These cookies are excellent. I don’t even know if “cookie” is the correct term for them, but neither is just straight “truffle”. The only way to understand them is to eat them. So bake them (preferably right now)- you won’t be sorry. And that’s all I’m saying about them.

(Oh yeah- if you notice some gaps in the process photos, it’s cause I kept forgetting to take pictures- oops.)

Preheat oven to 375* Lightly grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Blend in vanilla and chocolate.

At low speed, blend in flour and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Shape into 1-inch balls; place on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake at 375* for 10 minutes; cool.

In small bowl, combine 1/4 powdered sugar and cocoa.

Roll cooled cookies in cocoa mixture. If you wanted to get really fancy, you could put the cookies in those little mini cupcake wrappers. That would look really cute and professional.

Yummy!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup softened cookies

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 oz. (1 square) unsweetened chocolate, melted

2 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375* Lightly grease cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Blend in vanilla and chocolate. At low speed, blend in flour and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Shape into 1-inch balls; place on prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 375* for 10 minutes; cool.

In small bowl, combine 1/4 powdered sugar and cocoa. Roll cooled cookies in cocoa mixture. If you wanted to get really fancy, you could put the cookies in those little mini cupcake wrappers. That would look really cute and professional.

Jordan

One of our friends told us that “those were the best cookies I’ve ever eaten”-  need I say more? Probably not, but I will anyway. These cookies are delicious! They eliminate the need to choose between making peanut butter cookies or chocolate chip cookies- why choose when you can have both?

The interesting thing about them is that instead of actual peanut butter, they have peanut butter chips- this gives them a more subtle peanut butter flavor. It adds a richness more than anything. For some reason, the peanut butter chips actually add a little bit of  a coffee undertone- which is always a plus!

I made a batch of these cookies the other day for Youth Group, and they all really liked them. My family on the other hand, wasn’t so thrilled. There was much moaning and groaning upon being told that in order to have enough for Youth Group, they were each limited to one cookie. Don’t you feel sorry for them? Because, as you know, we never, ever bake delicious treats just for them 😉

Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*

Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Jordan

We have all kinds of derogatory names for this dessert that I won’t mention, because this is the best dessert ever and so easy! There was a mom who made this dessert for a Boy Scout event about five years ago and I have cursed her name since that fateful day. This dessert is the reason I have to go to boot camp four days a week- not really, but this dessert is incredible!

Try it and don’t worry that it seems like you are just using a bunch of packaged/artificial ingredients cuz you are, and it is good. That’s why God made Cool Whip anyway – for healthy desserts like this. This is the perfect breakfast food since it has bananas, cream cheese, and milk so don’t worry if you don’t finish the huge pan the day before, it is awesome for breakfast!

Melt butter in 9 x 13″ pan.Pour in the crushed graham crackers and sugar.

Mix well,

and then press into pan.

Arrange sliced bananas on crust.

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth…

gradually beat in milk…

and add pudding mixes.

Beat until well blended – but don’t worry if you see some cream cheese globs, it’s fine.

Spread pudding mixture over the banana slices.

Spread Cool Whip over pudding.

Refrigerate 3 hours or until ready to serve. It’s good the next day, but after a couple days the bananas start getting sort of funky, so eat it for breakfast!

^^We took this picture the day after we made it, and you can see that some of the bananas are already turning a little brown- but that didn’t affect the taste of the dessert. 

Faux Banana Cream Pie
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 1/2 packages, crushed in food processor)
2 T sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 bananas, sliced
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened (I use low fat)
2 packages instant vanilla pudding, 4 serving size
3 1/2 cups milk ( I use 1%)
1 8 ounce tub Cool Whip, thawed

Melt butter in 9 x 13″ pan. Pour in the crushed graham crackers and sugar. Mix well and then press into pan. Arrange sliced bananas on crust. Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth, gradually beat in milk and pudding mixes. Beat until well blended – but don’t worry if you see some cream cheese globs, it’s fine. Spread pudding mixture over the banana slices. Spread Cool Whip over pudding. Refrigerate 3 hours or until ready to serve. It’s good the next day, but after a couple days the bananas start getting sort of funky, so eat it for breakfast!

tags: dessert, sweets, Cool Whip, bananas, cream cheese, pie, graham crackers

This time of year it is all about the zucchini. How to use up the surplus of the lovely, green vegetable that grows so prolifically. I think people actually avoid me when they see me coming at them with bags of squash!

Today we decided to just go for the tried and true zucchini bread. We have made several different recipes, but I love the lemon zest in this one and also the cinnamon and nutmeg. Mmmmm, the house smells so good right now – I can’t wait for it to come out of the oven.

The original recipe from The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook only makes one loaf. I figure if I am going to get everything dirty, I may as well make at least two loaves, so I doubled the recipe and modified it slightly.

Preheat oven to 350*. In mixing bowl beat together sugar, zucchini, and egg.

Add oil and lemon zest and mix well.

Add in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder…

and mix well.

Gently fold in chopped nuts. Turn batter into a greased loaf pan, I sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar into the pan after spaying in a bit of oil.

I also sprinkle a bit more of the cinnamon sugar onto the batter before putting it into the oven. Bake at 350* for 50 to 60 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on a rack.

Psych is definitely going to be an “Obsessions”  post sometime in the near future- we love that show! In fact, we just finished watching the Season 7 finale- it’s a sad day in our household.

Zucchini Nut Bread

(makes two loaves)

Preheat oven to 350*
3 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

In mixing bowl beat together sugar, zucchini, and egg. Add oil and lemon zest and mix well. Add in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder, and mix well. Gently fold in chopped nuts. Turn batter into a greased loaf pan, i sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar into the pan after spaying in a it of oil. I also sprinkle a bit more of the cinnamon sugar onto the batter before putting it into the oven. Bake at 350* for 50 to 60 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on a rack.

tags: zucchini, bread, walnuts, lemon, citrus, dessert, sweets, breakfast, garden

We love cookies. We bake cookies all the time! Snickerdoodles have to be one of our favorites. Who came up with the name Snickerdoodles? Seriously, what does that even mean?

I have a rule – no appliances as gifts. We have been married for over 20 years and I can only think of two times Donald has broken the no appliance rule.

The first time was over 20 years ago- Donald gave me a bread maker. That was our very first Christmas as a married couple, and from the get go, I was very clear that appliances were not to be given as gifts. Unfortunately, from the get go wasn’t soon enough- he’d already bought the bread maker. For good reason, he was a little afraid when Christmas morning rolled around- luckily, I loved it. We have enjoyed many loaves of bread from that appliance.

The second time he broke the rule was a couple of years ago, when he bought me the KitchenAid. I love it – even more than my bread maker. I use it practically everyday. I guess some rules are just meant to be broken. One of my kids came in and noticed the KitchenAid on the counter and said, “You know it’s going to be a good day when you see the mixer out.” So true, right?

When cooking or baking, the correct tool makes all the difference. Many years ago there was a gal who worked in the same office as I did and she made the best chocolate chip cookies. Each one was perfect in size and shape and when I asked her about it, she told me that she had a special cookie scooper. I thought to myself, do they even make such a thing? I was so impressed by that – and now even I own a special cookie scooper.

So back to the Snickerdoodles-

Preheat oven to 400*
In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, sugar and eggs until creamy and fluffy.

In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients (flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt).

Gradually stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture. I use the stir setting on my mixer, being careful not to overmix.

In small bowl prepare the cinnamon sugar mix. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar with 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Using your handy-dandy cookie scooper, scoop and roll cookie dough into 1 1/2 balls…

and then roll the dough balls around in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 7-9 minutes.

Cool on a rack.

Yum!!

Best afternoon snack ever!

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

2 1/2 T sugar
1 T cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400*
In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, sugar and eggs until creamy and fluffy. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients (flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt). Gradually stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture. I use the stir setting on my mixer, being careful not to overmix.

In small bowl prepare the cinnamon sugar mix. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar with 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Roll cookie dough into 1 1/2 balls and then roll the dough balls around in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cool on a rack.