Chocolate Chip Muffins

by penji1

I love muffins!  I would eat them every single day for breakfast if I could.  🙂  This recipe comes from “The Cookie and Biscuit Bible”.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 cup chocolate chips (I used semisweet but I think milk would taste good too)

1  Preheat oven to 375.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2  Cream butter until soft.  Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

3  Sift the flour and baking powder.  Fold into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk.

4  Divide half of the mixture among the muffin tins.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top, dividing them equally among the muffins, then cover with the remaining batter.  (I just stirred the chocolate chips into the batter and scooped it into the pans.)

5  Bake for about 25 minutes, until lightly colored.  Let stand for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.

(The recipe said it would make 10 muffins but I got about 15.)

Red, White and Bean Minestrone

by penji1

Woke up this morning to at least a foot of snow!  That means it’s time for soup and this is a good, hearty one!  Found this recipe on Food.com.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup Italian turkey sausage, cut into small pieces (couldn’t find any Italian sausage so just got plain turkey sausage and I used the whole package so more than a cup)

2 tablespoons tomato paste (I used the whole can of tomato paste)

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery (about 3 big stalks)

2 tablespoons minced garlic (I pressed about 3 cloves of fresh garlic into the pan)

1 cup chopped carrots (about 2 big ones)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes with liquid

5 cups chicken stock (I ended up using 4 cans of chicken broth)

1 (15.5 oz) can cannellini beans with liquid

1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups zucchini, cut into 1/2″ pieces (about 2 medium)

2 cups baby spinach (sometimes I include the spinach and sometimes I leave it out, this time I left it out)

1 cup cooked bowtie pasta (I used elbows)

2 tablespoons pre-packaged pesto (left this out)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (forgot to put this on top)

Heat olive oil over medium heat, add sausage and brown well.  Add tomato paste, cook 5 minutes until brown.  Add onions, celery, garlic, carrots and oregano and cook until garlic is aromatic, about 5 minutes.  Pour into crock pot, add tomatoes and stock.  Cook on low 6 – 7 hours or until vegetables are tender.  Stir in beans, zucchini, spinach and cooked pasta.  Cook on high for 8 minutes or until beans and pasta are warmed through and spinach is wilted.  Top soup with pesto and cheese.

(A note from me – I added the beans and zucchini along with the tomatoes and stock instead of later and then I added the pasta, uncooked, the last 30 minutes of cooking time, turning the temperature up to high.)

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Angeletti Cookies

by penji1

I got this recipe in an email the other day from “Real Simple”.  They were pretty simple to make and taste yummy, sort of like sugar cookie but without all that work. I doubled the recipe and got about 6 dozen cookies.

cookies:

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

glaze:

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons multicolor nonpareil sprinkles, for decoration or any other desired decorations

1  Heat oven to 375.

2  Mix together butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs until blended.  Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined (do not overmix).

3  With floured hands, roll level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place on parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them 2″ apart.  (I used my mini scoop to scoop out the dough into my hands which I then rolled into balls.)  Bake until puffed and the bottoms are pale golden, 7 – 9 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

4  For glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, water and vanilla until mixture forms a thick but pourable glaze (add more water if necessary).

5  Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, rounded side up, on a rack set over a piece of parchment paper.  Sprinkle with desired toppings.  Allow glaze to set, about 20 minutes.  Store cookies in airtight container.

Little White Chocolate Pound Cakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

by penji1

Treats for Bob’s Sunday School class and my class too!  We went to Farr’s Fresh yesterday and I had white chocolate frozen custard which was to die for and so more white chocolate was called for today. YUM!  This recipe comes from the cookbook, “Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor”.

6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (I used 6 oz white chocolate chips)

1 (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup oil

3 eggs

2 egg whites

2 teaspoons vanilla

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin pans with cupcake liners.

2  Melt white chocolate in small glass bowl in microwave on high for 1 minute.  Stir until smooth and let cool slightly.

3  Blend cake mix, water, oil, whole eggs, egg whites, vanilla and melted white chocolate on low speed for 1 minute then on medium for 2 minutes.  Batter should be well combined.

4  Scoop batter into lined muffin cups, about 2/3 full.  (I got 24 cupcakes.)

5  Bake cupcakes until they spring back when lightly touched and are golden brown, 20 – 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool in pans 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

6 Frost with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting or frosting of your choice (the recipe for the frosting is already on blog under “Chocolate Chip Mint Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting”).  I tinted the frosting light blue because I had the snowman cupcake liners which had a blue background and then the snowman picks to put on top and I sprinkled some Wilton White Sparkling Sugar over the frosting to give it a snowy look.

Grands! Taco Melts

by penji1

As I’ve mentioned before, I am subscribed to a variety of cooking websites (such as Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, the Food Network, etc) that send me emails with recipes.  Some of them also send out calendars to their subscribers as a thank you so I’ve received a 2011 calendar from Pillsbury and from Eat Better America which is sponsored by General Mills.  This recipe comes from the Pillsbury calendar.

1 (1 oz) package Old El Paso taco seasoning mix (or if you have the big bottle from Costco like I do then 1/4 cup)

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 cups Old El Paso Thick n Chunky salsa, divided

1 pound lean ground beef, cooked and drained

1 (16.3 oz) can Pillsbury Grands! refrigerated biscuits (any variety)  (I couldn’t remember how many cans to buy when I was at the store so I bought 2 and it was a good thing I did because I needed 2 cans)

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Mexican cheese blend (I used cheddar)

1 cup sour cream, if desired

1  Heat oven to 375.

2  In medium saucepan, cook taco seasoning, water, 1/2 cup salsa and cooked beef until thickened.  (I just realized while typing this that I added the whole 1 1/2 cups of salsa to the pan so that might be why I got more melts than the recipe said and also why it didn’t really thicken.)

3  Press each biscuit into 6″ round.  Fill each with taco mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese.  (The recipe doesn’t say how much filling to put in each biscuit so I tried 1/4 cup which wasn’t enough and then 1/2 cup which was too much so ended up using about 1/3 cup which gave me 11 melts.)  Fold dough over filling and press to seal.  (I used the tines of a fork all the way around to seal the biscuit.)  Place on greased cookie sheet.

4  Bake 9 – 14 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with remaining salsa, cheese and sour cream.

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

by penji1

Decided to make a dessert for Book Group too.  This looks really great but couldn’t be any easier!  It is a Pampered Chef recipe too, from their “Festive Holiday Desserts” cookbook.

crust:

1 (10 oz) package fudge covered mint cookies (about 40 cookies), divided

2 tablespoons butter, melted

filling:

1 quart mint chocolate chip ice cream

1 quart chocolate ice cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (or you can make it even easier like I did and just use Cool Whip)

2 tablespoons powdered sugar (don’t need if you use Cool Whip)

1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract (you can mix this in the Cool Whip if you like or go without like I did)

1  For crust, place 25 of the cookies in resealable plastic bag and crush into fine crumbs using a rolling pin.  Place crumbs in small bowl.  Add butter and mix well.  Press crumb mixture into bottom of springform pan.  Place pan in freezer until ready to fill.

2  Line inside collar of pan with remaining cookies (with rounded or front sides of cookies facing the collar).  For filling, place mint chocolate chip ice cream in refrigerator 20 minutes to soften.  (A note from me – 20 minutes wasn’t long enough so I tried 30 and even then it was still hard to spread so maybe 40 minutes?  Guess you’ll have to experiment.)  Scoop mint chocolate chip ice cream onto crust.  Carefully spread ice cream evenly over crust.  Cover and freeze 1 hour.  Place chocolate ice cream in refrigerator 20 minutes (or longer?) before removing cake from freezer;  scoop chocolate ice cream over mint ice cream.  Carefully spread evenly and return to freezer.

3  Place cream in chilled mixing bowl and beat on high until soft peaks form.  Add powdered sugar and peppermint extract;  continue beating just until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat).  Spread cream over chocolate ice cream.  (Or just use Cool Whip to top cake.)  Freeze cake until firm, at least 6 hours or overnight.

Mini Ham Puffs

by penji1

This is my “go to”appetizer recipe and tonight is our annual Book Group Potluck and Book Exchange so I’m making these.  I made this batch early for Bob and Zach to eat for dinner since I knew they would want some later when I was making them for book group.  This is a Pampered Chef recipe.  Try it, I’m pretty sure you’ll like it!

1 (2.5 oz) package processed ham or smoked turkey, finely chopped (I almost always use ham)

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded Swiss or cheddar cheese (I always use cheddar)

1 egg

1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley (left this out)

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (all out of Dijon so used honey mustard)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (8 oz) package crescent rolls

Heat oven to 350.  Spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray.  Finely chop ham and onion with Food Chopper.  Place in bowl.  Add cheese, egg, parsley, mustard and pepper and mix well.  Unroll crescent dough and press into 1 large rectangle (my note –  make sure to press all seams tightly together).  Cut dough into 24 squares using pizza cutter.  Press 1 square of dough into each muffin cup using lightly floured Tart Shaper.  Using Small Scoop, fill each muffin cup with a scant scoop of filling.  Bake 12 – 14 minutes or until puffs are light golden brown.

Snow Covered Crunch Bars

by penji1

Another Betty Crocker recipe!  I love Betty Crocker recipes (can you tell?).  Her (their?) recipes are so easy to make but always delicious!  If you like Muddy Buddies, then you’ll love these bars because they are basically Muddy Buddies in cookie form.

1 (1 pound, 1.5 oz) pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1 cup butter, softened and divided

1 egg

1 (12 oz) package semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

2 1/2 cups peanut butter

6 cups Rice Chex cereal

1/2 – 1 cup powdered sugar

1  Heat oven to 375.  Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.  In large bowl, stir cookie mix, 1/2 cup butter and egg until soft dough forms.  Press dough in bottom of pan.  Bake 10 – 12 minutes (I had to bake for about 15 minutes) or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 15 minutes.

2  In large microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and the remaining 1/2 cup butter on high about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth.  Add peanut butter and mix until well blended.

3  Place cereal in 1 gallon resealable food storage plastic bag.  Using your hands, gently break cereal into small pieces.  Gently stir cereal into chocolate mixture until cereal is coated.  Spread cereal mixture evenly over cookie crust and gently press.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Refrigerate about 1 hour or until bars are set.  Store covered at room temperature.

Almond Poppy Tea Cookies

by penji1

Another Betty Crocker recipe.  These are so incredibly good (if you like almonds)!  I think I need to go eat another one before I type in this recipe!

1 (1 pound, 1.5 oz) pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1/3 cup flour

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons almond extract, divided

1 egg

1/4 cup sliced almonds, if desired

1 cup powdered sugar

3 – 4 teaspoons water

1  Heat oven to 350.  In large bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, poppy seeds, butter, cream cheese, 1 teaspoon of the almond extract and egg until soft dough forms.

2  Roll dough into 1 1/4″ balls.  (I used my mini scoop.)  Place 2″ apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Press balls slightly to flatten.  If desired, top each flatten ball with 5 sliced almonds arranged to form a star.  (Some of my cookies were too small for 5 pieces of almond.)

3  Bake 9 – 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 3 minutes then remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

4  In small bowl, mix powdered sugar, remaining 1 teaspoon almond extract and enough water to give the glaze a nice spreading consistency.  Spread glaze over warm cookies.  Store tightly covered in a single layer at room temperature.  (Can also be stored tightly wrapped for up to 2 months in the freezer.)

Yields 36 cookies (I got almost 4 dozen, about 46)

Red Velvet Rich and Creamy Cookies

by penji1

This is a Betty Crocker recipe.  I didn’t have enough red food coloring so they didn’t come out very red.  I also made homemade cream cheese frosting rather than use the canned kind.  They are very tasty!

1 (1 pound, 1.5 oz) pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon red food color

1 egg

3/4 – 1 cup Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy cream cheese frosting  (I took about 5 oz cream cheese and about 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar and beat them together to make my own cream cheese frosting)

1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1  Heat oven to 375.  In large bowl, stir cookie mix, cocoa, butter, sour cream, food coloring and egg until soft dough forms.

2  Roll dough into 1″ balls.  (I used my mini scoop which was just about the right size, maybe a tiny bit too small.)  Place 2″ apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

3  Bake 8 – 9 minutes or until set.  Cool 2 minutes then remove from cookie sheets to wire rack.  Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

4  Frost cooled cookies with frosting.  Sprinkle with nuts.  Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Yields 36 cookies (I got about 34)