Chocolate Chip Muffins (from a cake mix)

by penji1

This is a fast, easy, and yummy recipe, a good one to have on hand for quick muffins. I sprinkled them with this

from Sam’s Club.

1 – 2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1 box chocolate cake

3 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon baking powder

toppings as desired – Cupid Mix, more chocolate chips, etc

1 Heat oven to 375. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

2 In a small bowl, toss flour and chocolate chips.

3 Beat together cake mix, eggs, milk, oil, and baking powder until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

4 Scoop into pans, sprinkle with Cupid Mix or additional chocolate chips if desired and bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

5 Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing.

Yield: about 20 muffins

recipe from Walking on Sunshine Recipes

The Perfect Bar Cookie Base

by penji1

I found it! The perfect bar cookie base. You can do anything with this recipe. The ones pictured have Oreos, mini M&M’s, chocolate chips, and toffee bits in them and they were divine.

BAR COOKIE BASE

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

MIX INS – whatever you like! to equal about 1 1/2 – 2 cups

6 Oreos, crumbled

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup toffee bits

1/2 cup mini M&M’s

1 Heat oven to 350. Spray bottom of 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2 Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium high until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined.

3 Stir in desired mix ins by hand. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

recipe from Food Network

Sourdough Chocolate Bundt Cake

by penji1

I can’t tell you how this tasted because I gave it away but it sure looks good, doesn’t it?

Who doesn’t want a chocolate cake topped with chocolate ganache and toffee bits?

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup sourdough starter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cocoa

(You can check the original recipe, link below, for the frosting she used but I decided to do a chocolate ganache and you can find that recipes here.)

1 Heat oven to 350. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray for baking.

2 Beat oil, sugar, eggs, discard, and extract until smooth.

3 In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Add to oil mixture and beat for 2 minutes.

4 Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until cake tester or toothpick come out clean.

5 Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely before topping.

recipe from This Unmillennial Life

Double Chocolate and Toffee Muffins

by penji1

Oh how I love a good muffin! And these fit the bill.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup toffee bits

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup vegetable oil

chocolate chips, toffee bits, and/or Trader Joe’s Turbinado Sugar for topping

1 Heat oven to 350. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt then stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits.

3 In another large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until fully combined.

4 Scoop batter into prepared pan and top as desired with chocolate chips, toffee bits, and sugar.

5 Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Yield: I doubled the recipe and it made 3 dozen

recipe from The Busy Baker

Chocolate Rolo Thumbprint Cookies

by penji1

Did I happen to mention the excess of Rolos we had after Christmas? This was another attempt to use up more Rolos and also give them out as porch treats (see what that is here) and they were quite tasty (even though I only got one!).

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons milk, if needed (my dough was really dry so I had to add some milk to get it to mix together so you may or may not need it)

18 Rolos

1 Heat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment.

2 Beat butter, sugar, and cocoa until creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture until combined, using milk if needed.

3 Roll dough into 1 1/2″ balls and place on baking sheets. Press thumb into center of each ball to make an indentation. Place a Rolo into each thumbprint.

4 Bake 10 -15 minutes or until Rolos start leaking caramel.

recipe from Pip and Ebby

Meatball Soup

by penji1

This was pretty easy to make (especially if you use frozen meatballs) and the boys in my house loved it!

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

3 cloves garlic

1 pound fully cooked meatballs, frozen or homemade

32 oz beef broth

28 oz diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 1/2 cups ditalini pasta or elbow macaroni or any small pasta you like

Parmesan for sprinkling

1 Add olive oil to a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and carrots and saute for 3 – 5 minutes. Add meatballs and garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

2 Add beef broth, tomatoes, and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 10 minutes on medium low, stirring occasionally.

3 Add pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until pasta is cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

recipe from I Heart Naptime

Lighter Mediterranean Pasta Bake

by penji1

One word – YUM!

8 oz uncooked bowtie pasta (about 3 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped onions

1 small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and then into 1/4″ slices (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 jars (6 oz each) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 cups tomato basil pasta sauce

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used milk and it worked fine)

1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 Heat oven to 350. Spray 13 x 9″ pan with cooking spray.

2 Cook and drain pasta as per package instructions. Place in a large bowl.

3 In a 12″ skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium high heat. Toss chicken with Italian seasoning and salt then cook for 8 – 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut. Transfer to bowl with pasta.

4 In same skillet, heat remaining two teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and zucchini and cook 4 – 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are crisp tender. Stir in artichokes, pasta sauce, and whipping cream or milk and heat 3 – 4 minutes or until heated through.

5 Carefully add sauce to bowl of pasta and chicken and stir until well combined. Spoon mixture into baking dish, top with tomatoes and Parmesan. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 – 15 minutes more or until bubbly and lightly browned.

recipe from Betty Crocker

Rolo Cake Mix Bars

by penji1

I bought too big of a bag of Rolos for the Melted Snowmen so I went looking for recipes using Rolos and found this one.

It was delicious and easy too! I made them for Porch Treats, see what that is here.

1 box yellow, white, or vanilla cake mix

5 oz evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

40 Rolos, cut in half

1 Heat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2 Beat cake mix, milk, and butter until combined. Press half of the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 8 – 9 minutes, just until set.

3 Remove from oven and place Rolos, caramel side down, over the top. Drop remaining batter in spoonfuls over Rolos. Bake for 20 – 24 more minutes until top begins to turn golden.

4 Cool completely.

recipe from Cookies and Cups

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

by penji1

This was a yummy one and will be made again for sure!

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon cornstarch or flour

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 onion, chopped

1 (1″) ginger root, peeled and chopped (you can use ground ginger instead)

2 cups broccoli florets

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 Whisk together soy sauce, honey, lemon juice, sesame oil, and cornstarch.

2 In a large skillet, over medium low heat, toast the sesame seeds for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Remove seeds from skillet and set aside.

3 Add olive oil to same skillet, turn heat up to medium, and cook chicken until lightly golden. Add onions, ginger, broccoli, and pepper. Saute for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low, add soy sauce mixture, and toss to combine. Cook until sauce is desired thickness, but no longer than 5 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

recipe from Skinny Ms

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

by penji1

OK, this was delicious, easy, and fast, my three fav things in a recipe.

1 sliced yellow pepper

1 sliced orange pepper

1 sliced red pepper

1 sliced red onion

1 pound chicken breast, sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 Heat oven to 400.

2 Place sliced veggies and chicken on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Stir to coat with oil.

3 Sprinkle all seasonings over mixture and stir to combine.

4 Bake for 10 minutes and then stir. Bake for another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

recipe from Low Carb Nomad