Friday, February 28, 2014

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies I've ever made!!

These are quite possibly the best cookies that I have ever made and ate!  Make sure to pay attention to the ingredients because their kind of different!  Enjoy! :)

Ingredients
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
***I used regular size the first time and then mini the second time, they both work great! It just depends on how many chocolate chips you want in your cookies!

Process
1. In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Add the chocolate chips and mix for about 5 seconds until evenly disbursed. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough.

2. Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

3. Once chilled, the dough will be slightly crumbly, but will come together if you work the dough with your hands as you roll into individual balls. Roll balls of dough, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each, into balls. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. They will look extremely soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. If the cookies are too puffy, try gently pressing down on them with the back of a spoon. They will slightly deflate as you let them cool. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.  Do not drop dough onto warm cookie sheets.  Allow cookie sheets to cool completely between batches.

4.Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. Baked cookies freeze well - up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well - up to three months.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Creamy Chicken Broccoli Pie Pockets

Here's a good recipe that we made last night because we had some leftover pie crust from a soup recipe that we made last month! :)
 
Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese
4 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 1/2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups frozen chopped broccoli
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 box refrigerated Pillsbury Pie Crust
 
Process
1. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine cream cheese and butter. Microwave in 15 second intervals until slightly melted and able to stir until smooth.
2. Add onion powder and garlic salt to cream cheese/butter mixture and stir well.
3. Add chicken, frozen chopped broccoli and frozen corn to cream cheese mixture. Stir until well combined.
4. Unroll both sheets of refrigerated pie crust dough. Cut each of the round pie crusts into quarters.
5. On one quarter of pie crust dough, put 1/4 of cream cheese/chicken mixture (about 3/4-1 cup.) Place a second quarter of pie crust dough over the top (make sure it lines up with bottom quarter) and pinch seams to seal off. You can flute the pie crust edges for a prettier look.
6. Repeat until you have 4 pie pockets. Cut about three small slits on the tops of each pie pocket for breathing. Place on a greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

8. Enjoy! :)

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzels

Ingredients
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
48 Pretzel Crisps® Original Pretzels
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

sea salt, to taste

Process
1. In a stand mixer, combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and powdered sugar -till well combined.
2. Roll peanut butter mixture in 1 inch balls and smash in-between two pretzels.
3. In a medium bowl, microwave semi-sweet chocolate in 15 second increments, until melted.
4. Line countertops with wax paper and dip half of pretzel sandwiches in melted chocolate and set on wax paper.
5. Sprinkle with sea salt and let chocolate harden. (This takes a while, so I think you could put them in the fridge if you wanted to!)
6. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

 

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Spaghetti Boats!

Here's a really easy recipe that you can make with either fresh spaghetti or leftovers!  We changed the recipe a little, so I'll put the original link at the bottom of the post! Enjoy! :)
 
Ingredients
Leftover spaghetti (approximately 3-4 cups)
1 loaf of garlic bread  
2 cups mozzarella cheese
 
Process
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Make spaghetti with sauce like normal.  Cut spaghetti with kitchen scissors before mixing sauce in.
3. Cut the garlic bread in thirds and then cut through the middle.  Place the 6 french bread pieces onto a baking sheet (line with foil for easy clean up). Bake in oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven.
4. Top each piece of bread with about 3/4 -1 cup of spaghetti. Then sprinkle on 1/3 cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake for additional 5 minutes or until cheese is nice and bubbly.
5. Allow to cool and enjoy!
 

Exciting News!

Hi everybody!

I FINALLY found a part time job in Brookings!!  I am now working at the movie theater here in Brookings!  I'll mostly be working on the weekends because my schedule is kind of funny, but they really needed someone for Fridays and I don't have class on Fridays so it's perfect!  I'm hoping to get one more part time job this summer since the movie theater doesn't pay that much, so I'm still searching for now. 

I'm really busy with classes now and have a ton of homework and projects due this week, which explains why I'm so early on a Sunday.  I'm looking forward to Saturday though because I'm going to Sioux City to see mom and to get out of Brookings for a little while! :)

Just wanted to let everyone know my exciting news!
Have a great week! :)

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Rootbeer BBQ Chicken!

Here's a really easy crockpot recipe that we made this week!

Ingredients
4 – 5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed
18 oz. Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue Sauce
1/2 Can of Root Beer {approx. 6 oz.}
1/8 Tsp. Salt
1/8 Tsp. Pepper

Process
1. Cook chicken in crockpot on high for 3 hours {covered}
2. After 3 hours, drain juices from crockpot
3. Mix together BBQ Sauce, Root Beer, Salt and Pepper
4. Pour mixture over chicken, and cook on high for 30 more minutes {covered}