NFL Divisional round playoff Bills gameday treats –  oatmeal creme pies

How cool that not only it is Bills playoff gameday but also Sabres game day.  The last time the Bills played a playoff game the same day as the Sabres had a game, both teams won.  Here’s hoping for that same result!

I broke out of the box a bit with these.  I have made oatmeal cookies which were well received, but felt the need to step it up because it is the Divisional round of the playoffs…. so I went with oatmeal creme pies.  

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.   (Same goes for the powdered sugar for the frosting)

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup crisco
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed into measuring cup
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 cups quick oats

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners.   In a bowl, cream butter, crisco, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour, baking soda and salt.  Fold in oats.   Scoop out 3 tbs of dough and form tall mounds. 

Stagger on cookie sheet.

Bake 11 to 13 minutes, no longer (edges will be browned.   Cool completely.

  • Fluff filling
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbs milk

Directions – in a bowl, cream fluff and butter.  Blend in powdered sugar.   Mix in vanilla and milk.  

Assembly directions – lay one cookie flat side up

Spoon some filling on top.

Top with another cookie flatside down.

Store in covered container.  I popped these in the fridge so the top cookie wouldn’t slide off the filling.

Thanks for stopping by!  Go Bills!  Go Sabres!

Large puffy triple chip cookies, in honor of the 2005-06 Sabres

Tonight, the Sabres are celebrating the 2005-06 team, which was quite a team.  If not for all those injuries to defenseman, I believe we would have beaten Carolina in the East final and Edmonton in the Stanley Cup final.  I loved those 05-06 and 06-07 squads (as well as 97-98 and 98-99), so tonight’s festivities will be fun to watch.  So these cookies are celebrating them and the current Sabres team, which is playing great 🏒!

These use a combo and bread flour and all purpose flour.  I like the thicker texture bread flour gives to cookies.  But you can use all AP flour if you want.  just remember to scoop it from your flour bag to your measuring cup so you get the right amount.

And these feature 3 types of chips!

I also froze the dough for about a half hour before baking

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed into measuring cup
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 2 tbs water
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup white chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips
  • Extra chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs, water and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Mix in chips.  (I used my hands here near the end to get dough to come together).  Divide dough equally into 12  pieces.  Roll into balls and slightly flatten.   Chill or freeze for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on it.

Bake 16 to 18 minutes, no longer. Remove from oven and press extra chips on top. 

Cool completely.  

Store in covered container. Thanks so much for stopping by today!   Go Sabres!

Victory monday, wildcard version- XL snowball cookies with mini chocolate chips

In honor of our first road playoff win since 1992, I present extra large snowball cookies with mini chocolate chips.  my stress level was through the roof.  I stood the last 8 minutes, didn’t take a breath and frightened our dog when I yelled when cole bishop got the game winning interception.    Yowsa.  One win down 3 to go.

These really are like a Mexican wedding cake/Russian tea cake/Italian wedding cake cookies with just a few ingredients – butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, water, and mini chocolate chips.  Super simple.  They stay puffy and are baked in no time.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 to 3 tbs water
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar.  Add vanilla.  Mix in salt and flour.  Fold in chips.  Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Chill for a while in the fridge.   When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger cookies on sheet. 

Bake 10 to 15 minutes, no longer, bottoms of cookies with be lightly golden.    Sprinkle hot cookies with powdercontainer.

Cool completely.   Store in covered containee.

Thanks for stopping by today!   Go Bills!

Easy Marble cookies

Another mid week treat using a cake mix – marble cookies.  I also added chocolate chips and topped them with melted hershey kisses.

These are made with a marble cake mix, vegetable oil,  and egg and water.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 marble cake mix
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 5 tbs water
  • 1 cup Chocolate chips

Directions –  In one bowl, combine yellow cake mix, egg, oil and 3 tbs water.  Add chocolate chips.  In another bowl, combine fudge packet and 2 tbs water.   Add fudge mixture to yellow cake mixture.  Swirl gently with a knife to marble. Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Chill for a few hours.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.   Stagger cookies on sheet. 

Bake 12 minutes.  Cool completely.  I topped these with melted hershey kisses. 

Store in covered container.

Frosted white cake mix cookies

To celebrate the Sabres 11th win in 12 games – An easy mid-week treat.  One  for my non-chocolate loving friends at work – white cake mix cookies.   Just a few ingredients – white cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, and almond extract.   You can use 2 eggs if you don’t have egg whites and  use vanilla extract instead of almond extract if you prefer. And they are topped with a simple buttercream frosting .

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 white cake mix
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 egg whites or 6 tbs liquid egg whites or 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp almond extract (or vanilla)

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl,  combine ingredients.    Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Roll into balls and slightly flatten.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tbs milk
  • 2 tsp almond extract (or vanilla)

Directions – in a bowl, combine ingredients and blend well.  Frost cookies.  Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cinnamon sugar football cookie cutout sandwiches in honor of Rich Stadium

For NFL week 18 and the final regular season home game at the place i have always called Rich Stadium, I present cinnamon sugar football cutout sandwiches with brown butter filling.  I love my football cutout.

I have not been to a game there in a long time, but have a lot of wonderful memories.  I went to my first game at age 7 with my family.  I think we went to about a game a year until 8th grade.  From Olean, we traveled up 16 through all the small towns.   We stopped once so my dad could buy my brother a football so they could play catch in the parking lot.   That little plaza is still there.  My dad, who passed away in 2013, is the reason I love the Bills as much as I do.  He would really enjoy these Josh teams.   It would have been fun to dissect games with him.  He will have a great seat in heaven when we win the Super Bowl.  A lot of people pooh pooh the Bills and have no faith.  I prefer to keep it positive.  I acknowledge weaknesses and acting like Eyeore is not fun.  Fandom is much more enjoyable. 

I think that unless you grew up a Bills fan or married into it, it is hard to understand the connection with the team and even that building.

Anyways,  onto the cookies….

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  If you chill the dough, take it out a few hours before baking because that butter chills it up firm.  Next time I might not chill the dough at all.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt. Add egg and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  If dough seems dry, add a tbs or two of water.   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Lightly flour a flat surface and roll dough to desired thickness (I like mine on the thick side).   Cut out footballs.  Stagger on prepared sheet.

Bake 7 to 8 minutes, no longer.   Cool completely.

  • Brown butter frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Milk

Directions – place butter in a fry pan and cook over medium heat until brown specs appear.

Place browned butter in bowl.  Mix in powdered sugar, then vanilla.  Add enough milk to get the consistency you want.   Place a scoop between 2 cookies.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

May the Sabres run their winning streak to 10 treats

For my final treat of 2025, I made lemon frosted cake mix squares.  I didn’t have a lemon cake mix, so I used a white one and added some lemon extract, along with the other ingredients.  These are for my friend rib’s birthday and as luck for the Sabres, who go for their 10th straight win tonight against the Stars, one of the best teams in the NHL.

These are super simple, don’t require a ton of ingredients or time.  You can leave them plain or frost them.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 white cake mix
  • 1 sugar cookie mix
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 2 tsp lemon extract

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9×13 pan with baking spray.  In a bowl, combine mixes.   Blend in butter, then eggs and extract.  Evenly spread into prepared pan.   Bake 18 to 20 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tbs lemon juice

In a bowl, combine ingredients.  Frost bars.  Cut and store in covered container.

Go Sabres!!

German chocolate cake mix cookies

The German chocolate cake is a masterpiece of a dessert- German chocolate cake, pecan coconut frosting and chocolate frosting.   The bakery in my hometown of Olean, NY – the former Ried’s food barn- made the nest German chocolate cakes.  And I am sure the now olean food barn does too.

So I made a cookie sandwich version using a cake mix, canned coconut pecan frosting and a homemade chocolate frosting as the fillings. 

You can make a homemade coconut pecan frosting, but I went with canned frosting today
  • Cookies ingredients
  • 1 German chocolate cake mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.   In a bowl, blend 3 ingredients.  Scoop out 2 tbs of dough.  Roll into a ball and slightly flatten.  Stagger on cookie sheet.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  No longer.  Cool completely.

  • Chocolate frosting filling ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tbs evaporated milk
  • 1 tbs vanilla

Directions – in a bowl, combine butter and cocoa. Blend in powdered sugar, then evaporated milk and vanilla.  Add more evaporated milk or powdered sugar to get the consistency you want.

Place cookies flat side up. 

On one half, spread some coconut pecan frosting.  On another half, spread some chocolate frosting.  

Put two together and voila!

Thanks for stopping by!

Magic Middles take 2

Last year, I tried to make the keebler magic middles cookies.  They were a shortbread cookies with mini chocolate chips, filled with a gushy fudge filling.  Last year, they were more like a stuffed chocolate chip cookie.   Today, I went for a more shortbread cookie, like a Mexican wedding cake.  I froze the fudge filling and cookies before baking.  Next time, I may just fill the cookies with a piece of chocolate baking bar. 

It is important to freeze the fudge filling if that is what you want to stuff the cookies with.  Then once you atuff them in the cookie dough, freeze the doughs before baking.  My goal is to not have the filling spill out of the cookie. 

Also, remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  And preheat your oven before baking.

  • Fudge filling ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – in a pan, heat cream to a boil.  Remove from heat and add chips.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Stir smooth and put in fridge for an hour to firm up.  After an hour, scoop out teaspoons of dough, place on a paper plate in freezer for a few hours.

  • Cookies Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 to 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add vanilla.  Mix in salt, flour and baking powder.  Fold in chips.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough.  Divide in half and flatten each half.   Place a frozen scoop of filling on top. 

Place other flattened dough half on top and seal.  

Freeze for a few hours.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes.  Edges will be golden.  Cool completely.   Place in fridge to keep filling firm

 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Week 15 victory monday cookies – XL puffy chocolate cookies with finely ground walnuts and topped with melted hershey kisses

Today’s game took years off my life.  But a win is a win.  Go Bills.  Also, I  love josh allen.

These are a soft, thick, puffy chocolate cookie with finely ground walnuts.  You can leave them out if you want, use another kind, or throw in some chocolate chips.

These use a mix of bread flour and all purpose flour. 

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Chill the individual doughs for a few hours and preheat your oven to 350 before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips (microwaved in a microwave safe bowl in 45 second increments until you can stir them melted)
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbs bread flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup walnuts, finely ground

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Blend in melted chocolate.  Fold in dry ingredients.   Blend in nuts.   Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 13 to 15 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

For topping – in a microwave safe bowl, combine 35 unwrapped hershey kisses and 1 tbs butter.   Microwave in 45 second increments until you can stir smooth.  Spoon on top of cookies. 

Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.