Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will admit right now...I AM NOT A BAKER!!! But the man of the house DOES have a sweet tooth, so I need to work at my bakery skills! He loves chocolate covered cherries, but I'm not about to stand over the stove, dipping cherries in chocolate and hoping they turn out well. So I browsed my favorite blogs to see if I could find something that incorporated cherries and chocolate. I came across The Kitchen Is My Playground. Awesome blog! I found a recipe here for Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies. I can handle that, right? I think I did a decent job...and so does the man of the house, as well as my parents. Try this recipe out, it's easy and tasty! To print recipe, click here: Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. maraschino cherry juice

1 container maraschino cherries, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz package)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375°F.

2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and maraschino cherry juice. Beat until creamy. Then beat in eggs.

4) Slowly add the flour mixture and blend until combined. Stir in the chopped maraschino cherries and chocolate chips.

5) Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Drop about a teaspoon of the dough onto the cookie sheet. Try about 6 cookies at first, just to make sure your oven and cooking time works well for you. The recipe suggested 8-10 minutes cooking time, I found that I needed to cook them for 9 minutes...no less, no more. Once cooked, remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes before placing them on a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before storing...or just devour them right then and there! Enjoy!

Copyright © 2013 Kellicipes

BONKERS FOR BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

I have been trying my best to eat something in the morning for breakfast, but I am NOT a morning person...as you can see below, my Mom thought it was appropriate to buy me these jammies "Crabby in the Morning".

So making breakfast in the morning is pretty much the hardest task of the day for me. I need something already made and easy to eat. What's pre-made, easy to eat and totally delicious? Blueberry Muffins of course!!! I searched long and hard to find the best recipe for Blueberry Muffins and I came across Jenn's recipe at www.eatcakefordinner.net. These muffins are packed with fresh Blueberries and they are HUGE! I made them last night and decided I should wait until the morning to try them. 3:30am...that's the morning, right? I had them on my mind all night that I just couldn't take it anymore and snuck into the kitchen for an early morning taste. DELICIOUS!!! I am pretty sure I will be having one for dessert tonight as well. So hopefully you will feel the same. One quick piece of advice before starting this recipe...DO NOT WEAR LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING or anything that you don't want to stain. When cooking the Blueberries, they sometimes "pop" and you don't want that blue-purple stain on your clothes, or maybe you do...who am I to judge? Alright, enough talk...here's the recipe! To print, click HERE.

Topping:

1/4 cup Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Grated Lemon Zest

Muffins:

2 cups Fresh Blueberries

1 1/8 cup + 1 tsp. Sugar

2 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

2 Large Eggs

4 Tbl. Unsalted Butter, melted & cooled a bit

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1 Cup Buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

1) For the topping: Stir the sugar and lemon zest together in a small bowl until mixed well then set aside.

2) For the muffins: Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.

3) Add 1 cup of the blueberries and 1 tsp. of the sugar to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir frequently and once they start to darken in color, you will be able to carefully mash the blueberries. Keep cooking and stirring until the sauce is thickened. Then transfer to a small bowl and cool at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

4) In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

5) In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining  1 1/8 cups sugar and the 2 eggs together until thick and smooth. Next, whisk in the butter and oil. Finally, whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until all ingredients are combined and smooth.

6) Using a rubber spatula, pour and fold the contents of the medium bowl into the large bowl with the flour mixture. Stir until the mixture is combined, but still a bit lumpy. Now add the remaining cup of fresh blueberries (NOT THE COOKED BERRIES). Stir well, but remember the mixture will still be a bit lumpy, you don't need to over stir this mixture.

7) Fill the muffin cups half way with the batter. Then top with a teaspoon of the cooked berry mixture. Take a toothpick and swirl together. Repeat that process once more. The muffin cups should be filled all the way to the top. Finally, top the muffins with the lemon sugar.

8) Bake for 9 minutes then rotate the muffin pan in the oven. Bake for another 9 minutes or until the muffin tops are firm. Remove from oven and use a toothpick to check and see if they are cooked all the way through. Place the toothpick down the middle of each muffin. If you remove it and the toothpick is clean, then they're cooked! If not, put back in the oven for a few minutes.  **These muffins will puff up and overflow a bit out of the cups. Don't worry, they'll still pop out of the tin just fine, once cooled**

9) Cool the muffins in the muffin pan for 5-10 minutes. Then remove them and place on a wire rack to cool for an additional 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Servings 12.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 285
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 10 g	15 %
Saturated Fat 3 g	15 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 42 g	14 %
Sodium 321 mg	13 %
Potassium 88 mg	3 %
Total Carbohydrate 45 g	15 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	5 %
Sugars 24 g
Protein 4 g	9 %
Vitamin A	0 %
Vitamin C	7 %
Calcium	1 %
Iron	44 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Copyright © 2013 Kellicipes

Chocolate Cake Mix Reese's Pieces Cookies

Now these are some easy cookies, let me tell you! I found this recipe on The Frugal Girls website and it was super easy and best of all, CHEAP! You can really let your imagination go wild with this recipe as well because all it entails is boxed cake mix, vegetable oil, eggs and some candy pieces. I decided to use chocolate cake mix and reese's pieces.  The only thing I will warn you about with these cookies is that because they are cake mix, cooking them for about 8-9 minutes might not seem right. They might seem soft at first. I experimented and found that at 350°F, I could bake them around 10-12 minutes and then let them rest for a few minutes on the baking sheet BEFORE placing on a cooling rack. Again, this is a really inexpensive recipe, so even with trial and error, you're not wasting much money and you WILL get good cookies.

Ingredients:

1 Box of Super Moist Chocolate Cake Mix

1/2 cup of Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

1 Bag of Reese's Pieces candy

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.

2) Mix together the cake mix, vegetable oil and 2 eggs until fully blended.

3) Slowly stir in candy pieces (I used about 3/4 of the bag)

4) Form small balls of mixture and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

5) Cook for  8-9 minutes (or 10-12 like me) at 350°F.

6) Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies rest for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Recipe from: The Frugal Girls

Copyright © 2013 Kellicipes

Sour Patch Grapes

I am a sucker for sweet and sour foods, but I hate the high sugar content in most of them, such as Sour Patch Kids candy. I came across a few Pinterest recipes for "Sour Patch Grapes". I can't recall the exact recipe site, but it is so easy that you really don't need a lengthy recipe. These suckers are so good, I guarantee you that you could eat a whole bowl! FYI though, eat with a toothpick or fork...otherwise your fingers will be stained! I learned the hard way....

Sour Patch Grapes

Ingredients:

1 bag of green grapes

1 box of Jello Watermelon mix

1 box of Jello Sugar Free Lemon mix

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain grapes

2. Toss grapes with both packets of Jello mix

3. Chill for about an hour

Enjoy!