And the winner of the puppy biscuits is....

Not Fenway... I took this pic a few days ago. She isn't sad about wearing the hat.. she sad because she was out her home made biscuits. This was when she was a good girl.... Today, she was a bad girl....

I set the eggs & butter on the counter to get to room temperature for today's recipe.. and.. she ate the 2 sticks of butter.  Good times in the Hagg household  ;)

I was only mad for a minute..ok, maybe longer. She has been forgiven & I just gave her a biscuit ( ... so it took me all day) Lucky for her I had another cup of butter in the fridge so that I could still make today's cookie...

Double Chocolate Chunk cookies!

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 sticks butter, softened (far enough on counter so that your special loved ones can't get to them)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups chocolate chunks ( chips would work as well...)

Ignore my apple in the bowl in the background..

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter & sugars together; add eggs, 1 at a time allowing each to fully incorporate. Add vanilla & cocoa powder.

In a large bowl, add flour, salt & baking soda. using a whisk, whisk together.

Ad flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 parts. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop by tablespoons ( I use a cookie scoop) onto parchment- lined cookies sheet. Bake 10-13 minutes. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

This is a very tasty recipe.. Alison usually makes these for us, but since she was at school getting her learning on, I made them today ;) Very fudgy... I'll bet that you could just spread the dough in a 9 x13 inch pan ( greased)  and bake like brownies....

ok.. so the winner of the biscuits is





*insert picture of winning pup here*




Morgan!!!! ( Breezy's pup!!)... I'll be shipping out the biscuits tomorrow!  Congratulations!

I made a fresh batch last night,, this time I didn't puree the carrots & peas mixture, just kind of rough chopped. I think that they look better. Fenway seems to like them. Much better than raw butter.



oxoxox
michelle

p.s. tomorrow I have a special guest for the 'classic' Christmas cookie!!!

And Jason & Amanda are still on the road ... good thoughts are always welcomed :)

Peanut Butter Friday!!!!!

I had another recipe that I had wanted to make today, however, my 16 year-old son has been patiently waiting for peanut butter cookies. Each day he asks me. "is TODAY the day for peanut butter cookies?"

He forget to ask me this morning *wink*

While in culinary school, I had the coolest job ever. I still cannot believe that I got paid to do something that I loved so. I worked behind the scene on a cooking segment that aired nightly during the news.

I would take each featured recipe & do all of the prep work twice. I would them prepare one of the recipes and give the chef the prepped ingredients for the other. He would prepare the second set of the recipe on the air and the one that I had made was the display.

Seriously? Most. Awesome. Job. Ever.

In this episode we made stuffed bologna.

don't ask.

One episode that we filmed featured 3 ingredient recipes. Here is a 3-ingredient peanut butter cookie!


Since I like to live on the edge (  being the wild child that I am) I pushed the limit & made it a 4 ingredient recipe!!!!

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg.


(this is where I get wild.. brace yourselves...)

a bag of Hershey's kisses

directions~

preheat oven to 350 degrees


Beat egg in a mixing bowl. Add peanut butter & sugar; mix well. Drop by rounded Tablespoons ( I use a cookie scoop) onto parchment-lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart ( these babies spread).

Unwrap Hershey's kisses & place in the center of each cookie. Bake for 10-13 minutes, depending on your oven.


Since the ingredients were so simple, it was easy to double the recipe, which I did


I didn't even need a calculator!!!!!

what can I say? I'm a mathlete!

The cookies came out great. Ryan will be very happy today.. not only because it's Friday..... but also because he has this whole tray of cookies waiting for him form his crazy mama!


oxox
michelle

Today's recipe is *EASY* PEASY*

After shopping all day with my closest friend, I'm a bit tired... So I decided to make the simplest of simplest recipes. This is actually the first time that I've made it, but I've had it many times at potlucks ( my sister-in-law makes it often)
Yummy Layer Bars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of coconut flakes
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1/4 cup butterscotch chips ( only because I had them)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 x13 in pan with aluminum foil, overlapping on the ends (for easy removal) & spray lightly with cooking spray. Mix butter with graham cracker crumbs & pat gently into the bottom of the pan.

Pour sweetened condensed milk over butter/ graham mixture and spread with a spatula. Sprinkle remaining ingredients in to order in which they are in the recipe. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove & let cool.

Using the overlapped ends of the aluminum foil, pull the entire bar out & place on a cutting board, allowing to cool completely.

Cut into bars when fully cool.

These are yummy & gooey and oh-so-wonderful!!! I was afraid that they would stick, so I only placed them single-layer on the platter. I'm thinking that maybe next time I'll try the recipe with 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, possibly making a sturdier base.

I highly recommend trying this recipe.. it literally takes minutes to get into the oven.

maybe next time I'll time myself....hmmm.....?????


now..I'm off to wrap all of my treasures that I found today!!!

xoxo
~michelle

My most prized possession....

Other than my family, of course... I have one favorite item in my home. If my house was on fire, I would run back in for this item.

 I had wanted the Betty Crocker cookbook as a wedding/ shower gift, but I did not receive it. When I was married for about a year, my grandparents, my memere and  pepere, (who btw~ absolutely ROCKED) gave me the cookbook for Christmas. We lived about 3 hours away from them.

After spending Christmas at their house I had returned home and my grandmother had called me;  She  asked me to plan a visit  in the near future for me to bring back the cookbook. She was upset that she did not write in it. I thought this was the silliest thing ever,  but a month later, I made the drive to go visit, and she wrote in my book.

She passed away the following year just a few days before Christmas. That had been my last Christmas with her.

I treasure this book. I miss my grandparents each and every day.......

they were two very special, selfless, loving people




from that beloved cookbook comes this recipe.. a recipe that I make every year, chocolate crinkles....

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
4 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted & cooled ( I use bakers' chocolate)
4 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix granulated sugar, oil, vanilla, and chocolate. Mix in eggs one at a time. Stir in flour , baking powder & salt. Cover and refrigerate at least  3 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Drop dough by teaspoonful into powdered sugar ; roll around to coat . Shape into balls. Place about 2 inches on greased cookie sheet. Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched... 10-12 minutes.

now, I have to be honest and let you know that despite the fact that I make these annually, I've never had them come out correctly. Until this year :)

Last year the looked beautiful, but could break a tooth. I used it as my centerpiece for my cookie party because they looked pretty, but we had to put up a sign that said

'for display only'

thank you for letting me share my memory with you..... I think that this story has much to do with my passion for cooking....

on another note..... I am SO excited for tomorrow's cookie!!!!

I am practically bursting at the seams!!!!!!

thanks for reading!

oxox ~michelle

A fun no-bake cookie!!

Today's  ( or should I say yesterday's ) cookie is one that I haven't tried to make yet.. The recipe comes courtesy of my friend, Jill... ( thanks, Jill)

I've really enjoyed  The Crock pot Lady's blog .. and the format that she uses. So, I am following what she did by taking a photo of the ingredients before hand.

Ingredients : 1 package of Oreo or Oreo-type cookies
                     1 package of cream cheese, softened
                     1 Package of chocolate (white or milk chocolate)
                      Holiday sprinkles (not pictured)

1) put oreoes in food processor & blend until fine.
2) mix with softened cream cheese; then roll them into approximately 1-inch balls
3) freeze briefly while melting chocolate.

Remove cookies from freezer & 1 by 1, dip them in the chocolate & put on a cooling rack. Sprinkle with sprinkles right away. ( Ali & I found this to work much better with both of us helping..I was queen of the sprinkles *wink*)

Allow to cool until chocolate hardens.
Pour yourself a big glass of milk & enjoy.


My daughter, Alison actually made these cookies ( since my dishwasher went to dishwasher heaven this morning & I had had to hand wash 3 loads of dishes)

                                                                (Ali back then )

the result? Although the recipe didn't make all that many ( I supposed we could have made smaller cookies) they are quite rich & very tasty!!