No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

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This is a quick post on No Bake cookies, a classic, something my hubby has been wanting me to make for a while. He remembers his grandma making these when he was young, and I remember my sister used to make these as a teenager.
These would make a nice snack and a great surprise for when the kids come home from school.
These don't take long to make and you have to work fairly fast, so I didn't get any "during" photos (sorry) I was however, practicing with the macro setting on the camera, both my camera and my husbands camera. So I have lots of "after" photos  ツ  I was wondering,why is it called macro? Instead of micro? My cousin calls it "the flower setting"  ツ   I've been taking pictures of bugs that are invading my house (outside) and they just don't focus that well when your zoomed in and you cant hold still (•̪●) so my cousin (you know who you are) says "did you have it on the flower setting?" ;•)  I did, but I needed a tripod, apparently. Because I couldn't hold still and they all turned out a little fuzzy. So I practice with my husbands camera.(He has a good one!)

Anyways on with the recipe...

Here is what you need:

1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Milk
4 Tablespoons Cocoa
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter 
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
3 -3 1/2 Cups dry Quick-Cook Oats (I used 3 1/2 )
Wax Paper

Add the first four ingredients into a medium size sauce pan (around 4-quart ) 
Bring to a *rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. I use my timer.
Remove from heat.
Add peanut butter into the hot mixture and stir until melted.
Add vanilla. 
Mix in the oatmeal and drop by tablespoons onto wax paper.
Let cool until set. 


*Rolling boil  - boiling vigorously, when stirred it doesn't stir down.
Picture of a rolling boil.

Photo credit motherwouldknow.com

I put my wax paper on cookie sheets, that way I can let them cool in a cold oven (I have this paranoia of flies landing on them) and also I can speed up the cooling off by putting them in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

This recipe makes about 24 cookies, depending on how big you make the spoon full. You can double or triple this recipe ...

Very shiny when they aren't "set" 

Yum!

Choo Choo... next stop, my thighs!!  ツ  

These take about a half hour total to make, maybe less and they are oh-so-good!

Enjoy!!

Sugar Cookie Squares

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Just in time for Valentines Day....
If you have a sweetie, that loves sweets, then make these Sugar Cookie Squares for them (Or for yourself) ツ  They are much simpler than cut outs, and you don't have to frost them individually! How simple is that?
These cookies are like the ones you see in the store, you know the ones, there are about 8 round, colorful, frosted and sprinkled cookies in the little clear plastic container....and they cost about 4 bucks!  So, If you like those cookies, you will LOVE these!!  I found the recipe on Pinterest (of coarse) and you can find the link to the original site here

These are thick, soft and moist and will definitely satisfy any sweet tooth you may have..

I made a couple batches at Christmas and gave them out as gifts, needless to say, they were a hit!
I'll have pictures of those at the end of this post. 
So these cookie squares aren't just for holidays, they are perfect for any occasion, classroom treats or bake sales, baby showers, parties etc...

Here is what you need:

1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1 Egg white
1  Tbsp Sour Cream 
1 tsp Vanilla 
2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 13" x 9" pan, set it aside.
In a  bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt, set it aside. 

In the bowl, whip together with a mixer, butter and sugar until fluffy about 3-4 minutes. 

Stir in egg and egg white. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until blended. 

Slowly add dry mixture and stir until well combine. 

With buttered hands, gently pat mixture into buttered 13x9 pan. 

Bake 17 - 20 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and edges are lightly golden.
Cool completely,
Frost. (Vanilla Frosting Following)

Vanilla Frosting:

Here is what you need:


1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2-3 Tbsp Half and Half
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Pinch of Salt
Sprinkles
desired amount Food Coloring 


In a  bowl, using an electric mixer, whip together butter and powdered sugar and half and half until fluffy. 

Stir in vanilla and salt. 

Once its well mixed, At this point, I spooned out about 2 Tablespoons of the white frosting and put it in a sandwich baggie (I don't have a frosting bag) to pipe the lines on.

Add desired amount of food coloring and mix until well blended. (I used about a 1/4 inch line of the gel food coloring)

I think these are to cute to eat!!  ♥ Just kidding ツ  Yum!
Enjoy your cookies...

Here are the ones I made for Christmas ( I know they aren't really Christmas colors, but what can I say.)

I just have to take a minute and brag on my husband... 
I needed a mixer, and things were tight at Christmas, so he bought me a cheap hand mixer from the dollar store to use. Well, the mixer kept falling over, and would not stand up!! Especially if there was something on the beaters Grrrr!
So, I complained  ¯\(°_o)/¯ Lol ...so he made me a stand out of pvc to hold my mixer. Thank You Honey!

He is so good!! 

♥║║
╚══╝

Buckeyes (Candy)

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Once upon a time, I made these for Christmas a long, long time ago. I don't know why I haven't made them since, they are so good, and they aren't that difficult to make! I've talked about them though, so much so, that I piqued my husbands curiosity, he said "You talk about them all the time, and now you've made me want them. :D Make them already!" So I did, and he loves them. ツ

They are rich and peanut-buttery. So if your on a diet or a diabetic you might want to steer clear of these, and go look at one of my other pages! ;)

I don't remember, when I made them before, if my arm was about to fall off, from stirring, but I must have used my mixer or something. I don't have one now :( (it died two years ago) so my arms felt like they were about to fall off from stirring!! And it seemed like it took for-everrr... I really need to get a stand mixer, it would have gone a whole lot faster!! Instead of what seemed like hours of stirring would have been minutes! lol  ¯\(°_o)/¯

I've seen several different recipes, but I am going with the one I'm familiar with. I've seen people add Rice Crispy's and Crunchy Peanut Butter, but true Ohio Buckeye Candy isn't made with any of those things, nope. I've also heard them being called Peanut Butter Balls...to me, they are Buckeyes, you can call em' anything you want. I guess you could say I'm particular about the name because I'm from Ohio, and Ohio has the Buckeye trees....

What you need:

2 lbs. Creamy Peanut Butter
1 lb. Butter
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
3 lbs. Powdered Sugar
Two 12 oz. bags of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips Don't skimp on the chocolate.
1/2 of one Paraffin Bar ( you can find this in the canning isle)
Wax Paper 
Tooth Picks
Cookie Sheets

Cream Peanut Butter and Butter  and Vanilla until combined. 

Add Powdered Sugar with a sifter, a little at a time.

Make a mess on the counter...

Stir...

Keep adding more Powdered Sugar, and stir some more, till you feel like your arms are  about to fall off lol Unless your lucky and have a mixer!

 (I seriously was thinking about my husbands paint mixer/cordless drill at this point in time Haha) I didn't though! Ugh!

My arm was about to fall off at this point!

Once you have all the powdered sugar in, make sure its thoroughly mixed
It'll be about the consistency of cookie dough.

if you have a small cookie scoop, use that but otherwise use a little less than a spoonful of "dough" and roll into about 1 inch balls. Roll all the balls and put them in the freezer for about a half hour or so. 

In the mean time...

In a double broiler melt your Chocolate Chips and Paraffin.
If you don't have a double broiler (Like me) then use a bigger pan and a smaller pan, fill the bigger pan with just enough water for the smaller pan to be submerged just a little. The whole object is, to melt the chocolate and not burn it. (I just realized I didn't take pictures of that step.. opps!) Some recipes I have seen melt the chocolate in the microwave, I prefer the double broiler method, that way I don't have to keep re-heating it in the microwave.
Line  cookie sheets with wax paper. 
Once your chocolate/paraffin is melted put a toothpick in the balls and start dipping your dough balls into the chocolate almost covering the whole thing. 
FYI..  If your balls aren't chilled they just slip right off the tooth picks into the chocolate. :(
Place on wax paper to cool and harden. Smooth over the tooth pick hole with your finger.

Paraffin is used to make the chocolate set better and to make them shiny when they are cool.

These need to be stored in a cool place, so store them in the refrigerator, or if you prefer, in the freezer. That's where mine are, in the freezer.

This recipe was suppose to make about 400 balls, I guess mine were bigger(two bites instead of one) because it only made about 160.

You can half or quarter this recipe.

Enjoy.... and try not to eat them all ! ツ


♥║║
╚══╝

Single Serving Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug

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Do you ever get a sweet tooth late in the evening and there NEVER seems to be anything that  satisfy's it?  Or its way to late to go out?!  Well I have something....I had a request awhile ago in My Survey to do a Mug Cake, and I was looking around for a good recipe and found this recipe from Melissa at no.2 pencil... I know its not a cake, but...
I will still do a mug cake but I had to do this first :) this is a single serving cookie made in a custard cup. (or  a coffee mug, or a ramekin) Its fresh and it can be made in a matter of minutes! Don't ya just love that!!??
I saw a bunch of recipes floating around on Pinterest but I wanted to give something different a  try.... and this was it!

This has the potential to be really bad... because its THAT good!  I'd better not keep all the ingredients in the house, or they will have to roll me out the door come spring time  (-’_'-)

Mine took all of 60 seconds to cook, the bottom layer reminded me of  Subway's Chocolate Chip Cookies....yum!
Set your microwave for 40 seconds and go from there, I checked every 10 seconds after that.

This is what you need


1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar
1 Tablespoon of firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar
3 Drops of Vanilla Extract (this is really hard! be careful)
Small Pinch of Kosher Salt (or regular table salt)
1 Egg Yolk (I gave my egg white to the dogs, they ♥ me)  ツ  
Just under 1/4 Cup of All Purpose Flour
1/8 Cup Tablespoons of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (I used mini's)



Melt tablespoon of butter in microwave (not shown)
Stir in  Sugar, Brown Sugar, Vanilla,and Salt.
Stir... Add Egg yolk, stir

Add  Flour

 and Stir some more... 

Add the Chocolate Chips...

Stir...

Transfer it to the cup your cooking it in. (I wasn't sure it would fit in the custard cup or I would have mixed it in there.)
Put it in your microwave for 40 seconds and check for doneness every 10 seconds after that.

60 Seconds, Ding..all done! Let it cool a minute if you can  ¯\(°_o)/¯

A picture is worth a thousand words...had to put the dreamy softness ↓ effect around it hehehe 

MMMMmmmm warm and gooey

Nom, nom, nom


What are you waiting for?  Only takes a few min....