Monster Cookies

I recently stumbled upon this recipe and knew I was going to have to try it!  Most of you have probably heard of Monster Cookies before. Many years ago a friend gave me a recipe for Monster Cookies that were made from scratch. They were very yummy, but they seemed a bit time consuming! 

This recipe calls for using cookie mix that comes in a pouch plus a few more ingredients. Maybe cheating just a bit, but they were yummy and a whole lot quicker!  I made the recipe exactly as it is written except for I had some Reese's Pieces on hand, so I added them too! One person who reviewed the recipe mentioned adding peanut butter chips. That sounds yummy too! 

Ingredients: 

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs

2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate candies


Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir all ingredients except candies until soft dough forms. Stir in candies.

On ungreased cookie sheets, place about 1/4 cupfuls (very large cookies!) dough about 3 inches apart.

Bake 12 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely. Store in covered container at room temperature

*(To make 36 smaller cookies, place 2 heaping tablespoonfuls dough about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes)

 

  These cookies are completey low in calorie and fat, NOT! But oh so yummy!

Better Than Anything? Cake

Here is the fourth and final recipe from this Birthday Post.


We call it  Better Than Anything Cake, but it has been called a variety of names.  You can do a google search and find hundreds of different recipes for this cake. This is a very easy cake to make and pretty yummy too, However, I am not sure it lives up to its name!


 Here is the recipe I used. You can also find it here.


Better Than Anything Cake


Ingredients:

1 German chocolate cake mix ( I used a Dark Chocolate Cake Mix)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

caramel topping

12 ounces Cool Whip

3 heath bars, crushed ( I buy a bag of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee bits that are located in the baking aisle near where they sell chocolate chips, not all stores carry these)


Directions:
Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan. Prepare cake mix as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. After 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle with chocolate chips. Continue baking until cake is done.

While cake is still hot, poke holes in it with handle of wooden spoon. Pour sweetened condensed milk over cake; let cool. Top with caramel sauce, then whipped topping. Sprinkle with candy bars.

Here is Josh with the Better Than Anything Cake. I doubled the recipe and baked in a larger pan.

Now on to prepare for Jesus' Birthday!

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake

The next recipe that I will share from this Birthday Post, is the Chocolate Mint Layer Cake. I originally made this cake back a few years ago for Josh's Birthday. The Recipe for the mint filling calls for green food coloring. I told Josh he could pick any color he wanted. Back then his favorite color was orange, so we had orange mint filling!  (A little strange I know!)

I cannot find a picture of Josh's cake, but here is Sammy's. Yellow is Sammy's favorite color, so I decorated his cake with yellow M&M's and the filling is what else .......  Yellow!  Sorry, I did not take a picture after cutting it, so you cannot see the filling. I cheated this time while making this cake, Instead of following the recipe for the cake part, I used a chocolate fudge boxed cake mix and then continued with the rest of the recipe. It turned out great!

Sammy

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake



Ingredients:


1/2 cup butter, softened

1-3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

FILLING:


1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

3 to 4 drops green food coloring, optional (or color of your choice!)



ICING:

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar



Directions:

Line two greased 9-in. round baking pans with waxed paper. Grease and flour the paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Combine milk and water. combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk mixture.

Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

For filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and extract; beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in food coloring if desired. Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with filling. top with second cake.

For icing, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chips and butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Beat in evaporated milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Frost and decorate cake. Chill 2 hours before slicing. Yield: 12 servings

I found this recipe from Taste of Home and can be found here.

 
Here is their picture:

Picture Credit

Double Chocolate Layer Cake

My first daughter, and fourth child, Rebekah, just recently turned 17! Wow! Where does the time go?

The day she was born I was on cloud nine! Finally a girl after having three boys! She wore a lot of pink and headbands. I even had her ears pierced when she was 9 months old. I did not want anyone to ever mistake her for a boy! Believe it or not, I still had an older man call her a boy!

Rebekah is now a beautiful, 17 year old, young woman, inside and out! She is very hard working. She will be a senior next year and also is in TBQ (Teen Bible Quiz) and studies very hard! Her team is going to the National Competition soon! She works at Chick-fil-A to earn money for college and maybe a car. I am so proud of all her hard work, but I am especially proud of her dedication to the Lord and living her life for Him! 

Rebekah with Anna 

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

I usually order a cake from Walmart for most of the Birthdays around here. As the children have gotten older they seem to appreciate a home made cake a bit more.  Rebekah wanted a special chocolate cake, so I found this recipe.  I decided to make a white cream filling to go in the middle instead, so there would not be too much chocolate, (if there is such a thing!).

Well, things did not go as planned! About 20 minutes into baking, Luke comes in and asks "what is that horrible smell"? Chocolate Cake Baking is not supposed to smell horrible!

One minor detail that I overlooked is that I was supposed to put the batter into two 10 inch pans and not 9 inch pans. The batter was overflowing all over the oven! It was burning on the burners. Yikes!

Well, I decided to let it keep baking and see if I could salvage anything. It seemed a bit crispy on top. I decided to put in an emergency call to Leigh, Jeremy's girlfriend. She works at the Bakery at Walmart and is an amazing cake decorator. She made a beautiful cake for Rebekah.

Rebekah and Anna being very silly!

I eventually made the icing and the cream center and put the cake together.  It was falling apart a bit, and crumbs were everywhere when I put the icing on. It was a little sorry looking, but it tasted amazing!

This is their version.

Mine

Yummo!

 I will have to try it again using the right size pans! This cake was very yummy and the Chocolate Ganache Icing is almost like eating Fudge! We really enjoyed the white cream center to break it up a bit!

Have An Awesome Weekend!

MckLinky Blog Hop ~ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Today on the McLinky blog hop we are sharing one of our favorite recipes. This recipe became one of my favorites recently. A friend shared it on Facebook and she got it from Bakerella. It originally came from Betty Crocker. It is so easy to prepare. It calls for using canned icing, but I like to make the chocolate ganache that Bakarella mentions. Be prepared for Yummy Chocolatey Goodness!





Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies


1 Box Betty Crocker Original Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

2 eggs

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® chocolate chip cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy chocolate frosting

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray, or grease with shortening. Make brownie mix as directed on box, using oil, water and 2 eggs. Spread in pan.

2. Make cookie mix as directed on pouch, using butter and 1 egg. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter; press down lightly.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes. Frost with frosting. For brownies, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows.


Chocolate Ganache

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

6 Tbsp butter

In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage.

Pour over the chocolate morsels.

Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth.

Pour over brownies and let set before cutting.