A Chip off the ol' block

I'm just gonna start  off like I've been here all along and haven't taken a 15 month hiatus....what hiatus? who said something about a hiatus?

I'm sharing our family's favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  It's been in our family for years... I think it goes all the way back to 2015.  That's right, I found these cookies at The Little Kitchen a few years ago and I finally got around to making them last year. These cookies have the perfect amount of chewy and the perfect amount of crunch. They have a few unexpected ingredients too. I've made them a few times and every time they are a hit.
I made these cookies again recently, but made a few changes just like Granny would do. Granny never follows a recipe exactly.

 I usually add a half cup of Heath bits to the batter, but this time I added Heath bits and coconut flakes.  I think I'll be making that addition from here on out. I guess I might just be a chip off the ol' block.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Usually when these ingredients are present it means some tasty chocolate chip cookies are on the way.  Well, not this time my friends.  These ingredients are instead coming together, uniting their lovely flavors to become a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie.

I first discovered the greatest pie there ever was on Pinterest which led me to to Bakerella's blog. This pie and I have been BFFs ever since.  So when my original plan for a Thanksgiving Pie was given the red light by my family I knew my BFF would come to the rescue.  I have lots of great memories with my BFF and I'm so thankful my family and I were able to spend some time with her during the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

Me & my BFF after arriving at Granny's for Thanksgiving Dinner

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 - 9-inch deep-dish pie shell, blind baked
2 large eggs
½  cup all-purpose flour
½  cup granulated sugar
½  cup packed brown sugar
¾  cup butter, softened
1 cup  semi-sweet chocolate morsels
½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup chopped black walnuts

1 tsp. vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven 325° F. 
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with ice cream.

My BFF wearing her Thanksgiving inspired look by Nestle. 

One of the last moments I got to spend with my BFF, but I'm quite thankful for the time we had together.

Brown Sugar Chewies

A few weeks ago I was looking through some old photo albums at my mom's house and came across this pic.

It's a pic of me mixing up the ingredients to make Brown Sugar Chewies.  It was the very first time Granny let me make a recipe solo (or as solo as at gets when Granny's involved). 
Funny thing is that Granny still uses that cookbook on the regular.
Recently I thumbed through the cookbook and found the recipe, so I decided it was time I revisited this recipe.  The simplicity of recipe makes it even easy for an 8 year old.

1 box light brown sugar

1 ½ sticks butter

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ c. self-rising flour

1 c. chopped nuts

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour and mix well. Add vanilla & chopped nuts. I used less than a cup of mix of black walnuts and pecans. Bake in greased 9x13 pan at 325° for 35-40 minutes.

Without Granny to supervise me during this baking experience I inadvertently grabbed bread flour instead of self-rising.  I realized my mistake after putting in about a half cup and switched out the bread flour for the correct flour.  So my Chewies came out a tad bit more glutenous than planned, but they were still quite tasty nonetheless.The next time I make these I plan to experiment with a few addends like chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, toffee, or coconut... But for now (and by now I mean this very instant) I'll just top them with a hearty scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel.

 

Patriotic Brownies

Happy Birthday America!

I've  never really made a holiday themed dish.  Of course I make plenty of recipes for the holidays but you can't usually look at my creation re-creation and know what holiday it belongs to. 

Needless to say I was thrilled when my colleague and blogging buddy Heather from Life by the Spoonful invited me to come do some patriotic baking with her and her sweet little Baby Spoon. 

My mission was to find something patriotic [looking] to bake. My first plan was to make red, white & blue cupcakes, but when the my 4th of July plans changed a bit I decided to go with a different recipe. 

I decided I wanted needed to make Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies. These brownies have been in my Pinterest "to make que" for quite a while now and they already had two of the three colors I needed for making them patriotic-ish. 

It was Heather's idea to add a little blue to the mix.  Although I didn't really like the look of them in the beginning, they have sort of grown on me (pun intended). My mom thinks they look a more like something out of a Dr. Seuss book than a patriotic treat.

Now I didn't know when I started, but I now know I'm helping America (okay mainly just my family) by making these brownies. The recipe calls for the use of dark chocolate pieces. The use of dark chocolate in these brownies means each time my family and I eat one we will lower our blood pressure, improve cognitive function, improve blood sugar, consume antioxidants, prevent cavities, and load up on vitamins & minerals! Thanks for cluing me in on that information Fitday.com.

Yeah I know the sugar, butter and cream cheese probably definitely negate some of the positive properties of the dark chocolate, but I'm going to pretend I don't know that. So I've officially decided that these are not brownies they are: Red, White & Bluies and of course they are good for America!

It's German Chocolate Cake Day!

So it's German Chocolate Cake Day huh? who knew there was such a holiday? Certainly not this girl.  It took way less convincing than I thought to talk Granny into making a German Chocolate Cake.  I know I'm not the only one in the family who is glad she broke from tradition and made this cake on a June day.  Usually Granny only makes this cake in January -- as a birthday cake for my mom and aunt.
The hardest part about making this cake was finding THE recipe.  Granny apparently cuts out the recipe from the Baker's German chocolate box and places it in her recipe box each time she makes this cake (although she denies it). At some point I even wrote it out for her , but she didn't want to follow that one because I may have written it wrong (hmmm... it didn't match any of the thirty-eleven that were in her box).

Granny finally decided which one was THE one. So we made German Chocolate Cake using the recipe below.
CLICK HERE for a printable version.

German Sweet Chocolate Cake

2 c. sugar

2 c. flour

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 c. buttermilk 

1 pkg. (4oz) Baker’s German’s Sweet chocolate

4 eggs (yolks & whites separate) 

½ c. water

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. salt

Heat oven to 350° F.  Line bottoms of 3 round cake pans (9 inch) with wax paper. I can't believe this is actually on the recipe.  Granny lines the pans for almost every cake she makes.

Microwave chocolate and water in large microwavable bowl on high 1 ½ - 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through heating time.  Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. 

Beat margarine and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating after each addition until smooth. 

Beat egg whites in another large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. 

Gently stir into batter. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center. Immediately run spatula between cakes and sides of pans.  Cool 15 minutes; remove from pans. Remove wax paper. Cool completely on wire racks. Granny likes to have her cakes cool on a clean dish towel.

We started making the cake at her house, but since we were going to dinner across the county in my neck of the woods we packed it up and took it to my house to make the frosting. Granny was feeling a little out of her element in my kitchen. 

She threatened to leave me to finish up on my own, but she was afraid I would tear up her already fragile cake. But she stayed and it all came together (and stayed together) in the end.



Oops, I started eating before I remembered to snap a picture! Oh well it can't be helped with this cake.



Lemon Icebox Torte

It's working!

I started blogging in hopes that I would some day be able to cook like Granny.  She has a certain finesse for looking through cookbooks and finding two to three recipes to mishmash and usually ends up with a superb dish.

In trying to decide which dessert I was bringing to the family cookout I started thinking like Granny. I knew I wanted to make something cool and lemony (nothing says summer like a refreshing lemon dessert, right?).  I thought of this recipe and that recipe and what if did this instead of that and somehow I came up with a delectable Lemon Torte that everyone loved, despite that I never found a Meyer's lemon even after driving all over the city of Nashville! (Yeah, yeah run on sentence -- I know!) I'm not really sure it qualifies as a torte but I'm still going to call it Lemon Icebox Torte....or maybe Lemon Icebox Torture since the piece I'm supposed to be saving for a friend is currently in the frige torturing me right now. 

Unlike Granny I am able to recreate my recipe at any time because I took notes.

Lemon Torte

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Pecan Sandies

1/2 c. butter, melted

1 c. confectioners sugar

8 oz container whipped topping, divided

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 c. lemon juice

1 egg yolk

¼  c. pecans, optional

zest of 1 lemon

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°. Start by crushing the cookies.

Combine crushed cookies & melted butter in medium bowl and press into 9x13 dish.  Bake for 15 minutes and let this layer cool completely (30-60 minutes).

Thoroughly combine cream cheese & sugar. Fold in half of the whipped topping.  Spread the mixture on top of the cookie layer.  Next, beat the egg yolk slightly and add milk and lemon juice and lemon zest.  When thoroughly combined spread this layer on top of the cream cheese layer. 

 Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.  Before serving top with remaining whipped topping and pecans.

Granny and I came up with a few alternatives for the cookie crust. She suggest trying vanilla wafers, I'm leaning more towards Golden Oreos. I think both would be pretty tasty.  And next time I will try it with Meyer's Lemons even if it means growing my own tree (that's how dedicated I am). 

Icing Icing Baby

Yo, Foodie, Let's kick it!
Icing Icing Baby
Icing Icing Baby
All right Frost
Chocolaty and luscious
I am back with another old recipe
something grabs a hold of me tightly
Then I eat from a spoon daily and nightly
Will I ever stop? Yo --I don't know
Turn off the mixer and I'll frost
to the extreme I rock a cake like a vandal
light up a plate and eat a piece like a champion.

Now that I'm done gracing the stage blog with my rap skills I can provide the recipe for the Chocolate frosting that Granny has been making for as long as I can remember.
CLICK HERE for a printable version of Granny's Chocolate Icing.

Chocolate Frosting

1 box confectioner's sugar

1/4 milk

1/2 stick butter

2 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extact

dash of salt

In a saucepan heat milk.  Remove milk from heat just before it reaches a boil.
Melt butter and chocolate. (Granny usually does this in the microwave)
While that's melting, Mix hot milk and sugar.  When thoroughly combined add melted chocolate & butter mixture and vanilla.  If needed add more milk by the tablespoon until desired spreading consistency is reached (the additional milk doesn't need to be hot).  

Yo Gran - Let's get out of here! Word to my mother!

Icing Icing Baby Too good, Icing Icing Baby Too good Too good
Icing Icing Baby Too good, Icing Icing Baby Too good Too good

*Drops the mic and walks off the blog.

It's my Blog-o-versary!!!

My how time flies when you're having fun.
I can hardly believe that it has already been a year since I started blogging.  To commemorate this historic event I decided to go back where it all started...with the cherry cobbler.
Surprisingly, when I called Granny to let her know my plans she was already planning to make one. So I just showed up at her house  with my ingredients so I could watch and copy her every move.
I'm so pleased to say, my crust making ability has greatly improved since the last time I tried to make it. I may know a Girl who still has nightmares about that dreadful crust.

Obviously, this time I opted to make my dish more of a pie than a cobbler, but that little detail shouldn't affect the taste. The double crust pie was a first for both me and Granny. She thinks she might start making them now (yay! point for the Girl). 

So here is my cherry pie!

I know it won't win any blue ribbons at the fair (not yet anyways), but I'm a work in progress.

Thanks for reading about my cooking adventures over the past year. Thanks to my family for eating (or at least tasting) all of my culinary yums and yucks.  And a very special thanks to Granny for her patience and letting me in her kitchen even when she didn't want me in there.

This cake was made for sharing

This cake was made for sharing, and that's just what I'll do.
One of these days this cake I'm gonna share with all of you.

Are you ready Girl? Start sharing!

Usually I'm an iced cake kind of girl, but I can think of 5 reasons why I (and seemingly everyone else) love this pound cake ...despite it's not having icing:

1. Rum Extract

2. Vanilla Extract

3. Coconut Extract

4. Butter Extract

5. Lemon Extract

And for those 5 reasons:

This cake was made for sharing, and that's just what I'll do.
On this day, this cake I'm gonna share with all of you.

Granny came across the recipe for 5 Flavor Pound Cake several years ago and she's been making it every since.  It's become a favorite among family, friends, friends of family and friends of friends.  

Granny gathers up the following ingredients before she begins so everything can get room temperature. 

2 sticks butter

½ c. Crisco

3c. sugar

5 eggs, well beaten

3 c. A.P. flour

½ tsp. baking powder

1 c. whole milk

1 tsp. coconut extract

1 tsp. butter extract

1 tsp. rum extract

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon extract

Cream butter, Crisco and sugar together; add eggs.  Combine flour and baking powder; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir in flour; add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Pour the batter into a tube pan to bake for 1 ½ hours at 325˚.

After removing the cake from the oven poke holes in the cake and pour on the 5 Flavor Glaze.

 Glaze:

1c. sugar

1 tsp. lemon extract

1 tsp. butter extract

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp rum extract

1 tsp. coconut extract

½ c. water

Combine all of the preceding. Bring to a boil.  Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over hot cake and let cool, then remove from pan.

Trust me...
This cake was made for sharing, and that's just what I've done.
On this day, this cake I have now shared with all of you.

You keep starin' when you should be sharin'
and you keep thinkin' bout how it's smellin'.
Ha! You just found out why they call it pound cake, yeah!
and I know your waist soon will be swellin'!

Are you ready friends? Start sharing!
CLICK HERE for a printable version of the recipe.