Brownies with chocolate chip cookies baked in

I did not have time to make for the first round of the NFL draft, so I made up for it for rounds 2 and 3 – brownies with chocolate chip cookies baked in.

BTW, I loved the Bills pick of Maxwell Hairston last night.  Filled a need… and, ow cool was it to see him congratulate everyone who was drafted before him?  He will fit right in with Bills Mafia. 

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.

  • Chocolate chip cookie ingredients list
  • 1/3 cup butter softened
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbs sugar
  • Egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and sugar.  Add yolk and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Fold in chips.  Scoop out tbs of dough and roll into balls.  Freeze them as you make the brownie batter.

  • Brownies ingredients
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9×13 pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray.  Set aside. in a microwave safe bowl, heat butter and chips in 45 second increments until you cam stir them melted.   Blend in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Evenly spread into prepared pan.  Gently press cookie dough mounds into top of brownie dough.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until toothpick inserted in brownie batter comes out with a few mois crumbs.  Cool completely.   Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

Turtle cookies

Today’s treat – turtle cookies.   A large chocolate cookie with topped with homemade caramel,  melted milk chocolate and crushed oreos.  feel free to use any flavor frosting you want.  Vanilla would be great, at would peanut butter, chocolate or marshmallow fluff frosting.

I did add some finely ground  pecans to put to the cookie dough.  You can’t  even detect them.  You can leave them out if you want. 

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour container into your measuring cup so you get the right amount (same goes for the baking cocoa)

I advise chilling the scooped out dough a few hours.  Also preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 1 /2 cups brown sugar (firmly packed into measuring cup)
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup (or honey)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 3 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough.  Place in a covered container and chill a few hours or overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Bake 11 to 13 minutes.  Cool completely.

  • Homemade caramel ingredients
  • 4 tbs butter
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions – in a saucepan, combine and stir butter and brown sugar, over low -medium heat, to a boil.  Boil and stir one minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in heavy cream.  Let set 15 minutes.   Scoop a tbs on top of cookie.

Top with melted chocolate.

Top with crushed oreos.

Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  

Smores cookies

My latest treat for work was a request from my hubby, Rob, who saw these smores cookies in a store.  A graham cracker like cookie, topped with melted chocolate and a toasted marshmallow.

So that is what I made today.  I have to be honest, putting a toasted marshmallow on top was no easy on some of these and I have no idea why!

A little messy with the marshmallow on top

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. And, I recommend chilling these individual doughs a few hours or overnight.  I might make these a little bigger next time and make them a little flatter too.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup crisco (or butter flavor crisco)
  • 1 1/3 cups brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • Milk chocolate
  • Large marshmallows

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, crisco, and brown sugar.  Blend in eggs and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients and graham cracker crumbs. 

Scoop out 2 tbs of dough, roll into a ball and slightly flatten.  Chill a few hours or overnight.   Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Stagger cookies on sheet, like below.

Bake 10 to 11 minutes, no longer.  They will be a little gushy on top.  It is ok.  Let them cool a bit and pop them in the fridge to firm them up. 

While their cookies are baking, melt your chocolate.  I melted some milk chocolate chips for most of them.  I ran out of that and called an audible and melted some Reese’s eggs for the final 6.

To toast marshmallows – preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  I sprayed a little pam on the parchment paper.  Bake these 5 to 7 minutes or until the marshmallows are as toasted as you want.

Take a cookie and lay it on a flat surface.

Top with melted chocolate.

I sprayed my hands with pam and place a marshmallow on top.  Sometimes I did a fine job.

Other times, I did not.

Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I wish you a day filled with happiness, joy and love and remember to be kind

Celebrating the first day of the NCAA tournament

In honor of the first day of the NCAA tournament,  I made cookie basketballs.  These are brown sugar cookies.  Instead of the classic sugar cookie, I used all brown sugar.  And maybe calling them basketballs is a stretch, but the orange frosting is the best I could do.  A while back, i tried to put the stripes on the cookies with chocolate  frosting, but it took too long and iblost patience.  My decorating skills stink so these are the best I can do.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. I also recommend chilling the individual doughs for at least a few hours.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar.  Blend in egg, yolk and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.   Scoop out 2 tbs dough.  Roll in granulated sugar.  Chill a few hours or overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on the sheet. Leaving room because these spread a bit.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes, no longer. 

Cool completely.  Frost if desired with a simple buttercream frosting. 

Store in covered container in  fridge a few hours to firm up.  Store at room temp in covered container. 

Brownie stuffed M&M chocolate chip cookies for Championship week

This is a big week – championship week in men’s college basketball, amid the start of NFL free agency, and races are tightening in the NHL and NBA ahead of the postseason.  So I felt stuffed cookies were in order.  Specifically – M&M chocolate chip cookies stuffed with a brownie.  Sounds about right. 

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter crisco
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 3.4 Oz instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cups M&ms
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • One batch of brownies cut into small cubes

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, butter crisco, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Blend in pudding mix.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Mix in chips and m&ms.  Scoop out 1 tbs dough and slightly flatten.  Place a brownie cube on top.  Scoop out another tbs of dough and slightly flatten.  Place on top of  brownie cube and seal edges to hide brownie.  Chill and few hours or over night.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners.  Stagger cookies doughs on sheet. 

Bake 12 to 14 minutes, no longer. 

Cool completely.   Store in covered container.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Frosted smashed red velvet cookies

I attempted to make red velvet cookies for today’s treat, but I did not have enough red food color, so I added some blue to try and make them purple velvet.  That did not really work.  But I think they are still good!  I frosted some with a vanilla buttercream and others with a chocolate fudge frosting.

Remember to scoop your flour and baking cocoa from their containers into the measuring cups so you get the right amount.  Also, after scooping and smashing the dough into individual parts, i chilled them  to keep them from spreading too much, but if you don’t have time, that is fine.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 11/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tbs water
  • 5 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup baking cocoa powder
  • 1 top cream of tartar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs food coloring

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar and powdered sugar.  Add eggs, water and oil.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Scoop out 3 tbs of dough and roll into a ball.  Using a glass that’s been sprayed with pam, lightly smash each dough ball.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Chill and few hours.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheets with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheets.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes,  no longer.  Let cool slightly and pop into fridge to firm them up.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbs milk

Blend well.  Add more powdered sugar and/or milk to get the consistency you want. Frost cookies.

  • Chocolate fudge frosting
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3 tbs milk
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions- in a saucepan over low-medium heat, combine butter, milk and sugar, stirring occasionally.  Once it starts to boil, remove from heat and add chocolate chips.  Pour in a bowl and place in the fridge to thicke .  Frost cookies.

Store in covered container. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Wishing you a day filled with love, peace and joy.

Extra large chocolate chip cookies with extra chocolate chips (and crushed chips ahoy)

What better way to kick off the week than with extra large chocolate chip cookies with extra chocolate chips? These include finely ground chips ahoy cookies.  A neat addition.  

These are 1/4 cup of chocolate chip cookies dough with extra chips pressed into the top before baking. I didn’t opt to chill the dough before baking so they spread a bit more than I prefer, so maybe next time I chill them a but before baking.

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

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar (packed into your measuring cup)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbs water
  • 2 cups chips ahoy cookies, finely crushed in a food processor
  • 3 3/4 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 2 top baking soda
  • 1 top baking powder
  • 1 top salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and sugar.  Add eggs, water and vanilla.  Blend in half of flour with baking soda, baking powder, salt and crushed chips ahoy.  Mix in rest of flour.  Fold in chips.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough.  Gently press extra chips in tops of cookie dough.  Chill individual doughs.   When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes, no longer. 

Cool completely.   Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!   Wishing you a wonderful day!

M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

What better way to spend part of a Monday than baking large chocolate chip cookies?  Very few that I can think of.

I tossed in some mini m&ms too.  You can add different flavors of chips or nuts if you want too.  I used my quarter cup cookie scoop and chilled the individual doughs over night to keep them puffy. Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Do not pour into your measuring cup.  Packed in flour could lead to a dry cookie. 

  • 8 tbs butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup crisco
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1  cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbs water
  • 3 1/2 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini m&ms

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, crisco, sugar and brown sugar.   Add eggs, vanilla and water.  Blend in dry ingredients.   Fold in chips and m&ms.  Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Chill a few hours or overnight.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on prepared sheets.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes, no longer. 

This is what I mean by staggering cookies

Cool completely.   Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Remember to be kind!  Wishing you a day of peace, love and joy

Football friday # 21 – sugar cookie bars sheet cake/ sugar cookie sheet cake bars

Ok, another Chiefs playoff matchup awaits my beloved Buffalo Bills.  The AFC championship game on Sunday at 630.  I remember when I was in college, one conference championship game was at 1, the other at 4.  I liked that a lot.  Now, I have to wait all day until 630.  But I am delighted to be in the afc title game for the first time in 4 years.

To celebrate the 21st football friday, I made this sugar cookie thing.  Not sure whether they are sugar cookie bar cake or sugar cookie cake bars.   Either way, I made them in a 15×10 cookie sheet and frosted them warm bc air  started baking late and ran out of patience, so I frosted them warm

  • Sugar cookie bar cake ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbs water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 15×10 cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with baking spray.  Set aside.  In a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs, water and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Evenly spread into prepared pan.  Bake 12 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tbs milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, blend all ingredients well.  Frost bars.  Cut and store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Life is hard for many of us, so remember to be kind.

Go Bills!

Victory Monday NFL Wildcard weekend treats # 1 – large puffy chocolate chip cookies

Not one, not two, but three victory Monday treats for the Bills win over the Broncos.  My best friend from college and her daughters (my goddaughters) came down for lunch and watched the game with Rob and I.  I have to day i was fairly well behaved.  My swearing was kept to a minimum.   So this treat – large puffy chocolate chip cookies.

I recently discovered something.  The type of flour used in baked goods can make a huge difference.  I usually any  store brand.  I read some flours can make a difference, so I bought a huge bag from BJs of King Arthur Flour. And let me tell you, it made a difference.  Nice puffy cookies.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I also recommend chilling the individual mounds of dough for a few hours.  I did not chill these though.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a pan, over low-medium heat, brown butter, stirring occasionally.  Cool 5 minutes.  In a bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients, then chips.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough.  Chill a few hours.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  Cook 9 to 10 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.  Store in covered container.