Peanut Butter Chewies with Chocolate

I've been slacking lately, I know. The last couple times i've baked it hasn't been anything new to put up. I made these the other day along with some pumpkin shortbread bars that I don't want to talk about (don't u hate when u follow a recipe exactely and it doesn't turn out??). So anyway, I thought these were good, but I probably won't make them again. Unless it's a new recipe im trying, I like to stick with things I really like instead of ones I think that are 'ok'. But that's just me. The source I got this from couldn't stop raving about them which is why I even decided to try it in the first place, because honestly, they didn't sound that good to me. But they're simple to make and also gluten free if that's somethin you're into.

Peanut Butter Chewies with Chocolate

sticky gooey creamy chewy

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 jar (18 oz ounce) peanut butter, crunchy or smooth

6 cups corn flakes
3 oz chocolate of your choice

Directions:

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and stir until the mixture comes to a full boil.
Remove from heat and stir in the whole jar of peanut butter. Mix well.
Add corn flakes to a large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over corn flakes and mix well, taking care to coat all of the corn flakes.
With a tablespoon or cookie scoop, scoop out and form into 1-2 inch balls, depending on your preference, and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
Put the chocolate in a small bowl and melt in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies. I put them in the fridge to cool so the chocolate would harden.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I love pumpkin. So naturally there was no doubt that I would love these. They are incredibly moist and they're good hot out of the oven or cold from the fridge. I think I might have even liked them better cold when the cream cheese firmed up a little. The crumb topping made waay too much, I didn't even use half of it, so I would reccommend cutting the amounts in half for it. Also, it says the yield is 24, but I ended up with a little batter left over, enough for 3 more without the cream cheese. Which worked out perfectly since Rylee didn't really like the cream cheese. You could also put chopped nuts in the batter or topping if you wish.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:

½ cup sugar

5 tbsp. flour

1½ tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

Make the filling by combining the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Yield: 24 muffins

Crescent Rolls

It's been a long time since i've baked, or even cooked for that matter. Atleast a couple of weeks. Today I was actually in the mood to make some crescent rolls. Hopefully soon cooking will be sounding better since I do enjoy it. I asked my mom for her recipe since i've had them and like them and so I gave it a try. This wasn't my first time making crescent rolls, I have a recipe for cheddar herb ones that are really good too. I did a little experimenting with these to see what outcomes I liked best so i'll post the recipe with a couple slight modifications.

Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

¾ Cup Warm Milk
2 1/2 t. yeast

½ Cup Butter
½ Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
4 Cups Sifted Flour

1 egg slightly beaten

water, about 1 T.
melted butter, about 1 T.

Directions:

Combine warm milk and yeast, set aside. Blend together butter and sugar. Add salt, eggs and milk mixture. Beat in flour.

Cover with damp cloth and let rise until double (about 1 1/2- 2 hours.) OR refrigerate overnight or 24 hours.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a circle about 12 in. and cut into 8 wedges (pizza style). Roll each piece up going from the big end to the small then curve edges down to form a crescent shape.

Cover and let rise until double about 1 hour. Mix beaten egg with about 1 T. of water and brush over crescent rolls. Bake until golden brown at 350 for 12-15 minutes, don't overbake or they won't be soft. Brush melted butter over tops immediately after removing from oven.
Makes 16 rolls

CSN Product Review

I mentioned here that I would be doing a product review of a couple items from the CSN Stores. I ordered this Insulated Nonstick Carbon Steel 15.5" x 20" Jumbo Cookie Sheet byFarberware

and this Nonstick Carbon Steel 9" Spring Form byFarberware

My products came very fast, about 3 days after ordering they showed up an in great condition.

I lovee how big the baking sheet is! It's very useful for making large batches of cookies and pizzas. I like that it's rimless so things can slide off the edge. The only thing I don't like is hand washing. Overall, it's a great baking sheet!

This was my first time using a spring form pan and I loved it! I've been wanting one for a while. I made my husband's birthday cake in it and I didn't have to worry at all about anything going wrong trying to flip it. I was able to easily decorate the top while the cake was still in the pan. The pan easly tightens and releases, my cake didn't stick at all and the pan cleaned easily. I would definitely reccommend this spring form pan!

Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

I wanted to try making decorated sugar cookies. Not the typical kinds with frosting and sprinkles, but some 'fancier' ones. Since Matt's sister was having a bridal shower I figured I would make some for that. I even used a cookie cutter that we had from our wedding favors. My friend Monica helped me decorate them (the whole thing is a pretty long process!) which was really nice.
They turned out pretty good, especially since neither of us had made any like this before. I had one color of frosting the perfect hot pink color but then I was pretty dissappointed when it dried as red. I didn't know it would dry so much darker! I'm not going to list the recipes for these, but I will post the links to the ones I used as well as the techniques. The first day I made the cookies and started the monograms. The next morning I finished the monograms then that evening decorated the cookies and let dry overnight. The next day they got packaged.
The cookies tasted good and the icing is pretty much what I expected. Royal icing is for the looks, not the taste. It's not bad, but it's no where near as good as regular frosting. It would also work well to use to build gingerbread houses. If you're going to try something like this, I suggest reading some tutorials and tips first to learn things like how to prevent air bubbles, about the consistency of the frosting and why it matters and also just to learn some cool tricks, etc. Sweetopia and Bake at 350 have some great tips and tutorials. I'm really amazed at what some people can do with these. Although I don't think i'd be able to put so much time into it, even if Rylee did allow it.

Sugar Cookies (I didn't use the icing on this page, only the cookie recipe)
Royal Icing (you can also find recipes that don't use meringue powder, since it's a little pricey. But this is the one I used)

Tutorial on How to Marble Royal Icing (soo easy!)
Monogrammed Cookies tutorial (again, very simple but takes a little patience)

Christmas Wassail

I forgot to get a picture, but it's just an apple cider-like drink. I made this for our Halloween party since it was going to be outside. I just put it on warm in the crockpot and it stayed hot all night. This is the perfect drink for cold nights and reminds me so much of Christmas time.

Christmas Wassail
GoodLife Eats

Ingredients:
2 quarts apple juice
2 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp whole cloves

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn to low to keep warm or put in a crock-pot on warm to keep all day

Pizza Rolls

It's been a while since I posted anything up. I haven't really felt at all like cooking..or baking! I know, shocking. It's not too hard to guess why though. Just so you know i'm still alive and everything I thought i'd put something up. So, pizza rolls it is.They're really easy and you can change it up however you want. Maybe alfredo sauce, green onions and chicken? Whatever you like. This time I just did pepperoni and some sliced olives. And sauce and cheese of course. I'm also working on something right now that i've never done before, that's quite the little process. But I should be putting that up in a few days. So here's what you do:

Pizza Rolls

1 can of refrigerated pizza dough

toppings (fillings) of your choice (sauce, cheese, pepperoni, chicken, olives, etc..)

Just unfold the dough and roll out into a rectangle about 12" x 8". Cut into 24 squares using a pizza cutter. Spread sauce all over the whole thing then place toppings in individual squares. Once the toppings are placed, take all 4 corners of the square and seal them together. Place seam side down in either a greased 9 in. pie pan or in greased cups of mini muffin pan. Lightly brush tops with melted butter or olive oil then sprinkle a little extra cheese on top. Bake at whatever temp. it says on the can of dough for anywhere between 10-20 min., until lightly golden on top.