Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mmmmm, cookies.  They are my favorite sweet treat and I love them dearly.  This recipe is SO good and SO ridiculously easy. 

All you have to do is go to the store and buy the Nestle Toll House Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, pop them in the oven and voila!  Ha ha!  Alright, so this isn’t really a recipe post, but I have a point, I promise.

40 mini cookies!

I get emails from VeryBestBaking.com, the Nestle website.  These emails include coupons, recipes and special deals.  A few weeks ago, I got an email telling me about a FREE collector cookie plate!  Free + cookie = I’m in!  With this plate you’re supposed to bake some cookies and send them to someone, then on the website you can track your cookies.  Cute idea…but my one concern is: why would I give away my free collector cookie plate?  I understand it’s a nice thing to do…but really do I want to give away my plate?  Hmmm, we’ll have to see about this.  I may just have to give cookies to people who are close by and will give me the plate back! 

Anyway, part of the FREE offer was that you had to buy 3 bags of Nestle morsels or cookie doughs.  You can never have too many chocolate or butterscotch chips, so I bought some of those and the Mini Cookie Dough.  Then, I cut out my UPCs, included my recipe and mailing information and shipped it off!  I can’t wait to get it.  I love FREE stuff.

Everything ready to go.

Send me my plate!

Speaking of FREE stuff, I send away for FREE stuff all the time.  Jeremy makes fun of me because he says that he never knows what is going to show up in the mailbox.  A granola bar?  Coffee?  A box of cereal?  Who knows?  Well, just the other day I received this delicious FREE sample of Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal.

I love Kashi products!  “Seven Whole Grains on a Mission.”  Anyways, I signed up to receive emails from Kashi and to be apart of their "Kashi Connect” program.  With this program, you can receive coupons, samples, etc….for FREE.  Along with this yummy box of cereal, they included a coupon for a FREE regular size box, as well as six coupons for $1.50 off a box.  Sweet! 

I hope you all enjoy this fun offers as much as I do.

Enjoy!

Alice Springs Chicken

The Alice Springs Chicken from Outback Steakhouse is one of Jeremy’s favorite meals there.  For those of you who have never had it, it’s a grilled chicken breast that is marinated in a honey mustard sauce, topped with mushrooms, bacon and cheese.  I’ll admit…it’s pretty delicious and probably has a million calories in it! 

In selecting our meals for the week, Jeremy chose Alice Springs Chicken and I told him that he was in charge of finding me a recipe.  Apparently, I trained him well because he found a great recipe from the fabulous, Recipezaar.   This recipe is very, very close to the real thing!  The honey mustard sauce is one of the best I’ve had (and I’m not even a huge fan of honey mustard) and the cheesy bacon on top is amazing.  When I made this tonight, I cut the recipe in half, used light cheese, and left out the mushrooms, since Jerm isn’t a fan of them.  The chicken breasts that I used were huge, so we both only ate half…which means we have leftovers for tomorrow.  Yum!  So, here’s another highly recommended meal from our kitchen.

Enjoy!

Ingredients.

Hot out of the oven.

Served with veggies and au gratin potatoes.  Yum!

Now This is Alice Springs Chicken, by Recipezaar

Ingredients

• 1 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 12 slices bacon, cooked
• 3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. With an electric mixer combine the mustard, honey, and 1 Tbsp oil, and lemon juice for 1 minute.
2. Pour 1/2 mixture over chicken in a gallon ziplock to marinate in fridge 2-24 hours.
3. Chill remaining marinade to serve with chicken.
4. After marinating chicken, preheat oven to 375°F Put remaining oil in frying pan. Heat and sear chicken on both sides.
5. Transfer chicken to oven safe pan and brush with marinade.
6. Meanwhile in frying pan add butter and sauté mushrooms.
7. Season chicken breasts with salt and peppers.
8. Stack bacon across each breast, spoon mushrooms on each breast and then approx 1/3- 1/2 cup cheese on each.
9. Cover pan with foil and bake 7-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with honey mustard marinade.

Corn Dog Muffins

I love corn dogs!  Cornbread + hot dog + wooden stick = deliciousness!  Corn dogs are great to get the State Fair or amusement parks (specifically Disneyland California Adventure… amazing corn dogs there!), but how can you have them at home??  Well, you could buy the frozen or you can make these muffins!

Growing up, I used to request that my parent buy the frozen kind, so that I could have a corn dog every once in a while.  Knowing my love for the meat on a stick, they brought me this recipe that they cut out of a magazine and now I’ve finally made them!  Boy, am I glad I did because they are SO good.  Jeremy even gave them the “two thumbs up” and stamp of approval.

The recipe is so simple and quick.  I cut it in half and got 11 regular sized muffins out of it; plus, I used skim milk and light cheese.  Yum, yum, yum!  I ate my corn dog muffins with ketchup and mustard, which I think is a MUST for corn dogs, while Jerm ate his plain.  They were delicious!  If you’re a hot dog or corn dog lover, go make this recipe.  Seriously, go now.

Enjoy!

Ingredients.

Corn dog muffins!

Corn Dog Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 (8.5 oz) packages cornbread mix
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 9 hot dogs, cut into small pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Lightly grease muffin tins.
2. Stir together the cornbrea mix and the brown sugar in a large bowl.  Whisk the egg and milk in a small bowl until smooth.  Fold the eggs, cheese and hot dogs into the dry mixture until moistened.  Spoon mixture into muffins tins until 2/3 full.
3. Bake for 14-18 minute or until gold brown.
4. Serve with mustard and ketchup, or eat plain!

Ginger Snaps and Chocolate Crackles

Whoa, look out!  I’ve got two cookies in one post.  Brace yourself for delicious sweetness.

About a month ago, I signed up for the “Cookie Bag Ministry” at church.  The ministry consists of members delivering cookies and information to first time guests of the church.  Well last week, I got my first phone call and assignment, and I was SO excited.  They told me that I could either bake cookies or buy cookies from the store.  Me?  Buy cookies from the store?  Perish the thought!!  Obviously, I opted to bake them myself.  And so my quest for new recipes began… 

I came across this first recipe about a week ago, on one of the blogs I read.  Therefore, I won’t re-post the recipe, I’ll just provide the link to it and share my review. 

Ginger Snap Cookies by  The Sister's Cafe

These cookies are AWESOME!  I love gingerbread cookies and ginger snaps; however, they do have a tendency to be a crispy cookie, as opposed to a soft and chewy one.  Well, not these!  These are soft, chewy and quite flavorful.  I definitely added in the “optional” white chocolate chips and I’m so glad I did because they compliment the ginger flavor beautifully.  These will without a doubt become one of my most loved cookies.  By the way, I used whole wheat flour and cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients.

Mmmmm.

My usual, “quality control.”

The next cookie, Chocolate Crackles, comes from my Martha Stewart’s Cookies cookbook.  I’ve never made these kind of cookies before and they looked pretty in the cookbook, so I thought, “What the heck?”  Theses cookies are very tasty and very chocolatey!  I’d recommend rolling them in A LOT of powered sugar to get the full “crackle” effect, otherwise some of it will absorb.  Also, the recipe says to chill the dough for a few hours…well, I wasn’t that patient, so I just put it in the freezer for 30 minutes and voila!  As with the Ginger Snaps, I used whole wheat flour and cut the recipe in half.

Enjoy!

Ingredients.

Crackly.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies by Martha Stewart

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop bittersweet chocolate into small bits, and melt over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk until just combined. Divide the dough into quarters, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
3. Using your hands, roll pieces of dough into a ball shape.  Roll dough in confectioners’ sugar until completely coated. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake until cookies have flattened and the sugar splits, 12 to15 minutes.
4. Transfer from oven to a wire rack to let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week