Copy Cat Recipe: Mini Warm Delights

I've eyed these Mini Warm Delights in the grocery store for a looooong time, but always refused to buy them because you have to pay about $3.00 for two teeeeeny tiny little single serving cakes.  I also thought that if I wanted a chocolate cake that bad, I'd just whip up an entire cake.  Well, in a moment of weakness, I finally bought them a few weeks ago.  I thought they were good, but still didn't think they were worth $1.50 each.  However, I was quite consumed with the idea of making myself a delicious little cake in just a couple of minutes. So, I decided I'd try to copy the recipe. 


I searched the Internet far and wide and found a lot of different recipes, but none were really all that appealing to me.  So, I experimented with my own recipe.  It turned out fabulous!  Much better than I ever could have expected.  And, I did a little taste test with my man friend and we both determined that my little recipe beats the Mini Warm Delights!  My cakes are more moist and more dense than the Mini Warm Delights.  I also think mine have a stronger chocolate flavor.  Take that Betty Crocker! ;-)  


I will warn you, the recipe below makes massive quantities.  But, you have options.  You can  make the recipe as directed below and store your mix in Tupperware at home.  I've even placed individual servings into small sandwich baggies and taken them to work so that whenever I need chocolate, it's there for me.  Or you can just cut the recipe down and have less on hand -- if you do so, just make sure you maintain the chocolate cake mix to brownie mix ratio (1:2). 


What you need for the cakes:
1 Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Box of Instant Chocolate Pudding
2 Boxes of Chocolate Brownie Mix
Miniature Chocolate Chips
Water


What you do to make the mix:
1.  Pour the chocolate cake mix and instant pudding mix into one bowl.  Stir well to combine the two powders.
  
2.  Add the two boxes of brownie mix.  Stir well. 


THAT'S IT!


When you want to make yourself a little cake, put 1/4 cup of the mixture and a teaspoon or two of miniature chocolate chips into a ramekin dish.  Add 7 Tsps (or 2 Tblsps + 1 Tsp) of water.  Stir well with a fork.  Microwave for 30-45 seconds. Then enjoy!


I put 1/4 cup of the mixture + some miniature chocolate chips into some baggies and took those, a ramekin, and a teaspoon to work.  So, when I need a little pick-me-up, it's there -- more delicious than the Mini Warm Delights, less expensive, and just as convenient!


Also, if you add about 1 Tsp of  Fudge Ice Cream Topping (like this, not like Hersey's Syrup) to the center of the ramekin before you microwave, you end up with a mini lava cake.  See the gooey fudge there:

Experiment away with toppings for these little cakes!  We've added whipped topping and ice cream and loved both! 


Enjoy!

Energy Balls

My good friend Amber suggested that I try her AMAZING recipe for energy balls.  A while ago.  Like, last October.  I quickly opened the recipe because I get all excited when my friends and family share recipes with me!  Then I read the ingredients and quickly closed the recipe.  Pfffffft!  This recipe calls for wheat germ or flaxseed.   And no sugar.  At all!?!  NO SUGAR????  Are you kidding me?   Clearly, she didn't know me very well.  

So I thanked her for her recipe and told her I'd put it on my list of recipes to try.  Then I scoffed inside.  Because I knew there was nooooo way I was going to make that silly hippie food. 

Well, I've been feeling a little low on energy lately (helllllooo 15 hour work days).  So, this weekend I got desperate.  And decided to try her hippie energy balls.  I had most of the ingredients on hand, so why not?  And, I just knew that when I ate one and it tasted like cardboard, I'd be vindicated.  And I could return to sugar as my main source of energy. 

So, I made them.  And then I ate one.  And then I ate like one million more.  Because these things are deeeelicious, people.  There's no saving my pride here, folks.  I owe Amber one big fat apology.  So, here it is.  You were right and I was wrong.  (God, I hate how that sounds!)

Have a little faith in me and give these things a shot.  Seriously, I promise, you won't be disappointed.  They require very few ingredients and very little time.  They're scrumptious, healthy, and they give you energy.  What do you have to lose? 

I like these so much that I'm already trying to come up with variations.  But, for now, here is my version of Amber's  Energy Balls:

Here's what you need:

1 cup Quick Oats

2 heaping tbsp Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Honey

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 c wheat germ or flaxseed

2 tsp Vanilla

Here's what you do:

1.  Mix everything together. 

2.  Refrigerate for 1 hour. 

3.  Roll into one inch balls. 

4.  Enjoy!  Seriously -- that's it. 

FYI -- Amber's recipe also called for coconut and dried fruit.  I'm picky.  I don't like coconut, so I omitted that.  And dried fruit just didn't sound like it would fit all that well with all the other ingredients, so I kicked that out too.  I could have been wrong about that.  I've been wrong about other things.  *aaahheeemm*  Feel free to add those back in.  She suggested a cup of each. 

Cookie Pie

I ended up with one million left over Christmas Cookies.

One Million.  I counted.

Most of them were chocolate chip or M&M Cookies.  For some reason, when cookies sit on my counter in plastic baggies, they get crushed into tiny little pieces.  I think there is a little cookie smashing elf that comes around at night.  See:

Anyway, I didn't want all these cookies to go to waste, so I decided to try making a pie out of them.  This was super easy and it turned out delicious!  You could do this with any left over cookie you have, not just Christmas Cookies.

Here's what you need:
3 Cups of Cookie Crumbs
3 Tbsp Butter, melted
Dash of Salt *optional*
1 1/2 Cups of Cookie Chunks (or more to taste)
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip

Here's what you do:


1.  Use your blender or food processor to grind your cookies into cookie crumbs.  Grind enough cookies to make 3 cups of crumbs.

2.  Melt butter.

3.  Add butter to cookie crumbs.  Mix until well moistened.  I added a dash of salt because I buy unsalted butter and the crumbs and butter alone were a little too sweet for my taste.

4.  Press the cookie crumbs into the bottom and sides of a pie plate to form the crust.

5.  Beat the cream cheese until it is light and smooth.

6.  Add vanilla to cream cheese and mix well.

7.  Add powdered sugar to cream cheese mixture and mix well.

8.  Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture.

9.  Gently fold 1 cup of cookie chunks into the cream cheese mixture.

10.  Put the cream cheese mixture on top of the cookie pie crust.  Garnish with remaining cookie chunks.

11.  Refrigerate until firm.

That looks like a lot of steps, but, really, it's not that bad.  It's mostly that I added one ingredient at a time.  It took me about 10 minutes to make this pie.

I'm not a very good pie cutter, but here is what one of my "slices" looked like:

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies -- Day 7: Grinch Cookies

I saw these cookies and thought they'd be cute to try for the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.  My picture does them no justice.  They're called Grinch Cookies because they're supposed to be green.  Unfortunately, I was out of green food coloring so I combined blue and yellow.  My green was less than stellar.  But, they tasted delicious, so that makes up for the lack of color, right?  I think so.  These have a delicious minty flavor plus they have goey chocolate chips.  Perfect!  These are another cookie that are best eaten warm.  So, if yours doesn't come straight out of the oven, warm it up in the microwave before eating it.  Totally worth it. 


Adapted from:  I found this on pinterest.


Here's what you need:
2 1/2 cups Krusteaz Sugar Cookie Mix
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon Mint Extract
6 to 8 drops Green Food Color
1 Egg
28 Andes Mints, finely chopped
1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips


Here's what you do:

1.  Heat oven to 350. 

2.  Prepare the sugar cookie mix as directed. 

3.  Add mint extract and food coloring.  Mix well. 

4.  Stir in Andes Mints and Chocolate Chips

5.  Drop by teaspoon full onto cookie sheet. 

6.  Bake for about 8 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack immediately upon removal from oven.

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies -- Day 6: Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies

My birthday was not too long ago.  L-town's parents were very kind and got me this book.  Of course, I had to try one of the recipes immediately.  And, since I was in the middle of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, it worked out perfect.  These cookies turned out pretty good, but they're not my favorite.  They taste like a dark chocolate cookie.  I'm not a dark chocolate fan.  But, I ate a couple of them.  So, if you like dark chocolate, you would probably like these.  The name is quite fitting in terms of the texture -- they do have the texture of a brownie. 


Adapted from: Taste of Home Christmas Cookies & Candy


Here's what you need:
3/4 cup Butter, cubed
4 squared (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups Sugar
4 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Baking Cocoa
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips


Here's what you do:
1.  Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate. 
2.  Transfer melted butter and chocolate.  Add sugar and eggs.  Beat until smooth.
3.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. 
4.  Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  
5.  Stir in chocolate chips. 
6.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  I refrigerated for a couple nights and they still turned out fine. 
7.  Before baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
8.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.  
9.  Bake for about 8 minutes. 
10.  Remove from baking sheet and immediately put on cooling rack upon removing from oven. 


Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies -- Day 3: Hot Chocolate Cookies

I can think of few things more symbolic of cold winter weather, snow, and the holidays than a warm cup of hot chocolate.  I love hot chocolate.  My mom used to make me a cup every morning during the winter before I woke up for school.  Hot chocolate brings back some great memories for me.  And, guess what.  Someone made hot chocolate into a cookie!  Awesome!  These cookies taste just like the real deal.  They're definitely going into my cookie rotation.   


If you get these while they're fresh out of the oven, there is melty chocolate inside the cookies with melty marshmallow on top.  Delicious!  These definitely taste better when served warm, so if you don't get them fresh out of the oven, throw them in the microwave for a few seconds before eating them.  It will be totally worth it. 


Adapted from: Dine & Dash


Here's what you need:
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 1/4 cups Flour
4 packages Hot Chocolate Mix
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 cups Mini Marshmallows
2 cups Chocolate Chips
2 tablespoons Milk


Here's what you do:
1.  In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. 


2.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.


3.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, hot chocolate mix, salt and baking soda.


4. Slow add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Mix until well blended.


5.  My dough got a little dry and hard to work with, so I added the milk while mixing in the dry ingredients.  If your dough isn't dry, omit the milk.  If 2 tablespoons of milk isn't enough to make your dough workable, add more. 


6.  Stir in chocolate chips. 


7. Place by rounded teaspoon onto baking sheets.


8.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until slightly firm.


9.  As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, begin topping with marshmallows.


10.  After you've topped the cookies with marshmallows, remove them from the baking sheet to a cooling rack to finish cooling. 


Enjoy!

Super Moist Chooclate Cake with Cream Cheese Filling and Peppermint Frosting

(Yes, I lack enough self control to take a picture before trying my latest creation.  Sue me.) 

I'm sure to some people the title of this post makes it seem difficult.  It really isn't that hard.  Read on and give it a shot. . .


As I said before, I recently took a cake decorating class with my friend Kat.  The class was fun, but I've concluded that I'm more suited for making the cakes than decorating them.  Kat, on the other hand, can decorate a cake like it's nobody's business. 
Anyhow, this cake turned out really delicious.  The cake itself was very moist and stayed that way for the entire time it existed.  I make a delicious crock pot cake, which, among other delicious things, is incredibly moist (I'm sure that recipe will be posted here at some point in the future).  When making this cake, I tried to model it after the crock pot cake and it worked!  I made a simple cream cheese filling which was a great contrast to the peppermint icing that I made and decorated the cake with.

 Here's what I used for the cake:
1 Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
Eggs, Oil and water called for on the cake mix box
12 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 
8 Ounces of Sour Cream


Here's what I did to make the cake:
1.  Made the cake mix according to the box directions.


2.  Added the sour cream to the cake mix. 


3.  Stirred the chocolate chips into the cake mix.


4.  Baked according to directions on the box of the cake mix.


5.  Set the cake on a cooling rack.  After it had cooled for about 10 minutes, I removed it from the pan and returned it to the cooling rack to finish cooling.




Here's what I used to make the filling:
8 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla


Here's what I did to make the filling:
1.  Mixed the cream cheese and vanilla together.


2.  Mixed the powdered sugar into the cream cheese, 1/4 of a cup at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition of sugar.




Here's what I used to make the icing:
1 Cup Solid Vegetable Shortening (Crisco)
1 Tsp CLEAR Peppermint Flavoring
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
7-8 Tbsp Water
1 Tbsp Meringue Powder
Dash of Salt


Here's what I did to make the icing:
1.  Mixed together the vegetable shortening, meringue powder, and powdered sugar.

2.  Mixed the peppermint flavoring into the icing mixture.

3.  Added water and mixed into the icing.  Tailor the number of tablespoons of water you use to the consistency of icing that you are looking for.

4.  Add a dash of salt and fully mix into the icing.


The icing has a great texture -- very light and fluffy.  The salt in the icing helps tone it down a bit so it's not excessively sweet.

Here's what I did to assemble the cake:1.  Cut fully cooled cake in half.  Removed the top half and placed to the side. 

Check out this post for tips on cutting the cake in half.    

2.  Spread the cream cheese filling on top of the bottom layer of the cake.

3.  Replaced the top layer of the cake on top of the chocolate mousse.

4.  Iced the cake.

I stored my cake in the refrigerator to help preserve it for as long as possible.  I personally prefer this cake served cold, straight from the fridge.  But, it tasted great at room temperature as well.  

Enjoy!

The Best Chocolate Cookies Ever.

 So, I made these for my book club.  I cook for them a lot.  :-)  I can take no credit for these because I followed this recipe exactly, but these were way too good to not share.  I picked this recipe because I had buttermilk that needed to be used and I wasn't really interested in making biscuits.  These turned out to be a fabulous find!  They were crispy, yet chewy.  They stayed soft for days, literally.  And, the best part, the chocolate chips stayed melty (even days later) so that when you bit into them you got that fabulous taste of just baked cookies.  And they're chocolate on chocolate.  Beat that. 

Seriously, I think I'm going to have to make more of these tonight.  That. Good. 

Source: Baking Bites

Here's what I used:

2 Cups Flour

1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Cup Butter

3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

2 Cups Sugar

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

2/3 Cup Buttermilk

2+ Cups Chocolate Chips

Here's what I did:

1.  Preheated the oven to 350 degrees.  Lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.  Whisked together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Set that bowl aside.

3.  In a small bowl, I melted the butter.

4.  In a large bowl, I combined the melted butter and the cocoa powder.  Do this while the butter is still warm.

5.  Whisked together the butter and the cocoa powder until the mixture was smooth.

6.  Whisked the sugar, vanilla, and buttermilk into the cocoa powder mixture.

7.  Stirred the dry ingredients into the wet ones.  I did this slowly, pouring a fraction of the dry ingredients into the wet ones and stirring until completely combined and then pouring in more.

8.  Stirred the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.  ** This is the only place I deviated from the recipe.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips.  I happened to be craving chocolate the day I made these, so I threw in an extra handful or two.  Because, clearly, chocolate chocolate chip cookies would not have enough chocolate in them if made as directed.**

9. Spooned the cookie dough onto the parchment paper lined cookie sheets.  Be sure to leave plenty of room between the cookies as they do spread out quite a bit while cooking.

10.  Baked for 11 minutes.  Remove them from the oven when they are set along the edges.  Don't cook them for too long or you'll end up with dry cookies.

11.  Let them stand on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack to cool.

I think I'm going to try these with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips -- I'll let you know how it goes.

Enjoy!

Mini Pankcake Muffins

I LOVE miniature anything.  So, naturally, these caught my eye.  I gave them a shot and they were worth it - they really did taste like pancakes!  I served them with maple syrup for dipping.  Delicious!


Slightly adapted from: Bakerella


Here's what I used:


1 Cup Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2/3 Cup Buttermilk
1 Egg
2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp. Butter, melted
1 Cup Chocolate Chips


Here's what I did:


1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Sprayed a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.


2.  Combine Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt and Sugar in bowl with a whisk.  Set that bowl to the side.


3.  In another bowl combine Buttermilk, Egg, Maple Syrup, and Melted Butter until combined.


4.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine.


5.  Stir in the chocolate chips.


6.  Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.


     Hint:  I used a tablespoon to scoop the batter from the bowl to the muffin 
     tins.  It ended up being just about the right about of batter and helped to
     minimize the mess.


7.  Bake for about 8-9 minutes.  Remove from the oven when they are golden brown and spring back when touched.


Let them cool for a minute or two before removing them from the pan.  Serve with regular pancake toppings.  You can add whatever filling you want.  I think blueberries would taste great.


Enjoy!

S'Mores Cookies

I was deprived of S'mores at the beginning of the summer.  I found it very traumatic.  You can read all about it here.  The result was a S'mores themed cooking frenzy.  These cookies were one of the results of that cooking frenzy.  As promised in my S'Mores Bars post, here are the S'mores Cookies I made.  These were delicious and perfect for the summer time.  And, they resulted in a conversation with a friend that went something like this:


As I was assembling the cookies to bake he walked into the kitchen. Stopped.  And stared.  For a long time.  Then he said:  "Wait a minute.  What's going on here!?!"
Me:  "What?"
Him: "Graham Crackers?  And Cookie Dough?  And Marshmallows?  AND Chocolate!?!"
Me:  "Yep."
Him:  Long pause.  "Hmmmmmmm. . . "
Me:  "Am I blowing your mind?"
Him:  "Yep.  You're blowing my mind."  Then he turned around and walked away.


I found it quite amusing.  Anyhoo. . .


Slightly adapted from: The Girl Who Ate Everything


Here's what I used:
11 Tablespoons unsalted Butter, softened
1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
½ Cup Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
½ Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 ½ Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages Graham Crackers, broken into squares

Here's what I did:
I Preheated the oven to 375 degrees and lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper.


I laid out the graham crackers side by side on the pan as close as possible (they should be touching).


In a bowl I whisked together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Then I sat that bowl to the side.


In another bowl, I creamed the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy.  Then I added the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.  After that, I added the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.  Finally, I folded in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Then I stuck the dough in the refrigerator.  It needs to stay there for at least 1 hour.  It can stay for as long as overnight.  I left it there long enough to make the S'Mores Bars . 

After the dough had chilled, I placed a tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart.  The result is that you'll have more than 1 ball of dough on each graham cracker (about three balls per 2 graham crackers).  Then I pressed down slightly on the dough with my fingertips.


I baked them for about 5 minutes.  I removed the pan from the oven and pushed the Hershey's Bar pieces into the tops of the cookies.  I then put the pan back in the oven and baked for about 6 minutes longer.  I removed the pan when the dough was turning golden brown.  Mine looked like this straight out of the oven:

 Look at the ooey gooey goodness:

I cooled them on a wire rack.  Don't cut them until they are completely cool.


Enjoy!

No Bake Cookies

I can cook up a storm when it comes to baking cookies.  I've never been able to make a  No Bake Cookie.  Not even to save my life.  Seriously, if someone told me I had to make a no bake cookie or die, I'd be as good as gone. . .  until . . . I found this recipe!  I conquered the No Bake!

I don't even like No Bakes.  The texture is unpleasant to me (I'm finicky about the texture of my food).  That probably has something to do with my inability to make them.  I did try one of these cookies after I made them.  It tasted pleasant, but I still couldn't get over that texture. 

The people who I shared them with (read: the poor souls who are kind enough to eat the results of my never ending recipe experiment) reported that the No Bake Cookies were really good.  And these are the kind of folks who are not gonna blow smoke for me.  So, you're just gonna have to rely on their opinions and give it a shot yourself!

Slightly adapted from: Indecisive Baker

Here's what I used:

1/2 Stick of Butter
1/2 Cup of Milk
2 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Tsp Salt
3 Heaping Tbsps Cocoa
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
2 3/4 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
 
Here's what I did:

In a saucepan I melted the Butter and then added the Milk, Sugar, Vanilla, Salt and Cocoa.  I let that mixture boil for 90 seconds (don't let it boil longer than that!).   

After the 90 seconds, I removed the pan from the heat and immediately added the Peanut Butter.  After I mixed the Peanut Butter in completely, I added the Oats.  (You may use slightly more or less oats than I did -- somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 cups) 

After the Oats were mixed in, I added the Miniature Marshmallows and stirred just until it was well combined.  

Finally, I dropped the cookies by heaping Teaspoon full onto waxed paper.  Let them cool completely before you eat them.

Enjoy!  

French Vanilla Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

So, I happen to have a realllly great chocolate chip cookie recipe.  But, I’m always looking for a better one.  I’m looking for one that will make me say “Wowza!”  This, is not that recipe.  However, if you’re looking for a moist chocolate chip cookie that stays soft for a long time, this is your recipe.  A friend of mine who was singing the praises of these cookies ended the conversation with, “I guess I’m just a cookie simpleton.”  Well, I guess that makes me a cookie snob. . .

Anywho, as I looked around for a recipe to try, I noticed a lot of people raving about cookie recipes that have dry pudding mix in them.  So, I decided to give it a whirl.  I basically combined a whole bunch of different recipes into one and here is what I came up with:

Here’s what I used:

1 Cup of Butter, Room Temperature

¾ Cup Light Brown Sugar

¼ White Sugar

5 oz French Vanilla Pudding Mix

2 Eggs

1¼  Tsp Vanilla

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Salt

2 ¼ Cups All Purpose White Flour

3 Cups Chocolate Chips

¼ Cup 2% Milk

Here’s what I did:

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.  Then I creamed the butter and both sugars together.  I added the pudding mix to the creamed butter and mixed well. 

     Hint:  I didn’t have any butter at room temperature when I wanted to make these cookies, so I preheated

     the oven, took the butter out of the refrigerate and cut it into small cubes.  I then put the cubed butter in

     a bowl and set the bowl on top of the preheating oven.  I left the bowl there while I gathered the rest of

     my ingredients and by the time I was ready to cream the butter and sugars, the butter was close to

     room temperature.

My local store did not have a 5 oz box of French Vanilla Pudding, so I bought two smaller boxes and guessed about how much pudding I was using. 

I added the eggs and vanilla to the dough and made sure they were mixed well.

In a separate bowl, I combined the Baking Soda, Salt and Flour.  

I slowly poured the dry ingredients into the dough and mixed it all together.  Finally I added the chocolate chips. 

I like LOTS of chocolate chips in my cookies, so you may want to decrease or increase the amount of chocolate chips you use, depending on how you like your cookies.  Towards the end of mixing everything together, my dough seemed a little dry, so I added the Milk to moisten everything up. 

I rolled the dough into balls and placed them on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

I put them in the oven to bake for about 10 minutes.  Start checking your cookies at about 8 minutes to make sure you don’t overbake them.  This is what mine looked like fresh out of the oven:   

 

This recipe made about 72 cookies for me, but I make really small cookies – almost bite sized. 

Enjoy!

Monster Cookies??

I'd never even heard of Monster Cookies until this Christmas when my mom started mentioning them.  The way she talked, I thought they were some new fangled invention.   Clearly, I was wrong.  A couple of weeks ago, I was cruising my recipe websites trying to come up with a good recipe to make and a friend suggested Monster Cookies.  So I gave it a shot. 

I adapted this recipe: Paula Dean's Monster Cookies
Here's what I used:

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter

1 stick butter, softened 

1/2+ cup multi-colored chocolate candies (M&Ms)

1/2+ cup chocolate chips

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (Not the same thing as instant otameal)

Here's what I did:

Preheated the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lined the cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Combined the eggs and sugars. Mixed well. Added the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. 

     HINT: Make sure  the butter really is softened.  I prefer to let it set out at room
               temperature to soften rather than heating it up in the microwave.

Mixed well. Stired in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, baking soda, and oatmeal. Droped by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the parchment paper.

Baked 10 minutes.

     HINT: On your first batch, make sure you start checking on them around 8 minutes as
               oven times vary.  You do not want to overbake these cookes.

Removed from oven.  Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks.  This is what they looked like fresh out of the oven:

See how they're still a little bit gooey in the middle?  That's how I like 'em!

These cookies turned out to be really good.  The base of the cookie tastes a lot like a peanut butter cookie.  I don't like peanut butter cookies, so I expected to not like these, but I just kept eating them.  Funny how that happens . . .

These cookies were very soft and stayed that way for days.  I put them in plastic baggies after they cooled and they kept just fine.  I will warn you though, this recipe made a lot of cookies.  A LOT, a lot.  Like, 72+ cookies.  And that was after I ate half my body weight in dough.

Enjoy!