XL brown buttter Peanut blossoms

Today’s treat – brown butter peanut blossoms.  I know they are very popular this time of year, so I whipped up a batch this morning.   I added some finely ground peanuts, and rolled the doughs in sugar before baking. And of course, topped with  hershey kisses!  

These are also in honor of my college roommate, Christine, who’s birthday is today and loves peanut butter treats!

I recommend chilling the butter for a bit in fridge after browning, scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount, preheat your team before baking and only bake 8 to 9 minutes.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed into measuring cup
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbs water
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup peanuts, finely ground
  • Extra sugar
  • Hershey kisses

Directions – in a pan, heat butter in a pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally,  until brown specks form.  Pour into bowl and place in fridge at least an hour.   When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degreesm. In a combine butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs, water and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients.   Scoop our 1/4 cups dough and roll tops in sugar.   Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and stagger cookies in a row of 2, then a row of one. 

Bake 8 to 9 minutes, no longer.  Press an unwrapped hershey kisses. 

Cool completely.   Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by!  Go Bills!

Victory Monday treats for week 14 – gingerbread men/reindeer cookie sandwiches

To celebrate our win over the Bengals (which was pretty stressful), I present gingerbread men/reindeer cookie sandwiches.   One way they are gingerbread men,

flip them upside down and they are reindeer. 

I colored the filling green for a little holiday pop.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.   After you cut out the cookies, i recommend chilling them in for a few hours.  And preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 6 tbs butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed into cup
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • Water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves

Directions – in a bowl, combine butter and brown sugar.   Add molasses, egg and vanilla.   Blend in dry ingredients.   Dough will be crumbly.  You may need to add a few tbs of water to make dough easier to use with.  Roll ans cut.  Chill doughs a few hours.   Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 8 to 18 minutes, no longer.   Cool completely. 

  • Filling
  • 1 stick butter, partially melted
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Green food color (optional)

Combine butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.  Add food color, if using.  Spread between 2 cookies.  Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Frosted Chocolate pop tarts bars

I loved pop tarts as a kid, specifically the chocolate frosted ones.   I saw that Taylor Swift made a homemade version of pop tarts,  so I thought, “why not”?  It was funny, my chocoholic husband asked for a brown sugar version.  Those will be on the way soon.

Remember to scoop your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Also freeze the uncooked bars for 30 minutes before baking to keep the fudge filling in place.  And, preheat your oven to 350 degrees before baking.

  • Fudge filling list
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1 tbs butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions – in a bowl, combine chips and cocoa. heat cream to a boil.  Pour over chips.   Add butter, stir until melted.  Mix in vanilla.  Set aside. 

  • Bar ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions – line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.  Set aside.   in a bowl, combine butter and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Press half of dough every into prepared pan.  Spread fudge filling on top.   Evenly press remaining dough on top of filling.  Freeze 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.  Cool completely

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs baking cocoa
  • 2 tbs water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips melted

Directions- in a bowl,combine powdered sugar, cocoa, water and vanilla.  Blend in melted chips.  Frost cooled bars.  Store in covered container.

Brown butter sugar cookies

I brought in monster cookies, so I needed a non peanut butter option for work friends who do not love pb.  So I thought of sugar cookies.  I wanted a little tweak so I used brown butter.  Browning butter is super simple.  Place the amount in a pan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally,  until you start to see little brown specs..

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I recommend chilling individual doughs once you scoop them out.  And preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup butter, browned
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs sugar
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs cornstarch

Directions – in a bowl, combine sugar and brown butter.  Add egg and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.   Scoop out 1/4 cups  dough.  Roll in sugar.  Chill a few hours.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet. 

   Bake 10 to 12 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.   Frost if desired.  Store in covered container. 

Thanks so stopping by!

Victory Monday cookies for week 13

I stood for the entire second half of the Bills game, something I had not done in a long, long time.  It alleviated some of the Fandom stress for me, and we were playing well while I stood, so I did not sit down until the game ended.   We got a much needed win, so i asked Rob what the victory treats should be and he said triple chip cookies.  They are a chocolate chip cookie dough with an instant vanilla pudding mix added and uses milk chocolate, white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips.  I was in a bit of a rush and didn’t have time to chill the dough, but they stayed niced and puffy anyways.

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

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed into small squares
  • 1/2 cup butter crisco (regular crisco also works)
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed into measuring cup
  • 1 box vanilla instant pudding mix, 3.4 oz
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.  In a bowl, cream butter, butter crisco and brown sugar.  Add pudding mix.  Mix in eggs, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Fold in flour.  Blend in chips.  Scoop out 1/4 cup dough.  Stagger on cookie sheet.  Bake 10 to 11 minutes, no longer.  Remove from oven.  Tops may look gushy, but cookies will firm up as they cool.  Cool completely.   Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Peanut M&M, Peanut butter chip brownie cookies

A simple cookies for today’s, but very chocolatey!    Fudgy brownie cookies with peanut butter m&ms and peanut butter chips.  They use a brownie mix, with just a couple of ingredients.    I recommend chilling the individual doughs for a few hours before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 brownie mix
  • 2 tbs flour
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter m&ms

Directions- in a bowl, combine brownie mix, oil, eggs and flour.  Blend in m&ms and chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.   Chill for a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and stagger cookies like below. 

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.   Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Double M&M cookies

The first treat of the week – Double M&M cookies.   They are like a chocolate chip cookie, but instead od chips, I used two types of m&ms – mini and regular size.  

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. 

I recommend chilling the dough for a few hours before baking to help keep the cookies thick.   And, preheat your oven before baking so the oven cycles to the right temp and you get the perfect cookie.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and placed in a bowl in the fridge for 10 to 15  minutes to cool it down
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed into measuring cup
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup mini m&ms
  • 1/2 cup m&ms

Directions – in a bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and brown sugar.   Add egg and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Blend in m&ms.   Divide dough into thirds.  Then divide each third of dough into thirds.  Chills doughs a few hours.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet, like below.  

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, no longer than that.  Cool completely.   Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Oreo cheesecake topped with cookies and cream mousse and chocolate ganache

After a rough sunday in Miami, I am making a plea to the football gods for my Bills for week 11 and am doing so with this request from my husband and a copycat of the cheesecake factory oreo dream extreme cheesecake.

This does take some time, but is worth it.  I used neufactel cheese, which is lower fat and lower calorie, so I added some cornstarch to help firm up the cheesecake layer.

  • Flourless Cake  ingredients
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 8 tbs butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

Directions – preheat oven to 375 degrees.  in a microwave safe bowl, heat chocolate chips and butter in 45 second increments until you can stir smooth.  Add sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Blend in eggs well.  Line a 9″ round pan with parchment paper.  Evenly spread batter into pan.   Bake 18 to 22 minutes.  Cool completely

  • Ganache ingredients list
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions – in a microwave safe bowl, heat cream for 3 minutes.  Add chips.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Stir smooth.   Place in fridge.

  • Cheesecake ingredients
  • 24 oz cream cheese (I used neufactel,  which is softer and lower calorie and lower fat)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tbs flour
  • 6 tbs cornstarch (if you are using neufactel or low fat cream cheese)
  • 3/4 cup greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 12 to 16 Oreo cookies

Directions – preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a 9 inch springform pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray.  In a bowl, cream cream cheese, sugar and flour (and cornstarch if you are using a lower fat cheese).  Blend in Greek yogurt and vanilla.  Fold in eggs and yolk.  Pour 1/3 into prepared pan.  Top with 6 to 8 oreos and press down gently.  Top with a other third of batter and gently press 6 to 8 oreos on top.  Top with remaining third of batter.  Bake 55 to 60 minutes (middle jiggles a little and edges are set).  Turn off oven.   Crack oven and leave cheesecake in for an hour.  Transfer to fridge for a few hours.

  • Cookies and cream mousse
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • Crushed oreos (8 to 10)

Directions – in a bowl, whip cream amd powdered sugar to stiff peaks.  Blend in crushed oreos.    Put in fridge.

When ready to assemble – beat chilled ganache for a few minutes so it is spreadable.   Place flourless cake on a plate.  Spread a thin layer of ganache on top.  Gently place cheesecake on top of ganache layer.   Smooth oreo mousse on top of cheesecake layer.  Use rest of ganache on top and sides.  Store in fridge.

  • Layer list
  • Flourless cake
  • Thin ganache layer
  • Cheesecake
  • Cookies and cream layer
  • Frost entire thing with rest of ganache

Thanks for stopping by today!

M&M Oatmeal cookies, topped with melted milk chocolate

We had one last bag of leftover candy from Halloween – a bag of plain m&ms.   so I thought “why not bake with them?” 

Note the colors in the middle – red and blue!  Go Bills!

Instead of the usual chocolate chip cookie recipe, I went with oatmeal, for something different.

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 before baking

  • Ingredients list
  • 8 tbs butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 tbs crisco
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbs plus 2 tsp brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbs honey
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2  cups oats (I used quick pats)
  • 1 cup m&ms

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, crisco and brown sugar.  Add egg, honey and vanilla.  Blend in flour, salt and oats.   Mix in m&ms.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough.  Chill a few hours.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  flatten cookies to desired thickness.

Bake 10 minutes, no longer. Cool completely.

Top with melted milk chocolate.

Store in covered container

Cookie dough topped, frosted brown sugar cookies

Another treat for my non chocolate loving friends at work.  A brown sugar cookie, with a brownie sugar cookie dough frosting and topped with pieces of edible cookie dough.

Remember to spoon your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount, chill the individual mounds of dough for a few hours, and preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Directions – In a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar.  Add egg, oil and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and form tall mounds.  Chill at least a few hours in the fridge.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, no longer.   Cookies may be gushy.  You can pop them in the fridge to help firm them up.  Make sure they are completely cooled.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1,/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup flour (heated in a microwave safe container for 30 seconds)
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar.   Add flour and powdered sugar. Mix in vanilla and cream. 

  • Edible cookie dough ingredients
  • 4 tbs butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1,/2 cup flour (heated in a microwave safe container for 30 seconds)
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar.  Add cream, vanilla and salt.  Blend in flour.  Mix in chips.  Scoop out tsp of dough and roll into balls.

Frost cooled cookies and topped with pieces of cookie dough. 

Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!