Author Archives: Christine Lisi

Another ode to Hostess

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With fluff and cookie dough filling

When I asked Rob what dessert he wanted to celebrate our 19th anniversary, he requested a chocolate cake with a fluff filling and topped with melted chocolate. So a ding dong, big wheels, Suzy q type of treat! I made individual treats and made a variety of fillings – fluff, peanut butter and cookie dough. You can make a homemade chocolate cake in a 13×9 pan, or use a cake mix (like I did). I also recommend cutting the cooled cake into rectangles. Circles are harder to slice horizontally. The main recipe has the fluff filling. The peanut butter and cookie dough fillings recipes are at the end of the post

  • Ingredients
  • 1 chcolate cake baked in a 13×9 pan. completely cooled
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
  • Milk

Directions for filling – blend butter and fluff. Mix in powdered sugar. Add milk to get the desired consistency you want

For assembly – cut completely cooled cake into rectangles (whichever size you want). Slice each rectangle horizontally. spoon filling between two sliced rectangles.

Peanut butter filling!

Topping – in a microwave safe bowl, combine 2 cups chocolate chips and 2 tbs vergetable oil. Microwave in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Spoon over individual assembled rectangle treats. Store in covered container.

Peanut butter filling – melt 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 cup peanut butter. Add 1 to 2 cups powdered sugar. Add a little milk to get the consistency you want

Cookie dough filling – combine 1/2 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 tbs milk. Blend in 2/3 cup flour. Add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips of you want

Frosted Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

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My best friend from college, Susan, and her two daughters (who are my goddaughters) are coming to visit tonight for a few hours.. so being the good hostess that I like to think I am, I asked the girls what treat they would like. Lyndsey picked frosted chocolate chip banana cookies. These are nice, soft cookies that smell INCREDIBLE as they bake. and let’s face it, frosting, just makes everything better.

* One kind cool thing I learned for this recipe – how to quickly ripen a banana. you bake it at 170 degrees in 8 minute intervals until the skin turns really really brown and softens the banana. my husband wasn’t sure what i had done when he saw the banana on the countertop to cool off 🙂

a few tips – remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the correct amount, chill the mounds of dough for a few hours to prevent them from spreading too much, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so that it cycles to the right temperature.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 ripe banana, smooooshed (see * above on how to quickly ripen a banana)
  • 1 yolk (makes cookies soft)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (i used mini ones in these cookies)

Directions – cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Blend in banana, yolk and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Flour your hands (trust me on this). Scoop out 2 tbs of dough and roll into balls. Chill in fridge a few hours. preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. line a sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper and stagger cookies. bake 12 to 14 minutes (likely browned on bottom. do not overbake or cookies will be dry). remove from tray after 10 minutes. Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 2 tbs butter, melted
  • powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • milk

Directions – place butter in a bowl, add a cup or two of powdered sugar. mix in vanilla. Add enough milk to get the consistency you want. Frost cookies. store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with peace and joy. Remember to be kind. Your kind gesture, no matter how small, may be what someone needs in their life at that moment.

Chocolate Chip (Tollhouse) Bars

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These are a request from my goddaughter Sara, who along with her sister, also my goddaughter, Lyndsey, and their mom, Susan (my best friend from college), will be visiting us for a few hours tonight. Sara’s treat requests mirror those of Rob – chocolate chip cookies (or something along that line), or brownies. So these are also a win for my hubby.

Reminders – scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the correct amount and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking.

  • List of ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled for 20 minutes
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. in a bowl, combine brown sugar and butter. add egg and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Spread into prepared pan. Sprinkle with additional chips on top. bake 20 to 25 minutes, until edges are lightly browned but still soft. (I baked mine for 22 minutes. They seemed underbaked, but will firm up after you take them out of oven and cool down). Cool completely. store in covered container.

thank you for stopping by today. If you make these, let me know how they turn out. I wish you a day filled with love, and happiness.

Chocolate red wine cookies with peanut butter chips

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When attending my college reunion last night, we went to a cookie shop in Geneseo and they had so many unique cookies, in addition to the ones that everyone loves (like chocolate chip). There were these chocolate red wine cookies with peanut butter chips and sprinkled with powdered sugar. There is not a lot of wine in these, but it adds a nice flavor. if you don’t want to use wine, you could try cold coffee instead. They spread a little, so I recommend chilling the dough for at least a few hours to prevent the spreading of the cookies. I also decided to add melted milk chocolate on the bottom of these! I am not sure why, just seemed like a good idea!

Reminders – scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount, chill the dough for a few hours so the cookies don’t spread too much. and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so your oven cycles to the right temperature.

  • ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup red wine (i used sangria because that’s what we had in the house)
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 bag of peanut butter chips

directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla and wine. Blend in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. scoop out 2 tbs of dough and roll into balls. Chill a few hours. preheat oven to 375 degrees before baking. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper. stagger cookies on the prepared sheets. bake 10 to 11 minutes. sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar. I opted to put melted milk chocolate on the bottoms of the completely cooled cookies, but I am sure they are fine without it. 🙂 Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Devil dogs

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Devil dogs/whoopie pies, Suzy q’s

Today’s recipe is devil dogs. They seem remarkably like whoopie pies, Suzy q’s or whatever other similar Hostess or Drake’s (or where I’m from – Stroemanns).. though for whoopie pies, I tend to use cake mixes and devil dogs, i opt for homemade. Anyways, I think these devil dogs came out ok.

  • Devil dogs ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 4 cups flour (scooped from your bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 cup baking cocoa
  • 3 tsp baking soda

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Place parchment paper on a large cookie sheet or spray a canoe/twinkie pan with baking spray. (I used both pans). Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Scoop out dough and fill canoe pans halfway full. I used a medium cake batter scoop, which is 7 tsp of dough. On the parchment paper cookie sheet, scoop out dough (7 tsp) and form a square on the parchment paper. I made mine kinda large. Bake 11 to 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely.

  • Filling ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions – blend butter and fluff. Mix in powdered sugar. If filling seems stiff, add a little milk to get the consistency you want.

Assembly – slice canoe/twinkie devil dogs in half horizontally. Spoon filling between the two pieces. Or spoon filling between two of them pieces that were baked on the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Store in covered container.

Kinda large!

Thanks for stopping by today. I wish you a day of peace, love and joy. And remember to be kind. The world needs your kindness

Oreo stuffed chocolate cookies

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Oreo stuffed chocolate cookies

These are a request from my youngest goddaughter Sara, for her dance recital tomorrow. They are chocolate cookies stuffed with oreos. I have a couple of these recipes. For these, I used melted chocolate chips, in addition to baking cocoa. They came out huge because I used 4 tbs of dough. Next time I will use 2 tbs.

A yellow m&m signifies a golden oreo inside!
  1. Ingredients
  2. 2 cups flour
  3. 1/2 cup baking cocoa
  4. 2 tsp baking powder
  5. 1 tsp salt
  6. 2 2/3 cups chocolate chips, melted (I used a combo of milk and semisweet chocolate chips)
  7. 4 eggs
  8. 1 tbs vanilla
  9. 10 tbs butter, softened
  10. 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  11. 1/2 cup sugar
  12. Oreos!!!

Directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in chocolate. Fold in dry ingredients. Dough will be a little soft. Chill for 30 minutes or so. Scoop out two tbs of dough. Cover an oreo. Repeat process. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Bake 13 to 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

That’s a large cookie..and a lot of chocolate!

Brownie cookies stuffed with tollhouse bars

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Brownie cookies stuffed with tollhouse bars

I have made many batches of chocolate chip cookies stuffed with brownies, so I reversed it this time and stuffed a tollhouse bar in a brownie cookie. I didn’t chill the dough, so they came out a little flatter than I prefer, but I think my coworkers will still like them. You can use any chocolate chip cookie bar recipe (homemade or a mix) you want. I recommend my Congo bar recipe on my blog.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 batch congo/tollhouse bars, baked, completely cooled and cut into small squares.
  • 1 brownie mix
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • Water (if you feel dough is too dry, add a tbs or 2)

Directions – combine brownie mix, flour, oil and eggs. Add water if you feel dough is top dry. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough and divide in half. Slightly flatten each half. Now, we assemble!

Place half of flattened dough on your countertop
Top with a tollhouse bar square
Top with remaining flattened dough piece
Completely cover tollhouse bar

Chill dough in fridge for a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on your sheet. Bake 10 to 13 minutes. Cool completely

This is how I stagger my cookies

Thank you for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful day filled with peace love and happiness

Congo/chocolate chip bars

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Chocolate chip cookie bars

These are an easy, popular treat. Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies, in bar form. Less time consuming, but all the joy of chocolate chip cookies. An egg yolk makes these soft, as does the addition of cornstarch. Remember to scoop your flour from your flour container into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. I used a combination of regular chocolate chips and mini ones.

I may have removed these a little too soon from the oven, but I didn’t want to bake them too long and dry them out. So they are a little on the softer/gushier side. Rob did not seem to mind at all.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 yolk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour (scooped from your flour container into your measuring cup so you get the right amount)
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrres for 20 minutes. Line an 8×8 pan with tin foil and spray with baking sprat. In a bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add yolk, eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Spread into pan. Bake 30 minutes (edges will be lightly brown). Cool completely. Cut and store in covered container.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day. Please do your best to spread as much love as you can out there. Things have been so awful recently, your small act of kindness may do wonders for someone.

Portillo’s Chocolate cake

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Portillo’s Chocolate cake

From time to time, when I peruse chocolate cake recipes to bake, I come across the chocolate cake from Portillo’s in Chicago. It’s a restaurant known for Chicago style hot dogs, Italian beef and chocolate cake. The recipe I found on a couple different sites (including Hellman’s) uses a chocolate cake mix, eggs, water and mayonnaise (as opposed to vegetable oil). You could also add chocolate chips, but i forgot. I also went with a homemade chocolate frosting. It is 100 degrees in CT this weekend, so I kept the cake in the fridge. My hubby is not a cake person, but he loves himself some frosting and he was a fan of this frosting!

Check out the frosting!
  • Ingredients
  • 1 chocolate cake mix (i used devil’s food)
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 3 eggs,
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Spray 2 nine inch cake pans with baking spray. In a bowl, combine cake mix, water, eggs and mayo. Beat on medium speed with a mixer for 2-3 minutes. Add chips. Divide evenly into prepared pans. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs. Remove from oven. Cool 10 minutes in pans. Remove from pans and cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups baking cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tbs vanilla extract

Directions- combine ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed until creamy. Frost cake

Thanks so much for stopping by! I wish you a day filled with peace, happiness and love.