Perfectly Rounded Choc. Chip Cookies.

Good Monday everyone! Whew. Crazy weekend. But a blast. I love Mondays because they are the only day all of us are home evenings.

Ever since getting this recipe from a friend, I haven't been able to stop making these! They are superb. I prefer these with Chocolate Chunks but I don't always have those on hand so sometimes I use Chips. Still delicious either way.
To get those perfectly rounded cookies....you must use a cookie scoop. My Mom bought one at some Amish Country Store but I bet Wal-Mart or any other store with cook/baking ware would have one. My size is about medium. I started using it a couple months ago and haven't stopped. Can't use spoons anymore!

Perfectly Rounded Choc. Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp. vanilla

1 large egg

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups chocolate chips (or 1 bag of chocolate chunks)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla, and egg in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips/chunks. Using a cookie scoop, drop onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minues; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

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We recently discovered Ultimate Frisbee earlier this summer. Wow. We had no clue what we were missing out on. All 6 of us kids play. And we love it. It is a bunch of friends that get together weekly.

We can get rough with each other....grabbing the frisbee from someone else or crashing and taking out other players. But with most of us under 25....I think that is pretty normal.

Mr. Joe...sporting his new haircut.

Yeah...that is me with those red shorts.

It is good to be back! Looking forward to another busy week...see you in not too long with another food post!

Ice Cream Sugar Cookies, W/A Twist.

Good Tuesday everyone! I have so been enjoying this beautiful and cool spring weather.

I finally got to see Hannah Montana. I absolutely loved it! The music was very well done, and yes I was singing in the theater. Seriously, it is hard not too. I won't say anymore in case some of you guys haven't seen it, but I can't wait to go see it again! I loved the addition of Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift. Guh, I love Taylor Swift's music.

I love sugar cookies. Soft and gooey sugar cookies with a glass of milk, yum. I will have to be pulled away to stop eating. We love this sugar cookie recipe we got from a friend. They are so simple to make but they are the best tasting sugar cookie I've had homemade. I thought why not add ice cream to these and make them ice cream sandwich cookies with sprinkles? Mmmm, they are delicious. Any kind of ice cream though I bet would be tasty in these, I am thinking of chocolate.....

Sugar Ice-Cream Cookies

Ingridents:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 well beaten egg yolks

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cream of tarter

4 cups of vanilla ice cream (or half of a 1.75 qt. of ice cream)

Colored sprinkles

DIRECTIONS:Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Add yolks, mix well. Add flour, soda, and tarter. Add vanilla. Roll into balls. Dip in sugar. Bake for 9 minutes. Cool. Take 2 cookies, on one side spread ice cream. Top with other cookie. Roll in sprinkles. Eat right away or cover with Saran Wrap and freeze.

**To keep these soft and chewy, make sure you put them in foil or cover them - they harden quickly. Also, do "not" overbake these for this recipe, hard sugar cookies in an ice cream sandwich doesn't taste good! Underbake them a little.**

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I have been going thru pictures from when I was born until now. I need pictures for my collage for my party this weekend. My parents had 6 babies at one point or another....I didn't win cutest baby out of us kids. I was chubby, red, and had a double chin. My little sister Anna took the title for cutest baby. I was very weird then, and I still am. I am also a known clutz. I get injured often.

Some people in life have everything in perfect order and in tact, I have never been one of them. Don't think I ever will.

This week and weekend is hectic crazy so I won't be seeing you guys until Monday. I've got lots of things to still do before my party this weekend....not to mention our church's first Softball game is this Friday evening. I'll be back with lots of pictures and another tasty recipe! See you next week!

Oatmeal Cookies With Added Toffee & Coconut.

Good Monday night everyone! Ah, I've missed posting food recipes even though it has only been a week! It seems like forever ago. I am so glad to say that I can finally be back in the kitchen again.
I am also glad that spring decided to come back. Saturday we got around 3 inches of snow. It is almost all gone now and sunny weather is back, more snow would be pretty hard to take.
One thing I really enjoy about food is getting to try new dishes. I love eating at other people's houses to try new dishes. Sunday after church I had lunch with my friend and her Mom and boy, my friend's Mom can cook! We had this yummy oven-cooked glazed pork, Spud Mashed Potatoes, and salad. This was the first time I have ever had Mashed Potatoes out of a box and I fell in love. They are way better than homemade. Can't believe I am saying this! I was also introduced to putting Cinnamon-Sugar on top of Vanilla Ice-Cream. All I can say is wow, why I never tried that before I don't know.

Here is a twist to your average Oatmeal Cookie. The toffee bits and coconut made me love the Oatmeal Cookie even more. I undercooked them slightly and am glad I did. Because they still continued to cook after I took them out and turned out chewy and moist. Didn't last long here at all. And, the dough raw is not bad at all.

Oatmeal, Toffee, & Coconut Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 bag of Toffee Bits

1 cup coconut

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Beat butter, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in oats, toffee bits, and coconut. Drop by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool for 1 minute and then remove to wire rack. Yield: 4 dozen cookies.

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Anna. The one of out us 6 you don't see too often on here. The camera and her don't get along very well. I can't blame her though, because when I was her age the camera and I weren't best buds either. I am still not the biggest fan of getting pictures taken. I enjoy being behind the camera. So does Anna. And she is pretty good at snaping pictures. Really good. And she is only 12. But her and a football get along really well.

I'll see you with a fun contest that involves something about you next. Have a great Monday night!

1st Guest Blogger.

Hi everyone! One of my favorite bloggers, Jessica over at Turkey Cookies is my guest blogger today. Thank you Jessica for helping me out!

I'm flattered to be hanging out in Priscilla's kitchen today. She always makes the most delicious goodies which become quick favorites in my house. I love to bake most anything but I have a particular weakness for cookies. Baking is my stress relief and there is no better way I would rather spend a weekend day than in the kitchen with some flour, butter, and sugar. I thought long and hard about what recipe to share here. Priscilla really does make some yummy treats and I wanted to share something just as tasty. On the most lovely spring day so far this year I thought meringues! Both are cookies that just scream springtime to me and are a nice break from the variations of chocolate chip cookies that I often make.
Meringues
INGREDIENTS:
4 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder (or hot chocolate powder)
1 cup sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Whip the the first three ingredients together with an electric mixer on medium high speed until they increase in size and become frothy. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Mix the instant coffee and cocoa powder together with the vanilla in a small bowl until dissolved. Slowly add the sugar into the egg white mixture and mix on high speed until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Add the coffee/cocoa/vanilla mixture until just combined. Put the mixture into a pastry bag (or ziploc bag with the end cut off, like me) and make small thumb-sized meringues about an inch apart. Bake in the oven for twenty minutes, rotate the pans, and bake another 10-20 minutes or until the meringues appear dry. Then let them cool in the oven until they are crispy for 30 to 40 minutes.
You really cannot eat just one of these meringues. Thanks for sharing your space with me today, Priscilla. I really enjoyed the chance to share one of my favorite recipes with you!

Hope you all enjoyed this new something and see you shortly with another post soon. Have a super Monday!

Classic Crunchy Choc. Chip Cookie W/Brownie Mix.

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A big conrats to the winner of the purse picked by random.org:

A who said: I'm wearing a green shirt--no pinching for me!!!

Congrats A! Please contact me at priscilla91@iowatelecom.net so I can get your prize out to you!

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Good Wednesday everyone! This week is flying by, I can't believe we are already halfway thru March! It seems like yesterday was March 1st. I recently learned how to play "Apples to Apples" (lame that I only learned recently) and I absolutely love that game! I like it when you get cards like when the red card is "frightening" and someone throws in a green card that says "Brad Pitt". I also love playing when you play only with the green cards, where you describe everyone with the adjectives. I've got some pretty mean cards that way. Lets say I'm glad it is all in fun! But why do brothers find great pleasure in giving their sisters cards that say things like insane, painful, or frightening? I am still trying to figure that out.

I took this recipe from the King Arthur Flour, Cookie Companion book and tweaked it. Yum, the addition of a brownie mix adds great flavor and a bit of a brownie like cookie. This recipe is one of my favorite ways to make Chocolate Chip cookies with the addition of vinegar and shortening. I also enjoy all the chocolate chips in this cookie, a whole 3 cups. I personally think the more chips the better.

Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookie With Brownie Mix

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp. vanila extract

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp. white vinegar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 - 1/4 cup brownie mix, dry (staright from the box)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, salt, and vinegar. Beat in the eggs, then the baking soda and flour. Stir in the brownie mix and chips. Drop the dough by a small tablespoonful onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

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Little brothers. I've got 2 of them. They definitely keep my life exciting. They are opposites of each other but keep each other in tact. They are full of energy when it comes to sports. And yes, they are way better than me at the whole sports thing. Although that doesn't keep me from still trying to be okay in their books at it.

Have a fabulous rest of your week and I'll see you next with a tasty recipe!

Chocolate Ice-Cream Sandwich Cookies And The Winner.

Agh, Thursday morning. Only two more days of school. And only two more days until the weekend. Did I say how much I love weekends? With this amazing warm spring like weather we have been having the weekends are starting to look even better. I don't mind that much saying good-bye to snow and -20 degree weather and welcoming Robins, flowers, and things that turn green.

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So, who is the winner of those chic purses/totes? Picked by random.org, congrats to:

JuliAnn Johns: My favorite is the very first one (black one with the leaves). AND I just subscribed to your blog. Thanks!

Please contact me at: priscilla91@iowatelecom.net to receive your prize!

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I love ice-cream sandwiches. During the summer time that is pretty much all I want to eat. I love the Blue Bunny ones and the Mrs. Fields chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. Mmm. This was my first time at making good tasting ice-cream sandwich cookies. We love these. The chocolate chip cookie is delicious by itself but eaten with the ice cream makes it all the better tasting. These should be chewy cookies, hard ice cream sandwiches are never fun.

Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)
1 pint vanilla ice cream

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets, forming 8 cookies. Flatten slightly with a greased glass. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool. To assemble sandwiches, place 1/4 cup ice cream on the bottom of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Freeze overnight. Yield: 4 ice cream sandwiches.

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Growing up in family with 5 brothers and sisters, I am plopped right in the middle. I have an older sister and brother and 2 younger brothers and a younger sister. My youngest brother is Joe. I always remember him being my little brother whom I could easily win when roughing together, having a head full of curls, not as tall as me, humoring everyone, and my little sister's best buddy. Joe is about 4 inches taller than me and would win in any roughing match now. It is kinda hard seeing my little brother grow up, I want him to stay young. But, I have fun with my brother in a new way now. And I enjoy it. I'll always remember him though as that little guy with that cute smile and head full of curls.

Have a great rest of a week and I'll see you next with another yummy recipe and you don't think I'm done with giveaways do you?!