Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

These taste a lot better than they sound! (Someone told me the name was gross)

Plus they are "healthful", so I feel better about feeding them to myself and my kids. (wink, wink) I threw in some ground flaxseed as well, but I like to put flaxseed in everything.

Adapted recipe from Money Saving Mom.



Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup shortening or butter (softened)
1/2 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour  (I've found I need the higher flour amount)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (optional)
2 cups oats (rolled or quick oats)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together first six ingredients. Add flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll into 1-1 1/2-inch balls. Place on greased cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes or until done. Makes approximately 40 cookies.

Chocolate Crockpot Cake

This was in a crockpot recipe book I have and I've wanted to try for quite some time.

Decadent Chocolate Delight

1 pkg chocolate cake mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup water

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 pkg instant chocolate pudding mix

Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients in crockpot. (mix well)

Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Serve warm or cold with ice cream. ☺

*Side note: Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your crockpot. I used the 6 qt and mine was done under 2 hours, so keep that in mind.



Lemon Iced Cake

Mmmm.... Lemon cake.

Don't mind my not very pretty cake. I was in a hurry and had to get the cake out of the pan without letting it cool down a little.

You can do this in a bundt pan or a normal 9x13. It will just take longer to cook in the bundt pan. (50-60 min instead of 30ish)

Lemon Iced Cake

2 c. Flour

1-1/2 c Sugar

1 T Baking Powder

1-1/2 t Vanilla

3/4 c Oil

4 Eggs

2/3 c. Milk

1 pkg Lemon Jello mix

1 t Lemon extract or Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients for 2 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes for 9x13 pan

Pull out warm cake and poke holes in cake, then pour lemon icing over the top

Lemon Icing

2 c. Powdered Sugar

1/3 c. Lemon Juice

I like to pour about half of it while the cake is warm, and then wait until it's cooled down, thicken the icing a little and pour the rest over the top.

I didn't have time to do that in these photos though.

Icing



Red Velvet Swirl Brownies

These are adapted from Sonny Anderson's recipe over at Food Network

Red Velvet Swirl Brownies

Red Velvet Brownie Layer:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts  (optional)

Cream Cheese Layer:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350

Grease an 8 by 8-inch baking pan

Brownie layer: In a saucepan on medium heat melt the butter. Remove the butter to a large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar, in that order, mixing between additions. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and stir it into the cocoa mix. Fold in the flour until lightly combined. Stir in the walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, saving 1/4 cup of the batter for the top.


Cream cheese layer: Blend together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a skewer or the tip of a knife, drag the tip through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern.
Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting.



Macaroni Grill Bread

This is a knock off recipe of the bread at Macaroni Grill from Jamie Cooks it Up. Best served with a side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. ☺

I made mine with whole wheat flour, so don't be thrown off by the photos. (about the photos.....I forgot about taking pictures for most of the process)

 Macaroni Grill Bread

1 1/2 t active dry yeast
1 C warm water
3 T olive oil
1/4 t sugar
2 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t  Italian Seasoning
1/4 t cracked black pepper
3/4 T rosemary (best with fresh, but dried works too)
1/4 t Garlic Powder

Mix dough up (mix for around 7 minutes)  and let rise for 40 minutes.
Form into 2 small loaves, whisk up an egg and spread the egg wash over the
loaves.
Turn your oven on to 170 and place the loaves in oven for 15 minutes, and then raise the temperature to 370 and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Brush melted butter or olive oil over the top, and sprinkle salt.



Moo's Raspberry Bars

  

These are easy and delicious, but I'm kind of sucker for things with cake mixes in them.

You can also change the type of berry preserve you want to use and my SIL, Chandra, suggested using a lemon cake mix with Raspberry preserves. Yum!

Moo's Raspberry Bars

1 (18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix

2 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats (I used regular oats)
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 (12oz) jar raspberry preserves (or use your fav preserves, I used blueberry/ strawberry mix)

Combine cake mix and oats, stir in butter until mixture is crumbly.
Press about 3 cups mixture evenly into a greased 13x9 inch pan.
Spread preserves over crumb mixture and then sprinkle remaining crumb mixture, pat gently to level

Bake at 375 for 24 to 26 minutes or until lightly browned

Breaded Ranch Chicken

Good recipe for those days you can't think of what else to make! ☺



Breaded Ranch Chicken

3/4 c. Cornflake or bread crumbs (I've done both and the cornflake is better)

3/4 c. Parmesan Cheese

1 pkg Ranch Dressing mix

8 Chicken Breasts

1/2 c. melted Butter or Margarine (if you want a lower fat version, do 1/2 c. buttermilk and 1 egg, whisked)

Mix the crumbs, dressing mix and parmesan cheese together. (I like to add some garlic powder and pepper) Dip the chicken into the melted butter and then into crumb mixture, then place on a pan.

Bake at 350 for 25-40 minutes depending on how big your pieces of chicken are. (the juices should be clear)

I've made this a day ahead, put them on a cooking sheet, covered in plastic wrap in the fridge and then uncovered the next day when it was time to cook. It turned out really well that way too, very flavorful and not dry!