Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Squares

My next experiment in the kitchen was a chocolate chip-peanut butter square. I found this recipe on Pillsbury and figured I'd give it a try since I already had all the ingredients. I wish the directions from the recipe were a bit more clear. I wasn't sure if I should melt the peanut butter first and then blend in. Also, should I use a mixer or not. I chose not to melt the peanut butter and mix it by hand. I don't think the filling turned out the way it should have. It was crumbly. There also was not a lot of filling as compared to the picture in the original recipe. Also I only cooked mine for 20min. The cookie on the top browned pretty quickly. Even with all that being said I still thought it tasted pretty good and so simple to make.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 roll of cookie dough

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar, peanut butter and vanilla until well blended.
2. Cut cookie dough in half. In ungreased 8- or 9-inch square pan, break up half of dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan. Press peanut butter mixture evenly over dough. Crumble and sprinkle remaining half of cookie dough over peanut butter mixture. Carefully spread as evenly as possible.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 3 rows. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Recipe from Pillsbury

Even Better- Pecan Cookie Pancake Muffins!

My eleventh experiment came from my recipe yesterday- I had so much batter left over and didn't feel like flipping pancakes. I greased a mini-muffin pan and poured the remaining batter in. I cooked them in a preheated 350 oven for 10 minutes. I could tell the inside was done but the top a bit soft so I turned off the oven and left them in the for another five minutes. Perfection! They came out so good. The pecan and sugar dough combination is so tasty. And of course that butter is supreme. I'm very happy with this experiment..being lazy does sometimes pay off.

Pecan Cookie Pancakes with Honey-Cinnamon Butter

My tenth experiment in the kitchen was pecan cookie pancakes. I had sugar cookie dough and didn't want to make cookies so I found a recipe for cookie waffles. I didn't have a waffle maker so I decided to make pancakes instead. My first few pancakes did not come out very well. I don't think the pan was hot enough. I finally made a few good pancakes. There is a ton of batter left so I will probably be eating pancakes for the rest of the week. The waffles would have been easier to make. I also didn't chop the pecans which in hindsight more have made more sense since it was going into the batter. I  also burnt some of the pecans so watch over them while cooking. The honey-cinnamon butter was so delicious. I will being using this butter recipe to top on other breads and muffins. Overall, the pancakes were good, a bit sweet. I think next time I would just use traditional pancake mix and add toasted pecans and use the honey-cinnamon butter. I think cookie dough should proabbly only be used for sweet treats. So if you are intending to use this recipe as a dessert or part of a brunch it would be great. I found it a bit sweet for breakfast- don't want to start the day with a sugar high.

Ingredients

Honey-Cinnamon Butter

1/2 cup Unsalted or Salted Butter, softened

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon  Ground Cinnamon

 

Pancakes 

Waffles

3/4 cup chopped Pecans

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies

2  Eggs

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup half-and-half

 

Directions 

1. In small bowl, beat butter, honey and cinnamon with electric mixer on medium-high speed 1 to 2 minutes or until light and creamy; set aside.

2. In 10-inch skillet, cook pecans over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently until pecans begin to brown, then stirring constantly until light brown. Remove from skillet to plate to cool.
3. Heat frying pan on low-medium heat Spray with cooking spray
4. In large bowl, break up cookie dough; add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed about 2 minutes or until smooth. Slowly add half-and-half, beating until batter is smooth and thin. Stir in 1/2 cup of the pecans.5. Poor mix into pan. (I used an ice cream scoop to measure out a good amount of batter) Keep pancakes warm in oven.
6. To serve, top each waffle with about 1 tablespoon honey-cinnamon butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the remaining pecans.
Waffle Recipe

Rainbow Chip Cookies

My ninth experiment was a rainbow chip cookie made from a boxed cake mix. This recipe is super easy and fast to make. I brought them to a party and were a huge hit. People said they taste like raw cookie dough- who doesn't love that!! I first found the lollipop cookie recipe and decided to alter it to be this rainbow chip cookie. I love cakes but they are so difficult to transport these cookies give you the cake taste without the hassle.
Ingredients 1 box of rainbow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Rainbow cake mix) 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
2 eggs 1 container of frosting (I used Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip) Directions 1. Heat oven to 375°F (350°F for dark or nonstick cookie sheets). In large bowl, beat cake mix, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed until blended.
2. Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart.
3. Bake 8 to 11 minutes or until puffed and almost no indentation remains when touched. Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Frost and decorate as desired. Lollipop Cookies Recipe

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

My eighth experiment was to help satisfy my snack craving while on another one of my diets. One day while searching the web for low fat topping ideas for popcorn I came across a recipe for popping your own popcorn using a brown paper bag. I went to the store picked up a bag of kernels and a package of brown paper bags. I popped 1/4 cup of kernels in the bag for about two minutes. I then added some spray butter (0 calories ), garlic powder and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. This popcorn is so good and cheap. I estimated the cost to be about $0.08 for 1 serving (about 5 cups). Some people may prefer to add more butter because it definitely isn't like your movie theater popcorn, but the toppings you can add to this popcorn is endless.

Directions

Place 1/4 cup unpopped kernels in a brown-paper lunch bag. Fold the top over tightly a few times; microwave on high for about 2 minutes, or until the popping slows (the timing depends on your microwave). 

Topping Ideas

Spray butter or oil 

garlic 

hot sauce

cinnamon 

Recipe

Other topping ideas

Mini Muffins

Blueberry

My seventh experiment in the kitchen was a present for Father's Day-  blueberry mini muffins. I found this great recipe on-line for the "Best Blueberry Muffins." I figured I would give this recipe a try. I am mailing these home for Father's Day so I figured I would make them mini to ship more easily in the tubberware. I also decided to make some chocolate chip muffins as well since I personally do not care for blueberries.  I made the batter as is but divided some batter out and added chocolate chips. I also used cinnamon in the topping. I just sprinkled the topping on top, but I think next time I would add more topping to each muffin. I allowed the muffins to cool for 20 minutes before removing them. The blueberry one slipped right out but the chocolate were more difficult. A few of the tops came off and pieces of the bottom were stuck in the pan.  The batter made 20 mini muffins. Overall these muffins are very tastey, but I'm not sure I would say they are the "best." I might have to try them as regular size muffins- might taste the "best" then. I also really enjoyed the batter so I might try to think of other ways to use it.

Chocolate

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine, at room temp
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or 2 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk

For Topping

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, mixed with
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

Directions

·  Heat oven to 375°

·   Grease 18 regular-size muffin cups (or 12 large size muffins).

·  In bowl, mix butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.

·  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.

·  Beat in vanilla, baking powder and salt.

·  With spoon, fold in half of flour then half of milk into batter; repeat.

·  Fold in blueberries.

·  Spoon into muffin cups and sprinkle topping onto each muffin.

·  Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and springy to touch

Best Blueberry Muffins

Buffalo Meatloaf

My sixth experiment in the kitchen is a buffalo meatloaf. I have never cooked buffalo before, but I saw the meat at the grocery store today and said why not. I have been eating turkey burgers all week so I didn't want to make another burger so I decided on a meatloaf. This meatloaf is by far the best I have ever had! The seasonings were spot on and the meat was cooked perfectly. I was a bit concerned the diced tomato would make the meatloaf too chunky but it blended well with the meat. I am now in love with buffalo meat. It is so much better and better for you than ground beef.

I altered the original recipe just a bit. I didn't have dry mustard so I used yellow mustard. I also wanted a kick so I added 1/8 tsp of red pepper. I also used plain bread crumbs instead of using a crumbled slice of bread.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of bread crumbs
• 1/2 pound ground buffalo meat
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons canned diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 dash ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp red pepper 
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons ketchup
• 1 tsp of brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish.
2. Thoroughly mix ground buffalo meat, onion, egg, mustard, tomatoes, salt, pepper, red pepper and bread crumbs in a large bowl.
3. Form the meat mixture into a loaf shape about 8x4 inches and place into the middle of the baking dish.
4. Make glaze- stir together ketchup and brown sugar. Apply to the top of the meatloaf.
5. Bake in preheated oven until meat is no longer pink and ketchup forms a glaze over the meatloaf, 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

Ellen's Buffalo Meatloaf recipe