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!! 

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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


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Homemade Hot Chocolate

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Its about that time of year again to break out the Hot Chocolate. (except in my house its a year round thing!) I think my husband is a connoisseur of hot chocolate, its his "coffee" in the morning.... with LOTS of marshmallows!!!!  Mmmm Ooey Gooey melted Marshmallows in some Hot Chocolate!   He loves Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate, and nothing else will do. ¯\(°_o)/¯  I buy the 30 pack from Walmart because I have to use two packets at a time (he's so darn picky lol) and if I change something up (¬_¬)  believe me he knows!!! (ಠ_ಠ) Just ask the kids ... hehehe

I thought I'd try to make some homemade Hot Chocolate and told him I was thinking about it, and he said "Just make a small batch to see if I like it." I showed him all of the ingredients and he said "Oh, go a head and make a whole batch, that kinda looks good" LOL!! I need to make those homemade marshmallows to, but he goes through them so fast! Probably not worth it. Plus there is a certain brand he likes too (told you he's picky) at least it's a store brand. The way he goes through hot chocolate, this might be a treat a few times a year.

This is very rich!! And if you like milk chocolate, then you might not like this, as its more of a dark chocolate flavor. I think next time I will look for a different cocoa.... 

This recipe makes about 20 servings

Here is what you need

3 Cups Non Fat Dry Milk
2 Cups Powdered Sugar (I'm sure you could use regular sugar also)
1 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 Cup White Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Salt


In a large bowl make a mess stir ingredients, to combine. 

Stir....

Pour half of the mixture into the bowl of a food processor and process until the white chocolate is finely ground. 

Transfer mix to an airtight container, then repeat with the remaining. (I have a mini processor so I had to split it up more) Store in the airtight container for up to 3 months.

To make the hot chocolate, mix 1/3 cup of the cocoa mix with 1 cup hot milk, or water, which ever you prefer. I tried half milk, half water and it wasn't very good. I think all milk was the best!

Try to stay warm....