Sugar Power!

Today was my first day of my Tues/Thurs class. I actually liked it a lot! The thing that I hate is all those introduction exercises tha
t the professors have the class do. Yes, they want to get to know you a bit and get you talking, blah, blah, blah... but they are so repetitive! Blargh. Ah well... I have one more "new class" tomorrow evening. Night classes. I like the professor though, so it should hopefully not be painful in any way. I will again have my three classes from Monday. Luckily, no homework for tomorrow, woot! I took a nap of epic proportions, but it makes sense because this week is one of those dreaded weeks... Yea...

Anyway, the recipe today is a very basic recipe that we whip out for Christmas. It isn't a difficult recipe, but it does take some time, especially since you have to roll out the dough and then use cookie cutters. My sister and I always look like the flour exploded on our clothes, but an apron can prevent that, haha. I hope you all try this out!

Christmas Cookies


Ingredients:

• 3 c. flour (plus extra for when you roll out the dough)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (the finer kind... not sea salt!)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup shortening (butter flavor or plain is fine)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Pre heat the oven to 375 F or 190 C. (if I ever forget, here is the oven temperature conversion chart)
2. Sift the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar). 
3. Add the shortening to the dry ingredients.
4. Mix with a fork or a pastry blender. 
5. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
6. Lightly flour a flat surface to roll the dough on. Flour your rolling pin. Get out your cookie cutters and set them in a small pile of flour so that you can prevent the shapes sticking in the cookie cutters.
7. Take a chunk and roll it out. Cut the dough into shapes.
8. Bakes for about 8 minutes.
9. Let cool.
10. If you want to, frost and decorate your cookies. If not, then enjoy or store in an air-tight container.

I hope you all try this out. It really isn't difficult, but the dough rolling part could take a bit of practice if you have never done it before. If your dough is too sticky, make sure to flour really well, or the dough will stick everywhere. Good luck!

Love it? Hate it? Want to make it? Let me know what you think with a comment below!

As always...

Bon appétit!

Buckeyes (Think PB truffles)

Today was my first day back! My classes went well, and it doesn't seem like they will be killer classes. I gathered all my books, although I have to see if I still need to buy an online access code for my online class. I was so tired last night that I couldn't even function that well. I was making up sentences that were just... special... Tomorrow I have Environmental Sociology, which I hope is as interesting as it sounds. I have that class in the morning and then have the rest of the day to do work for my other classes. I am slowly getting used to this new laptop, but I LOVE the sound that this computer has. It's like they built really nice speakers in. So awesome. :) I got to eat dinner with my friends, but that was just sheer dumb luck. I had to go and pick up my books, but it was around dinner time. So, I went into the Union and I see my friends sitting at the table eating. It was awesome to see them again! I also returned the jeans that were stored in my closet over break. One of my friends moved out (she's going to student teach somewhere else) and her roomie moved out as well (she is going to Italy! So jealous!), but her roomie found my friends' pants in a drawer, accidentally left behind. I was asked to store them in my room after break and then return them today, which I did. It was nice to chat with her before she heads off on her teaching adventure. Even though it's weird to be at school, I know I will survive and that I can make it to the finish line!

The recipe for today is Buckeyes. Perhaps the people in Ohio are the only ones who call them that, but if you dip them correctly, they truly look like buckeyes. My sister and our neighbor absolutely adore these! Since we had leftover chocolate, we melted some PB, swirled it in with the chocolate, spread the chocolate out medium-thickness on wax paper and let it cool. So yummy! I hope you all give these a chance!

Buckeyes (recipe adjusted from this Allrecipes recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Peanut Butter
• 1 cup of butter, softened and at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 - 6 cups confectioners sugar/powdered sugar (start with 4 and add more if needed)
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips (have some extra on hand just in case!)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, mix the butter, PB, vanilla and confectioners sugar. This mixture is your dough. 
2. Prepare a strip of wax paper on a cutting board/cookie sheet that will fit in the freezer.
3. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on the wax paper-lined surface. They will seem shiny and almost like thick cookie dough. 
4. Chill in the freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. (after they are firm, you can store them all in a gallon plastic bag if you want to dip them later)
5. Melt chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl for 1 minute. Then go to 30 second intervals, stirring after every heating. When the chocolate looks glossy/fully melted (after stirring it), it is ready. 
6. Dip the frozen PB balls into the chocolate with a fork. If you want to make buckeyes, leave a little PB peeking out at the top. If not, just cover it all with chocolate. 
7. Put on wax paper to cool.
8. Transfer to an air tight bin and store in the refrigerator until serving.
9. Enjoy!

This no-bake dessert is easy to make and doesn't take very long, especially with some help! I hope you all try it out!

Love it? Hate it? Want to make it? Let me know what you think with a comment below!

As always...

Bon appétit!

Nut Filled Cookies

Quotes from today:
"Once around the river bend" (while putting away the Pocahontas ornament)
"Let's take the balls off of the tree" (mom meaning that the ornaments needed to come off the tree, although minds wandered somewhere else...)
"That sounded like you farted diarrhea in your pants!" "D.I.M.P. Diarrhea in my pants"
"Angry squirrels" (squirrels fighting over old corn muffin pieces)

It is my last full day at home. So weird. Tomorrow I leave for campus again. For my last semester. Ugh. I found out that my computer decided to delete some videos from my Ipod to "synchronize it" grrrr. I am fixing the issue though, and my sister luckily has them on her Ipod. I realized yesterday that I have about a week until my birthday! That sneaked up on me! I have no idea what restaurant I will go to or anything. I also have a big Relay for life meeting this week. Gonna be an interesting week! We get a 3-day weekend because of MLK day though. :)

The recipe for today was a new one this year. My mom apparently made them before, but she didn't think they tasted the same. I found the crust revolting by itself, but the cookie overall is decent. I give it an 8 out of 10 just because the crust is not yummy by itself... at all... Potentially, you could swap out a pie crust or a different crust if you wanted. I hope you all try this out!

Nut Filled Cookies 

We ran out of muffin cups, so I made a flat dessert too

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb margarine or butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup flour
• 3 oz. cream cheese

Filling:

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon margarine or butter
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Optional:

• powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F or 190 C.
2. Take the first three listed ingredients (flour, cream cheese, and butter/margarine) and combine.
3. Shape the mix into 24 small balls.
4. Put mini-muffin cups in a mini muffin pan or a round pan.
5. Press the balls of dough into the muffin cups, working it up the sides to make a small cup.
6. Combine all of the filling ingredients.
7. Put 1 tsp. of the filling into each muffin cup or until 3/4 full.
8. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until edge is slightly brown.
9. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you'd like. (I skipped that step)
10. Let cool and enjoy!

This isn't a difficult recipe to make, but it does take a little bit of time and some messy hands to get the crust all set up. After that is done, it's a breeze! Hope you all try this out!

Love it? Hate it? Want to try it? Let me know with a comment below. :) Please feel free to mention any changes you think could improve this blog. Thanks!

As always...

Bon appétit!

Coconut Macaroons

Nothing thrilling to report today. I stayed up all night and then went downstairs. I baked some biscuits, cooked some scrambled eggs, and assembled a breakfast sandwich. A little salt and a little pepper on the eggs gave fabulous flavor. I also added a slice of cheese because I adore cheese! How are all of you? Going strong with your resolutions? I know that I am pushing my resolutions back until I get back to school with my independence and a true schedule. My first week is going to be busy, but hopefully it will be exciting and feel fresh. I watched the "big show" for Wizards today. It was good!

Today is a day for something that isn't super-sweet. Yes, it falls under the dessert category, but it isn't a sickeningly sweet one. I really should have made a double batch of these because me and my mom gobbled these up within a week. Oops, haha. These are easy to whip up and are done in under 30 minutes! Definitely something to think about if you are in a dessert pickle. :) This is another one of those recipes that we only dig out for Christmas, but it is versatile! I hope you all try these out. 

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups (7 ounces) Baker's Angel Flake coconut
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 4 egg whites
• 1 tsp. almond extract

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 F or 170 C.
2. Mix the coconut, flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Stir in the egg whites and almond extract until well blended.
4. Grease or spray nonstick spray on your cookie sheets or cover with parchment paper/aluminum foil.
5. Drop the mixture by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. 
7. Immediately remove from the cookie sheets and place on a cooling rack or on wax paper. 
8. Enjoy right away or store in an air tight container after they cool down.

Love it? Hate it? Want to try the recipe out? Let me know with a comment below!

As always...

Bon appétit!