Happy NFL Opening night

For opening night in the NFL tomorrow, I present smores cookies. They are a graham cracker cookie, topped with a fluff frosting and melted hershey kisses. These cookies spread out more than I wanted because I didn’t have time to chill them. The graham cracker cookie is really a chocolate chip cookie without the chips. I also took out a little flour and added crushed graham crackers. I used a range for the flour because I think adding a little more could prevent the spreading.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Pouring the flour directly from the bag packs it in. It’s too much flour, and you get a dry cookie. Also preheat the oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Cookies ingredients
  • 3/4 cup butter, cold, and shredded or cubed
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 -2 cups flour (
  • 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Blend in rest in ingredients. Scoop out 2 tbs dough and form tall mounds. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes vefore baking. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on sheet. Bake 12 to 14 minutes. They will seem a little underbaked on top, but they will be fine. Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar
  • Milk (enough to get the consistency you want)

Frost cookies and store in covered container.

Now to figure out what I make for the Bills opener Monday!

A big chocolate blob of a cake

This actually was the second cake I made for Rob’s birthday. The chocolate mid cake was a disaster.. took forever to cook and looked like this. Not acceptable for a cake

This cake will have another purpose as a crust for a cheesecake

So after the above pictured fail, I made a second cake for Rob after I worked out on his actual birthday. Got it in the oven at 510 am. He loved it. It is pretty easy to make. It is quite dense thanks to greek yogurt and has a fudgy frosting and is topped with pieces of oreos. I wanted to finely grind them up in my food processor, but ran out of time.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 chocolate cake mix
  • 3.4 ounce instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Spray a bunt cake pan with baking spray. In a bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Blend in water, oil, and Greek yogurt. Add chocolate chips. Mixture will be thick. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 30 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Invert onto plate. Cool completely.

  • Fudge frosting ingredients
  • 8 tbs butter
  • 1/2 cup baking cocoa
  • 6 tbs evaporated milk
  • 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Milk

Directions – in a saucepan, over low -medium heat, combine butter, baking cocoa and evaporated milk, stirring occasionally, just until it boils. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Mixture will be thick and clumpy. Add 3 cups powdered sugar. Again, mixture will be clumpy. Add a tbs or two of milk. Add more milk or more powdered sugar until you get the texture you want. Frost cooled cake. Top with crushed oreos.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!

Puffy frosted chocolate cake mix cookies

These are the exact opposite of my recently posted flatter than pancakes milk chocolate chip cookies. These chocolate cake mix cookies do not spread at all. If you want them flattened, you can do just that… put some flour on your fingers before doing so. 🙂

These are super easy. Just a cake mix, melted butter, and eggs. I tossed in 1 cup of chocolate chips. I also frosted them. But you could sprinkle powdered sugar on top of warm cookies instead, if you prefer.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees before baking so it cycles to the right temp. Don’t overcook these either. You do not want a dry cookie. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet after removed from the oven.

  • Ingredients
  • 15.5 oz chocolate cake mix (i used devil’s food)
  • 5 tbs butter, melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. In a bowl, combine cake mix, melted butter and eggs. Stir in chips. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, scoop out 3 tbs of dough and form mounds. Stagger cookies on prepared sheet – a row of 2, a row of 1, a row of 2, a row of 1, a row of 2. You can fit 6 or 8 on a sheet, depending on the size of a sheet. Bake 10 to 14 minutes. You don’t want the bottoms too brown. Cookies will still continue to bake on sheet after removed from oven. Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 3 tbs butter softened
  • 3 tbs baking cocoa
  • 1 tbs corn syrup (or honey)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • Milk

Directions – combine butter and cocoa. Add corn syrup. Mix in powdered sugR. Add milk, 1 tbs at a time, until you get the consistency you want. Frost cookies. Store in covered container.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I wish you a day filled with peace, happiness, and joy. Remember to be kind. We need more kindness!

Brownie cupcakes with fudge frosting

I got an unusual request from Rob. Chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate frosting and coconut. Normally, coconut is not his bag.. but luckily I had coconut in my stash of baking items (it is rare I am missing anything). So I made a small batch (5) of jumbo brownie cupcakes, frosted them and sprinkled them with coconut. Not sure what to do with the rest of the coconut. Of course, you do not have to use coconut. And you can use regular size cupcake pans and liners, but they will cook in less time.

All that chocolate goodness!
  • Ingredients
  • 1 stick butter
  • 4 oz unsweetened chocolate (I used a bar of baker’s and broke it into pieces
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup flour

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a jumbo cupcake pan with jumbo cupcake liners. in a microwave safe bowl, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate in 40 second increments until you can stir smooth. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes. Add sugar and brown sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and stir until just blended. Spoon 2/3 cup batter into prepared pans for jumbo cupcakes. Spoon 1/3 into regular size cupcakes. Jumbo cupcakes take 18 to 22 minutes to bake. Regular take 15 to 19 minutes. (A toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs) The middles might seem a little soft, but they will continue to cook in the pan after being removed from oven. I always err of the side of underbaking. Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 stick butter soft
  • 2 tbs unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs milk

Blend butter and baking cocoa. Add powdered sugar. Add milk. You can add more powdered sugar and /or milk to get the consistency you want. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle with coconut.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day filled with peace, love and joy. Remember to be kind!

Football Friday # 3 – frosted sugar cookies

Some are specially decorated with red and blue m&ms. Go Bills!

I thought frosted sugar cookies would be a great way to celebrate this third Friday of the NFL season. These use 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar. If you don’t have any, you can substitute 3/4 tsp baking powder. I didn’t chill the dough and they came out fine.

If you don’t want to do the spray glass in Pam, dip in sugar and slightly flatten cookies with sugar dipped glass, you can just slightly flatten them.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking.

  • Cookie ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbs water
  • 5 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or 3/4 tsp baking powder)

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or baking liners. In a bowl, cream butter, oil, sugar, powdered sugar, eggs and water. Add dry ingredients. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and roll into balls. Stagger on prepared cookie sheets. Spray the bottom of a drinking glass with Pam and dip bottom of glass in sugar. Slightly flatten each cookie on sheet (you will have to repeat spraying of bottom of glass and dipping in sugar process). Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes (no longer). Cool completely.

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

Directions – blend butter and powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Frost cookies. Place in covered container and store in fridge.

Cookie monster!

Thank you for stopping by today. Wishing you a wonderful day! And I hope the Bills smash the Dolphins on sunday!

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!

Yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting and a squiggle

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

Bananas for a Saturday morning at ESPN Radio

Banana chocolate chip bars with brown butter frosting

I am filling in tomorrow morning at work and need a treat to bring in for my people. These are dense banana bars with chocolate chips and brown butter frosting. They are also made with melted white chocolate chips. I have done different flavored treat using melted white chips, so this time ibtried banana. I arrive at 6 am tomorrow morning, so breakfast will be served then.:)

Reminders – preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking So it cycles to the right temp. Scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup to get the right amount. If you pour the flour directly into the measuring cup, it gets packed in and can dry out the bars.

Bananas = fruit= breakfast
  • Ingredients
  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 2 cups mashed bananas
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 -2 cups of chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a 9×13 pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. In a microwave safe bowl,melt white chips and butter in 45 second increments until you can stir smooth. Stir in sugar. Mix in eggs. Stir in bananas. Blend in flour. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread evenly into foiled pan. Bake 22 to 27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center basically comes out clean. The edges will be a light golden brown. While bars are warm, make the frosting.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 plus cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Brown butter over low-medium heat (there will be little brown specs at the bottom. ) Remove from heat and pour into bowl. Cool 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar. Mix in cream and vanilla. Spread over warm bars. Cool completely and cut. Store in covered container.

See the little brown specs from the butter? 😋

Thank so much for stopping by today. I hope you know how much you matter and are loved. And remember to be kind. Your kindness may be just what someone struggling needs.

Banana chocolate chip cookies

These are the first banana treat I have made since the mid 90s. Back then, I made a banana bread cake and added some chocolate chips. I thought I messed it up, so I frosted it. I took it to work. It was a big hit, and even a friend of mine who said he didn’t like bananas, loved it. So after 25 years, here is my next attempt at a 🍌 treat.

These cookies make the house smell amazing. They are soft like banana bread, with chocolate chips and vanilla frosting. Perfect to bring in Monday morning to work.

Reminders – spoon your flour from your flour bag into you measuring cup so you get the right amount. And, preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup Crisco
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups mashed bananas
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – cream Crisco, butter and sugar. Add eggs, then bananas. Blend in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. The dough will be sticky. You will want to spray a cookies scoop (and your hands) with Pam spray. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. The bottom will be golden and you will see golden patches on top. Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 4 tbs butter, melted
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Milk
Cookie monster

Directions – combine butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Add milk, a tbs at a time, until you get the consistency you want. Frost cookies. Store in covered container.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Gingerbread men/Reindeer sandwich cookies

Gingerbread men sandwich cookies

In the spirit of the Christmas season, I present you with this gingerbread men recipe. You can also flip them upside down and they become reindeer! I can not decorate, so I made these into sandwich cookies, using a simple vanilla frosting recipe. The only thing I forgot to do was sprinkle sugar on top of the cookies before baking.

Reminders – 1) scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. 2) chill the dough at least a few hours. (You may need to let it sit out for a bit after the chill process to make it easier to roll out. 3) preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temperature

Reindeer sandwich cookies
  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, soft
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup molasses
  • 3 tbs water
  • 3 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • Extra sugar

Directions – cream butter and sugar. Add egg, molasses and water. Blend in dry ingredients. Dough may be a little sticky. Cover and chill at least a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. On a floured surface, roll out dough to desired thickness and cut with cookie cutters. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners. Place on sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting – combine 2 tbs melted butter, 2 cups powdered sugar,1 tsp vanilla and add enough cream, a tbs at a time, to the desired consistency/thickness you want. Add food coloring if desired, spread between 2 cookies.

Yum!

Thanks for stopping by! If you make these, let me know how they turn out. I hope you have a wonderful day, filled with peace, happiness and love. And remember, be kind. We all need kindness