Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
Makes approx. 3-4 dozen. Recipe from Love and Olive Oil.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 oz dark chocolate candy coating
Directions:
Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
When dough is firm enough to handle, form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.
Melt chocolate candy coating in microwave according to package directions. Using toothpicks as a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Source: very slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction
(get the printable recipe here)
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup chocolate chips
Cheesecake Filling:
10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper or foil allowing a little overhang and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove pan to a cooling rack. Leave your oven on while you prepare the dough.
3. While the crust is cooling, prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Mix in the flour on low speed, and mix until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust. Using your hand to form clumps, distribute the cookie dough onto the top of the cheesecake batter in teaspoon-sized clumps. Be sure to use all of the dough.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top feels dry and firm (the cookie dough) and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake. Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Chill in refrigerator overnight or for at least a couple hours.
6. Lift the bars out by the overhang and cut into squares for serving.
Apple Nacho Recipe:
Benihana Style Chicken Fried Rice
Recipe via Food.com:
Ingredients: (Serves 2)
2 ounces cooked chicken
8 ounces steamed rice
2 eggs
2 tablespoons onion, chopped
2 tablespoons carrot, chopped
2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons green peas
1 teaspoon sesame seed
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon oil (use for cooking veggies)
2 teaspoons soy sauce (or more to taste)
6 pinches pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
Sesame seeds
Salt to taste
Directions:
- Scramble eggs and chop after cooking.
- Saute chopped onion, green onion, seasoning and carrots in the oil until done and mix with chopped scrambled egg and chicken.
- Break off chunks of steamed rice and mix with vegetable, egg and chicken.
- Add sesame seed, minced garlic, ginger, salt and pepper, stirring well.
- Add butter and soy sauce into the mixture, stirring well until done.
Hot Caprese Dip
serves 2-4
10 ounces fresh mozzarella, chopped into cubes
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and juiced
3 tablespoons freshly chopped basil (or about 1 tablespoon dried) + more for garnish
Preheat oven to 375.
Make sure tomatoes have as much juiced squeezed out of them as possible – this will prevent the dip from becoming soupy. In a small baking dish, combine chopped cheese, tomatoes and basil and mix. Bake for 15 minutes, then broil for 2 minutes so cheese becomes bubbly and golden. Serve immediately with crackers or melba toasts.
Note: dip may appear “watery” which is why it is VERY important to get as much moisture out of the tomatoes as possible. Also make sure dip is consumed immediately, as the longer it sits, the more juice that develops. Don’t worry if there is a little bit of juice – it is still delicious!Italian Chicken Soup
1 box Ditalini pasta {I used the Barilla brand} small tubes
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 chicken breasts
8 cups chicken broth {this equals out to two big boxes of chicken broth}
1 medium onion, diced
2 green peppers, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 fresh jalapenos, diced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 can {28. oz} whole tomatoes, diced
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup olive oil
4 tbsp. minced fresh oregano
salt & pepper, to taste
Parmesan Cheese shavings, as desired
Now that we've got that outta the way, you'll definitely need to be prepared for this one. There's a lot of "setting aside" goin' on in this recipe, so you'll need to be ready for that. And make sure all your dishes/pots/pans are cleaned and ready to be used because you'll be using several for this one.
First up, cook your pasta according to package directions. I used the whole box of Ditalini, just incase you're wondering. Drain pasta, rinse, and return to pot. Toss in 1 tbsp. of olive oil and mix well. Set this aside.
Now let's go ahead and cook your chicken. The Pioneer Woman used a whole fryer chicken for her recipe, but all I had handy was 4 chicken breasts. Obviously, I used what was available...and cheapest!...for this one. You'll wanna boil your chicken in 8 cups of chicken broth, so make sure you have a pot/pan big enough for all the juiciness. Bring the chicken to a boil and then let it simmer {covered} for about 30 minutes. Now, go 'head and turn off the heat and let it sit there...in all it's wonderful juiciness...covered...for another 30 minutes. Then remove the chicken from the broth and shred. Make sure to set aside the broth because you'll need that for the soup.
Now let's get to dicin', shall we?!
Chop up your bell peppers, jalapenos, celery, and onion. Ohmiword. That's a seriously salivating sight.
While you're choppin', open up those tomatoes and dice those up, too. At this point in the game, you're probably all, "Seriously?! Chopping a can of whole tomatoes?! I'm skippin' that step and buying the can of diced tomatoes next time." Ummmm...yeah, I was totally thinking that, too. But after reading a little bit more about the difference between diced and whole, it sounds like the whole tomatoes are MUCH more flavorful than the diced tomatoes, so don't take the shortcut. Unless you like flavorless tomatoes. Then go right ahead. Once your tomatoes are nice and chopped, return them to their can with all their juices. Set it aside.
Now it's time to chop up the oregano. I didn't have 4 tablespoons worth of fresh oregano, so I improvised and added a mixture of both dried and fresh. Saute this in a little pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. YUM.MO. For real.
You won't wanna saute for too long, just give it enough time to start makin' your house smell somethin' fantastic.
Saute the peppers, onion, celery, and jalapenos in a tablespoon of olive oil until tender {about 10ish minutes}.
Now add the broth, chicken, and tomates {with all the tomato juice} to the pan. Bring to a boil and the reduce the heat to simmer.
My pan wasn't big enough to add the pasta, SO I turned off the heat and added the broth mixture to the pasta {in the pasta pot}. Then add the heavy cream and oregano and stir until well combined. {You won’t need the heat for that part, even if you’re adding the pasta to the same pot!}
Brown the meat, & drain
And boil noodles until soft. Drain.
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom
3} half of the meat
Mexicorn Dip
- 2 cans (11 Oz. Can) Mexicorn, Drained
- 1 can (4 Oz. Can) Chopped Green Chiles
- 1 whole Bell Pepper, Chopped
- 3 whole Green Onions, Chopped
- 2 whole Jalapenos, Chopped (without Seeds)
- 8 ounces, weight Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
