Baking OCD

June 3, 2013

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Pre-heat oven @350
Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup of sweet cream butter
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups of flour
• 3/4 cup of cocoa
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans, but Nana would have used walnuts)

Cream butter and sugar, slowly add eggs and vanilla.
Mix until creamy.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in another bowl - mixing dry ingredients well.
Mix wet with dry, add nuts.

 This is a drop cookie dough - more batter like than doughy.  I put them in the fridge for about half an hour before I cooked them because I had something else in the oven.  I would do the same again, it made the dough/batter easier to handle.  

Cook for 8-9 minutes (cookies spread out)  When they were still hot on the tray, I sprinkled fancy sugar over them.  Leave them on the pan for a little bit before you move them!

The recipe made about 3 dozen delicious cookies!  They disappeared!  I mean other grade level people came to our meeting and grabbed a few.  People called me and asked me to send over cookies to them.  I love it when that happens!

June 10, 2013

Peanut Butter Cup Browies 

So, I just want to share a quickie dessert that was a big hit!  I have been seeing all of these amazing cookies with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (is there a Reeses Anonymous?) on Pinterest.  I thought I would try to make something with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

 

• It was so easy!  I just used a box brownie mix - Betty Crocker Chewy.  
• I lined the 8x8 pan with non-stick foil.
• Followed the directions on the brownie box, and poured the batter in the pan.
• Unwrapped the miniature Reeses and pushed them into the batter - I thought that the batter would cover them, and at first I wasn't happy.
• Baked for a little bit longer than was on the box - just keep an eye on them.
  

• When they were cool, I used the foil to lift the whole square of brownies out of the pan.  That made cutting them into squares so easy.
• It turned out that having the batter NOT cover the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (I even love typing it:) was a good thing!  That it made it super easy to cut into deliciously ridiculously rich squares of peanut butter goodness.

June 17, 2013

 Pillsbury Sweet Cheese Delights

This is an old family recipe that I got from my Uncle Doughboy (wink, wink:).  Earlier this year, when I made this for a staff potluck, I actually caught my principal in the staff lounge, spooning the crumbs out of the empty pan.  The secretaries banned me from bringing it ever again, after they all got the recipe from me.  It was so good!

Pillsbury Sweet Cheese Delights

Here are the really easy instructions for this scrumptious breakfast pastry.   They are taken from the Pillsbury site with a little hints from me:)

Ingredients

• 2     packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened (this is really important) 
• 1     cup sugar
• 1     egg yolk 
• 1     teaspoon vanilla 
• 2     cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls 
• 1     cup chopped pecans 
• 1/2  cup packed brown sugar 
• 2     tablespoons butter, melted 
• 2     teaspoons ground cinnamon 

Powdered sugar, if desired- I did not use it.

Directions

1. Beat softened cream cheese and sugar with mixer on medium until fluffy.  Add egg yolk and vanilla on low speed until blended.
2. Open one can of crescent rolls into one large rectangle.  Pinch the seams as you lay it out on the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan.  Spread the cream cheese mixture (When I make this again, I will only use about 2/3 of the mixture - it was a little gooey for me).
3. Mix pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon (this I might double:).  Sprinkle half the mixture over the cream cheese.  Open last can of crescent rolls (keep in the fridge until you are ready to open it - they get sticky!) into one large rectangle.  Pinch the seams as you lay it out on top of the cream cheese and pecan sugar mix.  Sprinkle the remaining pecan sugar mixture over the top of the dough (then lick the bowl because it is yummy).
4. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown.

For the breakfast potluck, I cut them up and placed them into a covered dish.  They looked a little gooey to me, and I wasn't sure if they would go over well.  The staff loved them warm.  However, there was one row that didn't fit into the covered dish that got put in my fridge, and I loved them cold!