Today’s recipe is in honor of father’s day, especially my dad, who had quite the sweet tooth. He would have been so thrilled this past week to see his grandson, my nephew Jackson, get a ball from Bills qb Josh Allen, after Josh threw out the first pitch before the Yankees- Blue Jays game in Buffalo. It was such a thrill for me to get the pix from my sister in law. For sports and life to intersect like that, it makes my heart full. My dad loved both the Bills and Yankees, and Jackson more. ❤well, my papa did have a good view od it from heaven.
Josh handing Jackson (on the right) the ball after his ceremonial first pitchJackson (right) and his friend Lucas (left) with the ball from Josh’s first pitch
I added an instant vanilla pudding mix to this recipe and used a combo of all purpose flour and bread flour, because I have a bag of bread flour and am trying to use it up. You can use entirely all purpose flour if you want. Remember – Scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup, chills your dough for a few hours, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking.
Ingredients list
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbs vanilla
3.4 oz instant pudding mix
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbs cornstarch
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions – cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Stir in pudding mix. Blend in flour, baking soda and cornstarch. Mix in chips. Form 1/4 cup mounds of cookies. Chill dough for a few hours. On a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper, stagger cookies. Bake 8 to 11 minutes. They will have a few light golden patches on top. They may seem undercooked, but will be fine. Cool completely. Store in covered container.
A sugar-chocolate chip-brownie-peanut butter cookie cake with marshmallow fluff frosting
Yup, you read that right. Quadruple layer cookie cake. It was what I had planned to make if the Bills were in the Super Bowl. And even though they came up a game short, I made this cake anyways because it is the Super Bowl. The NFL is the one sport that managed to get through it’s entire season without a single cancelled game. For this treat, I went with a peanut butter cookie layer, flourless brownie layer, chocolate chip cookie layer and a sugar cookie layer. I used a marshmallow fluff frosting. I actually make the peanut butter, sugar and chocolate chip cookie doughs the day before and took them out of the fridge about an hour before baking to get them to room temperature so they were easier to press into the pans. If you use a 9 inch cake pan, your baking time will be less. Remember to preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before you start baking. And make sure you don’t overbake your cookie cakes. This cake is quite heavy, so make sure your container is sturdy. You may have to hold it from the bottom when transporting it, or cut the cake ahead of time.
Peanut butter cookie ingredients
1/2 cup Crisco or butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbs milk
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Directions – line an 8 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. Ina bowl, cream crisco/butter and peanut butter. Mix in brown sugar and sugar. Add egg and milk. Stir in dry ingredients. Press into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes (will be lightly golden around the edges). Cool completely
Flourless Brownie cookie layer
6 tbs butter
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
3 tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
Directions – line a round 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. Melt butter and chocolate chips in 40 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add eggs and sugar. Blend in cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes (toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs). Cool completlely
Chocolate chip cookie layer
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup Crisco
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Cornstarch
1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips
Directions – line an 8 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. cream butter, Crisco, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg, yolk and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Press into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 23 minutes (will be dark golden on top. May seem a little doughy, but will firm up. You can also firm it up by popping it in the fridge too for a bit. Cool completely.
Sugar cookie layer ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
Directions – line an 8 inch round pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. mix butter, oil, sugar and powdered sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Press into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes. (Will be light golden around the edges.) Cool completley.
Frosting/filling ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups marshmallow fluff
4 cups powdered sugar
Heavy cream or milk
Directions – cream butter and fluff. Slowly blend in powdered sugar. Add enough milk or cream to get the consistency you want. Assembly instructions below.
Place a cookie layer on a plateApread a thin layer of frosting on topTop with another cookie layerSpread a thin layer of frosting on topTop with a third cookie cake layerSpread a thin layer of frosting on topTop with your final cookie layerFrost top layer
You can leave the cake as it is above, or frost the entire thing. I opted to frost the entire thing. 😁. Store in covered container.
For the first time in many weeks (maybe 20), there is no football! But I still,felt the need to bring something to work on a Monday (ahead of this nor’easter), so I decidedto go with dark chocolate cookies. I picked up a monster size bag of dark chocolate chips from bjs, along with a large bag of semisweet chips! One can never have too many bags of chocolate chips!
Gooey chocolate cookies!
Ingredients
3 tbs butter
2 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs vanilla
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs flour
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup,semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions – Melt butter and 2 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Plenty in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Mixture will be quite soft. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough, place on a flat surface and chill a few hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a sheet with nonstick baking liners. You likely will have to use a spatula to scrape dough from your flat surface to your baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. They will be slightly gooey in center. They will continue to bake on cookie sheet once removed from oven. Sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar. Store in covered container.
This could not be just any great for THIS victory Monday. The Buffalo Bills are back in the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1993. So this calls for something spectacular. Rob asked what I was planning (despite having 2 treats in the freezer bc I forgot to bring them in to work). I told him to pick something, so he chose devil dogs with fudge topping. Done. These use a cake mix. I added baking cocoa to make them extra chocolatey, but you can sub in 1/2 cup flour if you prefer.
Devil dog cake ingredients
1 chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup baking cocoa (or flour)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
Directions – preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners. In a bowl, combine cake mix, cocoa, water, oil and eggs. Scoop out 1/4 cup batter and place on sheet. Spread into a rectangle. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Cool completely.
Filling ingredients
1/2 cup butter, soft
1 1/2 cups fluff
3 cups powdered sugar
Heavy cream or milk
Directions – cream butter and fluff. Slowly add powdered sugar. Add enough milk or cream to get the consistency you want. Spread between 2 devil dogs. set aside
Fudge frosting ingredients
1 stick butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Directions – over low -medium heat, bring butter, evaporated milk, and sugar to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add chips. Stir until melted. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon over devil dogs. Store in covered container.
This magical season for the Bills continued with their first playoff win in 25 years! Was it easy? No! Was it stressful? yes! Did someone yell and scare the dog, over the late fumble that wasn’t? Also yes, but it was not me. The yeller in question did request victory chocolate chip cookies bars, so here they are. I have to add that I love having playoff football both days this weekend, all day. After a terrible week, having sports as a distraction is wonderful for a few hours
😋
Ingredients
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 yolk
1 tbs vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling on top
Directions – preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Cover an 8×8 pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips. Press into pan. Sprinkle extra chips,on top and lightly press in. Bake 30 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.
My second treat for work is a brownie cookie cutout, using my football cookie cutter, again. It is the playoffs, so two treats are necessary. I didn’t make enough vanilla filling (doh), so I had to,whip up a little chocolate filling for the rest of the sandwiches. Go Bills! I love Josh Allen!
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup baking cocoa
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes., cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in,dry ingredients. Roll to desired thickness and cut. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool completely. Spread filling between 2 cookies. Store in covered container.
Ahead of the Bills first home playoff game in 25 years, I have made 2 treats. This one is a chocolate chip cutout, in football form, made into cookie sandwiches. I used mini chips because cookie cutters won’t go through regular size chocolate chips. Use whatever flavor filling you wish. Go Bills! Also, I love Josh Allen. I am excitedly nervous about the game on Saturday. I know this week has been awful and I take refuge in my love of sports and baking.
Ingredients list
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups mini chocolate chips
Ingredients – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cream buttee, Crisco, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Add yolk then flour. Stir in chips. Roll to desired thicknessand cut. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely. Spread filling between 2 cookies. Store in covered container.
I felt Oreo threw down the gauntlet by recently announcing it’s latest release – a brownie-chocolate chip-cookie-oreo concoction. I took it as a challenge and decided to do my own take on it for Bills Victory Monday treats. These are a layer of brownies, Oreos, cookie dough and melted milk chocolate. Sugar galore for ESPN Radio!
Brownies ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
3 tbs syrup
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup baking cocoa
Oreos
Directions -preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a 9×13 pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. Set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter and chips in 30 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and corn syrup. Stir in dry ingredients. Spread into prepared pan. (Mixture will be thick). Layer oreos on top of brownie batter.
The oreo layer!
Bake 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into brownie comes out with a few crumbs. Cool completely.
Looks remarkably the same after baking!
Cookie dough ingredients
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbs plus 1 tsp milk
1 1/3 cups flour
Directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Fold in flour. Spread over brownie layer.
Top with melted chocolate.
Voila!
Cut the brownies before the chocolate sets (otherwise good luck cutting through a oreos and hardened chocolate) Store in covered container.
For week 17, I present the first of two treats on a football Friday at ESPN radio. These are chocolate chip cookie bars, made with a cake mix, and frosted with a quick homemade vanilla frosting. I used yellow cake mix and a vanilla instant pudding mix. (Use any flavor you choose for either). I ran out of patience and frosted them when they were warm, so the frosting also contained some melted chocolate chips. ☺
Ingredients
1 cake mix, any flavor
3.4 oz instant pudding mix, any flavor
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
1 cup chocolate chips
Frosting – combine 2 tbs melted butter and 2 cups powdered sugar. Add enough cream or milk to get the consistency you want.
Cookie bar Directions – preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Spray a 9×13 pan with baking spray. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil. Stir in chips. Spread evenly in pan. Bake 18 to 22 minutes (may seem a little undercooked, but that is ok. If you cook too long, the bars will dry out). Immediately sprinkle with more chocolate chips and gently press down. Wait about five minutes and frost. Melted chips will swirl in frosting
Today’s victory Monday treat celebrates the Bills first AFC East title since 1995 (back then, I was in my first year as a production assistant at ESPN, yowsa). Watching the Bills this season reminds me of why I love sports – for 3 hours I can forget about everything else and just enjoy/stress/lose-my-mind- about a football game. And in a year that has been so awful for so many, it is a welcome distraction. Here’s to a long playoff run!
The cookie cups are simple. All you need are 2 sugar cookie mixes, 1 stick of butter and 2 eggs. I got a mega sugar cookie mix package from bjs to use. You could also use your own sugar cookie recipe.
Go Bills!
Ingredients
2 sugar cookie mixes (1 lb, 1.5 oz each)
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, softened
Directions – preheat oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Spray a muffin tin (regular size) with baking spray. Combine sugar cooke mixes, butter and eggs until,well combined. Scoop,out 2 tbs of dough and roll into balls and place in muffin tins. Bake 12 minutes. Immediately – Spray the bottom of a wooden spoon or ice cream scoop with Pam and make an indentation in the center of each cookie cup. Cool completely
Ganache ingredients
2 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream
Directions – miscrowave together in 30 second increments until,you can stir,smooth. Spoon into cookie cups. Store in,covered container.
cookies by christine 