Today is the 3 year anniversary of our “gotcha day” with Gracie. She leaped off of the Rescue Road trips truck and into our lives. Ran right by me, to Rob, jumped on him and gave him a kiss! The funny thing about her is she wasn’t our first choice. The labs4rescue group, that we dealt with, wants you to apply for as many dogs as possible (up to 5) because they’re trying to find them forever homes as quickly as they can. As soon as one is adopted, the group gets three more to find homes for.
Honestly, Gracie was our third choice, and a late addition as I perused the website on Superbowl Sunday one final time. The lady who was in charge of Gracie called Rob 10 minutes after our application was submitted. She called first, so we accepted. I had no idea she was in New Orleans, where she was abandoned in a field, and would not have a chance to meet her before adopting her. We decided to get adopt her.
Three weeks later, we got her,almost six months to the day our beloved Charlie crossed over the rainbow bridge. I was honestly surprised how emotional the gotcha day was for me. I also forgot how tiring a young pup is! I don’t think this little, skinny 6 month old yellow lab had even been in a house before ours and I assume experienced very little love until the Animal Rescue Foundation of New Orleans found her. We trained her and worked with her and got the perfect dog for us.
What she taught me is that sometimes you might not get your plan a or first choice, but your plan b,c,d,etc is still the right one for you and you can be just as happy with. Wishing you love, peace, and kindness. ❤
She has not been this small in a long time☺Sweet girlShe is a bit bigger now!
Happy Valentine’s day! This is a heart shaped fudgy brownie topped with milk chocolate ganache. I know, my decorating skills are not good, but I tried. 😁
This recipe is super simple. You can add cut up candy in the batter or in top,of the ganache or frostinf if you want as well. If ganache (which honestly, is just a fancy word for melted chocolate with heavy cream), is not your thing, you can leave the brownies plain, sprinkle with powdered sugar or use whatever frosting you want. I used one my two heart shaped cake pans, but you can them in an 8 or 9 inch Square cake pan. Remember to spoon your flour from your flour container into your measuring cup to get the correct amount. Also preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking, to get your oven to the right temperature.
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup baking cocoa
3 eggs
2 tsp chocolate or vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a baking pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. Combine butter and sugar. Add cocoa. Blend in eggs, beating one at a time. Mix in extract. Fold in flour and salt. Blend in chips. Spread into pan. Mixture will be thick. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted,in center comes out with a few crumbs. Cool completley.
Ganache ingedients
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
Directions – heat cream in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. Pour over chips. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir smooth. Pour over brownies. let ganache set. Store in covered container.
A sugar-chocolate chip-brownie-peanut butter cookie cake with marshmallow fluff frosting
Yup, you read that right. Quadruple layer cookie cake. It was what I had planned to make if the Bills were in the Super Bowl. And even though they came up a game short, I made this cake anyways because it is the Super Bowl. The NFL is the one sport that managed to get through it’s entire season without a single cancelled game. For this treat, I went with a peanut butter cookie layer, flourless brownie layer, chocolate chip cookie layer and a sugar cookie layer. I used a marshmallow fluff frosting. I actually make the peanut butter, sugar and chocolate chip cookie doughs the day before and took them out of the fridge about an hour before baking to get them to room temperature so they were easier to press into the pans. If you use a 9 inch cake pan, your baking time will be less. Remember to preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before you start baking. And make sure you don’t overbake your cookie cakes. This cake is quite heavy, so make sure your container is sturdy. You may have to hold it from the bottom when transporting it, or cut the cake ahead of time.
Peanut butter cookie ingredients
1/2 cup Crisco or butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbs milk
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Directions – line an 8 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. Ina bowl, cream crisco/butter and peanut butter. Mix in brown sugar and sugar. Add egg and milk. Stir in dry ingredients. Press into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes (will be lightly golden around the edges). Cool completely
Flourless Brownie cookie layer
6 tbs butter
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
3 tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
Directions – line a round 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. Melt butter and chocolate chips in 40 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add eggs and sugar. Blend in cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes (toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs). Cool completlely
Chocolate chip cookie layer
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup Crisco
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Cornstarch
1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips
Directions – line an 8 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. cream butter, Crisco, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg, yolk and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Press into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 23 minutes (will be dark golden on top. May seem a little doughy, but will firm up. You can also firm it up by popping it in the fridge too for a bit. Cool completely.
Sugar cookie layer ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
Directions – line an 8 inch round pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. mix butter, oil, sugar and powdered sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Press into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes. (Will be light golden around the edges.) Cool completley.
Frosting/filling ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups marshmallow fluff
4 cups powdered sugar
Heavy cream or milk
Directions – cream butter and fluff. Slowly blend in powdered sugar. Add enough milk or cream to get the consistency you want. Assembly instructions below.
Place a cookie layer on a plateApread a thin layer of frosting on topTop with another cookie layerSpread a thin layer of frosting on topTop with a third cookie cake layerSpread a thin layer of frosting on topTop with your final cookie layerFrost top layer
You can leave the cake as it is above, or frost the entire thing. I opted to frost the entire thing. 😁. Store in covered container.
For the first time in many weeks (maybe 20), there is no football! But I still,felt the need to bring something to work on a Monday (ahead of this nor’easter), so I decidedto go with dark chocolate cookies. I picked up a monster size bag of dark chocolate chips from bjs, along with a large bag of semisweet chips! One can never have too many bags of chocolate chips!
Gooey chocolate cookies!
Ingredients
3 tbs butter
2 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs vanilla
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs flour
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup,semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions – Melt butter and 2 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Plenty in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Mixture will be quite soft. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough, place on a flat surface and chill a few hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a sheet with nonstick baking liners. You likely will have to use a spatula to scrape dough from your flat surface to your baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. They will be slightly gooey in center. They will continue to bake on cookie sheet once removed from oven. Sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar. Store in covered container.
A request came in after work for chocolate chip cookies. I pulled out this one that uses bread flour. They give them bottom and edges of each cookie a different, but nice texture because of the bread flour. They spread out a little more than I prefer, but I chalk that up to the dough not chilling in the fridge for at least a few hours. I made 9 large cookies, using 1/4 cups of dough. Remember to spoon your flour into your measuring cups to get the correct amount and to preheat your oven to 20 minutes before baking.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbs vanilla
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp water (opt)
1 cup chocolate chips
Directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. If dough seems too dry, add a tsp or two of water. You may have to mix dough with your hands to get it to come together better. Fold in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on the sheet. Bake 10 to 13 minutes (there will be light golden patches on top). Cool completely. Store in covered container.
You can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes
“I am nervous and we still have 3 hours to kickoff” cookies
As I continue to lose my mind with more than 3 hours to kickoff for the Bills-Chiefs game, I made cookies because I needed something to do. I made these using a sugar cookie mix, threw in some peanut butter, valentine red m&ms, and mini chocolate chips. Some are stuffed with oreos, others with a Reese’s peanut butter Cup. These will be victory Monday cookies if the Bills win, if not they, sadly, will merely be cookies.
Ingredients
1 sugar cookie mix
1 egg
1 tbs water
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup m&ms
1/2 cup mini chips
Oreos, peanut butter cups
Directions- combine sugar cookie mix, egg, water, and butter. Blend in peanut butter. Mix in candy and chocolate chips. Scoop out 2 tbs dough and divide in half. Flatten one half, place oreo/reese’s on top. Flatten other half and place on top of oreo/reese’s. Seal edges. Chill a few hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 375 for 20 minutes. On a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners, stagger cookies. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies will seem a little underdone. They should be lightly golden on the bottom. Cool completely. Store in covered container.
This could not be just any great for THIS victory Monday. The Buffalo Bills are back in the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1993. So this calls for something spectacular. Rob asked what I was planning (despite having 2 treats in the freezer bc I forgot to bring them in to work). I told him to pick something, so he chose devil dogs with fudge topping. Done. These use a cake mix. I added baking cocoa to make them extra chocolatey, but you can sub in 1/2 cup flour if you prefer.
Devil dog cake ingredients
1 chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup baking cocoa (or flour)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
Directions – preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners. In a bowl, combine cake mix, cocoa, water, oil and eggs. Scoop out 1/4 cup batter and place on sheet. Spread into a rectangle. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Cool completely.
Filling ingredients
1/2 cup butter, soft
1 1/2 cups fluff
3 cups powdered sugar
Heavy cream or milk
Directions – cream butter and fluff. Slowly add powdered sugar. Add enough milk or cream to get the consistency you want. Spread between 2 devil dogs. set aside
Fudge frosting ingredients
1 stick butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Directions – over low -medium heat, bring butter, evaporated milk, and sugar to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add chips. Stir until melted. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon over devil dogs. Store in covered container.
Today’s treat is in advance of the Bills AFC divisional playoff game vs the Ravens. A Saturday night game! I have all day to get nervous! I really need them to keep winning. They’ve been a needed distraction to this crapbag of a start to 2021. Maybe we’re getting all the bad stuff out of the way early.
These feature a Graham cracker sugar cookie base, followed by a layer of melted chocolate chips and topped with marshmallow fluff frosting. Of course, I got impatient and frosted them while they were still warm, so the frosting got mixed in with the melted milk chocolate. These are pretty easy and use sugar cookie mixes as part of the base.
2 sugar cookie mixes
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups butter, melted
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Directions – preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Combine sugar cookie mixes and graham cracker crumbs. Mix in melted butter. Press into an ungreased 9×13 pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes (will be light golden on top). Sprinkle chocolate chips. Let sit 5 minutes. Spread smooth. Let cool completely.
Frosting ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup marshmallow fluff
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 tbs milk
Directions – cream butter and fluff. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Blend in enough milk to get desired consistency., frost bars. Cut and store in covered container.
Brownie cookies stuffed with chocolate chip cookies
The tollhouse bars I made yesterday after the Bills 1st playoff win in a quarter of a century did not seem to be big enough to bring into work tomorrow. So I grabbed a brownie mix and made cookies out of it and stuffed the cookies with brownies. You can stuff these with Oreos, candy, etc! Magical!
Brownie cookie Ingredients
1 brownie mix
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
Directions – preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Combine ingredients. I used my hands at the end to make sure everything came together. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and divide in half. Flatten one half and place a cookie on top. Top with other half. Seal edges. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool completley. Store in covered container.
Cake mix cookies stuffed with chocolate chip cookies
So the chocolate chip cookie bars I made yesterday didn’t seem to be enough to bring to work to celebrate the first Bills playoff win in 25 years. So I cut them up into tiny pieces and put some in a cake mix cookie and some in a brownie cookie. And I sprinkled them with powdered sugar, just to be fancy. This is the cake mix cookie recipe.
Cake mix cookie ingredients
1 cake mix (any flavor)
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
2-3 tbs water, milk or heavy cream
Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. combine ingredients. (I ended up using my hands to make sure everything got mixed together). Scoop out 1/4 cup of dough and divide in half. Flatten one half, top with a chocolate chip cookie. Flatten other half and place on top.
Seal edges. Bake 9 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Store in covered container.
cookies by christine 