Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

With cream cheese on sale for $1/each here in town, I've been stocking up.  As you know, I'm always looking for an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Not sure what kind of effect I'd get using cream cheese in a cookie recipe, I thought I'd give it a shot.  Why not!? Right?  They are very soft and chewy.  I like them a lot! ...And so does everyone else in my family....  I've made these cookies several times in just the last week! (oy.)  They definitely taste best when hot, right out of the oven, with chocolate oozing out of each bite.... mmmmmm.  The recipe is adapted from Bake or Break.

So, not only does my Dear Husband not want my beloved French Silk Pie for his birthday, but he wants these cookies and Chocolate Eclair Dessert instead! Wow.  What a change in plans!  He's always had French Silk Pie for his birthday, 'cept for that time back in '07 when we had a power outage from an ice storm for 3 days in December!  We had no heat, no electricity, no generator, but we did have a fireplace! I don't remember how we ate, or what we ate...our stove was not gas.  I remember buying overpriced luxurious wood at about 6 a.m. at Lowe's in place of regular firewood...they were out of firewood!  We all camped out in our family room with blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals, etc during those long 3 days, even Grandma stayed with us.  Pockets of our town had electricity, like only one in a whole neighborhood would have electricity, while everyone else would be in the dark for days.  Fortunately, we were not trapped in our neighborhood from downed trees or power lines.  I remember storing my refrigerated items, like milk for my little boys, outside in the cold...just to be safe! Ice Storm Pictures

Ingredients:

1 stick butter softened

8 oz cream cheese softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar homemade

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

If you bake like me, in a large microwave-safe bowl, I soften the butter and the cream cheese in the microwave for about a minute.  Then, I added 2 cups of plain sugar with about a tablespoon of molasses.  ( I do this when I don't have any brown sugar made and don't feel on making any.)  Whip it all together with a mixer until nice and creamy.  Beat one egg at a time, mixing well after each egg.  Then, stir in the vanilla.  

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir well.  Then, stir in the chocolate chips.  ( I always love to taste the batter....mmmm... the cream cheese tastes sooo good!)

Drop the dough by teaspoons on the parchment paper.  Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.  12 Minutes normally works fine in my oven.

Peanut-Free Granola Bars

With a peanut ban in the classrooms at school, finding a peanut-free granola bar recipe required a little more digging than normal!  I was delighted to have found this similar recipe from The Crafting Chicks.   It is moist & chewy.  My 4 boys begged me to let them have their portion for tomorrow's lunch now!  So, I gave in & decided to just make another batch in the late night, as I didn't have enough portioned for tomorrow's lunch.  I'm able to use up the big bag of dried cranberries getting ready to expire; they don't even notice they were in the bars!  (Phew!)

Ingredients:
1 stick melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar homemade
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup chocolate chips
1/2-1 cup dried fruit raisins or cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.  Spray a 9x13 pan with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients in order & mix well.  I found that if I portion my 1/2 cup with the 1/4 cup of oil, the honey comes out much easier---not as sticky!

Spread the mixture in the 9x13 pan, pressing down evenly with a sheet wax paper.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Do not cut or serve until completely cooled; it will fall apart.

**In the picture shown, I added a full cup each of the cranberries and chocolate chips.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Too bad my kids are at school right now... they are missing out on these yummy, chewy chocolate chip granola bars.  I will either have to make another quick and easy batch before they get home or only allow them to wait until tomorrow to have these.  I am very happy that these are easy to make and using up items I already have on hand.  The recipe is adapted from The Marathon Mom.  I know my grocery budget is happy to save money by making these, instead of buying another box at the store.  I like that this recipe is very forgiving, ie. it's okay to add a little a little extra oats or cereal.  I've started to have to double this recipe.  Otherwise, I'd make it 5x/week for school lunches and me!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup butter

1 cup quick oats

1 cup Rice Krispies cereal

1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Spray an 8x8 pan with a nonstick cooking spray.  In the microwave, melt together the peanut butter, honey, and butter.  Stir until creamy.

Add oats, cereal, and chocolate chips.  Mix well.  Press into pan.  (I sprayed my utensil to keep it from sticking.)

Chill in freezer for about 10 minutes, or until firm.  Cut into bars.  Makes 12 servings.

Option:  Add any favorite fruits or nuts to mix.  Also, you can melt the chocolate before adding the cereal and oats, if you'd like.  My family prefers the chocolate chips melted.  

Chewy Granola Crisp Bars

Chewy granola bars are one of my favorites, but they are so expensive for what little you get in a box!  Growing up as a kid, I used to devour a box of the chocolate coated granola bars.  I have tried many different granola bars before, but I have not liked any of them as much as the ones with Rice Krispies.  I think the next time I make some, it will need to be a double batch.  My boys went "nuts" over these!  

The recipe is adapted from Food.com.

Ingredients:

2 cups Rice Krispies

1 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1/4 cup dried fruit (I used cranberries)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter (plain or crunchy)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup frozen chocolate chips (to maintain shape)

In a large bowl, combine cereal, oats, and dried fruit.

Spray an 8x8 pan with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a saucepan, over low to medium heat, heat the brown sugar and honey.  Remove from heat, right as it's about ready to start boiling.  Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.

 Quickly, mix together with the dry ingredients as best as possible.   Press into prepared 8x8 pan.  Let cool slightly, cut into bars, and chill.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

After searching and searching for a chewy and puffy chocolate chip cookie recipe, I finally found it today while cleaning out my emails!  I kinda gave up trying to find a recipe, as all the others I made came out flat and crispy.  It appears that my trusted recipe on the back of the chocolate chips bag is no longer listed, and I never did save a bag with the recipe on it.

So, with this new recipe, my husband did not even want to share his cookie, when he took a bite!  Prior to finding this recipe, I almost resorted having to go out and buy some vanilla pudding to put in the mix, as I don't keep that on hand in my pantry.  Needless to say, I am so excited to share Kody's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies!  The recipe is slightly modified.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar or homemade
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
6 oz mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mash well together the butter or margarine with the two sugars.  (Do not melt the butter.)  Add the egg and vanilla, beating with a mixer for 3 minutes.  It will become very stiff and reminds me of making French Silk Pie.  Next, add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  The dough will be very dry, but keep mixing well, and add the chocolate chips.

To portion my cookies, I used a ice cream scoop.  They came out very large, but maintained their shape for the most part, as they did not spread.  Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Because of the size, I was only able to do 9 on a sheet.  The recipe would've made more than 27 large cookies, if some of the batter wasn't tested by the baker in Angela's Kitchen!

The original recipe says to make for 8-10 minutes.  I ended up doing closer to 13 minutes, from the size.  Just keep a good eye on them and adjust your time accordingly.  You don't want them to be crispy, just lightly colored.