Oreo Decadence Bars

I started baking today for next weekend already. The boy is hosting a golf tournament and a few guys will be staying at his house all weekend. So, being the good girlfriend that I am, I am going to supply him with some cookies, muffins, etc. The first thing on my list to make were these oreo bars. Now, in theory, these were a good idea. And they are super yummy. BUT, they are kind of messy and don't hold their shape very well. I stuck them in the fridge to see if that will help a bit. But they are good. :)

Edited to add: refrigerating them totally helped! The boy actually said he preferred them cold and they were gone in less than 16 hours. :)

Ingredients:
23 oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (not sure who came up with the number 23!?) :P
2 tbsp. butter, melted
3/4 c. white chocolate chips
3/4 c. mini marshmallows
3/4 c. peanuts, chopped
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350; line an 8x8 pan with foil and grease the foil.

Mix cookies and butter. Sprinkle 1 c. into pan.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips, marshmallows and peanuts.

Top with remaining oreos.

Pour condensed milk over the top of everything.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

Yield: 12 servings

Source: http://www.kraftfoods.com/

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

These cookies are so delicious and they are super easy, too! I am the person who always chooses vanilla bean ice cream over chocolate, so when I saw this recipe, I wanted to run right out and buy some vanilla beans and make these right away! Of course, I had to go to three stores before I found vanilla beans. Totally worth it though! Next time I won't bake them for quite as long though - I like my cookies kinda doughy in the middle! :)

Ingredients:
1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 c. flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.

Cream butter and sugar; add vanilla, eggs and vanilla bean seeds.

Sift baking powder and flour together and then add to wet ingredients.

Shape into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Press slightly to flatten. NOTE: I didn't do this. I am lazy and I just dropped spoonfuls of dough on the cookie sheet :)

Bake 8 minutes.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Source: www.sugarlaws.com

Cookie Dough Pops

So, I totally should've taken the time to take a better picture of these. I don't know what I was thinking. These were so easy to make. I love recipes like this - where it looks like I took hours and hours to make something, but it really only took me like, 30 minutes! Always a big plus in my book! I took some of these to work, and so I did take the time to make eggless cookie dough. I must say though, if it was just for me, I would make regular cookie dough or buy some in a tube :) I'll take my chances at salmonella poisoning. These were awesome though! I mean, how could they not be? Raw cookie dough. Covered in chocolate. On a stick. How in the world did it take someone so long to think of this??? My only change (since I even copied Risa's colors!) is that I would leave out the cinnamon next time. No one else noticed it, but the flavor was overpowering for me. Oh, and I need to figure out how to not have a flat side after chilling these :)

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash cinnamon
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. chocolate chips
1/2 package chocolate candy melts
1/4 c. blue candy melts

Directions:
Combine flour, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add in vanilla.

Add flour mixture. Then stir in chocolate chips.

Roll into balls and insert lollipop sticks. Chill for several hours or stick in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

Melt candy melts according to directions on package.

Dip cookie dough balls into chocolate, tapping and rolling to remove excess chocolate and bubbles.

Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

Then, drizzle with an alternate color of candy melts.

Yield: 20ish. Depends on how big your balls are.

Source: www.bakedperfection.com

Sugar Cookie Bars. Again.

I think I am obsessed with these cookies. I have made them 3 times in the last month. You can find the original post with the recipe here. These were the best ones yet though! I made a full recipe (for a 9x13 pan), but then used an 8x8 pan. They were thicker and the middle was still a tiny bit doughy. Mmmm... perfect! The chocolate buttercream frosting is good, but I think that the vanilla frosting was the best. And yes, I ate more of the dough. Licked the bowl clean, actually. Oh, to be a fly on my wall...

Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookie Bars

I was so disappointed when my sugar cookie bars were gone. I just couldn't get them out of my head. They were that good. So, I made more. Quite honestly, I really just wanted to eat the cookie batter. I know, I know. Raw eggs, blah blah blah. I don't care. It hasn't killed me yet. And if I die from cookie dough, I will die a happy death and it will have been worth it.

Okay, back to cookies. I wasn't really feeling up to making frosting. Especially because I just wanted to eat the dough. So I decided to just sprinkle some chocolate chips on top and call it a day. I used the exact same recipe as last time and just added chocolate chips. The dough was amazing. The cookies weren't bad either. I had to suck it up and bake them though, because otherwise, I seriously could have eaten the entire bowl of dough. I know, some of you find that disgusting, and well, that is just un-American. :)

Sugar Cookie Bars

You know how you can tell when something just looks ridiculously delicious? When someone posts it on Saturday and you run out and buy everything you need and make it on Sunday. Yeah, that's what I did. I just couldn't stop myself. Seriously, this is the best thing I made all day. AND I took a pretty good picture of it! Usually for sugar cookies, I just crack open a roll of Pillsbury's. When I made these, I decided to forego making the frosting and just use canned. I totally regret that now. It's funny, now that I have been baking and cooking more "imitation" stuff is more noticeable to me. That's how the icing tastes. I can tell it is from a can. Next time, not only will I make my own frosting, but I think I will intentionally under cook the cookies a bit so that they have that gooey dough thing going on! Mmmmm... so good!

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Cream butter. Slowly add sugar. Add eggs.

In three parts, add flour.

Spread in pan.

Bake 14-19 minutes.

If you choose to make your own frosting (and you totally should):

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. shortening
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c. + 2 tbsp. warm water
2 lb. powdered sugar

Directions:
Cream shortening.

Add 1 lb. of powdered sugar.

Add warm water and mix into a paste.

Once creamed, adding remaining powdered sugar. Mix and add vanilla.

Beat on high for about 8 minutes.

Once cookies have cooled, frost and decorate.

Yield: about 12 cookie bars, depending on how big you make them!

Source: www.icecreambeforedinner.blogspot.com

Valentine's Day Brown Sugar Blondies

Okay - still having camera issues. I switched memory cards and now I can't upload to my computer. So frustrating. Okay, these turned out ugly anyway. I don't know what I did wrong. So, you should definitely go look at the original picture HERE.

I saw this recipe and just couldn't help myself. I knew that I had to make it for Valentine's Day. It is just too cute! Unfortunately, I apparently am just the worst planner ever. Okay, not really. I actually love to plan and organize. I just happened to be incredibly unprepared to make these tonight. First, I ran out of vanilla. I didn't even know that could happen. I think I've only bought vanilla once in my entire life. So, I used 1/2 tbsp vanilla and then 1/2 tbsp maple syrup. Then, when I was ready to pour everything into the pan, when I realized that the pan I was planning on using was sitting in the fridge, with leftovers in it. I used an 8x8 pan instead. I don't think it made that big of a difference.

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 c. M&Ms

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Melt butter and add brown sugar. Mix well.

Cool slightly, then add egg and vanilla.

Add flour mixture, and then 2/3 c. M&Ms.

Spread in a 9x9 pan. Sprinkle 1/3 c. M&Ms on top.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

Source: http://www.bakedperfection.com

How To Host a Superbowl Party On 24 Hours Notice

So, if you read my last post, you know that I had to host a Superbowl party on 24 hours notice. Now, let me preface this by saying - I am NOT spontaneous. I am a planner. I love to plan and organize actually. Spontaneity doesn't do anything for me. So, I was a little panicky. After we had a plan, I calmed down, but it was still kinda stressful. BUT, all in all, everything turned out great. The food was good and the boys were happy. So, here's the menu:

- Party Meatballs
- Ranch Bread Bowl with Veggies
- Pizza Squares
- Buffalo Chicken Dip in a Bread Bowl
- Veggie Tray (No picture)
- Chips and Salsa (No picture)
- Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Oreo Pie (courtesy of some unknown friend of my sisters! No picture - sorry!)
- Gooey Butter Bars

And, here are the recipes:

First, we have party meatballs. My mom actually made these for a Christmas Eve party and had frozen the leftovers. Being the mooch that I am, I just took them out of her freezer and reheated them in the crockpot. So, no recipe. But basically you put meatballs, spaghetti sauce and grape jelly in a crockpot and just go!
Next, we have a bread bowl with ranch dressing and vegetables. This is one of the easiest party dishes you can ever make. It looks like it took more time than it did, and the serving bowl is edible. I used a sourdough bread bowl, filled it with ranch, and put it on a plate with veggies and the bread from the bowl!

I also made pizza squares. You can find the recipe here. This picture is SO much better!

I also made buffalo chicken dip and put that in a bread bowl too. This is one of my most favorite recipes and it is so easy. I could seriously just munch on it ALL day. Sorry the picture is blurry. I don't know what happened.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. cooked chicken

2 c. blue cheese dressing (I don't measure, I just used a whole bottle)

1/2 c. Tabasco sauce (I used hot wing sauce)

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Dump everything in the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Cook on high 1-2 hours, until cheese is melted.

Source: www.crockpot365.blogspot.com

I also made buffalo chicken wings. I used the same method as my Asian Chicken Wings from last week, but these turned out so much better! All the guys loved them!

Ingredients:

4 lbs. chicken wings

2 bottles buffalo wing sauce

Directions:

Marinate wings in 1 1/2 bottles of sauce, preferably overnight.

Dump on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour-ish at 350, basting with remaining sauce.

When the outsides are crispy, put the hot wings in a bowl or on a serving plate and drizzle with the rest of the sauce.

And now for the icing on the cake - Gooey Butter Bars! These are super rich, but they are so good! I was eating the dough and the mix before I even got them into the oven! Seriously, go make these.

Ingredients:

1 package yellow cake mix

3 eggs

2 sticks butter

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 box powdered sugar

Directions:

Combine cake mix, one egg and melted butter. Pat into a greased 9x13 cake pan.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Spread over cake batter.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. Do NOT overbake - it is supposed to be gooey inside!!

Source: Paula Deen

So, that's that. We actually ended up with very few leftovers, which is good. So, after all that, I won't be cooking tonight. Maybe just soup and grilled cheese or a chicken salad sandwich. Something easy!!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

These cookies are good. The boy did not like them, but he apparently doesn't like cooked fruit - I know, I thought that was weird, too. If you like chocolate covered cherries, you will like these cookies. Mine didn't turn out very pretty, but they taste good, and that is all that matters. It is definitely one of those things that look like they were complicated to make, but they are super easy! Even for me!

Ingredients:
1 10 oz jar maraschino cherries
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
Drain the cherries, reserving 3 tbsp. juice. Cut cherries in half and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the egg, vanilla and 2 tbsp of cherry juice. Beat until well blended.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on parchment lined baking sheets. (The dough was very sticky for me. When I make these again, I will chill the dough for a bit before rolling into balls.) Press your thumb in the middle of each ball and place a cherry half in each indentation.

Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until chips are melted and the mixture is blended. Stir in remaining 1 tbsp of cherry juice. Spoon 1 tsp. of the mixture over each cherry half.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Source: http://nancysrecipes.wordpress.com/