Mar.
30

Sugar Cookie Bars

Posted by Em at: 7:01 am | 37 Comments

There are times when I can be incredibly lazy. I admit it. I’m not proud of it, mind you, but I’m aware of it and working to change it. But there are also times when my being lazy works out quite well :) Case in point, I love sugar cookies but would rather not spend the time and energy rolling out the dough, cutting out the shapes, waiting for them to cool, making the icing and then decorating them. That takes waaaaaaay too long and it’s waaaaaaay to easy for me to give up and eat them long before the decorating even starts! LOL. So when I came across the recipe for sugar cookie bars, well, it was like a timely solution to my old nemesis… laziness :)

(more…)

Posted in cookies, recipes | 37 Comments »

Mar.
15

Oreo Pie

Posted by Em at: 4:45 am | 16 Comments

Today started off as a rather normal Saturday morning.  Nothing overly interesting going on… DH running errands for the household… me taking care of some items for our Home Owner’s Association… the kids playing games.  Then around 1pm my quiet easy-going Saturday changed.  I suddenly realized today is March 14th. Yes… 3/14… which is 3.14… that’ s Pi… and suddenly it hit me…. OH NO!!! It’s PIE DAY and I didn’t make a pie…   I gotta make a pie… and it’s gotta be a quick one since I’ve already lost the whole morning! I asked the kids and DH what kind of pie they wanted and of course they sang out “Chocolate” in perfect unison as if it’d been rehearsed or something! Sure, they may have wanted chocolate pie but I wanted something more interesting… but still something I knew they’d like.  The solution… a super easy Oreo Pie!  If you’re a fan of Oreo cookies, this pie is tailor-made for you :)

Honestly this is super easy.  Just a mere 5 ingredients… Oreo pie crust, Oreo cookies, cream cheese, whipped cream and sugar.  I think it took me about 20 minutes… including clean up!  And when it was served… well… it made me look like a supastah!

 

Oreo Pie

Adapted from Kraft

Ingredients

1 Oreo Pie Crust

12 Oreo cookies

8oz Cream Cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups whipped cream

 

Directions

In a small bowl, smash up 12 of the Oreo cookies… Set aside.

In a medium bowl using a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar… Beat until light and fluffy.

Add in the whipped cream and the smashed up Oreo cookies… Then use a rubber spatula and combine gently until well blended and the cookies are distributed throughout.

Spoon into the Oreo pie crust and refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm.

Optional garnish… Cut 4 Oreo cookies in half and place the halves, cut side down, around a dollop of whipped cream placed in the center and dusted with Oreo cookie crumbs

Note: the 2 cups of whipped cream is not the same as whipping cream.  For this recipe the cream should be whipped.  Use either freshly whipped cream or Reddi-Whip or Cool Whip or similar… But the cream is to be whipped, not liquid.

I’ve never cared for Oreos so this dessert was easy for me to resist.  I can tell you my husband and kids absolutely loved it and, no lie, they licked their plates clean!  That’s always a compliment :)  As good as it is right now in winter, I can imagine this would be fantastic as a summertime dessert.  Either way, if you like Oreos, you gotta make it :)

Have a delicious (Pi) day!

  src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/313/2F9B6626815A7DEDA50FC96
E870F3868.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>

Posted in cookies, pie, recipes | 16 Comments »

Feb.
27

Lemon Cookies

Posted by Em at: 8:00 pm | 12 Comments

Do you remember when I posted the Iced Pumpkin Cookies and said they should come with a warning because they’re so addictive?  Well, go on and add these Lemon Cookies to the same category! LOL.  These are amazingly good.  I made them on pretty much of a whim and the batter was so good I had to seriously restrain myself from eating all of it!  The cookies were so good it was hard to get them off the cookie sheet and onto the cooling rack without a detour straight to my mouth.  My co-workers devoured these… quickly!  I had to set a couple aside for one of my most lemon-loving colleagues who was coming in late that day.  I knew he’d never forgive me if they were gone before he’d had a chance to try them and in all honesty I set aside three for him but somehow only two were left <insert innocent look here> by the time he came in.  No clue how that happened ;-) {continued}

Lots of people have been giving me lemons lately.  At one point they were so ridiculously expensive in the market (uh… $1 ea?  no thanks!) that I was starting to worry.  I’m guessing now everyone’s lemon trees are in full bloom and folks wanna get rid of their overage – I’m happy, make that delighted, to help them out :) One house on our block has a lemon tree in the front yard with virtually an entire crop of lemons on that one tree.  I’d love to pick each and every last one and use it for baking… but… I don’t know the people and I feel awkward ringing their bell and saying “Hi, you don’t know me but I live on the block and I couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous and abundant your lemon tree is so was wondering if maybe you wouldn’t mind if I kinda, sorta, perhaps harvest them all for my baking addiction, er, hobby since lemon is my faaaaaaavorite flavor…. <insert batting eyelashes here> ppppplease?”  Yeah, that’s a great ice-breaker… not! LOL Instead I just admire the beauty of the tree and secretly covet its fruit :)

Anyway… back to the cookies :)  These are not dry, hard, crunchy, thin or crumbly.  Oh no!  These are moist, dense, thick, chewy and incredibly delicious.  I will be making these again very very soon!  I first discovered them on my friend Jamie’s blog and she was on the fence about them…. but not me.  I love love love these cookies!  The recipe can be found here and because I like my stuff very very, very lemony, to the recipe I added the zest and juice of one entire large lemon.  That was my only “alteration” if you will and honestly if you’re not as much of a lemon fan as I am, you can go ahead and make the recipe as written for a milder flavor.  When it comes to lemon, I like my flavor big, bold and tart but I realize not everyone agrees :)  Wow – just posting about these has me all drooly again. Hmmm… methinks that means I need to make more cookies! LOL

Have a delicious day!

src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/313/2F9B6626815A7DEDA50FC96
E870F3868.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>

Posted in cookies, lemon, recipes | 12 Comments »

Feb.
24

Caramel Crunch Bars – TwD

Posted by Em at: 8:01 am | 14 Comments

This week our Tuesday With Dorie host is Whitney of What’s Left On The Table and her choice was the recipe for Dorie’s Caramel Crunch Bars.  I’m sure it’s just me but the name of this recipe left me scratching my head since there’s absolutely no caramel at all.  And that’s fine by me since I’m not a huge fan of caramel anyway :) A brown-sugar chocolate chip type cookie on the bottom… a layer of melted chocolate… covered in a layer of toffee bits?  Come on… you tell me… what’s not to like?!?!?!!!! {continue}
These are bar-style cookies… the kind you make in a pan and then cut after cooling.  They are definitely not difficult to make although I did have a couple of “challenges”.  First off, the recipe calls for toffee bits and all I had was a bag of Heath Toffee and Milk Chocolate bits.  I think it was fine but the top layer has bits of chopped chocolate which create a different look than Dorie’s picture.  Eh, I’m ok with that :) The second “challenge” was the top layer decided it wasn’t going to set up properly.  After waiting about an hour I put the whole pan in the freezer for about 35-45 minutes and hoped for the best.  The result?  These were incredibly difficult to cut! LOL.  DH said they tasted great just the same.  Me?  I think they’re very very sweet (though I’m not a huge fan of chocolate so don’t let my opinion dissuade you one bit).

For the recipe, check out hostess Whitney’s blog… or better yet… see page 112 of Dorie’s book Baking From My Home To Yours. To see the creations of the rest of the TwD Bakers, check out the Tuesday’s With Dorie Blogroll.

Have a delicious day,

src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/313/2F9B6626815A7DEDA50FC96
E870F3868.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>

Posted in Chocolate, Dorie Greenspan, Tuesdays with Dorie, cookies, recipes | 14 Comments »

Jan.
17

Whipped Shortbread Cookies

Posted by Em at: 2:55 am | 12 Comments

I’ve always had an affinity for cookies.  When I was very young it was a special treat to get cookies from the bakery. I loved looking at the different varieties in the display case trying to decide just which ones I’d choose. More often than not it was butter cookies… decorated with sprinkles or non-pareils or a dollop of chocolate or a even a cherry… it didn’t much matter. They were pretty and they were delicious.  Now I’m all grown up and can make cookies whenever I please which is something that pleases my family LOL.  This past Christmas when I was making treats for the goodie-baskets I gave as gifts, I wanted a delicate, tender cookie that reminded me of those bakery cookies I had as a young girl.  When I made these whipped shortbread cookies I needed to look no further because these could not have been more perfect!

I discovered the recipe just by searching the internet one day for nothing in particular, just different kinds of not-your-everyday cookies.  The method was rather intriguing since you combine most of the ingredients and whip, whip, whip… whip, whip for a loooooooooooooong time… ten whole minutes, which seems like an obscenely long time when you’re doing it. But the end result is so totally worth it.  I put the creamy batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1M tip and piped a random formation onto a silpat-lined cookie sheet, baking as directed. The only modification I made to the recipe was adding probably 1tsp of cornstarch to keep the cookies from being so delicate they’d fall apart in transit.    

These cookies are so very good – they’re melt-in-your-mouth, jump-back-&-kiss-yourself good.  If you’re interested, the recipe can be found here and I highly recommend making them.  Aside from the long mixing time (which really isn’t that long) they come together quickly and extremely easily. If you don’t have a pastry bag, no worries, just put the creamy batter into a big plastic bag and snip off a corner. I’m confident you can make a beautifully simple drop cookie that way and top them with sprinkles or whatever you like.  However you do it, they’ll be fantastic!

Have a delicious day,

  src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/313/2F9B6626815A7DEDA50FC96
E870F3868.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>

Posted in cookies, recipes | 12 Comments »

« View Older Entries | View Newer Entries »
Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin