Chips Galore

Oh, were these cookies ever ooey, gooey, soft, and chewy! At first I was a little worried that they were undercooked, but that wasn't the case since the edges were turning golden brown! They were just that perfect all on their own!

The picture in the magazine showed them to be thick and round cookies, well mine turned out the exact opposite. Thin and Flat. Not exactly sure why this happened, but think it is probably because I omitted the nuts. I'm just not a nuts in cookie person.

And the combination of white chocolate, milk chocolate, and peanut butter chips was so so good! Every bite was loaded with chips! Hence the name :)

Chips Galore Cookies
from Taste of Home Best Loved Cookies and Candies of 2010

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups each milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and peanut butter chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine the flour and baking soda and gradually sift into wet ingredients. Add the chips and nuts. Cover and refrigerate dough for one hour.

2. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Red Velvet Cookies

I've said it once, and I am going to say it again, I LOVE LOVE LOVE red velvet!

About a week ago I signed up to receive emails for the Taste of Home Cookie Countdown. You know me, always looking for new recipes! The second email I got was for these delicious cookies! I immediately ran to the grocery store for red food coloring and whipped these up that night!


Look at how thick, fluffy, and cakey these cookies are!! Yum Yum!! And the addition of chocolate chips really brings out the cocoa in the cookies.

Cream cheese frosting is the usual frosting paired with red velvet. I was a little surprised when this recipe had a powdered sugar frosting for the cookie. I wasn't ready to be adventurous and try something new so I resorted to the left over cream cheese frosting I had in the refrigerator. So glad I did! Cream cheese frosting with red velvet will never disappoint!

Red Velvet Cookies
from Taste of Home

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs, separated
2 teaspoons red food coloring
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups (12 ounces) Nestlé® Tollhouse® Semi-Sweet Morsels

FROSTING:
1-1/2 cups butter, softened
3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons 2% milk

In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and food coloring. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.


Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Pistachio Cranberry Bark

This is probably the easiest thing I have made this holiday season! The hardest part was shelling the pistachios. And boy was that hard :) Although I do highly recommend trying to find a bag of pistachios without shells. Then it would become the easiest and fastest holiday treat!


And it is just so festive looking with the red cranberries and green pistachios! This is the perfect sweet and salty treat! Satisfies all of the cravings in one!


Pistachio Cranberry Bark

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
5 ounces white candy coating, chopped (I used about three ounces and it was more than enough)
1 cup chopped pistachios, divided
3/4 cup dried cranberries, divided

In a microwave safe bowl, melt semisweet chocolate chips; stir until smooth. In a separate bowl, repeat with the white candy coating.

Stir 3/4 cup pistachios and half of the cranberries into semisweet chocolate. Thinly spread the mixture onto a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Drizzle the white candy coating over the top.

Sprinkle the remaining pistachios and cranberries over the top. Lightly press them into the chocolate. Chill until firm. Break into pieces. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Melting Moment Cookies

Every Christmas my mom bakes about fifteen different kinds of cookies and at the start of the baking shenanigans she always asks us kids which kinds we want her to make. And every year these are at the top of my request list! They are by far my ultimate favorite cookie! They have become one of the things I look forward to most during the holiday season!

They are just so tiny! And when you pop them in your mouth, you won't be able to stop at just one! Before you know it you will have had two, three, four, and maybe even more! No need to feel guilty though since they are about the size of a quarter!


The butter and powdered sugar glaze is the perfect compliment to the almond flavored cookie!



And they literally do melt in your mouth within moments!


Melting Moment Cookies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Mix all of the ingredient together until smooth. Chill the dough for about 30-60 minutes. Roll into small balls the size of marbles. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons whipping cream
Powdered sugar

Brown butter lightly in pan. Add whipping cream. Mix in powdered sugar until desired spreading consistency is reached. It works well to leave the kettle in a pan of warm water while frosting the cookies to keep the frosting soft and prevent a hard layer from forming on the top.


Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Banana Crumb Muffins

Well in my house it is only my hubby and myself. So, there are times when the bananas go bad. I hate that. I think that my husband secretly refrains from eating them when he wants me to bake. But that's a whole other story. I'm sure that you've had the same issue. Banana boughten and bananas rotten. I was getting sick of making banana bread everytime so I went on the search for some additional recipes a while back. I found this one and wasn't disppointed. You might think that the brown sugary crumb topping would distract from the banana flavor, but it doesn't. They work together really well. What I like most about this recipe is that it really only makes one pan. I usually get an even 12 muffins out of the recipe. 12 muffins can still be too much for a family of 2 but that's why my coworkers love me...always bringing in the treats. So mix together, one quick pan later and you're done. Great for when you are in the mood to bake but just don't have the time.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cups sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted

Topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease your muffin pan or line with paper cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Add this to the flour mixture, stirring just unitl moistened. Spoon batter into prepared cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cutt in the butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle over the muffins.
4. Bake in preheated over for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

I tried to put the crumb topping on before baking the first time and I didn't really like the way that it turned out. It was soft instead of crunchy/crumbly like I wanted. So, I wait until the last 5 minutes. I add the crumble mixture to the top of the muffins and finish baking.

Bake on!
M

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Aren't you surprised?!? Another baked good with pumpkin!! And it probably won't be the last considering I stocked up on pumpkin and have about fifteen cans in the cupboard :) Probably a little extreme, but I wanted to be prepared just in case there is another pumpkin shortage. Don't want to be scrambling and going from store to store in search of pumpkin like I was a few months ago.

As in the words of Zach's aunt, "these are damn good!" I must say I agree with that statement! I was a little disappointed when I took my first bite, but I had to remind myself that these were muffins and not cupcakes. I have gotten so used to taste testing cupcakes that I was expecting a little more sweetness when I bit in. But for a muffin, the streusel topping added just the right amount of sweetness to the pumpkin and spice. I sure am a sucker for anything with a streusel topping. And the little bit of cream cheese in the middle is the perfect surprise! Like my sister-in-law said, "it's like the frosting is in the middle!"

I found this recipe on Annie's Eats, one of the many food blogs that I read daily! She has so many mouth watering recipes and pictures. I have a hard time picking which one to make first!


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Marshmallow Crunch Brownies

These bars are oh so, so delicious. A guy at Zach's work deemed them "his favorite Jess treat!" They are the perfect combination of brownie, s'more, and rice krispie treats! Three of my favorite things! And the brownie was nice and fudgey! Yum-o!

Even though they were very tasty, I would make one change the next time I make them. I would highly recommend cutting the brownie portion of the recipe in half. This part of the bar was a little thick. Actually the bars were very thick overall. They came to the top of a cake pan, which is unusual for a cake, let alone bars. Cutting the brownie portion in half would help even out the portions of brownie, marshmallow, and rice krispie topping!

This recipe was found on The Brown Eyed Baker blog. This is the original recipe. The brownie portion has not been cut in half.

Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars

For the Brownie Base:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Toppings:
1 bag (10½ ounces) miniature marshmallows
1½ cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup smooth peanut butter (don’t use natural peanut butter)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1½ cups Rice Krispies cereal

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan.

2. For the brownies: In a medium saucepan, melt the unsweetened chocolate, butter and ¾ cup of the semisweet chocolate chips over medium heat. Stir occasionally while melting. Set aside and cool for 5 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl , whisk the eggs thoroughly. Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Stir the melted ingredients into the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in the dry sifted ingredients and mix well. Fold in the remaining ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the corner of of the pan comes out with moist crumbs.

5. Remove the brownies from the oven and immediately sprinkle the marshmallows over them. Return the pan to the oven for 3 more minutes.

6. Meanwhile, place the milk chocolate chips, peanut butter, and tablespoon of butter in a medium saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring constantly, until completely melted. Remove from heat, add the Rice Krispies and mix well. Allow to cool for 3 minutes.

7. Spread the mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting.