Butterscotch Toffee Cookies

These cookies are buttery, crispy, soft in the middle, and just plain yummy!   I love a good cookie with butterscotch chips and with the added bits of toffee in these, I was in heaven.  I made large cookies and got about 2.5 dozen (baked for 14-16 minutes).  I'm sure if you made average size you would get close to 4 dozen yummy cookie goodness to share!

Enjoy!

Butterscotch Toffee Cookies

4.5 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Cream of Tarter
1 Cup Butter, softened (do NOT substitute)
1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Oil
1 Tsp Milk
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 Egg
1 - 12 oz Pkg Butterscotch Chips
1 Cup Toffee Pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, sift together (or us my trick: mix with a whisk) flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tarter then set aside.  Next, cream together butter and sugars with mixer until fluffy.  Slowly add in oil, milk, vanilla, and egg - mix until well combined.  Add in reserved flour mixture a little at a time.  Stir in chips and toffee pieces.  Drop by tablespoonfuls, flattening the dough with the back of scoop/spoon (these will not spread much).  Bake for 8-10 minutes, edges will just be starting to brown - let sit on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.

Chicken & Rice {Hotdish}

I have been making this hotdish for a looong time.  In fact, I first got the recipe from a family I babysat for when I was 14. With a busy family, this is really easy to put together - I bet even your babysitter could do it! :)

Enjoy!

Chicken & Rice Hotdish

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Cup Chicken Broth (1 Cup Hot Water + 3 Bullion Cubes)
1 Cup Milk
3 Cups Instant Rice (such as Minute Rice
3 Chicken Breasts, cut-up
1 Bag Frozen Sliced Carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients in 9x13 glass pan (yay for no extra dirty bowls!) and bake for 60-75 minutes until nice and bubbly.

M&M Cookies

Hi Everyone!  Sorry, I haven't been around much lately.  Life has been extremely busy.  Just wanted to let you know I'm still cooking and baking up a storm!  Many of my posts may contain iPhone pictures, but I do intend to post more often!

Note:  This is a great base recipe, you can change up the M&M's for your favorite "chip."

Enjoy!

 
M&M Cookies

1/2 Cup Butter, softened
1/2 Cup Butter Flavored Shortening
1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 Cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Cups M&M's

Cream butter, shortening, and sugars together until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla.  In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients (or use a whisk to mix together), then add to butter mixture a little at a time until well belded.  Stir in M&M's.  Drop by teaspoonful and bake for 9-12 minutes, let cool on pan before transferring to a cooling rack.


I made these with mini M&M's and placed a few on top of each dough-ball before baking.  I also used one of my smaller scoops and got about 60 cookies out of the batch.

Blueberry Cream Pie

The other day I stopped by a Trader Joe's store on my road trip home.  If you've never been to one, I highly suggest stopping at one.  We don't have one locally, so I love to stop and get some unique things for the pantry and freezer.  I sure wish they would get on the ball and build one closer to me!!

How does this bring me to blueberry pie?  Well, my husband LOVES blueberries - more specifically the wild variety that are small and tart (vs. the giant store bought monsters from California).  Trader Joe's just happens to have some awesome bags of frozen wild blueberries for sale!  My intention was to just make a standard blueberry pie, but then I started looking around on Pinterest where I had pinned this recipe and I decided to whip it up instead!  Let me tell you, this pie did NOT disappoint!  We weren't able to wait for it to completely cool and man was it good and even better as a cold slice out of the fridge the next day!

Pie.  It's what's for breakfast dessert!

I used a pre-made pie crust (from Trader Joe's), but your standard shortning crust recipe (right off the Crisco can) would work great for this pie!

Enjoy!

Blueberry Cream Pie

1 Pie Crust
1 egg + 1 Tbsp Cold Water

Filling:
3 Cups Blueberries
1 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Flour
2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Tsp Vanilla

Crumb Topping:
2 1/2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, melted
2/3 Cup Flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lay crust in 9" pie plate and crimp edges - place in refrigerator while making filling.  For the filling; mix together sugar and flour, add eggs one at a time, then add sour cream and vanilla - beating until smooth.  Take crust out of the fridge, spread blueberries in bottom and pour filling evenly over the top and set aside while making crumb topping.  In small bowl, mix together brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg with a fork - add melted butter until mixed and then add flour, stirring until crumbly.  With fingers, crumble topping over blueberries and filling.  Whisk together 1 egg and 1 Tbsp cold water, then brush over exposed edge of pie crust.  Bake for 50-55 minutes.  Let cool before slicing and serving!

Tip:  If using frozen blueberries, let thaw completely before using.  I set mine on top of a few folded paper towels in a bowl to soak up some of the extra juice before using. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Oh man, this cake is dense and wonderful!  If you crave peanut butter and chocolate as much as I do, you better run and make this one!  We've nicknamed this one the "two glass of milk" cake because you're going to need a big 'ol jug of milk to go with it (or a nice cup of coffee)!

As you can tell by the puddle around the cake, I got a little carried away with the glaze.  Who doesn't love glaze though?!  I also was a little impatient and didn't let the cake cool, but man it was worth eating it warm!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Cake:
3 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter (do not use natural)
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
3 Cups Sugar
6 Large Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Glaze:
1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter and flour a 10" tube pan well (or use baking spray generously).  To prepare cake; in medium bowl, whisk or sift flour, baking powder, and salt - set aside.  In the bowl of your electric mixer cream peanut butter and butter, then add sugar and beat for 5 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time and vanilla - beating until well combined.  Add flour mixture a little at a time, until just combined.  Pour into prepared tube pan, then tap on counter gently to remove any air bubbles.  Bake for one hour, then check to make sure it's not browning too quickly (if it is, place some tin foil loosely over the top) and continue baking for another 20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean from the center.  Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes, then flip and let finish cooling completely.

To make glaze; mix all ingredients with a whisk until smooth.  Slowly drizzle over cooled cake.  Then sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top.  Glaze will take a bit to set, but the process can be quickened by putting the cake in the fridge.

*Note: To make this truly sinful, try cutting up Reese's peanut butter cups instead of the chocolate chips!

Ham & Swiss Sliders

These are SO much better than just your everyday ham and cheese sandwich!  They are great party food - whether it's a football game with friends or a baby shower!  The sandwiches can be made a day ahead and stored in your refrigerator until you're ready to bake.  As for the mustard sauce, even the pickiest child in my house will eat these! :)

Enjoy!

Ham & Swiss Sliders
recipe adapted from here


24 Dinner Rolls (you'll want the good ones from the bakery)
24 Pieces Honey Ham (double this is you're using small pieces of ham)
24 Slices Baby Swiss (I cut the deli slices in half)
1/4 Cup Mayonaisse
1/4 Cup Miracle Whip

Mustard Sauce
1/2 Cup Butter, melted
1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
1 Tbsp Minced Onion
1 1/2 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
1/2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In small bowl, mix together mayo and Miracle Whip.  Spread mixture inside each side of the cut bun.  Place a slice of ham (or two) and a slice of cheese on the bun and close.  Put on baking sheet or heavy pan; laying close together.

In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients for mustard sauce with whisk.  Use a basting brush to coat the top of the buns until all the topping is used.  Let mixture soak and set into buns for 10 minutes.  Cover with foil and bake 12-15 minutes until cheese melts.  Remove foil and bake another 2-3 minutes to crisp up the buns.  Serve warm.

Old Fashioned Banana Bread

How can a person ever have too many banana bread recipes?!  This bread is nice and dense and does not require any oil, unlike a lot of other recipes.  This has become one of my go to recipes and would also be wonderful with the addition of nuts.
Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Banana Bread

1/2 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs (room temperature)
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
1 Cup Bananas, mashed
1 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour loaf pan.  Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy - slowly add eggs, 1 at a time.  Add sour cream, bananas, vanilla and mix well.  Then, add all dry ingredients, mixing until combined.  Slowly add buttermilk and pour mixture into prepared pan.  Bake for 50-70 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan - finish cooling on wire rack.

Yields - 1 Large Loaf

Rolo Turtles

Thanks to pinterest, I came across these beauties and decided I wanted needed to make them!  These are a super easy Christmas treat.  Watch out though, they're dangerously addicting!  My kids also loved helping to make them!

Enjoy!

Rolo Turtles

Pretzels (I used the square snaps)
Rolos (to save time, buy the ones by the checkout - you won't have to unwrap them)
Pecan Halves

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place pretzels on a cookie sheet (line with parchment paper if desired), leaving a little room between each pretzel.  Place one rolo on each pretzel.  Put in the oven for 5 minutes - chocolate will look shiny, but not completely melted.  Once out of the oven, place a pecan half on each rolo - making sure not to push down too hard and make a mess.  Be careful not to burn yourself on the pan or hot caramel.  Let cool for 10 minutes, then place in the fridge to finish setting.  Once completely cooled, store in an air tight container.  These will keep longer in the refrigerator, but can be kept at room temperature.  If storing in the fridge, pull out 30-60 minutes before serving to soften the caramel.

Ree's Perfect Au Gratin Potatoes

I'm a big fan of The Pioneer Woman and just about all of her recipes call me to them (more like YELLING..."bake me, cook me!")...this one got put into rotation pretty much as soon as I read it.  I love garlic.  I love potatoes.  I love to cook with cream.  I love these au gratin potatoes!!

Enjoy!

Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin

4-5 Russet Potatoes
2 Tbsp Butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Whole Milk
2 Tbsp Flour
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tsp Salt
Ground Pepper, to taste
1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Smear softened butter over bottom of baking dish.  Slice potatoes, then cut into fourths.  In separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.

Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the dish - pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.  Repeat this two more times; ending with the cream mixture.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling.  Add cheddar cheese to top of potatoes and bake for 3-5 more minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Allow to stand a few minutes before serving.

Banana Spice Cake

In another attempt to use up some ripe bananas my monkey's left behind, I threw together this easy cake.  This cake has a wonderful spice undertone and I love how light and fluffy it is.  I simply dusted mine with powdered sugar, but some kind of glaze would taste wonderful too!

Enjoy!

Banana Spice Cake

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 Small (3 3/4 oz) Box Vanilla Instant Pudding
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
4 Eggs
1/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Water
3 Medium Ripe Bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour bundt pan OR 10" tube pan and set aside.  Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Mix on low until combined, then continue mixing on medium speed for 4 minutes.  Bake for 50-60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto rack to cool completely.