This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie. It’s pretty much everything I look for in a CCC. It’s buttery….see the butter stain on the parchment paper in the photo below. It’s chewy. It’s crispy. I’ve posted this recipe before and called it my 2nd favorite chocolate chip cookie. But this time I did something different. This one is loaded with much more chocolate and I added nuts. It’s very rich. It’s perfect. I have made this recipe for years, but without nuts. Let me tell you what inspired me to put nuts this time…

Recently, I discovered a cookie called THE COOKIE, at a local specialty store. OMG, as soon as you walk into the store, you see them baking these and the aroma…………..ohhhhhhh the aroma. It’s a big fat cookie….BIG. They serve them warm. Well, I bout fainted when I took a bite. The chocolate was intense. While I browsed around the store, I finished my cookie. Now, you know I went back and got another to take home. This was a special cookie. However, as I analyzed this cookie (as I do with all my food) I had to ask myself just why I liked it so much. It was not chewy. It was thick and I don’t usually like thick cookies. The thing I found interesting was the cookie dough to chocolate chip and nuts ratio. It was so loaded with chocolate and nuts, that there really was very little cookie. Hmmm. Well, that got me thinking….excessively….obsessively….what if I just overloaded my go-to recipe with chocolate and toasted nuts. I’m not kidding when I say I obsessed over this cookie. It was bad! Hahahahah. But adding the additional chocolate and the toasted nuts produced the same great taste as the specialty cookie I purchased. But mine were better since they had the chew!!! YAY!

So, today I made a batch. My first batch got forgotten as I left the kitchen to do laundry. I overbaked them by a good 2 to 3 minutes. I panicked…I cursed. Some bad, bad words came out of my mouth! But to my surprise, I had perfect thin and crispy, buttery CCC’s. So, if that’s the kind of cookie you like, do like I did! Go do some laundry and overbake your cookies! My second batch, baked at a lesser time, were delicious. Perfect. I may put more nuts next time….who knows.

I am highly recommending these! Even if you aren’t a nutty person, you will love this recipe. Just leave out the nuts.

The cookies are this beautiful caramel brown color.

 Buttery, Crispy, Chewy, Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1  1/4 cup flour plus 3 Tblsp flour. Use 2 Tblsp if you want a thinner crispy cookie
1  1/2 cups of chopped good chocolate (semi sweet or bittersweet)  I used Ghirardelli (see picture)
3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts

In a mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugars just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Gently stir in the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Don’t over mix.  Stir in the chocolate and nuts. Chill dough for about 20-30 minutes. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place them 2″ apart, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 11-12 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet.

Chewy, rich deliciousness awaits you!

I have my two favorite chocolate cupcakes that are my go to chocolate cake. This is pretty much the same recipe as those, but these have a secret ingredient. Cranberry juice. You don’t taste it….you would never even know it’s there. But it does cut the sweetness a bit and makes for a fluffy cupcake.

If a cake or cupcake recipe ever calls for water, I rarely use water. I will use hot coffee, leftover coffee, milk, ginger ale, 7 up, fruit juice and even beer. I highly recommend trying this especially if you are using a boxed cake mix.

Anyway, let’s get back to this cupcake. Yum. The frosting is a milk chocolate frosting and it is DELICIOUS. It’s creamy, rich and decadent.

Just plop a fresh cranberry or two on top to make it look holiday-ish.

Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cupcake

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cranberry juice (or water if you don’t like cranberry juice)
1/2  cup sour cream
1/4  cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350°. Line standard muffin pan with paper liners. Sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, cranberry juice, sour cream, oil, and vanilla. Mix until smooth by hand whisk or mixer.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 15-18 minutes or until you poke a toothpick in the cake and it comes out clean. Let cool. Frost (makes 18-20 cuppies)

Milk Chocolate Frosting

8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2-3 Tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder (add more if you like a more intense chocolate flavor
1 tsp vanilla
1  16 oz box of powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the butter and cream cheese until very creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla, cocoa and sugar. Whip until very fluffy. If it’s too thick, add a few drops of milk or cream. If it appears too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Frost cupcakes and top with fresh cranberries or any berry, or some shaved white chocolate, dark chocolate, etc.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Did you eat too much? I know I did! I cooked a 22 pound turkey for 4 people. Oh my…..I sent my daughter home with half of the leftover turkey and I still have tons! I’ve had turkey sandwiches, a complete leftover turkey dinner, turkey enchiladas and now I have made some turkey rice soup with green chiles and salsa.

I made the turkey enchiladas tonight. I sautéed some shredded turkey with green chiles and some onion and made too much. I tend to do that. Oops. So I made soup from my leftovers!

I think my favorite leftover turkey thing, is just a plain ol turkey sandwich on white bread, with mayo and salt and pepper. But tomorrow I shall enjoy this soup. Then I think I am DONE with turkey for a while.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy your leftovers? Tell me!

Sprinkled with a bit of Monterey Jack Cheese

Turkey Rice Soup with Green Chiles

Adjust ingredient amounts to your liking, but here is what I did:

6 cups of water
approx. 2 cups of shredded turkey
approx. 1/2 cup green chiles, diced
1/2 cup salsa
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked rice (if you don’t have cooked rice, add 1/2 cup uncooked rice. It will cook as your soup cooks)

Just dump everything in a pot. Add more or less of the ingredients, according to your taste.  Allow to cook for at least half an hour. If you are using uncooked rice, cook your soup until the rice is tender.

Sprinkle with a bit of shredded cheese.

If you’re looking for a super easy and quick idea for rolls, this is it. What’s better than bread and cheese, right???? These rolls are so good and you could really do so much with these. I just like them plain, with some butter, but you can add some ham, pepperoni, jalapenos, eggs…..the possibilities are endless. I have even made a dessert version which were amazing. I will post those later.

Well, not much more to say. I think I will make some more. You too….go now. Go bake.

Easy Cheese Bread Roll Ups

Packaged/canned  crescent rolls
string cheese (is super easy) but any cheese will work
softened butter (optional)

Heat oven to 375.

Carefully separate and unroll the packaged dough. Brush with softened or melted butter. Place half of a cheese stick onto each roll. Roll it up starting from the wide side. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until brown.  That’s it!!!! Too easy right?

Now, use your imagination and try all different kinds of combinations:

pepperoni, sausage, ham, turkey
different cheeses
fruit that has been tossed with cinnamon and sugar
Green chiles and eggs

See what I’m talking about??? Go crazy!

You know that monkey bread pull apart dessert that we have all made at some point in our lives? You know…..the canned biscuits that you slam against the corner of your counter? I hate those frickin things. They scare the crap out of me every time! You would NOT want to see me opening one of those cans of biscuits. I turn my head, squeeze my eyes tight, grit my teeth and scream. Whyyyyyyyyyy must they make them like that!

Anyway, I guess it’s all worth the trauma, because what you get is a yummy sweet treat! Now, normally the biscuit is cut into quarters, dredged, etc. But I like to fan them out so to speak. I think it looks nicer….something a little different. In one of the pictures below, you’ll see that I slightly flatted a biscuit, and cut it in half. I did one square pan and one round pan that way. I also did one round pie dish, where I left the biscuits whole and did not flatten them.

For the round dish with the whole biscuits. you can flip it all out onto a plate, so that all the good is on top. But I actually like the look of the top sides . If you want to transfer them to a pretty serving platter, go ahead and flip them out of the baking dish, but them flip them again on the pretty serving platter. You can always drizzle goo all over the top. You could even do a white icing drizzle and maybe place a few fresh cranberries on top to make it look really festive!

This is such an easy thing to make and pretty inexpensive too.

Buscuits, slightly flattened, cut in half….rectangular dish

biscuits, slightly flattened, cut in half……round dish

biscuits left whole, not flattened…..round baking dish

  
right out of the oven………                                             flipped out onto a plate……………..(with nuts)

Flipped again onto a prettier plate rather than leaving in baking dish and drizzled with goo…………

Easy Gooey Pull Aparts

For 9×11 rectangle baking dish:
3 – 4 cans  biscuits (I used the Flaky layered kind)

For round pie plate, use
1 – 2 cans biscuits

Coating and goo:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

1 stick of  butter
1  1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350.

Either flatten biscuits slightly and cut in half, or leave whole and not flattened.
In a bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar.
Coat each biscuit in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Lightly spray baking dish with non stick spray. Place biscuits in dish upright. Don’t pack them in.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and stir in brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool for a minute. Pour all over the biscuits.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Allow to set for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a platter, or leave as is.
optional: Drizzle with extra goo or an icing of powdered sugar and milk. (To 1 cup of powdered sugar, add just a couple drops of milk and stir to thin consistency.)