Cookie Dough Dip

I found this recipe and just knew that I had to try it.  I made it for a Memorial Day get together.  The reviews were all positive, so I just had to share.

Cookie Dough Dip

Courtesy of Sweet Basil

1/2 C. Unsalted Butter at room temperature

1/3 C. Brown Sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 (8 oz) pkg. of cream cheese

1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

3/4 C. Mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

Melt the brown sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stirring until the brown sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla, set aside.

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth, about 1 minute.  Gradually beat in the cooled butter/brown sugar mixture.  Beat for a minute or until all ingredients are combined.  

Stir in the chocolate chips.  Place in the fridge to set.  

Serve with Vanilla wafers and Graham Crackers.

Chocolate Scotcheroos

I am sure that these have been called many different things.  These treats are addicting, they never last long in my home.

Chocolate Scotcheroos

1 C. Sugar

1 C. White Karo Syrup

1 C. Peanut Butter

6 C. Rice Krispies

1 C. Chocolate Chips

1 C. Butterscotch Chips

Put sugar and Karo syrup in saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Add peanut butter and mix well.  Stir in Rice Krispies until coated and gently press (don’t push hard) into 9x13 cake pan.  Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips and spread over top of rice krispies mixture.  Cool.

Monte Cristo Sandwich

My husband loves Bennigan's Monte Cristo sandwich and was lamenting the fact that we don't have the restaurant locally. We decided to try to make them ourselves. I'd still probably go for Bennigan's any day, but these were pretty tasty and SUPER filling.

Sliced bread
Sliced turkey
Sliced ham
Sliced American cheese
Sliced swiss cheese
Powdered sugar

Raspberry jam

Batter
1 egg
1 -1 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder

vegetable oil (for deep frying)

1. Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan.
   Build a triple-decker sandwich, placing turkey and swiss cheese on one slice of bread and ham and American cheese on another slice of bread.
   Secure with toothpicks.
   In a mixing bowl, add egg and water and beat.
   Add salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder. Beat until smooth.
   Dip sandwich in the batter, covering all surfaces.
   Place into hot oil (make sure the oil is hot enough or the sandwich will soak up too much oil and become soggy) and fry until golden brown. Remove.
   Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with raspberry jam.
   
   

7 Layer Dessert

Hi this is a great and easy dessert. It's a lot of fun to make with kids.  My 4 year old niece had lots of fun helping me with this dessert.

7 Layer Dessert:

12 graham crackers

4 Tblsp. of margarine

Bag of chocolate chips

Bag of butterscotch chips

Marshmallows

Can of sweetened condensed milk

Melt the butter. Crush the Graham crackers and add to the melted butter. Press on the bottom of a 9 by 14 in pan. Sprinkle on the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. After cover with marshmallow then pour the entire container of sweetened milk over the marshmallows. Bake in the oven that is heated to 350 for 20 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown.

Taco Soup

Soup is always a good choice for dinner, especially if it's easy to make.  This soup is so easy to put together, and it really does taste great.

Taco Soup:

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 pkg. taco seasoning

1 can of corn with juice

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans stewed tomatoes (about 28 oz)

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

Cook the ground beef and onion in a large pan.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.

Top with:

Fritos

Cheddar Cheese

Olives

Sour Cream

Cream Cheese Frosting

I think cream cheese goes with most anything.  When I was thinking about Emilee's birthday cake this year, I knew that I wanted white frosting with chocolate on top.  I am not a fan of white frosting, then one night I remembered the cream cheese frosting I found on the food network.  I changed the recipe just a little and added extra powder sugar, to make it a little stiffer. The cake ended up tasting wonderful, it was the perfect mixture of chocolate and cream cheese.  

Cream Cheese Frosting

courtesy of Paula Deen, the Food Network

16 oz. Cream Cheese, softened

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

4 1/2 C. powdered sugar

Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together.  Gradually add the powdered sugar, until well mixed.  Enjoy.

Caramel Brownies

These are always a favorite. My family loves them, and I can never seem to keep them around for longer then a couple days. When I went away to school, the same thing happened with my roommates, everybody loves them, Its a garanteed success.

Batter:

1 package of German Chocolate Cake mix
3/4 Cup of Margarine
1/3 Cup evaporated milk.
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
Caramel:
50 light Caramels
1/3 Cup Evaportated milk
Melt together in a double boiler
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 13 by 9in pan. Combine cake mix, margarine, milk by hand, or pastry cutter till the dough holds together. Press 1/2 of mix into pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle Chocolate chips on baked crust. Pour caramel over chips. Crumble remaining cough over caramel mixture. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
*I like to add a few more caramels to my mix, but I would go over 60. Also when spreading the top layer on. Flatten it out in your hand, It is easier and covers more surface area. With the chocolate chips, if you dont like whole chips in you brownie, leave them in the oven for a little bit, no longer then a minute, then try to spread the chips. Just be careful not to break the brownie. this way you get more of a layer of chocolate then, chunks.

Oatmeal Cookies

The last couple of weeks I have wanted oatmeal cookies.  I pulled out the recipe I've had forever and they didn't turn out the way I wanted.  So a couple of days later I made them again and got them to work, they taste wonderful.  I love how light they are.  We ate almost all of the cookies that day, Adam has already asked for more.

Oatmeal Cookie

1/2 Cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1 1/4 Cups flour

1/2 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Cups quick oatmeal

1/2 Cup coconut

Preheat the oven to 375.  In mixing bowl cream the butter and sugars.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Stir in the remaining ingredients until mixed.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.  

Chicken Enchiladas

Adam loves these, they are one of his most favorite meals.  They make a lot and are really easy to make.  If you are making these for someone who has a hard time with spicy, just cut back on the cumin.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 to 3 C. Cooked chicken (shredded)

2 cans Cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 tsp. Cumin

1 C.  Sour Cream

1/2 C. Milk

1/2 C. Cheddar Cheese

Flour Tortillas

Mix the soup, cumin, sour cream, and milk in a bowl.  Place chicken, cheese, and 1 or 2 tsp. of sauce in a tortilla, roll and place on cookie sheet.  Repeat until chicken is gone.  Pour the remaining sauce over all the Enchiladas.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Fudge Brownies

I have a cute heart pan that I bought years ago, I seem to remember that I own a heart pan once a year.  This year Emilee (my precious daughter)  and I decided to make Heart Brownies for Valentines Day.  This brownie recipe is so simple, it doesn't really  need a frosting.  Growing up I liked using this recipe for Ice Cream Sundaes.  Emilee had fun helping me cook and decorate the brownies, I think they turned out cute.  

Fudge Brownies:

4 eggs

2 Cups  sugar

1 Cup margarine, melted

1 1/2 Cups  flour

2/3 Cup cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

Beat eggs slightly.  Blend in sugar and melted margarine.  Combine flour, cocoa, and salt.  Add flour mixture to margarine mixture.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour in lightly greased (bottom only) 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes.  

Caramel Muffins

Today is our Moms Birthday, Happy Birthday!  So in honor of her, I decided to post the recipe she always wants me to make.  In the recipe it calls for Basic Mix, the recipe for Basic Mix is at the bottom.  I use to have a few recipes that called for Basic Mix, this is the only recipe that has made it through the years.  The Muffin recipe only makes one, plan on doing the math if you want to make more than one at a time.

Caramel Muffins 

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Cherries cut in half 

2 Tbsp. chopped nuts (optional)

2 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

½ C. basic mix*

2 Tbsp. milk

Directions:

            Heat oven to 400 degrees.

1.  Melt the butter.  In a Pyrex custard dish, or muffin tin, layer in order.

                                    1 Tbsp. melted butter

                                    1 Tbsp. brown sugar

                                    2 Cherries cut in half

                                    2 tsp. chopped nuts

2.  Then mix together 2 tsp. sugar and 1/8 tsp. cinnamon and the remaining nuts, rolled fine with a rolling pin.                 

3.      Mix together ½ C. of basic mix* and 2 Tbsp. milk until the flour is moistened.  Shape dough into 3 balls.  Roll the balls in the remaining melted butter and then the cinnamon mixture. Then place in the pan on top of the layers.

4.      Bake until golden brown, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.  Turn upside down on plate.  Break into sections.  Makes 1 serving.

*Basic Mix Recipe:

         3 C. sifted flour

     1 Tbsp. Baking powder

      1 tsp. salt

     2/3 C. shortening

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together to mix thoroughly.
2. Cut shortening into dry ingredients with a pastry blender until all of the shortening is coated and resembles course crumbs.
3. Makes about 3 ¾ C. to 4 C. of basic mix.  Can be stored until ready to use. 

Pecan Pie

I finally decided on something to post. The reason I chose this is because most people, I think, are afraid of making pies. Mostly because of the crust. I hated trying to make pies because the crust would always be so difficult. Now its very simple. Yes there are still a lot of things that can go wrong, but that is how it is with baking in general, so this should not scare you away from making your own pie crust.
So the first trick is cold butter. You want the butter to be freezing cold when you are mixing it into the flour. After you have mixed the dough together you want to let it set for at least 30 min in the fridge. This relaxs the gluten making it so that your crust wont shrink when cooked. After the 30 min or so roll it out. You don't want too much flour on the surface or else it will dry out the dough, but you also want your dough to be always moving. So don't worry about putting flour on the surface to much. My trick is just do a little at time. When rolling out the dough never move your body, move the dough so you are constantly doing a forward and backward motion not a to the right and back to the left and back. Just rotate your dough, this also helps you to check if you have enough flour. Don't roll out your dough too much. You just need it rolled out enough so that you have about one inch hanging over the edge of the pie tin. Also when rolling the dough out it doesn't stay in a perfect circle sometimes it starts cracking. Don't keep going if this starts to happen. Its easier to fix in the beginning then it is towards the end. just take a piece of dough that is extra and pinch it into the crack. Also if your dough starts getting warm. Put it in the cooler. You don't want to over work the dough. An easy way to move the dough to the pan is to roll it loosely on your rolling pin the unroll it on your pie tin. Cut away any extra dough and then fold in the inch so that your crust will be nice and thick. After you can do a nice little design around the edge. Just make sure that it is very exaggerated. If you don't it will disappear when baking. Once you are to this point relax the dough by putting it in your fridge. Now depending on if its a cream pie or a pie you are going to back with the filling you either blind bake it. Stabbing it with a fork a couple times. Filling it with beans (removing the beans after the sides are cooked so you can finish cooking the bottom. For the pecan pie you will just fill it with your filling and bake it as the instructions would have you bake it. Also there are two different types of dough Flaky and Mealy. Mealy is where the butter chunks in your crust are more incorporated. Flaky will have large butter chunks. Mealy is used for fillings such as pecan or blueberry where it has a lot of liquid. Flaky would be the kind you use for cream pies of ones with fillings that aren't so liquid based. My recipes are mostly going to be in oz)


Pie Dough ( this recipe is for 1 pound of dough which is more then 1 pie. I think its an oz for every inch your pie tin is)
7 3/4 oz pastry flour (All purpose works)
Sugar 3/8 oz
Salt 3/4 tsp
Butter 5 3/8 oz.

Cold water...depends on the dough at Tblsp at a time till the dough is holding together You need more for flaky then you do for mealy. Mix the flour sugar salt and butter until the pieces of butter are the appropriate size for either flaky or mealy dough. Add the water to the flour until it is incorporated
Blind baking (Only if pie shell is called for it. For the pecan Pie you dont need to.) Line the shell with weights and place in a convection oven at 385 F. After 10 min remove weights and finish till golden brown


Pecan Pie
1/2 Cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup Margarine
3/4 cup sugar
3 Eggs
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cup corn or maple syrup
1/2 cup Light Cream
1 Cup Pecans
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler combine the brown sugar and butter. Add sugar. Mix eggs in 1 at a time. Beat well. Add salt, syrup and cream. Cook stirring constantly for 5 min. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into pie shell and bake for 50 to 55 min or until set.

Soft Oreo Cookies

This cookie is such an easy one to make, I remember making it in Jr. High cooking class.  Lately I love to play with the frosting.  Some of the variations that I have made include mint and cherry almond.  Adam likes the Cherry Almond frosting better than the original.

Cookie:

2 packages of Devil Food cake mix

1 1/2 Cups shortening

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix well. Roll in size of a cherry.  Put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 to 13 minutes.  Cool on cookie sheet slightly before removing.  Frost when cooled.

Frosting

8 ounces Cream Cheese

1 tsp. vanilla

4 Tbsp. margarine or butter

3 1/2 Cups powdered sugar

Mix Well.  When I am playing with the flavoring I leave out the vanilla.  I add the other extracts or flavorings  to taste.

No Bake Cookies

For the first recipe I decided to share a chocolaty (of course) cookie recipe.  Growing up I loved making these cookies, they really don't take much time to make.   Some hints when making these cookies you need to make sure you don't boil too much or too little.  I usually start to time after the whole surface is covered in small bubbles. Hopefully that makes sense and helps.  Remember don't take your time dropping the cookies on the wax paper they can harden in the pan.  

No Bake Cookies

1 cube margarine or butter

1/2  Cup Evaporated Milk

2 Cups Sugar

3 Tbsp. cocoa

Mix together and boil for 3 minutes.  Take off heat and add:

1 tsp. Vanilla

2-3 Tbsp. Peanut Butter

3 Cups Oatmeal

Drop by spoonfuls on wax paper and let cool.  

Welcome

We are sisters who love cooking.  Jenny loves to collect recipes, she has one or two too many.  Brittany loves cooking so much she is in the Culinary Arts program at her University.  We thought it would be fun to share the recipes we have tried.  You may of tried some, others may be brand new we just hope that you enjoy.