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.

Butter Rolls

I got the recipe for these rolls out of a church or school cookbook, I can't remember which, but they are simply delicious.

Butter Rolls

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 stick butter - melted
1 egg
3 cup bread flour
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast

Pour milk and water into bread pan. Add butter, egg, sugar, and salt. Add bread flour, then make a well in the bread flour with your finger, and measure the yeast into the well. Place the pan in the breadmaker, put on dough setting, and press start. After the machine is done making the dough, divide into 12 greased muffin tins and bake at 325° for 25-30 minutes.  Can also be used for 10 hamburger buns.  For extra goodness, brush tops with butter after 25 minutes in the oven.

Doubled recipe:

1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 stick butter - melted
2 egg
6 cup bread flour
4 T sugar
2 tsp salt
4 tsp yeast

When I doubled it, I premixed it before putting it into my breadmaker - it was close to filling the pan and I wanted to make sure it got mixed well.

Honey Glazed Chicken

I found the recipe probably 7 years ago when I was first collecting recipes for my own recipe book.  It was from the Crazy Horse cookbook, and I finally got around to making it.  This makes a TON of sauce, so if you are not pairing it with rice or anything, you could probably cut the sauce ingredients in half.  However it pairs nicely with rice, so leave it alone if you plan to put it together.

Honey Glazed Chicken

1 cup honey
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic - minced
4-6 chicken breasts

Place chicken in a glass 9x13" baking dish.  Whisk together honey, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic.  Pour over chicken and bake at 350° for 1 hour.

Play Dough

While Play Dough is not technically food, it does have a recipe, and since it is usually made from flour, I thought I had better save the recipe so that when Henry is a bit older we can make him some allergy free play dough, since wheat is his most sensitive allergy.  I got the recipe from Leila's teacher, we needed to make pink play dough for February for her class.

Play Dough

2 cup flour (rice flour - wheat free)
1 cup salt
2 cup water
4 T cream of tartar
2 T vegetable oil
food coloring

In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients (break into smaller batches for multiple colors).  Microwave for 5 minutes, stirring every 1-1.5 minutes.

Sweet Potato Wedges

We bought some sweet potatoes at the store, so I googled sweet potato recipes and went to the Food Network website and found this recipe by Ina Garten.  They were delicious, and I don't really like sweet potatoes that much, so that is saying something.  This picture is of the last 6 slices that did not get eaten, I forgot to take a nice picture.  I am rereading the recipe now, and realize that I did not follow her directions, she peeled the sweet potatoes, but really, I thought that the crisp skin was a plus, so I recommend not doing that.

Sweet Potato Wedges

4-5 medium sweet potatoes
2 T olive oil
1 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Cut sweet potatoes into wedges (a medium potato should yield 6-8 wedges).  Pour oil into a sheet pan with edges and toss with potato wedges.  In a small prep bowl, whisk together brown sugar, salt, and pepper.  Sprinkle over potatoes.  Bake at 450° for 15 minutes, flip potatoes, then bake an additional 5-10 minutes.