Cookie Dough Pops!

It started out as harmless chocolate chip cookie dough. 

 But after I made a batch of plain chocolate chip cookies...

 I added toasted pecans to half and baked some more.

 But I still had all this tasty cookie dough left. So, I froze half the dough to bake up another time...

And with the rest of the dough? I made cookie dough pops! I rolled the dough into balls and put sticks in each one.

 Then I melted some milk chocolate and let it cool.

 Then each tasty pop got a dip in the chocolate goodness.

 Glorious

 I rolled some in crushed pecans and popped them in the refrigerator.

 These were awesome! It doesn't get better than yummy cookie dough dipped in chocolate!

Enjoy!

* If you're concerned about raw eggs, use an egg-free cookie dough. Or eat these in moderation (if you can!)

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/3 cup butter flavored Crisco (I substituted a portion of this w/ butter)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla 

1/2 tsp molasses

4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, beat crisco until fluffy. Add sugars and beat until smooth. Add eggs, beating after each one. Add vanilla and molasses. Add the dry mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spoon large tablespoon-size balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 11-12 minutes.

Or make cookie dough pop!

Veggie Flatbread

I made this veggie flatbread appetizer for a super bowl party. It was the hit of the party and the first thing gone. Someone asked me for the recipe and there isn't a recipe per se, but here's what I did.

Three Wheat Pitas
-Glaze
Olive Oil
Garlic, minced
Dried Rosemary
-Toppings
Pinenut Hummus (or any hummus)
Klamata Oilves
Feta Cheese, crumbled
Fresh Basil, chopped
Marinated Artichoke hearts, chopped
Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
-Finishing Toppings
Parmessan cheese, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste
Balsamic Vinegar

In a small microwave safe bowl, combine olive oil, rosemary and garlic. Heat in the microwave for thrity seconds, stir and set aside. Brush pita bread on both sides with oil mixture. Bake in a preheated oven for 6 to 7 minutes (I placed mine directly on the racks). Remove from oven, spread a thin layer of hummus on top side of pita. Spinkle with the remaining ingredients. Top with cheese and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Put back in oven and bake an additional 7 to 10 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt. Remove from oven, cut into wedges and serve.

Caramel White Chocolate Bars

These are insanely good. Very addicting. A buttery brown sugar crust is topped with melted caramel, white chocolate chips, chopped pecans and more brown sugar crust and then baked to a golden perfection. Between the caramel and white chocolate these are sweet! You may want to add a pinch of salt to the top crust or caramel for a yummy sweet and salty combo. But these are tasty as is!

Caramel White Chocolate Bars

Ingredients
32 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (or semi-sweet chips)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together the caramels and heavy cream, stirring occasionally until smooth.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well blended. Press Half of the mixture into the bottom of a 9x9 inch baking pan. Reserve the rest.

Bake the crust for 8 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and sprinkle with white chocolate chips and pecans. Pour the caramel mixture over the top and then crumble the remaining crust mixture over everything. Press down slightly.

Return to the oven and bake for an additional 12 minutes, or until the top is lightly toasted. Wait until completely cooled before cutting into squares.

inspired by allrecipes.com

Anytime Cocktail

SPLENDOR IN THE GLASS COCKTAIL

1 1/2 ounces mango or orange vodka (Absolut has a mango vodka to die for!)
1/2 ounce orange flavored liqueur (Triple Sec, Cointreau, etc.)
1 ounce cranberry juice
juice of 1 blood orange
juice of 1 lime
1 cup crushed ice

In a martini shaker, combine all the ingredients.  Shake well for 30 seconds.  
Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a slice of blood orange, and serve.  Makes 1 cocktail.

Marguerite Henderson

Coconut-Almond-Crusted Brownies

These chocolate brownies are fudgy and rich and are topped with a delicious mixture of flaked coconut, chopped almonds and chocolate chips. I also used butterscotch chips because the ladies I was making them for like that flavor. The topping also has a pinch of salt in it which gives these brownies a nice sweet and salty flavor. 

These brownies are pure deliciousness!

Coconut-Almond-Crusted Brownies
adapted from Gourmet, 1996 - Inspired by this tasty blog

For topping
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup almonds (or pecans, walnuts), chopped
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4-1/2 c. mini-chocolate chips (I also used butterscotch)
For brownie layer
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
More mini-chocolate chips, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan, knocking out excess flour.

Make topping:
In a bowl stir together topping ingredients EXCEPT chocolate chips until combined well. When topping has cooled, add chocolate chips.

Make brownie layer
In a 1 1/2-quart saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat--or melt butter in large glass bowl in microwave. Remove pan from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition. Into a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and stir into butter mixture until just combined well.

Spread batter evenly in pan, sprinkle with additional mini chocolate chips and topping. Bake brownies in middle of oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Cover with foil for last 15 minutes. DON'T overcook. They will seem a little gooey due to the melted chocolate pieces and the topping will be browned. Cool brownies completely in pan on a rack before cutting into small squares. Brownies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at cool room temperature, 5 days.

These are excellent served hot with a scoop of high-quality vanilla bean ice cream.

Veggie Flatbread with Pine nut Hummus

This is the appetizer I created for the super bowl party we attended. I wanted to make something healthy, but also tasty enough to hold it's own amongst the wings and party dips. I think this finger-friendly and figure-friendly appetizer did just that.

I made a concoction of olive oil, rosemary, minced garlic, salt and pepper. I briefly heated this in a small bowl in the microwave (I know that sounds strange, but a friend of ours from SD and her family never use butter when they eat bread. They always heat olive oil, garlic and salt in the microwave and then spread that on the bread. Sounded good to me). So, I brushed both sides of the pita with the garlic oil and baked it at 400 degrees directly on the racks for about 5 or 6 minutes. 

Out of the oven, I spread a thin layer of pine nut hummus on one side and topped it with caramelized red onions. I started the onions first, so they would be ready when the pita came out of the oven.

Next, I layered on all the yummy ingredients that sounded good to me. Marinated artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, feta and parmesan cheese. Then I drizzled it with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled a pinch of flaked sea salt on top. 

This went back into the oven for a few more minutes until the cheeses started to melt and all the veggies and herbs warmed up and were nice and fragrant.

My 10 month old was just finishing a nap, so I sent the appetizer with my husband while I got her up and ready. I made three veggie flatbreads and when I got to the party, they were gone. Everyone loved them and asked for the recipe. Play around with the toppings and add anything you want. On one of the flatbreads I left off the cheese, but with all the flavors it wasn't missed!

Party at the Park

For my daughters forth birthday tomorrow, we're having a celebration with her cute pint-sized friends at the park. For dessert, I decided to do something different and have an ice cream sundae bar.

Kids love ice cream and they'll enjoy heaping on all their favorite toppings!

Ice Cream Flavors:

Vanilla Bean
Strawberry
Loaded Cookie Dough

Toppings:
Sprinkles (by far the kid favorite)
Mini chocolate chips
Gummy Bears
Candy Bar Pieces
Fresh Berries
Chocolate Syrup
Mini Marshmallows
M&M's
Small homemade chocolate cookies
Crushed Oreo's
Homemade whipped cream

Since we're doing the ultimate sundae bar, we're not having cake. Between the toppings and the gooey chocolate cookies, there will be plenty of satisfying sweets.

For food we're having pizza and I'm going to make a big tossed salad to go on the side. We want to keep it simple, but nice. When all is said and done, we'll have spent a hundred dollars or less. That includes the food, decorations, entertainment and party favors. If you're crafty, you can make some cute birthday frippery to keep the party cost down.

For my daughters birthday we're making embellished party hats and a cute personalized party banner. She choose her favorite colors for the hat and we just used odds and ends of different crafting material I had to decorate the hats and banner. I created my own templates for both. You can find also find templates online.

You can use anything to decorate the party hats. We used paper flowers, feathers, pom pom balls, stickers, decorative yarn, etc. For the chin strap you can use a piece of yarn or coated elastic (craft stores).




For the banner, I decorated the pendant flags with various embellishments that reminded me of my daughter and the things she's into now. I also put her name and age on some and I'll include pics of her from when she was a baby until now. I print out the photos on regular paper and cut them out and paste them on. To link the flags together you can sew them, leaving an inch or two between each one or punch holes on the outer corners and use yarn...there are many ways to make one!
I'll post pics of the finished crafts and party in a few days! We're off to a good start though. Should be fun. I'm excited to see how it all turns out!

Little Piggy

Forgive the haneous photos, I didn't have adequate lighting.

For the U of U Sugar Bowl game yesterday, I decided to stick with traditional football fare and make some pigs in a blanket. I've never made these before and I didn't have a recipe, but they were pretty straight forward and turned out really yummy.

The first time I tried these were at a super bowl party last year in San Diego. The cook was putting them out by the bowl fulls and everyone was just devouring them. They're so easy to assemble and who doesn't love salty sausage wrapped in dough?

I served mine with honey dijon mustard and BBQ sauce. Very tasty appetizers indeed.

Two pkgs, precooked Hillshire Farm Mini Sausages *
Two pkgs, crescent dough

Unroll dough and press two triangle pieces together at the seam to form a rectangle. Roll out dough slightly; cut into strips. Rinse and pat dry sausage. Roll up each sausage in one strip of dough and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375F for 12-18 minutes or until tops are puffed and golden brown. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

* Found in the bacon section, not the freezer isle.