UNBELIEVABLE dessert - chocolate chip cookie dough brownies

Yield: 32 brownies

Prep Time: 30 min + cooling time

Cook Time: 25 min

These brownies are a major treat for cookie dough lovers... figuring out what wine to pair this one with... for when MAMA REALLY NEEDS A TREAT!!!

ingredients:

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
1/2 cup semisweet chips + 1 teaspoon shortening for drizzle, optional

directions:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Spread cookie dough over the cooled brownies. Refrigerate until the dough is quite firm. It's okay to speed up the process and place it in the freezer too. The firmer the dough, the easier it will be to cut into neat squares. Use a sharp knife to cut the brownies. You may need to wipe the knife off with a paper towel in between cuts since the fudgy brownies and cookie dough will tend to stick to the knife a bit. These brownies are best to serve placed inside cupcake papers and served with a fork.

4. If you'd like to add chocolate drizzle on top, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of shortening in the microwave; stir until smooth. Scoop the melted chocolate into a zip baggie and snip off the corner. Squeeze the bag to drizzle the chocolate on top of each brownie. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top, if desired.

Source: RecipeGirl.com

Honey Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

oven at 350

1/2 stick of butter
1/3 cup white sugar

cream

1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

mix

in a separate bowl combine

1 cup oats
1 cup flour (I use half regular half whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (maybe more if you think you need it)

Add to butter, sugar, egg, honey, vanilla mixture and mix until combined.

3/4 cup golden raisins (or whatever dried fruit you have on hand that sounds good)

Mix to combine

Distribute in walnut sized scoops on cookie sheets. Flatten them just a little.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Let them cool on the pans for about 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool.

Homemade "ice cream" in 30 minutes flat

How to manage the perpetual request for sugary treats... every mother's constant struggle - right? Well mine at least. In a fit of creative inspiration, I concocted this "ice cream" recipe that I can feel good about serving as an afternoon snack. Its a great recipe for the kids to participate in too.

2 bananas
2 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

Mash bananas and mix in remaining ingredients. Pour into ice cream maker and wait to freeze (about 20 minutes depending on your ice cream maker). Serve. Smile when they say "I Love Ice Cream" knowing that its good for them too. I guess if you don't want to keep plain yogurt on hand (I do because I love it with trader joes lemon curd and frozen blueberries) you can sub the yogurt, honey and vanilla for vanilla yogurt. Also, I used whole milk yogurt which I'm sure helps the creaminess of it.

In honor of Danielle Thorne's new title: Turtle Soup -- debuting with Awe-Struck E-books in the Fall 2009 list:

I give you:

Turtle Soup's Cherry Whip

1 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 large 16-ounce container of whipped topping

Drain the pineapple.

In a large bowl mix the pineapple, cherry pie filling, and sweetened condensed milk.

Gently stir in the whipped topping until blended and smooth. Cover.

Chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours or overnight before serving.

Apple Crisp

Here's one that I love and plan for making for the kiddos tonight for dessert:

Slice up one to two apples per person - thin or thick, your preference
juice from 1/2 lemon - fresh from your lemon tree (note - if you don't have one, you need one).

Dump sliced apples into casserole dish. Squeeze lemon over top - no seeds, mind you!

In a separate bowl, create mixture of:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 tbs flour
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 1 tbs sugar
  

Cut butter into brown sugar, flour, cinn. and sugar until a crumbly mixture.

Dump over top of apples. Pat down until even.

Cut thin pats of butter to place around top of the mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, using sauce as topping.

Enjoy!

Gnocchi and Pie

Tonight's special request was pie. Berry Pie to be specific. Its super easy, but still, I had 45 minutes to get dinner ready and two toddlers who wanted to help. So I opted for Trader Joes Gorgonzola Gnocchi that takes just 7 minutes to make. Of course, I had to embellish.

Gorgonzola Gnocchi with Spinach and Crimini Mushrooms
One bag Trader Joes Gorgonzola Gnocchi
One package of Brown Crimini Mushrooms washed and cut in half
Half a bag of baby spinach

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil - they can be chopped up more than in half if you prefer but I was holding a baby at the time so in half was a good as it was going to get. When they are cooked, add the package of Gorgonzola Gnocchi. I didn't bother adding the tablespoon of oil that they said to add because I figured that between the moisture from the mushrooms and the oil I had already put it, we were clear. Once the gnocchi looks finished (all of the clumps of frozen cream sauce are melted) add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Takes about 15 minutes.

Three Berry Pie (or Google Berry Pie in honor of Noddy)
1 package of frozen pie crust from Trader Joes
1 1/2 packages of Very Berry frozen berry mix from Trader Joes
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch

Defrost the pie crust (be sure to take them out of the box) and the berries for about a half an hour. Or if you're not that together, stick the pie crust on top of the stove while you preheat the oven to 375 and defrost the berries for 2 minutes on 6 in the microwave. This plan works well for me. Combine the berries, sugar and corn starch. Line the bottom of your pie plate with one of the pieces of the pie crust. Fill with berry mixture. Cover with other pie crust, crimp and poke. This is a fun one to do with a three year old but a one year old really can't manage to do more than make a terrible mess and fall off the stool. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 50 minutes with the edges covered with foil or until it looks bubbly.