Cookie Carnival - Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

One of the recipes for September's Cookie Carnival was cake mix cookies - any recipe of your choice as long as it was a new recipe that you were trying. We were allowed to submit 3 cookies recipes of this type.

My family loves cake mix cookies so I knew that this would be any easy choice for me. What I didn't realize until I started searching for new ideas was there there are hundreds of recipes out there for cake mix cookies and not just your ordinary round cookie either...there's bars, biscotti, squares, balls...so many to choose from.

The great thing about cake mix cookies is that you can clean out the leftover bits of this and that from your cupboards by dumping the stuff into your cookie recipe. Sounds like some sort of mad scientist experiment, huh?

I had several boxes of chocolate cake mix in my cupboard so it was a no brainer that my recipe was going to be a chocolate cookie. In the back of the cupboard, I found a bag with about a cup of chocolate chunks and on the same shelf, there was an almost empty jar of peanut butter. Who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter mixed together?

I started with a basic cake mix cookie recipe...one with water, oil, and eggs but then I made a few adjustments to the recipe. The results were delicious! You could taste just a slight hint of peanut butter through all of the chocolate. My husband is not a peanut butter cookie fan so this was just enough for him. The gooey chocolate chunks were awesome and added to the fun of eating these cookies while they were still warm.

Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

1 (18.25 oz) devils food cake mix
1/3 c. water
1 egg
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. semi sweet chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350*

Using a large bowl and a wooden spoon, mix together cake mix, water, egg and peanut butter until all ingredients are combined. Stir in chocolate chunks. (I used my hands to mix the chips into the cookie dough.)

Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls. Place the cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet in 4 rows of 3 cookies, leaving plenty of room for the cookies to spread out. Using a fork, flatten the cookies in a criss-cross pattern.

Bake for 10 -12 minutes. The cookies will still be slightly soft in the middle. Watch carefully and do not overbake.

Cool the cookies on the pan for 1-2 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

These cookies will freeze well, too.

Want to bake with us in the Cookie Carnival? Here's what you need to know!

Cookie Carnival - Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

I grew up eating only one kind of peanut butter cookie - my mother's homemade recipe. She would make them for Christmas and Easter and any other family get-togethers we might have during the year. I remember helping her bake and scooping out the peanut butter - always JIF! I remember how she would take the time to criss cross each cookie with a fork so that the lines were just perfect - and I imagine that she still does the same thing. Mom, if you're reading this, your cookies have definitely left good memories!!  Those cookies were sort of crisp on the outside, yet sort of soft on the inside. A perfect cookie for dunking in milk or coffee. I don't make those cookies here at my house because my dh and kids really don't like plain peanut butter cookies. But I can instantly snap back and remember what they tasted like when she tells me that she just baked a batch of them.

When I found this recipe called Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies and saw that it called for coconut and oats and that it was a soft, chewy cookie, I thought that I might be able to pass this off to my family. I thought that it would be the perfect cookie to try out in the Cookie Carnival. Since it was June, I knew that many kids, including mine, would be out of school so I was hoping that it might pique their interest into getting into the kitchen!

Well, it worked. My kids helped with baking these cookies and all of us ended up really liking them. I love Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter but I didn't have any on hand so I subbed regular creamy peanut butter. I think that using the regular peanut butter instead of natural added more oil to the mix, thus making them spread more. My cookies turned out to be really thin (and not too pretty) but they tasted great!

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from Smucker's website

1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth, creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups quick rolled oats
1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350*.

Beat sugar, brown sugar, butter and peanut butter until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; stir in rolled oats and coconut. Add to peanut butter mixture and beat on low speed until well blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

I used a large ice cream scooper to drop mounds of the cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 15 - 17 minutes or until light brown around edges. Cool 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. If the cookies start to stick to the pan, return the pan to the oven for a minute to soften the cookies again. Remove from the pan immediately using a large, flat spatula.

Join the Cookie Carnival and bake along with me each month!

Busy Beehive Cupcake Cones

One of my kids' favorite desserts are cupcakes baked inside of ice cream cones. They are a fun grab-n-go treat. I like them because they are easy to make and they are not messy!

These busy beehive cones remind me of spring and the beautiful, sunny weather that we are experiencing now. Not too hot, not too cold. Let's get out and enjoy it while we can!

Busy Beehive Cupcake Cones

1 boxed yellow cake mix + ingredients listed
on the package
16- 18 ice cream cones
1 can of vanilla icing
1 can of chocolate icing
yellow food coloring
yellow M&Ms for decorating
milk chocolate melts

Preheat oven to 350*

Prepare cake mix according to package directions.

To make the cones easier to handle, I used my 12 cupcake, cupcake pan and stood one cone in each cup. Fill each cone 3/4 full - do not be tempted to fill them any fuller. The batter will run over the tops of the cones and down the sides. (Geez...wonder how I know this?!?)

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the cakes are light brown and a skewer stuck down into the middle of the cone comes out clean. Cool completely. Repeat the process until all of the cake batter has been used. Depending on the type of cake mix, I usually end up with 16 -18 cones.

Spread yellow M&Ms out on a piece of waxed paper. You will need 2-3 M&M "bees" for each cone. Melt 1/4 c. of chocolate candy melts in the microwave. Spoon the melted chocolate into a plastic baggie. Barely snip the tip off one corner of the baggie-just enough for a fine line of chocolate to flow through the hole. Draw the stripes and eyes on each M&M, creating the bees. Let dry before moving.

Tint the vanilla frosting bright yellow. Tip: I use paste food coloring. I've found that using the liquid food coloring with canned frosting tends to thin the frosting out too much, making it hard to use. Frost each cupcake with the yellow icing.

Using a small paring knife, cut out the beehive entrance in each cone. Frost the hole with yellow icing.

Spoon the chocolate frosting into a plastic baggie. Snip the tip of the baggie. Trace the entrance hole of the hive with chocolate frosting. Draw the swirls around the hive with the chocolate frosting.

Carefully remove the bees from the waxed paper and using the chocolate frosting as "glue", stick the bees on the cones.

Enjoy! The cupcakes are best when eaten the same day.


My spring bug cupcakes would pair up perfectly with these busy beehive cupcakes for a fun party theme!


Linking up to:
Cupcake Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays
Muffin Monday (includes cupcakes!)
Momtrends Friday Food

Garden Veggie Muffins

These corn muffins would be perfect to serve up for an afternoon brunch. They would match perfectly with a bowl of soup, chili or some sliced ham.

You will find that kids are more willing to eat their veggies if they help to prepare the food they are eating. This is a simple recipe that will get the kids into the kitchen and cooking!

Garden Veggie Muffins

1 box of Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. California blend frozen veggie, thawed
2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 tbsp. sour cream & onion chip dip

Stir together corn muffin mix, egg and milk until blended. - some tiny lumps are ok.

Squeeze the water out of of the California veggie mix by dumping the veggies into a piece of cheesecloth or 2 coffee filters. Squeeze to drain off the water. Stir the veggies into the muffin mixture.

Line 6 silicone muffin tins onto a baking sheet. Spoon the muffin mix evenly into the six cups.

Bake at 350* for 15 minutes or until the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick stuck in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake.

For herb spread: 

Stir together the cream cheese and sour cream & onion dip. Top each muffin.

Vegetable decorations:

Thinly slice 5 rounds from a small English cucumber. Thinly slice a small radish for the middle round. Level off the top of a muffin. Spread a thin layer of the herb spread onto the muffin, using the spread a the "glue" to hold the cucumbers. Add another dot of the herb spread to the middle of the muffin and top with a radish disk.

You could also use thinly sliced radish for the flower petals and fill the middle with raisins or sunflower seeds.

Store any leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator.


Linking up to: 

Mouthwatering Monday
My Meatless Monday 
Midnight Maniac Meatless Monday 
Made By You Monday 
Melt in Your Mouth Monday 
Tasty Tuesdays

Jumbo Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Let me tell how quickly I decided to make this cook recipe.....

I'd just put my daughter into the tub to play in a bubble bath. About 5 minutes later I decided to sit down at the computer to check my blog. My husband and son were moaning about not having any dessert but I told them that it wasn't happening because I didn't have time to squeeze it in. I always check my "blogging buddies" list on my blog to see what my friends are cooking or baking. My friend, Amanda @ Amanda's Cookin', baked chocolate peanut butter cookies. MMM!!! Just what I was searching for....a quick, easy recipe that would satisfy their needs for dessert.  Plus, how did she know that I'd been craving chocolate and peanut butter?

This recipe is very easy to whip up. The peanut butter definitely shines through. I had to add about 3 more tbsp. of milk to my cookies because the dough was a bit dry. I also used a large ice cream scoop to make the cookies jumbo sized. The truth is that I really didn't feel like standing in the kitchen scooping out multiple trays of cookies. I added 4 minutes to the baking time.

Here are the cookies right out of oven and still warm. So good!

The next time I make this recipe I'm going to add some chocolate chips. I might dip them into chocolate, too!

Jumbo Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from Amanda's Cookin'

1/2 cup shortening (or butter flavored shortening)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp milk + more if dough seems a little dry. I used 3 tbsp more
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375*.

Combine shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.

Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Drop by large tbsp (or use a large cookie scoop) 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.

Bake for 10- 12 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to racks to cool completely.

Hummingbird Cupcakes in the Buff

The hummingbird cake seems to have deep roots in the south. There are many speculations as to where it originated. Some say it was a recipe submitted to Southern Living Magazine by a southern lady. While others say it originated in Jamaica...bananas and pineapple are from the area so these ingredients were use often in cakes. The cake is said to be named after Jamaica's national bird. N o matter where this cake originated, I'm glad that the recipe made it to our neck of the woods.

I had never heard of hummingbird cake before moving to the Charlotte area. It's very popular all around here. Since cupcakes go over way better than cake at our house, I decided to give them a whirl. Think banana bread filled with fruit and nuts. MMM! Bananas keep the cupcakes moist and delicious. The pineapple takes on a glazed, sugar-coated taste and the coconut and pecans give a nice little crunch. The sugars from the bananas and pineapple form a slightly sticky crust around the edges of each cupcake.

Traditional hummingbird cake is usually frosted with cream cheese frosting. My cupcakes were so sweet and moist and delicious that I decided to leave them plain. Why add more sugar if it's really not needed? My family agreed.

Take a look at those bananas peeking through. Don't you just want to stick your finger right into it?

I've done a lot of research on recipes for hummingbird cake. Most of the ingredients are the same - the only change, depending on which recipe you use, is choosing to use either oil or butter.

Hummingbird Cupcakes in the Buff

3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp cloves
2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. sugar
3 lg. eggs
2 c. ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 large bananas)
8 oz. crushed pineapple
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. sweetened coconut

Preheat over to 350*  Line cupcake pan with liners or use silicone holders.

Wisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter, vanilla, and sugar until combined.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well before adding the next. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy.

Stir together banana, pineapple, walnuts, and coconut. Add to egg mixture, mixing until combined.

Stir the fruit mixture into the flour mixture.

I used a large ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners. Fill 2/3 full. Do not be tempted to fill to the rim. The cupcakes won't bake higher, they will just spill out onto the pan. (I proved it.)

Bake for 22-25 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.

Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

I'm linking up to:

House of Hempworths
Life As Mom 
I'm Lovin' It
Sweet Tooth Friday 
Muffin Monday

March '11 Cookie Carnival: Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies

Last night I decided to make one of the March Cookie Carnival's cookies, Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies from Quaker Oats. I'm happy that I did. These cookies are soft and chewy and down right delicious. My kids raved about them.

Halfway through the recipe I realized that I was out of eggs. I decided to hit the Internet to see if I could find a reasonable substitute for the 2 eggs that the recipe called for. There are several dry substitutes out there but I wanted to add a wet ingredient for at least one of the eggs. Applesauce is a common substitute but I was also out of it. One recommendation was 3 tbsp. mayo. I knew that I had some in the frig. so that took care of one egg. I used 2 tbsp. cornstarch to substitute the other egg. I also read that no matter what you use as a sub., you should always add in two extra teaspoons of baking powder. I continued on with the rest of the recipe.

The recipe called for nuts but since my husband is not fond of nuts in cookies - but is really fond of raisins - it was a no-brainer to add raisins. Delicious! Like eating chocolate covered raisins in cookie form. :)

Here's my recipe including the substitutions I made:

Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies
original recipe

One  8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
8  tablespoons (1 stick) margarine or butter, softened
1  cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2  cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons mayo
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2  teaspoon vanilla
2  cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
3-1/2  teaspoons baking soda
3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1  cup raisins
 
In large bowl, beat cream cheese, margarine and sugars until creamy. Add mayo, corn starch and vanilla; beat well. Add melted chocolate; mix well.

Add combined flour and baking soda; mix well. Add oats and nuts; mix well.

Heat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are almost set. (Centers should still be moist. Do not overbake.) Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

*Recipe Notes*

To melt chocolate chips, place in 1-quart glass measuring cup or microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds. Or, place in top part of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water; stir occasionally until smooth.

*My Notes*

The recipe calls for chilling the cookie dough beforehand. I skipped this step and just scooped and baked right after mixing it up. I couldn't tell the difference.

Store the cookies in sealed container or plastic bag. Best if eaten within 2 days.




Do you enjoy baking cookies? Join us today at the Cookie Carnival! Here's what you need to do.  I hope to bake with you soon!


Linking to:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays
What's On Your Plate?

Edible Pilgrim Hats

These adorable (and edible!) Pilgrim hat favors will decorate any pretty holiday table. Turn them over to use as a treat cup and fill with your favorite treats.

colored ice cream cones
red fruit leather
yellow fruit leather
yellow sugar sprinkles
Karo syrup
chocolate wafer melts
1- small-sized, unused paintbrush
1- medium-sized, unused paintbrush 

Plain Pilgrim Hat
Wrap red fruit leather around the middle of the ice cream cone, right under the lip of the cone. Wrap one end of the fruit leather over the other, pressing the ends to make them stick together.

Cut a piece of the yellow fruit leather the same width as the red fruit leather, then lengthwise into a small square. Place the yellow square on top of the red band, forming the "buckle" on the hat. Using the small paintbrush, paint a little bit of Karo syrup onto the yellow square and sprinkle with the yellow sugar.

Chocolate Covered Pilgrim Hat
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the candy melts at 30-second intervals, stirring frequently, until melted. Using the medium-sized paintbrush, paint the chocolate over the entire cone, making sure to completely cover the whole cone. Set cones in refrigerator for 5 minutes to harden chocolate.

Once the chocolate has hardened, wrap red fruit leather around the middle of the ice cream cone, right under the lip of the cone. Wrap one end of the fruit leather over the other, pressing the ends to make them stick together.

Cut a piece of the yellow fruit leather the same width as the red fruit leather, then lengthwise into a small square. Place the yellow square on top of the red band, forming the "buckle" on the hat. Using the small paintbrush, paint a little bit of Karo syrup onto the yellow square and sprinkle with the yellow sugar.

For Treat Cups: Fill with your favorite snacks like caramel corn, Trix cereal, trail mix, popcorn, etc. You can even fill them with pudding or yogurt. Just don't forget the spoon.

Hand Print Turkey Cookies

Kids will get a kick out of watching their hand prints turn into turkeys. This fun group activity allows kids to not only make their own creations, but eat them too!

1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie mix or your favorite sugar cookie recipe
red, yellow and green paste food coloring 

3 pairs of disposable gloves
 
chocolate chips
 
red fruit leather
 
candy corn

Divide the cookie dough into 4 equal pieces, leaving one piece white and coloring other 3 pieces: 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green with the paste food coloring. Make sure to wear a clean pair of gloves when mixing each color so that you avoid coloring your hands!

**Hint: Color each piece slightly darker than you want the end result to be. It will lighten a bit during the baking process.


Gently press each piece of the dough together, forming a large ball. Place dough into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1/2 inch thickness. Gently press hand into dough to make a clear imprint.

Cut around outer edge of hand print with a knife. Repeat with remaining dough. Lift cookies carefully with a spatula and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Separate the fingers to resemble feathers, leaving the thumb standing upright for the head.

Bake until lightly browned. Immediately after removing from oven, press one piece of candy corn into each of the 4 fingers, leaving thumb plain. Gently remove from pan.

After the cookies have cooled slightly, press a chocolate chip into the thumb for an eye. Use a small piece of fruit leather and stick on for the turkey gobbler neck.

That's it!

Let the kids have fun eating their creations!
 

Rice Crispy Turkeys

My kids love chocolate rice crispy treats just as much as the regular ones.

These cute little rice crispy turkeys will make a sweet addition to your child's Thanksgiving table. They are sure to gobble them up for dessert!

Rice Crispy Turkeys 

3 TBSP Margarine or Butter
1-10 oz. Package Regular Marshmallows (about 40 lg.)
- or -
4 cups Mini Marshmallows
6 cups Chocolate Crispy Cereal

Candy Corn
Mini candy coated chocolate candies
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips for "glue"
Red Fruit Leather
Popsicle Sticks
Plastic Baggie
Scissors 

Melt margarine in large pot over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add chocolate crispy cereal. Stir until well coated. Press mixture evenly into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan and cool slightly.

Add the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 20 second intervals until melted. Stir. Pour the chocolate into the plastic baggie, pushing into one end, forming an icing bag. Carefully snip off the very tip of the baggie. This is your "glue" for the candy faces on the turkeys.

Round Turkeys: While the crispy cereal mix is still warm, Use a lightly greased 2 or 3-inch cookie cutter to cut out cereal rounds. Using Candy Corn for feathers, stick them into the cereal around the top half of the circle. (I used 5 Candy Corn on each turkey). Glue on the mini candy coated chocolate candy eyes and Candy Corn nose/mouth. Cut out a small piece of fruit leather for the gobbler and glue it under the candy corn.

Rectangle Turkeys: While the crispy cereal mix is still warm, cut the mixture into 3-inch long rectangles. Using Candy Corn for feathers, stick them into the rectangle along the sides and top - refer to the picture for correct placement. Glue on the mini candy coated chocolate candy eyes and Candy Corn nose/mouth. Cut out a small piece of fruit leather for the gobbler and glue it under the candy corn.

For Turkey Pops: Place a Popsicle stick up through the bottom of each circle or rectangle.

Wrap individually in plastic wrap or goodie bags before refrigerating. Bring to room temperature before serving. Can easily be frozen once individually wrapped.

Each 9x13 pan makes 12 circle or 12 rectangle turkeys

Trail Mix Brownie Bites

What do you do with those healthy trail mix bars that your kids (or at least my kids) won't eat? Do you shove them in the back of the pantry hoping that one day one of the kids will be starving and only find those to eat? I've come up with a better way to use them. Make these delicious, chewy brownie bites. They were a huge hit with my kids.

If you have your own homemade brownie mix and/or trail mix bars, you can certainly use them in this recipe but since I'm left with very little cooking time at home this week, I opted for a boxed brownie mix and boxed trail mix bars.

Trail Mix Brownie Bites

1 boxed brownie mix + ingredients from the box to prepare the brownies
2 chewy fruit and nut granola bars, broken into small pieces
1 C. mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325*

Lightly spray a mini cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Mix together brownies following the recipe on the box.

Add in granola and marshmallows. Stir well, until the granola and marshmallows are completely covered in the brownie batter.

Drop batter into mini cupcake cups, filling each cup 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes. The batter in the middle will be slightly soft but will continue to bake after you remove them from the oven. Be careful not to over bake the brownie bites or you will end up with little stones on your hands. (Ask me how I know about that one.)

Once you remove the brownies from the oven, allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully slide a knife around the outer edge of each brownie bite, loosening them from the cups. Allow to cool another 5 minutes and then remove them to a cooling tray.

Store in a sealed container or Ziploc bag to keep them soft and fresh.

I'm participating in Tasty Tuesday!

Chocolate Covered Raisin & Oatmeal Cookies - July '10 Cookie Carnival

July's Cookie Carnival brings us an oatmeal raisin cookie from Pillsbury as the kids baking recipe for the month.

Now, I have to admit that when I chose this recipe for the carnival, I already knew that it wasn't going to be the "best" oatmeal raisin cookie because IOO (in our opinions), we already posses the world's best -- Aud' Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - a delicious soft chewy oatmeal raisin cookie from my MIL.

Since I like playing around and changing the ingredients with other oatmeal cookie recipes, I decided to give the Pillsbury recipe a try. I'm certainly not disappointed by this recipe. I used chocolate covered raisins in place of the raisins and nuts. Can you say MMMMM!!!! The recipe is versatile enough that you could easily switch out the raisins or nuts for other dried fruits, butterscotch or peanut butter chips, macadamia nuts, yogurt covered fruit or nuts....the list goes on and on.

I underbaked the cookies by a minute or so and baked them until the cookies were just starting to brown - the cookies stayed chewy that way. The melted chocolate mixed very with the oatmeal and raisins.

I can't wait to see the round up to see what every does to add their own twist on this recipe!

Chocolate Covered Raisin & Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup sugar - I used 1/2 C.
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup raisins - I subbed 1 C. choc. covered raisins 
for raisins and nuts

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; blend well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, raisins and nuts.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto sprayed cookie sheets. I used my 1 1/2 in. cookie scoop for these cookies and then slightly flattened each scoop of cookies on the tray before baking. 

Bake at 375°F. for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. I reduced my oven to 350* and baked the cookies for 9-10 minutes. Store in a sealed container. 

Very good with a cup of hot tea!

Even though I couldn't talk my kids into baking with me this time around, they enjoyed eating the cookies. My son raved about them.

If you love cookies like we do, why not join in on the fun!

Join the Cookie Carnival today! 

Watermelon Cupcake Cones

Fun watermelon cupcake cones to go along with your summer picnics.

 Don't they just make you smile?

Watermelon Cupcake Cones

1 box white cake mix + ingredients needed to
make cake
1 - 2 TBSP red sugar-free Jell-O (any flavor)
semi-sweet chocolate chips
24 ice cream cones
1 can vanilla frosting
red and green food coloring
cupcake baking pans

Preheat oven to 350*. Place one ice cream cone into each cupcake slot in the baking pans. I used 2 (12 cupcake) baking pans to make 12 cupcake cones and 12 regular cupcakes. Set aside.

Prepare cake mix according to directions. Stir in 1 tablespoon of Jell-O mix and mix well. If the color isn't pink enough, stir in more tablespoon of the Jell-O mix.

To fill the cones:

Spoon 1 tablespoon of cake batter in the bottom of the each cone. Sprinke in 2-3 chocolate chips for "watermelon seeds". Continue with another tablespoon of batter and 2-3 more chocolate chips. Continue filling the cones in this order until the batter is almost to the top of the cone.

Bake for 15 minutes, and then stick a skewer down into the middle of one cone to see if the cake has baked through. If the skewer comes out clean, the cupcakes are done. If not, continue checking frequently until they are done.

Remove the cones from the baking pan and set on a jelly roll pan or counter to cool.

Divide the vanilla icing into 2 bowls by placing 3/4 of the icing into 1 bowl and tinting red, and then 1/4 icing into the 2nd bowl and tinting green.

I took the easy way out and used Ziploc bags for icing bags. Fill the bags, snip one corner of the bag...and voila! you have an icing bag. Granted, nothing fancy but it quick and easy with little clean up!

Decorate your "watermelon" cupcakes by piping the center of each cupcake with red icing and the outside "rind" with green. Add 2 chocolate chips in the center for "seeds".

Here you can see the "seeds" in the "watermelon". :)

Enjoy!  These cupcake cones have become a favorite of my kids.

I haven't tried freezing them so I'm not sure if the cones would become soggy once they thawed out.
Has anyone tried freezing them?

June '10 Cookie Carnival - S'mores Cookie Bars

Ooey -- Gooey -- Delicious!

Three little words to describe these cookie bars!

June's Cookie Carnival Kids' Bake cookie recipe is the S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookie from Hershey's.

My daughter and I had a lot of fun baking these cookies together.

We had even more fun eating them! These little bars are delicious right out of the oven while the chocolate and marshmallows are still runny and melted. They are also very good the next day once they've had a chance to cool down. The cookie bars are quick and simple to make & would be a great treat to take to a picnic, to make for a child's birthday party or to sell at bake sales.

The only substitution that I made to the recipe was to use semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of the chocolate bars. I also ground my own graham cracker crumbs using honey graham crackers.

S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1-1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S
Mini Milk Chocolate Bars OR 5
HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate
Bars (1.55 oz. each)
* 3 cups miniature marshmallows

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.

2. Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle mini chocolate bars over baked layer or arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer, breaking as needed to fit.

 4. Sprinkle with marshmallows; scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows, forming top layer. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. 16 bars.

Perfect with a cold glass of milk and a good book!

From June thru August, there will be 2 recipes sent out for the Cookie Carnival - the first will be a kid's cookie recipe and the second will be a little more complex(but definitely nothing too complicated!).

Everyone is invited to bake one or both of the cookies! Get the kids involved!

If you haven't joined the Cookie Carnival yet...what are you waiting for? I'd love for you to join us!
Here's how!

**New**

I've had a few people email me to ask "Can I join the Cookie Carnival without having a blog?"

YES!  You can join the Cookie Carnival if you follow these rules:

Please email me to let me know that you would like to join. I will add you to the email list so that you will start receiving the recipes each month. At this time please let me know that you will be participating via email.

1. You must email me one picture of your cookies - no bigger than 50 x 50, please.

2. Please include a sentence or two about yourself - ex: your name and where you live

3. Please include a comment about the cookies - good or bad or just a thought pertaining to the cookies.

4. Please let me know if you followed the recipe as written or if you made changes - and if you did, what changes did you make? I will post those changes, too.


I look forward to meeting and talking to everyone! If you have any questions or comments about the Cookie Carnival, please email me! yinzerfan {at} gmail {dot} com

Happy Baking!
Tami

May '10 Cookie Carnival - Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

 Calling all chocolate lovers!!

Cookie Carnival members had a choice of making 1 or 2 cookies during May - Martha Stewart's Outrageous Chocolate Cookies and/or Berry Cream Cookie Snaps from Taste of Home.

My daughter and I had a great time baking the chocolate cookies. I taught her how to chop the chocolate and she had a blast using the hand mixer to mix up the cookie batter. This recipe comes together very quickly - in less than 10 minutes. In under 1 hour you can have warm, gooey super chocolately cookies from start to finish!

I've read several Cookie Carnival member's comments on these cookies and I agree that they are "brownie-like" in texture. Our cookies were firm on the outside (but not crispy) and then on the inside they were moist and filled with creamy chocolate bites...yum!!  I used a large cookie scoop and ended up with 15 large cookies. The next time I will definitely use a small scoop because just one of these cookies was enough to fulfill my sweet tooth. It was very rich -- (Gasp!) dare I say that it was almost too chocolatey?!? I bet that peanut butter, butterscotch or mint chips would make great subs for some of the chocolate chunks. I'm sure the kids would love M&Ms in there, too!

We give this recipe two thumbs up!

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
by Martha Stewart

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
 
3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.

**Notes**

Our cookies baked for 13 1/2 minutes per tray. Keep a close eye on them after 12 minutes to make sure that they don't burn.

I allowed the first tray of cookies to cool for almost 10 minutes but then I found that some of the cookies were hard to remove without breaking. I removed the cookies from the second tray after only 5 minutes and they came off of the tray with no problem.

I'd love for you to join us in the Cookie Carnival! 
Click here for more info. on how to join.


May's Cookie Carnival Roundup showcasing everyone's delicious work will be posted tomorrow! Be sure to stop back here to check it out!

Granola on a Stick

These granola bars can be cut into bars or molded onto "sticks" like I have done. Either way they are the perfect snack for your family's camping or hiking trip. They're a great accompaniment for a bonfire and a ghost story!

**Note** - Unless you have access to an oven while camping (in an RV or elsewhere) you will want to prepare these treats at home ahead of time.

What You Need:

1/2 C. Light Corn Syrup
1 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Butter, Melted
2 Tsp Vanilla
3 C. Quick Cooking Oats
1 1/2 C. Fruit, Seed & Nut Trail Mix
3/4 Mini Chocolate Chips
Large Pretzel Rods

Additions might be: shredded coconut, M&Ms, marshmallows, etc

 What You Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix corn syrup, brown sugar, butter and vanilla until well blended. Stir in oats. Add trail mix and chocolate chips. Stir in additional goodies 1/4 C. at a time, making sure that the mix is still sticky enough to mold around the sticks. Marshmallows are not recommended for the granola sticks but may be added if you are going to cut the granola into bars.

To Make Granola Sticks:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Measure out 1/2 C. of granola and shape into a log. Starting from the bottom of the log, stick the pretzel into the granola, shaping it around the pretzel. Do not worry about the shape because you will be reshaping it after it bakes. Fill the baking sheet side by side with 5 granola pretzel rods. Make sure you leave ample room between each one. Bake for 14-15 minutes or until light brown. Do not panic when you see that the granola has melted away from the pretzel rod. Once the sticks have baked for the required time, removed the tray from the oven and working quickly with two knives simply mold and shape the granola back around the pretzel sticks. As the granola cools, it will harden around the pretzel stick.

This recipe makes about 10 granola sticks depending on how much granola mix you measure out for each pretzel rod.

 To Make Bars:

Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish. Firmly press granola mixture into the pan. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. It is very important to allow the bars to cool completely before cutting them with a sharp knife.

April Fool's Day Meatballs

Did you think that this was a big tray of meatballs?

Look again.....

Both of my kids and my husband thought that I had made meatballs on first glace. All of them asked about the "white stuff" in the meatballs. hahaha!

Not!

They are really cocoa rice krisp balls.

Perfect for a "meatball" dinner item.

I think that just about everyone knows how to make rice krisp treats but in case you need a reminder, here's the recipe from Kellogg's:

Ingredients

3 tablespoons  butter or margarine
1 package  (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups  Ready-To-Eat Cereal Cocoa Krispies

Directions

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add Kellogg's Cocoa Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.  I rolled the mixture into golf ball-sized balls and laid them on a baking sheet. 

Store in a container with a tight lid.


To make a "meatball sandwich":

Slice a "v" into the middle of a a mini pound cake loaf. Place two "meatballs" into the middle of the pound cake. Trim both sides of the pound cake to "flatten" the sides to resemble a hoagie roll.  Top with red cake icing for "sauce" and shave white chocolate on top for "cheese". (Sorry that I don't have a picture of this but my kids don't like meatballs sandwiches so they would've never fallen for this one.)

Happy April Fool's Day!!

What are you doing to fool your family?

Cinnamon Bunnies

What could be better than waking up to the smell of cinnamon buns early in the morning? These Easter Bunny cinnamon rolls are the perfect addition to your Easter breakfast or brunch table.

What You Need

2 - 8 ct cans cinnamon rolls (regular size, not jumbo)
1 can cream cheese frosting
raisins
red food coloring

(Makes 5 bunnies)


What You Do

On an un-greased cookie sheet lay down 2 cinnamon rolls, creating a head and body. Slice a 3rd roll in half vertically. These 2 halves are the bunny's ears. Trim a small piece off of the bottom end of each ear and roll together to form a ball. This ball is the bunny's tail.

Bake at 350* for 7-10 minutes or until light brown and cooked in the center of each roll. Do not over bake. Cool completely.

Frost the head, body, tail and ears with cream cheese frosting. Add 2 raisins for eyes & 1 raisin for a nose on each bunny.

Tint 1/4 c. frosting pink. Use this pink frosting to fill in the bunny's whiskers, to color in the ears and to attach buttons or bows on his/her shirt.

To save time, the cinnamon buns can be made a day ahead of time and stored in a well-sealed container. Frost and decorate right before eating.

Linking to:

Gooseberry Patch Kids Recipe Round Up