I brought this cake into work this morning.  It is now 730 am and there are only  two pieces left!  While some of you may consider it strange for people to eat cake this early, it is pretty normal at ESPN Radio.  Considering the place operates 24 hours a day and never closes, sugar is always appropriate for a boost any time of day.  This cake is really easy to make and you can use whatever flavor cake and pudding mixes you want.  I have done chocolate in the past and today went with yellow cake mix and vanilla puddng.  I used fat free greek yogurt.  You can use regular greek yogurt or sour cream if you want.

When you frost the cake, use a small amount between layers.  I have used too much in the past.. and the top layer has slid off when transporting or even just sitting in the cake carrier.  Then i was scrambling to move the top layer back, yet still make the cake appear presentable.  Yikes!

Ingredients – 1 yellow cake mix, 3.4 oz vanilla pudding mix, 1 cup plain  greek yogurt (2 , 5.3 ounce containers), 4 eggs, 1/2 cup water.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two cake pans with pam.  Mix well.  Batter will be quite thick.  I used a 1 cup meaduring cup to divide the batter evenly, alternating between the two cake pans.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  (Inserted toothpick will come out with only a few crumbs).  Let cool.

Frosting – 12 tbs butter (softened),   5 cups powdered sugar, 1/3 cup cream or milk, 2 tsp vanilla.  Cream butter 2 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and beat another  3 minutes.  You can and add another tbs or two  more of cream or milk to thin out frosting if you want.

Place one cake top down on platter.  Spread a light layer of frosting on what would be the flat bottom of the cake.  Place other cake, flat part down, and finish frosting.. this frosting recipe makes a lot, so you will have some left over.. or you can just use it all if you want.

Today was absolutely amazing!   71 degrees and sunny.  (Two weeks after we were hammered by a blizzard).  Great weather meant two walks for Charlie, which made him very happy. And since he’s 13, we have to do that as much as we can as long as we can. ( I see so many of you have lost pets the last couple of years and I know how excruciating it is)

My treats for work are cake batter cookies with white and chocolate chips. Just a blog post, hoping to do another video recipe Monday, my next off day.  I really appreciate all your kind words about my blog posts and my video debut.

Ingredients – 3/4 cup butter (softened), 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp butter extract (you can use vanilla if you prefer), 1 cup yellow or white  cake mix , 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 cup white chips, 1 cup chocolate chips.

Cream butter, brown sugar and sugar.  Add egg and butter extact.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Fold in chips.  Use nice cream scoop to roll into mounds. Chill a few hours.  Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 min.  Store in covered containee.

645 am on my off day and I have started the process of making bracciole. (  I like to let it cook in sauce most of day to make sure it is tender.)  I feel like my Grandma Lisi.  She would cook anything at any time.  The recipe is not that hard, just a little time consuming, I guess. 

Ingredients – 1 pkg of bracciole meat, Italian flavored bread crumbs, parmesan cheese.  

Heat your sauce (either homemade or jar) over low heat.  Spray a baking sheet with Pam.  Lay the bracciole meat flat, top with a handful of bread crumbs and sprinkle with cheese.  Roll into a log.  I put two or three toothpicks in each one to keep them together.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Put them in sauce.  Cover pot.  Cook over low heat at least 4 to 5 hours.   I start early in the morning, turn it off while I leave the house (leaving pot covered), then turn it back on when I return.  

I love to stuff cookies and experiment with different combinations.  I have used candy bars, oreos, small homemade s’mores.  Just about anything works. (A little tip – If you use candy, freeze the bars first.  Easier to stuff the cookies). You can also use whatever cookie recipe you want.  For this particular recipe, I chose chocolate chip cookies and brownies.  Bake the brownies ahead of time, using whatever recipe you want. Let them cool.  You can cut them I to squares (discarding the edges) or roll them into balls.

For the cookies – 1 cup shortening,  cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tbs water, 1 tbs vanilla, 2 eggs,  3 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cups chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream shortening, sugar and brown sugar about 1 minute.   Add vanilla, water and eggs.  Fold in dry ingredients slowly.  Mix in chips. (You can also add in nuts if you want).  Using an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop to scoop out dough.  Divide piece of dough in half and form around each brownie.  Place on silpat lined cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 for 12 to 18 min. They are lightly browned in spots on top.   I took mine out at 15 minutes.  Let them cool on sheet for 10 minutes.  Move to container to finish cooling.  Store covered up to 4 days. ( For a fresh baked cookie, microwave them for 10 seconds )

The other day, Rob asked me if I could make moon pies.  Anytime anyone makes a request, I always try to oblige.  (The only time I suggested something else was when I former Coworker asked for a pineapple upside down cake.  I negotiated a carrot cake for his bday request.  These are not too difficult, but messy.  I am always a messy baker when it comes to melted chocolate, but at least I try. 

3/4 cup butter (softened at room temp for an hour or two),  1/3 cup brown sugar, 4 tbs corn syrup, 1 tsp vanilla,  1 1/2 cups flour,  1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (I used honey,  but you could use cinnamon or chocolate flavored if you want), 1/2 tsp salt,  1/2 tsp baking soda,  2 -3 tbs milk

Mix butter, brown sugar and corn syrup well.  Add dry ingredients and cracker crumbs.  Stir in milk or cream.  Form dough into a large ball, cover and chill one hour.  Roll dough 1/4 inch thick and cut with whatever shape cookie cutter you want.  Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 8 to 12 minutes.  I preferred the cookies on the softer side, so I took mine out about 9 minutes.  Let cool completely. 

Spoon 2 tbs marshmallow fluff between 2 cookies.  Chill in fridge 20 minutes.  

Melt 3 cups chcolate chips ( you can use whichever kind you want.  I used Ghiraradelli 60 percent, dark chocolate) with 2 tbs oil.  I melted this in the microwave in 45 second increments until it could be stirred smooth.  

Take your moon pies and cover the bottom part and sides with melted chocolate.  Let the chocolate set.  Flip over and cover the top with melted chocolate.  Store in covered container.

Another of my Valentine’s Day treats to bring into work.  These are brown butter cookies with red m&m’s and chocolate chips.  I am a huge fan of all the holiday m&m’s, and i love to bake with them.  (The only downside of these cookies is that I burned my hand taking them out of the oven. ) Make these a day before you plan to bake them, so they can chill overnight in the fridge. 

1 cup of butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar,  1 egg,   yolk,  3 tsp vanilla,  2 1/2 to 3 cups flour,  2 tsp cornstarch,  1 tsp baking soda,  1/2 tsp salt,  3 tbs cream or milk, 1 cup red m&m’s, 1 cup chocolate chips.(or you can use white chips or milk chocolate chips).

Brown butter over medium heat (takes about 10 minutes.  You will see little specs of brown in the butter.  Let the butter sit at room temperature for an hour.   Add sugar and brown sugar and mix well.  Stir in egg, yolk and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Add cream.  Fold in m&m’s and chips.  Roll it 1/4 cup balls.  Chill overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place dought pieces on silpat lined cookie sheet.   Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  Let cool on sheet for 10 minutes.   Store in covered container.

Well, we made it through the storm.  Shoveled five times, including one round by Rob to clear a path for Charlie on the deck and backyard.  This pooch (who turns 13 Monday) has been out 15 times today and it is 20 degrees.  For him, the colder, the better.  But we limit him to 10 min each time.  Don’t want those paws to freeze!

Now onto the recipe..

My plan is to make a couple of Valentine’s Day treats, so here is my first one.  It is sooooooo easy.  Just a couple of ingredients for the brownie cookies and I cheated and used canned vanilla frosting  (I was in a hurry) and put in a few drops of red food color to make it pink. 

2 brownie mixes (I used Ghiraradelli),  2 eggs,  2/3 cup oil, 4 tbs water.  Mix together.  You can add some chocolate chips if you want.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Use an ice cream or cookie scoop to make your cookies, rolling them into mounds     I use the silicone baking sheet on top of my cookie sheets.  It makes things easier with cleanup and I don’t have to worry about spraying the cookie sheets or having anything stick. I arrange them to eight on a sheet.  I bake them for about 11 minutes.  They might seem a little gooey.  I take them out because they continue to cook on the sheet after baking.  Yoi can cook them.longer of you prefer.  Let them cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a table for the sandwich  making.  After they cool completely, i put a couple of tablespoons of frosting between 2 cookies and voila! 

Big night at our house.  Sabres-Rangers.  I am a BUF fan, hubby is a NYR fan.  “Handsome hank” is in net, so it’s all good.  There is also a Springsteen concert from 2001 on and he just performed Land of hope and Dreams.  That song is just incredible,  like a metaphor for life.  It just speaks to me, like so many of his songs do.  Another great thing about Bruce is he says what he thinks.  It doesn’t sit well with some people, but he doesn’t care.  I find it funny “we” complain that celebrities don’t publicly stand for anything.. yet when they say what they believe and “we” don’t like it, “we” say “stick to music, sports, etc”.  Interesting..

Anyways, here is the recipe.  Remember to use a spoon to scoop the flour into your measuring cup to get the right amount.   You can use whatever kind of chips you want, and whatever flavor poptarts.  Toast the poptarts lightly, cool and cut into pieces.  To make buttermilk, combine 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 1/2 tbs lemon juice or white cider vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes

Cookie cups – 1 cup butter (melted), 2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 2 /3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (melted), 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, 1 tsp vanilla,  4 cups flour, 4 poptarts, 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup white chips.

Combine butter and sugar.  Add chocolate.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Fold in poptart and chips.  Chill dough overnight.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and spray muffin cups with Pam.  Scoop 2 tbs dough into each cup and lightly press down.  Bake 350 degrees 10 to 12 minutes.  (Makes sure top is not too doughy).  Let cool.

Hot cocoa frosting – 1/3 cup heavy cream, 2 pkts hot cocoa, 1 stick butter (melted), 3 cups powdered sugar

Heat and stir cream and cocoa over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  In separate bowl, combine butter and powdered sugar.  Mix in chocolate mixture.  You may need to add more cream or powdered sugar, depending on the consistency you want.

Vanilla frosting – 1/4 cup butter (melted), 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, cream or milk.

Combine.  Add cream 1 tbs at a time to get the desired consistency

For some reason today, we did not have the television on at all, and it was actually pretty nice.  Lately it seems there is so much screaming on tv, radio, social media.  People say mean, hateful, despicable things to people they don’t even know.  Disagreements are fine.  I understand we all don’t think of feel the same way and don’t expect us all to agree all the time.  But too often,  it spirals into these terrible spewing of venom.  It’s too much sometimes… so,  today I enjoyed the quiet time with my hubby, and our almost 13 year old dog, Charlie.

Charlie loves to lay on the floor, and tap on it with his paw, demanding to be petted.  He know how to communicate his different needs.  🙂

Now to the cookies…they are half chocolate chip and half brownie chip.. Blending two things together perfectly (another cookie reference for Seinfeld)  I prefer puffy cookies,  so I used crisco for the chocolate chip side.  I know some people don’t like crisco.  You could sub in butter, but the cookies may come out flatter.   

Chocolate chip cookie

1/2 cup shortening,  3/4 cup brown sugar,  3/4 cup sugar,  2 tsp vanilla,  2 eggs,         2 1/4 cups flour,  1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup chocolate chips

Cream shortening, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Fold in chips.

Brownie cookies

1 brownie mix,   1/2 cup flour,  1/4 cup oil,  4 tbs water,  1 egg, 1 cup choc chips

Using a  mixer, blend together  brownie mix, flour, oil, water and eggs.  Stir in chips.

Take one scoop of the chocolate chip cookie dough and one scoop of the brownie cookie dough and stick them together.  Chill then for at least an hour or two.  

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  Chocolate chip cookie side will be lightly golden.  Remove from oven.  Let cookies sit on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before removing.  Store in covered container.