Rohn’s 30th Birthday was this past Saturday. He loves chocolate chip cookies, so I thought I’d try doing a giant chocolate chip cookie “cake”. I used a round Pampered Chef stoneware pan and after about 25 minutes had to pull it out of the oven b/c the top was going to get burned. I waited a while to be able to pull it out of the pan, then stuck it on a cookie sheet to finish baking the center. After it had cooled, I frosted it with Bakery Frosting (noted below). Took it into the office Friday morning for the Marketing Group so they could all eat Rohn’s birthday treat ;o) He’s such a good sport to let me celebrate for him! I LOVE birthdays & Rohn tolerates my love for birthdays! Rohn Rating: 9.5

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup butter flavored crisco
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until very creamy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture, finish last addition by hand so as not to overmix. Stir in morsels.
5. Bake cookies 9-11 minutes at 350, bake giant cookie 20-25 minutes at 375.

Needed a snack to take to Game Night last Tuesday & decided to try Oatmeal Raisin cookies. These were REALLY good, I just wish they hadn’t been so flat. Nice & soft,  chewy & very flavorful! It’s the ground cloves that gives them the great spiciness. Not your ordinary oatmeal cookie. I soaked the raisins for about 20 minutes in warm water & that made them really moist & soft in the cookie. I usually like to bake with rolled oats, but used quick oats this time around b/c I ran out of the other! The recipe calls for 10-12 minutes for bake time, but they overbaked at that time for me…my bake time was closer to 9-10 minutes & then I let them finish baking on the sheet for about 4-5 minutes outside the oven. Recipe from AllRecipes.com again. Rohn Rating: 8.5

Beth’s Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and the reviews were pretty highly rated, so I thought I’d give it a try. I don’t usually leave my tweaked Nestle TollHouse recipe, but with the reviews being so good, I thought it was worth a shot. Overall, I think they taste pretty good. Very chewy on the inside because they are baked at a lower temperature, outside has a little bit of a crunch. As Rohn put it…”They look kinda crusty on the outside, but the inside is actually chewy and good.” Thanks Hon. ;o)

Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Since baking my last cake, I have had the feeling of needing to seek redemption. So this afternoon (after leafing through a few cookbooks), I picked out a cake and frosting recipe from a cookbook that is becoming my “go to” cookbook - The Taste of Home Cookbook. Both the cake and the frosting came together like a charm…I was very happy! It came out very moist and kinda heavy…a little piece will take you far…a cup of black coffee is perfect with this! The frosting was so sweet and tasted exactly like what you would want on your birthday cake. So, cake redemption has been reached with this recipe! Rohn Rating: 10

White Layer Cake
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Sugar
4 Egg Whites
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 1/3 cups Buttermilk
2 1/2 cups Frosting of your Choice

Cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Spread evenly into 2 greased & floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cook completely. Spread frosting between layers and over the top and sides of cake. Yield: 12 servings.

Bakery Frosting
2 cups Shortening
1/2 cup Non-Dairy Creamer
1 teaspoon Almond Extract
1 package (32 ounces) Confectioners’ Sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup Water
Food Coloring

Beat the shortening, creamer and extract. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar. Add enough water until frosting reaches desired consistency. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature before spreading. Yield: 8 cups.
8/21 - I just made this again & left out the water for a creamier/thicker frosting…delish!

Both of these recipes came from The Cake Bible and I was hoping for a fabulous cake…but I was so disappointed on both counts. The cake was a bit dry and the frosting didn’t set up like what I thought it would. Maybe I didn’t assemble things correctly, but I followed the directions to a “T” (beat on  high 5 seconds after each addition of egg mixture, etc.)! Therefore, I decided to post pics, but not the recipe itself.

I made this cake for a birthday gathering in our neighborhood. Our neighbor next door turned 83, and the neighbor across the street turned 38. So I made the cake on a swivel platter so you could turn the numbers around. It was a good idea in concept! ;o) Rohn Rating: Let’s not go there!

My friend, Janet, makes AMAZING pie crusts! So, I asked her to teach me how she does it…she is such a good teacher! She gave me so many little tips. Just to warn you about what you’ll read below…these are lard crusts - Janet bakes the real deal!

3 Cups Flour
1 1/4 Cup Lard
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Blend with fork or pastry blender until you have a crumble

1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Apple Cider vinegar
5 Tablespoons Cold Water
Stir with fork until too gummy to use fork any longer, use hands, add flour as needed. Roll out into three 9″ crusts.

Bake at 350* for 10 minutes, or if doing a double crust pie, follow pie directions.

I visited my sister last week and she passed on her mother-in-law’s very delicious ooey-gooey chocolaty caramel brownies. My other sister brought Alterra coffee and the two are a divine combo…just a bit of cream in the coffee ;o)

I used a stoneware pan, but a glass 9×13 is what has been used in the past. I should have waited to cut the brownies until they had cooled COMPLETELY…but I was a little impatient b/c they looked & smelled SO good!

1 Box German Chocolate Cake Mix (Dry)
1 1/2 sticks melted butter
2/3 Cup Evaporated Milk (1/3 for cake mix, 1/3 for caramels)
6 oz Chocolate Chips (1/2 bag)
1 Package Caramels (I used Kraft…from the candy aisle)
1 Cup Nuts (optional…I opted out)

Mix cake mix with melted butter and 1/3 cup evaporated milk and nuts. Pat 1/2 of cake mix batter in 9×13 pan. Bake at 350* for 6 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and allow to cool. Melt caramels with 1/3 cup evaporated milk in double broiler or microwave. Drizzle over cooled cake. “Crumble” remaining cake batter over caramel. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes. Cool and cut.