Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
(Mix together & set aside)

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat wet ingredients until light & fluffy.



Add flour mixture and mix until smooth. Chill one hour. Roll out and cut into shapes. Place cookies on greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen 3-inch cookies.

My advice: If you really want chewy & not crunchy cookies, keep a close eye on them and also turn down the temp. on your oven if you know it runs a little hot. (I set mine at 365 and my cookies took exactly 8 mins.) As soon as the cookies begin to brown on the edges, take them out.

I am nowhere close to being an expert decorator, especially when I know the cookies are only going to be eaten by us, so please ignore how messy my frosting & sprinkles look! :) I also have to say this is my FIRST time ever making homemade cut-out sugar cookies, because I've always just believed they're too time-consuming & difficult to make... So I was surprised how easy it turned out to be... the only annoying part was that as the cookie dough got warm, it wanted to stick to my cookie cutters or my countertop. So I would cut out just enough to fill a cookie sheet and then put the bowl of dough back in the fridge until I was ready to put another batch in the oven. Also, I didn't venture into making my own frosting. I am not a big fan of homemade frosting, it's a combination of the sweetness & texture I don't really like, and the store boughten is cheap, easy & yummy, so that's what I used. I hope you enjoy this wonderful recipe!

Cereal Peanut Butter Bars

These are sooo delicious! My sister made them a long time ago and shared the recipe with me, but I just never made them. I remembered I had some Honey Bunches of Oats cereal in my cupboard that no one was eating, and I knew I was supposed to take some chocolatey dessert for Easter at Chris' grandparents, so here was my pick! :) They're super easy to make and will easily satisfy any chocolate & peanut butter lovers, like me!

Cereal Peanut Butter Bars

1 & 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter (I only had creamy on hand, which works)
2/3 cup maple-flavored or pancake syrup
2/3 cup sugar
3 cups Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted (I used approx. 1/3 bag of choc. chips)

Directions:

-- Microwave peanut butter, syrup and sugar in large microwavable bowl on high 3 minutes, stirring every minute. (I don't think mine took a whole 3 minutes.)

-- Add cereal to large bowl; mix to coat well.

-- Press into greased, foil-lined 13x9-inch pan.

-- Spread melted chocolate evenly over cereal mixture. Let stand or refrigerate until chocolate is firm.

-- Cut into 24 bars. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Soup time!

I've never been a big soup eater, but I've come across some very simple recipes that have turned out really goood... and of course soup goes really good with my homemade bread I bake almost every week... so we've been dining on soup quite a bit! I'll share with you 2 different recipes I've tried...

Zesty Potato Soup

3 cans condensed cream of potato soup

2 cans (12 oz) evaporated milk

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

6 slices ready-to-serve fully cooked bacon, crumbled

In a large saucepan, combine the potato soup and milk. Cook over med. heat for 5-7 minutes or until heated through. Ladle in serving bowls. Sprinkle with cheese & bacon. Yield: 6 servings

This recipe is great - I highly recommend the pepper jack cheese, it adds the flavor & zip the soup needs - I don't even like spicy things, but a little bit of this cheese on top is a necessity I'd say. :) Also, I made this soup a second time (see picture above) and substituted one of the cans of cream of potato for cream of broccoli, added about a cup of cooked broccoli to the soup, and I added a can of diced potatoes. It was great, but I didn't really like the flavor the broccoli soup added. I think I'd definitely add cooked broccoli again, but just use the 3 cans of cream of potato soup. :)

Potato Corn Chowder

1 + 1/2 cups diced cooked ham

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 + 1/2 cups milk

1 can diced potatoes, drained

1 can cream style sweet corn

1. Cook ham, celery and onion in butter in large saucepan until veg's are tender.

2. Add cheese soup, milk, potatoes, and corn. Simmer 5 mins. over low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally.

I got a thick slice of ham from the deli at the grocery store, and cut it into bite sized pieces. I didn't use fresh onion, just added a little minced onion to the soup. I also omitted the celery, since we're not big on celery here. Therefore, I skipped step #1 in the directions entirely. :) The soup turned out really good... I did add a little seasoned salt and pepper for flavor... and like with the potato soup, we added some shredded cheese on top after filling our bowls. I wasn't sure I liked the cheddar cheese soup taste, next time around I think I may try using just cream of potato soup. We'll see. :)

I do realize these soups are not really homemade, since it's pretty much just combining canned ingredients - but when it comes to 'cooking' those are the kinds of recipes I like. :) Enjoy!

Bread Pudding

I had all this old homemade bread sitting on the counter that I couldn't bare to see go to waste... and I LOVE bread pudding, and came across some slow cooker bread pudding recipes on the bettycrocker website the other day... So it's Saturday morning and I decide to look more closely at these recipes... Well, they call for things I don't have, and I definitely don't have 3 hours to wait for something to cook. (My plan was to make this for breakfast, not lunch!) So then I just googled bread pudding and came to allrecipes.com and one of the first recipes I clicked on had LOTS of good reviews, and I had all the ingredients, so... here it is...

Bread Pudding

6 slices day old bread

2 Tbls. butter, melted

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

3/4 white sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2) Break bread into small pieces into an 8 in. square baking dish. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over the bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.

3) In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until all bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.

4) Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Mmmmm... I hope you enjoy this! I look forward to adapting this recipe... maybe I will add some chocolate chips, and serve it warm as a dessert, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! :)

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

I got this recipe from a Mom friend of mine, whose son goes to preschool with Chloe. She made these for her son's half-birthday treat and Chloe brought home half of hers which means I got to try them! Wow! I immediately asked her for the recipe. At first I made the recipe just as it was (3 sticks of butter in all!!) and now I have cut the recipe in half and just make half a batch each time.

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 1/2 sticks margarine

1/2 cup + 1/8 cup sugar

1/2 cup + 1/8 cup brown sugar

1/2 Tbls. vanilla

1 egg

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

chocolate chips

M & M's

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter, sugars, vanilla & eggs in a large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in M & M's and chocolate chips (sorry, I don't usually measure these!)

Drop dough by level 1/4 cupfuls (yes, it's a big glob! hehe) about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork. (I used the bottom of the 1/4 cup to press them down.) Bake 13-15 mins. or until light brown around edges (centers will be soft). Cool 1-2 mins. and move to wire rack.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies... They are of course quite wonderful when warm from the oven, along with a glass of ice cold milk! Enjoy! :)

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Chips
• 1 cup REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
• Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream(optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Beat butter in medium bowl; add eggs and vanilla. Stir together sugar and flour; add to butter mixture. Stir in milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and nuts; pour into unbaked pie crust. (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and omitted the nuts.)

3. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown. Cool about 1 hour on wire rack; serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream, if desired. 8 to 10 servings.


To reheat: One slice at a time, microwave at HIGH (100%) 10 to 15 seconds.




My Notes: This pie is incredibly rich and it tastes like you're eating cookie dough -- it's truly delicious, and I definitely recommend warming up each piece (if you aren't serving it right away) and serving it with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream! :)

Cinnamon Snap Cookies

The best way I can describe these cookies is that they're like ginger snap cookies, without all the spice & zip - just cinnamon and molasses flavors combining to make a soft, melt in your mouth cookie! You will love them... I am sure of it.. And I'm certain they are not going to last long in my house once my husband tries them! :)

Cinnamon Snap Cookies

3/4 cup of butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar (could substitute white sugar)
1 egg
1/4 cup of molasses (use glass measuring cup & spray it)
2 1/4 cups of flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the softened butter and brown sugar with a mixer until creamy; add the egg and molasses and mix well. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and gently mix together. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixer until well combined.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and dip into the raw sugar; place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes; cool on wire racks.

Yields: 2-1/2 or 3 dozen

My Notes:

I used margarine sticks instead of butter (it takes 1 1/2 sticks) and to soften them, I put them in the the microwave... which means it got more than softened, it slightly melted... and then when it came time to roll the dough into balls, the dough was not a consistency that was 'rollable' I guess you'd say... not sure if it was cuz of my melted margarine or what. So I put the bowl in the fridge for a bit, but even after 20 mins. or so, the dough still seemed pretty mushy and I just used my fingers to try & mold it into a ball and then rolled it in sugar. They still turned out nice & round. I also only put mine in for 8 mins. each time... I know my oven and I know I didn't want them to get crispy or burnt... and 8 mins. was just perfect.. they were soft & chewy and wonderful!