Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

I've discovered the secret to chocolate chip cookies that never get hard... cream cheese! These little cookies are so perfect and delicious!! You'll amaze any and every one who tries these cookies. They literally do melt in your mouth.

You will need:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 tbsp. imitation vanilla
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 large egg

To start:
1.  Let the butter and cream cheese set out for about 30 minutes to get soft.  If the cream cheese is not soft enough, it will ruin the consistency of the cookies.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg, and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl mix together all the dry ingredients, including the chocolate chips.
4.  Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture 1/3 at a time.
5.  Heat oven to 325 F.  Line a 9x13 cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop cookies onto it.  This batter is runny, so don't try to to roll into balls unless you want sticky hands! Drop them 1 1/2 inch apart because they will spread.
6.  Bake for 20-23 minutes or until cookies don't jiggle when the pan is shaken.
7.  Allow the cookies to cool down completely before removing them from the sheet, otherwise the bottoms will fall out.

Yields: 3 dozen small cookies

I absolutely adore these cookies. Bake with caution: they are extremely rich and highly addictive.

Happy Baking!!

Crepes, ooh la la!

I absolutely love making crepes! They're basically just French pancakes. They're very simple to make and delicious to eat! This recipe makes 12-14 crepes, depending on the size of your pan and how thick you make them:)

You will need:
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1  1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
3 tbsp. of melted butter
Additional sugar for sprinkling.

To start:
1. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Pour the milk into a medium sized measuring bowl. You'll want to let the milk sit out for about 10-15 minutes before adding butter. Add the vanilla, eggs, and butter and whisk with a fork. When hot butter comes into contact with cold milk, the butter thickens and ruins the consistency of the mixture.
3. Pour the dry ingredients in with the wet and whisk until there are no lumps.
4. Grease a small frying pan and turn your stove to medium heat.
5. Once the pan is heated, pour about a 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan. Tilt the pan until the batter is spread over the whole pan.
6. Let it cook until you can see it solidifying and the edges are slightly brown. Sprinkle some sugar over the surface of crepe then, using a spatula, flip the crepe. Sprinkle more sugar on the other side.
7. Once the crepe is fully cooked on both sides, flip it once more to make sure the sugar melts on both sides.

You can eat these plain or with toppings! Some like jam or chocolate sauce, but I drizzle honey over them and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over that. You can serve them with fruit for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! They're simple to make and so tasty! I hope you found this recipe helpful and easy to understand.

Happy cooking!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Hello! I'm so excited about this new raisin bread recipe! I've made it three times already this week. Its so sweet and has a warm taste. I've gifted it a few times and have gotten great responses! It's a fairly simple recipe and I hope you enjoy it!

You will need:

1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup oil (or melted butter)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. of cinnamon
1 tsp. of baking soda
1  1/2 tsp. vanilla
a pinch of salt
1  1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup of raisins
OPTIONAL: Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling.


To start:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix the brown sugar, applesauce, egg, and oil together on low speed.
3. Next, blend in the cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Use a rubber spatula to smooth out any clumps that might form.
4. On medium speed, blend in the flour.
5. Mix in the raisins on low/medium speed.
6. Grease a loaf pan. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the sides and bottom of the loaf before pouring the batter. Once batter is poured, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top as well.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Happy Baking!

Vanilla extract or imitation?

So what's the difference between imitation vanilla and vanilla extract? About three dollars. I was at the store one day and the little bottle of vanilla extract was $4! I saw a much larger bottle of imitation vanilla for about $1.50, so naturally, I bought both. I tried each of them in some sugar cookies and found that I preferred the imitation! It was sweeter and had a lovelier aroma. I also tend to put more vanilla than recipes call for, so having such a big bottle for such a reasonable price made me feel better about that habit. Unless you just can't live without pure vanilla extract, I recommend imitation vanilla 100%.

Happy cooking!

Eggnog Latte

Have you ever woken up in December not really in the Christmas OR morning mood? I tried adding eggnog to my coffee as creamer this morning and it was GREAT! Just the perfect amount of Christmas in my joe:). Although it's pretty easy, here's a recipe;)

You will need:
3/4 cup eggnog
a half cup of coffee
1/4 tsp. vanilla.
OPTIONAL: Whipped cream (in a can)

To start:
1. Pour the coffee in a mug and add the eggnog & vanilla.
2. Stir until sufficiently mixed.
3. OPTIONAL Squirt some whipped cream on top of your latte.

Viola! You now have a steaming cup of eggnog coffee! It may sound a bit strange, but I can assure you, it was pretty wonderful:) I hope you enjoyed this recipe!

Merry Christmas & Happy Cooking!

The BEST Sugar Cookies.

If you love sugar cookies, this is the recipe for you! It's perfect for Christmas cookies and they're super easy to make (not to mention SO YUMMY!)  This recipe is great when using cookie cutters and they're easily decorated. :)

 You will need:

8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature (salted or unsalted.)

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups flour (plus some for sprinkling.)

OPTIONAL: 1 tbsp. milk

 

Getting started:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

 2. First, leave the butter out for about 30 minutes so it can get soft. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.  For drop cookies, add some milk to this step.

3. Next, add in the flour. If it's too much to add in all at once, feel free to add about a half cup at a time. *You may need to knead the dough with your hands. 

4. Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Rub some flour on a rolling pin and roll out some of your dough to about a half inch. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out some shapes and move them to a greased cookie sheet. 

5. Put in cookie sheets in the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

6. Decorate your cookies with cookie frosting. Click here for the recipe.

I love this recipe so much and it yields about 36-42 cookies depending on the size of your cutter. It's great for Valentine's, Christmas, or any time of the year. I don't think I'll ever use another sugar cookie recipe again! I've made them several times and everyone absolutely loves them! I hope you found this recipe helpful and enjoy making these sweet cookies:)  

Happy Cooking!

Fantastic Fondant

Whenever I'm making cupcakes, (which I do quite often) I like to use fondant to fancy 'em up! Sometimes it's hard to make frosting look nice, but you can't go wrong with this recipe!

You will need:
1. 1 cup light corn syrup
2. 1 cup shortening
3. 1/2 tsp. salt
4. 1 tsp. clear vanilla extract
5. 2 pounds of confectioners sugar
OPTIONAL: Food colouring

To start:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the corn syrup and shortening using an electric mixer.
2. Next, mix in the vanilla and salt.
3. Now, gradually knead in the confectioners sugar.
NOTE: Don't use a mixer for step #3. It will get too thick and stuck in the mixer.
4. If desired, add a few drops of food colouring and knead.
5. Put the fondant away in the fridge for about 25 minutes before using.

To use:
1. On a clean surface, sprinkle confectioners sugar and roll out your fondant.
2. If your using it for a cake, cut the fondant to fit your cake and smooth it out around the edges.
3. For cupcakes, find a cup that fits your cupcakes and use it to cut out circles. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the cupcakes for the fondant to adhere to.
4. You can use leftover fondant to make shapes using small cookie cutters.

I hope you found this recipe helpful for the next time you make a cake or cupcakes! Happy Cooking!

The Best Brownies EVER. (forreal)

These seriously have to be the best brownies I've ever tried. I made a batch for my family to taste and they were so good I just had to make another!

You will need:
1. 2/3 cup un-sweetened cocoa powder
2. 2 cups of white granulated sugar
3. 4 eggs
4. 1 cup all purpose flour
5. 1 cup vegetable oil (melted butter will suffice)
6. 2 tsp. vanilla extract
7. 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
8. 1/2 tsp. salt
9. Two large bowls
10. Two large spoons

To begin:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9x13 pan.
3. In one large bowl mix the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla.
4. In the second bowl mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
5. Pour the dry mixture into the egg mixture about a half cup at a time and stir.
6. Once thoroughly mixed, pour into greased pan.
7. Bake for 35-45 minutes.
8. Once finished baking, let cool for about 3 minutes.
9. Cut and enjoy!

I love these brownies because they're better than a box-mix and you get satisfaction of knowing you made them from scratch! I hope you found this recipe helpful and easy. If these aren't the best brownies you've tasted, post your recipe in the comment section:)

Happy Cooking!