!

Chicken Milano
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp live oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
1/2 C shredded mozz cheese
1/2 C chicken stock
3 packages ramen noodles

In a frying pan, brown chicken and garlic in oil until done. Add tomato paste, sauce and seasonings. Simmer on low for about 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over top and let melt.

Cook noodles in water according to package directions and drain. Add 2 of the seasoning packets. Serve chicken mixture over warm noodles. Season with salt and pepper.


And now for an easy and simple dessert.
We got this cookbook for Christmas called Cool Kids Cook My 4 year old was looking through it found these "cookies" and asked if we could make them. I couldn't turn that sweet face down. Besides, they were easy enough that he could help make them. And he did, so did his older brother. Fun!!!

Jam And Cream Stars
1 sheet ready-rolled puffed pastry
1/3 C jam/jelly any flavor (we used strawberry)
1 C cool whip
powdered sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out puffed pastry and cut out star shapes (you really could use any cookie cutter you have. We thought the stars were fun-but next time I may use a bigger cutter. These were kind of small). Place cut out shapes on cookie sheet, prick the pastry stars with a fork and bake for 8-10 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Let cool.

Once cooled, slice the shapes in half horizontally and spread the bottom halves with jam and cream. Replace the top half and dust with the sugar.
I was thinking after they were made that these would be really good with brunch or a baby shower....you know fun little munchies for parties. Or like us, you just need something quick and sweet. The puff pastry makes them light and airy and they really did hit the sweet tooth spot.
Enjoy!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!

Gingerbread

Wow! I just realized that I haven't posted in forever!!!! Sorry about that. It's been super busy with life that I let a few things slip through the cracks...I'll do better I promise!!!!
Here's a really great gingerbread recipe that is perfect for cookies or for making gingerbread houses, sleighs, trains, whatever you want! I am not a big gingerbread eater but I do love making the houses every year and my kids enjoy eating it so it doesn't completely go to waste.
This recipe makes a lot, enough for a large house and cookies. This was my first time making one from scratch (I usually buy the kits). It was really fun. I hope you enjoy it too!!

Gingerbread (thanks to Christi for letting me share)
7C flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp each ginger, cloves, allspice
1 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C molasses
2/3 C water
1 tsp salt
1/3 C shortening

Stir together flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer combine shortening, brown sugar and molasses. Beat until well blended. Add water. Blend again. Beat in flour mixture gradually. When it becomes a stiff mixture, you might have to continue with a wooden spoon. Mix well. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap. Flatten slightly, wrap and chill over night.
When ready for baking roll out to about a 1/8th inch thickness, cut out desired shapes and place on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.
Let cool completely before assembling a house. Use various candies and frostings for your decorations.

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!

Halloween Candy Cookies

I love Halloween candy but there comes a time when you've had enough. So to help get rid of some of it I decided to put the candy into cookies. So the rest of the candy that we had purchased went into the cookies. Chocolate peanut butter and rice krispie treats candy. Yummy!!


Candy Cookies
2 sticks butter
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C of your favorite chocolate Halloween candy, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined, scraping sides of bowl often. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
Add candy. Fold into mixture.

Scoop onto baking sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes. I baked mine at 10 minutes and they were good. This will make approximately 4 dozen depending on how big of a scoop you use.




My husband even thought they were some of the best cookies I'd ever made. So I guess I did ok. Chocolate Chip cookies are not my forte' so I was grateful for the compliment. Since making them, there are only a few left!

Chocolate/Pnut Butter Chip cookies

There's nothing better than a warm gooey cookie on a Friday. Or any day for that matter! :O)
Tonight Seth has scouts and it's a potluck pack meeting. I decided to make cookies instead of a salad or something normal for a potluck. I much prefer the deserts anyway!!!!! So I came up with these yummy mouthfuls of chocolaty peanut buttery goodness.

Chocolate Chocolate/Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
2 sticks of butter or margarine (yep-2 whole sticks)
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (it gives them a little hint of extra goodness and makes people wonder what's in them)
3/4 tsp salt
1 C chocolate chips
1 C peanut butter chips



Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer cream together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs, cocoa, and vanilla until combined. Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flour slowly and mix until completely incorporated. Add chips and fold in to mixture.

Place on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray (hey if you have one of those silpat thingys this would be ideal-I don't so I just use cooking spray). Bake for 9-11 minutes. It only took 9 minutes in my oven. These don't spread like most chocolate chip cookies recipes I've tried. So feel free to put 12 per pan on there (of course depending on how big you make them). This makes approximately 36 cookies.

Cool on racks and then proceed to enjoy with a large glass of milk!!

Happy Eating!!!

I love Cookies!!

Hello!!!!
Last night we decided to start celebrating my husbands birthday early! (It's Friday) So I decided to make this recipe featured on Jenny's Blog Picky Palate. The only thing I didn't happen to have on hand was the oreo's. This was a HUGE hit I cannot even tell you. These cookies were so moist and delish that we just can't keep our hands off of them. If you haven't already tried them, you need to!!!!!!! BIG thanks to Jenny for coming up with and posting this recipe! Did I mention they were super delish?? :O)

chocolate crinkles

This past Saturday I had a primary teachers meeting. We were asked to bring a dessert. So I made these cookies. Super yummy!! These are a favorite with my kids!


Chocolate Crinkles

3 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 C veg oil
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2C all purpose flour sifted powdered sugar

Using a stand mixer mix eggs, sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder and vanilla until combined. Add flour and combine completely. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or until easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat generously. Place balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are crackled. Let cook on a wire rack.

Makes approx. 5 doz.

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