Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Do you remember when your were a kid on those hot summer days playing outside with your friends? Running around, jumping on the tramp, riding your bike from friends home to friends home. Oh, how I loved those summer days and man do I miss them. The best part of those hot days was running to the freezer and grabbing a popsicle. One of my favorites--Orange Creamsicles! When I found this recipe, I couldn't wait to try it. And let me tell you...AMAZING! 

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest 
2 cups white chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and white chocolate chips.
Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. (Try 8 minutes first-you don't want to over bake so they will stay soft and chewy!) Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

When Bubba and I were living with his sweet grandparents, Grandma Sweetie Pie made this cake for his birthday. It is to die for! If you like bananas and chocolate, you will love this!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
Recipe adapted from the World Wide Ward Cookbook.

Cake:
1 1/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tbs. sour cream
1 1/2 C. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. bananas, mashed

Topping:
1/4 C. packed brown sugar
1/8 C. granulated sugar
1 tbs. cinnamon
1 C. chocolate chips
1 C. nuts, chopped (optional)

Line an angel food cake pan with waxed paper and grease well. (I didn't use the wax paper, but greased the pan well and it cam out just fine.) Cream the sugar, butter and eggs. Combine baking soda and sour cream; stir into butter and sugar mixture. Add flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well. Stir in vanilla and bananas. Pour half of the batter into pan. Combine Topping ingredients. Sprinkle half of the topping over the batter in pan. Pour remaining batter into the pan and sprinkle with remaining topping. Bake at 325F for 45-60 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick comes out clean. Cool before removing from pan.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a great recipe for those bananas that start to over ripen. They are always a hit in my home!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the World Wide Ward Cookbook.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Combine all of the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients. Mix well with mixer. Spoon cookie dough onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

*The dough is a littler more sticky/runny than most cookie doughs.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I thought this would be a fun post after the last one since it is its opposite. I made these for my Sunday School class this week and they were definitely a hit! I loved them...I couldn't stop eating them. If you love peanut butter and chocolate, you will love these cookies.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Adapted from Gourmet.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cups (10 oz. bag) peanut butter chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (about 8 oz.)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Into a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy and beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Beat in flour mixture until just combined and stir in chips.

Drop dough by tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto un-greased baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven until cookies are just set and begin to crack on top, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute and with a spatula transfer to racks to cool completely.

*I only baked my cookies for 10 minutes and they turned out gooey and chewy, just the way I like them.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

Chocolate and peanut butter! How could you go wrong!? I found this recipe and thought that it looked interesting because it calls for honey. Other than jam (and chocolate, of course), honey is the best with peanut butter!! It reminds me of those peanut butter and honey sandwiches my mom used to make me when I was little. These are great cookies. Give them a try!

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks
Adapted from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup old-fashioned chunky peanut butter (about 9 0z.)
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used chocolate chips)

Directions:

Mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir dry ingredients into peanut butter in two additions. Stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. With hands, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough for each cookie into 1 3/4 inch-diameter ball. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes . Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.

*I just used a cookie scoop and it worked just fine.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

These cookies are always a hit. I made them for the Super Bowl this year and everybody loved them. They can be a little time consuming, but they are definitely worth it!!

Oreo Cookies

Mix together:
2 packages Devil Food Cake mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup flour

Mix together and roll into balls. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix together:
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 lb. powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
2 tsp. vanilla

Double Chocolate Layer Cake

I know that it has happened to you...it happens to us all. We sometimes have this craving for chocolate and when we do, we have to have it! This happened to me not too long ago and this yummy cake is a result of my chocolate cravings! I new that if I made it for just myself and Bubba, we would eat it all...So we had a bunch of friends over to share it with. This is a big cake so make sure to invite lots of friends! The recipe is delicious and moist. The coffee in it really brings out the chocolate flavor!

Double Chocolate Layer Cake
Adapted from Gourmet.

Ingredients:
3 oz. fine quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cup hot brewed coffee
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup well shaken buttermilk
3/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 300F and grease 3 9-inch cake pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon color (about 3 min with standing mixer or 5 min with a hand mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and melted chocolate mixture into eggs, beating until well combined. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely.

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

4 tbs cocoa powder

4 tbs heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

In a work bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter. Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together and gradually add to the butter, beating well after each addition. Add the cream and vanilla and beat until well blended and fluffy.

Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides.