The perfect chocolate chip cookies (puffy)

Perfect and puffy chocolate chip cookie

These represent what I believe is the perfect chocolate chip cookie – puffy. I know a lot of people love flat cookies, UT I prefer mine to be puffy. I added a tsp of cornstarch to the dough to help with that and also chilled the dough for 2 hours.

Remember to spoon your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Also, form your individual doughs into cylinders and chill your dough for a few hours before baking.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, cold and grated
  • 1/2 cup crisco
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 3.4 oz vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, crisco, sugar, and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Blend in pudding mix. Fold in flour, baking soda, and cornstarch. You may need to use your hands to blend completely the dough together. Fold in chips. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough and corn tall cylinders. Chill a few hours. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookie cylinders on sheets. Bake 12 minutes (light golden patches on top). They will be a little undercooked on top, but will firm up as they cool. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. If you make these, let me know how they turn out.

Chocodiles – chocolate covered twinkies

Chocodiles!

Today’s request from Rob – a chocodile. I had never heard of one before, but learned it is a chocolate covered twinkie. It gave me a chance to use my twinkie pan (one of many baking items I have that get little or no use. Hello – cherry maker, mini cake pop maker, mini pie maker, large cupcake pan, to name a few)

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 yolk
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Spray a canoe or twinkie pan with baking spray. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Blend in milk, then dry ingredients. Spoon batter into prepared pans 3/4 of the way full. Bake 15 to 18 minutes (a toothpick inserted in center of twinkie comes out clean) cool 10 minutes. Use a plastic knife to remove from pan. Cool completley.

Twinkie pan put to good use
  • Filling ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, beat ingredients together. Use the bottom of a wooden spoon to poke 3 holes in the bottom of a cooled twinkie.

Then using a pasty bag or decorating apparatus, carefully fill the three holes. Do not overfill.

Topping – in a microwave safe bowl, heat 1/2 cup cream for 1 minute. Add 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Let set 5 minutes. Stir smooth. Spread over top of filled twinkies. Store in covered container

I was a little messy with the topping 🙂

Thanks so much for stopping by. Wishing you a wonderful day. Remember to be kind. Life can be so hard, try to make someone’s day a little brighter. And, Go Bills!!!

Football friday for week 9 part 1 – Brownie mix cookies

Brownie mix cookies

A simple, yet great way to get your chocolate fix. Brownies, yet in cookies form. Plus, they take less time to bake than brownies, 10 minutes, as opposed to 20. Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into you measuring cup and preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking.

  • Ingredients
  • An 18.3 oz brownie mix
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 tbs vegetable oil
  • 2 tbs water
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners. In a bowl, combine brownie mix, eggs, oil, and water. Fold in chips. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough and place on baking sheets. Do not put too close together bc they spread a little. Bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Cookie monster!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day, filled with peace, joy and love

Chocolate milk chocolate chip and m&m cookies for football Friday #4

Go Bills!

I have this bag of mini m&ms that seems endless.  No matter what I bake, there always appears to be a half bag left.  In my attempt to use them up, I present chocolate cookies with mini m&ms and milk chocolate chips.  Here’s to week 4!  Go Bills!

Remember to scoop your flour and baking cocoa from your flour bag into your measuring cup, so you get the correct amount.    Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees or 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

Football Friday
  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed into measuring cup)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups flour (scooped from flour bag into measuring cup)
  • 1 cup baking cocoa
  • 11/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup mini m&ms
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Direction – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  mix butter and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients and fold in chips and candy.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough.  Using floured hands, shape dough into tall mounds and stagger on prepared cookie sheets.    Bake 13 minutes. (Do not overtake or they will dry out).   Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by!   Have a wonderful day!!

Frosted cake mix cookies topped with candy!

For Jerry’s birthday and Football Friday #2

I went simple for this treat, for my friend Jerry’s birthday and Football Friday #2 of the season. They are cake mix cookies, with chocolate frosting the topped with crushed heath Bars. You can use any cake mix flavor and candy!

  • Ingredients
  • 2 chocolate cake mixes
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tbs water

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. blend ingredients together. You may want to add an extra tbs or 2 of water, if you feel the dough is too dry. Line a baking sheet with nonstick baking liners. Scoop out 3 tbs of dough and form mounds. Stagger on prepared sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely.

I ran out of chocolate frosting, so I whipped up vanilla frosting for 5 cookies!
  • Frosting ingredients
  • 2 tbs butter, melted
  • 2 tbs baking cocoa
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs milk
  • Finely crushed heath bars (I used a food processor for this. You could also put them in a large plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.)

Directions – combine butter, vanilla and cocoa. Blend in powdered sugar. Add milk. Frost cookies and top with crushed heath Bars (or other candy)

I get to be normal for a second straight sunday because the Bills don’t play until Monday night! I tease Rob that my Bills Fandom is the “sickness” part of the “in sickness and health” of the wedding vows. Go Bills!

Mudslide cookies on NFL Sunday #1

No Bills game this first NFL Sunday of the season, so I am calm and relaxed. So much so that Gracie got to nap as we flip through all the games. We have the Sunday ticket for free for a 3rd straight year, which is just awesome! Anyways, I thought we can celebrate this day with mudslide cookies… really just a chocolate cookie with some chocolate chips.

Reminders – remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Also, chill the dough for at least an hour. And, preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking so your oven cycles to the right temp.

Ingredients

2 tbs butter

1 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tsp instant coffee

1/4 cup flour

2 cups cake flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup mini chips

Directions – in a microwave safe bowl, microwave butter and dark chocolate in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Set aside and cool 10 min. In a bowl, beat eggs, coffee, sugar and vanilla for 5 min. Add melted chocolate mixture. Fold in flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. On a sheet lined with nonstick baking liners, stagger cookies like this.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful day and remember to be kind.

Happy Opening Night of the NFL season cookies! Go Bills!

Go Bills!

Tonight is a very big night – the Bills season opener, which is also the NFL season opener. 😊 To celebrate such a monumentous occasionally, I made chocolate cutouts sandwich cookies, with footballs and football helmets. I put a simple buttercream filling between 2 cookies.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup crisco
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking, so your oven cycles to the correct temperature. Line cookie sheets with nonstick baking liners. In a bowl, cream butter, crisco and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Roll to desired thickness and cut. (I like mine to be on the thicker side)

On lined cookie sheets, place cookies

Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes. Cool completley.

  • Filling ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions – blend butter and powdered sugar. Add cream and vanilla. Spread between 2 cookies. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you make these, let me know how they turn out.

Smores cookies with toasted marshmallow frosting

Happy summer!

With summer in full swing, I figured a smores recipe was in order. (Nothing like heating the oven up on a humid day!) These are a chocolate cookie topped with a Graham cracker cookie and frosted with toasted marshmallow frosting the topped with melted milk chocolate. This basically is a chocolate chip cookie dough, divided in half with a few ingredients added to each divided half to get the chocolate and graham cracker cookie dough. I tossed some milk chocolate chips in the graham cracker cookie. You can leave them out or also add some to the chocolate cookie too.

Yum!

I chilled these cookie dough mounds overnight. They still spread and are huge, but I felt the chilling of the dough was still beneficial. Remember to scoop your dough from your flour bag into your container so you get the right amount. Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so you get to the right temp.

  • Cookies ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • Additional 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/2 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions- cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in 3 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and cornstarch. Divide dough in half. To one half, blend in graham cracker crumbs. Divide into 12 even size pieces. Roll into balls and slightly flatten. To other half, add baking cocoa and remaining 1/4 cup flour. Divide into 12 even size pieces. Roll into balls and slightly flatten.

Graham cracker cookie dough on top of chocolate cookie dough

Place a graham cracker flattened dough on top of a chocolate flatten dough.

Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. On a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners, stagger cookies. Bake 13 to 15 minutes (there will be light golden patches on the graham cracker cookie part). Cool completely.

Ready to be frosted!
  • Toasted marshmallow frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter melted
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar
  • Milk
  • 12 regular size marshmallows, toasted

Directions- beat butter and powdered sugar. Add enough milk to get the consistency you want. Set aside

To toast marshmallows – set oven to high on broil. Line a pan with tin foil and spray with Pam. Broil marshmallows, checking after increments of 45 seconds, to make sure they don’t burn. Immediately add to butter mixture. Fost cooled cookies.

Almost done!

Top with melted chocolate. Store in covered container.

Voila!

Thank you so much for stopping my today! I hope you have a wonderful day, filled with peace, love and happiness

Frosted Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

My best friend from college, Susan, and her two daughters (who are my goddaughters) are coming to visit tonight for a few hours.. so being the good hostess that I like to think I am, I asked the girls what treat they would like. Lyndsey picked frosted chocolate chip banana cookies. These are nice, soft cookies that smell INCREDIBLE as they bake. and let’s face it, frosting, just makes everything better.

* One kind cool thing I learned for this recipe – how to quickly ripen a banana. you bake it at 170 degrees in 8 minute intervals until the skin turns really really brown and softens the banana. my husband wasn’t sure what i had done when he saw the banana on the countertop to cool off 🙂

a few tips – remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the correct amount, chill the mounds of dough for a few hours to prevent them from spreading too much, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so that it cycles to the right temperature.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 ripe banana, smooooshed (see * above on how to quickly ripen a banana)
  • 1 yolk (makes cookies soft)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (i used mini ones in these cookies)

Directions – cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Blend in banana, yolk and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Flour your hands (trust me on this). Scoop out 2 tbs of dough and roll into balls. Chill in fridge a few hours. preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. line a sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper and stagger cookies. bake 12 to 14 minutes (likely browned on bottom. do not overbake or cookies will be dry). remove from tray after 10 minutes. Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 2 tbs butter, melted
  • powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • milk

Directions – place butter in a bowl, add a cup or two of powdered sugar. mix in vanilla. Add enough milk to get the consistency you want. Frost cookies. store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with peace and joy. Remember to be kind. Your kind gesture, no matter how small, may be what someone needs in their life at that moment.

Chocolate red wine cookies with peanut butter chips

When attending my college reunion last night, we went to a cookie shop in Geneseo and they had so many unique cookies, in addition to the ones that everyone loves (like chocolate chip). There were these chocolate red wine cookies with peanut butter chips and sprinkled with powdered sugar. There is not a lot of wine in these, but it adds a nice flavor. if you don’t want to use wine, you could try cold coffee instead. They spread a little, so I recommend chilling the dough for at least a few hours to prevent the spreading of the cookies. I also decided to add melted milk chocolate on the bottom of these! I am not sure why, just seemed like a good idea!

Reminders – scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount, chill the dough for a few hours so the cookies don’t spread too much. and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so your oven cycles to the right temperature.

  • ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup red wine (i used sangria because that’s what we had in the house)
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 bag of peanut butter chips

directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla and wine. Blend in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. scoop out 2 tbs of dough and roll into balls. Chill a few hours. preheat oven to 375 degrees before baking. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper. stagger cookies on the prepared sheets. bake 10 to 11 minutes. sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar. I opted to put melted milk chocolate on the bottoms of the completely cooled cookies, but I am sure they are fine without it. 🙂 Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.