Cream Cheese Cookie Bars

I tried these cookie bars because we only had 3 eggs and most sugar cookie recipes had 4. The result was a mild tasting cookie that was very soft and moist.

1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of butter, softened
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 egg

1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

- preheat the oven to 350 degrees

- In a bowl cream together the butter, sugar and cream cheese

- add egg and vanilla extract and mix together

- In a seperate bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until well mixed

- Grease a 9x13 pan

- press the mixture down inside the pan and bake for 20 minutes

- dust with powdered sugar

no bake chocolate & peanut butter bars - I'm Back..

My new job doesn't really give me a lot of time to blog much anymore. I am going to try to actually post all the new things I've made. I do bake and cook a lot, I just don't get the chance to update everything on here.

no bake chocolate & peanut butter bars

***Filling***

* 1 jar (16 oz) peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
* 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs

* 2 cups powdered sugar

* 1 stick of butter

*** Topping ***

* 1 bag of chocolate chips (any kind you want)
* 1 stick of butter

--directions--

-On the stovetop, put one stick of butter in a pot and melt slowly

- add peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar

- stir until combined

-- grease your pan

(however thick you want them - the above bars were 8x8)

-- press the warm peanut butter mixture in the bottom

-- on the stovetop, put one stick of butter in a new pot and melt slowly

-- add the chocolate chips on low and stir until melted

-- pour melted chocolate over peanut butter filling

-- spread until it covers the peanut butter

-- refrigerate for at least an hour

-- cut and serve

Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies

I used to make these all the time when I was a kid. My sister and I used to make these. I think I remember this recipe as one of my earliest baking memories. I love these cookies. They are childhood ...

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies - well except for my husband?

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chips

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Stir in morsels.
Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

(not so) Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I thought these sounded perfect. I followed every step and I'm not sure if they are meant to be flat, or if they are supposed to have puffed up a bit at one point? The cookies taste good, but the chocolate chips look like they are little mountains in the pool of flattened cookie dough. Definetly not something I will make again.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Cook’s Illustrated May/June 2009)

1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whish for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use a #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Grandma's Cinnamon Apple Cake

DH's grandma made this cake today. We had some when we visited and it was soo good! I asked her for the recipe. So this is not something I made, but it is really very good!

Grandma's Apple Cinnamon Cake

Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Braeburn apples, peeled, cored, and grated
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and oil until blended.
Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt
mix until well combined.
Stir in apples and nuts.
Spread batter in pan and bake 65 to 70 minutes

S'mores Cookie Bars

I love smores. Who doesn't. We were talking about them on the knot board and I had the worst craving for them. I found this recipe along time ago and knew it was finally time to make these. They came out great. They were a big hit when I brought them to my friend's house for after dinner dessert.

They only thing is they are sticky and messy and a pain in the butt to cut and get over to her house for dinner. I kept having to put them back in the oven because they weren't done. Plus having to wait for them to cool didn't make them exactly quick either.

So only make these if you are not in a hurry. I thought oh I have two hours - thats plenty of time. Wrong! Prep took me about 20 minutes. Plus cooking and waiting for them to cool, I was thirty minutes late. I almost gave up on these and left without them. I'm glad I didn't though.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8 graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (my store was out of plain king sized bars - so I just bought milk chocolate chips and it turned out just fine.
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and/or line an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until there are no big pieces left and there is only crumbs.

3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.
5. Place chocolate bars over dough (2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate if necessary to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick).

6. Spread the marshmallow fluff over the chocolate.

7. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff



8. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until lightly browned.
9. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Homemade Cornbread

We usually use a mix, but since I've been on a baking kick lately - I decided to try making cornbread from scratch.

I asked on the cooking board and got a good recipe from Kmays. Its originally from Cooks Illustrated and it didn't look too hard, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was really good. It went great with the chili I made too.


All-Purpose Cornbread

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Note: To make this in a cast iron skillet, place approx 1 Tbs of butter in the skillet and place it in the oven while preheating. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until combined; set aside.

2. In food processor or blender, process sugar, thawed corn kernels, and buttermilk until combined, about 5 seconds. Add eggs and process until well combined (corn lumps will remain), about 5 seconds longer.

3. Using rubber spatula, make well in center of dry ingredients; pour wet ingredients into well. Begin folding dry ingredients into wet, giving mixture only a few turns to barely combine; add melted butter and continue folding until dry ingredients are just moistened.

4. Pour batter into prepared baking dish; smooth surface with rubber spatula. Note: If using cast iron skillet, remove from oven and turn pan to coat all surfaces with the melted butter. Pour the batter into the hot pan. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. (I just kept an eye on it until it looked done.) Cool on wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool.

Super Chocolatey Fudgy Brownies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
6 oz chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
* Grease an 8x8 pan
* In a saucepan melt the butter and the chocolate chips together. You can use any type of chocolate chips you want. I used milk chocolate.
* Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.
* Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla
* Stir in the cocoa powder
* Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together
*Stir a little at a time into the wet ingredients
* Pour into pan
* Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

This goes great with my chocolate frosting recipe

Magnolia Vanilla Cupcakes

I have never been to Magnolia Bakery in New York. I have heard of it. I don't know how they taste, or if this recipe is the same. The cupcakes were really good. I'm not sure I'd want to keep using two different flours in the future. I made them for my sister who lived in new york for awhile.

Here's the website: http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/

This recipe supposedly came from their cookbook... I found it online.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350
• Sift two flours together
• cream butter until smooth, add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. About 3 minutes.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
• Add some of the dry ingredients, and then milk, and then some more dry, and then the vanilla, and then the rest of the dry ingredients.
• Mix until combined remembering to scrape down the sides, but do not overmix.
• Scoop into a cupcake pan with liners. Fill them 3/4 full
• Bake 20-25 minutes

I did not make the frosting, as I haven't ventured to try it yet. Maybe one day. :) I just used a plain vanilla frosting in a can.

Fabulous Sugar Cookies

I found this recipe online. The original recipe called for almond extract - which I didn't have - so I doubled the vanilla extract. I wonder if the almond extract would have made it sweeter? Either way, my husband didn't think the cookies were sweet enough. They didn't roll out very easily either. The dough was super sticky and kept sticking to my rolling pin and my counter. After awhile I gave up and just made cookie balls. My husband preferred the cookie balls to the cutouts because they were softer. The cutouts were crisp... but they held their shape really well.

Either way - here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

5 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees

* Cream butter and sugar with mixer until light

* Add eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly after each egg

* Add vanilla and almond extract

* Sift flour, baking powder and salt into mixture a little at a time

* do not overmix
*Chill dough for up to 1 week. (I chilled it for about 4 hours)
* Roll out on a floured surface and cut into your favorite shapes (all I had was the men cutout, butterflies, ladybugs and hearts..)

*Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes and cool on a wire rack

*I tried to make red frosting by adding what was left of my red food coloring to the white frosting. I guess I didnt have enough left because all it did was make hot pink. It turned out okay for the heart cutouts I made. I was just making the heart cut outs for my husband anyways, so no one really cared or saw them anyways. A few of my gingerbread men had pink scarves though. :)

Gingerbread People

One of the cookies I made this year for christmas was Gingerbread Men People.

This was a relatively easy recipe. I think I rolled them too thin because they were pretty fragile. My platter looked like a battlefield - broken heads, legs, arms, people broken in half... but they were pretty tasty anyways.

An important lesson I learned was do not frost when you are tired. Seriously.. some of them just looked ragged or messy... and I had a failed attempt at red frosting that turned out hot pink.. lol..

Oh and I didnt take much pictures because i forgot..

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup butter at room temp

1/2 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350
• sift together flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon and set aside
• cream butter and sugar until smooth
• Beat in the molasses, water and vanilla
• Gradually mix in the flour mixture a little at a time
• Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate 2 hours or until firm.
  (I left mine in for about half a day)
• On a lightly floured surface - roll out dough just under 1/4" thick.
• Use cookie cutters of your choice
  

• Place cookies on a greased cookie sheet
• Bake 9 - 12 minutes
• Let cool five minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool
  
  

  

• Frost (or not) and enjoy!
  
  

Mint Chocolate Brownies

These brownies are really good. I love the ooey gooey brownies that are still soft days later.. and well this is it. I was kind of worried when I looked at the batter and it didn't look like the typical store bought mix batter. It was lighter - much lighter. I doubled checked the recipe and I didnt think I had missed anything. So I figured, I'll just bake them and see if they get darker.. and they did..

Ingredients
1 cup of Butter

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

2 tablespoons of vanilla

1 package of andes mint chips (in the baking aisle)
OR a package of whole andes mints chopped

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease a 9x13 baking pan
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat - let sit for a minute or two to cool down





• Add melted butter to sugar, vanilla and eggs





• Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt
• Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture
• Add 1/2 cup of chopped andes mints and fold them in





• Pour the batter into a pan and spread it out
• Bake 35-40 minutes
• Right when the brownies come out, pour the rest of the mint chips on top
Wait for them to melt a little and start spreading the chocolate out with a spoon




Cut the brownies right away and let cool for 5 minutes or until you can safely touch the pan with your bare hands
remove brownies and let cool on a wire rack

Enjoy! :)

This made 12 brownies

Red Velvet Cupcakes

A lot of people have been talking about red velvet lately. I think the first time I saw red velvet cake was in the movie Steel Magnolias. I love that movie and that crazy armadillo cake.

When I read the ingredient list of red velvet cake, it seemed like something that both my chocolate hating husband and I would like. It has a little chocolate, but not enough to make my husband turn up his nose. It seemed like the perfect compromise.

I think these cupcakes came out really nice, moist and flavorful. Definetly worth a try. I'm sure there are tons of recipes out there. This is just one that was recommended to me.

Ingredient List

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. With a flour sifter, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a bowl and set it aside.
   
   If you don't have a flour sifter, I use can use a handheld strainer. Really though they arent expensive. I bought mine for $12 at Macy's.
   
   

   
   
3. In a seperate bowl, mix the vegetable oil, sugar and buttermilk together until combined.
   



4. Then add the eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well
   



5. Slowly start to mix in the powdered ingredients a little at a time. Be careful to not over mix. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
   



6. Line a cupcake baking pan with cupcake liners and scoop the batter in using an ice cream scoop. I used a medium cookie scoop.


7. Do a couple of test cupcakes, if you want. This batter does not rise much, so make sure to fill the liners at least 3/4 of the way up.


8. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean


9. Remove from cupcake tray and let cool on a wire rack.
   



10. When the cupcakes are cool you can frost them and add decoration.