Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

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.



Friday, November 20, 2009

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.

Monday, November 16, 2009

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.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

jeremy behle

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.


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Cherry Pie

Simple (Yet Still Delicious) Cherry Pie


jeremy behle
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

Sunday, November 8, 2009

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)

French Silk Pie

Without Question, The Greatest Pie recipe Ever




French Silk Pie
Pre-Baked Pie Crust
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs (or 1 cup of egg product is you're scared of raw eggs)
Whipped cream (slightly sweetened)
Beat sugar and butter until sugar is not grainy. Add chocolate and vanilla. Add eggs, two at a time, beating 5 minutes after each addition. Pour into cooled pie crust. Chill 1 hour. Top with whipped cream and a little grated chocolate. Chill 2 more hours. Store in refrigerator.

Mexican Wedding Cookies


Mexican Wedding Cookies (Also Known As Snowballs)
Typically I don't like cookies with nuts, so you'll rarely see me post them but these cookies wouldn't be the same without the nuts. In fact they'd just be shortbread, so the nuts are essential. The first time I heard about Mexican Wedding Cookies was in my Spanish class in junior high (Turpin High School). We were having a Cinco De Mayo party and I had to bring a Latin treat to share. So my mom suggested I make Mexican Wedding cookies and so I did and we all loved them. This is the 1st time I personally have made these since, and they were just as good as I remembered.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped Pecans

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat butter, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and the vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour and pecans, beating on low speed after each addition until well blended.
SHAPE dough into 1 or 2 inch balls. Roll each ball in remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar and then place on baking sheets.
BAKE 10 min. or until bottoms of cookies are lightly golden. Roll warm cookies again in remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar until evenly coated.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

TollHouse Cookies

TollHouse Cookies (Improvised!)

1 Cup Butter Flavored Crisco
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
3 Cups Flour
2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Cream Crisco with sugars. Add eggs. Beat till light and fluffy. Beat in Vanilla, Salt, Baking Soda, and Baking Powder. Gradually mix in Flour and Chocolate Chips until fully Incorporated. Drop 1/4 cup sized balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Pumpkin Pie

This is the easiest and creamiest pumpkin pie recipe out there. To make sure you don't get any egg shells in your pie, crack the eggs in a separate bowl 1st and look closely to make sure there are no shell pieces before adding the eggs to the rest of the ingredients.



Condensed Milk Pumpkin Pie!!!!
1 unbaked deep dish pie crust
1 can (15 oz) Pumpkin
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 Tbs pumpkin pie spice
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. 2. Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. 3. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake 40 minutes longer or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.



Samoa Bars

Mine don't look as good. I'm weird and used a 9x9 instead so theyre extra thick. Thick or not however, these bars are so dang good! They do tast exactly like the girl scout samoa cookies.
For the recipe, just click on this link... Samoa Bars