Brown Sugar Chocolate Chunk Cookies

My little sister's Bible study is wanting to hold a bake sale to help raise money for Japan.

Fortunately, for me, I help lead it, and yall know me... I'm all up for baking some goodies.

We were hanging out together today and decided to go through some of my recipe books, in search of some great bake sale ideas. In the spirit of things, we decided to test out a recipe.

Y'all are going to start getting sick of me posting cookie recipes. But I found this one online and just had to share. The brown sugar in it helps give it a deeper flavor. Light brown sugar gives it a honey type flavor, while dark brown gives it a hint of molasses. YUM either way.

I had dark brown on hand, so that's what we used.

I have to say, this one did not disappoint.

It's still got a nice, very slight crisp on the outside, but man, that middle? Melt in your mouth.

Fyi, these are the perfect cookie to sample right outa the oven.



Brown Sugar Chocolate Chunk Cookies

(Original recipe by BakingBites.com)

(Photo source)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt (pref. kosher salt)
• 14 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, gradually blend in the flour mixture until no streaks of dry ingredients remain visible (old habits die hard: I poured the flour in two batches). Stir in chocolate chunks.

Shape dough into balls just over 1-inch in diameter (mind were a tad bigger and were a perfect size). Place on prepared baking sheet, allowing for room to spread (about 2-3" apart).

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until cookies are very lightly browned around the edges. Cookies may look slightly “wet” – but not raw – at the center (bake until golden all over for crispier cookies).

Cool for 3-4 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 1/2 – 3 dozen cookies.

Grilled Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Panini

I'm a big fan of Ree over at The Pioneer Woman.

She's so stinkin' funny and real and best of all?

Girl can cook.

I tried one of her recipes the other night, and she definitely did not disappoint.

I'm a huge fan of panini. Like Ree says, it's like a quesadilla. Throw whatever you want in there, add a little cheese, and voila! Dinner.
This one is so good. Who needs Panera, when you can make your own at home?

Grilled Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Panini

(Original recipe by Ree Drummond)

(photo source)

Ingredients

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 8 whole Sundried Tomatoes, Packed In Oil
• 3 Tablespoons Prepared Basil Pesto
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• ¼ cups Mayonnaise
• 2 whole Red Bell Peppers
• 8 whole Slices Provolone Or Mozzarella Cheese
• 8 slices Good Whole Grain Sandwich Bread
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Softened

Directions

CHICKEN

Slightly flatten chicken with a mallet (just until uniform thickness.)
In a blender or food processor, puree sundried tomatoes, pesto, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add half the mixture to a ziploc bag with the chicken breasts. Smush around to coat the chicken, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
After marinating, heat heavy skillet or grill to medium. Grill or cook chicken until done. Slice chicken into strips.

SPREAD

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and 3 tablespoons of the sundried tomato mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

ROASTED RED PEPPERS

If you have a gas cooktop, blacken red peppers directly over the flame. (If you do not have a gas cooktop, blacken them directly under the oven broiler.) Completely blacken/char on all sides, then immediately seal in a ziploc bag. Allow peppers to sit, sealed, in the bag for at least 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove from bag and use fingers to slip off the blackened skin. (Don’t be afraid to leave some black bits!) Lop off the top, cut in half, then seed and slice into strips. Set aside.

(fyi, if you're short on time, just buy the roasted red peppers in the jar)

TO ASSEMBLE

To make the panini, spread generous amounts of the sundried tomato/pesto spread on one side of all the pieces of bread. On four of the pieces, arrange 1/4 of the chicken slices, 1/4 of the pepper slices, and two pieces of provolone. To with the other four pieces of bread with the spread face down. Butter both sides of sandwich, then grill in panini maker or on a skillet over medium-low heat. (If you use a skillet, set a heavy pan or skillet on top of the sandwich as each side browns.)

Slice sandwiches in half and serve immediately with cold grapes. Delish!

Serves 4.

Berry Banana Protein Shake

I know I feature an awful lot of fattening tasty but less-than-healthy dishes.

So hopefully this will make up for it.

I love making smoothies. But I'm a little picky. I don't like the pre-made packages, especially the kind that come with a "smoothie mix" to thicken it up. Have you ever looked at the ingredients on those things?

Word of warning... if you can't pronounce it, you might need to think twice about eating it.

I'm all about eating good, natural food (although you may not be able to tell from this blog). It really is important to be educated about the stuff we choose to put in our bodies. They do make an impact.

If it's healthy and tastes good? Sign me up.

My husband used to be a big fitness junkie. That was until he had heart surgery, was told he couldn't lift anything heavier than a milk carton, and then he was too scared to try exercise. Anyways, he explained his fears at his last cardiologist appt, and he was given the go-ahead. He's also trying to help me out (darn those last 10 pregnancy lbs that just won't go away!) and get me all hot and toned up and stuff again. He used to swear by protein shakes. I remember him drinking that stuff, and it tasted pretty nasty. We bought more powder, and I've been determined to get more protein in my diet but also actually enjoy the smoothies.

All of this is to say... I did it.

In one try.

I made one of the best protein shakes I've ever tasted for lunch today.

If you're interested, give it a shot. If you don't need any extra protein or don't want to buy powder, go ahead and skip that step. The smoothie is ridiculously good without it too.

Berry Banana Protein Shake

(Original recipe by ME!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries*
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries*
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup natural vanilla yogurt (I use Dannon All-Natural vanilla)
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 scoop vanilla-flavored protein powder (or more, depending on your dietary needs)... if skipping this step, substitute with 1 scant tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth (or desired consistency).

Yields 2-3 servings.

*If using fresh fruit, add a couple of ice cubes to help get things chilly.

If you're feeling inspired, get in the kitchen and come up with your own fun smoothie, using your favorite fruits (and veggies!).

Hope you like it!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

(because I just haven't featured enough cookie recipes on here...)

Ever been to one of those bakeries that sell those really yummy, chewy cookies?

And when you try to make some at home, they never turn out quite right?

Well, I found a recipe that actually works. They're not undercooked, but they're soft and chewy.

(shout out to my neighbor Libby who let me use some of her vanilla when I realized halfway through the process, that I didn't have any. Hope you liked the cookies!)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Original recipe by Cooks Illustrated

But I found it on this darling site called "Our Best Bites")

(Photo source here)

Ingredients

• 2 C plus 2 T flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 12 T butter (1 1/2 sticks) melted and cooled until warm
• 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 C semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in mediumbowl; set aside.
Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars untilthoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients;mix until just combined. Stir in chips.
Take about 1/4 C dough and form into a ball.  Break ball in half and place dough on cookie sheet with broken edge facing up*.  (Or just use a standard sized cookie scoop). Bake until cookies are set around outer edges start to hardenyet centers are still soft and puffy, 10-13 minutes.  Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store inairtight container.

*Cool trick: Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Each half will have a jagged surface where it was ripped from the other; rotate each half up so the jagged surface faced the ceiling and press the halves back into one ball so that the top surface remains jagged. (The nooks and crannies you have created will give the baked cookies an attractive and somewhat rough, uneven appearance.) Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined cookie sheets, about 9 balls per sheet.

Chocolate Explosion Cheesecake

I swear, I have to throw the leftovers of this one out.

It's that good. Like, my thighs are begging me to take the rest to the neighbors...

the ones with skinny legs. So. TRY IT. Then give the rest away.

Unless you're having a rough day. If that's the case? Enjoy. :)

I know it looks like there are a lot of steps, but don't get overwhelmed. It takes a little extra effort, but honestly, the recipe looks more complicated than it really is. I made it for a party this weekend, and it was a total hit. I was so darn proud of myself. Like I could've sold it at the Cheesecake Factory or something. If you're making it to take to an event, I suggest making it the day before.

It needs to sit in the fridge for at least 8 hours.

I altered the original recipe a bit. In the real one, it says to bake it for an hour, but after reading a lot of reviews, I decided to let it bake a little longer than that. I figured Paula must have some fancy shmancy oven that bakes stuff really fast. The rest of us homemakers and bakers have to settle with the regular kind. :)

Prepare yourself. It's really rich (but oh so good).

Good luck!

(yall can thank me later)

Chocolate Explosion Cheesecake

(Original recipe by Paula Deen)

(and yes, mine turned out looking just like this... minus the strawberries.

Photo source: Food Network)

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Chocolate Layer:

• 6 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Cheesecake Layer:

• 1/2 cup caramel syrup
• 1 (16 1/2-ounce) package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Chocolate Ganache:

• 6 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
• 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

For the crust: In a medium bowl, combine the cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter, stirring to combine. Press the crust into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 6 minutes; let cool.

For the chocolate layer: Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter (or microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes total). Whisk in the sugar, eggs, and flour until just combined. Pour into the bottom of the cooled crust and bake for 15 minutes; let cool.

For the cheesecake layer: Spread the caramel topping evenly over the cooled chocolate layer. Cut the cookie dough crosswise into 1-inch slices. Place the slices in an even layer over the caramel, pressing gently together to seal the edges.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and flour until just combined. Stir in the sour cream. Pour the mixture over the cookie dough layer and bake for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes (if it looks really jiggly in the middle, it's not done enough). Remove from the oven and gently run a knife around the edges to release the crust from the sides of the pan. Let cool completely.

For the ganache: Using a double boiler, combine the chocolate and cream and melt (or microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 1 minute total). Spread over the cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

This last week has been crazy busy for me.

Lots of birthdays, a baby shower, and trying to keep up with a toddler leaves a person kinda worn out. Anyways, the plus side is that I've been able to try out new recipes. This is one I made last night for my family. It was my little sister's, mom's, and grandmother's birthdays (all within the same week). We had them over for dinner last night, and it was so fun. I really love to entertain.

Sure, I get a little stressed trying to get everything perfect, but honestly? It's half the fun.

I tend to break a lot of rules though.

One being that I love to try out new recipes for the first time when I'm inviting people over.

I know. Usually an entertainer's nightmare.

But it always works out for me (knock on wood!), so I just roll with it. My family loves Italian food (but we're sooo not Italian). I went searching for something that looked really yummy on Food Network.

Gotta say, I love Giada. Sometimes I don't quite trust her cooking. I mean, she's super skinny. Her husband is all athletic. And usually skinny = nobody's eating her food.

Anyways, I digress.

She totally won me over with this one, though.

SUCH a crowd pleaser.

I changed a few things, but nothing major. Just enhanced it a bit. :)

Seriously, you have to try it.

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

(Original recipe by Giada de Laurentiis)

(Photo courtesy of Food Network)

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 14 (8-ounce package) manicotti
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups marinara sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

Directions

Heat a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil, onion, 1 clove garlic, sausage, and ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the meat browns and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and cool.

Brush 1 teaspoon of oil over a large baking sheet. Cook the manicotti in a large pot of boiling salted water until slightly softened, but still very firm to the bite, about 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the manicotti from the pot to the oiled baking sheet and cool.

Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, 1 1/2 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix. Stir the cooled meat mixture into the cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture. Arrange the stuffed pasta in a single layer in the prepared dish and spoon the remaining sauce over.

Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese, then the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan over the stuffed pasta. Dot entire dish with the butter pieces. Bake the manicotti uncovered until heated through and the sauce bubbles on the sides of the dish, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the manicotti stand 5 minutes and serve.

Yields 6 servings.

(depending on how much you eat. this fed all 6 of us, plus we had plenty for leftovers)

Banana Puddin'

Who doesn't love banana pudding?? It's one of my favorite summer desserts: cool, creamy, and not ridiculously heavy. In my family, it's a staple at parties and reunions. What am I saying? It's a staple for any occasion. My brother used to have his own bowl already made at one of our local diners when he was a kid. Had his name on it and everything. Everyone loves it, it's easy to make, and there's plenty to go around. Just about everybody's mama has her own favorite recipe. This recipe is the one that my grandmother makes. And she got it from her neighbor and bff. Heck, for all I know, it originated off the back of the Cool Whip container. But either way, it's good. Good food doesn't have to be complicated; you just have to like eating it. So here ya go...

(ps. there's a link I found at the bottom on how to keep it fresh)

Banana Pudding

(Original recipe by Nellie Austin... or the back of a Cool Whip container...)

Photo source: ifood

Ingredients

• 2 small or 1 large package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 cups milk
• 8 oz sour cream
• 6 bananas, sliced
• Vanilla wafers
• 1 container of Cool Whip

Directions
Mix pudding according to directions. Add sour cream and 1/2 of Cool Whip. Layer wafers, bananas, and pudding mix. Top with remaining Cool Whip and refrigerate overnight.

That's it! See?? Super simple!

Cool tip: How to keep banana pudding from turning black