Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies

I love Peanut Butter Cookies and I love Butterfinger candy Bars, so when you combine the two... it's pure perfection!

Mix Dry ingredients

Cream together wet ingredients....

Time for the Butterfingers!

Use all 8 bars... notice the bite outta one... wonder how that happened?

chop them up and add them to the batter

Refrigerate for 2 hours.... (I did overnight)... in the morning I brought to room temp and baked....oh so rich and good.... milk needed!

Peanut Butter Butterfinger cookies

  Source: Adapted from The Busty Baker, originally from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz Makes: About 30 Cookies Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 10 fun size butterfinger bars, chopped

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugars, and peanut butter just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix just until the dough comes together. Add in the butterfinger and mix together.
3. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. Remove the dough from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
4. With racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, preheat to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
5. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon place cookie dough on prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Using the back tines of a fork, make a crosshatch pattern on each cookie, flattening it slightly.
6. Bake, rotating sheets halfway, until cookies begin to brown at the edges but centers still look slightly uncooked, 9 to 10 minutes. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fried Crispy Onion Chicken

dip chicken in egg...

crunch up French's fried onion straws and flour...

roll chicken in onion ...

Lay chicken in pan and bake at 400 for 35 minutes...

DELICIOUS... honestly some of the juiciest baked chicken I have had in sooo long!

Fried Crispy Onion Chicken

1 can of French's Fried Onions

2 tbsp flour

1 egg

4 chicken breasts

Crust onions and flour together in a bag.  Dip chicken in beaten egg and then cover in fried onions.  Bake in pan 400 degree oven for 35 minutes of until chicken is cooked.

Candy Bar Brownies

I realize I'm not that creative, I just thought this sounded good and our neighbor is about to have a baby and I wanted something sweet to drop off.... so I went with what I thought sounded delicious, I mean, how can you go wrong when you stuff candy bars in brownies?

Mix batter together according to the package instructions...

pour batter in pan and put in bite sized candy bars of your choice. I used: milky way, snickers, dark milky way and 3 musketeers. Bake according to box instructions.

When done the candies sink into the brownies, no problem... the taste is all there! 

I chose to pour Caramel sauce over my brownies... it made them better...

Candy Bar Brownies

1 box of brownies

16  mini candy bars ( the bites) of your choice

Caramel sauce for topping if you choose

Directions:

Mix up brownies according to box instructions, pour in greased pan and drop in candy bars.  Bake according to instructions.  Let cool and then top with caramel sauce.  Cut into bars so that one piece of candy is in each bar.  Serve... to a crowd of happy people!

BBQ Pulled Pork

Put the onions and garlic in the bottom of the crock pot...

Put Pork on top... pour 1 bottle and 1/2 on the Pork...Put lid on and let simmer for 8 hours...

pulled pork after shredded, it shredded easily...

Classic Southern dish, yum yum... I love making this to eat off of for weeks! Usually we eat it on buns, but I forgot them, so just pretend.

BBQ Pulled Pork

• 1 large pork shoulder or butt (bone in)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 bottles of your favorite bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Original)

In a heavy stock pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Trim off some of the visible fat, but not all. Lightly brown all non-fat sides of the meat in the heated oil.

Place onions, garlic and water in the bottom of crockpot. Transfer browned pork to crockpot and place on top of onions and garlic. Cover pork and onions with bbq sauce. Cover crockpot and cook for 8 hours on low.

When finished cooking, remove pork from crockpot and shred with two forks. Combine shredded pork with remaining bbq and onion mixture. Serve alone, on hamburger buns or on hard sandwich rolls.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 8 hours

Serves: 6-8

Spicy Romano Chicken & Bowtie Pasta

Spicy Romano Chicken

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

2 T Butter, Melted

2 Chicken Breast, 8 Ounce

3 cups Mushrooms, Sliced

1 Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes

Salt and Pepper

1 cup Green Onions, Sliced

1 jar Artichokes, in water, roughly chopped

2 cups Heavy Cream

1/2 cup Romano Cheese, Grated

Cayenne Pepper

Bowtie pasta, 16.oz

Directions:

Grilled chicken breasts until done.  Cool and slice into ¼ inch thick strips.

Add butter to a large sauté pan at medium heat.  Once butter is heated, add sliced chicken, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions and salt and pepper.  Sauté until mushrooms are cooked.  Add heavy cream, Romano cheese and cayenne pepper, to taste.  Let cream reduce by 50% while thoroughly combining all ingredients.

Cook bowtie pasta according to package directions.  Drain excess water and then toss pasta with contents of sauté pan.  Plate and enjoy!

Daniel LOVED this, he said it was a keeper! Sorry I don't have a lot of pictures of it, but I didn't make it, it was made at my cooking party.  Very, very delicious!

Homemade Kit-Kat Bars

Bring filling to a boil...

lay Kebler Club crackers on the bottom, then layer filling on top of these, then another layer of Club Crackers... then topping..

Top with Chocolate topping mixture and cut into squares...store in fridge..

Kit-Kat Bars

First:

Line a 13x9 pan with Keebler Club Crackers

In a saucepan make filling:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Boil for 5 minutes

In microwave melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 3/4 cup peanut butter.

Pour half of filling over the crackers. Add another layer of crackers and then pour remaining filling. Add another layer of crackers. Spread chocolate mixture on top. Chill, cut and serve.

Easy Cheesy Bread Sticks

Easy Bread Sticks... Yum, We made these at my cooking party!  They turned out delicious!

Before they were cooked...

After and ready to serve

Easy Cheesy Bread Sticks

 

1 tube Grands biscuits (Flaky Layers work best)

6 pieces of string cheese

1 cup Kraft Zesty Italian dressing

1-2 cups powdery Parmesan cheese

Marinara

*

Remove the biscuits from the tube, then split them in half to make 12. Cut each string cheese in half. Place the string cheese in the center of the biscuit. Then fold the dough up and over the string cheese, enclosing the cheese in the dough. Roll in the Italian dressing, then roll in Parmesan cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately with warm marinara sauce.

Taco Salad & Tortilla Bowls

Making tortilla bowls.... place in oven over small oven safe dishes.  Spray tortilla with Pam cooking spray....

Let cool before filling with salad!

Brown some meat, add some taco seasoning...or make your own taco seasoning in recipe to follow..

Cut up lettuce, tomatoes, onions....

Fill bowl with ingredients, I topped with cheese and sour cream...

Taco Salad & Tortilla Bowls

I've never baked the tortillas into a bowl shape before, but it was pretty simple and fun. I  took 2 small bowls that could go into the oven face down on a cookie sheet, sprayed both sides of the tortilla with cooking spray, laid the tortillas over the bowls and baked for 10 minutes at 450.

I browned some ground beef and seasoned it with the following taco seasoning:
1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

14 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

I added black beans, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, cheese, onions & tomatoes to the salad... yum... get creative add whatever you like!

Asian Pork & Noodle Skillet

For the record, this was made at a Pampered Chef party, so I "helped" cook it, but I didn't do all the work.

Trim the fat and silver skin from the pork tenderloins and slice lengthwise into four strips....

Then slice meat into cubes...

Slice up Red Pepper...

Julienne the carrots and slice up the green onion...

combine pork, sesame oil, seasoning mix from ramen noodles packs and some type of Asian seasoning (I used Pampered Chef)

add in noodles & veggies

Asian Pork & Noodle Skillet

Ingredients:

2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb each)

2 medium carrots, peeled

1 medium red bell pepper

5-6 green onions with tops (about 1 1/4 cup sliced) divided

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons Asian Seasoning mix

4 packages (3oz each) oriental-flavor ramen noodles

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 cups of water

Directions:

cut carrots into julienne strips.  Cut bell pepper lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips, slice green onions set aside tops for garnish.

Trim fat and silver skin from pork tenderloins.  Slice pork lengthwise into 4 strips.  thinly slice strips crosswise.  Combine pork, sesame oil, seasoning mix and two of the ramen seasoning packets in a bowl.

Add vegetable oil to skillet, heat over medium heat 1-3 minutes or until simmering.  Add half of the pork.  cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until browned; remove pork from skillet and keep warm.  Repeat with remaining pork. 

Add Carrots and bell pepper to skillet.  Cook 1-2 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Add water and remaining ramen seasoning packets; stir to loosen browned bits from bottom of skillet.  Add ramen noodles and white parts of the green onions to skillet.  Cover; bring to a boil and cook 4-5 minutes or until noodles are softened.  Add pork; stir to break apart noodles.  Remove Skillet from heat; let stand, covered, 3-4 minutes or until pork is heated through.  Garnish with reserved green onion tops. 

Yield: 6 servings

Oatmeal Coconut Chewies

mix wet ingredients

I toasted my coconut and added it in

Oatmeal Coconut Chewies
Printable Version with Picture
Printable Version

*Note: A couple of the times I’ve made these, I have substituted white wheat flour for the all-purpose and they turned out delicious!

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to cool room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut (I toasted the coconut)
1 cup quick oats

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream together the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or lined (silpat or parchment) baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are set but not overly browned (bake a few minutes longer for a crispier version).