A Friday treat (not friday football.  Football and I are on a break right now)

Usually, on Fridays during football season, I bring in a Friday football treat.  But this post contains just  a Friday treat because football and I are taking a break. 

I did have something cool happen today though and it was football related.  Our midday show had Damar Hamlin on as a guest and I told one of our hosts, Joe, to tell Damar I love him.  He did and Damar replied “shout out to Christine.”  Made my day.

This is a simple chocolate cookie cake with a sweet chocolate frosting.  Both are easy.  And I sprinkled some mini m&ms on top.

Remember to scoop your flour and baking cocoa from your containers into your measuring cup so you get the correct amount. 

  • Cookie cake ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 2/3 cups flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking soda

Directions- spray a ten inch springform pan (or cake pan) with baking spray, then line with parchment paper.  In a bowl, combine butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Blend in eggs and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Press evenly into prepared pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven. Now make the frosting.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
This is what happens when the cookie cake is cut before the frosting sets

Directions – in a saucepan, combine butter, milk and sugar over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally.   Let mixture come to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Add chips.  Let stand a minute or two.  Store smooth.  Pour over cookie cake (even if it is warm).  Let frosting set as cookie cake cools  completely.  Cut and store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Wishing you a day of peace, joy and love (also wishing for Josh Allen to win NFL MVP tonight)

Victory Monday NFL wildcard treat # 3 – Easy brownie cookie sandwiches

The hat trick of treats for the Bills victory Monday- brownie cookie sandwiches.  These start with a brownie mix, also use some hot fudge.  And the filling is a basic buttercream. 

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also, no need to chill the dough.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 brownie mix
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 5 tbs water
  • 1/4 ,cup hot fudge (room temp)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, combine brownie mix, flour, oil, egg and water.  Blend in hot fudge.   Fold in chips. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Scoop out 2 tbs dough.  Line cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners.  Stagger on sheet.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

  • Filling ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbs heavy cream

In a bowl, blend powdered sugar and butter well.  Add vanilla and heavy cream.  Spoon between 2 cookies.  Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Mini m&m/ mini chip cutout cookies for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Bills are on a bye this week, so I am busy baking on a stress free Sunday (for Bills Mafia) with Cowboys/Commanders on in the background.  We had been watching Patriots/Dolphins, but I got frustrated watching Miami do what it wanted, so NFC East game, it is

This is a different cutout recipe.   I used a mix of mini chocolate chips and mini M&Ms.  You can do all chips or all M&Ms, but do not use regular size versions… Too hard to use cookie cutters with those!  And speaking of cookie cutters, I used these today for Thanksgiving!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I also cut out the cookies then chilled them before baking them, to help them keep their shape better.  Also, remember to preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbs water or milk
  • 4 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup mini m&ms
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, milk/water and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Mix in chips and m&ms.   On a floured surface, roll out dough to desired thickness, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.  Cut out cookies.  Chill a few hours.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger on sheet.  Bake 9 to 10 minutes (no longer).  Cool completely. 

You can frost these or make them into sandwich cookies (either chocolate or vanilla would work).  I am making these into sandwiches because the turkey necks are on the thin side.   Store in covered container.

Victory Monday treats – brownie cookies with crushed Butterfinger and topped with melted hershey kisses

To celebrate the Bills win over the Colts today, I made brownie cookies with crushed butterfingers.  And I topped them with melted hershey kisses.   Of course, you can use any candy you want.  I did smash the butterfingers with a rolling pin, which was a fun way to get out any frustrations.

Remember to scoop your flour and baking cocoa from their respective containers into the measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I  recommend chilling the individual doughs mounds for a bit to prevent too much spreading. 

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup oil (I used olive)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 tbs water
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 5 fun size butterfingers, crushed
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • Hershey kisses
  • Additional crushed butterfingers

Directions – in a bowl, combine oil and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.   Blend in flour and baking cocoa.  Stir in baking soda and water.  Add crushed butterfingers and chips.  Scoop out 2 tbs dough.  Form tall mounds.  Chill in fridge at least an hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheets.  Bake 10 to 12 min, no longer.  Cool completely.  

Top with melted chocolate and crushed butterfingers.  Store in covered container

Thanks so much for stopping by today!   Huuuuge game next Sunday- The Chiefs at home.  💙❤️💙❤️🦬🦬

XXXL peanut butter cookies with peanut butter chips and peanut m&ms

To celebrate a week 9 Bills heart stopping win over the Dolphins (thank you, Tyler Bass),  I present XXXL peanut butter cookies with peanut butter chips and peanut m&ms.  It was a wonderful win and I felt these cookies were the appropriate victory treat. 

I was so happy for our kicker, Tyler Bass.  He’s had some rough times this season and he nailed a 61 yard field goal for the win.  After the game, I was really touched to see how emotional he was, his coaches and teammates were for him to hit such a big kick.

 

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup peanut butter chips
  • 1/2 cup peanut m&ms

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, sugar and peanut butter.  Mix in eggs.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Blend in chips and m&ms.  Divide evenly into 8 mounds of dough.  Chill at least an hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.   Stagger 4 cookie mounds on each sheet.  Bake 12 to 14 min (no longer).  Cool completely.   Place in fridge for an hour or so to firm up.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Go Bills!

Football friday #7 (and happy birthday Eric)

Today’s Friday football treats is a request from my coworker, Eric, who’s celebrating a birthday today.   They are a version of Little Debbie brownies, which I  loved as a child.  These even have rainbow chips on top (shout out to Price Rite for having them)

I made these amid a crazy game three of the ALCS between the Yankees and Guardians.  What a nutty last few innings – the Judge and Stanton home runs.  The Noel and Fry home runs.  Rob and I are Yankees fans (but he is more invested than me).  He was quite mad afterwards and broke into hot brownies (which I warned him against).  He mangled them, as you can see below.

Remember to scoop your flour and baking cocoa from your containers into measuring cups so you get the right amount.  Also, preheat your oven for 20 minutes so it cycles to the right temp.  If you don’t have milk chocolate chips, you can use all semisweet for the ganache.

  • Brownies ingredients list
  • 2 1/2 sticks of butter, melted
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed into measuring cup
  • 1 3/4 cups unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 yolks
  • 2 tbs corn syrup
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 2 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degre3s.  Line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray.  In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, and baking cocoa.  Add eggs, one at a time,  yolks, corn syrup and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Mixture will be very thick.  Evenly spread into pan.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes (until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs).  Cool completely.

  • Ganache ingredients
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions – in one microwave safe bowl, heat chips for 1 minutes.  In another microwave safe bowl, heat cream for one minute.  Combine cream and chips.  Stir smooth.  Let sit 5 minutes.  Spread on cooled brownies and sprinkle with rainbow chips or m&ms

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Wishing you a day filled with joy, peace and love.  Also remember to be kind!

Chocolate triple chip cookies

Another hot, humid day, so why not turn on the oven to bake cookies? 😉

Today, I present chocolate triple chip cookies.  And I topped them with melted chocolate because I have a million hershey kisses in the house.

Melted chocolate makes everything better!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 7 tbs butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tbs sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1/2 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 baking soda
  • 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup semisweer chocolate chips

Directions – Pour melted butter in a bowl, add sugar and brown sugar.  Mix in egg, vanilla, and heavy cream. Blend in dry ingredients, then chips.  Scoop out 1 1/3 tbs dough (I used a cookie scoop).   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookie doughs on prepared sheet.    Bake 8-9 minutes, no longer.   Cool completely.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a day of joy, peace and contentment.

Beyond XL milk chocolate chip chocolate cookies

A chocolate treat request from Rob ahead of game five of the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final.   These are very large chocolate cookies with milk chocolate chips.   I made them a lot larger than usual so I cooked them at a higher temperature (410).   These only need 9 minutes to bake, max.  They may seem undone, but the bottoms will be cooked enough.  I let them cool completely and then  popped them in the fridge to firm up a bit.  I cut them into smaller chunks because these cookies are about  as big as my fist. 

Remember to scoop your flour and baking cocoa from their respective containers into measuring cups so you get the right amount.  I also popped these in the freezer for 20 minutes to help prevent spreading. And preheat your oven to 410 degrees for 20 minutes before baking.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, cold and shredded with a cheese grater or cut into tiny cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 5 cups flour
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups milk chocolate chips (plus extra if you want to roll tops of cookies in more chips)

Directions- in a bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients. (It may take a while for dough to come together.  I mixed in  half the flour with the cocoa, baking soda, cornstarch and salt, then I added the rest of the flour).  Fold in chips.  Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and form tall mounds.  Roll tops of cookies into additional chips if you want.  Freeze 20 minutes while you preheat oven to 410 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Place 4 cookies on a sheet and bake (I only baked 4 at a time).  Bake 8 to 9 min (no longer).  Cool completely.    Pop in the fridge for a half hour or so.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Wishing you a day of peace, love and happiness.

Chocolate hot cocoa and marshmallow chip cookies

I saw this wonderful creation from Nestlé at Aldi and I bought, not one, but 2 bags. Hot cocoa and marshmallow chips? Genius!

I figure pop one bag in some chocolate cookie dough and magic happens.

I put up both our trees this weekend.. and pulled put my favorite ornament. (I also love the red haired doll from Rudolph, which is right next to it). It is year 34 with this Bills ornamant, and am hoping Santa comes through this time!

Go Bills!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount, scoop out your dough and then chill the individual mounds at least an hour, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup plus 3 tbs sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 3/4 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 3 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 bag of hot cocoa chips
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions – cream butter, oil, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Scoop out dough (I used my cookie scoop that is 6 tbs worth). I formed them into tall mounds and chills them for at least an hour. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Stagger cookies on prepared sheets. Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today! Remember to be kind! Go Bills!

Cookies to celebrate a Bills win and National Homemade Cookies Day

I was alerted on Twitter that today is National homemade cookies day.. which is certainly a day to be celebrated… it was also a Bills victory day, something to be even more celebrated. Nothing to fancy, just browned butter chocolate chip cookies. You know what else, Bills win Christine is so much better than Bills lose Christine. (Just ask my hubby)

These candles below were given to me by my dear college friend, Patty. The Bills are 3-0 when I light them on game day. Just saying 😉

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Also, chill the cookies for a few hours or flash chill them (I stuck em in the freezer for an hour to speed up the process). Preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, browned
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed into measuring cup
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a pan, heat butter over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally until there are little brown specs in the bottom (it might take 10 minutes or so). Cool 10 minutes. Pour in a bowl, add sugar and brown sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Scoop out 2 tbs dough. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Stagger cookies. Bake 12 to 13 minutes. They will be a little gushy on top. They will firm up as they cool. Cool completely. Store in covered container.