Puff 'n' Stuff Cookies

As a Valentine treat for someone sweet, I made up some new cookies. Easy & extremely delicious!

 

I took the Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and added in a few fun items!

A cookie stuffed with so much goodness... I decided to name them Puff 'n' Stuff Cookies... yummo! 

Puff 'n' Stuff Cookies:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening or softened butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (My secret is 3 teaspoons!)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• Sprinkles

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and marshmallows.

 

Scoop tablespoons of dough and roll into 1-1/2 balls.

 

Dip balls into a small bowl of sprinkles.  

 

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

Enjoy and Share!

Cheers,
Belle

The Case of Too Many Carrots

The Case of Too Many Carrots: Solved

 Make Carrot Cake Bars. 

I love fresh produce. I hate throwing out fresh produce. So, I noticed I had a lot more carrots in my fridge then I could eat in the next few days. I shredded those carrots and put on my thinking cap. Carrot Cake Muffins were definitely going down... but what else could I make. With a family gathering coming up, I went sweet and decided on these carrot cake bars.  They were really easy and tasted so yummylicious!!! 

                                    

Not paleo, not healthy, but man.. they were good. I have been trying to use up all the dairy, flour and sugars I bought for the holiday family recipes I make. And when you know that your home eating is still on track, it's okay (at least to me) to splurge and indulge at times.

Also exciting, I used my KitchenAid Mixer for the first time in years. Maybe 3 years. It's been just collecting dust in the corner of my kitchen. I just prefer the ease of grabbing my hand mixer and a bowl.  Okay, enough blabbing... let's get to the good stuff.

Carrot Cake Bars:

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup freshly shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped pecan, walnuts or sunflower seeds
• 1 can (16 ounces) cream cheese frosting or homemade Cream Cheese Frosting

Step One: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dust off old mixer. Or just get out a bowl and hand mixer  

Step Two: In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, oil and eggs until light.

Step Three: Stir in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt until well combined. Gently stir in the carrots and nuts/seeds. (I just continued to use the mixer on low speed, worked fine!)

           

Step Four: Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool completely. 

 

Step Five:  Spread the bars with enough of the frosting to cover completely. You can drag a fork through the frosting on a diagonal to decorate. I just spread on a nice thick gooey layer and called it a day. Cut into 2-inch squares and remove from the pan. 

Step 6: Try not to eat them all!!! 

 

I also had extra cream cheese from another holiday recipe I did, so I went for the homemade frosting. I usually don't like cream cheese frosting so I altered the recipe & added a little more vanilla and sprinkled in a little lot of cinnamon. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I did 2 teaspoons)
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon (my addition)

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract and cinnamon. Then use for your recipe... mmmm mmmm good.

I may have changed my own mind about cream cheese frosting. Wowzer!

Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookie Bars

During the summer, cherries are abundant! But, I have a hard time finishing the bunch I buy before some of them get wrinkly. So a few weeks ago - I thought about tossing some with dark chocolate, which lead to a cookie idea... mmmmmm!

 

I started with the Original Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I substituted for chopped dark chocolate chunks and chopped fresh cherries. Most cherry recipes I searched for included dried or candied cherries, but I wanted to give the fresh ones a try. Fresh is always better, right? YES!

By no means are these healthy, they were full of ooey gooey buttery goodness but MAN they were gooooooooooooooooooooood!

   Gathering the yummies for the cookie bars

    

Blend the butter, sugars and vanilla.

 Once smooth, add in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chunks and cherries. 

Now choose if you want cookie bars or cookies. 

I wanted bars, so I spread the dough out flat on a cookie sheet.

Bake until brown on edges. I could have taken a fork to this and just gone to town. 

Instead, I sliced into bars and brought them to work the next day! A treat for students & coworkers!

Recipe for these bad boys..

Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookie Bars

2 1/4 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 c shortening or butter

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

12 oz chocolate chunks/chips

1-2 cups chopped, fresh cherries

Preheat oven 375 degrees. 

1. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda & salt. Set aside.

2. In large bowl, combine shortening/butter, sugar, brown sugar & vanilla. Beat until creamy. 

3. Beat in eggs. 

4. Gradually add flour mixture, beating between additions. 

5. Stir in chocolate & cherries. 

6. Drop spoonfuls or spread onto parchment/ungreased baking sheet.

7. Bake 8-10 minutes for individual cookies, 20 minutes for pan cookie bars

8. Cool and enjoy!