Once a month, it's imperative that I go through my pantry. You see, I am an impulsive food shopper. I follow my shopping list to a tee, but when it comes to sale items, especially baking supplies or candy, all bets are off. I will buy them, throw them into the cupboard when I get home and forget all about it until I start the process all over again the following month. Ultimately what happens is the need to become creative and use up the items before they start growing worms or become a science experiment. It's not a sale if it ends up in the trash.

This month, I found a delicious bag of chocolate covered pretzels stashed in the dark corner of the pantry. I was surprised they were up there only because they are usually gone on the ride home from the grocery store. As I was debating whether to toss them or just eat them, I compromised and decided to use make cookies with them.

To make a long story short...putting them into the cookie batter was the best decision I made. From this moment on, these are my new go-to cookie when I'm hankering for something sweet, something salty, something crunchy or just craving a damn good cookie.

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Cookies.

A damn good cookie.

CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZEL COOKIES

2¼ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cocoa

1 cup butter

½ cup peanut butter

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups coarsely chopped chocolate covered pretzels

1 cup chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa in small bowl; set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar until creamy. Add peanut butter and vanilla extract in until incorporated. Add egg and mix well.

Gradually beat in flour mixture and mix until everything had been well blended. With a spoon, stir in pretzels and chunks/chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. Using an ice cream scoop is super helpful!

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove and cool completely.

Yield: 3½ dozen cookies.

Happy Baking!

My BFF is going away on a much needed romantical getaway with her boyfriend this weekend. It's been a long time coming for the two, so naturally, I am super excited for them.

Since my last blog, I'm on a mission to find creative ways to use the 10,436 Chips Ahoy cookies I now have hanging around. In essence, I also wanted to make a nice treat they can take with them to enjoy while snugging by a crackling fire.

Then it hits me. Beth LOVES cheesecake.

One minute later, I get hit with another epiphany. I remembered ripping something out of a magazine when I was visiting Mom over the summer. It was a recipe for Cheesecake Cookie Cups.

The gears in my mind started to turn and, suddenly, it hits me. Since the base of a cheesecake is essentially finely crumbled cookies, the chocolate chip cookies would be a very nice substitute to the usual graham cracker crust - or in this recipe's case, raw chocolate chip cookie dough. Bonus for me since it will give me the same end result - a chocolate chip cookie base!

Yes! Sweet victory! Looks like my BFF and I will both score - just in different ways.

Yeah, get your head out of the gutter. They'll be ice fishing and playing scrabble all weekend. 

12 chocolate chip cookies - I used Chips Ahoy - of course.
1 block cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ can cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 325ºF.

Paper line 12 muffin cups. Place one chocolate chip cookie in the bottom of the liner.

I adore blueberries. One of my favorite ways to use them are in a Buckle. Not on a belt silly.

Blueberry Buckle has always a staple dessert at our family's Fourth of July picnics, accompanied with a nice, big blob of vanilla ice cream on the side. Although this recipe has been passed around a gazillion times between family and friends, tweaked this way and that, each individual swearing that theirs is the best, we always stuck to the original, so I'll stick to what I know.

It's a great alternative to muffins and a delicious way to use up those 6 extra pints of blueberries that you may or may not have bought when they were on sale at the supermarket for the great price of 3 pints for $5 before supermarket management decided to poach wallets and raise the price to $3.99 a pint a week later.

So very uncool.

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE

½ cup butter, room temperature

2 cups flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon peel
2 cups blueberries, preferably fresh, but frozen works fine.

The mind is a funny thing.

I can't remember what I did two weeks ago, but I remember being eight years old like it only happened yesterday.

Growing up, Mom never let us have too much sugar. Sugar cereal in the cupboard was unheard of and soda was definitely out of the question. She loved to bake, so we always had homemade treats on hand. However, Mom's idea of a treat were rhubarb teacakes or cheddar muffins. Not very appetizing to a child.

As I got older, I was thankful for Mom's diligence when it came to healthy eating habits and making us eat pounds of fruit and vegetables, because as an adult, I lost all willpower and discovered the love of baking.

When I saw there was a copycat version of these beauties I could make at home, I was super happy!

It's a good thing when one finds a recipe that claims to deliver the likeness of a much loved snack food; it's a bad thing when it actually delivers on its promise and one eats the entire batch. Seriously folks, they are amazing, if not better than the real deal.

Don't say you haven't been warned, but you WILL thank me.

HOMEMADE OATMEAL CREAM PIES

1 cup butter

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1½ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1½ cups quick oats

In the large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined; add vanilla.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and oats. Add to the creamed mixture. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Drop by tablespoons of dough on cookie sheet, 1 inch apart.

Bake at 350ºF for about 9 minutes, or until they are just starting to brown around the edges.

Place cookie sheet on wire rack to cool for 2 minutes, transfer to wire rack.

To fill cookies:

Drop a generous tablespoon of filling onto the flat side of the cookie. Sandwich with another cookie, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie.

Place oatmeal creme pies into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up before serving.

Yield: About 12-18 good sized cookies.

Happy Baking!

What do you do with an active 4-year-old, her 2 just-as-active playdates, a few opened boxes of cereal that no one wants to eat anymore, half eaten chocolate from past holidays (yes, leftover chocolate. It does happen), 5 day old tuna noodle casserole, and a too-cold-to-go-outside kind of day?

You make Muddy Buddies. And throw the tuna noodle casserole away. Ick.

This recipe is both amazing and super simple - and if you have read my past blogs, you know how much I like simple. I found this recipe on the back of a Rice Chex cereal box a couple of years ago. It's one of those recipes that, because of it's simplicity to make, can get overused, but if you can’t find the cereal brand where you live, you crave incessantly. 

I have tweaked this recipe a few times, mainly adding things to it, only to come back to the original everytime. Like the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". This delightful creation falls under that category. It's sweet, salty, and crunchy goodness all in one. 

There is nothing like sugaring up your child's friends, sending them home, and seeing their Mom the next day at school with an extra large coffee and under eye bags to her chin, wondering why her children were up until 11pm.

Oops.


Adapted from the back of the Chex Cereal box.

9 cups Rice or Corn Chex Cereal -  If you can't find Chex, Crispix Cereal is the next best thing.
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips**
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups powdered sugar

In large bowl, measure cereal; set aside. I used both Rice & Corn Chex.

**This is where my little spin on the recipe comes in. Rather than using chocolate chips, this is a great recipe to use up any solid chocolate bars you may have lying around.

Substitute one cup chocolate chips for one cup chopped chocolate bars and follow recipe accordingly. If you are using all 100% milk chocolate, I recommend throwing some dark chocolate in to counterbalance the sweetness. White chocolate works well, but I wouldn't suggest using only white as it will yield a very sweet mixture.

Pour chocolate mixture over cereal.  

Stir until evenly coated.

Pour into resealable food-storage plastic bag. Add powdered sugar.

Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Yield: 18 servings (½ cup each)

Happy Baking!

I adore breakfast food. One of my favorite breakfast foods is french toast. There are so many ways to make and enjoy it that I have lost count. I've had it stuffed, grilled, candy coated, you name it. Then I had it in casserole form and let me tell you, it's like dessert in a baking dish.

That and a new kitchen appliance never hurts.

FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

1 loaf challah or egg bread - about 8-10 cups. Slightly stale bread works fine.

7 eggs

3 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter
Maple syrup 

Generously grease a 13x9 baking dish.

Tear bread into bite size pieces and spread out evenly into prepared baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Pour over bread and pat down lightly so bread absorbs egg mixture. Dot with butter, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Next morning, place foil-covered dish into a cold oven, then crank oven to 350ºF. Bake covered for 40 minutes. I like the casserole to have a soft and fluffy consistency inside while the crust has a slight crunchy top.

Serve immediately, drizzled with maple syrup and a nice cup of tea.

Yields: 8-12 servings - or one big serving. Don't worry, we won't judge.

Happy Baking!

VERMONT MAPLE COOKIES

½ cup butter
¼ cup REAL maple syrup
2 ¾ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

When it comes to the country that knows how to create unique desserts with even more interesting names (Spotted Dick or Banoffee Pie to name a few) there is one land that understands the need for stodgy goodness.

Home of the Chip Butty, it's the United Kingdom.

Here's a little geography lesson for you. Don't worry, you won't be tested, but don't be surprised if you feel a bit cheated from the educational system.

The United Kingdom is made up of 4 countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Great Britain, however, only consists of England, Scotland, and Wales. It's kind of like the USA in a way. Although there are Fitty States (yeah, that's right, I said Fitty), 48 of them are contiguous States. Alaska and Hawaii are still members of our great land, they're just not connected to the same land mass. Same goes here. Just as each state has their own flag, each country in the UK also has their own flag. 

Anyway, we were in England a few years back for a wedding. We were staying at my husband's mate's parents house. These are some of the most wonderful people you will ever meet. I just adore them.

Mama Angela is an amazing cook. One night after a gorgeous meal of Lancashire Hot Pot, she brought out her homemade Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert. Oh. My. I took one bite and I literally needed a moment. I mean, I had Sticky Toffee Pudding before, but nothing like this!  My daughter was 2 at the time and I don't think I ever heard her so quiet at the dinner table.

This dessert should come with a disclaimer: Be prepared to lick the bowl clean and wet yourself a little.

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

Cake:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
2 cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs

Preheat oven at 350 F.

Butter 8-inch square cake pan.

Put dates and ½ cup water in a small saucepan. Boil over medium heat until the dates are very soft - about 5 minutes. Like so....

Transfer dates into a food processor and puree. (You should have about a cup). Let cool for 10 minutes.



Whisk flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder in a bowl; set aside. 

In separate bowl, cream butter and brown sugar together until pale in color. Add eggs one at a time until well blended.

Incorporate flour mixture in small batches, alternating with the date mixture until all is well blended.

Pour into prepared 8-inch pan. I like to do intricate designs in all my cakes. It's like my signature move.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Toffee Sauce:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

¼ cup unsalted butter

Add the 3 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure everything is melted and incorporated. Pour over cake.

Note: Both cake and toffee sauce are best enjoyed warm.

Happy Baking!