Maudsley's Killer Cookies

We made these bad boys a couple of weeks ago and I thought I ought to share this excellent recipe. It is borrowed from the in-laws who acquired it through a friend's mother. At least that's the story that I know.

Buddy enjoying his before bed treat.

These "killer" cookies are fantastic right out of the oven. They are also the only cookie I know of that I actually prefer with milk chocolate chips rather than semi-sweet. I only had semi-sweet in the cupboard when I made these, they were still awesome.

Word to the wise, they'll be tastier the next day if you are careful not to overcook them. Of course, it's not likely that there will be any left the next day.

Post bath chocolate face.

Maudsley's Killer Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup Shortening

1 Cup Brown Sugar (firmly packed)

1 Cup White Sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 Eggs

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

2 Cups Oatmeal

12 oz. Chocolate Chips (I prefer milk chocolate chips)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together shortening, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Mix together the dry ingredients and add into the wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Dough will be fairly dry and crumbly.

Shape dough into balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 mins or slightly under. Bake until just lightly golden. Be careful not to over bake. 

These are at their absolute best when they are still warm from the oven. Yum!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Love is in the Air

Eat some chocolate today and have a very happy Valentine's day, but whatever you do, Don't eat Mom's Love Chocolate. I don't know what it is, and I'm not sure I want to know.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

German Chocolate Cake

One of my favorite cakes (and my husband's) is German Chocolate Cake. I make it a couple of times a year. Once for D's birthday and once just for fun. Now, unfortunately, both times I make it will involve heartbreak over Buddy's tree nut allergy. Sad.

I'll grant it that this is not an authentic german chocolate cake. I use a boxed cake mix. I do, however, think that the recipe for the frosting is pretty darn good, so I thought I'd share it.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar
3 Egg Yolks
1/2 Cup Walnuts
2 Tbs. Butter
1 Can Evaporated Milk (not quite the entire can)
1 Cup Coconut
1 Ts. Vanilla

Method:

Mix all ingredients together in a medium saucepan (I like to use my non-stick sauce pan). Bring to a medium boil. Stir constantly for 5-10 minutes. Let cool. Frost one recipe of german chocolate cake. 

Yum!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Nap Time Treat: Sweet Cherry Ice Cream

I look forward to the summertime road-side fruit stands.  Usually, the fruit is outstanding and very fresh.   We visited a fruit stand this last week and picked up a bag of sweet cherries.  Unfortunately, on closer inspection at home, they weren't as pretty as I'd hoped for (major disappointment and annoyance). I was able to salvage enough for the kids to enjoy. After that, I still had maybe two cups left that were usable. What to do?
I have an on going love affair with my new ice cream maker.  So, I went searching for an sweet cherry ice-cream recipe. I found a few that I thought would work, so I made a mismash of them and put together a batch of delicious cherry ice-cream.

I decided to make myself and ice cream cone after the kids had gone down for their naps. Then I proceeded to devour it. It was lovely sitting on my back deck enjoying an ice cream cone in the shade. I'm so lucky that both of my children still nap at the same time.

Sweet Cherry Ice Cream:

-1 1/2 cups pitted ripe sweet cherries (from about 3/4 lb cherries)
-3/4 cup milk
-1 3/4 cups cream
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 pinch salt
-1 teaspoon lemon juice
-1 Tbsp vanilla extract
-8 pieces Dove dark chocolate, chopped fine

METHOD

1 Put cherries, milk, one cup of the cream, sugar, and salt into a medium saucepan. Heat on medium heat until the mixture is steamy, then lower the heat to warm and just let sit for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into a blender, or use an immersion blender, and carefully purée. (Careful because you are dealing with a hot liquid. Make sure you hold the cap down on the top of the blender while puréeing.)

2 Put mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the remaining 3/4 cup of cream. Chill for several hours in the refrigerator until completely cold. (Can also place bowl over an ice bath, to speed up the cooling process.)

3 Before putting the mixture into your ice cream maker, stir in the lemon juice and vanilla. Churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

4 Once the ice cream has completed churning, the ice cream should be pretty soft. Gently fold in the finely chopped chocolate. Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours.

Makes about one quart.

Just awesome.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Sharing on:

Random. Awesome. Friday.

I don't usually post on Friday.  This is my Pinterest/catch up on blogs day. I'm breaking from the usual routine because I have a few totally random tips that I wanted to share:

1. Bake Don't Boil Eggs:

I found this awesome idea on Pinterest, but it's really all thanks to Alton Brown from America's Test Kitchen.  Turns out that it is 20 times easier (at least for me) to hard cook an egg in the oven instead of boiling it on the stove.  Plus, less sulfur smell and the eggs come out perfectly every time.  I've been baking eggs weekly since I got this tip. 325 degree oven, 30 mins. Place in ice bath immediately for about 10 minutes. Peel eggs, put back in ice bath to completely cool. Keep in a sealed container in the fridge. I'm now able to enjoy deviled eggs any time I want. :)

2. Dryer Sheets on Water Stains:

My awesome sister in law gave me this great tip.  I was having trouble cleaning the glass surrounds on my shower.  I tried a ton of different options, this one took the cake. Turns out that a slightly damp dryer sheet is excellent for removing water stains on the glass.  Rub the glass well with the dryer sheet and then finish up with a slightly damp microfiber cloth and you'll have lovely clean glass that you can actually see through.

3. Engage, Embrace, Enjoy:

Nice little tip brought to you from the lovely people at Dove chocolate.  I eat an embarrassing amount of chocolate. So much actually that I've mostly stopped reading the little sayings inside of each wrapper.  Well, I read one today and found it particularly applicable to my current state of mind regarding my children.  I'm sure it had more to do with life in general, but I decided, as a mother, that this would be an excellent daily mantra.  I need to engage my children more, embrace them more and just simply enjoy them more. Words to live by and a tasty piece of chocolate to boot. Not bad.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Party Preparations

One great thing about our new, larger house is the ability to actually have guests over. We already held the small family party for Jellybean's birthday, but this Saturday, I'm excited to host a real two year old birthday party and invite some of her little friends.
In preparation, I've been putting together a few things for the party.  Today I put together the gift bags and experimented with some chocolate cupcake toppers. 
The party is musically themed, so I drew a simple note on each bag

 and filled them with some musical goodies.

I decided that the cupcakes were going to need some musical notes as well. I experimented with free-handing some notes and treble clefs.

Sure, they say they are microwavable, but I prefer the old fashion method.

Make-shift double boiler

Mmmm, melted chocolate goodness

Melted chocolate ready for piping

Free-handed chocolate notes and clefs

chillin' in the fridge

The glue sticks were also chillin' in the fridge.  That's where I keep mine. Is that normal?

 I think these are going to be adorable on the top of each cupcake. Yum.

Tomorrow's task? Baking the cupcakes!

I've been a bit remiss in my posting this week.  Between party planning, discovery of a food allergy and about 20 hours spent watching Korean dramedies, there really hasn't been much time to blog.  I promise a future post on at least two of those excuses. 

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in:
The Rosie Sweet Home Sunday Round-up

Cupcakes

I felt like something sweet today. So, I went back through my photos and found the cupcakes I baked for my daughter's first birthday. Yum!

I learned a fabulous secret a while ago regarding boxed cake mixes. Buttermilk makes them better. Oh, so much better. While I like making baked goods from scratch, sometimes it is nice to be able to cheat and still make something decent.

So, if you are in the mood for something sweet, here's my ridiculously easy recipe for chocolate cupcakes courtesy of "Hello, Cupcake!"

Chocolate Cake-Mix Cupcakes
Yield: 24 standard cupcakes

-18.25-ounce box Devil's Food cake mix (try to avoid mixes with pudding added)
-1 cup buttermilk, in place of the water called for on the box (the box will call for more water than the buttermilk you are using)
-Vegetable oil (the amount on the box)
-4 large eggs (in place of the number called for on the box)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Using substitutions above, follow the box instructions to mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at low to medium speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer.

Spoon half of the batter into a zip-top bag. Snip a ¼-inch corner from the bag and fill the paper liners 2/3 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from baking pans, place on a wire rack . Cool completely.

I think she enjoyed them. What do you think?

Have a Happy Day!

Friday Finds

I'm a big fan of products that are both attractive and useful. When I have the fortune to find something that meets both criteria, it is hard for me to pass it up.

My first find is a great example of form and function:

Authentic Japanese Eco-Tawashi; Magic Scrubbers from Beaded Wire

Aren't these just so cute and springy? They are so cute, I think I'd feel bad about using them to scour my pots. I also love the story behind these sweet little flower scrubbers. Pick up a pair for yourself or these would make a great Mother's Day gift.

My next find looks simply delicious and you can't beat the name:

Death By Rum Ball from Brown Bag Bakery

I've never had an alcoholic beverage in my life, but I have a real weakness for rum when it comes to chocolates. These look like they'd put me in a rum/chocolate coma. :)

My very favorite chocolate is called a Rum Gracie. The Gracie is basically a rum cream dipped in chocolate and then rolled in nuts. It is a little piece of heaven. I'll be honest though, I'll take any rum/chocolate combination. Maybe it's a good thing that I don't drink...

Have a Happy Weekend!