Friday, October 30, 2009

Monster Cookies

Don't be scared.
Don't run away.
You MUST try these.
MONSTER COOKIES
This recipe is amazing.
It is amazing in it's size.
The recipe I am going to give you is only HALF.
Can you imagine making the FULL recipe?
It would probably make 12 dozen cookies!
AND...
they are good!
MONSTER COOKIES
2 sticks margarine, softened
1 1/2 lbs peanut butter
1 lb brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
6 eggs
1/2 tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tbsp. corn syrup
4 tsp. baking soda
9 cups quick oatmeal
1/2 lb chocolate chips
1/2 lb plain m&m's
Preheat oven to 350*

In a large mixer, cream together margarine and peanut butter.
Add the two sugars.
While still mixing, add eggs, corn syrup and vanilla.
Add baking soda, making sure it distributes through mixture.
Gradually add in oatmeal.
At this point, the mixture is going to get tough, and thick.
You will need to mix in chocolate chips and m&m's with a spoon.
Probably a good strong heavy wooden spoon.
(Can you imagine if you were doing the FULL recipe?)

Using a large scoop, and on an UNGREASED cookie sheet,
place 6 cookies. Make sure you leave room, because they will
GROW!

Bake for 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before
moving them to a cooling rack.

These cookies really are fun to make.
My friend Stephanie's kids LOVE these cookies.
She will refridgerate the dough and cook them
so her kids have WARM cookies!
She is such a fun mom!
She said they will keep in the fridge for about
2 weeks.
Thanks for having me over and making them for me Steph!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everybody should have this recipe, right?
Well, just in case you don't, here's a good one!
This is a recipe that my neighbor and youth leader,
Ronda,
gave me when I got married.
I was SO excited!
Her cookies are the best...I think she puts the
*addiction*
drug in hers...
Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
1 lb butter (softened)
6 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. soda
12 oz package chocolate chips
2 cups nuts, if desired.
(I actually added Pecans to this batch!)
Preheat oven to 350*

Cream together sugars, egg, vanilla and butter.
Then add dry ingredients.
(remember to combine your soda and salt with the flour!)

Add 1 package milk chocolate chips
and nuts, if desired, at this point.
Using my scoop, as usual, place dough on a greased
(or parchment lined) cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Grab that milk right now!

Monday, October 26, 2009

No Bake Cookies

Yes, it's true.
I have NEVER made these.
Maybe in high school, but who's young enough to remember that?
I didn't even have a recipe for it!
I grabbed this one from my friend Morgan's cookbook.
Thanks Morgan!
NO-BAKE COOKIES
4 cups sugar
1 cup margarine
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
6 cups quick oats, uncooked
1 cup coconut (optional)
In a large sauce pan, combine sugar, margarine, milk and cocoa and mix well.
Bring to a boil over low heat and boil for one minute.
Add peanut butter, stirring until melted.
Add oats and coconut.

Mix well.

Using your scoop, (because I like things to be the same size)
drop onto wax paper.

Let stand until set. Keep them away from your son that is allergic to peanuts!

The best part about these...NO BAKING!
That was a nice change!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Cookie Week(s)

Welcome to Cookie Week!
As I was contemplating what desserts
to make and post next on the blog...
I starting making a list of the different recipes I have.
I discovered that there are SO MANY
different recipes for cookies!
(hense the cookie week(s))
I am so excited, because even though you think you have
enough cookie recipes, you'll find some on here that
might not have had before.
I did...
If you will believe it, I don't think i've ever made no-bake cookies!
So, those are first!
Stay tuned!!!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Corny Rice Crispy Treats

Who doesn't love a rice crispy treat?
Who doesn't love Halloween?
Why not combine the two?
Add some candy corn, and heck, why not,
chocolate chips!
Voila...there you go!

Corny Rice Crispy Treats

1/2 cup butter
9 cups mini marshmallows
10 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup candy corn
1 cup indian candy corn
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
yellow & red food coloring

Butter a 9x13 or a jelly roll pan and set aside.
(you need to decide if you want THICK rice crispy treats
or THIN rice crispy treats...scroll down to the finished product
picture and you will see what I'm talking about..it FILLS the pan!)


In a large sauce pan, melt butter over low heat.
Once the butter has melted, turn heat to medium and add marshmallows.
Once they start melting, add food coloring to make a nice orange color,
if desired. Continue stirring until color is incorporated into marshmallows.

In a large bowl with the crispy rice cereal, add marshmallows
and begin mixing. As the marshmallows start to cool, they become
tough...so be prepared. Add the candy corn and stir a little bit
more, and then the chocolate chips as you are about done mixing.
You do NOT want to add the chocolate chips before then, because
they WILL MELT.
(don't ask me how I know this...)

After everything is added.

Using buttered hands, spread and press into the prepared pans.
Let it sit until firm.

See what I told you about it FILLING the pan?

It is SO good!
My secret to getting the treats soft and gooey...
add extra marshmallows...not quite a full cup.
It works for me!





Thursday, October 22, 2009

Caramel Crispy Treats

Are you ready for a new treat?
This has the caramel flavor that I love,
with a crispy rice *snap* as well!
And...who doesn't like chocolate!
Caramel Crispy Treats
1 pkg refrigerated cookie dough
1 bag (14 oz) caramels, wrappers removed
3 tbsp milk
2 cups crispy rice cereal
mini m&m's as desired
Preheat oven to 350*
In a small mini-muffin pan, place small tablespoons of sugar cookie
dough. Press dough into bottom and up the sides of the tin.
Bake for 8 minutes. Cookies will be puffy. Gently press down the
center of each cookie, return to the oven for 1 minute and then
remove. Cool cookies in muffin tin for 5 minutes.
Gently remove from tin and cool on wire rack.

In a small sauce pan, melt caramel with milk over low heat,
stirring frequently until smooth.
Stir in cereal.
You may want to add less cereal, depending if you want it more
caramel, or more cereal for the mixture. I wanted more cereal,
so I added the full 2 cups.
Stir until coated.
Add spoonfulls of mixture to cookie cups to heaping, and add m&m's.

It's a fun little treat! It would even work for non-halloween,
just add all the colored mini m&m's.
(Yes, I went through and sorted my mini m&m's to get just the
orange and brown...I need therapy!)
Bite size fun!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Freaky Fingers

Looking for something "freaky" to take to a halloween party?
This just might be the answer for you!
A fun little treat, that just might gross you out enough to not want to eat!
HEHE
Freaky Fingers
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. salt
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
red decorating gel
(this recipe actually makes about 4 dozen fingers, I halfed my recipe)
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and extracts.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add into creamed mixture.

Dough will be thick. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Once cooled, take dough into a small ball and shape into a
finger. Make sure it is thin...they get bigger as they cook.
Measurements would probably be 3 inches long by .5 inches wide.

Form them so that they look like a finger with knuckles.
Using the flat end of a knife, make an indent for the finger nail.
Then make 3 slices for the knuckle.
mmmm, doesn't that look FREAKY?
Let's take another look!
Bake at 325* for 20 minutes. I actually moved my tray
one shelf higher in the oven so the bottoms didn't burn.
Using the red gel, apply in the spot where the fingernails go
(almond slices) and then apply the slices.
They taste kinda like a sugar cookie, but they LOOK like fingers!
Weird!
Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Sugar Cookie Pizza....Halloween Style

Are you looking for a fun, cute, treat to take to your Halloween party?
Well, this is it!
It's fun, festive, and very, very yummy.
Also, high on the sugar count, which is required for a Halloween treat!
I love the colors.
and it's not bad on the taste buds too!

Sugar Cookie Pizza

1 16 oz package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 12 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups M&M's
2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup peanuts
(I didn't add peanuts to this...my son is allergic to peanuts,
so if I CAN leave them out, I will.)

Preheat oven to 375*

Press cookie dough into a cookie sheet. Make sure the
cookie dough is not too thick so it will cook all the way through
in 10 minutes.

In a medium-size sauce pan, add sweetened condensed milk
and chocolate chips. Spread over cooked cookie dough.
Sprinkle with the M&M's and marshmallows.
Turn your oven on low broil to *toast* the marshmallows.
Make sure you watch them so they do not burn!

Don't the look good and colorful?
They are!
If you like the color of these M&M's,
my cousin has a really cute idea for cookies on her blog
So, check it out!
And stay tuned for more Halloween snack fun, coming this week!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Homemade Oreo Cookies

This is a *sneak peak* of things to come!

I've been thinking of things to post,
what dessert to make next.
(believe me, I have a ton!
So many friends have offered their recipes,
and, don't forget, grandma's recipe box too!)
So, what i've decided to do
is
COOKIE WEEK
(it might end up being cookie 2 weeks)
However, I am going to do some cute Halloween treats for the next couple of posts,
in honor of the up and coming holiday!

But, let's get to the task at hand.

You will not believe how SOFT, CHEWY AND DELICIOUS these are!
Oh, did I mention EASY, SIMPLE AND FAST!

HOMEMADE OREO COOKIES

First, you need to decide how many of the delicious cookies you want to make.
*Half* the recipe made 44 cookies, which, when you put them together, makes 22 cookies.
I made half, wishing I would have made the *full* recipe.
I will give you the full recipe. Make it, you won't regret it!

2 Devi's Food cake mixes
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup shortening

8 oz. cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick butter
Preheat oven to 350*


Combine cake mix, eggs and shortening. Mix with hand beater
until all the ingredients are combined.

I LOVE my pampered chef scoops. I use the small scoop.
Whatever size you use, you want to make sure that they
are all the same size, because you are putting them together.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove them from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.
Now for the DELICIOUS center!!!
Using a hand mixer, combine cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar.
I used my pampered chef frosting decorater and filled it with the
cream cheese mixture. You could also use a sandwich bag or even a spoon.
Whatever you choose to do, you just need to place a generous amount of
the mixture on the cookies.

You don't want to smash them together to squish out all the
cream cheese. Put them together and enjoy!
Try not to eat them all in one sitting!
Can I say it one more time......DELICIOUS!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Pumpkin Roll

Now, please, nobody look at this recipe and think...
this is too hard.
Because, I guarantee you,
it is NOT!
I've had this recipe for a while, but to be honest with you,
this is my first time making it myself.
And, it was NOT hard.
Besides, it is TOO GOOD to not make!
Once it's been in the fridge and cooled, oh my goodness!

Pumpkin Roll

3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin

Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
6 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375*
Using a jelly roll pan, line with parchment paper.
Get a clean kitchen towel and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.

Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer until thick.
Add flour, soda, powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
Continue mixing until all ingredients are combined.
Pour evenly into pan.
It will be very thin.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, use a toothpick to make sure it is done.
Turn cake onto powdered sugar towel.

Carefully peel off paper.

Roll up cake in towel, starting with the narrow end.
Cool on wire rack.
For best results, cool for at least 3 hours.

Beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Carefully unroll the cake and remove the towel.
Now, the next picture isn't *pretty*, but it's what I do.

Take spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture and place them on the cake.
It makes it easier to spread, and doesn't tear the cake.

Spread evenly across the cake, making sure to get to the edge.

Roll cake back up the way it was originally rolled.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Place in fridge for at least one hour.

Oh my GOSH! So good!