Snickerdoodles

One year for a Christmas present my little sister gave me some recipes and a cute little snowman holder. I've tried other Snickerdoodle recipes and this one has still come out as the best!

Gale Gand (little sister gave to me from school)

Ingredients:

Topping

3 Tbs. sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

Dough

3 ½ cups flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbs. light corn syrup

2 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

2. To make the cookie dough, stir together the dry ingredients.

3. In a bowl cream the butter. Add the sugar and continue to mix, then add the eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly.

4. Add the dry ingredients and mix until blended.

5. Chill dough 1 hour if it’s sticky or difficult to handle.

6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

7. Roll balls of dough about the size of a walnut then roll them in the cinnamon and sugar to coat.

8. Place on an un-greased sheet pan about 2 ½ inches apart.

9. Bake for 10-12 minutes until puffed up and the surface is slightly cracked.

10. Let cool on the sheet pan a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Cooking Time:

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees.

ENJOY!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are by far one of our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Our best friends in from college introduced it to us many years ago and it's still a winner at our house.

Ingredients:

½ cup sugar

1 ½ cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

4 ½ cups of flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 small packages of instant vanilla pudding (THESE ARE THE KEY!!!)

Chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream both the sugars with the butter.

2. Add the eggs and vanilla.

3. Sift and add flour, soda, and pudding.

4. Add desired amount of chocolate chips.

Cooking Time:

Bake at 375 degrees for 6 minutes.

ENJOY!

Strawberry Poke Cake

This is one of those summer favorites. We love the strawberry one - but raspberries would be just as good. Easy, pretty, and oh so good. Check out Kraft for this recipe and so many other good ones!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix

1 cup boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Directions:

1. PREPARE cake batter and bake as directed on package for 13x9-inch pan. Cool cake in pan 15 min. Pierce cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

2. ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water; pour over cake. Refrigerate 3 hours.

3. FROST cake with COOL WHIP. Refrigerate 1 hour. Top with fresh berries.

ENJOY!

Starbucks Coffee Cake

This the most perfect coffee cake. Perfect for a breakfast, brunch, party, or dessert. I absolutely love it! If you like cake and cinnamon - you'll be in love. Picky Palate always pulls through- head on over there to see MUCH more appealing pictures :)

Beth’s Starbuck’s Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

(half recipe)

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (plus ingredients on back of box)

2 Sticks cold salted butter
2 1/4 Cups flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 ¾ Cups brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla
Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Directions:

1. PREHEAT oven to 350.

2. PREPARE cake mixe in large bowl according to directions on box. Spray 9X13 pan with non-stick spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until center is just barely set.

3. WHILE cakes are baking, prepare crumb topping. In large bowl of electric mixer combine, butter, flour, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla until all crumbly.

4. IMMEDIATELY after cake is removed from oven, break crumb topping into marble size pieces with fingers, sprinkling over top. Put back in oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes (topping will begin to look a little less wet/raw). Let cool fully then dust with powdered sugar, using a sieve.

5. CUT into squares and serve.

ENJOY!

Granola Mix

Jedda at This Little Project posted this yummy recipe and although I had never make granola before I decided to give it a try. My cute little hubby is trying to put on some muscle and so is always looking for "healthier" things to snack on that may also have more calories to help put on weight. Well I shouldn't have made this and left it in the house because I'm gonna be the one putting on the pounds - I can never keep my hands off of it!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups oats3/4 cup puffed rice cereal3/4 cup sunflower seeds (salted, roasted)1 cup crushed peanuts 1 cup raisins or craisins (or 1/2 of each)2/3 cup brown sugar1/4 cup honey4 Tbsp. butter2 tsp vanilla extract

I also just added whatever I had on time. Sometimes I put in some M&Ms or walnut/pecans, etc.

Directions:

Go to her site to see how to make yummy bars. This is what I did...

1. Mix all the dry ingredients.

2. In a medium saucepan boil the sugar, honey, butter, and vanilla.

3. Mix it all together.

4. Bake it in a 400 degree oven on either a cookie sheet or 9x13 pan. for about 10 minutes.

5. Let it cool and crumble into bite size granola pieces.

ENJOY!

Black and White Chippers

Picky Palate was one of the very first cooking sites I started following. And I think this just might have been the first of her recipes I tried. I was instantly in love. I could eat the dough all day long (and sometimes I do!) - It tastes just like a thick brownie batter with white chocolate mixed in...by far my favorite cookie!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the salt and vanilla.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and baking soda and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 8 minutes until fluffy but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!

Red Enchiladas

Another Hungry Girl winner! I love Mexican food - by far a favorite of mine! Luckily, that food is all about the flavor and most of the time can be transformed into some pretty healthy stuff. My hubby said this about these when reheating them the day after, "Mmmm...these really are pretty good." I tell ya - it's the spicy-ness!!! I guess they're a keeper around here :)

This recipe makes 2 enchiladas. Each enchilada is 3 Weight Watcher Points Plus Points.

Ingredients:

2 large corn tortillas (I actually use high fiber low carb flour ones)
1 slice fat-free cheddar cheese, cut in half
2/3 cup enchilada sauce
1/3 cup fat-free refried beans
1/4 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 tbsp. taco sauce (I used the Taco Bell jarred kind)
1/2 tsp. taco seasoning mix, dry
Optional toppings: fat-free sour cream, chopped scallions

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a pan sprayed with nonstick spray, cook onions over medium heat until they begin to brown (about 2 minutes).

3. In a small dish, combine the onions with the refried beans, taco sauce, and taco seasoning. Mix well.

4. Spray a small baking dish with nonstick spray. Heat tortillas in the microwave until slightly warm. Lay the tortillas on a clean, dry surface, and then spread about 2 tbsp. of the enchilada sauce onto each one.

5. Place one half of the cheese slice on each tortilla.

6. Then, evenly distribute the bean mixture into the center of each tortilla.

7. Wrap the tortillas up tightly, and place them in the baking dish seam side down. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.

8. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes (until the enchiladas are hot). Remove dish from the oven, sprinkle shredded cheese over the enchiladas, and then return it to the oven for about 5 minutes (until the cheese is nice and melty).

ENJOY!