Pillow Cookies & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Saw a recipe for Pillow Cookies on Bakerella and decided I had to try it. Needless to say, it was a success. Join your favorite boxed brownie mix with your blue ribbon chocolate chip cookies and call it heaven. Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter - room temp
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar - packed
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In mixer, combine white and brown sugar. Add butter and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Add eggs and mix well.

To sugar mixture, add flour, soda, and salt. Mix until flour mixture and sugar mixture are combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Using cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks and enjoy!

Variation:

To make "Pillow Cookies", bake a batch of brownies (boxed or homemade) prior to beginning your cookie dough. Place a chunk of brownie in the middle of your cookie dough before baking. They are delicious!

Yummy Fruit Dip

Need a little something to dress up your fruit platter? This EASY and delicious fruit dip is just the ticket. In your mixer, place 8 ounces cream cheese (one box) and 13 ounces Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme. Mix well. Once smooth, add the juice of a fresh lime or orange to taste. Blend until smooth. Enjoy - it's wonderful... I never said it would be healthy!

Real Estate Apple Pie

For the whole story about the title, visit my personal blog, but I will give you the shortened version... My husband and I were recently approached by a local real estate agent to do a one-time showing and in the process of preparing the house, I purchased a bunch of apples. I already had Fuji apples, but they are not good for baking, so I bought several Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples because I wanted to have a variety of color. I suppose I should have called Jodi for advice, since she is the one with the experience in that department, but it was kind of a whirlwind. Anyway, a few days passed after the showing and we had eaten a few of the apples, but I needed to do something with them, so I decided to dust off my trusty apple pie recipe and add a twist. Usually, I use Granny Smith apples in my pies, but this time, I used three Granny Smith, three Red Delicious, and one Fuji apple. It may sound funny, but trust me, it was delicious.

Ingredients:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
3 Red Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
1 T lemon juice
2 T flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend
1 Box Pillsbury Refrigerated 9-inch Pie Crust (2 crusts enclosed) at room temp
*If they can make it better than I can, there is no point in me killing myself to make it homemade!
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and slice apples into large mixing bowl. I tend to slice my apples thinner than most, but that just means more surface area for the sugar and spice mixture!

Once apples are all in bowl, top with lemon juice, sugar, flour, and spice blend.
Mix well, until apples are coated with sugar and spice mixture. You may need to perform a taste-test at this point, because the apples are so delicious.
Unroll your first pie crust (if you forgot to take it out of the fridge/freezer, you can always pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to make them unroll easier) and place into pie dish. Smooth on bottom, against sides, and make folds in crust where necessary. Once prepared, spoon apples into pie dish, leaving the remaining juice behind (or your pie juices may overflow into your oven). Level the apples and if too full, remove slices.
Unroll second pie crust and place over apples in pie dish. Fold the edges over and knead the two crusts together to form a seal along the edges. Once all edges are closed, use a fork to poke holes in the top of the crust and I always put an "A" in the center - for Apple, of course! You can also use your fork to press down the edges of the pie for a decorative edge, but I did not on this pie.
Using a pie-crust shield or tin foil, cover the outermost edges of the pie to protect them from burning. Bake pie at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, check pie. Bake 20 minutes longer. Allow pie to cool and enjoy!

Margarita Cupcakes

I don't know if you watch HGTV as much as you might watch The Food Network, but my cousin was recently the runner-up on HGTV's Design Star. My aunt Bev and uncle Dick (Dan's parents) had family and friends over to watch the show and one weekend, Dan flew in from Portland to watch the show with the family - so we knew it must have been an exciting episode! His deconstruction of an orchard for the white-wall challenge won the judge's approval and Vern Yip complimented, "In four seasons now of Design Star, that is the single most well-executed, most well-thought-out response to the white room challenge."

During social hour, prior to the start of the show, we had Mexican-themed hors d'oeuvres including taquitos, chips and salsa, and my personal favorite, chicken enchilada dip. To complement the meal, we had Design Star Margaritas created by Dan, but made by Aunt Vickie. Found this wonderful recipe on the HWTM Blog a while ago and decided this was the perfect opportunity to share! They must have been good, because I only ended up bringing a couple home and I know I saw my nephew Peter running around with several cupcakes!

MARGARITA CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

Cupcakes:
1 box white cake mix
8 oz margarita mix (liquid)
2 oz tequila
1 oz Grand Marnier (or triple sec)
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp grated lime zest

Lime Buttercream Icing:
8 Tbsp butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp lime juice (approx 2 fresh limes)
1 Tbsp margarita mix
1 tsp lime zest
5 cups powdered (confectioner)
sugarcane sugar & fresh limes (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350º and prepare muffin pans.
2. Combine margarita mix, tequila, and Grand Marnier in a large glass and stir well.
3. In large bowl, combine cake mix, egg whites, lime zest, vegetable oil, and margarita mixture from step one. Stir ingredients together, then beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for approximately 2-3 minutes.
4. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin pans. Fill each cup/liner about 2/3 full.
5. Bake at recommended temperature on cake mix box (usually 325º – 350º) for 20 – 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Lime Buttercream Icing:
6. In a large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, lime juice, margarita mix, and lime zest. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
7. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and continue beating until smooth. If icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar, a couple tablespoons at a time. I added a bit of green food coloring for a little more spark!
8. Spread icing generously on each cooled cupcake* or use a pastry bag to frost. Sprinkle cane sugar around the edges of the cupcake for a “salt rimmed” look and garnish with lime wheels & wedges.

*Make sure to remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely before frosting.

Tip: Leftover frosting makes a great dip for fruit - there is quite a bit more frosting than necessary for 24 cupcakes - I've been eating it with apples and strawberries - yum!