Nearly Perfect

Good Tuesday to you, Kitschies!  I don't know how it is where you are, but it's really starting to cool down here in New Mexico.  And that means it's time to get back in the kitchen!

I love to bake - especially when I can share my baking with family and friends.  Don't get me wrong, I could keep all my goodies to myself, but I'd end up weighing a lot more than I already do.  So, why not share the weight gain?  LOL

A while ago, a co-worker and I got an invitation to a soft opening of Paradise Bakery.  When they welcomed us in, they offered us a choice of cookies to try and I picked their chewy ginger cookies (that's not the name, but it's been so long, I can't remember the exact name).  I loved it so much (and so did my co-worker) that as soon as I got in to work, I went hunting for the recipe!  Now, this is not a plug for Paradise Bakery, but if you have a chance, go there and get one of their cookies - they. are. perfection!  This is, however, the result of my hunt.  This recipe isn't exactly the same, so I'll call them nearly perfect.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

NOTES:  In order to make the cookies look like the picture you see on Allrecipes, you do not flatten them - at all.  I just dropped them directly from the spoon and they cooked off just fine.

Of course I had my trusty kitchen helper with me for these!  Nate loves to help me in the kitchen - but the crazy boy doesn't usually eat the sweets we make...he'd rather have candy.  *sigh*

The end result of just piling the dough on the cookie sheets came out better than flattening them out.

Mmmmm!  Warm cookies.  Is there anything better than a warm cookie just out of the oven?  Yeah.  I didn't think so, either.

See what I mean?  You can see the "slightly flattened" cookies toward the top.  The dropped cookies look much prettier to me.  Don't get me wrong - the flattened cookies tasted fine, they just weren't as pretty.

I shared these cookies with my office and they were gone by days' end.  I'm sharing the recipe with you now so you can add something new to your Christmas cookie plates - you won't be sorry!

Goin' Bananas

Good afternoon, dear Kitschies!  It's another beautiful day here in the Land of Enchantment and I'm stuck inside at work.  Not that I'm complaining about work...but it would be wonderful to be outside enjoying the gorgeous spring weather. 

At the Harmeyer homestead, we've been known to go through a bunch or two of bananas faster than they hit the table.  However, the last couple weeks it's been so busy we haven't been eating at home like we usually do.  The hubs noticed that we had a few bananas that were on their way out so he challenged me to find something to do with them.  Challenge accepted, I say.  Challenge accepted.  I didn't want to do the usual banana bread, so I hopped on Allrecipes and quickly found a recipe to try. 

Banana Drops
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
7/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp banana extract
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium size mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons brown sugar with cinnamon, set aside. 

In a medium size mixing bowl, beat together 3/4 cup brown sugar with the butter or margarine, vanilla and banana extract until the mixture is light in texture. Beat in the eggs. Mix in the banana. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the egg, banana and sugar mixture. Fold in nuts. Drop the dough by teaspoonful onto the prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle the cookies with the mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon prepared earlier. 

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned.


NOTES:  I didn't have banana extract, but I did have banana liqueur; it worked perfectly.  And forget parchment paper!  I use my Silpat silicon baking mat that my cousins gave me for Christmas.

They don't look like much before they get all toasty warm in the oven, but trust me, they puff up perfectly.

Caught in the act!  Yeah, that's Mr Nate's hand.  "I just wanted to taste some of the sugar."  Nice.

Speaking of Mr Nate, I had a helper for this endeavor.  Nate always has so much fun helping me - pouring ingredients in the bowl, scraping the sides of the bowl.  Now if I could only get him to help me clean up the kitchen when we're finished!

I don't know what he was doing, but it looks like he was throwing gang signs.  *sigh*  That's my boy!

Here they are!  They were like little mini banana breads - not too sweet.  I forgot to mention that I didn't add any nuts.  I brought some of these to the office and they were GONE before I even got back to have one for myself.

What do *you* do with over-ripe bananas?  I'm on a constant search for the *perfect* banana bread. *hinthint* 

Mondays Calls for Cookies

Good morning, Kitchies!!  I had a very productive weekend.  I made a reuseable shopping bag for myself and got started on a bag for Mason's impending daycare days (posts to follow eventually).  I put the decals on the sideboard (post to follow once it's completely finished).  And the hubs and I completely cleared out the garage, laid carpet and moved everything *back* in the garage.  *whew*  We were pretty tired by the end of the evening yesterday because we both stayed up til after 1 on Saturday night.  And then (NO and then)...I woke up the morning, rolled over to see the clock and it said 6:10!  OMG!  The hubs gets up at 5 and I get up at 5:30 - we had to RUSH to get everybody up and out the door by 7...but we did it!  Now I'm at work, all revved up, and it's kinda slow.  So...my lack of patients this morning is your gain.

And what better way to start a crazy Monday morning than with a yummy cookie recipe?  I can't think of anything.  Let's jump right in...

Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 Tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the corn syrup, water, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
 
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely. 

NOTES:  My cookies were NOT chewy but I think I know why.  I don't remember adding in the corn syrup.  D'oh!  They were good...just not chewy.  The recipe says ungreased cookie sheet, but I never bake without either parchment paper or my Silpat silicone baking sheet.

Sorry I don't have more pictures than this.  Nate helped me make these cookies and he had a good time helping.  He got to pour all the ingredients in to the bowl and he felt especially important when I had him scrape down the sides of the bowls.  And even though the cookies weren't chewy, they all managed to be eaten!


Any big plans for the week?  We're supposed to get the hardware for the sideboard tomorrow, so the goal is to have it completely finished by the end of the week.  I can't wait because it's already looking awesome and it'll be nice to be able to finally use it!  Other than that, I think the hubs has to go out of town for work.  Oh...and I have to register the boys for daycare.  And I'm going to shop for fabric today at lunch - JoAnn's has a pretty good sale going on!


Until tomorrow...

Better the Mind but Not the Body?

Good Tuesday morning, Kitschies!  I hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day - I know I did!!  The hubs and I really enjoyed our day off together.  We don't get many of those, but when we get the chance, we take it.  I mentioned before that I don't usually make resolutions, but I was making a *goal* to better myself (mind, body and spirit) this year.  I took the first step to one of those this morning (mind): I took my placement test for CNM.  I rocked the reading and English portions but totally bombed the math (no big surprise there).  The Summer session starts at the end of May, so I have a little bit of time to organize things before I get back in to the swing of school.  I can't wait!

I know I said I was going to try to post more healthy or good-for-you recipes on my blog this year (better the body, remember?), and I have for the most part.  But, there are times when life calls for something that's not good for you.  Sometimes you need something to satisfy your sweet tooth more than you need to meet your daily required nutrition.  Ever have days like that?  A few weeks back I got a BIG bag of dried cranberries and I've been eyeing recipes to incorporate the crannies.  This is one of the first recipes I saw and I'm glad I tried it because they're GOOD!

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 6-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

NOTES:  I used my Silpat silicone baking mat and the cookies did not stick at all (even though it says to cook on ungreased cookie sheet).

I loved these cookies because they're sweet without being too sweet.  And I love dried cranberries.  Add the white choco chips in there and it's pretty much awesome!

NOM!  I still have more dried cranberries and more white choco chips at home...maybe I'll whip up another batch tonight.

Pretty short post, huh?  Remember to enter my giveaway!  You have until midnight tomorrow to enter.  And please vote in my poll (in the upper right corner). 

Well, I'm off to have lunch with one of my friends (we don't see much of each other, but when we do, it's a nonstop gab fest!).

Routine is Good

Happy Monday, dear readers.  It was back to the grind for me today.  Oh, I went to work last week, but only for a day and a half, so that doesn't really count.  It was hard to drag my butt out of bed so early this morning, but once I was up and showered, I was actually pretty happy to be getting back to the normal routine.

I've seen a lot of blogs asking about resolutions for the new year.  I don't usually make resolutions because I'm not very good at keeping them longer than a month and then I end up feeling guilty because I've "failed".  So, instead of specific resolutions, I'm making it a general goal to better myself: mind, body and spirit.  Today was pretty good - check back tomorrow to see if it's stuck with me.  LOL

Now, this recipe doesn't fit in with that goal, especially bettering my body.  I went on a baking binge before Christmas and luckily we gave most of the "proceeds" to family and coworkers.  I love macaroons but had always been afraid to make them because I didn't have a clue where to begin.  Enter Allrecipes.  What did we *ever* do before the interwebs?  These were super easy to make and I don't know what took me so long to try.

Coconut Macaroons
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350*.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, coconut and salt.  Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla using your hands until well blended.  Use an ice cream scoop to drop dough on to the prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be about golf ball size.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until coconut is toasted.

NOTES:  Yes, use your hands.  I tried using a wooden spoon but it was impossible to get the whole thing mixed thoroughly.  I used aluminum foil to line the baking sheet, but next time I'll probably use parchment paper because it was a little tricky getting the macaroons up from the foil.  My cook time was a little longer than 15 minutes because the coconut was not browned to my liking.

A large bag of coconut - it didn't look like 5 1/2 cups, but it was.  Ignore the peanuts in the back - counter space and time is precious.  Never enough of either.

Untanned and pasty looking, but I wanted to grab a ball and eat it anyway.  I didn't.  But I wanted to.

YUM!  We never had macaroons in the house growing up because my mom detests coconut.  I had no idea what I was missing.

This weekend we decided to bundle up the boys and take them to the park.  It's been crazy cold (for central NM) the last week or so, and we were getting a little stir crazy being stuck in the house every day.  It was sunny and there wasn't any wind.  Once we got out and started moving around, it wasn't so bad.  Here are my two favorite pictures from the day.

I caught this picture just. in. time.  I love it!  There was just enough snow left on the ground for Nate to stomp around in and not get too messy or cold.

Mason doesn't look very happy to be all bundled up, but he was super happy to be outside!  He goes up to his jacket that's hanging on the wall and tugs at it and gets very upset if we don't go outside NOW.  He looked so cute with his little pink cheeks and nose!

Oh!  And one more thing (promise...only one more).  Lu over at just Lu has come up with an awesome idea: Housewife MacGyver (minus the mullet, of course) and she asked if I'd be interested in participating.  Of course I want to play!!  Hop on over to her blog to check it out and drop her a line of you'd be interested in sharing a little bit of *your* expertise. Click on the little linky and it'll take you quick as a flash!

I think that's enough for tonight.  Dang it!  OK.  I lied.  But I think you'll like this.  I have ONE MORE thing to share.  Zoya, if you haven't heard, is offering 3 free bottles of polish to anybody who's interested.  Just use code FB2011 at checkout and you get your choice of 3 bottles of polish.  Really.  It's awesome!  The code is good through this week only, so hurry up and go pick your 3 favorite colors (it was hard to chose 3, but I did).

Cookies in the Snow

Good evening, Kitschies!  I hope you had a restful weekend.  Me?  Notsomuch.  LOL  Friday night was the hubs' office Christmas party.  The party was held at a local restaurant that serves *awesome* food.  The hubs' office Christmas parties are always a good time.  They host a white elephant gift exchange that can go on *forever*, but there's usually a good assortment of goodies to be had.  This year we ended up with a digital coffee maker - YAY!  After the party I was planning on coming home and doing stuff around the house, but I was DONE.  The next morning the hubs had to take one of the dogs to the vet and I got to sleep in a bit.  Nate got up around 7:30 and he crawled in bed with me to watch cartoons for a while.  Mason didn't get up til 9!  It was so nice to get a little break!  Saturday early afternoon, we had our nephews over to spend the night.  They kept my boys occupied so I was able to get to the library and then I got started on a day of baking (that extended in to the next day).  I was a baking fool this weekend!!  The boys stayed up late watching Despicable Me and I got the ironing done.  *whew*  We're not even done yet!  Sunday afternoon/evening, we had family over to celebrate Christmas for the kids since we won't be in town for the big day.  We had TONS of food and even more goodies.  We ate as much as we could possibly eat (including two AWESOME pies made by my SIL) and the kids played and played.  Good times were had by all.  To thank me for all my hard work around the house and in the kitchen, the hubs offered to clean the kitchen.  SCORE!!  I was so busy, I didn't even have time to do my nails. *gasp*  They were nekkid in front of company!  LOL  I took advantage of the hubs cleaning the kitchen and I did my nails (that post later this week).  After that, I tried to read a book, but I couldn't get past page 3, so I gave up and went to bed.  I was exhausted!  This morning came *much* too early, but I dragged my groggy butt out of bed and started on my 2 day work week.

So, I mentioned I was a baking fool this weekend.  I'm going to share one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes with you today.  I've made these cookies before, but I couldn't find the recipe (I know, Mom.  Big surprise.), so I emailed my mom to ask her if she'd send me the recipe.  She did.  Then I got home and I realized I'd left the recipe print out at work and the email was in my work email.  So I asked her to email it to me again at home.  LOL  Good thing she knows to type up and save any recipe I ask for because I've been known to ask for the same recipe over and over (and over) again!


Sugar Cookies
Preheat oven to 400*.

Blend together
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar

Beat in
1 egg, unbeaten
2 Tbsp milk

Stir in
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Drop by rounded teaspoonful on to greased baking sheet.  Grease bottom of glass.  Dip glass bottom in sugar.  Press cookies to flatten.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake 8 - 10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Now that I'm seeing these, I'm wishing I made a double batch.  These are super easy cookies to make.  If Nate hadn't been busy with his cousins, I would've asked him to help.

Since I didn't have very many pictures of the cookies, I thought I'd share some pics of our first snow that started this last Thursday night.

It had snowed on and off Thursday afternoon so there was a dusting by the time I got home.  But by 8 pm, this is what our front yard looked like.

Our backyard.  Nate wanted to go out and play in the snow - I wouldn't let him (it was already past his bedtime).  Every time I looked out the door that night, it was snowing.  It was so peaceful!

The morning after.  Our front pine tree was feeling the weight of all the snow - good thing we didn't get *that* much!

The backyard.  Brrrrrr!  We got about 6" of snow in Rio Rancho - the valley didn't get quite as much.  This was more snow than we got last winter.

This is the view straight out our back door.  It was so pretty!  Most of the snow stuck around until Sunday afternoon.

I don't mind the snow - especially if we don't have to be out in it.  I texted my boss Friday morning to tell him that I was going to be late.  His reply?  I need to get reindeer.  LOL

I have a couple more things left to do this evening, so I better get off the computer.  I was going to wrap the rest of the gifts tonight, but the hubs decided he'd take all the wrapping paper with him to the studio tonight so he could do his own wrapping.  *sigh*  Best laid plans...

Especially for BANC

Happy Friday!!!  I'm happy but anxious about the weekend.  The hubs is going hunting and is leaving tomorrow morning.  No biggie with that whole thing other than the fact that he won't be back until late afternoon on Tuesday.  That means I will have the boys all to myself the whole weekend and two week day mornings.  It gets pretty hectic without him around.  I love my boys, but they can be a hand full!  Let's cross our fingers that I can get Nate engrossed in some good projects and Mason will cooperate and take naps like he usually does.

Today, to the delight of my friend Bethany, I am bringing you an awesome awesome cookie recipe.  There's a little story with this one.  This is one of my favorite family recipes, but I don't like to make it very often because it makes a LOT of cookies.  When I do make it, I usually take a bunch to work because if they're at home, I *will* eat them.  ALL of them.  By myself.  LOL  When Bethany and I worked together, she would beg me to make them.  She's even had her dad ask me for them!  And you don't know how many times she's asked me for the recipe after she stopped working with me.  And I've given it to her.  A couple times.  We've even traded goodies (me: cookies, her: homemade salsa).  Now, since she can't seem to hold on to this prized recipe, I'm sharing it with everybody.  And so she'll quit bugging me.

Pumpkin Cookies
2 cups sugar
2 cups shortening
1 16 oz can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups raisins
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In large mixing bowl, cream together sugar and shortening.  Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.  Gradually add to creamed mixture.  Mix well.  Stir in raisins and nuts.  Drop from rounded teaspoon on to greased cookie sheet about 2" apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet to cool.  Once cool, frost with vanilla or cream cheese frosting.  Makes approximately 96 cookies.

NOTES:  You read that right.  96 cookies!  When the recipe says large bowl read: VERY large bowl.  My mom makes these using vanilla frosting because she doesn't like cream cheese, but I prefer it with cream cheese frosting.  These cookies are especially good because they're more cake-like and not super sweet.

These cookies almost didn't happen.  A couple times.  First, I had my hubs look in the cabinet to see if we had Crisco - we did.  I get home from the grocery store, go to grab the Crisco and wouldn't you know it.  The Crisco was rancid.  *sigh*  I threw Nate in the car and on to the store we went to pick up Crisco.

Crisis averted.  I go to get everything together for the recipe and wait!  There's not near enough sugar. *sigh*  I thought I had a partial bag of sugar in the pantry.  Nope.  Luckily, the hubs took pity on me (because I was a little more than irritated because that would've been trip #3 to the grocery store in the same day), loaded the boys in the car and went to the store to get sugar.  As he was leaving, the hubs said: I better get something good out of this!  Well...he did.  COOKIES!

This is what the hubs calls an action shot.  Yep.  Those are my hands frosting a cookie.  It took forever to finish all those cookies.  I think I finally finished the whole batch by 9:00.  On a school night.

All frosted and ready to go!  The office got quite a few of these, and they were all gone by the end of the day.  We still have some at home and I'm eating through them slowly.

OK, B!  I don't wanna hear that you can't find the recipe because now it's here for everybody to see on the internets.  Go get the ingredients and make a batch - you won't be sorry! 

Not So Manic Monday

Not at work today...the Bug has a bug. :(  His chest is congested, he has a fever and is just all-around not feeling well.  As for me, I still have a pounding headache (today is day 3) and I think I've had a fever on and off.  Whatever this is, it's not fun.  I'm just glad it's not a stomach bug!!  *whew*

I made this recipe waaaay back in early August for an office pot-luck for the August birthdays.  I asked the other August girl what kind of dessert she wanted and she said: chocolate.  So...I went to my go-to online recipe site Allrecipes and printed out a couple for her to chose from.  This was the winner (and it really was).


Chocolate Chews
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Melt the chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan over very low heat. Stir to evenly melt. 

Cream together the butter and sugars until light. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture slowly. Blend thoroughly. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 12 to 14 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing to a rack to cool. 

NOTES:  Even with rolling the dough in to balls, this was super easy.  The dough wasn't too sticky so you didn't have to scrape off your hands between batches.  I really liked these cookies because they baked up picture-perfect and they weren't too sweet.  

Pretty little balls make pretty little cookies!  I forgot to mention that I used parchment paper instead of greasing the cookie sheets.  Parchment paper makes a lot less mess and you can reuse the paper and don't have to wash the cookie sheets between batches.

For once, the cookies came out looking just as good as the pictures.  These were good cooled, but they were super good still warm!

There was SOOO much food!!  When an office potluck comes around, I'm designated dessert maker, which I don't mind because I like to bake.  That day we had pizza and salad from Dion's (a local pizza and sub place), green chile chicken enchiladas (yum!), red chile posole, stuffed sopapillas, an awesome fresh fruit tart and a super cute ladybug cake.  I'm sure there was more than I remember, but even *that's* enough!

So, I'm home with the sick kiddo today, but that doesn't mean I'm lazing around the house (even though I probably should).  I picked up the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook at the library on Saturday and I noted all the recipes I want to try before I give it back (can you say: copy machine?).  One of those recipes is in the oven now!  If you're lucky, I'll post that recipe (and it's a good one!) later on this week. 

Well, I'm off to go do my nails and get my fill of America's Next Top Model (there's a mini-marathon on Oxygen).  Thanks for all the well-wishes to my little one.  I'm sure he'll be better soon, but he'll soak up all the extra cuddles he can in the meantime. 

C is for Cookie

FINALLY!!  I reached the end of this hellish work week.  Yesterday was bad.  Today was bad and *weird*.  There must be something in the water because all the crazies were out at the clinic today.  I was SO glad to be out of there.  On an up note, we did get a medical assistant hired who will start on Tuesday.  Let's just cross our fingers that she doesn't get run off by the Wicked Witch of SWIHC.  *but don't hold your breath*

Enough about that.  On to the FOOD!  I saw these on From the Kitchen of: Mrs Bettie Rocker and I knew I *had* to make them.  This was one of the many things I did in the kitchen last weekend while the hubs was playing at the studio with his bestie.  I took dinner along with fresh bread sticks and these awesome cookies to the hubs, the good wife that I am.  Oh, and I had my kitchen helper, Nate, the good Mommy I am.  Remember that guy?  Yeah.  Apparently, cookies are a *sometimes* food now.  Nice.

 Jumbo Childhood Fantasy Cookies

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup candy-coated peanut butter pieces (aka. Reese's Pieces)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted if desired

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl stir cookie mixes, butter and eggs until soft dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips, peanut butter pieces and walnuts.

On large ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by scant 1/4 cupfuls about 2-inches apart. Bake 13 to 16 minutes or until light golden brown.

Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

NOTES:  I changed this up a bit because I used what we had on hand.  I couldn't find oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix; all I could find was regular oatmeal cookie mix, so I threw in an extra 1/4 to 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.  We already had dark chocolate M&Ms, so I used that in place of the cup of milk chocolate chips.  And since I mixed the first one up, I used peanut butter chips instead of Reese's Pieces).

I almost thought the recipe was wrong because it was rather dense.  But after checking the posted recipe and the original recipe from BettyCrocker.com, I figured it was right.  This made a little more than 3 dozen BIG cookies.

Mr Nate didn't help me a whole lot - since the dough was so dense, he had a hard time mixing, so I helped him out.  He was still happy to help me in the kitchen.

Fresh out of the oven - SOOOO good!!  And these were super easy to make.  No rolling in to a ball, no greasing the cookie sheet.  Just plop and bake.  LOL  Just a word of warning: these are SUPER rich.  Usually I can eat cookies until the cows come home, but just one (at a time) of these bad boys was enough for me.  So, a big thanks to Becky - another awesome recipe! 

It's Labor Day weekend.  Do you have any exciting plans?  Do I?  Nope.  We usually stay pretty close to the house, especially around holidays (except every other Christmas).  We may go to the park to let the boys run off some extra energy, but that's provided the weather isn't too hot.  By the way...WHEN is it going to get cooler?!  Have a wonderful, safe Labor Day weekend.  I might have a post for you on Monday, but I may just take the day off (for reals) and not post til Tuesday.