Cleo's Chocolate Chip Cookies

What? I'm updating this blog? It's been around nine months since I've done so... I guess pregnancy made cooking a little less fun for me. Even if no one else is reading this blog, I still use it for a repository of my recipes and frequent it often so it's good to have, even if it's rarely updated.

"Who is Cleo?" you might ask. To be honest, I really have no idea. This is not a recipe Bryan and I grew up eating. When I was in college my sister made these cookies from a cookbook of her husband's family recipes. I immediately fell in love with them and no chocolate chip recipe I have made since has ever compared. Well, I got a couple of sweet cookie scoops and a KitchenAid Splash Shield for my birthday and I had a hankering for my favorite type of cookie so I decided it was the perfect time to blog again. See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

First things first, the recipe states to measure 3/4 C. oil and add a 1/4 C. of shortening. I usually just do this step altogether in my glass measuring cup to save a bowl. I just kind of use a fork and mix it together. It's gross and ugly but it works.

Mix the sugar into the brown sugar.

Mix the sugar and the oil together and cream until light.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until mixed.

Mix the baking soda, baking powder and salt into 2 C. flour. Add it to the wet mixture and beat until combined.

At this point, I switch out my whisk in the KitchenAid for the cookie paddle. If you're just using a bowl and a mixer, at this point I'd mix with a spoon instead, as it gets really thick. You're going to add the remaining 2 C. of flour and the 1 C. of oatmeal. I attach my splash shield now to keep flour from flying everywhere.

Lastly, add your chocolate chips (and any nuts or anything else you'd like in it) and beat one last time until all the chips are fully incorporated. The recipe calls for a package of chocolate chips but since I get the huge package from Costco I found that a package is about 2 C.

I forgot to take this picture before I put them in the oven, but spoon about a tablespoon worth of cookie dough onto your cookie sheet and keep them well spaced apart. 1 and a half to two inches, maybe? I just eyeball it. From the picture below you can see sometimes I still don't get them far enough apart but it's no big deal. These are cookies that aren't made for ornamentation.

I've learned not to count too much on cooking times when making this and that is the difference between really good cookies and not so great ones. They won't really look done when they are done, they'll still look puffed up like this. The recipe states to cook them at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes. It depends on your oven-- gas, electric, convection, make, year,  etc. These I cooked on convect bake (325 degrees rather than 350) for about 10 minutes. What you need to watch for is for the edges of the cookie to just start to become golden. You do not want these to brown too much or they won't be that good.

Okay, allow these babies to cool on their cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving them. I honestly like them even more when they've cooled off all the way. They are so soft and chewy and delicious for days and days later and they make so many! The amount pictured above plus maybe 8-10. I really ought to have counted the end result, sorry!

Ingredients:

1/4 C. shortening
3/4 C. oil
1 1/2 C. white sugar
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 C. oatmeal
1 pkg. or 2 C. chocolate chips

1. Measure 3/4 C. oil and add 1/4 C. shortening.
2. Mix sugar into brown sugar.
3. Beat the sugar and oil mixtures together and cream until light.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until mixed.
5. Mix baking soda, baking powder and salt into 2 C. flour.
6. Add flour mixture to wet mixture and beat until combined.
7. Add remaining 2 C. flour and 1 C. oatmeal-- mix with a spoon or cookie paddle at this point.
8. Add chocolate chips and mix until fully incorporated. 
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes (or before-- just until the edges are golden-- do not overbake!)
10. Take them out and let them cool 10 minutes before moving them.

REVIEW: Brownie Pudding

I'm obsessed with Pinterest. Is that a surprise to anyone, though? I have a lot of meals I like and will make fairly regularly but I try to throw in new recipes more frequently and where do I get them? None other than Pinterest. Now, a lot of the time what happens is that I see a picture of a new recipe and start drooling on the spot. I get all excited and make it and then... it's not that good. Or it's fine but not nearly as flavorful and mouth watering as I'd originally thought. Sometimes, I get kind of discouraged and assume that I'll be disappointed before I even make it. Sometimes when I do that I get the rug pulled out from beneath me in surprise of how delectable it is. This is one of those times. Brownie Pudding is so rich and smooth and the perfect flavor-- everything I hoped it would be. I will be making this many, many times throughout our future life-- of that I'm sure! Now one thing, it calls for seeds from a vanilla bean. I couldn't find one at my local grocery store so I used 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract and it worked out great. I also thought it would be more temperamental and difficult because you put it in a water bath but it could not have been easier to make! If you make this you'll become obsessed with it, too.

Brownie Pudding

REVIEW: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Even the name of this recipe has my mouth watering. Oh my goodness, I made these last night and they were so delicious and so autumn appropriate! Really, you can eat them any time of year but I especially enjoy getting into autumn by making seasonal food. Anything with cloves and/or nutmeg in it is generally going to be heavenly, in my opinion.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

REVIEW: Zucchini Bread

Okay, so this is a quasi-review in that I think zucchini bread is a pretty basic recipe but this is my go-to zucchini bread recipe and I have always loved it.

Bryan and I planted a small garden this summer and, though my husband is not a huge fan of squash, I begged him to let us plant some zucchini. He gave in when I promised zucchini bread. Duh! That's probably why I wanted to plant it in the first place... I do like zucchini sliced and fried, though. Anyway, our zucchinis are finally coming to a stage where some of them can be plucked. I trust this recipe to always be good but I do change it up a little. Here is the base recipe:

Zucchini Bread

Sometimes I add the nuts it calls for, if I have them. I seem to almost always have coconut on hand so I throw that in along with about 1/2 C. of chocolate chips. Once I have poured the batter into the bread pans and before cooking I top it with a mixture of 2 Tbsp white sugar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, an idea I got from Our Best Bites. It's to die for!

REVIEW: Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

For Bryan's birthday I made a cake I had found on Pinterest. Everyone LOVED it. In fact, the reason I am updating with it right now is that one attendee of his birthday party requested I do so. This cake is so deliciously moist (due to the sour cream). The post I'm directing you to has a ton of peanut butter in it. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter desserts so I just took out anything that said "peanut butter." You may leave it in-- that's your prerogative. It's just much better without, in my opinion. The frosting might need to be a little bit adjusted for the lack of peanut butter but that's about it. Bryan and I both LOVE cream cheese frosting so when I found this cake I thought it was perfect!

So, here you have it: Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

Sweet Potatoes

Happy Thanksgiving! What a time for delicious food. I helped out this year by making two pumpkin pies, an apple pie and sweet potatoes (Bryan made rolls). I got both pies off of the internet but the sweet potatoes are something my mom has made for every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner that I can remember (among a few other dishes). I love these sweet potatoes. It's really the brown sugar topping that makes it. After it was done cooking and I took it out of the oven, I leaned down and took in the aroma. Immediately it felt familiar and warm, accompanied by a rush of family memories. Anyway, onto actually making it. See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

 This includes the entire recipe, filling and topping. We'll start by making the filling.

 The recipe calls for 3-4 cups of mashed yams or sweet potatoes (either is fine). What is really the difference anyway? I found that two 29 oz cans worked perfectly.

 The first thing you'll want to do is pour the yams/sweet potatoes in a larger saucepan with all the liquid. Bring the contents to a boil and then use a strainer or the lid of the saucepan to drain off the liquid and then put it in a bowl.

 The yams/sweet potatoes are pretty much covered by the rest of the ingredients here. Place all filling ingredients in a bowl to be mixed.

 Mix it up! You can use a hand mixer-- I used my KitchenAid. Maybe this picture wasn't necessary but I thought it looked pretty cool.

Place the filling in a 9x13" casserole dish and move on to the topping.

Chop your pecans..

.Mix all the ingredients together. It might be useful to mix all the dry ingredients first and then add the butter but I didn't and it turned out great!

Here is the result.

Crumble onto the filling and then bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Ah, delicious end result.

Ingredients:

Filling:
3-4 C. mashed yams or sweet potatoes
1/4 C. milk
2 eggs
1 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. butter

Topping:
1 C. pecans, chopped
1 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. flour

1. Pour yams/sweet potatoes into a saucepan with liquid and bring to a boil. Drain off liquid.
2. Mix yams/sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and butter together with an electric mixer.
3. Place filling in 9x13" casserole dish.
4. In a small to medium bowl, mix pecans, flour, butter and brown sugar.
5. Crumble topping onto filling.
6. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

REVIEW: Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Happy autumn! One thing I meant to do in starting this blog was to review those recipes I found on the internet that were so delicious we want to add them to our family favorites. Today, I have my first review of such a recipe.

It seems especially appropriate for this time of year. I made this a month or so ago but, on my suggestion, my sister made it for her book club and told me it got rave reviews. I thought it only prudent to share it here.

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

This cake is so delicious. With it's apple cinnamon flavoring it is just perfect for this time of year. Or really, any time of year! It is so moist, too! That is something I definitely strive for in cake making. No one likes a dry cake, do they? I do have a word of advice, though. My sister called me worried she had done something wrong because the batter was pretty thick rather than the more liquid-like cake batters we're used to. That is perfectly normal! If your cake batter is thick, that's good for this particular recipe.

Happy eating! I hope you find this to be as delectable as I did!

Lemon Cooler

This frozen treat is delicious and simple-- something I remember having a bunch as a kid. There was one summer when I remember my sister making this like once a week! We start with a basic graham cracker crust. See the end for the full recipe.For the crust you'll need:

Not all graham cracker crusts call for cinnamon but I happen to love it. If you have your own favorite graham cracker recipe you can skip this little tutorial to the end (the crust is actually more 'complicated' than the filling itself). For the filling you'll need:

Half a gallon of vanilla ice cream and frozen lemonade. Pretty simple!

 

 Start off by bringing your ice cream out of the freezer and putting it in a bowl so it can soften since you'll have to mix it with something later. I would give it an hour to an hour and a half. On to the crust!

Pull your graham crackers out of their sleeve and put them in a large bag. Break them up a bit.

You want the crumbs to be fine. I use a rolling pin to finish off the process.

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Make sure they come together well and then add your melted butter. I used 4 Tbsp. butter even though many recipes call for 6 Tbsp because it comes out too 'wet' when I used the larger amount.

See how that is nice and sandy looking? You don't want it to be too wet or it won't turn out right. Pack the crust down with a spoon or clean fingers, if you will. You want it to come up the sides and be firmly packed. Cook at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes (you don't want to overcook the crust, you just want to keep it from crumbling later on).

While that is cooking you can start on your filling.

Pour the ice cream into the bowl it was sitting in and then pour the lemonade over top.

Mix it together until it is smooth. I usually use a wooden spoon. I have never tried beaters but it could work-- that's your prerogative.

Now that the crust is done it should look something like this. I would let it cool for a bit before putting the filling in (you're going to be putting it in the freezer again and you don't want the hot pie plate to morph the plastic bottom in your freezer. This has actually happened to me... I know, I know. We all do dumb things sometimes!). Once it has cooled, pour in the filling. You can sprinkle graham cracker on the top if you like.

Here it is before going into the freezer. I let mine sit in there for a day but it could take less time. Just keep an eye on it. It will probably need at least three or four hours.

Ta da! Here is our finished, frozen Lemon Cooler pie. It is great for summer (or any time, really!). I made the mistake of trying to travel with it for an hour and a half and then refreeze it but, even after a couple of hours, it wasn't completely done. We ate it as a melty mess but it still tasted great.

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve, or 9-10 crackers)
1/3 C. sugar
4-6 Tbsp butter, melted(*see note above about butter usage)
1/3 tsp. cinnamon

Filling:
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1 can frozen lemonade

1. Let the ice cream sit out in a bowl for 1-1.5 hours while it softens.
2. Crush graham crackers so they are powdery.
3. Combine them with sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.
4. Stir in butter with a fork until it is sandy, but not too wet.
5. Pack graham cracker mixture down into a pie plate and on the sides.
6. Cook in pre-heated oven at 375 for 7 minutes.
7. Mix softened ice cream together with lemonade until smooth.
8. Pour mixture into the cooled graham cracker crust. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs if desired.
9. Refreeze until set, at least 3-4 hours but overnight is best.
10. Enjoy!