Saturday, December 31, 2011

Cookie Dough Brownies


I made these sweet little morsels on New Year's Eve.  JC had to work the weekend so we decided to just stay home and take it easy, our niece Peanut spent the night with us.  It may not have been the best idea to serve these sugar-laden goodies to two little girls... sugar high much?

I found this recipe courtesy of Pinterest.  Made it pretty true to the original recipe, but as anyone knows me, I'll be making some changes to it the next time. 

What You'll Need:

BROWNIE:


4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

COOKIE DOUGH (EGG FREE!):

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

What You Do:

Prepare the brownies: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray. In a medium glass bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave in short bursts of 30 seconds; stir after each burst and remove from microwave when melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in melted chocolate. Blend in flour and mix just until combined (don’t over-mix). Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 35 minutes. Watch closely and remove from oven when toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Prepare the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in milk and vanilla. Mix in flour just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread cookie dough over the cooled brownies. Refrigerate until the dough is firm and serve.

These are so sweet, I can only eat about a 1/2 a bar, but they are definately good, and the kids LOVED them!


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: A Time To...

Christmas, it's a time to give and a time to receive. 

It's a time to share with friends and family.

It's a time to eat until your stomach literally can't handle any more. 

But most of all?  It's a time for aunts and uncles with no children to buy inappropriate gifts for their nieces and nephews. 


Thanks Bonnie & Cory.  While I hate for toys to go to waste, this is one that I'm hoping she gets tired of quickly! 

For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Reindeer Donuts

I don't remember where I came across this fun idea, but I knew that we would be doing it for a treat to leave for Santa on Christmas Eve.  Monkey had a lot of fun making them and can't wait to see if Santa gobbles them up!


What You Need:
  • Chocolate Covered Mini Donuts
  • Pretzel M&M's 
  • Round Pearl Sprinkles
  • Mini Pretzel Twists
What You Do: 

Press a red M&M into the hole of the donut.  Some holes weren't quite big enough, so I used a little dab of red icing for those to make the M&M stay in place.

Press two sprinkles into the donut for the eyes.

Break a mini pretzel in half and insert them into the top of the donut for antlers.

And that's it... easy enough a two-year old can do it!


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tis the Season of Maker's Mark!

I love the gifts Maker's Mark sends around Christmas time, always so cute! 


For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Harvest for a Cure


A friend of mine made this video of some farmers in her hometown, doing what they call “Harvest for a Cure”. Glenn Bolander was having a hard time getting his crops out of the field because he was spending most of his time in the hospital with his wife, Carol, who has been battling breast cancer.

Nearly 100 volunteers came together to help the Bolander’s clear their crops. It brought a tear to my eye to see people pull together to help a friend going through a hard time. With 11 combines, 26 trucks, and 18 tractors and grain carts it took only 5 hours and twenty-one minutes to harvest 350 acres of corn! Simply amazing. But that’s what farming is all about.

You can read more about this story here