My grandma turns 95(!) On October 13th. Her favorite cookies are molasses cookies, so I made them in her honor. I love the way they smell while baking! This year her birthday is on a Tuesday, so she even gets to watch a Bills game (courtesy of the Titans covid outbreak, which led to the game changed from Sunday to Tuesday). My gram is a huge Bills fan, never misses a game and is up to date on everything with the team. So may they get a win on her 95th!❤

• Ingredients
• 1 cup Crisco
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tbs cinnamon

Directions – cream sugar and Crisco. Add eggs. Fold in dry ingredients. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Roll in sugar. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Stagger dough on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 12 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

So football Friday for this week 5 is becoming football Thursday because I won’t be at work Friday. The “Go Bills” treat – chocolate chip cookie bars!

These are very simple to make! I used oil instead of Crisco or butter for the fat ingredient. Make sure to spoon your flour into your measuring cup and preheat your oven 20 minutes before baking.

• Ingredients
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a 13×9 pan with tin foil. In a bowl, combine oil, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Add 1 cup chips. Spread into foiled pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 chips on top. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. There will be golden patches on top. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Today’s treat is courtesy of game day stress! The Bills game is at 4:25 today, giving me plenty of time to nervous. Thought I could take some of the edge off with another Gracie walk. That did not work, so I decided to bake. Also, perhaps I am trying to toss out some good baking karma to the football gods. Lastly, I needed to do something with the brownies I made last night. Rob only ate 1! (Though I am fairly certain my coworkers would eat “just brownies.” ) I searched for something easy, because I needed to watch the game too! So I opted for Betty crocker monster cookies. These call for cookie mixes – one chocolate chip, one peanut butter. Plus oats (I used old fashioned, but quick oats are fine too). I also threw some mini m&ms and extra chocolate chips. I chilled the dough for a bit to make sure the cookies stayed puffy. I also preheated the oven for 20 minutes before baking.

• Ingredients
• 1 peanut butter cookie mix
• 1 chocolate chip cookie mix
• 1 1/2 cups of oats (I used old fashioned)
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 1 cup mini m&ms
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions -combine cookie mixes and oats. Blend in vanilla, eggs and butter. Mix in chips and m&ms. Scoop out 1/4 cup of dough. Divide each in half. Flatten each half. Place brownie square on top of one piece of flattened dough.

Top with second flattened half.

Completely cover brownie. Chill for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 375 for 20 minutes. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. (You will see golden patches on top). Cool completely store in covered container.

Football Friday is nearly upon us, so for my first “Go Bills” treat I am posting are chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips. They are a rather large cookie, because that is the way I roll. I had some cake flour I wanted to use up, so I went with a combo of cake flour and all purpose flour. You can use entirely all purpose flour, should you choose. I used both butter and Crisco, but you can go all butter or all Crisco, should you choose. I also used chocolate extract. But if you don’t have it, vanilla is fine. Remember to scoop your flour into your measuring cup. Directly pouring it in, packs it in and you end up with too much flour and dry cookies. I scooped out the dough and then chilled the mounds of cookie dough. And, I preheated my oven 20 minutes before baking.

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, soft
• 1/3 cup Crisco
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 bag peanut butter chips

Directions – cream butter, Crisco, brown sugar and sugar. Add extract and eggs. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill at least a fee hours. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Stagger on a sheet lined with nonstick baking liners.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

I feel my week is not complete without some sort of chocolate chip cookie recipe. My husband loves them and so does everyone at work. These are for the “Go Bills” football Friday. They use some cake flour, but you can entirely use all purpose flour, should you choose. Either way, remember to scoop your flour into your measuring cup to get the correct amount. Also scoop out your cookie dough before chilling it, because it’s just easier to do so. And preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 1/2 cup Butter, soft
• 2/3 cupBrown sugar
• 2/3 Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 2 cups Flour
• 1 1/4 cups Cake flour
• 1 tsp Cornstarch
• 1/4tsp Baking soda
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – cream Crisco, butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in chips., scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill overnight. Preheat oven to 410 degrees for 20 minutes. Stagger on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container

Today’s Bills game was a crazy roller coaster of a ride. They were up big, but instead of an easy win, they actually had to come back to win. Yes, they were aided by a late penalty, but the Rams comeback was kicked off after a questionable call as well. Anyways, like last week, I wanted to bring in cookies for work tomorrow to celebrate. I decided to make chocolate cookies with mini m&ms! I also have chocolate chip cookies to bring in, but that recipe will not be posted bc they came out flat! Couple of things for this recipe – I recommend scooping out flour into your measuring cup, to avoid too much flour. If you pour the flour directly into the measuring cup, it packs in and you could wind up with too much flour, and a dry cookie (a grave offense). I chilled the dough overnight. And i preheated my oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Oh,and Go Bills!

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup mini m&ms

Directions – cream butter, shortening, brown sugar and sugar. Add egg and extract. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in candy. Scoop,out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Scatter on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

If you want a simple dessert that can really impress people, this is it – cookie dough brownies! What’s not to like – you have brownies, you have cookie dough, you have melted chocolate on top! This is treat 2 for football Friday #3 at ESPN radio. I was in a hurry and melted the butter, which I do NOT recommend doing because it was too gushy and I had to add more flour. I used melted milk chocolate on some melted dark chocolate on the others. Why, you ask? Because I didn’t melt enough milk chocolate. Whenever I melt chocolate or make frosting, I make too much and don’t know what to do with it, or I don’t make enough and I have to make more and still end up with too much! Oh, and I cheated and used a brownie mix. Remember to preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking. Also, I microwaved the flour, in a microwave safe bowl for 25 seconds, stirred it, then microwaved another 25 seconds. (Some people have concerns about eating raw flour)

• Ingredients
• 1 pan of brownies, baked as directed and cooled completely
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbs milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour

Directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add milk, vanilla. Stir in flour. (You may need to add a little more flour if you want it thicker). Spread over brownies. Microwave 2 cups of chocolate chips in 25 second increments until you can stir melted. Pour on top. Store in covered container.

Football Friday is nearly here, so I needed to bake for work (and good luck for the Buffalo Bills). Rob asked for chocolate chip cookie bars, so I opted for a recipe that uses browned butter. Not sure if you have ever used browned butter, but it is easy to make and gives a great flavor to treata. Browned butter is pretty simple – cook it in a fry pan over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until you see little brown flecks in the bottom. I think it might take about 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. (If you prefer, you can use plain melted butter.) These are simple to make and don’t take long in the oven. Remember to scoop your flour from your flour container into your measuring cup and to preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking. Also, only bake the bars for 20 minutes! They might seem not quite done, but they are!

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, browned
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate

Directions – preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Line a 8×8 inch square pan with tin foil,and spray with baking spray. In a bowl, combine butter, brown,sugar, egg and vanilla., add flour and salt. Stir in chips. Press evenly into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes. Cool completely.

I made these chocolate chip cookies for Buffalo Bills game day. They were a little rushed and I was not happy with how they came out, so I decided to put some melted chocolate on top to improve on them. And, I think I did!That is one of my baking philosophies – if you don’t like it, frost it, or top it with melted chocolate!!

Some reminders – scoop the flour from your flour container into your measuring cup, and preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking.

• Ingredients
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – cream butter, Crisco, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Scatter on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 10 to 13 minutes. There will be light golden patches on top. Cool completely. In a microwave safe bowl, melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in 40 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add 1 tsp vegetable oil. Spoon on top of cookies. Store in covered container.

These chocolate cookies are filled with mini m&ms and milk chocolate chips… And I dipped the bottoms of them in melted milk chocolate because the more chocolate, the better, right? I used instant chocolate pudding in these cookies. You can use another flavor if you want. I used chocolate extract, but vanilla extract is fine as well.

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3.4 oz instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 yolk
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup mini m&ms
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions – cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add eggs, yolk, chocolate extract and pudding mix. Fold in flour, baking cocoa, baking soda and salt. Fold in m&ms and chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill a couple of hours. Preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Stagger on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely. Microwave 1 cup of milk chocolate chips in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Spread on bottom of cookies.

Let set. Store in covered container.