Marble Brownies

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 squares unsweetened chocolate (or 5 TB cocoa)

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

Combine margarine, water and chocolate (or cocoa) in saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in combined flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add eggs and sour cream; mix well. Pour into greased and floured 15 x 10 x 1 inch jelly roll pan.

For cream cheese mixture:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

Combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing until well blended. Blend in egg. Spoon over chocolate batter. Cut through batter with knife several times for marble effect. Sprinkle with 6 ounces of chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes or until tests done.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been in a recipe slump lately...trying lots of new things, but nothing good enough to share.

Finally I went back to a tried-and-true recipe. This recipe makes a yummy cookie. I love the blended chocolate chips and oatmeal because it disperses them equally through the cookie. They are melt-in-your-mouth good.

They make a lot, so I bake some and roll some of the dough into tubes, syran-wrap them, and stick them in the freezer. When I need a little treat I pull out the dough, slice it up, and throw them in the oven. When frozen they might need to cook a tad longer..but not much.



Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 12 oz. pkg chocolate chips

Cream together sugars and butter. Add eggs. Mix in salt, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and flour. Blend together (in blender) oatmeal and chocolate chips. Once blended, add to other mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Mold dough to golf-ball size and flatten down. Bake for 6-8 minutes at 400.

Snickers Cookies

I tried this recipe from HERE and they were FABULOUS! So, I'm posting them here for you all to crave and enjoy. You really should consider making these beauties.

Snickers Cookies
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C. butter, room temperature
1/2 C. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 C. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
30 mini sized Snickers candy bars. (one bag)


In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, and peanut butter. Add vanilla and egg. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to peanut mixture. Shape dough smoothly around each candy bar, making sure the bar is completely covered, without haveing a lot of excess dough. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bakt at 350 and check at 12 minutes, and take out when they are slightly golden. Cool a minute or so and remove from cookie sheets. They are FABULOUS when they are warm and just as good after they've cooled.

Coconut Macaroons

A long time ago Oprah highlighted these (made by some company) on her "Favorite Things" show. Well, I love macaroons, and these ones looked divine so I searched high and low for the recipe. Here it is, I've made them many times...and yes, they are fabulous.

Macaroons:

3 C. Shredded Coconut

1/3 C. Sweetened Condensed Milk

3/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3/4 tsp. Almond Extract

Chocolate Ganache:

1/2 Milk Chocolate chips (ok, this actually calls for semi-sweet, but I think it's better with Milk)

3 Tbs. Heavy Cream

*Preheat oven to 350

*Dump the shredded coconut into a large bowl

*Stir vanilla and almond extract into the condensed milk

*Drizzle the condensed milk over the coconut while tossing the coconut to coat it thoroughly

*When Coconut and condensed milk are well-combined, use a 1 1/4 inch sorbet scoop to mold the macaroons. Press the macaroon mixture firmly into the scoop, and then turn it out onto a sheet pan. Bake the macaroons for 12-15 minutes or until you see the top of the macaroons beginning to turn light brown. Remove the macaroons from the oven and let them cool.

*As the macaroons cool, prepare the chocolate ganache by combining the chocolate chips with the cram in a small glass or ceramic cup or bowl. Microwave this on 50% power for 1 minute, and then gently stir the chocolate. If the chocolate is not completely melted after a couple minutes of stirring, microwave it again for another 30 seconds on half power and stir. Be careful to not overcook the chips or the chocolate will seize up and your ganache will be grainy instead of smooth. If that happens, start over.

*When the chocolate is melted and smooth, pour it into a squirt bottle (I use a plastic bag with a TINY TINY corner cut off) and drizzle it in thin streams over each macaroon. Let macaroons sit out for a few hours. At room temperature of 72 degrees the chocolate should set up in 3 or 4 hours. When the chocolate has set, store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 14 days at room temperature or for up to 4 weeks in the fridge.

-Just posting this is making me want to make them. When I do (tonight most likely) I'll take a picture and post it up.

THE cookie recipe

I don't know where this originated BUT I'm the pickiest cookie eater. Most cookies don't even get ONE bite from me because they don't look good enough. These...are good enough! PROMISE!

1 C. Butter (softened)
1 C. Brown Sugar
1 C. Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Flour
2 1/2 C. Oatmeal, blended (I don't blend mind to a powder, I like the little oatmeal chunks)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1-12 oz bad of chocolate chips (semi or milk)
1-4 oz. Hershey Bar (grated, FREEZE it first to avoid the big chocolate mess)

Mix Sugars and butters, add eggs and vanilla...then the flour and oatmeal. Then the Chocolate Chips..(you knwo the drill). When you put the chocolate shavings in, don't mix it too much. You don't want the shavings to MELT and then it will just become chocolate cookie dough. That's not what this is. I like to 'freeze' the shavings while I make the rest of the dough to make sure it's cold and has less chance of meltage.

Bakd at 350 for 8 minutes. This is an awesome cookie recipe where you can freeze your little cookie dough balls and have cookies on hand. If you do that, then bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Yummers!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Today I was in desperate need of a comfort food, so I baked one of my nostalgic favorites.

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

1/2 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Nutmeg
1 cup Nuts (optional)
1 cup Raisins
3/4 cup Shortening
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 cups Oatmeal

Add water to raisins and boil for 5 minutes. Let cool. Beat together sugar and shortening. Add egg and beat well. Then add vanilla, cooled raisin mixture and blend. Then add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, oatmeal, and nuts. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Note: For a healthy option I substitute applesauce for at least half the shortening. It also makes the cookies lighter.