Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Ive been meaning to make this for a long time and it wasnt until I saw it again on this blog: Life in a Peanut Shell, (yet altered like I always do) that I was like, "OK, I have to do this." I love cookie dough and I love cheesecake, so I knew I'd like this. This type of dessert to me is like a heaven. My mom just about died. She usually never comments about anything I make since Im baking all the time and messing up her kitchen and she's just sick of it, but when she tasted this, she was just like "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is so good." She even said that I need to mention on my blog how much she likes it. Bake or Break is where the recipe comes from. I altered it a little. I made an oreo crust instead of a graham cracker crust and i replaced half of the chocolate chips (in the cookie dough) with m&m's and decorated the top w/ m&m's as well (for New Years).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
(Clike HERE for Original Recipe)
Oreo Crust
24 oreos, crushed
1/4 cup butter (1/2 of a stick), melted
Pinch of Salt
Filling
10 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cookie Dough
5 tablespoons Crisco
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini m&m's

For Crust: Mix all crust ingredients together and press up against bottom and 1" up sides of 9x9" glass square casserole dish. For Filling: Beat all filling ingredients together and pour over crust. For cookie dough: Mix Crisco with sugars, salt, and vanilla till well blended. Gradually add flour, chocolate chips, and m&ms till well combined. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling. Bake about 30 minutes at 325', or until set.
For chocolate topping, melt 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 T butter in a double boiler or in the microwave. Drizzle over top of bars. Top with several m&m's. Cool bars in pan completely, at least 1 hour.

Rice Krispy Treats

So I was curious about the "Rice Krispies Treats" cereal vs. regular "Rice Krispies" cereal and wondered if you could make traditional rice krispy treats out of it. So I bought the cereal, however there was a recipe for it right on the side of the box. So of course it can be done and not surprisingly it tasted the exact same as regular rice krispy treats. Here's the recipe, just in case you dont already have it... actually theres tons of different recipes for Rice Krispy Treats. For instance, the one on the marshmallows pkg is different then the one on the rice krispies cereal box. The ingredients are all the same but the ratios are different. Not sure which recipe is best): but heres the one I used...

Rice Krispy Teats

1/2 cup butter

1 (10.5 oz) pkg mini marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup mini chocolate chips or mini m&ms

In a large saucepan, melt butter and marshmallows over low heat stirring constantly until completely melted. Remove pan from heat. Quickly add cereal and stir till fully combined. Pour mixture into buttered 8x8" square pan. (I use either glass or silicone. Metal gives me the chills). Sprinkle top of krispy squares w/ chocolate chips. Let cool for apx 1 hr. Cut into 16 squares!

Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole
8 Slices of bread
8 Slices of bacon (cooked)
2 cups cheddar cheese
4 Eggs
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp dry mustard
3 T dried onion flakes
1/2 cup cream
1 cup milk
A dash of hot sauce
1/2 cup Butter

PLACE 4 of the bread slices on bottom of buttered 8-inch square baking dish; top with bacon and then cheese. Cover with remaining 4 bread slices. BEAT eggs, salt, pepper, mustard, onion, cream, milk, and hot sauce with wire whisk until well blended; pour over bread; Drizzle top of casserole w/ melted 1/2 cup butter. cover casserole. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. BAKE, uncovered, in preheated 350°F-oven for 1 hour or until center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

Hootenany Pancakes

Hootenany Pancakes

1/2 cup butter (one full stick)

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 425. Place stick of butter in 9x13" glass casserole dish. Melt butter in preheating oven. Remove just as soon as melted. While butter is melting, in blender, blend together eggs, milk, flour, and salt. Pour batter into the 9x13 dish over the melted butter. Bake 20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve w/ jam, syrup, powdered sugar, and/or sweetened whipped cream!

Santa Lucia

This morning we celebrated Santa Lucia (Swedish Holiday-supposed to be on the 13th). Family Tradition, few nights before Christmas, where my mom wakes us up at about 6am or just while its still dark and brings us downstairs around the dining room table for a Swedish Breakfast. She then tells us the story of Santa Lucia while we eat our Breakfast, this year and typically always it consists of Eggs, Oranges, Other Fruit, Bacon, sausage, Hash browns, Orange Rolls, Egg Nog, Hot Chocolate, Orange Juice, chocolate Santas, of course Swedish Pancakes (pictured above). Theres always spinning candles on the table and Swedish music in the background, and My mom always wears her white Santa Lucia dress and candles on her head while we just stay in pajamas. The tradition explaining the candles, the dress, and the dark all revolve around the story.

Swedish Pancakes
1 cup Flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk

Mix in blender or beat in mixing bowl till very smooth. Spread 1/2 c batter on buttered hot 10" non-stick skillet. Flip over when lightly golden on one side (apx 1 min.) Then cook other side (apx 30-60 sec.) Remove. Serve pancakes with butter, Smuckers seedless jam, &  Sweetened Whipped cream.

Three Cheese Garlic Scalloped Potatoes

I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com. Ive changed the recipe a little bit to the way that my family likes it. Make sure you slice the potatoes very very thin otherwise your cooking time will be off.

Three Cheese Garlic Scalloped Potatoes

(click here for original recipe)

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 slices provolone cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 1 or 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with butter.
Layer half of the potato slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Dot with half of the butter cut or pinched into small pieces. Arrange half of the garlic slices over the potatoes, then pour half of the heavy cream over. Sprinkle one cup of Cheddar cheese over the layer, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering of potatoes, garlic, cream and Cheddar cheese, then top with the slices of provolone cheese. Season again with salt and pepper.
Bake for 1/2 hour in the preheated oven, then sprinkle the Parmesan or Romano cheese over the top. This will create a semi-hard cheese crust. Cover top of casserole dish with aluminum foil. Continue baking covered for another 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when tested with a fork. Serves 4

About Me

Sorry I haven't posted lately. Its not because I'm too busy or too lazy, its just that all Ive been making are m&m cookies, thousands of them because 1st off; my mom makes me make them so she can give them away as Christmas gifts and 2nd; because its the best cookie recipe, no sorry, the best ANYTHING recipe in the entire word! I feel bad wasting my Crisco or my sugar on anything else.

Why am I up right now at 4AM writing on my blog? Its not because I am obsessed and addicted to the Internet, not at all, I actually hardly ever get on. The only time I ever log on (right now being the one and only exception) is when I baked something new and need to post about it. So once again, why am I up right now at 4AM? Its because I have major insomnia. It usually takes me from laying down at 2AM to staring at the ceiling for 4 hours to finally falling asleep at 6AM. It sux so bad. There are 2 reasons for this, 1 because I have ADD and mind races and races and has a hard time just shutting down and 2 because I am a waitress and am usually scheduled the graveyard shift so Its hard on the nights I'm not working, to re-adjust my body clock and fall asleep early.

I dyed my hair black a couple weeks ago. Ive been blond my entire life but after a thousand people told me to go dark and after one of my really sick relationship breakups that drove me practically insane, I decided to do it. I looked in the mirror at it & cried for about an hour then I really liked it for about a week & got a ton of compliments & then I decided I couldn't stand it & had to be blond again. & anyone who's done it before knows its a nightmare going from dark to blond, especially from black to blond. So I went back to blond & I absolutely love it... again

People try my cookies, ask me for the recipe, but sometimes say "I followed the recipe exactly, but They didn't turn out like yours" So Really quick I'll share some cookie baking tips that will help your cookies turn out like mine:

1. Use a silver jelly roll pan to bake your cookies (like the one pictured below)
2. My typical 2 egg cookie recipe calls for 3 cup flour. If dough isn't stiff, use 1/4 cup more.
3. Always under bake. Don't bake cookies till golden. Take them out before golden otherwise they'll dry hard and crunchy (unless you like that/:)
4. Always Bake the cookies at 350.
5. When you place the cookie sheet in the oven, place it on the middle/upper rack with another pan underneath it for insulation.
6. Don't substitute butter for the Crisco. You have to use butter-flavored Crisco.. Have to!

Reeses Chocolate Cookies

Reeses Chocolate Cookies
1-1/8 cups Crisco

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2-1/4 cups flour
1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips

1-1/2 cups semisweet Mini Chocolate Chips

Beat Crisco and sugar till creamy. Beat in baking soda, baking powder, salt, and then cocoa till well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour and then baking chips till full incorporated. Drop cookies by rounded tablespoonfulls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

M&M Cookies

M&M Cookies
1 cup butter-flavored Crisco
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 t vanilla
3 cups flour (or a little more if mixture doesnt seem stiff enough)
1 bag m&m's (about 2 cups or 14oz)

Beat Crisco and sugars till creamy. Add egg, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat till well combined. Gradually beat in the flour and then the M&M's. Drop by large tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Best Treat Ever

What this is, is one of my homemade chocolate chip cookies (or M&M cookies) topped with frosting and then topped with sweetened whipped cream!!! Its so so so delicious. I eat one of these at least once a week! I'll write out the "recipe" below...

Best Treat Ever
Ingredients:
1 homemade M&M Cookie (not hot)
Pillsbury vanilla Frosting
Homemade Sweetened Whipped Cream
Directions:
Take One m&m cookie. Spread top of cookie w/ vanilla frosting. Spread top of frosting with whipped cream. Serve immediately and enjoy(:

M&M Christmas Cookies

So we had a Christmas boutique just the other day and I made a whole bunch of these and they sold really well (2 cookies per pkg.) and all the people, especially my cousins, just go crazy over them. So basically its just My best chocolate chip cookie recipe made with Christmas m&m's and then 2 bagged up in each Christmas pkg.

M&M Christmas Cookies

1 cup butter-flavored Crisco

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1 t salt

2 t vanilla

3 cups flour

1 bag Christmas m&m's (about 2 cups or 14oz)

Beat Crisco and sugars till creamy. Add egg, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat till well combined. Gradually beat in the flour and then the M&M's. Drop by large tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Buttermilk Syrup

I posted a photo for this recipe on allrecipes years ago and they've always used my photo as the main photo, so I guess it was a good one:/ Ha Ha. Anyway, after trying this syrup you never want to use store-bought again. Also if you dont have buttermilk; then milk, or cream, or 1/2&1/2 work awsome too!

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread cookies

Chocolate Chip Shortbread cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips or mini m&m's

Mix together the butter and the sugar till creamy. Gradually add the cornstarch and flour till well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips or m&m's. Shape dough into little balls. Put on a non-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Powdered Sugar Cookies

This is and always will be my favorite recipe for cut-out sugar cookies. They turn out perfect every time.

Powdered Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Beat butter with sugar till creamy. Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, and cream of tartar; mix well. Gradually add flour and beat until well incorporated. Roll dough into ball and cover w/ cling wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hr. Roll dough 1/2" thick and cut w/ cookie cutters. Place shapes on cookie sheet and Bake each batch 8 min at 350.

Lemon Bars

First Picture: The crust just before baking. Second Picture: The bars just after baking, before sprinkling w/ powdered sugar

LEMON BARS

Crust:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar or 3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 cups flour

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup flour

6 T lemon juice

Powdered sugar (for sprinkling on top)

Crust: Beat together butter and sugar till creamy. Gradually add flour till well combined. Press dough into 9x13 pan and bake 15 minutes at 350.

Filling: Beat all filling ingredients together till well combined. Pour over hot crust. Bake an aditional 25 to 35 minutes (or until not runny) at 325. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and then cut into bars.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

1 cup Crisco or butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup baking cocoa

1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups peanut butter chips

Beat Crisco and sugars till creamy. Add vanilla, eggs, baking powder, cocoa, and pudding mix; beat till well combined. Gradually add the flour and the the peanut butter chips. Drop by large dough balls onto buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Sometimes I make these without adding chocolate chips or peanut butter chips (like in the 1st picture) just to make them traditional. But usually I add stuff (like in the 2nd picture) especially cuz I love chocolate. Anyway this is a good peanut butter cookie recipe. Theyre super soft, hence the title.

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter or Crisco
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup mini reeses peices baking bits or chocolate chips (optional)

Combine butter and sugars until creamy. Add peanut butter, mix well. Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, and then salt and mix until everything is well combined. Gradually add the flour and then the baking bits (if you'd like.) Roll dough into 1/4-cup-full-sized balls and then roll the balls in additional granualted sugar. Place dough balls on cookie sheet and, with a the back side of a fork, make a crisscross pattern on each cookies (this step is optional if you used baking bits.) Bake at 350 for 7 to 10 minutes.

Toll House Pie

Shortbread Crust
3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1-1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Toll House Pie

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs

1/2 cup + 1/8 cup flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For shortbread crust, mix together all shortbread ingredients till dough forms. Press dough against bottom and sides of greased 9x9 glass casserole dish.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars till creamy. Beat in eggs till fluffy. Gradually add flour and chocolate chips until well combined. Pour batter into unbaked shortbread crust. Bake at 325 for 1 hour. Serve plain or with ice cream or whipped cream.

Chocolate Marshmallow Meltaways

There is this catering company by my house that sells cookies up front. Last time I was there all they had were Chocolate Marshmallow cookies. I'd never had them before so I didn't know what to expect but they were soooo good. I remembered seeing them before in my Taste Of Homes - Best Loved Cookies & Bars cook book so I got really excited because I knew that that way I'd be able to replicate them. I didn't change the recipe at all and I'm glad I didn't. Its perfect as written. Mine turned out really good, but not exactly the same. I used Hershey's Dark Cocoa so they were darker than the catering company's and also my frosting wasn't as smooth. But whatever, they tasted dang good and that's all that matters!!

Chocolate Marshmallow Meltaways

1/2 cup Crisco

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

8 marshmallows, halved

Frosting

3 tablespoons butter

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons baking cocoa

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 to 6 tablespoons half & half (or milk)

Cream Crisco, and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in milk, egg, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add flour and cocoa and mix well. Roll mixture into 16 balls and place the dough balls on buttered cookie sheet. Bake 6 minutes at 350. Press a marshmallow half, cut side down, onto each cookie; Bake 2 minutes longer. Remove cookies to cool. For the frosting; In small bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt till smooth. Add enough half and half to achieve spreading consistency. Frost the cookies. Makes 16 cookies!!

Reese's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm so sorry. But once again I made chocolate chip cookies. However these are a little different and fortunately really really good, OF COURSE. These are basically the same recipe as my post of toll house cookies, except I added Reese's chips, changed the sugar ratio, and used just baking powder no baking soda and cut the recipe in half. Actually that's quite a bit different. Anyway, Ill write it exactly how I made it below. These are super thick, chewy, and delicious. I model all of my chocolate chip cookies off of the Levain Recipe because that is my very favorite recipe.

Reese's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup Butter Flavored Crisco

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup mini Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup mini Reese's Pieces

Beat Crisco and sugars till creamy. Add egg, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Beat till well combined. Gradually beat in the flour and then the chocolate chips and Reese's. Drop by large tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Soft Sugar Cookies

Ive never been a fan of sugar cookies that call for sour cream. Sour Cream is supposed to make the cookies softer but the real trick for soft cookies is just to slightly under-bake them. Sour cream to me just makes the cookie seem too much like a biscuit rather than a cookie. The sour cream makes the cookies puff up with sort of this light weightless texture that isn't right for a cookie, in my opinion. However one of my most favorite recipe blogs that I visit basically daily is cookingwithcarrie. And one of her posts was Soft Sugar Cookies and hers looked so so beautiful that I had to make them. They were pretty good (well decent, but i had low expectations from the start, hence the sour cream) and they did taste somewhat like the Loft House cookies, however mine didn't turn out as pretty as hers did. I think the biggest reason is because I used butter instead of Crisco since I ran out of Crisco and also my mom wouldn't let me put food coloring in the frosting so that made them kinda ugly too but I'm going to post the real recipe below because if you make them I want yours to turn out just as pretty as Carries.



Soft Sugar Cookies

(original recipe)



Sugar Cookie Ingredients
1 cup shortening(I use Crisco)
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream together butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients till well combined. Roll out chilled dough 1/2 inch thick on floured surface and cut out circle shapes using the rim of a cup. Bake for 8 minutes at 350.



Butter Cream Frosting Ingredients
2 pound bag powdered sugar (I added an additional cup to get the thicker consistency I wanted)1/2 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Food coloring, if desired


Mix all ingredients till well combined and spread over cooled cookies.

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

1 full cup granulated sugar
7 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat together butter, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder in mixing bowl till smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla till well combined. Add the flour and stir just until it is mixed in, then stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto buttered cookie sheet and bake at 350 for apx 8-10 minutes. Makes about 18 cookies.

Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

Chocolate Rice Cripsy Treats

1/4 cup butter
40 Large Marshmallows
6 cups cocoa krispies cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate mini chips

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. As soon as butter is melted, add marshmallows and stir occasionally until marshmallows are melted, or have lost their shapes. Remove pan from heat. Slowly stir in Cocoa Cereal until fully combined. With rubber spatula Spread and press Cereal-marshmallow mixture into lightly buttered 9x9" square glass casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and scatter evenly. Use buttered hand to once again firmly press the mixture in the pan. Chill in the refrigerator apx 1 hr before cutting into bars.

We cut these into 16 large bars by cutting the them 4x4 or sometimes we go even larger and cut into just 9 bars by cutting 3x3.

Chocolate Cream pie

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 (heaping) tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk

1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sweet whipped cream

In a large mixing bowl, cream together egg yolks and sugar. Mix in cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt. Add milk and stir gently.
Pour mixture into a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in butter or margarine and vanilla extract. Cool slightly, then pour mixture into chilled baked pastry shell. Chill before serving. Garnish with whipped cream.

ANickH Cheesecake

This is far Different from your average cheesecake. First off, it uses a shortbread crust (why?because I love shortbread). Second, its baked in a glass dish instead of a springform pan (why? because I get the chills when I think of metal w/ cheesecake). And Third, its creamy yet dense (due to the flour/milk combo in the ingredients). Anyway, it's awesome. I've made it many times and my family always says this is the best cheesecake!

ANickH Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
3/8 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

Crust: In a large bowl, combine flour, margarine, confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Mix well and press into a 9 inch glass pie pan or 9x9 glass casserole dish. Prick all over and bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes.

Filling: In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
Bake in preheated oven for apx 45 minutes. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I stole this recipe off of allrecipes but I changed it up a bit. I've made these cookies several times and the only thing I do different is I use half butter and half Crisco and sometimes I use m&m's or mini chocolate chips instead of regular chocolate chips. Modified or not, it's a fabulous recipe.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

(modified from original recipe)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Crisco
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or M&M's)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In large bowl, beat butter, crisco, and sugar till creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt until light and fluffy. Combine the flour and cocoa; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set.

Cherry Pie

Simple (Yet Still Delicious) Cherry Pie

Simple Cherry Pie
Ingredients:
1 Betty Crocker Pie Crust Mix
1 can (21oz) cherry pie filling
Whipping Cream, Sweetened

Mix all contents of pie crust mix pkg. with apx. 6 Tablespoons of ice cold water (plus a little flour if needed) to form 2 separate balls of pie dough, one for the base and one for the topping. Roll dough balls out flat to form two wide flat circles. Place one dough circle on base and up sides of pie dish. Fill base with Cherry Pie filling. Cover with second dough circle and then seal all edges. Bake apx. 40 minutes at 350. Serve pie with Sweetened Whipped Cream.

Personal Photos

Top Picture: Me and my younger cousins at Lake Powell

Bottom Picture: Just Me

Pie Dough

PIE DOUGH

Pie Dough

1 1/4 cups flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter or cold crisco
3 Tablespoons very cold water

Combine Flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in pieces of the crisco (or butter) until flour/crisco mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add Cold water and knead dough with hands until mixture comes together. Roll out dough till thin and flat and put into pie dish or roll the dough into a ball and save in your fridge for later use.

(Good for one single-dish pie)