Thin Mints--Knock Off!

Ok...so the story is:

I wanted to buy Thin Mints and Samoas from the Girl Scouts, but when I happened to see some girl scouts selling cookies, I only had $4 cash with me...which will only buy 1 solitary, sad, lonely box. And, I love thin mints, but I had a recipe. So, Samoas won.

But, the good news is that the Thin Mints were delicious homemade!

Jereld suggested the parsley twig garnish...don't laugh.

Girl Scout Thin Mints

Chocolate Cookie Wafers

1 18.25-ounce package Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
3 Tbsp. shortening, melted
1/2 C. cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 Tbsp. water
nonstick cooking spray

Coating

3 12-ounce bags semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp. peppermint extract
6 Tbsp. shortening

1) Combine the wafer ingredients (except the water) in a large bowl. Add the water a little bit at a time until a dough forms (the dough will seem very thick--this will give the wafers a crispy texture once baked). Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 2 hours.

2) On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out wafers with a spice jar lid (like McCormick spices or whatever you have).  Put wafers on a lightly greased cookie sheet (they can be pretty close together--they don't spread out). Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool completely before moving on to the next step.

3) Combine chocolate chips, peppermint extract, and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on 50% power for 2 minutes, stir.  Repeat heating and stirring until chocolate is melted and is a smooth consistency.

5) Dip each wafer in chocolate. Let the excess chocolate run off into the bowl (tapping your fork on the side of the bowl helps).  Place dipped wafers on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

YUM!

Yummy! Cranberry Orange Cookies!

I found this recipe off of allrecipes.com.  You can find the recipe here.

These are GREAT! No wonder the recipe is a 5 Star recipe!

Enjoy!

4th of July Oreos

My Visiting Teacher brought me these yummy cookies. Oreos dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles with colorful sprinkles. She stuck a skewer in the cookies and put them into baggies and tied with ribbon. So cute. Of course, the kids all had to have one, so I ended up eating one and Steve didn't get any. Oh, well.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

This recipe is from one of my new favorite craft sites-Brown Paper Packages

They are yummy!!! (Please forgive the toe in the picture-if only Jay would stay off of the counter!)

Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars
2 1/3 c. flour

2/3 c. brown sugar

2 c. chocolate chips

1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3/4 c. butter

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 c. coarsely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)**OPTIONAL**

1 3/4 c. toffee bits (10 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix the flour and sugar together. Cut in butter until the mixture is coarse crumbs, Add beaten egg and mix well. Stir in 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips and nuts. Reserve 1 1/2 c. of that mixture. Press the rest into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top in an even layer. Top with 1 1/2 c. toffee bits. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top, followed by the remaining chocolate chips. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle remaining toffee bits on top.
ENJOY!!!

Coconut Haters Beware ☺

Madelyn was here today and baked some delicious Coconut Macaroon cookies! She found the recipe in a recipe book my mother-in-law gave me a while back. I was skeptical because this recipe doesn't call for eggs or baking powder or any of the usual cookie ingredients, but they turned out great and I ate quite a few! They tasted kind of like a coconut cream pie to me. One more thing -- we were in a time crunch so we had to take them out of the oven 7 minutes early. They were still great! So I'm not sure how crunchy or gooey they are supposed to be, but they were just fine to us.

Coconut Macaroons

1/3 C all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups dried coconut
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with waxed paper and grease the paper. (We took all but two of the cookies off the waxed paper right after they came out of the oven - the two left on the wax paper to cool got very stuck!)

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the dried coconut. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk. Add the vanilla extract and stir together from the center. Continue stirring until a very thick batter is formed.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the macaroons for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

VARIATION: (we didn't try this) Make the macaroons smaller, and when cooked coat them in melted semisweet chocolate. Place on waxed paper and leave until the chocolate is hard.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for an army!

Ok, girls (Amy-) I am FINALLY posting something! I really do cook & bake, I promise! I have used quite a few of the recipes you girls post, and check it often. I just have never gotten around to posting one myself. (Not good, I know.) This is my favorite recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. Last time I made them, my nieces Katelynn, Delanie, & sister Emily were staying with me for their Spring Break. We still had to freeze half of them- it makes so many!

Mix Well:
2 C. butter
4 eggs
2 C. Sugar
2 C. brown sugar

Add:
2 t. Vanilla
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
4 1/4 C. Flour

With dough hook (or by hand) mix in:
5 C. Quick Oats
2 pkgs. chocolate chips

Bake for 7 minutes at 375 degrees; cookies will look slightly underdone, DON'T OVERCOOK or your husband won't eat them! (Well, that's the case at my house anyway...) Cool on sheet.

Random Things

Here are some random things I have tried and loved this past week:

Sisters' Cafe Sweet Pork salad-so good! Shara was right, the sweet pork was delicious-I happen to like my sweet pork not as sweet as most, I cut the sugar in half-it was still PLENTY sweet! I made the whole meal and it was fabulous! Steve especially liked the rice. He said he doesn't usually like Spanish Rice, but this one was really good! I will definently make it again and again anytime I make Mexican food.

Here's the rice recipe:

Cilantro Lime Rice
3 c water
3 c Minute rice
4 cubes chicken bouillon
4 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tb canola oil
2 Tb fresh lime juice
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 onion
1 can green chilies

Blend cilantro, onion, and chilies in food processor. Bring water to boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked. *I hate Minute Rice and never buy it - you can substitute regular rice, just adjust the water to rice ratio accordingly.

I also tried Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas from Sister's Cafe. They were yummy, too. The chicken was sweet, and the sauce just right to with it. They were easy to make, too.

(Sorry, no picture)

Next, I tried Lace Cookies with Milk Chocolate Drizzle from Stephanie's Kitchen. These were so good. Hard to stop snitching in to. They were a hit around my house! (We ate them before I got a picture, Sorry!)

Lemon Cookies

Shara told us about these lemon cookies, but hasn't posted them yet, so I thought I would. I really liked them! There is the lemony taste that just makes it taste so fresh!

For Cookies
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp butter at room temperature
1 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest {about 1 lemon}
2 x large egg yolks
1 x whole large egg
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

For Icing
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice {or more depending on desired consistency & tartness}
3 tbsp butter {if you want it to be thinner, then melt the butter}

To Assemble
For cookies, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and stir in lemon zest. Beat in egg yolks and whole egg until fully incorporated. Stir in sour cream until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients and stir just until blended. Chill batter for 30 minutes, just to set butter a little.
Preheat oven to 325 °F. Spoon tablespoons of batter onto a greased cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, just until the bottoms of the cookies turn golden brown. Allow to cool before icing.

For frosting consistency: beat powdered sugar & room temp butter until mixed, then add lemon juice until you reach desired consistency. Then frost the cookies with a knife. For icing consistency: stir powdered sugar into lemon juice until smooth. Stir in melted butter (this will thicken the icing a bit). Let cookies set 1 hour before removing, and store in an airtight container, with layers of parchment between the cookies to prevent sticking.

White Velvet Sugar Cookies

So Jen not only babysits for me, but she feeds me delicious cookies!! Thanks, Jen.

And they were so very good. My new favorite sugar cookie!

This recipe is from My Kitchen Cafe

2 cups butter, softened

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 ¾ cups flour

Cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour. The dough will be VERY soft; don't worry, it gets firmer after chilling. Cover and chill two hours or until firm. Roll out on floured surface to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into shapes; place on greased baking sheets (or use parchment paper). Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set (but not browned). Cool 5 minutes. Place on wire racks to cool. Frost as desired.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another medium bowl, beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form (it helps to use a chilled bowl and chilled beaters - and make sure the peaks are stiff not soft). Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and mix carefully (so as not to deflate cream) but well. Frost to your heart's delight! (Be careful if adding coloring - the liquid food coloring found in the baking aisle can quickly thin your icing so you may need to add a bit more powdered sugar to compensate. I prefer to use Wilton's gel coloring but either will work.)

Jam Diagonals

Jen got this recipe from Your Home Based Mom. This is actually the picture from her site. And this is the email Jen sent me:

These cookies are so delicious. I doubled it and put 8 ropes
lengthwise across a cookie sheet. I used strawberry jam on some and peach
jam on some, both were so good. I did one with both strawberry and
peach. The drizzle I made with a lemon off of our tree. They are
definitely worth making. I baked them 14 or 15 minutes. They weren't
done after 12.
http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/sweet-treats-jam-diagonals/

Jam Diagonals
1/2 C butter, softened
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 C flour
1/3 C raspberry jam
3/4 C powdered sugar
4 tsp lemon juice
Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until creamy and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour until blended. Divide dough into fourths. On lightly floured surface, with hands, roll each fourth into a 9″ rope. Place 3″ apart on greased cookie sheet. With finger make 1/2″ depression down center of each rope. (Ropes will flatten to about 1″ wide strips). Fill depressions with jam, using a small spoon. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Cool on cookie sheet.
For frosting, blend powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth and carefully spread over jam. As soon as frosting is set, cut diagonally.

Monster cookies

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
9 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 tsp. soda
3 cups peanut butter
6 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream sugars, vanilla, butter, soda and eggs. Mix in corn syrup and peanut butter. Fold in oatmeal and chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Angie Judd's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Angie Judd is famous in our house. My kids have never met her, but they sure know her name by the delicious recipe we have been making for years. The best thing about these cookies, besides their yummy taste, is that they freeze so well. They are delicious out of the freezer (if they last long enough to freeze).

Angie Judd's Chocolate Chip Recipes
Jennifer Kartchner

1 1/3 C. shortening

4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/3 C. butter

6 C. flour
2 C. sugar

2 tsp. soda
2 C. brown sugar

2 tsp. salt
4 eggs

24 oz. chocolate chips

Combine wet ingredients first, then add the dry ingredients. Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes. Don't overbake!

And I must be honest, I didn't make these, Steve and the kids did.

Cream Wafers

Camilee made these while I was visiting her this past week. They were yummy. Addicting. I couldn't get enough! They are so light and delicate tasting, but so good.


Mix and refrigerate for one hour:

2 C. flour
1 C. butter
1/3 C. cream

Roll dough out (1/3 at a time with remaining dough in refrigerator), 1/8 inch thick on floured (we used alot of flour) surface. Cam found they are easier if they are a little thicker, and they tasted just as good. Cut into 1 1/2 inch rounds. Dip both sides into sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Prick 4 times with a fork. Bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes or until set, not brown. Remove from pan immediately. Cool completely.

Cream Filling:
3/4 C. powdered sugar
1/4 C. butter (softened, not melted)
1 tsp. vanilla
food coloring

Cookie Crust Cheesecake

Hi everybody! Today, I was at Marsha's and we decided to make a recipe she got from here.
It turned out pretty good and was soooooo easy. The only things we changed were cooking it a little bit longer (unfortunately, this made the cookie crust a little too overdone) and not putting the advised amount of cheesecake batter on the crust because there wasn't enough for 3 tablespoons in each cup.



Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees F. Paper-line 12 muffin cups. Then, place a Heaping teaspoon of NESTLE TOLL HOUSE refrigerated Chocolate Chip cookie dough (this would probably be even better with home-made - we used generic brand)...

into each of the paper muffin cups

and bake in the oven for about10 to 12 minutes, or until
the dough has spread to the edges.

While it is baking, mix together 1 8oz. package of cream cheese,
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, 1 large egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
in a medium bowl until smooth.

Take the cookies out of the oven when they are done and
spoon about TWO tablespoons of the mixture onto the little crusts.

Place the pan back into the oven and bake for another15 to 18 minutes or until set.
Next, (I think this is the hardest part) cool completely in the fridge for 1 hour.
Top with some cherry pie filling (or don't, if you prefer).

TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They look delicious and they tasted even better.

I personally thought they tasted better without the pie filling, as
I am not the world's largest fan of cherry with chocolate chip cookies.

Now, here's the full recipe:
Ingredients:

• 12 pieces Nestle Toll House Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 can cherry pie filling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Paper-line 12 muffin cups.
2. Place one heaping teaspoon of cookie dough in each muffin cup.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie has spread to the edge of the cup.
4. Beat cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, egg, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the mixture over each baked cookie.
5. Bake for another 15 to 18 minutes (ours took 20-25 mins.) or until set. Cool completely in pan or on a wire rack. Top with pie filling and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Enjoy!!!

Fresh-Peach Drop Cookies

These cookies are from Martha Stewart's Cookies book that Allison gave me for Christmas. She made these last night at my house. They turned out a little flat. I think it was because we used frozen peaches instead of fresh, which are much jucier. We should have added more flour. Anyway, they were yummy. They taste like peach cobbler. Alli left before they were done, so she didn't even get to try them.

2 C. plus 2 Tbsp. flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 C. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 C. granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 large ripe peaches (about 8 oz. each)

peeled, pitted, and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces (1 3/4 C.)

1/3 C. peach jam or preserves

2 Tbsp. fine sanding sugar

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.

2. Beat together sugar and butter until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add egg and vanilla. Mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Add diced peaches and peach jam, mix until just combined.

3. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. (chill remaining dough between batches).

4. Combine sanding sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle each cookie with 1/8 tsp. mixture. Bake cookies until golden brown and just set, 11 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.

I left out all of the unnecessary directions, like "put your paddle on the mixer" and stuff like that. Sorry Martha.

Mrs. Fields Eggnog Cookies

These were good - I found the recipe on Picky Palate. The dough was so gooey that I added more flour. I searched the internet for other eggnog cookie recipes and found one that was exactly the same, except it called for 1/4 Cup more of flour. They don't have a strong eggnog flavor. You have to know its in there to taste it.

Mrs. Fields Eggnog Cookies

2 ¼ C. flour I had to add more - the dough was gooey
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 ¼ C. sugar
¾ C. SALTED butter, room temp.
½ C. eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
1 Tablespoon nutmeg for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well with a wire whisk and set aside. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets, 1” apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg or skip this step and sprinkle on the nutmeg after you ice the cookies. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown. Transfer to cool flat surface immediately with spatula.


Eggnog Icing

3 C. powdered sugar
¼ C. softened butter or margarine
1/3 C. commercial eggnog (or more depending on consistency)

In small mixer bowl, beat powdered sugar and butter or margarine until well-blended. Gradually beat in eggnog until icing is smooth. Makes about 1 ½ Cups.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a really fun cookie recipe I found in a magazine (can't remember which one) while on jury duty. I got around to making it yesterday and liked it! The only recommendation I have is to make it when you have time and are in the mood to bake -- it's a little more involved than just plopping cookie dough onto the cookie sheet.

The name of these cookies in the magazine was peanut munchies. I didn't like that name, but you can change it back if you want!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients for the chocolate dough:
1 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1/2 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1/4 C. peanut butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Ingredients for the peanut butter filling:
1/2 C. peanut butter (I had to use a little more pb)
3/4 C. powdered sugar

Directions for the chocolate dough:
1. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda; set aside.
In large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and the 1/4 C peanut butter. Beat with mixer until combined. Add egg, milk, and vanilla - beat well. Beat in the flour/cocoa mixture. Shape dough into about 32 balls, set aside while you make peanut butter filling.

Directions for peanut butter filling:
2. In bowl, combine powdered sugar and 1/2 C. peanut butter with mixer until smooth. Knead by hand if necessary. (Mine turned out kind of dry and crumbly, so I added a little more peanut butter.) Shape into about 32 balls.

Putting it all together:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flatten a chocolate dough ball in your hand, place a peanut butter ball in the middle and shape the chocolate dough around it to form a ball - completely covering peanut butter ball with chocolate dough. Repeat with remaining balls.

Place balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake about 8 minutes, leave on cookie sheet about 1 minute after taking them out of the oven, and then transfer to a rack to cool.

Sour Cream Cutouts

Yesterday we decorated sugar cookies with our friends, the Laytons. It was so much fun, and we got some yummy and cute cookies, too. These are my favorite sugar cookies because they are soft and I always make cream cheese frosting for them. Marsha originally got this recipe from someone a few years ago.

1 C. butter

2 C. sugar
3-4 eggs

Mix and add:
1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. sour cream

Blend and add
1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

5-6 C. flour

Refrigerate dough for a couple of hours or overnight. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375°.

Frosting:
1 ½ C. butter

12 oz. cream cheese
1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 ½ bags powdered sugar

Easy Sugar Cookies

My neighbor/friend/carpool lady, Crystal, brought me some delicious sugar cookies that were different than the traditional ones. As soon as you take a bite it crumbles and sort of melts in your mouth. Also, you don't roll this dough out and cut out shapes. You roll the dough into balls and flatten them! How easy is that? Sometimes you want a sugar cookie that you can make fun shapes with, but sometimes you just want a sugar cookie without that hard work! And this one is definitely worth making.

Easy Sugar Cookies

2 sticks butter
1 C cooking oil
1 C powdered sugar
1 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt

Mix butter, oil and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and add to the creamed mixture. Chill for at least 30 minutes. Roll into balls and place them on cookie sheet. Press down on the ball with the bottom of a jar or glass to make it flat. Bake at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes. (These cookies can also be rolled in cinnamon-sugar before you flatten them, it makes them more like snickerdoodles.)

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

These cookies have been one of my favorites for a long time. I got the recipe off the back of Reese's Peanut butter chips. But I also like to use Reese's Mini Pieces (you find them on the baking aisle by the chocolate chips). These are yummy, and perfect colors for Halloween.

This recipe is in the Payne Sisters' Cookbook, by the way.

Reese’s Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Amy Lunt

2 C. flour (I always add more)

2 C. sugar
¾ C. Cocoa

2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt

1 2/3 C. Peanut Butter chips
1 ¼ C. (2 ½ sticks) butter or margarine, softened

Heat oven to 350° Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture beating well. You will now need to add flour until it looks like a good consistency for cookies (or they will turn out flat). Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Do not overbake, cookies will be soft. (They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling if you don’t add extra flour). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 ½ dozen cookies.
Pan recipe: spread batter in greased 15 ½ X10 ½ X1 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 4 dozen bars.