Peanut Butter Oatmeal Girl Scout Cookies

 
Brandon told the boys they could have whatever they wanted for dessert tonight, since it was a "Holiday".  It was decided that we should bake some cookies, so I decided that we should try something new.  Another great blog post, and something different to try.  I know I've been mentioning allrecipes.com a lot lately, but once again I found myself there.  I searched for cookie and then put them in order of highest reviews.  I think this was the 3rd highest with over 700 reviews.  I also had all the ingredients and the boys thought they sounded great (and why wouldn't they with peanut butter in them...)  Any how, these turned out a little larger than I thought.  I used my 2 t. cookie scoop, and really think I could have used half of that to make them more like the girl scout cookies.  The taste, however, is FANTASTIC!  You probably need to make them smaller just because you know you'll eat more than one anyway....Sorry Girl Scouts, but I'll no longer be buying your peanut butter oatmeal cookies, these are FAR better!  Happy New Year!

Ingredients

3/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. quick cooking oats
3 T. butter, softened
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 T. heavy whipping cream (whatever milk you have in the fridge will work fine)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/2 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and beat well.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir. Add oatmeal and stir.
3. Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 9-11 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown.
5. To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butter or margarine with the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the cream.
6. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.  (I put the frosting in a zip lock bag and snipped the end off to make frosting the cookies super easy!)

Amish White Bread & Cinnamon Rolls

Well, Brandon thought some warm bread would be great with dinner. I found another heavily rated recipe on allrecipe.com and wallah! there was bread dough being made. While dividing the dough into two loaves, I decided that cinnamon rolls might be a GREAT option for the second loaf. It turned out well. If you like your bread white, this will certainly work well for you. It was really easy. I found out that my breadmachine isn't quite large enough to make 2 full loaves of dough at one time. Other than that, the only problem I had, was that this dough is STICKY. I guess that's not really a problem, as long as you don't dig your hands right into it without knowing what might happen.... I had to use quite a bit of flour just to be able to make it into a nice loaf (and cinnamon roll) shape, but other than that, it is YUMMY! I am pretty sure I started off the year saying I was going to make a lot of different breads. I guess that didn't happen, but I've had fun with the few I have made. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour 

 

Directions

 

1. If you have a bread machine, put ingredients into bread machine and run on dough cycle.  Then skip steps 2 and 3.
2. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
3. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
4. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 - 40 minutes.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I ran across these pancakes on all recipes. As I've said before, I'm not a huge pumpkin fan, but with a 4.5 star rating and over 1300 ratings; I had to try! I should probably state that my husband actually made these for me since I had carpal tunnel surgery this week, but I was an eager on-looker! Serving these with butter and maple syrup, these will be made again, and again in this household!  Perhaps I'm a bigger fan of pumpkin than I knew.....

Ingredients

2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt 

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar.
2. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Stir dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
4. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Scones

These are requested every Christmas. They have real hazelnuts in them that are very hard to find except at Christmas time. Normally, my family gets together and we all take turn cracking the hazelnuts and just chatting. I hope you enjoy making them as well.

I have a mini scones pan to make these. However, you can make these without a scone pan.  Instructions are listed below.
 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted and skinned

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Lightly butter a 9 inch diameter circle in the center of a baking sheet or scone pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes, and distribute evenly over flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into the flour mixture.
4. Stir together buttermilk, egg, and almond extract; add to the flour mixture, and stir to combine.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts. The dough will be sticky.
6. Spread the dough into an 8 inch diameter circle on the baking sheet. Cut with a serrated knife into 8 wedges or put into butter scone pan.
7. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes, or until the top in lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer scones to the wire rack to cool, and cut into wedges. Serve warm, or cool completely and store in airtight container.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

The recipe said these would have a cream cheese filling, but instead they have baked on cream cheese frosting. No worries - it's ALL good! The recipe said it would make 18 muffins; I made closer to 24. I do think that I could have mixed up just a little more of the streusel topping, but all in all, these turned out great!

Ingredients
8 oz package cream cheese
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
3 T. brown sugar

4 1/2 T. flour
5 T. white sugar
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
3 T. butter
3 T. chopped pecans

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. white sugar
2 t. baking powder
2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. canned pumpkin
1/3 c. olive oil
2 t. vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.
2. To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside.
3. For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
4. For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.  The batter will be VERY thick.
5. Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full.  Put a little indent in the top of the muffin batter with a teaspoon, then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter.  Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Santa Grahams

Aiden has been wanting to take a snack into preschool and today we are. Aren't these just the cutest little snacks! We had so much fun making these and I think the other kids will enjoy them! Happy Holidays!

 INGREDIENTS

Red icing (optional)

Red food color

1 1/4 c. vanilla frosting (from 16-oz. can)

12 square graham crackers

1 c. (about 75) miniature marshmallows, halved crosswise

6 small red gumdrops, halved crosswise

24 red cinnamon candies or candy eyes

DIRECTIONS

1. If not using the red icing, blend together 1/4 t. red food color into 1/4 cup of frosting in small bowl.
2. In separate bowl, stir 1 drop red food color into remaining 1 cup frosting; blend well.
3. For each cookie, frost 1 inch of one corner of cracker with dark red frosting for Santa's hat.
4. Place 1 marshmallow piece in corner for pom-pom.
5. Frost remainder of cracker with pink frosting.
6. Place marshmallow pieces on pink frosting around 2 sides for beard.
7. Add gumdrop for nose and cinnamon candies or candy eyes for eyes.

Almond Cinnamon Rolls

I made these on a whim with a can of crescent rolls that was left over from Thanksgiving (Thanks, Mindy!), and Brandon say they might be better than Dutch Letters, if he could actually say that without being beaten by my family! They are so easy, that I could make these anytime!

INGREDIENTS

1-7 oz box Odense Almond Paste
 8 T. butter, room temperature
 3 T. sugar
 3 T. cinnamon
 1 T. flour
 2 - 8 oz tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1 c. powdered sugar
1 T. milk
1/4 t. almond extract
 Optional garnish: toasted almonds slivers

 

DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
2. Grate Almond Paste on large hole side of a box grater.
3. Add Almond Paste, butter, sugar, cinnamon and flour to a bowl or food processor. Mix until well blended.  I was impatient and ended up just putting it in the microwave and melting the butter just a little bit until it would mix together well.
4. Unroll crescent dough. Divide each package into 4 rectangles. Pinch center seams (of 2 triangles) together securing the rectangle shape. With a spatula, spread equal amounts of cinnamon almond filling over each rectangle.
5. Starting at the short end of each rectangle, roll dough into a roll and pinch seam closed. Cut each roll into 3 equal pieces and slightly flatten with fingers.
6. Place each piece, side by side, on baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until golden brown in color. Cool on wire rack.
7. While rolls are cooling, whisk powdered sugar with milk and almond extract. Spread onto cooled rolls. For an extra pretty garnish sprinkle with toasted almonds while icing is still wet.

Pumpkin Bars

 
I'm not a huge pumpkin fan, but I do love me some pumpkin bars. These are especially tasty and super easy to make!  Thanks for the recipe, Cheri!  I also wanted to note that these can be completely dairy free if you buy dairy free frosting at the store to frost them - AWESOME!

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 2/3 c. sugar

1 c. canola oil

1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin

2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 c. butter

1 t. vanilla

3-4 c. powdered sugar

Directions

1. In a mixer bowl beat together eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
3. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly.
4. Spread batter into ungreased 15 X 10 X 1 inch pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
6. As it cools make the frosting. 

Frosting

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.
2. Mix in vanilla.
3. Add powdered sugar a little bit at a time beating it well until smooth.
4. Frost bars when completely cooled.

Turkey Treats

Okay, so how cute are these?!?!?!? I found them through pinterest. They originally were suppose to stand up, but I decided that was too much work and they are totally cute just like this. I think everyone will be thrilled to see these on turkey-day! I tried 2 different kinds of cookie frosting. Wilton's cookie frosting was much to thin and not suitable at all for this, but the Betty Crocker cookie frosting seemed to work great. I'm sure it's easy to make a nice cookie frosting that is thick and will harden up, but as I had surgery earlier today, I opted for EASY! To make these, you need fudge striped cookies, candy corn, peanut butter cups, nutter butter cookies, mini brown m&m's, red and yellow jelly belly's. The yellow jelly belly's need to have the tip cut off so they stick out nice for a nose. Other than that, once the frosting dried it was all stuck together like glue. Totally can't wait to show these off at Thanksgiving! Thanks for the extra hand, Allison!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brandon's preference is to have coconut bittersweet chocolate cookies. For that, I put in a 4 oz bar of Ghirdelli bittersweet chocolate cut into chunks and 1c. coconut instead of the 1-2 cups chips.   Also, any kind of chip works well. I really prefer white chocolate chips. You can also add nuts if you want, they are tasty with some macadamia nuts.  This batch was made with a 4 oz bar of Ghirdelli semi-sweet chocolate 

This recipe is also really easy and seem to turn out better if you just mix them up by hand instead of using the mixer. They freeze really well and when we want one, we pull one out of the freezer and microwave it on 50% power for like 30 seconds and they are as good as coming out of the oven. YUM!

Ingredients

2 1/8 c. all-purpose flour (~ 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
12 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 c. brown sugar  (7 ounces)
1/2 c. sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 t. vanilla extract
1 - 2 c. chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)


Directions

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions.  Heat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
   By hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended.
3. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined.
5. Stir in chips.
   Using 3 T. cookie scoop, scoop dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface.
6. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined (or use silicone baking mat) jellyroll pans, about nine dough balls per sheet. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month—shaped or not.)
    Bake, rotating cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes(start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.)
7. Cool cookies on cookie sheets.
8. Serve or store in airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Candy Corn Cupcake (also egg and dairy free)

Okay, so we have a Fall Birthday Bash/Halloween party with our playgroup. I had to come up with some dessert that was egg free and kid friendly, but also perfect for a fall party. This seemed perfect. The cupcakes you can make with any old yellow box cake mix, but you can follow below to see how I made them egg and dairy free. I think they turned out really well. They seemed to rise well. The only thing was that they were quite crumbly, but I'm pretty sure that is the case with all egg free cakes.  I also didn't have a really ripe banana on hand, but thought that would help hold it together a little better.  I ended up making these with about 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/2 a banana, but that was a little too much moisture.  I've adjusted the recipe accordingly

Ingredients

1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix (look carefully at allergen list)

1 1/3 c. water

1/3 c. canola oil

1 banana, ripe and mashed, or 1/2 c. applesauce

1 t. baking powder

1 T. vinegar

orange food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Line muffin baking pan with cupcake liners.
3. Using an electric mixer on low speed, blend the ingredients together (except food coloring) until moistened (approximately 30 seconds) in a large bowl.
4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and blend on medium speed for another minute.
5. To make the candy corn color, pour half or slightly less of the mixture into a bowl and add a color of drops of orange food coloring.  Be careful not to overfill the cups.
6. In each cupcake liner, pour a little yellow cake mix and then top with a little orange cake mix.  You'll want the tins to be about 2/3 full.
7. Bake according to the directions on the box (this batter can, of course, be used for making cakes of different sizes, not just cupcakes).
8. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
9. I frosted the cakes with a simple butter cream frosting, but you can easily buy egg free dairy free frosting at the store (just make sure to look at the allergen listing)

S'mores Bars

Okay, so the picture didn't turn our great, but the bars are all gone, so this is what you get. It looks a little more like a mound of S'mores, but whatever - they tasted GREAT! These seemed like a perfect dessert for trick or treating night. My husband was so upset when they were all gone. I guess I'll be making these again!

Ingredients

10 oz. bag (6 c.) mini marshmallows

12 oz. package semi sweet chocolate chips

5 T. butter

12 oz box (8 c.) Golden Graham cereal

1 t. vanilla

Directions

1. Place package of chocolate chips in the freezer to chill.
2. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan, set aside.
3. Melt butter in a pot over medium heat.
4. Once butter is melted, add in 5 cups of marshmallows and stir until almost completely melted.  Don't worry about making sure they are all melted!
5. Stir in vanilla.
6. Remove from heat and add cereal, stirring to coat.
7. Once cereal is coated, remove chocolate chips from freezer and add to cereal mixture. Also add in the remaining cup of marshmallows. Gently stir until evenly distributed.
8. Press cereal mixture into prepared baking pan.
9. Once cooled, cut into squares and enjoy!

Applesauce Bread

I know my husband is a big fan of appleasauce bread, so I found a recipe to surprise him with some bread to accompany our dinner. As my husband generally doesn't like nuts or extra stuff in his bread, I left out the pecans. Over dinner, I told him that I had left them out. Of course he replied, "That would have been a great addition to this bread!" How was I suppose to know? Anyway, it turned out great without the nuts, and I'm sure it would be great with them as well!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups applesauce

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3 tablespoons milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar, oil, eggs and milk; beat well. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; stir until smooth. Fold in the pecans. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

S'mores Cookies

I found this recipe online and thought we'd try it out for birthday treats for Aiden to take to preschool. They are so good, that I don't want to send them with him, but it's better to share than to eat that many cookies, I suppose. This recipe is going into my recipe box. Need I say more?

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 c. all-purpose flour (~ 10 1/2 ounces) 
• 1/2 t. salt 
• 1/2 t. baking soda 
• 12 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
• 2 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly 
• 1 c. brown sugar  (7 ounces) 
• 1/2 c. sugar (3 1/2 ounces) 
• 1 egg 
• 1 egg yolk 
• 2 t. vanilla extract 
• 1 - 2 c. chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)
• 1/2 bag of mini marshmallows
• 1 box graham crackers
• 3 Hersey bars broken into the pieces

Directions

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions.  Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. By hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended.
4. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla.
5. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallows. 
7. Place about 1 1/2 T. of dough on graham crackers squares. Press down slightly with fingertips.
8. Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.
9. Bake for 7-10 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges.  Do NOT over bake!
10. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.

Cake Batter Pancake

Okay, so I thought these would be perfect for Aiden's birthday dinner, but we had a slight problem. We ended up buying a butter cake mix instead of a yellow cake mix. Note, these are completely different. I'm pretty sure they would be AWESOME with a yellow cake mix, but I couldn't force myself to eat these with the butter cake mix. I certainly want to try them again because they weren't awful, they just had a taste that was off from the mix.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup yellow cake mix

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 cups milk

sprinkles

Directions

1. Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix.
2. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. *You may need to have small taste test to see if the pancakes are flavored enough, if not, add a little more yellow cake mix until desired flavor is reached**
3. Preheat a skillet on medium-high heat.
4. Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter.
5. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more.
6. Serve with vanilla glaze.

Glaze Ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

assorted sprinkles

Directions

Mix milk, extract and powdered sugar until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more sugar or water/milk to reach desired consistency. I needed to add more milk. Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

My husband seems to like banana cake, so I threw this together last night. It turned out well and was quite easy to make. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of banana bread or banana bars, but this was good as well. If you have a few extra brown bananas lying around, make something yummy today!  (Just noticed that I've never made my banana bars for this website.  I will have to fix that very shortly as they are FANTASTIC!)

Ingredients

2 c. sugar

1 c. canola oil

3 eggs

1 T. vanilla

4 overripe bananas, mashed

3 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 and lightly grease a bundt or 9x13 pan.
2. Place the sugar, oil, and eggs in mixer bowl and beat with paddle until light and lemon colored.
3. Add the vanilla and bananas and mix until just combined.
4. Scrape down bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix until just combined.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake in oven until a toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour.
6. Cool cake completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 c. butter

8 oz cream cheese

2 c. powdered sugar

2 t. vanilla

Directions

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.
2. Scrape down sides and slowly add the powdered sugar and vanilla.
3. Continue to beat until frosting is fully incorporated and smooth.

Chocolate Crispy Log

Another item out of our freezer meals cookbook. I guess I didn't realize that you could freeze rice crispy bar type food without it getting soggy or something, but guess what, you can! These are actually a bit TOO chocolatey for me, but Brandon loved them. If you love chocolate try this....

Ingredients

10 oz package of marshmallows

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. peanut butter

5 1/2 c. Rice Krispies cereal

1 1/3 v. semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 c. butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Line a 10x15 jellyroll pan with waxed paper, or silicone baking mat.  Grease paper with butter and set aside.
2. In a pot, melt marshmallows, butter, and peanut butter over medium-low heat until well blended.
3. Stir in cereal until well coated.
4. Spread into prepared pan, pressing it flat using another sheet of buttered waxed paper, or silicone mat.
5. In small pan, melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips until completely melted.  Spread over cereal mixture
6. Roll up jellyroll style, starting with long side, peeling waxed paper away while rolling.  Place seam side down on serving plate and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.
7. To freeze, wrap in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil and freeze.
8. Thaw, slice, serve, and enjoy.

Apple Pie

So, I made this up before baby #3 and threw it in the freezer. I wanted to be able to get a few items baked and up on the blog sometime after having Emery, but knew that having a c-section and a new born baby at home would certainly limit my time and ability to be in the kitchen. This turned out good. I feel that I should try making more pies to put in the freezer for later! The only thing I would change, is that I used fairly sweet apples when I made this because that's what I had in the house. It certainly would have been a little better with something more like a granny smith apple.  Oh, and it doesn't look that pretty because I just had a baby and didn't really care what my dessert looked like...sorry...

Ingredients

1 unbaked 9-in pie shell

1/2 c. sugar (adjust for tartness of apples)

1t. cinnamon

6-8 baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

3/4 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. butter

Cooking Day Directions

1. Place pie shell in glass or disposable pie plate (for super easy clean-up)
2. For filling, mix 1/2 c. sugar, cinnamon and apples and put in pie shell.
3. Make topping by mixing flour, 1/3 c. sugar, and butter with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly.  Sprinkle over top of apples.
4. Double wrap pie pan with plastic wrap and foil, and freeze.

 Serving Day Directions

1. Pie may be baked while still frozen.
2. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temp to 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until apples are tender, juices are bubbly, and the crust lightly browned.
3. Note:  It took much longer for my pie to bake, but I also stuffed as many apples as I could into the pie pan.  Keep baking it until the apples are tender and the juices are nice and bubbly.  If the crust is getting to dark, cover pie with aluminum foil

Cheesecake

Bags are packed to head to the hospital very bright and early tomorrow, so this picture will have to do taken with my iPod. I cut this recipe in half and then made it in my 6 in spring form pan. It turned out great. The only thing was that it was a little too lemony, but I'm pretty sure that had something to do with me trying to halve it and then not really measuring the lemon juice...whoops! The consistency of this cheesecake was great, and I liked that it was a nice and tall cheesecake. Can't wait to make more things in my new spring form pan!

Oh, and no I was not baking the day before giving birth to my third son, this is a make a head and freeze it recipe.  Worked out quite well.  I baked it, cooled it, and even put it in the freezer to get quite solid.  I then removed if from the spring form pan, and wrapped it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil.  It worked our wonderfully, and took up a lot less space in my freezer without the pan.

Ingredients

1 c. graham cracker crumbs

2 T. brown sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

4 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temp.

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 T. cornstarch

2 t. vanilla

8 oz sour cream

2 t. grated lemon peel

Directions 

1. Combine the first three ingredients; press into the bottom of 9-in. springform pan and bake at 325° for 6 minutes.  Cool.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sugar; mix well.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch, vanilla and lemon juice until smooth.  Add to cream cheese mixture.
5. At this point, mix as little as possible to fold in sour cream.
6. Add lemon peel to filling; pour into crust.
7. Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until center still jiggles. Do not overbake. The center should not be completely set when removed from oven.
8. Cool thoroughly on a wire rack and then chill overnight.

Scotcharoos

Well, I needed another gluten free recipe when someone suggested making just plain old rice crispy bars. Of course, from that, I thought I should make scotcharoos. I haven't made these in forever, and boy are they Delicious! And yes, this bar was eaten while it was still warm...who could resist?

Ingredients

1 c. light corn syrup

1c. sugar

1c. peanut butter

6 c. crispy rice cereal

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Place corn syrup and sugar into 3-quart saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.  Remove from heat.
2. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well until all peanut butter has been melted.
3. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.
4. Press mixture into 9x13 pan coated with cooking spray. Set aside.
5. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.
6. Spread evenly over cereal mixture.
7. Let stand until firm. Cut into 2 x 1-inch bars when cool.

Boston Cream Cupcakes

I've made these once before, but I had some cake mix and decided that I should make them again. They are super tasty. While these are yellow cake with chocolate frosting, you can make them with whatever cake, frosting, and pudding that you would like. Yummmmm!

Ingredients

1 yellow cake mix prepared as cupcakes

1 box pudding, whatever flavor desired, I used cheesecake

1 tub frosting

Directions

1.  Make cupcakes and allow them to cool to room temperature.
2. Make pudding, perhaps a little thicker than normal, but whatever you like.
3. Using a pastry bag, or syringe (I used one of the kids medicine syringes) squirt pudding into center of cupcakes.  I was able to put about 2-3 teaspoons of pudding into each cupcake.  Make sure to angle the syringe different directions to make sure you can get a lot of pudding into these.
4. Frost with favorite frosting.
5. Allow cupcakes to meld together over night and then enjoy!

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Bars

Okay, so this might be one of my hormonal pregnancy things, but I saw this recipe and HAD to try it. I don't know that it was really any better than normal rice crispy bars, BUT the kids sure enjoyed all the sprinkles and it made a great dessert for our Labor Day picnic.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter

1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows

1/3 - 1/2 cup yellow cake mix

6 cups crispy rice cereal

1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they melt.
2. Add in cake mix one spoonful at a time and stir until it is all combined.
3. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture.
4. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix.
5. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles.
6. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting.

Boston Cream Pie

My Grandma turned 90 today and I thought I had to make some sort of VERY special cake for her. I think I succeeded making this Boston Cream Pie.  I don't have two round cake pans that are the same, so I decided the best method was to make a square Boston Cream Pie.  That really helped make Grandma's birthday even more spectacular.

Ingredients

Pastry Cream

2 c. half-and-half

6 large egg yolks

1/2 c. (3 1/2 ounces) sugar

pinch salt

1/4 c. flour

4 T. cold butter, cut into four pieces

1 1/2 t. vanilla 

Cake

1 1/2cups (7 1/2 ounces) flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

3/4 c. whole milk

6 T. butter

1 1/2 t. vanilla

3 large eggs

1 1/2cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar

Glaze

1/2 c. heavy cream

2 T. light corn syrup

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Instructions 

For the Pastry Cream

1. Heat half-and-half in medium saucepan over medium heat until just simmering. Meanwhile, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Add flour to yolk mixture and whisk until incorporated. Remove half-and-half from heat and, whisking constantly, slowly add ½ cup to yolk mixture to temper. Whisking constantly, return tempered yolk mixture to half-and-half in saucepan
2. Return saucepan to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, whisking constantly, 8 minutes.
3. Increase heat to medium and cook, whisking vigorously, until bubbles burst on surface, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla until butter is melted and incorporated. Strain pastry cream through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl. Press lightly greased parchment paper directly on surface and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours and up to 24.

For the Cake:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over low heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and cover to keep warm.
2. In stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip eggs and sugar at high speed until light and airy, about 5 minutes. Remove mixer bowl from stand. Add hot milk mixture and whisk by hand until incorporated. Add dry ingredients and whisk until incorporated.
3. Working quickly, divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake until tops are light brown and toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes.
4. Transfer cakes to wire rack and cool -completely in pan, about 2 hours. Run small plastic knife around edge of pans, then invert cakes onto wire rack. Carefully remove parchment, then reinvert cakes. 

To Assemble: 

1. Place one cake round on large plate. Whisk pastry cream briefly, then spoon onto center of cake. Using offset spatula, spread evenly to cake edge. Place second layer on pastry cream, bottom side up, making sure layers line up properly. Press lightly on top of cake to level. Refrigerate cake while preparing glaze. 

For the Glaze

1. Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk gently until smooth, 30 seconds. Let stand, whisking occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes.
2. Pour glaze onto center of cake. Use offset spatula to spread glaze to edge of cake, letting excess drip decoratively down sides. Chill finished cake 3 hours before slicing. Cake may be made up to 24 hours before serving.

Strawberry Poke Cake

I made this for a church pot luck this week. Isn't it required to take something that contains Jello to a church potluck? Anyway, this is good. It's slightly different than a normal poke cake, but it's for the better! Make sure not to rush this recipe, as the whole cake needs some time to just meld together.

Cake Ingredients

12 T. butter, softened, plus extra for preparing pan

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 c. milk

2 t. vanilla

6 large egg whites

1 3/4 c. sugar

Syrup and Topping Ingredients

4 c. frozen strawberries

6 T. sugar

2 T. orange juice

1/2 c. water

2 T. strawberry-flavored gelatin

2 c. heavy cream

Directions

For the cake: 

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl.
3. Whisk milk, vanilla, and egg whites in large measuring cup.
4. Beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy (~3 min)
5. Add flour and milk mixture alternately, in two batches, beating after each addition until combined (~30 secs)
6. Give batter one final stir with a rubber spatula, and then pour into prepared pan.  Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (~35 minutes)
7. Cool cake completely (at least 1 hour)

For the syrup and topping:

1. Heat 3 c. strawberries, 2 T. sugar, juice, and water in medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Cover and cook until liquid is deep red and strawberries are softened (~10 min)
2. Strain liquid into bowl reserving solids, then whisk gelatin into liquid.  Let cool to room temperature. (30 min)
3. Poke about 50 holes in top of cooled cake with a skewer.  Slowly pour cooled liquid into every hole.
4. Wrap cake with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until gelatin is set.  (At least 3 hours and up to 2 days.  I suggest longer than 3 hours)
5. Pulse reserved strained strawberries, 2 T. sugar, and remaining strawberries in food processors until mixture resembles strawberry jam.
6. Spread strawberry mixture evenly over cake.
7. Beat heavy cream with 2 T. sugar to soft peaks.
8. Spread whipped cream over strawberries.
9. Cut cake into squares and serve cold.

Strawberry Rhubarb Almond Muffins

I found this recipe online and thought they sounded great, however, they were okay. I just expected more out of muffins with almond paste, orange zest, strawberries, AND rhubarb. These were good, just not great.

INGREDIENTS

Topping Ingredients

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 t. cinnamon

Muffin Ingredients

1-7 oz box almond paste

2 c. flour

2/3 c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1 t. grated orange zest

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

3/4 c. buttermilk

4 T. butter, melted

2 eggs

3/4 c. strawberries, 1/4-1/2 inch dice

3/4 c. rhubarb, 1/4-1/2 inch dice

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and grease a twelve-count muffin tin or line with paper cups.
2. In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. Add almond paste, flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, baking soda and salt to food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until almond paste is finely cut into flour. (Or use a bowl with a pastry cutter).
4. In a medium bowl beat the buttermilk, butter and eggs until well combined.
5. Mix the flour mixture first, then the strawberries and rhubarb. Stir gently until all ingredients are just incorporated. Over beating will make a tough muffin.
6. Scoop batter into muffin tins and sprinkle with topping.
7. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until tops are rounded and muffins are golden.
8. Cool tin on wire rack for 5 minutes. Gently transfer muffins from tin to wire rack to finish cooling. These muffins are especially good served warm.

Mountain Dew Cupcakes

A friend of mine found this recipe and was thinking of people that love Mountain Dew. She passed it on to me as she knew I was going to be visiting one of our friends that has to be the biggest Mountain Dew fans we know. If you don't drink Mountain Dew all the time, I don't think you would immediately think, "Wow, these taste like Mountain Dew!" However, they are WONDERFUL lemon lime cupcakes that I will certainly make again! As an FYI - I couldn't find my micro-planer get the zest from the lemons and limes. Instead, I used lemon and lime oils that I have on hand. I realize this isn't something most people have on hand, but I'm sure it's equally good with the flecks of zest in the cupcakes and frosting.

Mountain Dew Cupcake Ingredients

1 c. butter (2 sticks)
2 c. sugar
4 large eggs
3/4 c. Mountain Dew

1 Lemon, juice and zest

1 Lime, juice and zest
1 1/2 t. lemon extract
2-3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Mountain Dew Frosting Ingredients

1 c. butter (2 sticks)
4-5 c. powdered sugar
2 T. Mountain Dew
1/2 Lemon, juice and zest

1 Lime, juice and zest
1 t. lemon extract

neon green food coloring (yellow and blue if you dont have green)

Directions

1. To make cupcakes, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar and lemon and lime zest. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of bowl in between additions
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Fold into sugar mixture.
5. Add the Mountain Dew, lemon and lime juice, and lemon extract.  Mix to combine.
6. Scoop into cupcake papers about two-thirds full.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. To make frosting, beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy
9. Add half of the sugar, turn mixer on low for 5 seconds.
10. Add the Mountain Dew, zest, and lemon extract . Beat until combined.
11. Add food coloring to the desired color.
12. Gradually add remaining sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.
13. Frost cupcakes when they are completely cooled.

Strawberry Nectarine No Bake Cheesecake

Well, I thought I'd try my hand at no bake cheesecake as it is too hot outside to turn the oven on. I thought it turned out okay. I didn't let it firm up over night which would have helped a lot and I even think this would have been great frozen. Next time.  I also made it in my new 7 inch spring form pan, but it was FULL.  I think if I would have made more crust and moved it into an 8 inch pan it would have helped a little.

Ingredients

15 Ginger Snaps turned into crumbs

2 T. butter

12 oz. cream cheese softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. strawberries

1 nectarine, peeled

2 t. vanilla

1 c. whipping cream, whipped

Directions

1. Combine the crushed cookies and butter in a 7 inch spring form pan and press firmly and evenly into the bottom and sides.
2. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 5-8 minutes. Allow the crust to cool completely before adding filling.
3. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then slowly add the sugar and vanilla. Beat mixture until well blended.
4. Using your hands, squish the nectarine.  It will release a lot of juice.  Add all juice and pulp to cream cheese mixture.  Mix well.
5. Mix in strawberries.
6. In a clean chilled bowl, beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form.
7. By hand, fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
8. Spoon filling mixture into crust.
9. Chill or freezer overnight.

Cake Box Cookies

I haven't had these for a long while, probably since college, but they are good and quite easy to make. I made them using a lemon cake mix, but I have enjoyed them with a cherry chip and chocolate cake mix, as well.  Experiment however you want!

Ingredients

1 box lemon cake mix (or whatever you want)

8 oz. carton of Cool Whip (I don't think lite works very well, but I could be wrong)

1 egg

powdered sugar

Directions

1. Mix ingredients together in a large bowl
2. Using small cookie scoop (2 t. scoop), form a few balls of dough and drop them into a bowl of powdered sugar. If scoop is getting to sticky, dip in a glass of water.
3. Place dough covered with powdered sugar on greased or lined baking sheet.
4. Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
5. Allow to cool for several minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

Kit Kat Bars

When RSVPing for a summer cook out, I asked what I could bring. The hostess quickly said, "Kit Kat Bars!" It's been awhile since I've made them, but they are pretty darn good. I got this recipe from my mother-in-law. She always doubles the frosting. I have always done that as well, except for this time. It turned out fine. It's up to you on how much chocolate you would like on top of your Kit Kat bars

Ingredients

1/2 box of Club crackers

1 c. margarine

1 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. milk

1/2 c. sugar

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

Frosting

1/2 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. butterscotch chips

1/2 c. peanut butter

1. Put a single layer of Club crackers on bottom of 9 X 13 pan. Set aside.
2. Mix margarine, brown sugar, milk, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs in medium sauce pan.  Bringing to boil, stir lots, boil 5 min. (No longer)
3. Pour half of mixture over crackers.
4. Place another layer of crackers on top of hot mixture, making sure to lay them in the same direction as the previous layer.
5. Top with the rest of hot mixture.
6. Place a third layer of Club crackers, again making sure to lay the crackers in the same direction.
7.  Melt  chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter in small sauce pan over low heat until completely melted.
8. Spread frosting on top of bars.
9. Allow bars to cool on counter for awhile and then cut into bars, then chill.  You'll probably have to re-cut the bars when serving, but it is a lot easier if you have already run your knife through them.

Thick and Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

I was suppose to be going to a Christmas in July cookie exchange today, but it was cancelled due to illness. Brandon was so disappointed as he was looking forward to ginger cookies. When he took the kids outside, I decided to surprise him. He LOVES these cookies and to my surprise, the kids love them too! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Ingredients

1/3 c. sugar (about 2 1/2 ounces), plus 1/2 cup for dipping
2 1/4 c. flour (11 1/4 ounces)
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/4 t. salt
12 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
1/3 c. packed dark brown sugar (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1 large egg yolk
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. molasses (about 6 ounces)

 
Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Place 1/2 cup sugar for dipping in 8- or 9-inch cake pan.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in medium bowl until thoroughly combined; set aside.
3. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter with brown and granulated sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to medium-low and add yolk and vanilla; increase speed to medium and beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds.
5. Reduce speed to medium-low and add molasses; beat until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds, scraping bottom and sides of bowl once with rubber spatula.
6. Reduce speed to lowest setting; add flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl down once. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no pockets of flour remain at bottom. Dough will be soft.
7. Using tablespoon measure, scoop heaping tablespoon of dough and roll between palms into 1 1/2-inch ball; drop ball into cake pan with sugar and repeat to form about 4 balls.  (I use my 1.5 T. cookie scoop.) Toss balls in sugar to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough.
8. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are browned, still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 11 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not over bake.
9. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes, then use wide metal spatula to transfer cookies to wire rack; cool cookies to room temperature and serve. (Can be stored at room temperature in airtight container or zipper-lock plastic bag up to 5 days.)

Snickerdoodles

This weekend, I had to renew my membership to cooksillustrated.com. I also decided to join their Editor's Choice group as I have eyed a few recipes there before, but never ponied up to join. I decided that if I was going to join Editor's Choice, I had better make something from them. I went for snickerdoodles as I haven't had them in years. Brandon told me he didn't like them until he tried them. I guess then they were good!  Hope you all enjoy this free Cook's Illustrated Editor's Choice recipe!

Ingredients

2 1/4 c. (11 1/4 ounces) flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
12 T. unsalted butter , softened but still cool (I've given up on using unsalted butter)
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
1 1/2 c. (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar , plus 3 T. for rolling dough
2 large eggs
1 T. cinnamon for rolling dough

 

Directions

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.  (I use silicone baking mats)
2. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.Cream the butter, shortening, and the 1½ cups sugar at medium speed until combined , about 1 to 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Add the eggs. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.
5. Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar for rolling and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
6. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1½-inch balls.  (I used my 1.5 T. cookie scoop) Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the centers are soft and puffy, 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them with a wide metal spatula to a wire rack.
8. Store in a container with a slice of fresh bread in order to keep cookies soft and chewy.