Cookie Mix in a Jar

As gifts for my Baby Shower Hostesses, I made these and thought they turned out great!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix In A Jar
by:Nestle Meals.com

Ingredients In the Jar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Quart Canning Jar


Filling the Jar
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Place flour mixture in jar. Layer remaining ingredients in order listed above, pressing firmly after each layer. Seal with lid and decorate with fabric and ribbon.


Recipe to Attach 
Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter or margarine, 1 large egg and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until blended. Add cookie mix and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional); mix well, breaking up any clumps. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.


Tips:

• After a test run, I measured out all my ingredients into separate bowls so that I could setup an assembly line… Mom was helping. 
• I found that it was best to slightly pack the flour after placing in the jar. 
• When layering in the chocolate chips, spoon them in gently (as opposed to pouring them in fast) so that they don’t sink into the flour. 
• You can play with the layering… I did two jars as flour, chips, brown sugar, flour, chips, brown sugar and two jars as flour, chips, brown sugar.  The second approach filled the jar better, probably because I packed the flour too much in the first approach (pictured). 
• The key is to always pack brown sugar on top of the chips if you are going to put flour on top.  Otherwise, the flour seeps down into the cracks between chips. 
• And always pack brown sugar as the last layer to seal everything together.

I did a test run of the full recipe before starting the project to make sure the cookies were actually good… they were.  To finish off the jars, I tied a cute spatula around with cute ribbon.  They turned out pretty cute!


Thanks to Suz, Jenn, Whit and Steph for a great shower!

Happy Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras!

I had white, yellow and green leftover icing from my Super Bowl Cookie Cake so I decided to make some purple to celebrate Mardi Gras and some pink for Valentine’s.  I think the two events go together perfect… I know that there is a lot of LOVE going on down in the Big Easy with more than just Mardi Gras to celebrate.  With the Saints Super Bowl win so close to Mardi Gras, no doubt the past week and the coming weeks will be some of the craziest ever in New Orleans!
These are nothing fancy… Slice and Bake cookies, Wilton Butter Cream.  But oh so good!

Baked Cinnamon Apples

I've never been a huge fan of baked apples, apple pie, etc. I guess as I've gotten older, I'm starting to like more things. Recently I've been craving cinnamon baked apples... so much so that I ordered them instead of fries or mashed potatoes at Chili's recently!

I had never made them before and wanted something really easy. Ryan's mom sent me two of her apple recipes. One I didn't have the ingredients for and the other was for the crockpot and I was in more of a "be done when dinner is done" mood. I found a recipe on Recipe Zaar that called for 45 minutes of baking time and had pretty much the same ingredients as the crock pot recipe I already had so I gave it a try. They turned out fantastic... but the results of 10 apples disappeared waaaaaayyyy too fast in our house!

Hot Baked Cinnamon Apples
By: Recipe Zaar submitter "Elmolvsu"

10 apples, cored, peeled and sliced thin
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)
1 dash salt
1 dash nutmeg
fresh whipped cream (optional) or ice cream (optional)

Place cut and peeled apples in a mixing bowl and gently mix all the ingredients together.
Put apples in a non-stick pan, and cook covered for 45 minutes at 375°F.
Stir at least once every 15 minutes.
Once they are soft, cook for another few minutes to thicken the cinnamon sauce.
Tip: Put everything in the baking dish and then mix it since there is less to clean up.

Several of the reviews said this can be made in the crock pot as well and one even said she made it at her desk at work. I could totally torture my cube mates letting this cook all day and making them smell it but not get to eat it! Ha!

Pecan Pie = Thanksgiving

My favorite PIE is pecan pie. I love pecans. I don't want them in my chocolate chip cookies, but I like them in lots of other things. Unfortunately, I married a man who doesn't like pecans, doesn't like pecan pie. Even worse, neither does his Dad or either brother. At least his mom is saving the family name... she likes pecans and pecan pie! Whew. I might have had to rethink things had they all been anti-pecan! I haven't polled my new sister in laws to see which team they are on, maybe this will be a boys vs girls issue. I'll find out tomorrow.

Anyway, I've been wanting pecan pie and wanting to make it myself. I've never made one, this is always Mom's job on the holidays. She makes a "mighty fine" Pecan Pie as my Pop would have said. I'd already committed myself to a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner and didn't want to over-extend myself. So, what do I do when I want to bake something, know my husband won't help me eat it and can't justify eating the whole thing myself??? I bake it, eat one piece, take the rest to work. My coworkers eat anything!

And last night, that's just what I did.
Pecan Pie
from Southern Sideboards, Junior League of Jackson

1 (9inch) pie shell, partially baked
1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans

Bake pie crust 3-4 minutes.

Cook sugar, butter and corn syrup over low heat until the butter melts. Do not let mixture boil.

Cool slightly. Stir in eggs and mix well. Add vanilla and pecans.

Pour filling into pie crust. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Pie should still be soft in the middle.

Overall it was a success. It tasted "different" than my mom's but we've nailed that down to me using real butter, she uses margarine. It was definitely "buttery". My crust also stuck to my pie plate, not sure about that part, maybe because I didn't let it thaw out, who knows. I'll try again one day.

Cheesecake Pops -- The Easy Way

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was going to make cheesecake pops soon. I made them before Eric's Graduation and they were a hit. But man, was it a pain. You have to make a cheesecake (it was my first time to do this), get it nice and chilled, form the balls, freeze the balls, then finally dip them in chocolate. It was a three night process.

My friend Suzie is having twins and I helped host her shower. I decided to make cheesecake pops as one of the desserts. Since my family was in town all week and we were going to Sea World, I didn't want this to be a three day process. So, I took the Sandra Lee "Semi-Homemade" route and bought pre-made cheesecake bites. This meant all I had to do was add the sticks and dip in chocolate. It's still a time consuming process, but not 3 days.

Easy Cheesecake Pops

Sara Lee Cheesecake Bites
Semi Sweet Chocolate for Melting
Shortening
Sucker Sticks

Let Cheesecake bites soften just enough to insert the sucker sticks.

Melt chocolate and shortening according to package directions. I used two boxes of Baker's brand and added probably 3 tablespoons of Chocolate. Bakerella always suggests this when dipping with chocolate and I always ignored it. She is right... it REALLY helps.

Dip sucker stick in chocolate and insert into cheesecake bite.
Put un-dipped pops back in freezer while you finish prepping them all. They don't need to be completely frozen before dipping but the colder the cheesecake, the better the chocolate will coat and harden (less dripping).

Dip pop in chocolate. Gently tap the stick on the side of the bowl to get rid of the excess chocolate. Stand pops on Styrofoam block to cool. Return to freezer or refrigerator until ready to serve.

See Bakerella's blog for more detailed instructions! :)

Pink Cupcakes -- Pink Cake

I try to bake for my coworkers birthday's. I think everyone needs a birthday cake and I like any excuse I can to bake. One of my coworker's birthday was this week so I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. After some prodding, he finally said a white cake with white icing. So I asked what his favorite color was (who wants a plain white cake???). He kept saying he didn't have one and finally said "Pink". "Really?" I asked.... "Really??".

Ask and you shall receive. Boxed white cake mix with Spreading Consistency Wilton Butter Cream Icing. I did half cupcakes to look like flowers...
And half as a cake... as girly as I could make it. (Hey, when you ask for pink, might as well go all out!)
I think he liked it! It definitely was delicious!

Happy Birthday, Erica!

Last week we celebrated Erica's birthday at work. Her request for a birthday cake was 'Dirt Cake'. So, Dirt Cake is what she got. I had never made Dirt Cake before. Its pretty darn easy.

Dirt Cake
from All Recipes
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/2 cups milk
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
32 ounces chocolate sandwich cookies with creme filling
Gummy worms

Chop cookies very fine in food processor. The white cream will disappear.
Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in bowl.
In a large bowl mix milk, pudding and whipped topping together.
Combine pudding mixture and cream mixture together.
Layer in flower pot, starting with cookies then cream mixture. Repeat layers.


Chill until ready to serve.
Add Gummy worms, artificial flower and trowel. Enjoy!
This was a huge hit at work and at home. I am sure it will be made again. Maybe I'll save it to make with my niece when she comes to visit.

Almost Molten Lava Cake

Happy Mother's Day! Today Ryan's brother and wife hosted both families at their house for a Mother's Day cookout. Kevin and Stephanie just got married in March so this was the first holiday we spent at their house. I am sure there will be many more to come! They were fabulous hosts and their newly remodeled house and yard looked awesome. Though it is Mother's Day and I could go ON and ON about all the wonderful mother's in my life, I will instead write about food!

I volunteered to bring dessert but decided not to try anything new. Instead, I worked on presentation of a new found favorite -- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies. These brownies are always a mess to server with the gooey chocolate icing. So, I decided to make them like cupcakes so there would be individual servings. This is how I did it...

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Place paper liners in muffin tins.
• Prepare the brownies and cookie dough as directed.
• Spoon brownie mix into muffin tin, no more than 1/3 full.
• Drop one spoonful of cookie dough.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick stuck in the brownie part comes out fairly clean (I like a little gooey-ness)
• Prepare Chocolate Icing as directed.
• When mostly cool, remove paper liners from cupcakes and turn over on a pan.
• Spoon a tablespoon (not the measuring kind, the kind you eat cereal with) of icing on top, letting it drip down the sides. Use more or less to your liking.
• Enjoy!

I say these are almost lava cakes because they look like a lava cake but there is no gooey goodness inside. You still get the surpise of the chocolate chip cookie inside but it's not quite a lava cake!

Baking for Sports... Will this be the year?

Will this be the year that the Rockets finally make it past the first round of the playoffs? I know they have done it before -- they've won the whole thing -- but not since I have been a fan. It's time... I'm ready.

Last year, I made a NBA Playoffs Cookie Cake to support two of my teams... the Rockets and the Hornets. They both won the night I made the cake so I am hoping it works this year too. The Rockets are one game away from the Second Round. They have to win this game or it's back to Portland and I fear what that will mean.

My cookies are nothing new for me... Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix with Wilton Buttercream Icing (medium consistency). I didn't work too hard on my decorations... you can see the white icing is pretty messy but I thought my Rockets logo was pretty good for a quick, late night project.
Of course, the most important characteristic is that they taste DIVINE! I know my co-workers will be very pleased with me!

Go Rockets!

Easter Cake Pops Take 2

I gave the cake pops a second try on Saturday. I had more patience as we had no plans and Ryan wanted to do nothing but lay on the couch so I had a little more success. Ryan's family really enjoyed these on Easter Sunday so I am sure I'll make other variations sometime soon. I'm thinking basketball cake pops for the playoffs? (Go Rockets!)

Easter Egg Cake Pops

As promised, I attempted the Easter Egg Cake Pops from Bakerella. (Scroll down in her blog for the recipe/directions). In general, it was a success, except for the decorating part. See more below.

Here are the cake pops pre-dipping

Close up after dipping in white candy melts.

And, my attempt at decorating...

See, the problem was the decorating--the sprinkles. I couldn't make them stick. I let the pops dry and then tried using the light corn syrup as Bakerella suggested. Well, that just didn't work. The syrup on the candy coating was like mixing oil and water. It was like a Rainex-ed winshield and rain -- the corn syrup just beaded up and was useless. So then I tried brushing on the candy melt as the adhesive but it dried so fast I had to do it bits at a time. After 5 pops, I was DONE decorating. So, my coworkers got plain white egg pops today! I have a few in the freezer that are un-dipped, and some colored candy melts that I am going to try my luck with again this weekend.

Food Network Cooking: Banana Nut Bread

I've been craving Banana Nut Bread recently. The Banana Nut Loaf is the only reason I go to Starbucks... I don't drink coffee. Something about Banana Nut Bread reminds me of home. Maybe it's the pecans, I dunno? Of course, Ryan doesn't eat pecans so this whole loaf went to work with me and was gone by the end of the day. I can't really say that proves it's great, the people at my work will eat anything. But, several did come back for seconds, so I feel pretty good about this one! :)

I've bought banana's a little more often recently but never seem to eat them all, so I have been sticking one in the freezer here and there. I finally had enough to make some bread so I searched the web for a good recipe. I decided I'd try the Food Network website and hope Paul Dean would have a recipe... I thought Banana Bread would be right up her alley. Either she didn't have one or I didn't like how it sounded, so I picked Tyler Florence instead.

Note: Peeling banana's that have been frozen is not fun. I suggest peeling what you can while frozen, then using a potato peeler to get the rest off. Once they thaw, it is complete mush and not fun!

Banana Bread with Pecans
By: Tyler Florence -- Food Network Host


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Toast the slices of banana bread, dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve.

Next time, I think I'll make these as muffins that way I can make a couple without pecans for Ryan.

Chocolate Heaven

I love chocolate and in all honesty, I think people who don't like chocolate are C.R.A.Z.Y!!!  Last week someone posted the link to Bakerella's blog on a local message board.  It was definitely a bad idea for me to look at this blog.  She has some AMAZING baked goods on her blog.  As soon as I saw the first picture in "Thaaank You, Betty", I was hooked.  And to top it off, it was a super easy recipe...of the likes of Sandra Lee's "Semi-homemade" recipes.  

It is actually a recipe off the Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix (the kind that comes in a bag).  Other than the mixes, all you need is butter, eggs, oil... things you probably keep on hand anyway.  I always have one of these cookie dough mixes in the pantry in case I get a craving and am amazed that I had not noticed this recipe yet.  Maybe because I don't keep brownie mix on hand?  

Anyway, Bakerella did not steer me wrong, this is an amazing treat... Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Frosting all in one pan.  HEAVEN!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

from Betty Crocker

1 Box Betty Crocker Original Supreme Brownie Mix

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

2 eggs

1 pouch Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

Chocolate Frosting of your choice

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan. Make brownie mix as directed on box, using oil, water and 2 eggs. Spread in pan.

Make cookie mix as directed on pouch, using butter and 1 egg. 

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter; press down lightly.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. 

If you want to make your own frosting, do so while the brownies cool.  

I used Bakerella's recipe for Chocolate Ganache.

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

6 Tbsp butter

In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage.

Pour over the chocolate morsels.

Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth.

Pour over brownies and let set before cutting.

To make 48 brownies, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows.  I have a feeling this sized brownie will be too small for my sweet tooth family and coworkers! 

And the winner is...

Me! Okay, this post is LONG overdue. Back in, um, November, I won a Bake-off at work. (I mentioned this around Christmas when Mom sent me the cute baker's ornament.) We have these bake-off's every now and then because there are several people in the team that really like to bake. If only I could get paid to bake!  I would like to brag that I beat Erica, but, she was not satisfied with the quality of her baked good and chose not to enter.  So I won, but I still haven't beat Erica!

I asked for some suggestions for a dessert to bake on a local message board and Kelley gave me this wonderful recipe. It was a big hit at work and at home. I had to make a second batch for work because so many people wanted to try it. And the best part, it was SO EASY!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Roll Recipe Creations (or the regular rolls)

2-8 oz. blocks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

½ stick butter or margarine (melted)

Cinnamon/sugar mixture (I mixed some up in an empty spice jar for easy sprinkling, 1/2 sugar, 1/2 cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray

Unroll one can Crescent Rolls in pan

With a mixer, mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth

Spread cheesecake mixture over Crescent Roll in pan

Unroll second can of Cresent Rolls on top

Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly brown

Remove from oven and spread melted butter on top

Sprinkle LOTS cinnamon/sugar mixture on top. You want it to really cover the top, soaking in all the butter. I used about 1/2 of a medium spice jar. Kelley said 1/2 a cereal bowl!

Put back in oven for 5 minutes

Cool completely on the counter then put in the refrigerator to firm it up then cut into squares

Keep refrigerated or on ice if possible, but it’s ok for a while on the counter.

Peppermint Oreo Dessert

Once a year, Blue Bell does something that makes my husband turn into a mad man... They deliver their seasonal Peppermint Ice Cream to the local grocery stores.  Blue Bell is could be considered a delicacy since it is only available in certain states.  Their Peppermint ice cream is, by far, a delicacy to even those of us so lucky to have Blue Bell in the freezer section.

Ryan loves the holidays, purely for Peppermint Ice Cream.  When November rolls around, he reminds me to "look for peppermint ice cream" each time I leave for the grocery.  And, I look, and wait, for it to arrive.  It's sometimes hard to spot because the container is almost the exact same color as the Mint Chocolate Chip!

As mentioned in my previous post, one of his family's favorites is Peppermint Oreo Dessert.  So, over Thanksgiving while we were at my parents house, I decided to make him a little something from home.  He insisted that I call his mom to find out how to do it so I didn't mess it up!

Peppermint-Oreo Dessert

1 stick butter

1 package Oreo's

1 half gallon Blue Bell Peppermint Ice Cream

Put ice cream on counter to soften.

Crumble 2 rows of the Oreo's (leaving 1 row for the top layer).

Melt butter.  Mix crumbled Oreo's with butter.

Spread into 9x13 pan.

Spread ice cream on top of oreo crust.  There was probably about 2 (Ryan sized) servings left in the container when I was done... my pan was only 8x12 though.

Crumble remaining Oreo's on top.

Freeze until Ice Cream is hard. 

Unfortunatly, with all the other food and desserts of the holidays, not enough of this dessert was eaten.  We tried to transport it home with ice packs and a thermal bag, but it arrived as soup.  Oh well, I tried, and Ryan had a little taste of home while away from family!

Christmas Baking - Part 2 - Ginger Cookies

Everyone's family has that one thing that IS Christmas.  And most have some sort of baked good that their Mom or Grandma always made.

Growing up, at Christmas time, Mom and I really only baked one thing with consistency--Iced Sugar Cookies.  Mom always made Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I think she would often make her Brown Sugar Cookies.  But the old faithful was the sugar cookies. 

Grandmother (my dad's mom) always made Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They were my dad's favorite and she could make them like noone else... no matter how hard we tried.  She put pecan's in them and they were always so evenly cooked and NEVER flat like mine.  She swore that all she did was follow the Nestle's Tollhouse recipe only changing one thing... she "twice baked" them, flipping them over halfway through.  I've tried, but its just not the same.  I think she had a special ingredient that she never shared with everyone else.   After she moved to Virginia after Granddaddy died I remember she would send them to my dad in the mail.  Always in the same, old, gold cookie tin (Dad always returned it so he would get cookies again).  Most of the time, no matter how well she packaged them, they arrived broken and crumbly.  But Dad would eat every last crumb (and I am sure I helped some too!)

In Ryan's family, his mom would bake all kinds of treats during the holidays.  Ginger Cookies, Pepppermint-Oreo dessert, Choc-o-mellow Logs, Snickerdoodles, Fudge, and more.  Their house at the holidays is heaven for a person with a sweet tooth!!!  The two items that have stood out to me as the ones all the boys fight over and love are the Ginger Cookies and the Peppermint-Oreo dessert (I made this over Thanksgiving and will write about it soon!)

So this year, I asked Ryan what Christmas treats he wanted, knowing I couldn't make them all.  His requests were Ginger Cookies and Fudge... and that is what he shall get.

Diane's Grandma D's Ginger Cookies

(I hope its okay to share this recipe... there were no disclaimers when it was given to me!)

Mix these ingredients:

3/4 c. Crisco

1 c. Sugar

1/4 c. Molasses

1 egg

Sift these ingredients together:

2 c. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

3/4 tsp. Cloves

3/4 tsp. Ginger

Add dry ingredients to mixed wet ingredients until well blended.

Roll dough into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes -- they should be a little soft and chewy

Dip or Sprinkle with powdered sugar (I put a spoonful in the sifter and shook it over the cookies).

A happy husband tonight!