Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven is always a delight! I, however, cannot seem to make a good chocolate chip cookie. I have tried it all. Brown sugar. White sugar. Both sugars. Room temperature eggs and butter. Melted butter. Chilled dough. Mix and bake dough. I just can't seem to get it right. So I'm always up to trying a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

I found this one interesting because it uses Bisquick. They actually turned out good! It made a small batch, just under 2 dozen when using a standard sized cookie scoop. Now, I normally don't put nuts in cookies because my kids prefer them without so I have not tried them with just the chocolate chips. Hopefully they don't come out a flat mess! I'll definitely make these again :)

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

¼ cup soft butter

¾ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/3 cups Bisquick 

½ cup chopped nuts

6 oz pkg. semi-sweet chocolate pieces

Heat oven to 375º. Ungreased sheet. Cook 10 minutes until light brown.

*I used light brown sugar.

*I used pecans.

*Using a standard cookie scoop I made 21 cookies.

*I baked them for 12 minutes in my oven.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Bourbon Yams

 

What's the difference between a sweet potato and yams? Can someone explain that to me? Anyway, I saw the ingredient bourbon and said yes please! This was super easy to make and using the canned yams (I couldn't find canned sweet potatoes so I used "yams") made clean up easy as well. This smelled so good while it was cooking! It screamed, hello fall! The taste, well...it wasn't sweet, that's for sure. It also had a slight tangy taste. Probably from the juice and bourbon. It wasn't bad but I think I'd cook some sweet potatoes next time and use those or add a little more brown sugar. Just so it would be sweeter :)

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Bourbon Yams

1 can (29oz) sweet potatoes, drained

3 Tblsp butter, melted

3 Tblsp brown sugar

3 Tblsp orange juice

3 Tblsp bourbon

½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

¼ cup chopped pecans

Place sliced potatoes in lightly greased 8" square dish. Combine butter and next 6 ingredients. Pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes.

*I couldn't find a can of sweet potatoes so I used canned yams

*I used unsalted butter

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Carmel Pecan Nuggets

Caramels with whipping cream.

I didn't have enough wax paper so I used my Silpat.

Caramel. Pecans. Chocolate. Is there a better combination?!? These totally gave me Turtle or Millionaire vibes! Yes, they are written as "carmel" because I imagine that's how the author pronounces the word. To each their own :) So the recipe didn't say what to do with the 2 cups of pecans, so since they're called nuggets, I opted to chop them up. This recipe was super easy to make and so delicious! Everyone in my family loved them! 

I never got them to set though. I let them sit for 24 hours on my dining table, and then decided to throw them into the fridge while we went to Church. Came home and they were still super sticky. So, I went ahead and did the chocolate step. I wasn't sure what was meant by dipping them in the chocolate. I completely covered the first one, then decided that you couldn't tell what was inside. So I dipped the majority of each one and just left the tops exposed. Perfect. Y'all these are so good! I'm currently storing what's left in an airtight container in the fridge. I normally share the recipes I make but these? These are staying here! Let me know in the comments how you pronounce caramel. Is it Care-A-Mel? or Car-Mel? I'm guilty of saying both! haha!

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Carmel Pecan Nuggets

Recipe by Dean White

September 10, 1997

24 Carmels

¼ cup Whipping Cream

2 cups Pecans

Melt carmels & whipping cream in microwave for 3* minutes or until melted. Cool a few minutes. Drop on wax paper until set (overnight) usually (not sure if that actually says usually). Melt almond bark in double broiler, dip. Let dry, eat & enjoy.

These are good & easy to make. Hope you can read this I can't write to good.

*I melted the carmels for 1 minute then stirred them. Added another 30 seconds so it wouldn't burn and stirred. Then after one more round of 30 seconds in my microwave, it was all melted. A total of 2 minutes for me. 

 

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Cherry Salad Supreme

The first layer

The top layer barely fitting in my dish.

A side view of the layers after setting.

I know, this isn't a handwritten recipe. My thought in choosing to make it, is that someone still had to take the time to type it all out on an index card. Plus, I haven't made anything Jell-O based yet. It was time. Although I wanted to make this during the summer. The reason being that no one in my family is a fan of Jell-O. I, myself, am not a huge fan but I'll eat it if I have to. As long as it doesn't have that nasty hard layer at the bottom. Yuck! haha! 

Honestly, I kind of liked how this turned out. The husband said it wasn't bad and the boy only liked the top layer because it wasn't as Jell-Oy, if that makes sense. I don't think the girl has tried it yet. I think the only thing I would personally change is to add toasted pecans on top instead of raw walnuts. I'm from Texas. We love our pecans. And it's pronounced Puh-cons! Let me know in the comments how you pronounce it and do you prefer pecans or walnuts?

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Cherry Salad Supreme

1 - 3oz pkg Raspberry Jello

1 - 3oz pkg Lemon Jello

1 - 21oz can Cherry Pie Filling

1 - 3oz pkg cream cheese*

1/3 cup Mayonnaise

½ cup Whipping Cream

1 - 8¾ oz can Crushed Pineapple*

2 Tbs Chopped Walnuts

1 cup Small Marshmallows

Dissolve raspberry gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Stir in pie filling. Turn into 9"x9"* dish. Chill until partially set. Dissolve lemon gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Beat together cream cheese and mayonnaise. Gradually add lemon gelatin. Stir in undrained pineapple. Whip ½ cup whipping cream. Fold into lemon jello mixture with 1 cup tiny marshmallows. Spread atop the cherry layer. Top with nuts. Chill until set.

*I had to cut 3oz off of an 8oz block of cream cheese.

*I measured out 8¾ oz of pineapple with a kitchen scale.

*I didn't have a 9x9 inch dish, I thought the one I have was 9x9. Mine was 8x8 and it barely fit!

 

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Pumpkin Nut Bars

 

I cannot wait until Fall! You're either one who loves pumpkin everything or doesn't. I LOVE it! How about you? Let me know in the comments your thoughts on pumpkin everything :)

This recipe is called Pumpkin Nut Bars. Personally, I think it's more like a cake. It cooked quick so the oven wasn't on long (thanks TX heat). For me, I love cream cheese icing when it comes to pumpkin treats. This icing was different. Good, and sweet, but different. As I spread it on the cooled cake, I didn't think it was going to be enough. Trust me, a thin layer of this icing is all you need!

My interpretation of the recipe:

Pumpkin Nut Bars

½ cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon (baking) soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup pumpkin

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped nuts

Combine all ingredients except nuts in large mixing bowl. Beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer at medium speed. Fold in nuts. Spread evenly in a 13x9x2" pan. Bake at 350º 20-25 minutes. Spread with run frosting when cool.

Frosting

¼ cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon rum

2 Tablespoons hot water

¼ cup nuts

* I used light brown sugar

* Pecans were used in the batter as well as the frosting

* I used dark rum 

* It baked in my oven for 21 minutes

* I did spray my 9x13 pan before adding the batter

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Crispy Oat Cookie

 

If you're looking for a good crispy and crunchy cookie, this is a good one. I made the rookie mistake of not making sure I had all the ingredients before I started mixing everything together. I went to get the oatmeal and didn't have any! We use steel cut oats, but I thought I had some old fashioned ones. Luckily my mom was coming over so she brought some. The dough was a little soft, not sure if that was because it was sitting on the counter until she got to my house. With all the extra goodies in these cookies, I definitely couldn't roll them into balls. It was more of a squish them into balls. I think they still turned out good. Apparently I don't know how to measure 1" so I only ended up with just over 6 dozen, not the 10 listed. And 15 minutes, in my oven, was the perfect time for these to bake.

My interpretation of the recipe:

Crispy Oat Cookies

1 cup butter softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup regular oats uncooked

1 cup crushed corn flakes

½ cup coconut

½ cup chopped nuts

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet - flatten with fork. Bake 325º for 15 minutes.          10 dozen

* I used unsalted butter

* I used light brown sugar

* For the nuts, I used pecans

* Made just over 6 dozen

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Dream Bars

We are smack dab in the middle of summer here in Texas! Today's high is supposed to be 107°! Needless to say we are trying to limit our oven use so I was looking for something I could make that wouldn't take too long to bake. 30 minutes baking time isn't too bad and I had everything on hand for this recipe so here it is.

These bars are sweet, gooey and easy to make. I could have gone the easy route and used my pastry cutter to cut the butter for the crust, but the recipe says to mix by hand so that's what I did. My butter was room temp, so it was easy to mix together. 

My interpretation of the recipe:

Dream Bars

½ cup butter or oleo

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

Mix together with hands and pat in a think layer on cookie sheet or pan (about 9"x12"). Bake 10 minutes at 350º

Then Mix Together

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1 package coconut

1 cup nuts

2 Tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

Spread this mixture over the first and bake 20 minutes at 350º. Cut in squares while hot.

* I used unsalted butter

* I used light brown sugar

* Instead of a package of coconut I measured out 2 cups. I didn't know how big the package used was.

* I used pecans for the nuts

* My pan was a 9x13

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.