Skippy Truffle Cookies

I first found this recipe at least 21 years ago, but in the last 8 years we just use one chocolate chip cookie recipe, haha. But today I really wanted peanut butter too.

It's a simple recipe and a little bit finicky, but so yummy! 

Skippy Truffle Cookies
Ingredients: 
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350*

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chips. With electric mixer, on medium speed, beat peanut butter mixture 1 minute. Beat in chocolate until just blended.

On ungreased baking sheets, drop 1 tbsp dough two inches apart.

Bake 9 minutes, or until cookies are puffed. Place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for five minutes. Remove cookies from sheets and cool completely.

They really need that five minutes of resting, or they will absolutely shatter into a million pieces and you will have to eat it off the pan with a spoon, ha.

They are very crumbly if you eat them before they are totally cool. Once they cool, they take on a creamy kind of texture, which is a fun change.
They are small, but rich and so yummy! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter (cheesecake) Pie

It's PI DAY! I came across this recipe that I thought might be a hit, and gave it a shot. 
You can find the original HERE and below: 

I do not have a mile-high pie pan, just regular pans, ha. So I ended up with two pies! And I made some slight variations, based on what I have and what we prefer.

Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

    put in food processor til it was combined and very fine

5 tablespoons melted butter

Combine dry ingredients with melted butter in a small bowl, press into pie pan. 

Freeze while preparing the filling.

Filling: 

2 1/4 cups heavy cream

12 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/8 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp molasses

In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate while preparing the rest of the filling. 

In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese til smooth. Add the sugar and mix til combined. (scraping down sides as needed.) Add peanut butter, blend until incorporated. Add vanilla and molasses, mixing til smooth. 

Gently fold in the whipped cream until fully incorporated. 

Pour filling into the crust, and smooth the top. 

Chill in the freezer 30 minutes, or in the fridge 4 hours, before adding the ganache.

Ganache Topping:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Microwave the chocolate chips and cream for 1.5 minutes, then stir til smooth. 

Cool to 70* before pouring over the chilled pie, and spread evenly.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes before serving. Serve chilled.

*ice cream-like texture from the freezer, creamier texture from the fridge. 

Chicken and Sausage Soup

Ingredients

• 
  6 cups Ham or Chick Stock - Homemade would be best
• Homemade Ham Stock
• 2 ham bones, preferably with some meat still on them
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp whole black peppercorn
• 2 large bay leaves
• 2 whole onions peeled and cut in half or quarters
• 3 to 4 quarts of water - filled is best 
• 2 lbs boneless chicken breast or thighs cut into approx 1/2 inch chunks
• 12 oz beef smoked sausage (or polish kielbasa, spicy smoked sausage, andouille) cut into slices
• 4 cups of Kale, roughly chopped, rinsed and dried
• Approx 3/4 cup diced celery
• Approx 3/4 cup diced carrot
• 1 whole diced onion approx 3/4 cup
• 1 or 2 15 oz cans of cannelloni beans drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp seasoning salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 large bay leaf or 2 to 3 smaller ones
• Olive Oil for sauteing 
• Optional - 1/4 cup of pureed fire roasted Anaheim peppers or hatch chilies, pureed sundried tomatoes, or something like this.

Directions - Ham Stock

Put ham bones, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, and onion into pressure cooker. Fill with water up to just below the max fill line. Put on the heat and bring to pressure. Cook for 90 minutes, turn off heat and let cool for 30 minutes. Quick release pressure at this point if needed. Strain the stock through a wire mesh strainer and toss all of the solids. Nothing will be still usable as food after cooking. Let stock cool to room temperature, then put in fridge until completely chilled. Skim off any solidified fat and toss. Put stock into freezer safe containers and freeze in 2 cup portions.

Directions - Soup

In a soup pot or Dutch oven large enough to hold at least 9 quarts, pour about 2 to 3 tbsp of olive oil into it and put over medium high heat. When the oil shimmering and even slightly smoking, dump in the sliced smoked sausage until both sides have taken on some color and may even have browned crispy edges. Take the sausage out and set aside. 

Put in another tbsp of oil if needed and dump in the chunked up chicken. Sprinkle with the seasoning salt and sauté until the chicken is cooked through. If it has taken on some color or crispy edges too, that is just fine. Take the chicken out and side aside with the sausage. If there is some liquid and chicken bits (frozen chicken breast will leech out significant liquid) in the pot, dump that out and lightly wipe out the pot. Don't wash it out or anything so extreme, just enough to get out any extra liquid and unnecessary chicken bits. 

Pour in another 2 to 3 tbsp of olive oil and let it heat to shimmering again. Dump in the diced carrots, onions, and celery along with a good sprinkling of seasoning salt. Sauté until the vegetables have softened, add the pureed pepper or tomatoes and stir to combine. Add back in the sausage and chicken, stir to combine. Add in the 6 cups of stock, stir and let it all come up to a simmer. Once simmering, add the the kale and cannelloni beans, stir until all of the kale has been incorporated. Cover and let simmer until the vegetables are cooked through and the kale is softened too, about 25 to 30 minutes. 

Taste for seasoning. Add seasoning salt if needed.

The Pioneer Woman - Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Original Link: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a37598987/twice-baked-potato-casserole-recipe/

Ingredients

• 4 lb. medium sized russet potatoes - should yield between 2 1/2 to 3 lbs of mashed baked potatoes. 
• 12 oz. bacon, divided or 16 oz pork sausage (breakfast or regular)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp of crushed minced garlic or garlic paste
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 8 oz. cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan 
• 3 Tbsp of dried chives

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Prick each potato with a fork 3 to 4 times all over, then place on a sheet pan. Roast for 55 to 70 minutes until the potatoes are tender when pressed. Remove the potatoes from the oven and lower the temperature to 375ºF.

Meanwhile, working in two batches, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until golden and crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Let the cooked bacon drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Once cool, crumble or chop into small pieces. If using the pork sausage, cook it up until browned with crispy bits throughout the meat.

In a large bowl, place the melted butter, cream cheese, warm milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic and chives. Carefully whisk or blend with beaters the mixture together. It will incorporate into the mashed potatoes better if you do this first. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthwise, and scrape the flesh out of the skins and into the bowl. Tear or chop up three of the potato skins and add them to the bowl. You can also skip this and use the potato skins for a different purpose later. Use a potato masher or spoon to mash everything together. Fold in the half of the bacon or sausage, half of the cheddar cheese, and parmesan.

Grease a 3-quart (9x13) casserole dish with butter. Transfer the potato mixture to the baking dish. Cover and bake for 35 minutes until the edges are bubbly. Combine the remaining bacon, cheese and panko bread crumbs in to a mixture. Top the casserole with the mixture and bake uncovered until warmed through and lightly golden on top, 20 minutes more. Let rest 10 minutes and serve. 

Corn Salsa

At our house, we don't sport. So we don't watch the Superbowl.
But sometimes it matches up with Groundhog Day and we do observe that, haha!
A few years ago we started making "game food" to eat while we watch the movie Groundhog Day. 

This year, we decided to try some new recipes, that ended up worth keeping. And making notes of. 

First up- Corn Salsa! The recipe came from HERE. 

That link will tell you that you need: 
- 2 cups cooked corn, or 3 cobs worth (which can be grilled, or fresh, or frozen)

- 2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced

- 1/2 cup red onion, diced

- 1 scallion, diced

- 1 jalapeno, diced (and seeded for milder flavor)

- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro

- juice from one fresh lime

- salt and pepper to taste 

My husband knows how to cook and cannot just follow a recipe without doing his own thing, haha. He started by broiling the frozen corn. He broiled and tossed til the corn started getting a bit of char on it.

He used two limes worth of juice. He also added some olive oil and this Mexican seasoning to it.  

His only complaint was that it was very dry. Maybe next time he won't seed the tomatoes, and just include the whole thing? However, it was well received, so we'll keep the recipe. 

Very easy, just a lot of chopping. 
And we just ate it with tortilla chips. 

Pizza Dough - Sponge Method

Yield makes eight 9-inch pizzas servings

Sponge Ingredients

• 1 cup lukewarm water (110°F to 115°F)
• 1 tsp active dry yeast, divided
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour, divided

Dough Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water (110°F to 115°F)
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 to 2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• Yellow cornmeal for dusting pizza peel

Sponge Preparation

Step 1 - Place 1 cup lukewarm water in large bowl of heavy-duty mixer. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon yeast, 1 tbsp flour, and 1 tbsp sugar over water. Gently whisk to combine. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture looks spongy, about 4 minutes. Add remaining flour and whisk until smooth; scrape down sides of bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge rest at room temperature in draft-free area overnight (about 12 hours; sponge will look bubbly).

Dough Preparation

Step 2 - Add 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 tbsp yeast to sponge and turn dough mixer. Add 4 cups AP flour, 1 cup at a time, beating with dough hook to blend after each addition. Add one cup of bread flour, then 1/4 cups of remaining one cup one at a time. Dough should be moist and slightly sticky. Continue to knead with dough hook until dough is smooth, comes cleanly away from sides of bowl, and is only slightly sticky to touch, scraping down bowl occasionally. Total time should be about 5 to 10 minutes. If dough is very sticky, beat in more flour, 1/4 cupful at a time. Scrape dough onto floured surface; knead into smooth ball. Continue to knead by hand if needed. Dough should be stretchy without tearing easily and pass the window pane test.

Step 3 - Brush inside of large bowl with oil. Add dough; turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill 6 hours, kneading dough down when doubled (after 2 hours). Only punch down once.

Step 4 - About 1 1/2 hours before baking, dust 2 baking sheets with flour. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead gently; shape into 16-inch log. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Weigh dough if possible and divide total grams by 8. Knead each piece into smooth ball. Arrange 4 balls of dough on each sheet. Cover loosely with kitchen towels and let rise until almost doubled, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Step 5 - If using pizza stone, place in oven.

Step 6 - Preheat oven to 500°F for 45 minutes. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, dust dough with flour. Press into 5-inch round, then gently stretch and roll out to 9-inch round. For tips on kneading and rolling out pizza dough, see our video Kneading and Forming Pizza Dough or our tip How to Roll Out Pizza Dough.

Step 7 - If using pizza stone, sprinkle pizza peel or rimless baking sheet with cornmeal. If not using pizza stone, sprinkle large baking sheet with cornmeal. Place dough round on cornmeal; brush lightly with oil. Top as desired. Slide pizza onto stone or place pizza on baking sheet into oven.

Step 8 - Bake pizza until sauce is bubbling and crust is crisp and brown, lifting edge of pizza to check underside, about 14 minutes.

Step 9 - To speed things up, you can bake two pizzas at the same time. To ensure even cooking, be sure to reverse the position of the baking sheets after 8 minutes. Baking two pizzas at once may take longer than 14 minutes.

Slightly modified from this recipe. 

www.bonappetit.com/recipe/overnight-pizza-dough

Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

I made these in 2020 and 2021 for sure.... and this is a keeper! 
~~~

Found here: https://www.laurenslatest.com/soft-glazed-pumpkin-sugar-cookies/
(also pinned to Tried & Approved)

Ingredients

• ▢1/2 cup softened butter
• ▢1/2 cup vegetable oil
• ▢1/2 cup pumpkin puree canned pumpkin
• ▢1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢2 large eggs
• ▢4 cups all purpose flour
• ▢1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• ▢1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢pinch of cloves
  
  

for the glaze-

• ▢3 cups powdered sugar
• ▢4 tablespoons water
  1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside. In a large bowl, stir butter, oil, pumpkin, sugars, vanilla and eggs together until incorporated and smooth.
• Slowly mix in all dry ingredients until completely incorporated.
• Scoop onto prepared baking sheet using 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop and flatten to 1/2 inch thick using the bottom of a glass. If the dough is sticking to the glass, press the bottom of the glass in granulated sugar before flattening. Bake 8-9 minutes.
• While cookies bake, stir all ingredients together for glaze until smooth.
• Once cookies are finished baking, cool 3 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons glaze over each warm cookie. Let glaze harden 2-3 hours before serving. OR eat them warm with lots of runny glaze
• 
  
  Yeah, soo my cookies baked 9 minutes. They were too puffy to put the glaze on top, so I flipped them over and glazed the bottom!! My dad's grandmother did that with her sugar cookies so why not? It worked great! 
• Also my glaze was 2 cups powdered sugar, 4.5 tbsp water and at least 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice... Next time i'll use milk or cream.
• I got 57 cookies, plus dough out of this batch.  69 out of the second batch (smaller for sure)

Zucchini Banana Oat Bread

ETA: I will only make this in two of my smaller loaf pans, ever. lol. 

I tried this recipe six years ago and pinned it to my "tried and approved" board. Today I made it again and shared it with a friend. It is SO yummy! You can find the original post HERE. 

From the comments, someone suggested adding in chocolate chips, so today one loaf had none and the other two loaves had maybe 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

The loaves are very short, splitting the batter into three pans. I might try using just two, larger bread pans... I don't know how much that would effect the baking time. But for three loaves that are less than 2 inches tall, it baked 40 minutes in my oven.

I am linking it here and copying over the recipe because the original post is eight years old and I don't want it to disappear. Also, I refer to this blog way more often than I look at Pinterest for food ideas. I get too distracted on Pinterest! And this is a keeper! 

Zucchini Banana Oat Bread
from Amanda Rettke at I Am Baker.

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
  
  INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 350°F and prepare loaf pans. (I used three small loaf pans.)

  2. In large bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and oats. Stir together.

  3. In a smaller bowl combine sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla, and mashed banana.
     Pour sugar mixture into the flour mixture and stir by hand. Add in zucchini and mix until well incorporated.

  4. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until bread pulls away from sides of pan and an inserted toothpick is removed clean.