Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have found the BEST recipe ever for soft chocolate chip cookies.

I don't know about you, but i totally love soft chocolate chip cookies compared to the crunchy ones. Now, of course, I will totally eat a million of the crunchy ones if that's all that around, but soft cookies? Mmmm....I'd definitely eat 2 million of those.

I made one batch of these and had friends over for coffee and chit chat and they oohed and ahhed about the cookies. Then my kids oohed and ahhed about the cookies. Then Evan oohed and ahhed about the cookies and before i knew it, they were gone. So, I *had* to make another batch and share the recipe with all of you!!

The ingredients:

3/4 C. butter, softened; 1 C. brown sugar; 1/2 C. white sugar; 1 tsp. baking soda; 6-12 oz chocolate chips (I used 12 cause I love chocolate); 3 eggs; scant tsp. of salt; 1 tsp. vanilla; 2 1/2 C. flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start by creaming the sugars and the butter together until creamy.

Then, in a small bowl, take the baking soda...
and add 2 Tbsp. of HOT water. Stir together and then blend it into the mixing bowl with the butter and sugar.
Next, add the rest of the ingredients and mix until blended, but don't over mix!
Couldn't you lick that whole spatula clean?!
I heart cookie dough. It should be it's own food group and we should be required to eat three servings of it a day. I'm just saying.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies are browned. the tops won't get very brown, which is a good thing. (I just channeled Martha Stewart there, did you notice?!)
Ta da! The perfect soft chocolate chip cookie!
This batch didn't last any longer than the first batch! I over cooked one sheet of cookies a bit, and they weren't as soft, but still so yummy.

When you store these cookies, keep them in an air tight container. I accidentally left half a dozen of the cookies out on a plate and they were not soft the next morning. Don't worry, I totally made the sacrifice and ate them so no one would be forced to eat a non-soft cookie.

I am a martyr.

Make these pronto and enjoy!!!

Oreo Pie

Hi! Long time no see!!

I have been in a blogging slump--too lazy, uninspired, etc. etc.

But, I am not letting those excuses rule my cooking blog any longer! I shall cook and photograph and share because once I actually do it, I feel inspired to do more!!

Funny how that works, isn't it?

So, today, I am sharing a fabulous pie recipe with you. I had a gallon sized bag of crushed oreos in my freezer that needed to be used. (I had crushed them for the "dirt" for my "witches' fingers" cookies at Halloween.)

So, I turned to my handy dandy church cook book and found a perfect recipe to use those crushed oreos in!

The ingredients:

1 1/2 C. half & half; 1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding; 1 (8 oz) container of whipped topping; 1 C. crushed Oreos (about 11 cookies if you don't have a giant gallon bag of them in your freezer); 1 chocolate crumb crust.

Now, I made my chocolate crumb crust from my gallon sized bag of oreos. I used 2 1/4 C. of oreos and 6 Tbsp. of melted butter. I mixed them together and then pressed them into a 9 inch pie dish. I smoothed it to make it flat and then put it in the refrigerator to firm for an hour. Presto! A lovely chocolate pie crust!

Now, on to the filling!!

In a mixing bowl, combine the cream and the pudding mix.

Beat on a medium speed for one minute.
Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes. Once the five minutes are up, fold in the whipped topping and the oreos.
Mmm...
Now, take that beautiful chocolate cookie pie crust...
and spoon in the pie filling.
Oh, look! Some of that filling is still on the spatula.
Yum!
The pie will need to freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight. It can stay frozen for up to 3 months!!!

Once you are ready to eat the pie, you will need to let it sit out for a good 10 minutes before you attempt to cut it.

But, once you cut it, expect to be in frozen oreo pie heaven.
This pie was fabulous!!!! Not to mention so easy to make. I served it for a Thursday Dinner with our lovely friends and they all liked it so much the kiddos wanted seconds. It is very rich, which makes the fact that you can keep eating small slices of it for up to 3 months even more appealing. This would make a wonderful summer treat!

Enjoy!

Strawberry Pizza

Did you know that Evan hates strawberries?

It's true.

He hates the look of them, the smell of them and lord help you if Evan accidentally gets a taste of strawberry. (note to self: mixed berry yogurt does, in fact, have strawberries in it, so do not buy it for Evan's lunches.)

Since Evan is such a freak of nature, I don't make a lot of strawberry desserts, even though I do happen to lovelovelove strawberries.

That's why it's taken me so long to actually make this recipe. But, I bought some fabulously beautiful strawberries for a fantastic price at the store and decided it was time to try this strawberry pizza recipe out.

The ingredients:

Crust: 1 C. flour; 1 C. sugar, 1 stick of butter.

Filling: 8oz. cream cheese; 1/2 tsp. vanilla; 1/2 C. sugar; 1/4 tsp. lemon juice.

Topping: 1 C. mashed berries; 4 Tbsp. sugar; 1 Tbsp. corn starch.

Rest of strawberries from the pint cut up for top of topping.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Let's begin with the crust.

In a small bowl, pour in the flour, sugar and butter.

With two knives or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it is crumbly.
(Dear family, I want a pastry blender badly. I hate cutting butter into things and feel a pastry blender would help simmer down part of the hatred. A pastry blender would make a FANTASTIC gift for me for my birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas or "I love Virginia so much I just feel the need to bestow gifts upon her" Day. Thank you.)

Press the crust mixture into a 10inch. pizza pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is a golden brown.
Mmm...yummy. The crust is basically a giant, flat sugar cookie.
Allow the crust to completely cool. While it is cooling, start on the filling. In your mixer bowl, combine the cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, lemon juice.
Beat the ingredients until very fluffy.
Now for the topping. Take a cup of strawberries and mash them up.

Then mix the mashed strawberries, sugar and corn starch.
Microwave for 3-3 1/2 minutes until the mixture thickens.
Now, take the rest of those strawberries and slice them. (Seriously, how can you not think strawberries are beautiful?! Evan has something wrong with him.)
Now, take the cream cheese filling and spread it evenly over the cooled crust. Take the strawberry mixture and spread it over the cream cheese layer.
Finally, take those strawberries and decorate the top however you feel. Cut the dessert as you would a pizza (hence the name).
I served this dessert at Thursday dinner with my friends Kim and Rachel and their families.
This dessert was flipping fantastic!!!! Very rich but perfectly sweet. It was a hit with everyone (except Evan, of course). This is something I would definitely take to a brunch or a party. Way too much for just one family to eat, but enough to share with others.

Enjoy!

Cherry Cobbler

One of the desserts that my mom made yearly around holidays or when family visited was her Cherry Cobbler. I remember not liking the cherry part when I was little, but slowly appreciating the whole cherries in the dessert.

I made this for Valentine's Day since it is red and we usually either eat something red on Valentine's day or make our dinner into heart shapes. We could not make our fajitas heart shaped.

This recipe is actually called Fruit Magic and can be found on the back of Jiffy white cake mix boxes. I find the name Fruit Magic to be...unappetizing, so I choose to call it Cherry Cobbler. It's very simple to make and is oh-so-yummy! It is also super easy to double if you're making it for a large crowd.

The ingredients:

1 box white cake mix; 1/2 C. butter, softened; 1 can cherry pie filling; 4 oz. chopped pecans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You only need 1 box of Jiffy white cake mix, but I couldn't find any at the store, so I used half a box of normal sized cake mix. Mix the pecans with the cake mix.
Take the softened butter and with either a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until blended and pebble like.
Pour the can of cherry filling into a 9x9 baking dish and then pour the cake crumble mix evenly over the top of the cherry filling.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until the top is golden brown (including the middle of the topping!)
For best results, serve warm. Mmm...warm cherry cobbler.
This is total comfort food for me. I love it! Of course, you can always serve this with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, but I opted not to this time.

Please try this dessert ASAP! It is most enjoyable!!!

Enjoy!

Foolproof Dark Chocolate Fudge

I have found that fudge can be very hit or miss when I am making it. Do you also find this?

Fudge is one of Evan's favorite desserts and every year at Christmas time I attempt to make it. This recipe has always been a success for me and it is sooooo simple. Evan likes it a lot.

The ingredients:

3 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips (1.5 bags); 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk; dash of salt; 1 C. chopped walnuts; 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt the chocolate
the dash of salt (1/8 tsp. is my idea of a dash)
and the sweetened condensed milk until smooth.
Once it's all melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the nuts and the vanilla.
Take an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan and line it with foil. Spread the very sticky but oh so yummy fudge onto the foil. Chill for 2 hours until firm.
After 2 hours, the fudge should be firm to the touch.
Cut into small pieces and store loosely at room temperature.Next time, I will go easier on the nuts in the fudge, but that's my own personal preference. But, this fudge is very chocolate-y in a good way. It's not so sweet that it's too rich in taste, but still rich enough that you won't eat the whole pan. I gifted this fudge to friends at a Christmas beer potluck and it was very well received and almost all gone by the time we left. I'd definitely recommend making this if you don't know what to bring to your Christmas gatherings.

Enjoy!

Russian Tea Cookies

Every year at Christmas time, my mom would bake cookies. I know that most of you had the same thing happen at your house as well, but Mom baking cookies was a big deal. My mom will be the first person to tell you that she doesn't really enjoy cooking. The kitchen is not her place to go to relax away her troubles (as it is mine). So, when my mom baked cookies, it was a rarity that my sister and I would get so excited over.

My mom makes a few select cookies around Christmas and I always remember that her Russian Tea cookies (or Snowballs, as I called them when I was little) were my favorites. I got to help her roll the cookies in the powdered sugar and could eat one while it was still warm. When I started cooking Christmas cookies, I knew that the Russian Tea cookies would be one of my staples every year.

What I just recently found out is that, not only has my mom made them almost every year for Christmas, her mom (Grandma) made them every year when my mom was little and that my great-grandma (Mama) also made them, which is where Grandma got the recipe. What a fabulous recipe to be handing down to the daughters of our family!

The ingredients:

1 C. butter (soft); 1/2 C. confectioner's sugar (plus more for rolling); 2 1/4 C. flour; 1 tsp. vanilla; 1/4 tsp. salt; 3/4 C. pecans, chopped. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Start by mixing the powdered sugar and the butter...
till it looks like this:
Add the flour, vanilla, salt and pecans.
Mix. Now, take this dough (which will be very dry and crumbly) and chill it for an hour or two.
Once it's chilled, take the dough (which will still be dry and crumbly, now just cold as well) and squish them in your hand till you have a dough like texture and roll them into one inch balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Once the cookies have cooked and are still warm, take them and roll them into the powdered sugar.
Like so.
Place on wax paper and allow them to cool.
Once they're cool, roll them again in powdered sugar. See, I re-rolled the one on the right and it's much more snowball-esque.These are a bit more time consuming to roll than some of my other cookie recipes, but they are one of my favorite cookies.
Warning: these cookies are messy! Don't eat them on a first date. Or when you're wearing all black. Unless you care nothing of messes all over your face and clothing, then by all means, scarf them down happily!

Enjoy!