CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups flour
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (12 oz) pkg chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and sugars together with a mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Slowly add flour mix by hand and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from sheets with spatula.
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CHOCOLATE DIPPED MARSHMALLOWS
Ingredients:
Marshmallows
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate or multicolored sprinkles
Directions:
Melt chocolate chips by placing in a microwaveable bowl and heating on low power for 15 seconds at a time, heating, then stirring, then heating again, until chocolate is melted. Dip marshmallow first into melted chocolate, then into bowl of sprinkles, covering only half of the marshmallow. Place on wax paper and chill to harden.
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DOUBLE-DIPPED OREOS
Thanks to 9 year old homeschooler, Michael
These taste just like the double dipped Oreos at Sultan's Sweets at Busch Gardens.
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients:
24 Regular Oreo cookies
1 small package milk chocolate chips
1 small package white chocolate chips
Wax paper
Directions:
Heat white chocolate chips in a small glass bowl in the microwave on low for 15 seconds at a time, stirring, then heating again on low for another 15 seconds, until melted enough to spread. Spread candy on ½ of each cookie, using a spoon or knife. Put cookies on a cookie sheet that has been lined with waxed paper and put into refrigerator to harden. When candy has hardened, heat milk chocolate chips the same way, and spread on other half of cookies. Chill until hardened. Once hardened, they do not need to be kept cold, if the room in which they are served is not too warm.
Hint: The chocolate will not melt into a liquid, and you won't really be able to just "dip" the cookies. Be careful not to overcook the chocolate, especially the white chocolate, as it gets even stiffer the more it is cooked.
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FROZEN CHEESECAKE SNACKS
This is basically the cheesecake pie recipe, but it makes great little treats!
Ingredients:
½ (4 oz.) block of cream cheese, softened
½ (8 oz.) container of sour cream
½ cup of sugar
½ (8 oz.) pkg. of Cool Whip, thawed
1 pkg. graham crackers
Directions:
Blend cheese and sugar with a mixer until smooth, add sour cream and continue blending until fluffy. Add Cool Whip with a spoon, stirring and folding until blended. Break graham crackers at perforations. Spread cream cheese mixture between crackers, making mini sandwiches, and put in a freezer safe container. Freeze overnight.
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GRANDMA'S FUDGE
Makes 2 plates of fudge (approx. 40 pieces)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup cocoa
1 ½ cups whole milk
3 cups sugar
½ stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
In a large heavy saucepan, mix together the cocoa, milk and sugar. Stir frequently over medium-high heat until candy begins to boil, then start stirring constantly. When the candy seems to be getting thicker, and your arm is ready to fall off, fill a small bowl with cold water. Drop a teaspoon of the candy syrup into the bowl. Try to roll the candy into a ball under the cold water. If you can get it to stick together a little, but it falls apart when you try to move it under the water, go back to cooking and stirring. If it easily holds a shape, take the saucepan off the heat. You've reached "hard ball" stage. Add the butter and let the candy cool for about 2 minutes, or until butter melts. Add vanilla. Now start beating it with a big spoon. Beat and beat and beat until candy begins to harden and is no longer shiny. Pour into 2 buttered plates. Allow to cool and cut into squares.
Variations on this recipe:
To make vanilla fudge, just leave out the cocoa, and follow the recipe. Add a touch more vanilla after the candy has cooled a little, before beating.
To make peanut butter fudge, follow the recipe, leaving out the cocoa and half of the butter, and adding 1/2 -3/4 cup of peanut butter (add at the same time as the butter, before beating).
To make chocolate peanut butter fudge: follow the recipe, using the cocoa, half the butter, and adding the peanut butter before beating.
KATHY'S VARIATION: Use 1 cup canned condensed whole milk plus ½ cup water instead of the milk in the recipe. Be sure to use real butter, not margarine. Beat with a mixer, instead of by hand, until no longer shiny. Stir in 1 cup walnut pieces just before pouring into plates.
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FUDGEY COCOA TREATS
Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients:
3 cups quick cooking oats
2/3 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
2 cups sugar
1 stick (½ cup) butter
½ cup milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup chopped peanuts or raisins (optional)
Directions:
Line cookie sheets with wax paper. Mix oats and peanut butter (and nuts or raisins, if desired) in a bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, stir together milk, cocoa, sugar and butter. Heat on medium-high stove, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. Stir in mixture from bowl and the vanilla. Mix well with a spoon. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Chill or allow to cool and harden.
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ICE CREAM SANDWICHES
Ingredients:
1 box chocolate flavored graham crackers
1 pint vanilla ice cream
Freezer paper or large freezer container
Directions:
Allow ice cream to thaw slightly, until it is soft and easy to spread, or use a knife to cut slices off of a block of ice cream. Make sandwiches by spreading a half-inch layer of ice cream between two graham crackers. Stack crackers lightly, do not press. Allow to solidify some in the freezer before wrapping in freezer paper to store, or stack lightly in a large freezer container without wrapping, if your freezer is very cold. A pint of ice cream is about the right amount for a box of graham crackers. You can also use regular graham crackers and/or any flavor of ice cream.
Note: If you eat these right away, the graham cracker will be too crunchy and the ice cream will want to spill out; but after they have set in the freezer a few hours, they turn out beautifully.
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SUGAR COOKIES
Makes about 4 dozen
Ingredients:
3 cups flour (plus a little more)
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 stick butter flavored Crisco
2 eggs
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 TBS vanilla
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Directions:
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, blend sugar and Crisco with mixer at medium speed. Continue beating and add eggs, syrup and vanilla until well mixed and fluffy. With a spoon, gradually stir dry mixture into the large bowl. Mix until well blended. Tear off four sheets of plastic wrap. Divide cookie dough into four, and wrap each quarter in plastic wrap. Chill overnight.
Preheat oven to 375° F. Using only one fourth of the dough at a time, and keeping the rest refrigerated, take dough out of plastic wrap and place in the center of a piece of waxed paper. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper, and roll with a rolling pin (or smooth down with your hand) to about ¼ " thick. Cut out with cookie cutters dipped in flour, and place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with plain or colored sugar, and bake for about 7 minutes, or until done. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet before trying to move them with a spatula, so they don't fall apart.
Hint: To make colored sugar, mix a drop or two of food coloring into 3-4 TBS of white granulated sugar. Use a fork to mix and break up any pieces until of uniform consistency.
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QUICK AND EASY COOKIES
Thanks to 16 year old homeschooler, Elisabeth
Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients:
1 box of your favorite boxed cake mix
1 large egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Directions:
Stir all ingredients together with a spoon. Depending on the cake mix, some batter may need a second egg. If batter is too powdery, you can add another egg. Mix well by hand. Roll into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press down lightly. Bake at 400° F., for about 6-10 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown around the edges. Watch your first batch carefully, since different cake mixes cook at different rates. Carefully lift off cookies with spatula and allow to cool on cooling rack.
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