Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the chocolate chip cookies my roommate in college made to attract all the young men to our apartment.  They are so divine ... even if they are simple.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

What you need:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
1 pkg. milk chocolate chips

How you do it:
Cream together sugars, butter, and shortening.  Add vanilla (I sometimes add extra vanilla, depending on my mood) and eggs.  Blend well.  In medium-sized bowl, stir together rest of ingredients.  Mix the flour mixure into the sugar mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Roll into 2-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° for 9-13 minutes.

Rocky Road Brownies

I remember my mom making these brownies for family functions and church activities. They still go fast wherever I take them also. In fact, I took these to the church for refreshments after a baptism and meant to get a picture of one brownie so you would be able to see the different layers, but by the time I got back to the dish they were gone! One lady said that they were so good she took one bite and decided she had to save the rest until she could have milk with it. (I guess she only eats the "good" desserts with milk.) And, that's something I would highly suggest with these babies ... mmmm, milk.

ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES

What you need for the bar layer:

1/2 cup margarine, or butter
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional; I omit)

How you do the bar layer:

Melt margarine and chocolate over low heat. In bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add chocolate mixture and mix well. Spread into a greased 9x13-inch casserole dish. Set aside.

What you need for the filling layer:

1/2 cup sugar
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup margaine, or butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional; I used almonds)

How you do the filling layer:

Beat cream cheese; add remaning ingredients and beat for 1 minutes. Spread over bar layer. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes; do not under bake. Begin mixing frosting.

What you need for the frosting layer:

2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup margarine, or butter
1 square unsweetened baking chocolate
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
2 oz. cream cheese

How you do the frosting layer:

Take brownies out of oven and psrinkle marshmallows on top. Put back into oven for about 2-5 minutes (or until marshmallows begin to be golden brown; see picture above). Melt margaine, chocolate, cream cheese, and milk over low heat. Removed from heat, add powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour immediately over marshmallows and swirl together (be careful not to get into the filling layer when swirling). Cool completely before cutting. Store in fridge.

Creamy Chocolate Chip Drops

These will hit the spot when you are craving chocolate chip cookies on a day when you realize you don't have any eggs, and you don't want to go to the store. I like them rolled in powdered sugar, my husband likes them without the powdered sugar. Either way, they are yummy!

CREAMY CHOCOLATE CHIP DROPS

What you need:

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour*
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered sugar

*If you don't have cake flour, subsitute all-purpose flour and take out 2 tablespoons of flour from the 2 cups measured.

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 300°. IN a medium bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light nd fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add cake flour and salt and beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonsfuls 2-inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use parchment paper). Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until set but not browned. Let cookies cool on sheets 2 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar, transfer to a rack, and let cool completely.

Texas Cereal Cookies

The picture I took of this didn't turn out very well. So, maybe next time I make these I'll update this with a picture. At any rate, these are really yummy ... but seriously full of sugar. The recipe makes several dozen (depending on size), so I would suggest only making these when you will be able to get rid or give away most of them so you don't end up eating them all!

What you need:

2 cups light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 jar marshmallow creme
2 cups peanut butter
1 (12 oz.) bag chocolate chips
1 large box cereal (Cheerios, Special K, Kix [my fav], Rice Krispies, etc.)

How to do it:

Bring sugar, syrup and salt to a rolling boil. Stir for one minutes and remove from heat. Add marshmallow creme, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Add cereal and carefully mix. Shape into cookies or bars.


Tip: Be sure to mix it really well and pour it on the cereal while it is still somewhat warm. (I let it cool a little bit and the handle on my wooden spoon broke completely off while I was mixing it together.)

Chocolate Butter Balls

This year I made one of my family's traditional holiday treats: Chocolate Butter Balls. I don't have a clue where my mom got the recipe, but as a child (and still today) I loved these things. In fact, my brother liked the dough so much that he would put it in a bowl in the fridge and eat out of it with a spoon. Who doesn't do that with cookie dough, though? (I don't have a picture because they are all gone. Sorry about that. Maybe I'll edit to add a picture later.)

I was telling my friend about them today, explaining that they are the perfect treat for a family night because there are enough ingredients for everyone to do something, and even the youngest child can help with these because you mix it together and roll it (there's no baking or cooking involved).

CHOCOLATE BUTTER BALLS

What you need:

2/3 cup butter, softened
3 Tbsp. cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups quick oats
powdered sugar

How you do it:

Mix all ingredients except powdered sugar; chill for at least one hour. (Or, if you live in Minne-so-cold, like we do, you can flatten the dough out and wrap in plastic wrap, then place it out on your deck or porch for 10-15 minutes [just enough to make the dough workable]. That'll do the trick.) Roll into balls, then roll balls in powdered sugar. Keep leftovers in refrigerator.

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

APPLESAUCE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour
1 pkg. chocolate chips

Mix together shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and applesauce. Add the rest of the ingredients except flour and chocolate chips. Make sure the batter is mixed well. Add the flour a little at a time. The mixture will get harder to mix as you add flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

BTW, my cookie jar looked like that on Sunday ... and now it's empty. That's how good these are!

Snickerdoodles

SNICKERDOODLES

1 ½ cups sugar
2 sticks butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cream of tarter
3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

Cream together sugar and butter in large bowl. In medium bowl stir together baking soda, salt, cream of tarter, and flour. Add eggs and vanilla to sugar-butter mixture. Mix flour mixture into sugar mixture. Roll into 2-inch balls. In same bowl used for flour mixture combine ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon; roll balls in cinnamon-sugar and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 9 to 11 minutes.

Butterscotch Brownies

BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/3 cups flaked or shredded coconut
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup tiny marshmallows
caramel-flavored ice cream topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. In a small saucepan melt 1/3 cup butter; stir in 2/3 cup brown sugar, the coconut, and 3/4 cup pecans. Pat evenly in prepared pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat 1/2 cup butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup brown sugar, baking soda, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Add flour and beat until combined. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans and marshmallows. Spoon small mounds of mixture over coconut mixture in pan. Carefully spread to cover. Bake about 20 minutes* (mixture should be evenly browned; center may jiggle slightly when shaken). Cool in pan on a wire rack. To serve, cut into bars and drizzle with caramel topping.

*I baked mine for around 23 minutes or so and the middle still didn't seem done. So, next time I think I'll let it bake for 30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Clouds

CREAM CHEESE CLOUDS

1 can (12 count) refrigerated biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon, ground
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, cut into 12 cubes
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate dough into 12 biscuits; press or roll each to 1/4-inch thickness. Mix sugar & cinnamon in shallow dish. Dip cream cheese in butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar. Place 1 cream cheese cube in center of each dough circle; gather up sides of dough to enclose filling. Press edges of dough together to seal. Place seam side up in lightly greased muffin pan; drizzle with any remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.