Soft Sugar Cookies

My husband has been craving some sugar cookies, so I found a recipe online for "soft" sugar cookies, because I don't like the flat hard ones.

I came across a pretty good recipe that didn't disappoint.  Here is where I found the recipe: AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until dough comes together. Roll dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in sugar. Place them on an unprepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
3. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottom is light brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

We also needed some frosting, as it is Sunday and we couldn't go out and buy some.  So I found another recipe online that is super easy.  Now, it's not necessarily my favorite frosting, but it would be great to make for little kids as it is so easy and we had fun coloring it.  Here is where I found the frosting recipe: AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• food coloring

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

Blondies

Lately I have been trying to bake more. I've never been the best baker, but I figure "practice makes perfect" is a saying for a reason!

On Sunday I was craving something sweet, and I decided to make Blondies, for the sole reason that I had all the ingredients! This recipe came out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

Sorry I don't have a picture! But they were so good that I thought I should post it anyways.

Blondies

Ingredients

1/2 cup of butter, melted

1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon of baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of chopped walnuts or cashews

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the nuts.

4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 9 blondies.

S'more Cookie Bars!

These are great because you get to eat them without actually needing to go camping! haha.

S'more Cookie Bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up ad spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars

Dutch Pear Pie

I have never had a pear pie before, so I thought I would try this recipe. It was actually pretty good! Not my favorite, but good! I would recommend at least trying one good pear pie in your life.

Makes: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Start to Finish: 1 hr 40 min

CRUST
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed by box

FILLING
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten
3 cups coarsely chopped fresh pears (2 to 3 medium pears)

CRUMB TOPPING
1 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate; do not prick crust. Carefully line pastry with double thickness of foil, gently pressing foil to bottom and side of crust. Let foil extend over edge to prevent excessive browning. Bake 10 minutes. Carefully remove foil; bake 2 to 4 minutes longer or until crust just begins to brown and has become set. If crust bubbles, gently push bubbles down with back of spoon.
2..Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix filling ingredients. Pour into warm baked pie shell. Mix crumb topping ingredients with pasty blender or fork until mixture looks like fine crumbs; sprinkle evenly over filling.
3..Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until top is light golden brown. After 30 minutes of baking, cover top of pie with foil to prevent excessive browning. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

I try to make one dessert a week, so I have two more to show! Stay tuned!

Peanut Butter Cookies

I know I post way too many desserts...but they are what keep my buoyed up in life! I can't live without the sweets. :)

Here is a favorite family recipe of mine; peanut butter cookies!


Makes: 3 dozen

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix margarine, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar together.
2..Mix in egg.
3..Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in with mixture.
4..Place on cookie sheet and press down balls of dough with a fork.
5..Bake about 7 1/2 minutes.
6..ENJOY!

Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I was a hankerin' for some cookies and just happened to have all the ingredients for this Fall Cookie recipe! And let me tell you something, these are one of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. I love the cinnamon and ginger in these. It really gives them a tasty flavor. Try them and they may become your favorite as well!

Makes: 5 dozen
Prep Time: 20 min.
Start to Finish: 1 hr 15 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1 cup chopped walnuts -- again, I didn't add nuts

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. On low speed, beat in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and walnuts. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
2..On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart.
3..Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars

Another Betty Crocker recipe that turned out to be delicious! My husband really loves it. The sad part is...we left these bars sitting outside the fridge all night so now we have to throw it away. It makes us REALLY sad because they are SO yummy! Not to mention they took a little while to make. :'( Hopefully next time we will remember to stick it back into the fridge! If it weren't for the cheesecake I think it would have been fine.

Makes: 24 bars
Prep Time: 20 min.
Start to Finish: 3 hrs 40 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine -- I used margarine
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts -- we didn't add these as we are not nutty people :)

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, place cookie mix. Using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through mixture in opposite directions), cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumbs in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
2..Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
3..Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked crust. In medium bowl, mix pie filling and cinnamon. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over top. Sprinkle with walnuts.
4..Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool about 30 minutes. Refrigerate to chill, about 2 hours. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Cover and refrigerate any remaining bars.

Banana Lumpia, a filipino dessert :)

The first time I tried Banana Lumpia was at the Jackie Chan Restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. When my friend and I ordered this dessert, we didn't know what to expect, except we know banana is involved. When the dessert arrived, it looked really good, as were all the restaurant food. The bananas were wrapped in the spring roll/lumpia wrap and fried. I took a bit and fell instantly in love with it. It is best served with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. The hot and the cold created such warmth in our mouth it was hard to describe the feeling.
Tastiness: 5 stars.

Tips:
1. Banana is really filling. So if you're the only one eating the lumpia, you should consider using only 1 or 2 bananas.
2. This dessert is best served immediately. If you leave it overnight, it's not going to be crunchy at all.
3. If you have ice cream at home, serve it with a scoop of ice cream.

Ingredients:
--1 banana, halved. (if you are using those really small bananas, you don't have to cut it in half)
--2 spring roll/lumpia wrappers. (Can be bought in most Asian food store at the produce area. If you live in St. George, Utah, try Harmon's.)

--Some powdered sugar
--Some water
--Oil (as much as you need to fill your frying pan half way up)

Instructions:
1. Wrap each banana in a spring roll wrappers like the pictures below shown. Use the water to seal the wrapper in the final step of the wrapping process.

2. Heat the oil on high over the stove.

3. Fry the wrapped bananas in the pan til the wrappers turn golden brown. Stir them while they are being fried so they can be fried evenly.

4. Remove the banana lumpias from the pan and use the paper towels to drain the oil from the lumpias.

5. Sprinkle the powdered sugar on the lumpias.

6. Serve immediately.

Banana Lumpia

Happy Cooking!
Sharon