Today is one of the coolest days of,the year, if you are a sports fan – the first Friday of the NCAA tournament.. Basically 12 straight hours of games, from opening tip of the first game, until the final buzzer of the last. And, the hockey team at my alma mater, SUNY Geneseo, is playing in the frozen hour. So, I made chocolate cutouts, with some decorated as basketballs (orange frosting and homemade chocolate fondant for the stripes) and others were hockey puck sandwiches with a chocolate Oreo filling!

Go ice knights!
Cookies
2 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter (room temp)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Roll and cut . stagged on cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 8 minutes. Cool completely and frost.
Frosting
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
Milk
1 tsp vanilla
Orange food coloring
Combine butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Blend in milk, 1 tbs at a time until you get desired consistency. Stir in food color. Frost. Then put rolled and cut fondant as stripes.
Choc Oreo filling
2 tbs butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Milk
Crushed oreos
Combine. Use enough milk to get desired consistency. Spread between 2 cookies.

Store in covered container.

This is my absolute favorite cutout cookie recipe. It conjures up all these wonderful memories of baking with my mom, with cookies cooling all over the place, ready to be frosted. I have expanded this recipe for use beyond Christmas, but my decorating skills remain abysmal at best. Very few can ever really tell what the decorated cookies are. A co-worker friend once guessed a reindeer was a bicycle. Because yea, Santa rides a bike around the world December 24th. Today, I have used the shamrock option on this awesome cookie cutter bc St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow.

I forgot to sprinkle sugar on top before baking, bc I can never remember to do that.

And I made them into cookie sandwiches bc it was just easier. I have been up since 345 am and am tired.

Oh and frosting is a great mystery to me that I have yet to conquer. I make too little and have to make more to have enough… and then I have too much and am not sure what to do with the rest.. Or I make too much at first, and try to bake other items to use it up. I should bring the extra to work with spoons. I think people would enjoy that.

Cookies ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups shortening
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups flour (scooped from your flour container into a measuring cup)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions – cream shortening and sugar for 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Slowly fold in dry ingredients. Chill in covered container for a few hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350. Roll and cut cookies. Stagger them on a cookiw sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 6 to 7 minutes. Let cool,on sheet 5 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. Store in covered container.

Frosting ingredients

• 1 tbs butter, melted
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Couple of tbs Milk or heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Food coloring

Directions

Blend butter and powdered sugar. Add 2 tbs of milk or cream. You can add more, a tbs at a time, to get your desired consistency. Stir in food coloring

I failed my people today. I ran out of time yesterday to bake for work, so I came in empty-handed today. (Unlike last week, when my cookies came up missing). So now, before Mass, I shall make up for this treatless Saturday, with a cookie Sunday. I noticed I have a ton of cake mixes, so I decided on cake mix cookies.

Simple enough. I have a bunch of different extracts (besides vanilla), so I can tweak the cookies that way. I opted for almond today in two versions – white and devils food.

My mint, orange and lemon extracts can be saved for another day. And i just did a basic vanilla frosting, flavoured (note the spelling in honor of Canadian friends and family) with almond extract.

Cake mix cookies

• 1 cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 tsp extract (I used almond)

Directions

-preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Combine cake mix, eggs, oil and vanilla. Roll into 2 tbs dough and form a ball. Scatter on cookie sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes (lightly browned on bottom) cool completely.

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbs milk
• 1 tsp almond extract

Directions

Mix well with a hand or stand mixer. You may want to add more milk, by the tbs, to get the consistency you want. Frost cookies.

Obligatory pic of our Gracie, hoping for a smackerel of something

Store cookies in covered container.

I was looking for something different to bake because I have been making a lot of chocolate chip cookies lately (although I use different recipes). I was running errands and walked by a Little Debbie display and saw the oatmeal cream pies. I loved those as a kid! I thought I would make a homemade version to bring to work. My twist is instant oatmeal packets (I used brown sugar and maple flavor).

You can add chocolate chips if you want as well. The filling is a cream cheese frosting. You could also use vanilla frosting or something else if you want.

Cookies

1. 1 cup butter, melted
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1 cup brown sugar
4. 2 cups flour
5. 1/2 tsp baking powder
6. 1 tsp baking soda
7. 2 eggs
8. 4 tbs milk
9. 12 instant oatmeal packets

Directions

1. Mix butter, sugar and brown sugar.
2. Add eggs and milk
3. Mix in dry ingredients
4. Fold in oatmeal packets
5. Form dough into balls using a cookie or ice cream scoop
6. Chill dough at least one hour
7. Preheat oven to 350
8. Stagger on cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or non stick baking liners
9. Bake 12 minutes
10. Cool on sheet 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack on cookie tray lid to to cool completely

Filling

1. 4 oz cream cheese
2. 1/4 cup butter
3. 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4. 2 tbs milk or cream

Directions

1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Fold in powdered sugar
3. Add milk or cream
4. Beat to desired consistency
5. Spread spoonful or two between 2 cookies
6. Store in covered container

After wreaking havoc on other parts of the country, a whale of a winter storm is about to hit our area. Several inches of snow then ice, which freaks me out about losing power. In 2011, a freak winter storm in October, left us without power for a week. So Rob, Charlie and I spent 8 days in a hotel around the corner from our house. We were happy to find somewhere close that allowed dogs, but spending so much money on that was tough. Some day, I hope we have a generator…

Anyways, I made two kinds of treats for work today, bc I am staying in the hotel across from work and have no treata for tomorrow. These are a Ghirardelli brownie with oreo truffle topping, finished off with melted chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

Brownies

• 8 oz 60% bittersweet chocolate
• 6 tbs butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup flour.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Melt chocolate and butter. Add sugar and salt. Mix in eggs, then flour. Butter an 8 inch square pan and line with parchment paper. Butter paper as well. Pour batter into pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs. Cool

Truffle topping

• 30 Oreos
• 4 ounces cream cheese

Directions – finely grind Oreos in food processor (or you can hammer them with a rolling pin and get out all your frustrations). Combine with cream cheese. Spread over cooled brownies. Cut the brownies.

Topping

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tsp vegetable oil

Directions – melt chips in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add oil. Spoon on each individual brownie. Store in covered container.

I saw this recipe for a brownie cake, using a brownie mix, cake mix, some eggs, oil, and water. Looked great on Pinterest. Seemed simple. So I made it and was NOT thrilled with how it came out. It looked kind of dry. (I think I figured out the issue, but will,not,bore you with it) . So instead of pawning a less-than-stellar cake on my work friends, I decided to make cake pops. Really messy, but I think they are much better than that cake. Although my co-workers probably still would have eaten the cake. You can also use brownies or cookies.. Just take the crust off the brownies and put the cookies in the food processor and grind them up.

Ingredients

1. A cake, any flavor, baked and cooled
2. Frosting (homemade or canned.)
3. Candy melts, chocolate chips (semi sweet or any other flavor, I used peanut butter chips as well)

crumble up the cake into fine pieces, either using your hands or a hand or stand mixer.

Some cake pop recipes say use enough frosting so that the cake pops hold together, but are not mushy. What kind of direction is that? ( Sweet Lord, I need numbers and measurements people, not vague directions like from my Grandma Lisi. ) Anyways, I would use 1/3 cup of frosting. If you want a homemade recipe – combine 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tbs milk.

Add the frosting to your crumbled cake and mix together until the frosting is blended in. Scoop out two tbs of mixture and place on sheet. Put in freezer for 15 minutes.

Melt your chocolate in 20 second increments until you can stir it smooth. Dip your cake pops in the chocolate and top with crushed Oreos, candy, sprinkles, etc. I do not have the patience to wait for the chocolate to dry, so the bottoms of the pops are planot

Store them in a covered container.

This may be the easiest treat I ever made. My friend, Kevin, requested mini apple pies. I am a solid baker, but pie crusts just aren’t my thing. So I decided to make them with a sugar cookie mix. Any brand is fine. The one I used called for softenes butter and an egg. I added a couple of tablespoons of water because the dough seemed dry. (Your favorite homemade recipe also works). I also opted to put glaze on top, because, of course I did.

Ingredients

• Sugar cookie mix, plus ingredients called for in directions.
• Pie filling

Directions – preheat oven to 350. make cookie dough as directed. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough and place in ungreased muffin cups. Bake 5 minutes. Make an indent in middle of each cup. Fill,with a few tsp of pie filling. Bake another 10 minutes., cool completely. Remove from muffin tins, using a plastic knife around the sides. Remove with a fork.

Icing

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbs milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions
Combine ingredients. you can add more milk or powdered sugar to get the consistency you want. Drizzle on top of cookie pie cups. Store in covered container.

Today was such a beautiful day. Sunny and 60. Gracie absolutely loved it. We took two walks had a new friend, Griffin, a beautiful 1 year old Golden Retriever, come over to play. Plus there are four MLB playoff games today. I am eagerly awaiting Yankees Red Sox tonight. And the NHL just started, so this is a great time of year. I find the news so exhausting. I stay informed but limit my viewing. Today’s treat is one of a billion chocolate chip cookie recipes I have. The tweak is that you add some corn syrup. You could also use honey or pancake syrup. These are super soft! I left some plain and stuffed others with candy (not our Halloween stash. I took from our candy bowl). And I color coded for the candy , using m&MS. Green for reeses pb cups, blue for baby Ruth and brown for Oreos. They laugh at me at work, but I jave a system!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 1/4 cup corn syrup or honey
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tbs cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking sodea
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 cupa chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350. cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients slowly. Fold in chips. Dough will be soft. Chill at least one hour. Using a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop, spoon out cookies. For plain ol’ chocolate chip cookies – form dough into piles and stagger on sheet, that has been lined with parchment paper or non stick baking liners. If you are stuffing cookies,scoop out dough, divide each in half and form around candy or Oreos, etc. Stagger on sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let them sit on sheet for 10 minutes. Store in covered container.

I was trying to find a treat to bring into work this Saturday and wanted to bake something fall-like (pumpkin perhaps)… I was really was leaning toward non-chocolate. Then, I found,these chocolate layer bars on verybestbaking.com (the nestle website). So another day for the pumpkin treat. These bars have a Graham cracker crust and a chocolate layer. They looked like they were missing something when I took them out of the oven,so I made chocolate ganache to put on top. Because why not more chocolate? It just makes life better. And with all the garbage going on in the world, we need that. Anyways, Ganache sounds so fancy, but it is just melted chocolate mixed with heavy cream.

Oh, and I really need to figure put how to take better pix with my phone. I have been told this Lg g7 thinq has this great camera, but my pictures are only ok. Flash on? Hdr on? Super bright on? Auto or manual? For the love of God.. I want simple. 😳

Bottom layer Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions

Combine and press in ungreased 9×13 pan. Set aside

Middle layer ingredients

• 14 oz can condensed milk
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup ground nuts (opt)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients and pour over bottom Graham cracker later. Sprinkle 2 cups chocolate chips on top. Bake 25 minutes. Cool completely.

Ganache ingredients

• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions – combine in microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Pour over cooled bars.

Store in covered container.

Rob requested Ring Dings, a throwback sort of treat. I am not sure if they are made by Hostess or Drake’s. They are a chocolate cake round with marshmallow creme filling and topped with a chocolate coating. Rob asked if I could do a peanut butter filling as well, so I did both. Instead of filling the treats, I split them horizontally, filled them and then topped them with melted chocolate. I made quite a mess, with the chocolate cake recipe I used for the marshmallow filled ones, but think people at work will stillfind them delicious! IbI used the king arthur flour flourless cake recipe for the peanut butter filled ones. That actually worked much better with slicing and filling. Next time, I will just bake a cake or cupcakes.😊

Cake ingredients

• 1cup semi sweet choc chips
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup baking cocoa

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a rpund cake pan with baking spray. Melt chocolate and butter. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Stir in flour. Bake 25 minutes. Cool. Put in fridge 1 hour.

Marshmallow filling

Mix together –

• 1 cup crisco or buttee
• 7 oz marshmallow creme
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup

Peanut butter filling

Mix together –

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6-8 tbs milk

Remove cake from pan. Use a wine glass to cup out rounds. Slice horizontally. Spread filling between two rounds. Top with melted chocolate.

Store in fridge in covered container.