Tag Archives: chocolate

Triple chip cookies celebrating the NHL debut of Owen Power!

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These cookies are to celebrate the NHL debut of Owen Power, the Sabres top overall pick last year. I’m pretty excited to see him play at the NHL level, after watching him play at Michigan. The Sabres have had a tough go the last few years, but I love our coach and the guys we have now after some moves. I think the team is heading in the right direction. Here’s hoping!

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup crisco
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3.4 oz instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 2 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1/4 cup bread flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup
  • 1/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1-2 tbs heavy cream or milk
  • 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions – cream butter, Crisco, butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in pudding mix. Fold in remaining dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill. Preheat oven to 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on sheet (alternating a row of 2, a single dough, a row of 2, a single dough, etc. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Thank you for stopping by today! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Brownie stuffed sugar cookies

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I made some brownies and didn’t want to bring in “just brownies” to work, so I decided to stuff most of them in sugar cookies. I say most because I ran out of cookie dough, so a few “just brownies” will arrive with me tomorrow morning.

Didn’t do a good job of covering the brownie 😀

Reminders – scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Also, preheat your oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking, so your oven cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • One pan of brownies, baked, cooled and cut in squares
  • 14 tbs butter softened
  • 2 tbs crisco
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Directions – preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. In a bowl, cream butter, crisco, and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough. Divide in half. Flatten one half. Place a brownie square on top. Flatten other half and place on top of brownie square. Completely cover brownie with dough. Place cookies on prepared cookie sheet. I fit 8 on a sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. (Lightly golden on bottom) cool completely. Store in covered container.

This is how I stagger cookies on a sheet so they don’t spread into each other

Thank you for stopping by today. I wish you a wonderful day filled with peace, love and happiness. Remember to be kind. Your kindness might be just what someone needs in their day.

When you can’t decide between a brownie and chocolate cake

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My husband requested a funni bone treat today, which is a chocolate cake, with a peanut butter filling and a chocolate ganache on top. I asked if he wanted a brownie or chocolate cake base and could not decide, so I combined them! I used a chocolate cake mix, a brownie mix, eggs, water and oil. I used a cookie sheet 18×12. A warning – this makes a large sheet of brownie cake!

  • Brownie cake ingredients
  • 1 chocolate cake mix
  • 1 brownie mix
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/4 cups water

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line an 18×12 cookie sheer with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine cake mix and brownie mix. Blend in oil and water. Fold in eggs. Spread into prepared pan. Bake 16 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs. Cool completely. Cut into rectangles .

  • Peanut butter fudge filling
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 bag peanut butter chips
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions – over medium-low heat, melt butter, sugar and evaporated milk, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and let boil 1 minute. Add chips and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar. Set aside to firm up.

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

Directions – in a microwave she bowl, microwave cream for 90 seconds. Add chips, swirling cream to cover then. Lwt set 5 minutes. Stir smooth.

Now to the assembly steps!

Slice a piece in half, horizontally
Spread peanut butter fudge layer on one half
Top with other half of brownie cake piece
Frost with ganache

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I wish you a day of peace, happiness and love. Remember to be kind. Even a small act of kindness can make a big difference for someone.

Yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting and a squiggle

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My squiggles need work!

This weekend’s treat request from my chief taste tester was a yellow cupcake with a fluff filling, chocolate frosting, and a squiggle. I can’t master the look of the squiggle like Hostess, so really mine is a long blobby of a line. I used jumbo cupcake liners because larger cupcakes are easier for me to fill with filling. I used fat free free yogurt. You can use another type of greek yogurt or sour cream,if you prefer

Reminder – preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking, so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients for cupcakes
  • 1 cake mix
  • 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 3/4 cups Greek yogurt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. line large muffin tins with large/jumbo cupcake liners. In a bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, water, oil. Blend in Greek yogurt. Mixture will be thick. Scoop out 1/2 cup of batter into lined muffin tins. (I used a large cupcake scoop from Bed, Bath and Beyond). Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in top comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely.

  • Filling ingredients.
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Milk or cream
  • Blend butter and fluff. Mix in powdered sugar. Add enough milk (1 tsp at a time) to get desired consistency
  • Chocolate frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter soft
  • 1/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Mix well. You may need to add more heavy cream or powdered sugar to get the consistency you want
  • Squiggle ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Heavy cream
  • Blend butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Add cream, a tsp at a time, to get the consistency you want. It will be a little on the thicker side

Now the assembly!

Cut out a cone of cupcake, saving the cut out part
Fill with filling
Gently press cut out cone on top of filling
Frost (sweet Gracie is supervising)
Add your squiggle/blobby

Store finished cupcakes in a covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I wish you much love, happiness and joy today. And remember to be kind. A small act of kindness can make a big difference in someone’s life

Flourless chocolate cake

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Flourless chocolate cake!

Happy Valentine’s Day! A perfect treat for today, or any day, really (provided you love chocolate). A flourless chocolate cake. Super easy to make and my chocolate loving hubby called it the best dessert I ever made!

Tips – preheat your oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking, so your oven cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used 60 percent)
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

Directions – preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Spray an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan with baking spray. Line the bottom of the pan only with parchment paper (I actually traced the pan on the parchment paper to get the right size). In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter and chips in 40 second incremens until you can stir it smooth. Add sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Fold in cocoa. Spresd into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes. It may look undercooked, but it is not. Let cool completely.

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

Directions – heat cream in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. Pour over chips. Let set for 2 minutes. Stir smooth. Pour over cake. Store in covered container.

Thank you for stopping by. ❤

Chocolate chip cookies are like the friends in your life

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Happiness is a chocolate chip cookie

Recently one of our analysts, let’s call him “Dan”, had an outrageous take that oatmeal cookies are the best cookie, far better than chocolate chip. I find this blasephemous! There is a national cookie day, but there is also a separate national day just for chocolate chip cookies. Can oatmeal cookies make that claim? No, they can not. I have nothing against oatmeal cookies, and they are wonderful, but they need to have chocolate chips in them, not raisins. Chocolate chip cookies are like the friends in your life, they make you happy, make you smile and you feel better when they are around. “Dan” is a wonderful analyst with much insight in the sport he covers, but his cookie take is off base!

A few reminders – spoon you flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup, chill the cookie dough for a few hours and preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking.

This is what I used to scoop out my dough. Each scoop of this is 2 tbs
  • Ingredients
  • 10 tbs cold butter, grated with a cheese grater
  • 2 tbs Crisco
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – cream grated butter, Crisco, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. If you need to, mix dough with your hands to finish blending it all together. Add chips. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough with an ice cream scoop. scoop out another 2 tbs of dough. Pile one of top of the other to make a mound of dough. Repeat process until all dough is used. Chill mounds for a few hours. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Stagger mounds of dough on your prepared sheet. Bake 10 to 14 minutes, until you see golden patches on top. Let set on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Remove from sheet and cool completely. Store in covered container.

Cookie monster strikes again!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. May you have a day filled with happiness and love. And, remember to be kind. We all need a little kindness these days.

Celebratory fudge

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Celebration fudge

I asked Rob what to make to celebrate the Bills week 17 win and he said fudge with Oreo crumbles. Fudge is not something I make very often, so I said “sure.” Thanks to the win and the Ravens loss, the Bills clinched a playoff spot, so here is your celebratory fudge with crushed oreos. Wooooooo!!!

Crushed oreos are just what this fudge needed
  • Ingredients
  • 4 tbs butter
  • 2 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup evaporated milk
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla

In a pan, combine butter, fluff, sugar and evaporated milk. Cook over low heat until butter and fluff and melted, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chips and vanilla. Stir until melted. Line and 8×8 pan with ton foil,and spray with butter spray. Spread fudge evenly in prepared pan. Sprinkle with crushed Oreos. Let set for a few hours. Cut and store in covered container.

Yum!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with peace,joy and love. And remember to be kind. Your kindness may be just what some person needs. Also – Go Bills! ❤❤

Chocolate snowball cookies

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Chocolate snowball cookies

Victory cookie number two for my Bills – chocolate snowball cookies. An easy cookie to make and everyone will love them!

Cookie monster at it again!

Remember to scoop your flour, baking cocoa and powdered sugar from your respective containers into your measuring cups. If you pour directly into your measuring cups, the flour, cocoa and powdered sugar get packed in and you wind up with too much.. Which may make for a dry cookie. A grave sin, if there ever was one. Also preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes so it cycles to the right temp for baking.

A stack of chocolate snowballs
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 /2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – cream butter and powdered sugar. Blend in baking cocoa and vanilla. Fold in flour. Mix in chips. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough. Roll into balls, flatten slightly. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper. These don’t spread,so you can place rows of 3 on each prepared sheet. I got 9 or 12 on each, depending on the size of cookie sheet used. Sprinkle hot cookies with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Remember to be kind. Life has been pretty hard for so many the last year and a half. The kindness you show someone may be what they need on that day.

Snowball cookies

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Snowball cookies

Sunday’s win was a big one for my beloved Buffalo Bills, so I thought that called for two kinds of victory cookies! These are snowballs cookies. A very soft cookie, not overly sweet, with mini chocolate chips. These are a little bigger than a typical snowball cookie. I use 2 tbs dough.

That cookie monster!

Remember to scoop your flour and powdered sugar from into your measuring cups, as opposed to pouring then directly in. When you pour, the flour and powdered sugar are packed in and you end up with too much, making for a dry cookie. Also, preheat your oven to 375 degrees before baking So your oven cycles to the right temp.

A pile of snowballs!
  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
  • Extra powdered sugar
Sweet snowballs

Cream butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Blend in flour. Mix in chips. Scoop out 2 tbs dough and roll into a ball. Slightly flatten. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. These do not spread, so you can place 3 across and fit in as many as you’d like on a wheet ( I fit 9 or 12 on a sheet, depending on the size of the cookie sheet). Bake 12 minutes. Sprinkle hot cookies with powdered sugar. Cool completley. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Let me know how these turn out if you make them. Remember to be kind. We all need some kindness each day. This has been a difficult year and a half with the pandemic. Some days are harder than others. The kindness you show someone may be just what they need that day.

Snowball cookies with mini chocolate chips

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The only thing mini about these cookies is the chips!

These are a variation of a recipe I saw in one of my Nestle cookbooks that one of my grandmothers gave to me when I was in college. It is also the treat that Rob requested. I used a mix of Crisco and butter, but you can use all butter if you want. It is a very easy dough to make and the cookies will be a big hit! I made mine on the larger side,with 2 tbs of dough. You can use 2 tsp and you will bake more of them, obviously. They also take less time to cook.

Remember to scoop your powdered sugar and flour from your respective containers into measuring cups so you get the correct amount. Also, preheat your oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup Crisco
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1-2 tbs water
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
That cookie monster, at it again!

Directions – preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners. In a bowl, cream butter, Crisco and powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Blend in flour and salt. Mix in water. You may have to use your mixer for a while. It takes the dough some time to come together. Add chips. Scoop out 2 tbs dough, roll into a ball and slightly flatten. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bake 10 to 12 minutes (bottoms will be lightly golden). Sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Happiness is a warm cookie

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you try these cookies, let me know how you like them. I wish you a wonderful day, filled with peace, love and joy. #bekind