Okay all you cookie lovers, this is THE cookie for you! It is the best of 3 cookies all rolled into one! I got this recipe from my Better Home and Gardens New Cookbook and made a few modifications, as well as doubling the recipe, because let's face it, I have a major sweet-tooth. But seriously, I usually take a rubbermaid container of cookies to work to share my baking awesomeness!
After they have cooled off, and are no longer fresh from the oven, I do suggest warming them up in the microwave (10 sec. for 1, 15 sec. for 2, 20 sec. for 3).
Ingredients: (Double Batch measurements)
1 1/2 cups Butter, softened
1 cup Peanut Butter (this time I did 1/2 creamy, 1/2 crunchy)
2 cups Sugar
1 cup packed Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
4 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Flour
4 cups Rolled Oats
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels or chopped cocktail peanuts (I do chips)
Instructions:
1.) Pre-heat oven to 375*, place cooling racks on counter/table for later, place cookie sheets nearby to use once dough is ready
2.) In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter on medium to high speed until well combined.
3.) Add sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda, beat until well mixed, scraping sides as necessary
4.) Beat in eggs and vanilla
5.) Add in as much flour as possible with mixer, hand mix the rest if needed
6.) Once all ingredients are well mixed, stir in by hand the rolled oats and then chocolate chips (or peanuts)
7.) Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets
8.) Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on edges. Transfer to cooling racks
ENJOY!!!
Ever wonder what to do with ALLLLLL that Ham leftover from Easter dinner? Well, wonder no more, this soup is AWESOME!!!!
I don't have too many pictures because making the creamy broth made it impossible to grab the camera, since ya know, I only have 2 hands and all.
I loosely followed the recipe, it didn't seem like it was going to make much, so I 'kind of' doubled it. More like I added however much ham and veggies, salt and pepper, but straight up doubled everything else (water, chicken boullion, flour, butter and milk) You will see why later :-)
Listed below is roughly how much I used
Ingredients:
6 1/2 cups Water
Ham-however much you want/have
1/2 bag(5#) of Potatoes, peeled and diced
3-4 decent sized whole Carrots, sliced
3-4 stalks of Celery, sliced
1 bag of frozen Corn
1/4 of a whole Onion, chopped
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
4 packets of Chicken Bouillon (they were 1 Tbsp each)
10 tbsp Butter
10 tbsp Flour
4 cups Milk
1.) Put Water into stockpot and get boiling.
2.) Peel and slice/dice all veggies, and put veggies and ham into stock pot (potatoes first, then carrots, they take the longest to cook)
3.) Add Chicken Bouillon, Salt & Pepper
This part gets tricky, can't multi-task here, must focus on the creamy part of the soup. Since I have non-stick pans, I can't use metal utensils on them, so had to use a rubber coated whisk. I don't think it has the same effect as the directions say.
4.) In a separate saucepan, melt down butter
5.) If using Stainless Steel cookware, use a fork. If using non-stick cookware, use a rubber coated whisk or similar item. Add in flour and mix well. For me I got this pasty, clumpy mess so I don't know if I did it wrong or what.
6.) Slowly add in Milk to Butter/Flour mixture and mix well as you pour as to not create lumps. It's like making gravy.
7.) Once all milk is added, continue stirring over low-medium heat until thick
8.) Immediately pour into stockpot and combine thoroughly. Cook until heated through
9.) Serve immediately with Ritz crackers....SOOOO YUMMYY!!!!!
Sidenote: You will probably have leftovers depending on how many people you cook for. It will turn into a 'solid' form, but put what you want to heat up in a bowl, add some water and mix well. Heat it up for about a minute, stir again, and continue heating and it should be perfect.
I have also made this dish a few times and it too is deliciously yummy!
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350*
1-10.75 ounce can of Cream of Broccoli or Cream of Chicken condensed soup
1 1/4 Cups of Milk
1 8oz carton of Sour Cream
1 tsp dried Basil
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1 16oz package of frozen cut Broccoli (I use the Broccoli florets because you don't get the stem pieces)
1 1/2 Cups uncooked Instant White Rice
1/2 Cup shredded Swiss cheese (I use Mozzarella)
1.) Preheat Oven to 350*
2.) In a large mixing bowl, mix together; Soup, Milk, Sour Cream, Basi;, Salt and Pepper
3.) Stir in Rice and Broccoli (I find it easier to do the rice first, then broccoli)
4.) Spoon mixture into an ungreased 9x9 baking dish
5.) Bake covered (tin foil works good) for about 65 minutes or until heated through
6.) Uncover and sprinkle with shredded cheese of choice, cover and let stand for 5 minutes before serving
ENJOY
I have made this a few times now and it is so very yummy! I will post the recipe as it is written, but since I only cook for 2, I just mix the ingredients together in a size that I need. I don't "1/2" the measurements or anything, I just do a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 375*
6 Chicken breast halves (apparently, recipe uses bone-in chicken, I use boneless chicken breasts because it's easier)
1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Cup shredded Fontina or Mozzarella Cheese (2 ounces)
1/3 Cup grated Parmesean or Romano Cheese
2 tsp. snipped fresh Basil or 1/2 tsp dried Basil, crushed
1 tsp. snipped fresh Oregano or 1/4 tsp dried Oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp. Lemon-Pepper seasoning (I didn't have any on hand the first time, so I just omit this each time)
2 Tbsp Butter or Margarine, melted
1.) Get out a baking pan large enough for as many chicken breasts you are preparing. I prefer a glass baking dish.
2.) Preheat your oven to 375*
3.) Mix together all ingredients (except for butter and chicken) in a bowl.
4.) Take a sharp knife (not a serrated knife) and make a pocket in the biggest part of the chicken breast.
5.) You can try to 'spoon' the mixture in the hole, but you will most likely need to use your fingers to get it in there, it will be messy
6.) Stuff all chicken breasts and place in baking dish
7.) Brush melted butter over chicken breasts
8.) Place in oven for 45-55 minutes (until no longer pink, cooked til done)
9.) Cheese stuffing probably oozed out, but it is very yummy!
ENJOY!
Around the holidays, I take my chocolate chip cookie recipe and add crushed candy canes to it for a minty taste! This is a standard chocolate chip recipe so you can make minor modifications to it such as using walnuts, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, or as my title suggests, candy canes!
Preheat oven to 375*
Baking time is 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Sugar
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar--packed
3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar--packed
1 1/2 cups Crisco/Shortening--packed
2 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Water
4 Eggs
5 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Salt
Chocolate Chips, PB Chips, Walnuts, Candy Canes, etc
1.) Preheat oven to 375*
1a.) If making Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies, mash up candy canes first and set aside. This can be accomplished in a few ways. a.) Double or Triple ziploc baggie and rolling pin or meat tenderizer b.) small manual food chopper c.) Food Processor or Blender
I have used all 3 methods, and this time I used my Ninja blender. This was far easier than the other 2 options! However, it did make it into more of a dust instead of small pieces, but the cookies still came out great and it was no big deal!
2.) Mix together Flour, Baking Soda and Salt in large measuring cup; set aside
3.) Add all 3 sugars and Shortening to mixing bowl and start blending
4.) Add Vanilla, Water and Eggs and mix well
5.) Slowing add in Flour mixture until all gone
6.) Once dough is well mixed, stir in chips/nuts/candy canes and mix well
7.) Place 1" rolled balls of dough onto baking pans
8.) Bake for 4 minutes, then switch racks and bake another 4-5 minutes
9.) Move to cooling racks, once ready to store, place a piece of bread under a small piece of wax paper in the bottom of container, then fill with cookies. The bread will keep the cookies from getting hard/stale. You will notice that the bread will be rock hard after a few days.
ENJOY!
Edited: Because I did these posts so far apart, I forgot to go back and see what I put in part 1. I duplicated the rolling/cutting of the cookies so I have now deleted that
Frosting:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Crisco (Shortening)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/8 tsp Salt
2 cups Powdered Sugar
3-4 Tbsp Milk
Cocoa Powder (if making chocolate frosting)
1.) Mix shortening, vanilla and salt in mixer
2.) Alternately add in sugar and milk (I generally use more milk than called for, depends on the consistency you want)
3.) Once all ingredients added, mix on medium speed for 30 seconds to fluff the frosting a bit
4.) Divide out frosting into smaller container if you will be making colors. If making chocolate frosting, add in cocoa powder until desired color/taste.
5.) If making colors, add in food coloring to white frosting and mix well until desired color is reached (NOTE: it will take A LOT of 'red' color to get red. It will still look kind of pink though)
6.) Use a knife and start frosting your cookies! There is no right or wrong way to decorate! Use sprinkles too!
***I did make Christmas cookies, but this post was originally meant for Thanksgiving time***
This post is a 2-parter because cut-out cookies require more time and effort. I will post the recipe and baking of the cookies in one post, then the frosting recipe and decorating in another post. So get comfy, this is going to take awhile!
Making the Dough
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 cup Crisco/Vegetable Shortening
1 cup Milk
1 tbsp Vanilla
5 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1.) Mix dry ingredients together; set aside
2.) Mix on low-medium speed Sugar, Egg, Crisco/Shortening, Vanilla and Milk
3.) Slowly add in dry ingredients
4.) Once thoroughly mixed/blended together, cover mixing bowl (or transfer to another container) with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (3-4 hours would be good too, but I always do overnight due to time constraints)
Making the Cookies
When you are ready to start rolling out the dough, be prepared before you take the dough out of the fridge.
1.) Clear off a decent section of your counter and wipe it down. Also prep your cooling/decorating area. I use my kitchen table, I put down old towels to prevent heat transfer and cover them with wax paper
2.) Get out a nice pile of flour, rolling pin and selected cookie cutters
3.) Line your baking pans with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 375*
4.) Get out your bowl of dough and lightly sprinkle it with flour (the dough will be a little sticky, the flour makes it less sticky and easier to roll)
5.) Pull out a decent sized ball of dough (softball size is good) coat your hands with flour and just work the dough a little bit
6.) Spread some flour into the rolling area from the pile, and rub some flour onto your rolling pin
7.) Start rolling out your dough ball, sprinkle more flour as needed (it shouldn't be sticky/sticking to your rolling pin)
8.) Once half rolled, sprinkle with flour and flip over, continue rolling until desired thickness
9.) Take cookie cutter and dip into flour pile, then cut cookie into dough, re-dip cutter into flour, repeat until no more room on dough for another one
10.) Peel away the out-side dough and carefully pick up/used spatula to place cookies onto baking pan
11.) Scoop up dough scraps, get more from bowl and repeat until all dough is used up
12.) Bake 6-8 minutes on 375*, changing racks halfway through
13.) Let sit for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to cooling/decorating area that was set up in step #1
14.) Once all cookies are done and cooling, clean up your mess and get ready to make frosting to decorate these yummy sugar cookies!
