The secret ingredient is........

My awesome sister gifted me with the most amazing gift this past week. A KITCHENAID STANDING MIXER!! We named her Betty. She’s pretty nifty. Anywho, after getting Betty, I knew I had to speed up this search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie so that I could get my bake on! After hours of scouring blogs, recipe indexes, and of course, Pinterest, I found Kelsey over at KelseysAppleADay. She adds a secret key ingredient to making these cookies the chewiest, fluffiest, most amazing cookies. EVER.  

(World, meet Betty!)

(Even Batman wanted to get at them!)

Ingredients: 

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened 

3/4 c. brown sugar 

1/4 c. granulated sugar 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 c. all purpose flour 

2 tsp. cornstarch (*THE SECRET INGREDIENT!!!)

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3.  Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4.  Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.  (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5.  Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.  Makes approximately 3 dozen, or 12 massively huge cookies. 

Eat one (three or four) warm with a glass of iced cold milk!

-N.

Neiman Marcus Bars

Neiman Marcus does clothes, shoes, accessories etc like no one does. Now they’re even taking over the bakery world?! These are Neiman Marcus bars and they. are. AMAZING. They're very rich& chewy & decadent, almost like a kicked up brownie. It has a vanilla cake bottom, and a sweet crunchy creamy cheese topping. 

Ingredients

1 box Betty Crocker yellow cake mix

1 stick butter, melted

3 eggs

1 block Philadelphia cream cheese

4 C powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheated oven to 325 °  

Beat 1 egg, butter, cake mix

Pat into a 9x13 dish

Mix soft cream cheese and 2 eggs

Stir in powdered sugar

Spread over cake mix

Bake for about 45 minutes until done

*It may still jiggle a little right in the middle, it will continue to cook a little after you remove it from the oven. You don't want the edges to get overdone.

You have to have a glass of milk with these. Or try them hot with a scoop of ice cream. Or if you’re like my sister & I, have one with milk, then go back & have the second with icecream! 

-N.

Love via hand pies

Well it’s that time of the quarter again…preparations for final examinations have commence. Which in the wonderful World of Me means my oven is working on overtime!

I love pies. Cupcake pies. Mason jar pies. Hand pies. I love them all! There’s something that’s so comforting about the smell of a pie baking in your oven while you frantically find a way to cram an entire quarter’s worth of information into your already fried brain. 

Today on the menu are mini cherry heart hand pies! They’re perfectly proportion and just so ooey gooey yummy! 

Ingredients:
1 pkg Pillsbury ready made pie crust
1 can cheery pie filling
1/8 tablespoon almond extract
½ T butter (melted)
1 T cinnamon sugar
Heart shaped cookie cutter (you’ll need a good sized one to be able to contain the filling)

Instructions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Unroll pie crust and cut it using a heart-shaped cookie cutter or any desired shape. (If you have extra, like I did, stamp out some smaller hearts & use it to dip into the leftover pie filling!)
-Place a bottom shape on a silicone-mat, and top it with a heaping tablespoon of the cherry pie filling, making sure to leave room around the edges for sealing.
-Lay another heart on top, and use a fork to crimp the pies shut on all sides.
-Brush each cherry hand pie with the melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
-Bake at 400-degrees for approximately 18 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.

Enjoy & revel in the fact that while you’re enjoying these delicious hand pies, I’m having a meltdown, freaking out about finals! 

-N.