Chocolate Chip Cookie and Oreo Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips
•  1 package of oreo cookies
• 1 package of brownie mix 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9X13″ pan with parchment paper 
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs followed by vanilla and mix well.
3. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and continue to beat until well combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Press the cookie dough evenly into the pan.
5. Now place the oreos on top of the cookie dough.  Surprisingly enough, there are just enough oreos to top the whole thing!
6. Prepare brownie batter as directed 
7. Pour brownie batter on top and smooth it around with a spatula.
8. Bake for 40-50 minutes.  They should look slightly under baked.  The edges will likely puff up and dry out a bit but you can trim them off afterwards and still have way more than enough gooey chocolatey squares to go around!  Some of the comments in this post suggest that 40 minutes is too long to bake, so it’s recommended to start peeking in on them after about 30 minutes. 

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 22 Oreos: 16 left whole, and 6 coarsely chopped
• 2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature (Neufchatel is fine)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 F.
2. Line 12 standard muffin tins and 4 ramekins (or 16 muffin tins, if you have them) with paper liners.
3. Place 1 whole Oreo in the bottom of each lined cup.
4. Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.
5. Pour in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
6. Beat in the sour cream and salt.
7. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared tins, filling each almost to the top.
9. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, 22-25 minutes.
10. Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, on a wire rack, then transfer to a plate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, divided
• 4 cups whole milk, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup dried milk powder
• 2 tablespoons glucose
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Take 2 cups of the cereal and crush to the texture of gravel. Add to a pitcher or large bowl. Pour 3 3/4 cups of milk over the top and stir vigorously. Let steep for 20 minutes at room temperature.
2. Strain the milk through a fine-mesh sieve into am medium bowl. Use a spatula to squeeze the milk out of the cereal, but don’t force the mushy cereal through the sieve.
3. Set aside. Take the remaining 1/4 cup milk, which should be thoroughly chilled, and sprinkle the powdered gelatin over the top. Let stand for 20 minutes.
4. Warm a cup of the cereal milk in a sauce pan (either on the stove or in the microwave). Remove from the heat and whisk in the gelatin mixture to dissolve. Whisk in the remaining ingredients, including the rest of the cereal milk, until fully dissolved and incorporated.
5. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve again into the ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Paleo Snickerdoodles

ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour (or meal)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 coconut oil (not melted- kind of like softened butter. So if it's hard, let it soften some. If it's melted, throw it in the fridge for a bit)
• 2 tbsp agave

topping:

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. in a blender, combine flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. 
3. Pulse in the coconut oil and agave.Roll 1 1/2 tbsp scoops into a ball and then roll through the topping. 
4. Put onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten with a cup.
5. Bake 7-9 minutes and let cool. They may not seem done at the end, but they'll firm up. If you REALLY don't think they will, throw them back in for an extra minute. 

Meatball Sub Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1-inch thick slices
• 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 1 t. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1-lb. pkg. frozen meatballs, thawed
• 28-oz. jar pasta sauce
• 1 c. water

Directions

1. Arrange bread slices in a single layer in an ungreased 13″x9″ baking pan; set aside. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise and seasonings; spread over bread slices.

2. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese; set aside. Gently mix together meatballs, spaghetti sauce and water; spoon over cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Rice Krispie Cereal
• 20 Regular Oreos chopped
• 5 cups mini marshmallows
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• white chocolate for drizzle optional

Directions:

1. Spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, pour measured Rice Krispie Cereal.

3. Chop and mash Oreos. You can do this by putting them in a ziplock bag to help keep the mess under control. You want the Oreos to be a variety of sizes from chunky to finely crushed.

4. Add Oreos to Rice Krispy cereal and stir to combine.

5. In a medium sauce pan, heat butter and marshmallows together over medium heat, stirring constantly, until they melt together.

6. Pour melted marshmallows over cereal and oreos and use a spatula sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to quickly combine all the ingredients.

7. As soon as all the cereal is combined, spread mixture into the prepared 9×13″ dish. Use the spatula to press the mixture around the dish, and flatten as needed.

8. Let sit until completely cooled. NOTE: When the rice kris pie treats and cooled I drizzled mine with some white chocolate and let it set until it hardened for a pretty finish.

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter melted
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (use the boxed kind, or grind them in a food processor. Tiny granules.)
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (aka powdered sugar)
• 1 cup + 4 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. 
2. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan. (I did mine in a 9X9 square pan because I wanted them thicker) 
3. In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until melted until smooth. 
4. Spread over the peanut butter layer. 
5. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

S'more Brownies

Ingredients

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips (I used Hershey’s Mini Kisses.)
• 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• miniature marshmallows to cover (about a cup)

Instructions

1. Line a 8″ x 8″ baking pan with parchment and grease the parchment.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, and sweetened condensed milk until well combined.
4. Spread into prepared pan.
5. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until set and golden.
6. Put marshmallows on top of bars and place back in the oven. Turn on the broiler and broil until marshmallows are toasted. Be sure to watch this carefully as you don’t want to burn the marshmallows or catch the parchment on fire.
7. Cool completely in pan before cutting.

Breakfast Calzones

Ingredients

• 15 oz pizza dough
• 6 eggs
• ⅛ cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk. Pour into a skillet over low medium heat. Scramble until eggs are firm but still moist. Set aside.
3. Prepare your additional ingredients and set aside.
4. Pinch off 5 oz of pizza dough and with a rolling pin, stretch the dough into a circle. Place your ingredients onto half of the circle, fold over the other half of the dough and secure edges. Repeat until there is no more dough left. Bake for 15 minutes on a lightly greased cookie sheet until calzones are golden brown.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese With Bacon

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta
• 6 slices thick-cut bacon, coarsely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 5 cups low-fat milk
• 18 ounce package  low-fat cream cheese, cut into chunks
• 18 ounce package  shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper

directions

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain, then return to pot.
2. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, cook the bacon and onion over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is just crisp and the onion is softened, about 8 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Melt the butter in the skillet, whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and bring just to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese and cook, stirring constantly, until just melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar cheese, a handful at a time, until smooth.
3. Add the cheese sauce to the pasta and stir until combined; season with salt and pepper. Top with the bacon-onion mixture.

Mississippi Mud Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of melted butter (or 1 stick of butter and 1 stick of margarine) 
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 4 large eggs (lightly beaten)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted 
• 1 (10.5-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
• Whisk together melted butter and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. 
• Stir in flour and chopped pecans. 
• Pour batter into a greased and floured 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan.

Chocolate Frosting

• 1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa

Directions

1. Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth.
2. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 
3. Remove from oven; top warm cake evenly with marshmallows. 
4. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. 
5. Drizzle Chocolate Frosting over warm cake. 

TIP: Let these cool completely before cutting into squares!

Molasses-Bacon Pork Tenderloin with Smoked Tomatoes

Ingredients

Serves: 6

• 1 cup pecan wood chips  Substitutions
• 
  
• 2 pounds assorted heirloom tomatoes
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 
  
• 1 pork tenderloin, about 1 1/2 pounds
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons McCormick® Grill Mates® Molasses Bacon Seasoning

Directions

• Soak wood chips in enough water to cover for 1 hour. Drain. Fill smoker box with wet wood chips. Place smoker box under grill rack on one side of grill. Close lid.
• Heat grill on high heat about 10 minutes or until smoke appears from chips. Reduce heat to medium.
• Meanwhile, cut larger tomatoes in half. Toss tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Brush pork tenderloin with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle evenly with Seasoning. Place pork on grill rack. Close lid.
• Grill 25 minutes or until pork is desired doneness, turning occasionally. Add tomatoes during last 5 minutes of grilling. Slice pork and serve with smoked tomatoes.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1/4 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/4 teaspoon sea salt
•  1/2 cup butter, softened
•  1/4 cup white sugar
•  1/2 cup brown sugar
•  1 egg
•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•  1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
•  
•  1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
•  1 1/3 cups water
•  1/3 cup canola oil
•  3 eggs

Directions

• Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
• Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

S'More Cookies

S'More Cookies

chocolate cake mix 

2 Eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 cup chocolate chips

2 cups miniature marshmallows

2 chocolate bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix, eggs, and oil until well combined. Mix in the chocolate chips. Using your hands, "smoosh" the marshmallows into the dough, then roll the dough into balls and place them on a cookie sheet. (Yes, "smoosh" is the technical French cooking term.) Then, break off small pieces of a chocolate bar and add a few to the top of each cookie. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Immediately transfer to a cooling rack. Cookies will be really soft when they first come out of the oven, but harden as they cool. Do not over bake.

Brownie Refrigerator Cake

Ingredients: 2 brownie mixes 1 extra large egg 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened 1 cup powdered sugar 2 (8 oz.) containers whipped topping 1 (3 oz.) package instant chocolate pudding 1 (3 oz.) package instant vanilla pudding 3 1/2 cups milk 1 Hershey candy bar or chocolate syrup

Directions: Mix brownie mixes according to directions. Add egg. Bake in 9x13 inch greased and floured cake pan. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 container whipped topping. Put this mix on top of the cooled brownies. Blend puddings and milk together and put on top of the cream cheese mixture. Top with another layer of whipped topping. Put chocolate shavings or chocolate syrup on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chocolate bread

Chocolate Starter Bread

- 200 grams (7 ounces) ripe (100% hydration) starter*
- 540 grams (1 pound 3 ounces) bread flour(I used the French T80, which is partially whole wheat, plus 1 tablespoon wheat gluten)
- 60 grams (1/2 cup) good-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 5 grams (1/6 ounce) fresh yeast, crumbled (substitute 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast)
- 400 grams (14 ounces) filtered water at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 140 grams (5 ounces) good-quality dark chocolate of your choice (I used one with a 60% cacao content), chopped to chocolate chip size on average (you'll have smaller and larger pieces, that's fine -- use them all)

Makes three 380-gram (13-ounce) loaves.

1. Day One: Prepare the dough.

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the starter, flour, cocoa powder, yeast, and water until the mixture forms a shaggy mass and all the flour is incorporated.

Let the mixture sit for 20 to 40 minutes for the autolyse.

Add the salt, and knead with the dough hook on low speed for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until just incorporated.

2. Day One to Two: Ferment the dough.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest at room temperature for 1 hour. After an hour, fold the dough over itself (as demonstrated in this video) about a dozen times -- this helps give oxygen to the yeasts in the dough, it develops the flavors and builds a well-structured crumb.

Apply a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the dough, and a shower cap around the rim of the bowl. Push the shower cap down until it touches the plastic wrap -- you want the cover to be somewhat airtight -- and place the bowl in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours.

3. Day Two: Shape the loaves.

Remove the bowl from the fridge; the dough should have about doubled in size.

Remove the plastic wrap and replace it with the kitchen towel. Let the dough come back to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Place a square or rectangular baking stone on the middle rack of your oven and preheat it to 300°C (570°F) or whatever the highest temperature setting is on your oven, for 30 minutes. If you don't have a baking stone, preheat the oven to 240°C (460°C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Have ready a well floured linen kitchen towel that you will reserve for this use (no need to wash it after baking; the more you flour and use it, the less it will stick).

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface (I dust an old silicone baking mat heavily with flour). Divide it into three pieces of equal size.

Shape each piece into a bâtard -- an oval loaf -- as described here.

After shaping each loaf, place it on the floured kitchen towel and pull the cloth up on each side to form a ridge that will support its shape. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for the remainder of the preheating.

4. Day Two: Create steam in the oven.

During the last 5 minutes of preheating, insert a rimmed baking sheet in the lowest rack of the oven, underneath the pizza stone. Bring about 360 ml (1 1/2 cups) water to the boil in the kettle.

Just before you're ready to insert the loaves in the oven, make sure you wear something with long sleeves and put on an oven mitt. Using a vessel with a pouring spout (such as a measuring jug), pour half of the boiling water into the rimmed baking sheet -- it will sizzle and steam and it will be a bit scary -- and close the oven door right away.

This is to create a nice, steamy environment, to foster the formation of a nice crust. Be careful not to burn yourself as you do this -- that is what the long sleeve and oven mitt are for -- and keep kids and pets out of the kitchen for this step.

5. Day Two: Slash and bake the loaves.

If you're using a baking stone, place the loaves on a well-floured pizza peel. Slash each of them 3 times with a baker's blade or a sharp knife, working the blade at a 45° angle. Slide them onto the pizza stone, working quickly to prevent the heat and steam from escaping.

Pour the remaining water into the rimmed baking sheet, and lower the temperature to 220°C (430°F).

If you don't have a baking stone, arrange the loaves on the prepared cookie sheet. Slash them as directed and insert into the middle rack of the oven. Pour the remaining water into the rimmed baking sheet, but don't lower the temperature.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, rearranging them after 30 minutes so the ones at the front of the oven will be in the back and vice versa, until the loaves sound hollow when tapped at the bottom. If you're worried they might color too much but they sound like they could use a little more baking, turn off the oven and leave the loaves in for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely before eating.

* A 100% hydration starter is fed an equal weight of flour and water at every feeding. To learn more about starters, please refer to my post on natural starter bread.

Cinnamon swirl cake

Ingredients:

CAKE:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. iodized salt

1 cup white granulated sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

CINNAMON FILLING: (see notes below)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temp.

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

GLAZE:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees

Spray 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (I like the kind that has flour in it).

In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), combine ingredients for cake (except melted butter). 

Don't overmix, just stir until combined.

While your mixer is running, slowly add the 1/2 cup melted butter. 

Mix just until combined (overmixing flour in baked goods can make it tough and rubbery).

Spread this batter evenly into your baking dish.

Now to make the filling. 

In a small bowl, combine all your filling ingredients: softened butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. 

Stir until combined well.

Drop the cinnamon filling by spoonfuls onto the cake batter.

Now the artistic part.

Take a butter knife and make swirly, marble-effect patterns all around the cake. 

Drag the knife through both the cinnamon and cake batter.

Bake the cake for about 35-40 minutes (it took about 40 minutes in my oven), until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze.

Whisk together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract in small bowl.

Pour the glaze over the warm cake.  

The glaze is gonna settle into all those nooks and crannies.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Read more The Country Cook: Cinnamon Roll Cake http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/03/cinnamon-roll-cake.html#ixzz2Vdb7QSSt 

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