Thursday, April 26, 2012

S'more Cookies

This is no joke a campfire in a cookie. I hate marshmallows and love these cookies. Kiddos love them! Here's what you'll need
Butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, an egg, salt, flour, baking soda, cornstarch, graham crackers, chocolate chips/hershey bars, and mini marshmallows. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth. add both sugars
Blend until creamy. Add vanilla and egg
Beat well. Toss in all the remaining ingredients, except graham crackers!
Mix on low speed until just combined. Add graham cracker pieces
Gently fold in, trying not to crush the graham crackers into crumbs. Cover and store in the fridge for at least an hour. Scoop into dough balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake about 8 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie. Cool on pan about 2 minutes, gently transfer onto wire rack or foil to cool completely. Serve!
Enjoy... even if you don't have a campfire :)
S'more Cookies (Campfire Cookies)


Ingredients: 
3/4 c. butter, soft 
3/4 c. brown sugar 
1/4 c. sugar 
1 egg 
2 tsp. vanilla extract 
2 c. all purpose flour 
2 tsp. cornstarch 
1 tsp. baking soda 
1/2 tsp. salt 
1 c. chocolate chips OR 3 hershey bars, chopped
1 c. mini marshmallows
3 full graham crackers, broken

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In a large bowl, cream the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add sugars and beat until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3.  Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, and marshmallows until just combined. Gently fold in graham crackers. Refrigerate at least one hour.

4.  Using a cookie scoop or spoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.  (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5.  Let cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, transfer to cooling rack or foil to finish cooling. My favorite way to eat them is warm with a tall glass of milk. Enjoy :)

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Cake Batter Puppy Chow

I love cake batter anything. So of course I flipped out when I saw this. It is super easy and super addictive if you're a cake batter lover like myself. Here's what you need
Chex, yellow cake mix, powdered sugar, vanilla almond bark, sprinkles :) Melt bark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds; let cool about a minute, but not too long because the chocolate will harden up. In a big ole bowl combine all your ingredients, except sprinkles
Gently stir together and decorate with sprinkles
ta-da, simple as that.

Cake Batter Puppy Chow

5 cups chex
10 oz (5 squares) vanilla almond bark, melted and slightly cooled
1 1/4 cups yellow cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Colorful sprinkles

Gently combine all ingredients, except sprinkles in a large bowl. Once chex is well coated, decorate with sprinkles! Serve :)

Sunday, March 4, 2012

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

 Um... these are delicious. I just had myself a little baking night with my friend, Ellen Griffin and she decided to make these. I'm so glad she did because this recipe is a keeper for sure. It's a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe, but we replaced chocolate chips with white chocolate chips and craisins. You use whatever you please, because this recipe is just good no matter what you put in it. I wasn't expecting these to be worth blogging because I already have a few basic cookie recipes on here, but I was wrong. So that means I didn't take step-by-step pictures. I apologize. I took pictures of the finished cookies, and the pictures don't do these justice, just trust.

White Chocolate Craisin Cookies
1 cup butter, soft
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature if possible
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter, vanilla, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs; mix well. Add in flour, baking soda and salt. Beat until well combined. Stir in white chocolate chips and craisins by hand. Drop about a 1/2 tablespoon (or whatever your desired cookie size is) onto the baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies do not really brown, so don’t over bake them!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Cookie Dough Dip

This taste like dipping a graham cracker straight up in cookie dough. Except this dip is a little creamier and egg-free! Wooooo. That's right. & It's super easy. I made it for a party and everyone loved it. It keeps in the fridge well for about 5 days. Here's what you need
Cream cheese, butter, vanilla, brown sugar, powdered sugar, and chocolate chips. Melt together butter and brown sugar in a small pot
 Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. Whisk in vanilla
While it is finishing cooling, beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium-size bowl
When the butter mixture is completely cooled, add it to the cream cheese mixture, along with the chocolate chips
Beat all the ingredients together until well combined. The reason the butter mixture must be cool is so it will not melt the chocolate chips or the cream cheese. It is very important. Patience's is a virtue :) Anyways, refrigerate dip for about 30 minutes to set up. Scoop into a pretty serving bowl and serve!
I served mine with graham cracker sticks, vanilla wafers, and animals crackers. Enjoy!

"safe to eat" Cookie Dough Dip 
1 stick butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanila
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Melt butter and brown sugar together in a saucepan. Bring to a quick boil. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Let cool and set aside. In a large bowl, whip together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add cooled butter mixture. Beat in until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Scoop into a pretty little bowl, refrigerate until ready to serve! Serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, animal crackers, etc. Enjoy :)

Friday, February 24, 2012

Meet Biscoff

I have been in love with this stuff ever since I laid my taste buds on it. The only way I can think of to describe it is the texture of peanut butter and the taste of a graham cracker. I don't know one person that doesn't get addicted after the first time they try it, so be very careful. I've eaten a whole jar in 4 days.. that's embarrassing. Anyways, I discovered this deliciousness in October and they JUST now got it in Bowling Green. Embarrassing once again, but every time I was out of town I would check numerous grocery stores until I found it. I just had to get my hands on this stuff as much as I could. Now that I have talked biscoff up so much, I hope you love it. Since I am so fond of it, I decided to bake with it. Biscoff mission number one: no bake cookies. These are super sweet, super rich and taste as they are supposed to, an oatmeal biscoff cookie. I loved these and this may seem odd, but I think I would rather eat biscoff straight from the jar over cookie form. Since I saw these on pinterest, I just had to make them. Here's what you'll need
Butter, sugar, vanilla, milk, oats, and of course biscoff. Add your butter, sugar, and milk to a pot
 Melt over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let bubble for 1 minute. Don't skip this step, it's important

Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients
Stir well. Now for the fun part, test taste it while it's fresh to see if it needs anything. I ended up adding more milk, biscoff, and a little cinnamon
Scoop mixture out in desired size onto foil or freezer paper. You may have to flatten each cookie a little right when you scoop them out
And of course the biscoff flavor was booming to me so I melted some biscoff and drizzled over each cookie..
It gives them a little hint of prettiness too
Let them cool and set up. This will take about 20 minutes. Store in an air-tight container so they don't dry out.

Biscoff No Bake Cookies
2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Biscoff spread
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups oats


In large saucepan, mix butter, sugar and milk on medium high heat. Bring to a boil, and boil for one minute (don't skip this step)! Remove from heat. Stir in the Biscoff spread, vanilla, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Fold in oatmeal. Scoop cookie dough onto parchment paper in 1-2 Tbsp scoops. Allow to set (about 30 minutes). Remove and store in air tight container. Yum. (Top with melted biscoff if desired)

Monday, February 20, 2012

Cheesy Italian Sausage Dip

Another pinterest recipe for yall! I love cooking, but I just don't cook as much as I bake. I'm trying to fix that a little, so for starters, I'll make fattening, creamy, delicious dips. This is called 'The Perfect Super Bowl Dip' on pinterest, but I didn't make it for the super bowl and it was still perfect :) Everyone loved it and there were no left-overs. This should be on your menu for your next get together. Here's what you'll need
 Mayo, cream cheese, sour cream, milk, onion, garlic, shredded parmesan cheese, banana peppers, spinach, red bell pepper, and Italian sausage. Combine sausage, garlic, bell pepper, and onion in a lightly oiled skillet
Cook, stirring constantly. Once the sausage is browned and the onions are semi-translucent
Remove from heat. Drain if there is a lot of left-over grease; set aside to cool a little. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, mayo, cheese, sour cream, and milk
Whisk together until well combined. Add sausage mixture and sliced sliced & drained banana peppers
Fold in. Add the chopped spinach to make it healthy
Gently stir in until the spinach is all throughout the dip. Scoop finished dip into a greased dish. Spread out evenly and sprinkle with more shredded cheese
Bake to perfection. Serve with tortilla chips, bread, veggies, and crackers. Now, this is not the most photogenic food, but it is absolutely delish
No doubt, it's cheesy. Enjoy! To reheat, microwave or place back in a greased pan and place in the oven and rebake as you did the first time.

Cheesy Italian Sausage Dip
(recipe from: The Daily Dish)

8 ounces Italian sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups chopped fresh spinach leaves
1/3 cup mild banana peppers, drained and chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large skillet, cook sausage, onion, red pepper, and garlic until sausage is browned, stirring often; drain off fat and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, stir together cream cheese, Parmesan, milk, mayonnaise, and sour cream.  Add sausage mixture and banana peppers; gently stir to combine.  Fold in spinach leaves. Spread the mixture into a  greased dish (about a 9x13). Sprinkle with more shredded cheese, if desired. Bake about 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.  Serve with chips, crackers, bread, or veggies. Enjoy :)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

White Chocolate Chess Squares

I always make really girly desserts, but when this time of year rolls around (V-day), I make more than usual. My reasoning behind this, there are lots of single girls who want a boyfriend and are depressed so they eat lots of sugar in hopes that their sad feelings will go away. Anyways, I know girls like dessert more than ever around this day, so I make extra girly things. One thing among the many are white chocolate butter bars, AKA: White Chocolate Chess Cake Squares, Gooey Butter Cake, etc. I'm sure you've tried this wonderful dessert, or at least have heard of it. I first saw it a few years back when I was watching a Paula Deen episode. I made them as soon as the credits came on. They have been a go-to dessert since. The only difference in these and regular chess squares is that I added white chocolate chips. You can leave them out, but I love me some white chocolate. Here's what you need
Butter, cream cheese, vanilla, eggs, yellow cake mix, white chocolate chips, and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and softened butter
Add an egg and vanilla
Mix together until dough forms
Scoop into a greased 9x13 pan. Press down to cover the bottom of the pan evenly
Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips over the bottom layer
In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy
 Add vanilla, melted butter, and eggs; beat until completely mixed (I would show you this step, but the eggs just make it not very pretty). Anyways, pour the batter over the white chocolate chips
Bake. Cool. Cut. Serve
 Store left-overs in the fridge


White Chocolate Chess Cake Squares
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix and butter until well combined. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Press dough into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle white chocolate chips over the dough; set aside. 

filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick butter, melted

Using a mixer, beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and melted butter; mix well. Pour evenly over the white chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-50 minutes. The center should be a little gooey. Cool, cut, and serve. Store left-overs in the fridge up to 3 days.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Fruity Cream Cheese Coffee Cake- New Favorite!

I was looking on pinterest for something to make a few nights ago, as usual. My guinea pig (aka: my mom), requested something fruity and cream cheese. I didn't have the time or patients for a cheesecake, so I just kept looking at 'pins' until one recipe caught my eye. It's a raspberry cream cheese crumble coffee cake. I am so glad I stumbled across this recipe. I changed it a little to make it my own, and it's one of my new favorites. It's pretty sweet so it works as breakfast or dessert. My mom took some to her bible study and it was gone when she came home, which always makes me feel good! So I really recommend making it soon. ps- it has a lot of ingredients and steps, but I promise it is super easy! Here's what you'll need
 Butter, sugar, eggs, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, sour cream, oil, milk, cream cheese, and of course you're favorite flavor jam. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.. no sifting necessary!
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, melted butter, oil, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Pour into the dry mixture
Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined
 Scoop into a well greased 9x13 baking sheet
Once all of the batter is in the pan, spread out evenly. It doesn't have to be perfect, this is a pretty easy going recipe
Set that aside and start on the next layer. Combine softened cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl
whisk together until there are no lumps. Spread over the coffee cake batter
Now scoop a jar of jam on top.. yes a whole jar. I didn't and I regretted it. I was debating between raspberry or blackberry, but we didn't have raspberry, so blackberry it was
Lastly, create you're crumble topping. In a bowl, throw together brown sugar, flour,  salt, and cinnamon
Mix it up, add in sliced butter
Use two knives or a pastry cutter to cut the butter in.. OR to make it fun, use your hand
Once you're mixture represents chunks, sprinkle over the jam
Once again, this seems like a lot.. but you gotta trust me, it was the best part because the cake alone is not very sweet and this topping helps it out a whole lot. Pop that in the oven
When it is finished baking, pull it out and cool completely! Store in the fridge up to 3 days because of the cream cheese. My favorite way to serve it was room temp with some extra fruity love all over it
Great for a ladies brunch, or just an everyday sweet/breakfast. Here's the recipe.. enjoy :)

Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cake:
¼ cup oil
½ stick unsalted butter, melted
2 TB sour cream
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup + 2 TB granulated white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg
½ cup + 2 TB milk or half & half
2 tsp vanilla extract
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a separate, microwavable bowl, melt the butter. Add in all the remaining ingredients and whisk together until there are no lumps. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Fold these mixtures together by hand until just combined. Scoop batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Spread out evenly; set aside.

Cream cheese mixture:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
3 TB sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and well combined. Spread evenly over the uncooked cake batter; set aside.

Fruit layer:
1 jar of your favorite flavor jam (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, etc.)

Pour jam/jelly over the cream cheese mixture and carefully spread out, being careful not to mix the jam into the cream cheese mixture; set aside.

Crumb topping:
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, sliced in TB

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or 2 knives.. or your hands. Whatever floats your boat. Once your mixture resembles course crumbles, sprinkle it over the jam layer, completely covering the cake. Pop in the oven at 350 degrees. Bake about 30-40 minutes, testing with a butter knife to check if it is done. It will be pretty buttery on top from the crumb topping, but that just makes it even better. Cool before serving. If desired or for decoration, serve with an extra scoop of jam on top and a glass of milk. Store left-over's in the fridge up to three days.