Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies

My friend Martha hosted her 2nd Annual Cookie Swap for a combination of our friends and her friends.  There were over 20 different types of cookies represented this year.  The weekend before, I started searching the internet for a different kind of cookie -- different from what I have ever made before, and different from what the other ladies would be bringing.  I googled "oreo", since I had them on my mind.  I'm not sure if I thought that I would try making a homemade Oreo, or what, but I came across this recipe that called for crunched up Oreos, plus white chocolate -- two of my favorites.  With Catherine and LaDawna's help the weekend before, we made up this delicious cookie.

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ cup cocoa
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped white chocolate (or chips)
• 1 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate (or chips)
• 1 cup chopped Oreo cookies

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside. 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside. 
3. With a mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugars together until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time. Next, add in vanilla extract. Mix until blended well, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. 
4. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix just until the flour disappears. Stir in the chocolate and Oreos. Drop cookie dough by scant ¼ cups onto the baking sheet. 
5. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Don’t over bake – if the cookies are set around the outside but still soft in the middle, they’re ready to come out. Remove from the oven and let sit on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

NOTE:  Recipe called for dutch processed cocoa, but I used regular Hershey’s.  I’m not sure if it made a difference or not.

Adapted from:  

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/09/01/triple-chocolate-oreo-chunk-cookies/

Thin Mints

A couple weeks back, my friend Martha hosted her 2nd Annual Cookie Swap.  My other friend, Tasha, brought these Thin Mints to share, but not to swap.  Everyone raved about them and insisted that they tasted as good as the Girl Scout Thin Mints.  Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of Thin Mints in general (or really, just mint), so I didn't partake, but I was so intrigued that I figured I had to make them.  I made them, first, for the NSOD Holiday Showcase bake sale.  But, I only had semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I was so confused why I was having such a hard time dipping them.  All of my other friends who were making them were saying that it only took them 20 minutes and it was super easy.  I was going well over an hour, and they were a pain in the bleep.  Since I had tons of Ritz crackers left, and if I didn't start to use them I'd eat them, I decided to give them another try, but this time buying the dark chocolate.  Let me say, I really think that made all the difference.  They were so much easier to make!  And Jim gave this batch a thumbs up, whereas the first round was just "eh".  I couldn't understand why everyone else making them was raving over them, and these were just "ok".  It had to be the dark chocolate.  Now, Jim is saying he can't stay away from these.

• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers (may need a few more)
• 1½ tsp. peppermint extract
• (1) 12 oz. package dark chocolate chips
• 1 tsp. Crisco

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the entire package of chocolate chips in the microwave with one teaspoon of Crisco -- about 2 minutes at about 80% power, stopping every 30 seconds to stir for even consistency.
2. When fully melted, stir in peppermint extract.
3. Dip the Ritz crackers in the melted peppermint chocolate until all of the chocolate is gone.
4. Place on wax paper and put in the freezer to set up.

Makes about 1 - 1½ sleeves worth of Ritz crackers

Corn Casserole

We had our first taste of this sweet corn goodness back in June when we celebrated the Triple Thanksgiving in June Birthdays.  LaDawna brought this fantastic side dish, that is probably not something you would want to count the calories for, but it's oh-so-good!  Catherine and I decided we just had to have it as part of our Feast of Christmas Eve, so as LaDawna was rushing up to her own family's Christmas up in Maine, she sent me the recipe for us to enjoy.  Thank you LaDawna (and Darolyn)!

• (3) 16 oz. packages of frozen yellow and white corn mix
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• ¼ cup butter
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 slices of processed cheese, cut into small pieces
  (We used Sargento's Cheddar/Mozzarella slices)

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, mixing well.
2. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Note:  I goofed and forgot to get this going by 9:00 a.m.  I didn't realize until 11:00.  DOH!  We quickly put everything in the crock pot and put the setting on high, for about two hours.  As it got closer to eating time, and it still wasn't quite heated through, we transferred everything into a casserole dish, wrapped it in tin foil, and put in the oven at 400° for about 30 minutes.  It was perfect!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

Feast of Christmas Even, this year, was going to be a smaller affair than past years.  Knowing we were having only about 10 people, we weren't going overboard with the food.  I made the traditional Beast, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, and green beans for the main meal.  Knowing that no one would really be looking for a big dessert, we went in search of something that would be a nice closure to our feast, but wouldn't send everyone over the edge.  A few days ago, Catherine found this recipe, for Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies, on another blog. She knows that red velvet is a hit with us all, so she thought it would be an interesting recipe to try as a cookie.  I had seen a similar recipe a couple months back, but was afraid it was "cheating" to use a cake mix as one of the ingredients, but since Catherine seemed excited to make them, we went and bought the ingredients.  Last night, on Christmas Eve's Eve, she made the dough and put it in the fridge to chill, as the directions stated... and then promptly fell asleep for the night.  I made the cream cheese balls before I went to bed, and put them in the freezer so they would be ready for us to prepare during the day today.  These were definitely a hit, and something I think I will call dibbs on for next year's cookie swap.  Catherine even plans to take a couple to her dad's tonight so that Santa has a sweet treat when he comes down the chimney.  Merry Christmas 2011 everyone!

Cookies

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Cheesecake Filling

• 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature 
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

White Chocolate Drizzle

• 1 ½ cups white chocolate chips, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. To make cookies, in a large bowl combine cake mix and flour, whisking until clumps disappear.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily.
4. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
5. To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
6. Using a teaspoon, scoop out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls.
   (I used a Pampered Chef small scoop)
7. Place plate in the freezer and freeze for at least two hours.  
8. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
9. To assemble the cookies, take about a 1-2 Tbsp. handful of red velvet cookie dough and flatten in your hands.
10. Cut each cheesecake filling ball in half.  Place one-half of cheesecake filling in the center of each flattened cookie dough and wrap the cookie dough around the filling.  Completely wrap the cookie dough around the filling before baking so it doesn't leak.
11. Gently roll into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Only bake 6 cookies at a time. The cookies are will spread.
12. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle.
13. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.  
14. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler.
    (We microwaved for approximately 2 minutes at 80% power, stirring after every 30 seconds)
15. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies.
16. Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens. Serve and enjoy!

Note:  If you are going to store the cookies for more than a day, you may want to keep them in the refrigerator.

Adapted from: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/red-velvet-cheesecake-cookies/

Twice Baked Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

Today was the 2nd Annual Mini Thanksgiving for my group of friends.  It has fast become something that we look forward to, as we all come together with our favorite holiday recipes.  This year, Catherine really wanted to try something new for a cheesy potato recipe and she searched the web.  She came up with this recipe from Food Network’s website.

I went to the grocery store earlier this week to get the ingredients, but the funny part of the story is that neither one of us looked at the directions (let alone the title of the recipe) until late last night.  Getting home late, we figured today was going to be a chaotic day, so we wanted to at least get a head start on preparing the cheesy potatoes.  As we read the directions, light dawned on us that this wasn’t sliced or cubed potatoes with cheese – it was really the insides of baked potatoes, mashed with the other ingredients to form a casserole.  Duh – twice baked potatoes!  We stayed up until after midnight baking the potatoes, sautéing up the bacon, and mixing all of the ingredients (we didn’t mix the bacon in until we put in the casserole pan to bake this afternoon).  During the prep, I was anxious that this wouldn’t be a friend-worthy recipe to serve.  Much to our glee, we heard happy “yums” throughout the party, and came home with a completely bare casserole dish.  I think we have found a winner!

UPDATE - 11/10/2012
I made this again for this year's Mini Thanksgiving.  It's in the oven as I type.
I baked the potatoes last night, but I tried something different since I found scooping the flesh from the baked potatoes last year to be extremely tedious.  I peeled the potatoes before baking them, and then wrapped them separately, with a little olive oil basted on each potato, in tin foil.  After they were done, and cooled slightly, I put them in a big bowl to mash and it was SO MUCH EASIER, and tasted just the same.  Just not hassle with the peel this time.
I then added all of the ingredients, mixing together in the large bowl, holding aside the fried bacon in a separate container.  I put the bowl of potato mixture and the container of bacon in the refrigerator overnight.  This morning, we took the containers out one hour ahead of time to let it come to room temperature and then I mixed the the bacon in with the potato mixture and then put it all evenly in a large aluminum tray (I think it's something like 18x10).  I topped it with the shredded cheese and put it in the oven.  I hope it comes out as good as everyone remembers!

• 10 large russet baking potatoes (about 7 pounds total)
• 8 Tbsp. (1 stick), at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. salt
  (recipe calls for 2 tsp. salt, but I found that between the salt and the bacon, it was plenty salty, so next time I would cut down the salt a bit)
• 1 ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb. bacon, diced and cooked until crisp
• ½ lb. sharp white cheddar, cut into ½” cubes
• ¾ lb. mild cheddar, grated (3 cups)
• ½ cup finely chopped green onions
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter (for buttering casserole dish)

DIRECTIONS

1.   Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2.   Scrub the potatoes well and rinse under cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels and prick the potatoes in several places with a fork.

3.   Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack until cool enough to handle.

4.   When the potatoes have cooled, cut each potato in half and, using a spoon or a melon baller, scoop the flesh out of the skins, leaving as little flesh as possible.

5.   Place the potato flesh in a large bowl and add 1 stick of the butter, the sour cream, heavy cream, salt, and pepper and mash until chunky-smooth.

6.   Add the bacon, cubed white cheddar, half of the grated cheddar, the green onions, and eggs and mix thoroughly.

7.   Butter a large casserole dish with the remaining tablespoon of butter and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

8.   Place the seasoned potato mixture in the prepared casserole and top with the remaining grated cheddar.

9.   Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges and heated through and the cheese on top is melted and lightly golden. Serve hot.

Adapted from:

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, Emeril's Potluck, William Morrow Publishers, New York, 2004

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/twice-baked-potato-casserole-recipe/index.html

Basic Old Fashioned Bread and Celery Stuffing

The first year I hosted a Thanksgiving (I can't even remember which year that way), my sister-in-law, Judi, brought me this dated and well-used pamphlet from 1981 called "The Turkey Textbook -- the secret to tender turkey".  I'm not sure if she got it from the grocery store or a magazine, but in it holds the keys to making Thanksgiving dinner, including roasting a turkey and making a stuffing to fill the bird.  Although I don't stuff my turkey, I've started making this delicious recipe, using the notation below about baking the stuffing in a casserole dish before serving.

• 4 cups diced celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 4 quarts dry bread cubes/crumbs
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• 1 ½ tsp. poultry seasoning
• ½ tsp. sage
• 1 tsp. pepper
• Hot chicken broth

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook celery and onion in butter until onion is translucent, but not brown.
2. Combine with bread and seasonings.  Toss lightly.
3. Add enough hot broth to moisten
4. Either stuff a 14-18 lb. bird with the stuffing, or place in a baking dish and heat until ready to serve, to keep warm.

Other notes:

• Buy Texas Toast, or other thick bread to make bread crumbs.
• If bread is not dried out sufficiently when ready to make, spread bread cubes on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes at 225, until bread starts to dry out, but now browned.
• Add 2 eggs to help the stuffing stick together, if you prefer.
• Since I do not stuff the bird, I put the stuffing in a casserole dish and bake at 325 for about 15-20 minutes, or to keep warm (I drop the temperature of the oven and cover with tin foil if it's going to be longer than that)

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday was my brother-in-law, Joey's, birthday.  He and Caroline drove out from Syracuse today, and every time he knows he's going to see Catherine, he asks her what kind of cookies she's going to make him.  As they were driving towards us, Catherine told me she had to make the cookies for Uncle Joey.  When I was on the phone with Caroline, we asked if he had any requests, and he said chocolate chip are always a favorite.  Since we've made those so many times before, we decided to add a twist.  Having just come back from Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, we saw the recipe online for these cookies, we thought they would be PERFECT -- and they were!

• 2¼ cups flour
• 1/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups Hershey's Special Dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
  (we used Toll House (oops) semi-sweet)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and set aside
3. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl on medium until creamy.
4. Add eggs, and beat well.
5. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well
6. Stir in chocolate chips.  (Add 1 cup of chopped nuts, if desired).
7. Drop by rounded teaspoons on to an ungreased cookie sheet.  (We used a Pampered Chef small scoop)
8. Bake 8 minutes or until set.
9. Cool slightly and remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack.