Mint Chocolate Delights

On By sarafillmerIn CookiesLeave a comment

I made this recipe from the back of a bag of mint and dark chocolate baking chips. They tasted just like Thin Mints.

  • 2 cups (256 g) all purpose flour
  • 2⁄3 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 butter or margarine, softened
  • 2⁄3  cup granulated sugar
  • 2⁄3  cup brown sugar
  • 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2  large eggs
  • 1 10 oz bag dark chocolate and mint morsels

Preheat oven to 325°. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, sugars and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set.

Georgia’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This recipe was given to me by my husband’s grandmother. She is no longer with us, but I think of her every time I make these cookies.

  • 2 1⁄4 cup sifted flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1⁄2  teaspoon baking soda
  • 1⁄2  cup shortening
  • 1⁄2  cup margarine (do not use butter!)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 14 oz. packages chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside. Cream the shortening, margarine and sugars together until well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla and blend thoroughly. Add in the sifted ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Drop teaspoon- sized cookies onto a baking sheet greased with margarine, then brush the tops of the cookies with melted margarine. Bake for approximately 12 min. Cookies should be flat and crunchy. Store in the freezer for maximum flavor potential.

Brown Sugar Lunchbox Drops

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These cookies came out of Better Homes and Garden Fall Baking magazine. There are multiple different things you can add to these cookies, I chose to put in chocolate covered raisins, but you can add M & M’s, chocolate-covered peanuts, or anything else you can think of.

  • 1⁄2  cup shortening
  • 1⁄2  cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1⁄2  cup sugar
  • 1⁄2  teaspoon baking soda
  • 1⁄2  teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 3⁄4 cups (352 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup desired add-in

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl combine butter and shortening, beating on high for 30 seconds. Add in brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt, beating until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Stir in flour and desired add-in. Drop dough 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet, baking for 8-9 minutes or until lightly browned.

Oatmeal Lunchbox Drops with Cranberry and Pumpkin

On By sarafillmerIn Cookies, DessertLeave a comment

These cookies came out of Better Homes and Garden Fall Baking magazine. There were multiple variations, but this one combined two of my favorite ingredients, pumpkin and cranberry. The results are one of the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever eaten.

  • 1⁄2  cup shortening
  • 1⁄2  cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1⁄2 cups (192 g) all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1⁄2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 3⁄4 cup dried cranberries

Combine butter and shortening. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Beat until combined, then add eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour until thoroughly combined, then add oats, canned pumpkin, and cranberries. Drop unto ungreased baking sheets, and bake at 375° for 8 minutes, or until light brown. Makes about 4-5 dozen. Cookies will be soft and chewy.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

On By sarafillmerIn Cookies, DessertLeave a comment

These are my father’s favorite cookies. I got the recipe, and this idea, from the cookbook my grandmother, Blanche Turner-Hext, put together in 1986. They are a must-have around the holidays.

  • 1⁄2 cup shortening
  • 1 2⁄3 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1⁄3 cup milk
  • 1⁄2 cup chopped pecans
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1 oz. sqs. unsweetened chocolate, melted
  • 2 cups (256 g) sifted flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla thoroughly. Beat in eggs, then chocolate. Sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with milk. Blend well after each addition. Stir in nuts. Chill 2-3 hours. Form into 1” balls and roll in powdered sugar, coating completely. Place on foil-lined cookie sheet 2 to 3 inches apart. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

Peanut Butter Cranberry Drops

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I found this next recipe in a magazine Christmas of 2010. They’re incredibly simple to make and darn tasty too.

  • 1 18 oz. package refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough
  • 1 cup chopped peanuts
  • 1⁄2 cup dried cranberries
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2  cups powdered sugar
  • 3  tablespoons cranberry juice

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large re-sealable bag combine cookie dough, peanuts, cranberries, and flour; seal bag. Squeeze and knead mixture together in the bag until combined. Remove dough from bag. Drop doug by rounded teaspoons 2” apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Let stand for 1 minute, then transfer to wire rack to cool slightly.

For icing, in a small bowl stir together powdered sugar and cranberry juice until smooth. Spoon icing over warm cookies. Cool cookies completely on wire rack.

Andes Mint Chunk Cookies

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I’ve made these cookies for a few years now, and they have always been a hit.

  • 1⁄2 cup salted butter, softened
  • 3⁄4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1  teaspoon baking powder
  • 2  teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 pkg. 10 oz. Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips
  • 2 2⁄3 cups (342 g) all purpose flour

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and eggs until mixed. Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then flour. Chill about an hour. Measure out approximately 1 oz of dough, roll into a ball and flatten slightly. Raise oven rack one level above middle and bake on non-stick baking pans. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Cool on pans for two minutes before removing.

Cookies and Cream Chex Mix

On By sarafillmerIn DessertLeave a comment

Another Pinterest find courtesy of Cooking Classy. I love homemade Chex Mix and this one is no exception.

  • 6 cups Corn Chex cereal
  • 1⁄2  cup very finely crushed Oreo’s (about 7)
  • 1⁄2  cup powdered sugar
  • 1 12 oz vanilla candy melts ( I used the candy coating)

Measure 6 cups Corn Chex Cereal into a large mixing bowl, set aside. Pour crushed Oreos and powdered sugar into a large ziploc bag, seal bag and shake to combine mixture, set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, melt Vanilla candy melts in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Pour melted candy melts over Corn Chex and toss mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly coated (scrapping down the sides of the bowl as stirring, don’t waste any of that melted candy). Pour or scoop coated Corn Chex into ziploc bag containing crushed Oreo mixture. Seal bag and shake until the cereal is evenly coated. Store in an airtight container up to one week.

*When I say very finely crushed I mean very finely crushed, as in nearly powder. It’s the larger clumps that will tend not to stick the the coated cereal.

Pumpkin Walnut Cheesecake

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This recipe is courtesy of a Taste of Home magazine. I liked the graham cracker crust quite a bit, but a gingersnap crust was also suggested.

Filling

  • 3 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese, softened
  • 1 15 oz. can pureed pumpkin
  • 3⁄4  cup sugar
  • 3⁄4  cup dark brown sugar
  • 1⁄4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 5 eggs, lightly beaten

Crust

  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1⁄4 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons melted butter

Topping

  • 1 cup chopped walnut
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons softened butter

Preheat oven to 325°. For crust, combine crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and combine. Press down flat into a 9” spring-form pan that has been wrapped in foil. Set aside. For filling, beat cream cheese and sugars until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, cream, cinnamon and cloves until blended. Add eggs; beat together on low until just combined. Pour into crust. Place in a large baking pan, adding 1” of hot water to the pan and bake for 60 minutes. For topping, combine ingredients and sprinkle of over hot cheesecake. Bake 30 minutes longer or until center is just set. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.

 

Peanut Butter Brownie Cheesecake

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This cheesecake recipe comes from a Better Crocker magazine. It was the second cheesecake I’d ever made, so I was nervous at how it would turn out, but it came out great and wasn’t too difficult.

  • 1 pouch Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
  • 1 box Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix
  • 3 8 oz pkgs. cream cheese, softened
  • 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Make cookie dough as directed on package, using water , oil, and egg. Cover refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm. Meanwhile, make and bake brownie mix as directed on package for 13×9 pan, using water oil and eggs. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Heat oven to 325°. Wrap outside, bottom, and side of 9” spring-form pan with foil to prevent leaking. Spray with cooking spray. Press cookie dough in bottom and 1⁄2 inch up the side of the pan. Bake 13-15 minutes or until set. Place on cooling rack; cool completely. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. Beat in the 4 eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Stir in vanilla. Crumble 2 cups of cooled brownies into coarse crumbs and fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over crust. Bake about an hour or until edge of cheesecake is set at least 2” from edge of pan, but center still jiggles slightly when moved. Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4”. Let cheesecake stay in oven for 30 minutes. Run a small metal spatula around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake then cool on cooling rack for another 30 minutes.