It’s no secret that I love to bake. And recently I discovered, I might also be a bit of a stress baker. With the anxiety and uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, I felt I needed to bake something. So I made a small batch of brownies. I knew Rob would eat one. I offered the rest to out friends and they happily obliged. If they didn’t want them, I would have frozen them (the brownies, not the friends 😄) I decided to take the brownies up a notch by frosting them with homemade reeses eggs and homemade cookies and creme frosting. I also topped them with melted chocolate.

• Brownies ingredients
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions -preheat oven to 325. Spray and 8×8 pan with baking spray (I like wilton’s) . Heat oil in a microwave safe container for 15 seconds. Whisk in baking cocoa. Set aside. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, powdered sugar and brown sugar on medium high speed for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cocoa mixture and cocoa extract and beat for 5 minutes. Fold in dry ingredients. Add rest of cocoa mixture and beat one minute. Add chips. Pour into pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.

Reese’s frosting – melt 1 cup peanut butter, 4 tbs butter and 2/3 cup brown sugar in microwave safe bowl. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and a tbs of milk (you may want to add more powdered sugar or milk to get the consistency you want)

Cookies and creme frosting – combine 1/2 cup Crisco, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbs sugar. Add a couple tbs of water to get the consistency you want. Blend in a few crushed oreos.

Store in covered container

I must admit I was surprised people were requesting a recipe for these after I posted pix on twitter, FB and Instagram. They have coconut, which is one of the ingredients I hear complaints about from time to time (“I don’t like coconut. I don’t like nuts. I don’t like chocolate. I don’t like peanut butter” etc). Anyways, I am happy to oblige and provide this recipe! I believe I found it a while back on the betty crocker or Duncan hines website

• Ingredients for crust
• 1 German chocolate cake mix
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 egg

• Ingredients for topping
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup nuts (opt)

Combine filling ingredients and set aside

Directions for crust – preheat oven to 350. Spray 8″ pan with baking spray. Combine ingredients and press into pan. Bake 8 minutes. Remove from,oven and top with filling. Bake another 20 to 25 minutes (coconut will be light golden) cool.

Store in covered container.

Treat #1 for Marty and McGee today- chocolate chip whoopie. My twist – fat ricotta cheese as an addition in place of one stick of butter. I Also went with a chocolate fluff filling instead of the traditional vanilla.

• Whoopie pie ingredients
• 1 stick of butter, soft
• 1 cup ricotta cheese ( i used fat free, but you can use whatever kind you want)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add ricotta cheese. Mix in egg and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Blend in chips. Roll 2 tbs dough into balls and chill at least a couple of hours. Preheat oven to 350. Stagger dough on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. (Lightly golden on top). Cool on pan 10 minutes, remove and cool completely.

• Chocolate fluff filling ingredients
• 1 cup fluff
• 1 stick butter
• 1 – 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbs baking cocoa
• 1-2 tbs heavy cream or milk
• 1 tsp vanila

Directions – cream butter and fluff. Blend in 1 cup powdered sugar and baking cocoa. Stir in 1 tbs milk or heavy cream and vanilla. You may need to add more,powdered sugar to get the consistency you want. Spread between two cookies.

Store in covered container.

I have to be honest. This treat is the result of an original treat that was not up to my standards. I was going for red velvet bars topped with an Oreo truffle layer and topped with melted milk chocolate. The truffle layer and melted chocolate looked like a messy disaster. So I audibled. I crumbled up the red velvet bars in one bowl, added some homemade frosting and made red velvet truffles. I put the Oreo truffle layer in another bowl and added some homemade frosting. I stuffed a new Oreo truffle inside a red velvet one and topped each with melted chocolate, and voila! (Note – you may need a little more frosting to make sure truffles hold their shape)

• Red velvet truffle ingredients
• 1 red velvet cake mix
• 3.9 oz instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 8 tbs vegetable oil

Directions – preheat oven to 325. Spray a 9x 13 pan with baking spray. Combine all ingredients in a bowl amd spread in pan.(dough is thick). Bake 15 minutes (toothpick inserted in mixdle of cake comes out with a few crumbs). Cool completely. Crumble cake in a bowl and add 1/2 cup canned or homemade vanilla frosting

• Oreo truffles ingredients
• 40 Oreos, finely ground in food processor
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1/2 cup canned or homemade frosting

Directions for Oreo truffles – combine and roll 1 tbs of mixture into balls.

Assembly – take 2 tbs of red velvet truffle mixture (or more, if necessary) and form around each Oreo truffle. Top with melted chocolate. Store in covered container.

I love variety in my baking… I am always willing to try different versions of brownies, chocolate chip cookies.. This goes for cutout cookies as well. Today, they are cookies n cream cutouts for Valentine’s Day. Basically a sugar cookie with a little cream cheese to make it even softer and flavored with a cookies n creme extract i found online (I also have chocolate, lemon, orange and almond in my collection). These cookies are a chance to use my heart cookie cutters

• Ingredients
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 tbs cream cheese or Greek yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp cookies n cream extract
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour (scooped from a flour container into a measuring cuo)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5-10 Oreos, finely crushed in a food processor (the more oreos you use, the darker the cookie)

Directions – cream butter and sugar. Add cream cheese or Greek yogurt. Blend in extract and egg. Add 2 and a half cups flour and salt. Add a little more flour if you think the dough is too soft. Fold in Oreos. Cover and chill. Take dough out and leave it covered on countertop about 2 hours before you want to bake (easier to roll and cut). Preheat oven to 350. Roll and cut (I prefer my cutouts thicker and softer). Stagger on cookie sheets lined with non stick liners.

Bake 7 to 10 minutes. Cool completely.

• Frosting ingredients
• 1 stick of butter softened
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Milk

Directions – cream butter and 2 cups powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Blend in milk a tbs at a time until you get the consistency you want. You can also add more powdered sugar to make it sweeter (which likely means more milk). Add food coloring if desired. Frost cookies.

Store in covered container.

Who didn’t love Little Debbie desserts growing up? One of my favorites was the oatmeal creme pies. Soft oatmeal cookies with that wonderful sweet filling! I present a copycat recipe here. You can use whatever instant oatmeal flavor you want. I opted for maple brown sugar. I also added a little maple syrup to the filling because… Well because it is different. These are for our Saturday morning ESPN Radio crew. They have oatmeal, so that counts as a healthy breakfast!!

• Ingredients
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbs milk
• 2 cups flour
• 12 pkts instant oatmeal, any flavor

Directions – melt butter. Add sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and milk. Add flour then oats. Scoop out 1 tbs of dough. Chill at least a couple of hours. Preheat ovent to 350. Stagger dough on a cookie sheet lined with non stick baking liners or parchment paper. Bake 9 to 12 minutes. They will be a little doughy on top, but will continue to cook on the sheet after you remove them from oven. Leave on sheet 10 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.

• Filling ingredients
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Milk

Directions – combine butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk, one tbs at a time until you get the consistency you want. Spread 1 tbs or so between 2 cookies.

Store in covered container.

I have been making a lot variations of chocolate chip cookies and brownies lately, so I felt the need to mix it up. Sugar cookies came to mind and I saw my Churro maker in my pantry closet (which I have yet to use), and gave me an idea to make my treats cinnamony (is that a word?) 😋. So today i present cinnamon sugar cookies. I used corn syrup, which made them soft, mixed with cinnamon. I also cooked them at a higher temp (400) for less time. I might try 350 next time and cook them a little longer.

• Ingredients
• 1 cup butter, soft
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs corn syrup mixed with 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 6 tbs cinnamon sugar

Directions – cream butter and sugar. Add egg, corn syrup mixture and cinnamon mixture. Blend in flour and baking soda. Dough is thick and takes a while to come together. I mixed it with my hands near the end. Roll 2 tbs dough into balls and slightly flatten. Chill a couple of hours. Preheat oven to 400. Stagger on cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 7 to 9 minutes. Cookies will seem a little doughy on top, but bottoms will be brown. Remove from oven. They will continue to set on cookie sheet. Remove after 15 to 20 minutes and cool completely.

• Frosting ingredients
• 1 stick butter softened
• 4 tbs corn syrup mixed with 3 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tsp cinnamon sugar
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions – cream butter and corn syrup mixture. Add cinnamon sugar. Blend in powdered sugar. Frosting will be very thick. I scooped out tbs with a spoon and smooshed it on top cookies. You can add milk or water to thin it out if you want.

Store in covered container.

Tomorrow, marks the return of Marty and McGee on Saturday mornings on ESPN Radio. I am looking forward to having the guys back. Thst make me (and everyone else) laugh a ton for two hours and we all need that, considering how bad the news has been in general. The guys always look forward to my treat breakdown as well.

These are a Graham cracker cookie with marshmallow bits!!!!…

and stuffed with brownie truffles! It is going to be super cold tomorrow, some extra sugar to keep people going at the world wide leader. You can also sub in chocolate chips or nuts if you want. Let me honest about my brownie truffles. Truffles sounds so “fancy” (insert Chris farley quote hands) mine are simply smooshed up brownies mixed with about a half cup of chocolate frosting. They are rolled into balls and chilled for an hour. You can also use oreos or candy if you prefer

• Ingredients
• 1cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 3 cups Graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp,salt
• 1/2 cup marshmallow bits

Directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in Graham cracker crumbs. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix in marshmallow bits.

Scoop out 2 tbs dough

and divide in half. Slightly flatten one half.

Place a brownie truffle on top.

Place other tbs of flatten cookie dough on top.

Seal edges.

Chill for a few hours. Preheat oven to 350. Stagger cookies on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. Cool.

Store in covered container.

The second gameday treat is super easy, but quite tasty and will satisfy any sweet tooth. They are brownie cookies with peanut butter chips and stuffed with peanut butter cups.

These are actually for our friends, who are expecting their first baby in June. A congratulatory treat, if you will. One note – the dough may seem a little sticky, so you might want to use a little flour on your hands to make it easier to deal with.

• Ingredients
• 1 brownie mix (do not add ingredients on box)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3/4 cup peanut butter chips
• Peanut butter cups

Directions – preheat oven to 375. mix brownie mix and flour together. Blend in eggs and oil. Mix in chips. Take one tbs of dough and slightly flatten.

Place peanut butter cup on top.

Take another tbs dough, slightly flatten and place on top of peanut butter cup.

Seal edges.

On a cookie sheet, lined with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper, stagger cookies. Bake 10 to 14 minutes. Sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar.

Cool completely.

Store in covered container. In addition to the Bills, I am also rooting for the 49ers bc their starting quarterback, Jimmy G is beautiful.

I really upped my game for treats this week, trying to butter up the football gods for the Bills playoff game tomorrow (435 eastern, ABC, ESPN TV and the ESPN app). I have made carrot cake, peanut blossoms with milk chocolate chips and peanut butter cups. And today for tonorrow’s gameday,I made stuffed snowball cookies! Most are stuffed with double stuff oreos and one is stuffed with a peanut butter cup because I ran out of Oreos. As usual, I put an m&m in the top to label what is inside – blue and green for Oreos, orange for Reese’s.

Here’s to upping my record when I bake on gameday to 10-4!

• Ingredients
• 2 cups butter, soft
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1 bag mini chocolate chips
• Oreos!

Directions – preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and vanilla., add powdered sugar. Blend in flour. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1 tbs dough.

Slightly flatten.

Place Oreo on top.

Scoop out another tbs of dough. Slightly flatten and place on top of Oreo.

Seal edges.

Stagger on cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper.

Bake 10-13 minutes. Cookies will be lightly golden on bottom. Sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar.

Let cool. Store in covered container.