Lofthouse Cookies

Oh yeah, these taste as good as they look.  Happy birthday to me.  I am not a super big cake fan, so for my birthday I made myself some lofthouse style cookies, good decision.  They were SO GOOD!  Before you make them make sure you have a ton of powdered sugar in the house, and be generous with the frosting, you will not regret it.

Lofthouse Cookies

4 1/2 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 sticks butter - softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
5 tsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar (up to 2 lbs)
1/3 cup butter - melted
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
food coloring

Mix butter and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla.  Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour.  Use a large cookie scoop (about 2 T) and place 8 flattened balls per baking sheet.  Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool on racks.  For the frosting, melt butter and stir in milk and vanilla and food coloring.  Add powdered sugar and stir until you reach the desired consistency - it should be stiff and just spreadable, more of a frosting consistency than icing.  Frost cookies and enjoy!  Makes 32 cookies.

Surprise Brownies

These are a variation of the Cheesecake Brownies I made a while back, I just added some chocolate chips, yum.  I based it off from my mother in law's surprise cupcakes, which are quite similar.

Surprise Brownies

1 box brownie mix
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 bag chocolate chips

Mix together brownie mix, oil, water, and 2 eggs.  Pour into greased 9x13" baking dish.  Mix together cream cheese, 1 egg, and sugar.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Spoon globs on top of the brownie batter and then marble through.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

French Toast

Hard to say where I found this recipe, I changed it enough that I no longer attribute it to anyone but myself.

French Toast

2 cup milk
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
dash cinnamon
bread

Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Dip bread slices in the mixture until well coated and then place in a pan or on a griddle on medium heat. Cook until that side is done and then flip and cook until the other side is done.

Blueberry Cornbread

We made blueberry pancakes the other night but did not use up all of the berries in the bag from the freezer.  I wanted to make muffins or something with it, and corn muffins sounded good, so I searched online for a recipe, but all of them were with cornmeal, and I only had a corn muffin mix.  So I decided to make one up.  I made the batter according to the box, but added sugar and blueberries.  And some raw sugar on top, yum.  Also I was too lazy to make them as muffins, so I just put it all in a small pan.  It ended up tasting like a coffee cake.

Blueberry Cornbread

1 box corn muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup blueberries.
raw sugar

Mix together corn muffin mix, egg, milk, and sugar.  Fold in blueberries.  Spoon into a greased pan and sprinkle with raw sugar.  Bake at 450° for 22 minutes.

Cookie Brownies

All I have to say is, wow.  You need to try these.  Jer saw a cookie brownie mix at the store and we both thought that was a delicious idea.  I decided to find a scratch recipe to make it at home.  I did have to give them my own twist and add some malt mix to the cookie part - don't skip that step it makes them so irresistible!

Cookie Brownies

Brownie Layer
2 stick butter - melted
2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Cookie Layer
1.5 stick butter - softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 T malt mix
1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the brownie layer, melt butter, stir in sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs, stirring after each addition. Stir in cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt.  Pour into a lightly greased 9x13" baking dish.  For the cookie layer, cream together butter and sugars, mix in eggs and vanilla.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, and malt mix and mix until a soft dough forms.  Stir in chocolate chips and spoon onto brownie layer.  Smooth out and bake at 350° for 40 minutes.  The top will be slightly browned, and the brownies will still be slightly gooey.

Raisin Bran Muffins

After I had Leila, my sister in law Sue made the BEST raisin bran muffins and brought them to me.  I am passing on the recipe to you.  I added the raw sugar, it gives it a bakery muffin feel.  You can also make them without the raisins by using regular bran flakes cereal and omitting the raisins.

Walnut Raisin Bran Muffins

1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk (see alternative below)
15 oz cereal - raisin bran
5 cup flour
3 cup sugar
5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts - chopped (optional)
raw sugar

Mix together oil, eggs, buttermilk, and raisin bran (about 7.5 cups). Set aside. Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour oil mixture over flour mixture and stir until combined. Add raisins and walnuts. Let batter sit for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Spoon into muffin cups and bake at 400° for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with raw sugar. For jumbo muffins, bake for 30 minutes.  For mini muffins, bake for 15 minutes.

Buttermilk Alternative for Baking
(replaces 1 cup buttermilk)

1 T vinegar
milk

Add vinegar to a measuring cup and then add milk until there is a total of 1 cup of liquid.  For the recipe above, you need 1/4 cup vinegar and enough milk for 4 cups.

Bran Muffins

1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup vinegar

3 3/4 cup milk
15 oz cereal - raisin bran
5 cup flour
3 cup sugar
5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
raw sugar

Mix together oil, eggs, vinegar, and milk.  Add bran flakes (about 7.5 cups) and soak in milk mixture in the fridge for an hour. Add flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and mix well. Spoon into muffin cups and bake at 400° for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with raw sugar. For jumbo muffins, bake for 30 minutes.  For mini muffins, bake for 15 minutes.

Salsa Chicken

This was a super easy allergy free recipe that everyone liked!

Salsa Chicken

1 bag chicken
1 jar salsa

Alternate chicken and salsa in a crock pot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  You can eat the chicken as a main dish or shred it and serve it on tacos.