Triple Vanilla Brownies

These were made in obscene humidity, and frosted while they were still warm. I also doubled the following recipe. I do not recommend doing any of those 3 things if you bake them…

I almost did not bring these in bc i felt they were not presentable. However. they are a big hit at work today.

  • Brownies
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 bag of white chocolate chip (10 oz)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the correct amount)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. In a microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate chips and butter in 45 second increments until you can stir mixture melted. Blend in sugar and vanilla. Mix in eggs one at a time. Fold in flour and salt. Stir in milk chocolate chips. Evenly spread into prepared pan. Bake 15 to 23 minutes until a toothpick is inserted in center basically comes put clean (you will see golden patches on top). Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 4 tbs butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbs hot water

Blend together. You can add more water or powdered sugar to get the consistency you want. Frost brownies. Store in covered container.

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!

Oreo stuffed m&m cookies

Our new ESPN Radio lineup debuts tomorrow, and I wanted to bring in something fabulous (or semi-famulous), so I went with m&m chocolate cookies stuffed with oreos.  

Do they need to be stuffed?  No.  But I have a ton of oroes and feel stuffing them in treats is always a wise choice. Plus, who doesn’t love m&ms?

A few notes – remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also chill the stuffed cookies a few hours to prevent spreading.  And, preheat your oven to 350 degrees before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients list
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup mini m&ms
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
  • Oreos

Directions -cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add egg and yolk. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips and m&ms. Scoop out 2 tbs dough and divide in half. Slightly flatten one half

Top with an Oreo

Flatten other half of dough and place on top.

Seal edges so oreo is completely covered.

Chill dough a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Scatter cookies on sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, you will see a few golden patches on top. Remove from oven. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

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!!

Stuffed Monster Cookies

I haven’t made stuffed cookies in a while, so I figure I would make these monster cookies and stuff them with Reese’s peanut butter cups (and also hershey kisses bc I ran out of Reese’s). You don’t need to stuff these cookies, they are just fine on their own. But I like to step things up a notch, so I stuffed ’em

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Also, chill the individual cookie dough to prevent spreading. And preheat the oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 2 cups m&ms
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  • Reeses pb cups or other candy,unwrapped

Directions – cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. Mix in oats. Fold in chips and m&ms. Scoop out 1/4 cup dough. Divide in half. Slightly flatten one half.

Place 1 Reese’s on top.

Place other flattened half of dough on top.

Cover Reese’s completley.

Chill a few hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Stagger cookies on sheet.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes (no longer). Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Chocolate chip cookies #2

Sometimes when i can’t decide what to bake, I go with chocolate chip cookies. I can always make a different version bc I have many to choose from. I have had some issues with ccc (chocolate chip cookies) this summer because of the humidity. They wound up so flat). These did flatten, but not too badly. I credit adding cornstarch and chilling the mounds of cookie dough overnight o helping with that.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount (if you pour directly into the measuring cup, you pack the flour in. And that can make for a dry cookie. Also, I recommend scooping out the cookie dough and chilling them in the fridge overnight. And preheat the oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes do it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, cold and shredded with a cheese grater, or cut into tiny cubes
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 3 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and form into tall mounds. Chill a few hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a baking sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on prepared sheets (they do spread a bit). Cook 12 to 15 minutes. I took mine out after 15. They were a little gushy on top, but figure they will firm up overnight. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thank you for stopping by! I wish you peace and joy.

Oreo magic cookie bars (hello dollies)

My hubby, who is certainly not a huge fan of coconut, asked if I could make “junk bars,” a treat he saw at a local bakery. I had no idea what they were. He said they had a brownie oreo crust and had coconut. A Yahoo search (yup I utilize yahoo) turned up nothing. So I wondered if he meant Hello dollies/magic cookie bars. So instead of a gram cracker crust, I used an oreo crust. They are very easy to put together. And you can have a very sweet treat in no time!

I used a food processor to crush the oreos. You could also put them in a freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

  • Ingredients list
  • 20 oreos, finely crushed
  • 4 tbs butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate whips
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 14 oz can condensed milk (no substitutions)
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 12 oreos, finely crushed

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 pan with tin foil. In a bowl, combine butter and 20 crushed oreos. Press into prepared pan. In a bowl, combine the 3 kinds of chips, condensed milk, coconut, and the remaining 12 crushed oreos. Spread over crust. Bake 25 to 28 minutes. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Smores brownies

A little story about these brownies. Rob decided to go to a local bakery (!) And buy a treat. He got this smores brownie thing that he said was not good. So he asked if I could make him some. These are pretty easy. I made homemade brownies, but you can certainly use a boxed mix for your brownies base.

These were hard to cut the way i made them. (Baked the brownies, immediately sprinkled with chocolate chips, graham cracker pieces, and cut up marshmallows). I think next time, I would cut the cooled brownies individually, then top them with melted chocolate, crushed graham crackers, and toasted marshmallows.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount (do the same for your baking cocoa). Also preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking

  • Ingredients
  • 10 tbs butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Marshmallows, mini or cut into pieces
  • Graham crackers broken into pieces
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – line an 8×8 or 9×9 pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. In a bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, brown sugar and baking cocoa. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Blend in flour, cornstarch and salt. Mixture will be thick. Spread in prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes (until toothpick inserted on center comes out with a few moist crumbs). You can do the topping one of two ways

1) sprinkle hot brownies with 1 cup milk chocolate chips, 4 graham crackers broken into pieces and 2 cups mini marshmallows. Broil on low 3 to 5 minutes. Cool completely. Cut and store in covered container.

2) cool brownies completely. In a pan sprayed with pam, toast marshmallows by broiling on low for 5 minutes Cut into pieces. Top with melted chocolate chips. Crushed graham crackers and toasted marshmallows. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today! Remember to be kind. We are all fighting a battle of some sort.

Triple chip cookies

Today is the first time in a month it hasn’t felt like you are sitting on the bleeping sun when you go outside. So to celebrate, I made triple chip cookies (Rob’s request). The humidity made so many of my cookies a big, flat disaster. I was assured they tasted good, but the fact that they were flat BUGGED me. (Plus the humidity bugged the hell out of me as well). These cookies did flatten a bit, but not as bad as some of the other ones.

Remember to scoop your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount, form your dough into tall mounds and chill them for a few hours, and preheat oven to 350 degrees before baking so your oven cycles to the right temp. (That last tip was a lifesaver from a tech who serviced one of our first ovens. Very valuable advice)

This is a mound of cookie dough
  • Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, cold and shredded with a cheese grater
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cup white chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips
This is how I stagger cookies on a sheet

Directions – in a bowl, cream grated butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Scoop put 1/4 cups of dough and form tall mounds or cylinders. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Stagger cookies on sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden and there are golden spots on top. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today. I wish you peace, love and joy. And remember to be kind. Everyone is fighting some sort of battle each day. Being mean helps no one.

Reese’s Pieces- mini M&M peanut butter cookies

After a series of humidity-induced chocolate chip cookies, I wanted to see if I had the same issue with other types of cookies.  So I opted for peanut butter.  I threw in some Reese’s pieces and mini m&ms too.  These stayed nice and puffy.   I figure they will be a hit at work tomorrow.   Unless people don’t like peanut butter.  Then, that’s on them.

Remember to – scoop your flour from your flour bag into you measuring cup so you get the right amount, chill the mounds of dough at least a few hours and preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup Crisco
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount)
  • 3/4 cup m&ms
  • 3/4 cup Reese’s pieces
Cookie monster grabbed a hot cookie!

Blend crisco and peanut butter.  Mix in sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Add candies.  Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Chill mounds of dough a few hours.   Preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookies sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes (golden brown on bottom).  Cool completely.   Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Remember to be kind!