Category: COOKIES, BARS & CANDY

BUTTERFINGER COOKIES

These are the simplest cookies, but they always go over with a bang!

BUTTERFINGER COOKIES

Ritz Crackers
JIF Peanut Butter
CANDYQUICK
sprinkles

  • Spread peanut butter on Ritz crackers and top with another ritz cracker.
  • Melt CANDYQUICK in microwave at 30 second increments.
  • Dip each cookie in CANDYQUICK and place on wax paper.
  • Sprinkle with your choice of candies.
  • Let the chocolate dry and harden.

ANGEL WINGS & PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CLOUDS

Angel WingsThese two recipes are so simple, but yet so flavorful and diverse that they disappear off the plate in a flash. They compliment each other in that you can make both with one box of puff pastry.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CLOUDS

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed and rolled thinner

1/3-1/2 cup JIF creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips

sparkling sugar

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Gently roll out Puff pastry on a well floured surface.
  • Cut pastry in half.
  • Spread one half with the peanut butter.
  • Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
  • Place the other sheet of pastry on top.
  • Cut into equal pieces.
  • Crimp and seal the edges of all the clouds with a fork.
  • Place all the clouds on a parchment sheet covered cookie sheet.
  • Brush each square with heavy cream and sparkling sugar.
  • Bake 10-12 minutes until golden.
  • Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes before serving.

ANGEL WINGS

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup sparkling sugar

  • Sprinkle one 1/3 cup sugar over your work surface.
  • Place pastry sheet on top of sugar.
  • Sprinkle with another 1/3 cup sugar.
  • Roll pastry into 12×9 rectangle.
  • Liberally sprinkle with remaining sugar ever couple of rolls.
  • Trim edges square.
  • Gently fold long edges in towards center meeting in the middle.
  • Fold in half as if closing a book.
  • Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Cut pastry crosswise into 36 slices.
  • Arrange cut side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
  • Bake 12 minutes.
  • Turn and sprinkle with the sparkling sugar.
  • Bake an additional 2 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Cool completely.

Pretzel Toffee, great recipe for those that cannot eat nuts

Recipe rewind, because in the beginning there is a blogger who has no readers. She still posts great food in hopes that the readers will come……….you can also view it here in the archives, Sunday March 27, 2011.

I am a real sucker for the sweet/salty combination. If you are, you must make this. Or at least remember this recipe, for those times when you need a treat, a gift for others, or a project to work on with someone special.

Me and pretzels go way back, I eat them often. I offered this delicious Roasted Pretzels snack some time ago. So falling hard for this pretzel toffee, was very easy!

Pretzel Toffee
adapted from: My Kind of Cooking

small twist pretzels, a 9oz bag will be more than plenty
1 c butter
1 c brown sugar
2 c chocolate chips, a 12 oz bag

Line a 10X15 inch jelly roll pan with foil. Cover the surface of the foil with pretzels, leaving no empty spaces. Set pan aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium size sauce pan, melt butter, stir in sugar. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, allow to boil 2 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to keep a bubbling boil. Do not cook longer than the 2 minutes.

This is the boiling stage you want to maintain for the 2 minutes.

Pour butter mixture evenly over the pretzels, carefully place pan into the oven. Bake 7 – 10 minutes.

Check after 5 minutes to make sure the sugar mixture is not getting too dark around the edges.

Remove from oven, sprinkle chocolate chips over the surface.

Let stand 10 minutes, carefully spread chocolate over surface of the candy.

Let cool, then refrigerate to chill. This will assist in breaking the toffee into pieces.

Break toffee, place in decorative bowl and watch the compliments come your way. This is seriously good!

As always thanks for taking a minute to stop and say hello. We appreciate your time and your wonderful comments!

For more great recipes, come and visit us at Our Sunday Cafe!

Christmas Cookie Exchange, yummy favorites

If there is one treat that is a symbol of Christmas, it is a the cookie. Preferably a plate or tray of cookies so everyone gets some! Because everyone wants one, or two or more. Years ago I hosted a cookie exchange and it was a lot of fun.

More recently I had a cookie exchange of a different kind, we did not share baked cookies, we share prepared cookie dough. Then each person could bake when fresh cookies were needed. And today I am going to share a cookie exchange of yet a different type, virtual cookies.

I have had a love affair with cookies my whole life, I even wrote about it in this delicious recipe for Cranberry Bliss Bars, yep just like Starbucks.

I like to have a variety of cookies for my family and guests. Something with chocolate, something with spice and something a little more festive. The festive is taken care of with the Cranberry Bliss Bars, but if you are looking for something different, how about Brownies? 
Yes I know Brownies are usually considered to be rather tame, and one of those everyday foods that we have come to rely upon. But add a special ingredient and Brownies are upgraded to first class. I used some very happy cranberries when I made these, but chopped candied cherries would make a great substitution.
Every cookie tray needs a chocolate chip cookie. Now speaking for myself, it took me many years to make a chocolate chip cookie that I was proud of. Yes I always made the cookie recipe on the back of the Nestle package and they were tasty, but they did not bake up attractive. And sometimes the dough would “run” and the cookies would be more taffy than cookie. Yet I made the recipe the same, each time. Then one day I found this recipe and knew I had struck gold. 
And now for a bit of spice. I am a fan of gingerbread and gingersnaps. Yet for some that is too much spice. For those that prefer a softer spice flavor, I offer Cinnamon Flats. Not only are these delicious, they are fun to make with the little ones in your family. After rolling in cinnamon sugar the dough balls are “pressed” with a potato masher before baking. 
Let’s see, something special, something with chocolate, something with spice, ahh yes, now something with nuts. How about Saucepan Salted Pecan Squares or maybe Grandma’s Peanut Butter Bars….because not only are these delicious they are a no-bake cookie. Perfect to whip up when your oven is already in use.
How about at your house? What do you put out for family and guests? I would love to have your recipes also, leave a link in the comments. 

As always, thank for taking a moment to stop and say hello. We appreciate your time and your wonderful comments.

For more great recipes, come and visit us at Our Sunday Cafe!

Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

Last month I joined Baking Partners.  We are a group of home bakers helping each other to achieve baking perfection.  Baking partners was begun by Swathi at Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

Baking a homemade bread, cake or cookies will give the best outcome. However in order to achieve the best results, a  perfect recipe and the right techniques are required.
We are a small group of home baker friends, who love and want to learn more about the nook and corners of baking.  We are planning to try out recipes from books/magazines and cooking shows.  Every member gets a chance to present their choice of recipe and share important points with the rest of the group. The main purpose of this group is to learn the techniques, critic procedures if there are ways to improve and to eat delicious food.
This month’s theme is Cookies.  We were given 3 recipes to choose from and since the reveal date is my birthday I chose the recipe I liked best for Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito selected by Tina of Pinay in Texas from Food & Wine Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes Vol. 14.  This was an excellent choice – crunchy outside, smooth and creamy inside – a very unusual cookie texture, but wonderful!

Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened slightly
4 ounces Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 
  • In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. 
  • In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar – beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
  • Beat in the eggs, heavy cream and vanilla until blended. 
  • At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients.  Add the melted chocolate and chocolate chips and beat just until incorporated.  
  • Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.
  • Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them two inches apart. 
  • Bake for 12 minutes until the cookies are just set; shift the baking sheets for top to bottom and front to back half way through. 
  • Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Note: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

Last month I joined Baking Partners.  We are a group of home bakers helping each other to achieve baking perfection.  Baking partners was begun by Swathi at Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

Baking a homemade bread, cake or cookies will give the best outcome. However in order to achieve the best results, a  perfect recipe and the right techniques are required.

We are a small group of home baker friends, who love and want to learn more about the nook and corners of baking.  We are planning to try out recipes from books/magazines and cooking shows.  Every member gets a chance to present their choice of recipe and share important points with the rest of the group. The main purpose of this group is to learn the techniques, critic procedures if there are ways to improve and to eat delicious food.

This month’s theme is Cookies.  We were given 3 recipes to choose from and since the reveal date is my birthday I chose the recipe I liked best for Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito selected by Tina of Pinay in Texas from Food & Wine Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes Vol. 14.  This was an excellent choice – crunchy outside, smooth and creamy inside – a very unusual cookie texture, but wonderful!

Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened slightly
4 ounces Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 
  • In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. 
  • In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar – beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
  • Beat in the eggs, heavy cream and vanilla until blended. 
  • At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients.  Add the melted chocolate and chocolate chips and beat just until incorporated.  
  • Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.
  • Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them two inches apart. 
  • Bake for 12 minutes until the cookies are just set; shift the baking sheets for top to bottom and front to back half way through. 
  • Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Note: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

CREAM CHEESE BOWNIES

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES
BROWNIES
2 squares Baker’s semi sweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 squares Baker’s unsweetened baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
4 Jumbo eggs, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

  • Preheat oven to 350˚.
  • Spray pan with PURE.
  • Melt chocolate and butter in 30 second spurts until melted and well blended. Set aside.
  • Beat eggs and salt in a large mixing bowl until foamy.
  • Continue beating while gradually adding sugar, beating until thick and well blended.
  • Fold in chocolate mixture with a spatula until just barely incorporated.
  • Add vanilla.
  • Add flour and continue blending until just barely mixed.
  • Pour into 13×9 pan or brownie pan.

CREAM CHEESE TOPPING
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
1 Jumbo egg yolk
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

  • In a medium bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and creamy.
  • Add egg yolk and beat until well blended.
  • Add chocolate chips and blend well with a spatula.
  • Top brownies with cream cheese mixture.
  • Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
  • When cooled, store in refrigerator.
  • Reheat for 10 seconds to eat – YUMMY!

SQUIRT SODA APPLE DUMPLINGS

SQUIRT SODA APPLE DUMPLINGS
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & sliced into 8 wedges
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 cans Pillsbury crescent roll dough
1 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 can Squirt soda
4 tablespoons butter, sliced thin
  • Preheat oven to 350˚.
  • Spray a baking dish with PURE.
  • Submerge apple wedges into a bowl of ice water with the lemon juice.
  • Separate the crescent roll triangles.
  • Remove the apples and dry on paper towels.
  • Roll each apple in a triangle, starting at the small end.
  • Put the rolls in the baking dish.
  • In a small bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  • Sprinkle evenly over the rolls.
  • Top with the thin slices of butter.
  • Pour the soda over everything.
  • Bake until golden brown (about 40-45 minutes).
  • Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
SUBMITTED TO TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY.

MAPLE VANILLA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

One of hubby’s favorite cookies is chocolate chip.  I’ve experimented for years on getting the right combo of flavors.  According to hubby I’ve finally done it.
MAPLE VANILLA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
3 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/3 cups butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Jumbo eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract
pinch cinnamon
12 ounce package milk chocolate chips

  • Preheat oven to 375˚,
  • Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.
  • Cream butter.
  • Add sugars and cream again.
  • Add eggs and cream again.
  • Add vanilla and maple, beating until smooth.
  • Gradually add the flour mixture until we blended.
  • Add chocolate chips and nuts if desired.
  • Drop by spoon fulls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
  • Bake 10 minutes.

CINNAMON ROLL CAKE

I can’t remember where I first saw this recipe, but it is soooooo good and needs to be passed around again and again!

CAKE
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted

  • Mix everything together except for the butter. 
  • Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9×13 pan.

TOPPING
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon

  • Mix all the ingredients together until well combined. 
  • Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. 
  • Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

GLAZE
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
4-5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

  • Mix all the ingredients together until well combined. 
  •  Pour over top of warm cake.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cream Cheese Cookies–Save Room for Dessert

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends.
White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cream Cheese Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 oz bag of white chocolate chips
2 cups macadamia nuts
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside until later.
  • Beat the cream cheese and the butter on medium speed until creamy and light, should take about 2 minutes.
  • Add the brown sugar and then mix well.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and add the egg and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
  • Slowly, add the flour mixture a little at a time, until well combined.
  • Fold in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
  • I suggest placing the dough in the freezer or refrigerator for a few hours. In my experience the cookies come out better. But, this step isn’t necessary. Roll dough into walnut size balls then place on a greased cookie sheet.
  • Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges are golden in your pre-heated oven. Let rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely