Sunday, April 20, 2008

Monster Chocolate Crackle Cookies

I saw these cookies in a Pillsbury recipe book, they seemed really easy and I have lots of Craisins on hand so I made them to take to school with me. They were really good warm, I was afraid the Craisins were going to be too tough but they really softened up and everyone liked them. Also, the dark chocolate really cut down on the sweetness, which was surprising but good.


Monster Chocolate Crackle Cookies


Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS

1 bar (3.5 oz) 70% cocoa dark chocolate, broken up ( I used 60%)
1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough, at room temperature
2/3 cup cherry-flavor Craisins
2 Tbsp sugar

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 350°F. You'll need a baking sheet. Melt chocolate in microwave on medium or in a saucepan over very low heat.

Break dough in chunks into a medium bowl. Add melted chocolate (no need to cool) and Craisins; stir with a wooden spoon until blended.

Put sugar in small bowl. Roll 1⁄4-cupfuls dough into balls. Roll in sugar to coat. Place 21⁄2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten cookies with bottom of measuring cup to 21⁄2-in. rounds.

Bake 14 to 16 minutes until tops of cookies look dry and crackled.
(Cookies will still be very soft.) Let cool on sheet on a wire rack 2 minutes before removing to rack to cool completely.


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Monday, April 7, 2008

Chocolate Irish Cream Cake

Anna at Cookiemadness.net posted this recipe for St. Patty's Day, and I just got around to making it yesterday. My friends Erin and Keith, who were getting their apt ready for him to move in, were making dinner so I brought dessert. This cake is amazing and has a TON of Irish Cream flavor. It's very rich, and I suggest sticking to the original filling recipe, as I used the 1 to 1 ratio of milk to irish cream. Other than that, the only change I made was to eliminate the almonds. Oh and my oven is a little screwy, and I had to bake the cakes for 25-30 min, and the one layer still turned out sad, but that's ok because it left a nice dip for me to put more filling in the middle :)



Chocolate Irish Cream Cake

Chocolate Irish Cream Cake (from Cooksrecipes.com)
Cake:
1 (18.25-ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (4-ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix
4 large eggs
1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Filling:
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
1 (4-ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix
1 (5.2-ounce) package whipped topping mix - (contains 4 envelopes) (Dream Whip)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 9 inch round cake pans with flour-added cooking spray.

Combine all cake ingredients together in a large bowl and beat at medium mixer speed for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pans and finish cooling on racks.

Prepare filling: Combine milk, liqueur, pudding mix and topping mix (use all
4 envelopes) in a deep narrow bottom bowl. Blend well at high speed for
4 minutes, until lightly and fluffy.

Split layers in half. Spread one cup filling between each layer and on
the top layer. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired.

Makes 12 servings.
Cook's Note: For more of the Irish cream liqueur flavor in the filling,
decrease the amount of cold milk to 1 cup and increase the amount of
Irish cream liqueur to 1 cup.

Pics:

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Crescent Lemon Honey Buns

I made these for Easter. They are from a Pillsbury recipe magazine I saw in the grocery checkout aisle. They are AMAZING.



Crescent Lemon Honey Buns

Makes 12 rolls

A perfect blend of tart lemon flavor and the
sweetness of honey and sugar!

3 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. coconut, if desired
1 Tbsp. honey
1 t. lemon juice
8 oz. can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In small bowl combine cream cheese, sugar,
coconut, honey and the 1 teaspoon of lemon
juice until smooth.

Separate crescent dough into 2 large
rectangles. Overlap long sides to form 13"
x 7" rectangle; firmly press edges and per-
forations to seal. Spread with cream cheese
mixture.

Starting at longer side, roll up; press edges to
seal. Cut into 12 slices. Bake on ungreased
cookie sheet 15 to 20 minutes until golden
brown.

In small bowl, combine glaze ingredients;
spread over warm rolls.

Refrigerate any leftovers.


For the glaze I made my own: 1tbsp honey, a splash of milk, and powdered sugar til you have enough.

mmmmmm check out the pics!!

ingredients
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rectangle
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filling
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slices
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done
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iced
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