Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie? I am constantly on the search for good cookie recipes. Cookies in general are great. They are shareable, convenient, fun, delicious, and the dough usually is pretty good too. I will say that I have made some bad chocolate chip cookies in my day. It drives me nuts when the dough is really thin and the cookie spreads so much that the cookie is a flattened translucent looking patty. I am also so inconsolably upset when that happens. This recipe does NOT do that. and it makes a pretty good cookie.


Original Recipe: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/06/21/thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons  flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips. milk chocolate chips will result in a sweeter cookie overall. 

Directions: 

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees. line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

2. Mix dry ingredients expect sugar together- baking soda, salt, flour

3. Mix wet ingredients-butter, egg, vanilla, etc with sugars. beat with a hand mixer until mixed. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. 

4. Stir in chocolate chips of your choice. 

5. Form 1.5 inch balls of dough. place on pan evenly and bake for 15-20 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE! 

The trick to a chewy cookie- which is my favorite kind, is to take them out when the edges brown and the middle is sort of soft set. Take the cookies out when you see this and then allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes after removal from the oven so that the bottoms can continue to cook enough to create a cookie that is solid enough to be picked up but that won't be hard all the way through. 

Note that this recipe doubles well- thats what I did. and if you double the recipe, you're able to freeze extra dough and then thaw and bake it later...OR eat it in ice cream.. I'm not judging. 

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

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Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

I have been working. A lot. This is my excuse for not blogging my baking lately. I have been baking but I have been so wound up in getting my baked goods out of the house -so I don't stuff my face with them, that I havent done adequate blogging. Not a good excuse- but the truth.


So anyway, when I finally got around to baking and even better- actually blogging about it this was the result: deliciousness. I wanted to make something "autumnal" cause well.. it's autumn. I love the fall. The smells, the flavors, the scarfs and football. Really and truely, the only thing I dislike about the fall is that it means winter is that much closer. I'm a summer baby, and me and winter are not on good terms. Never have been, never will be. The fall however is a perfect time to embrace the chill and the flavors of the season. In this case, its apples. Apple cider is warm and comforting and a classic.

These cookies are really simple to make but are packed with fall flavor. Feel free to play around with the amount of cinnamon, cider mix, caramel, really its up to you. Enjoy the season, enjoy the apples and enjoy the cookies!

Original Recipe: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/11/caramel-apple-cider-cookies.html

Ingredients:
1 cup crisco (butter flavor) - or you can use 1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (7.4 oz) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix (10 packets)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 (14 ounce) bag of Kraft chewy caramels (I didnt need all of them)

Directions:
1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat together crisco, sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla, and stir in the 10 packets of cider mix.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients- not the caramel though!
4. Once ingredients are well mixed, take 1" balls of the dough and form into "patty" shape. Place an unwrapped caramel in the middle and wrap the dough around the caramel on all sides. An alternative method is to form a ball with the dough and press your thumb into the dough  making a large hole, and placing the caramel inside and then enclosing the dough around the caramel. Either method will yield the same results. Essentially you want to get the caramel in the middle of a ball of dough. The balls of dough will appear large, but do not spread much.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. smaller cookies with less dough will need less time than this. I dont recommend using too much dough or you will end up with a cookie that has caramel in the middle but a lot of excess 'cookie' around the edges and will get bites without caramel stuffing. ya know what I'm saying? If you use too much dough, you'll know what I'm saying. Bake the cookies until the edges begin to brown. the middles may look slightly undone. These cookies do not brown very much so a brown cookie is a burnt cookie.
6. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet in order to ensure that the bottom is not too soft and you won't lose your chunk of caramel. --this is when using enough dough comes in handy: using too LITTLE dough can result in the caramel 'leaking through' the dough and onto your baking sheet.
7. Allow cookies to complete cooling on wax paper or cooling rack.

These are awesome as is, or you can really make them visually appealing by melting caramel over the tops (or dipping the bottoms ?!), or sprinkling with cinnamon (although they have quite a bit of flavor).

Hopefully you enjoy the season as much as I do.


Enjoy!!

Frosted Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

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Peanut Butter + Cocoa Krispies

So this recipe is similar to a previous post for Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats, but this one is a little different- both with the cereal, and the more traditional marshmallow aspect. Oh and the spectacular peanut butter frosting. Last minute I had to pull together a dessert for a BBQ. It was a family thing, so I wanted something kid friendly and fast. what is more classic than the peanut butter and chocolate combo? In my opinion its a fairly kid friendly choice, and rice krispie treats are quick. Use whatever plain (or only lightly sweetened) cereal you have on hand. I had cheerios and I wanted to finish up my cocoa krispies, grab some peanut butter, and your set. If you have frosting on hand, you can make a peanut butter frosting topping to go on top- which was ALMOST too much. But I don't think you can have too much peanut butter. Therefore I loved it. Any everyone else thought they were pretty darn good too.

Ingredients:

6 cups cereal (I used 3 cups cocoa krispies + 3 cups cheerios)
1 package marshmallows
3/4 cup peanut butter (I always end up using about 3/4 of the jar- which im sure is more than called for but I love peanut butter and I hate when you pour it over the cereal and realize you dont have enough pb/mallow to cover it all)
3 Tbs butter
1 Tbs vanilla

peanut butter topping (optional):
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup cream cheese frosting - or vanilla if you prefer
Mini chocolate chips for garnish (or mini peanut butter cups or peanuts)

Directions:
1. Line a 9x 13 inch baking dish with wax paper or foil and set aside
2. In a large sauce pan melt marshmallows, 3/4 cup peanut butter, vanilla and butter. stir repeatedly until smooth.
3. Quickly stir in cereal(s) of choice, and gently toss until coated. Dump cereal mixture into the lined baking dish. allow to cool
4. In a medium sized bowl, mix the 1 cup peanut butter with the 1/2 cup frosting. the mixture will be thick. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars. Sprinkle with chocolate chips or other topping of choice.
5. Cut the bars into squares.

Enjoy!

Churro Chex Mix

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Churro Chex Mix

Ingredients:
12 cups rice Chex cereal
1 package cinnamon chips1/2 cup butter or margarine1 cups powdered sugar1/2 granulated sugar3 teaspoons cinnamon


Directions:
1. In a large bowl put all your chex cereal. I mixed half rice chex and half wheat. whatever you have is fine, and I'm sure this would work with other cereal as well such as rice krispies or plain cheerios. 
2. place sugar, powdered sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl, mix and set aside.

3. In a microwave safe dish, melt the butter and cinnamon chips on high for 45 seconds and then every 15, stirring in between. microwaving chocolate chips (in this case cinnamon) is risky business because you can easily burn the chocolate if they aren't stirred repeatedly. 
4. pour the melted butter/cinnamon chip mixture over the cereal and gently stir until all the cereal is coated. 
5. while the cereal is still warm, sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture over the cereal, and continue to stir until coated. spread on a baking sheet lined with wax paper to cool. store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Drooling? Because I know I was while I made these. And after I made them. And every time I think about them. Basically, they are amazing. There's really no need for me to go into detail about the chewy brownie layer that is fudgey and the perfect cookie dough that feels sinful even though it doesn't have egg. Describing the combination of chocolate and cookie dough that comes together to make a soft chewy bar that is heavenly would be pointless because you really can't imagine how amazing this bar is. Now, if you intend to make these, gather your self control and wipe the drool from your chin before you begin.

original recipe:http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/07/21/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-brownies/

Ingredients:
¾ cup unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups milk chocolate chips


1 Box of your favorite brownie mix + ingredients called for (or your favorite recipe)- I used Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper to cover all edges. Mix brownie mix as directed, and bake 25-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center. 
2. Mix together all other ingredients together forming cookie dough.
3. Allow the brownie layer to cool completely. Then layer the cookie dough on top. I did this by making cookie dough patties and then pressing them onto the brownie layer and filling in the holes as needed until the whole brownie layer was covered by a layer of cookie dough. 
4. Allow to sit and cool, the layers will compress a bit and become this dense bar that is spectacular. Cut when cool, and store in air tight container, and for a firmer bar, store in the fridge. 


Enjoy!

Cheese Cake Stuffed Red Velvet Cupcakes

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Cheese Cake Stuffed Red Velvet Cupcakes

I will be honest, I don't love cake. I never have. Unless its cake batter, or ice cream cake, or with layers of fudge or something ridiculously rich, cake just doesn't do it for me. I had some requests for red velvet cake though. And I always deliver. In comes the cupcake. Cute. Convenient. Yummy- if you like cake. Seeing as how I require something insane to up the yum factor of cake I stuffed these plain jane cupcakes with cheese cake, and WALLAH! I approve of these cupcakes, even though they are cake.

I also admit, i used some boxes for the recipe. If you have recipes for either cheese cake or red velvet cake that you are fond of, by all means, use them, and assemble the cupcakes in the same way. I just don't make cake often, so I don't have any particular recipes I like.

Ingredients
1 box red velvet cake mix + the ingredients required to make the cake
1 6 inch store bought cheese cake-with or without crust (I used one with a graham cracker crust)
1 Can cream cheese frosting, or a recipe enough to cover 24 cupcakes

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with baking liners, or grease with butter.
2. Mix cake mix and required ingredients as directed. Spoon batter into each cup about till about 1/3 full.
3. Using a spoon or cookie dropper, drop 1 inch balls of prepared cheese cake into center of cupcake tins.
4. Spoon additional cake batter over cheese cake until muffin tins are about 2/3's full or cheesecake is covered.
5. Bake approx 20 minutes, or as directed by the box mix/ recipe you are using for the cake. Allow to cool and frost if you'd like. I used cream cheese frosting.

Yield: about 24 cupcakes

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Krispie Bars

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Peanut Butter chocolate krispie Bars

These are super easy, kid friendly classic bars that can be made with plain or cocoa krispies and likely any other cereal you have on hand as long as it goes with peanut butter (chex, cheerios, smacks, quaker squares). These bars are also very good with chocolate topping.
original recipe:
http://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/recipes/peanut-butter-treats.html#/en_US/recipes/peanut-butter-bars

Ingredients: 
1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbs butter
1cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 Tbs milk
1/2 Tbs vanilla
3 1/2 cups cocoa krispies

optional: 1 cup milk chocolate chips; melted and drizzled on top

Directions:
1. in a large bowl cream butter and peanut butter, then add in milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Blend until well mixed and fluffy.
2. pour in cocoa krispies, stir until evenly coated.
3. dump mixture into lined 8 x 8 baking dish, and refrigerate for about an hour. cut into even pieces.

Enjoy!