Cookie Monster cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour milk (1 Tbs. Vinegar to 1 cup of milk)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon blue food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cream cheese frosting

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ½ to 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tablespoon blue food coloring

Decorations

• White melting chocolates
• Milk chocolate chips
• Chocolate chip cookies, cut in half

Directions

For the cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.
3. In a large mixing bowl, gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with an electric mixer.
4. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
5. Fill lined cupcake tins ¾ full.
6. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes (mine took 22 minutes), testing the cakes for doneness with a toothpick.
7. Remove from oven, and cool completely before frosting.

For the cream cheese frosting

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.
2. Add the sugar, and beat, on a low speed, until incorporated.
3. Increase the speed to high, and mix until very light and fluffy.
4. Stir in food coloring.

Decorations

1. Using Wilton icing tip #2, “glue” a chocolate chip to white melting chocolates, enough for two eyes for each of your cupcakes. Refrigerate.
2. Put a base layer of icing on your cupcakes.
3. Using the Wilton icing tip #233 (grass tip) pipe short vertical movements with the icing bag on the base layer, to make the top layer to look like fur. (You can also save time and roll your frosted cupcakes into blue decorating sugar. This will give it a different look, though.)
4. Place two eyes into each frosted cupcake and half a cookie at the other end.
5. Store in the refrigerator.

Gingerbread Pancakes

When visiting Burlington, VT last fall, we ate at the very popular Penny Cluse Café, and enjoyed their gingerbread pancakes.

To me, gingerbread reminds me of Christmas, and there is nothing better than brunch on Christmas morning after opening presents and willingly hanging around in your pjs.

Whip some of these up for our holiday brunch or breakfast guests with some maple syrup and you’ll have everyone will be asking for the recipe.

It’s also pretty simple, mix the batter together and then make the pancakes. I try to stick to sand dollar sized pancakes, I think they cook more evenly and are easier to eat.

This recipe makes the perfect amount for a family of four, and you’ll have leftovers. Put the leftovers in a freezer baggie and then reheat them in the toaster oven.

Ingredients and Directions

• 1 ¾ cups flour
• 2 tsp. Baking powder
• 2 tsp. Baking soda
• 1 tsp. Ground ginger
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. Allspice
• ¼ tsp. Salt

Mix, then add:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/8 cup melted butter (2 Tbs.)
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• Stir to combine, do not over mix (a few lumps are OK).

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

I love candy cane hot chocolates. And Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses are delicious, and only available this time of year. So, what perfect way to honor the delicious holiday treat than with their very own cookie?

Be sure to refrigerate the dough so you can work with it. I found it easiest to make the cookies even by using a cookie scoop and then rolling the dough with my hands.

Enjoy these warm as you pull them out of the oven (the Kisses will be melty from the warm cookie) or with milk as a special treat.

These are perfect cookies for holiday guests or for a cookie exchange.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup cocoa
• ½ tsp. Salt
• Additional sugar for rolling
• Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses

Directions

1. Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy.
2. Combine flour, cocoa and salt.
3. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well blended.
4. Cover, refrigerate dough about 1 hour until firm enough to handle.
5. Heat oven to 350.
6. Shape dough into 1 1/8 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set.
8. Remove from oven. Place Hershey Kiss in center of each cookie and press down lightly.
9. Remove from cookie sheet and move to wire rack to cool completely.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium sweet onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 rib celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 1 12-oz. Bottle light-bodied beer
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• Sour cream, for topping
• Bacon, cooked crisp, for topping

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter.
   
2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and potatoes and sauté in utter until the vegetable begin to soften, about 4 minutes.
   
3. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and continue to stir for 2 minutes to toast the flour.
   
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
   
5. Gradually whisk in the stock, then the milk and the beer.
   
6. Bring to a boil.
   
7. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until potatoes are tender and soup is thicker, about 20 to 30 minutes.
   
8. Remove the pan from the heat and puree soup with an immersion blender until smooth.
   
9. Return soup to low heat.
   
10. Add cheese, a handful at a time, stirring until melted and smooth after each addition.
    
11. Season with salt and pepper.
    

On a cold night there is nothing better than hot soup, especially fresh soup made with love. Some of my favorites include Chicken Noodle, Potato Leek, and Loaded Potato Soup. They’re delicious and warm you from the inside out.

This recipe is pretty easy, with ingredients that can be picked up at any grocery store, well except the beer. I like that many grocery stores today have pre-cute veggies, which cut down on prep time.

We had a lot of soup left over from this recipe, but it reheated wonderfully for lunch the next day, so make a lot and spoil yourself at lunchtime!

Macaroni and Cheese

Who doesn’t love comfort food? And personally, I don’t have just one comfort food, I have many. Macaroni and cheese is one of those comfort foods. Easy Mac and Stoffer’s are good in a pinch (or when I don’t feel like cooking) but nothing but nothing beats homemade.

Mac and cheese is a great base, too. There is so much you can add to it to make it even tastier: chicken, ham, pancetta, bacon, tomatoes, the list goes on and on. You can also choose your favorite cheeses. Choose cheddar as a base and then pick one or two other cheeses to add depth of flavor to the dish.

I chose diced ham – the Berks brand makes packages of diced ham – and tomatoes. I also chose Sargentos’ Italian Blend and sharp cheddar.

This was delicious, however, it made a lot of mac and cheese, enough for a family of four to eat dinner and have leftovers!

Ingredients

• Kosher Salt
• Vegetable Oil
• 1 lb. elbow macaroni
• 1 quart milk
• 8 Tbs. Unsalted butter
• ½ cup flour
• 2 cups hard cheese, shredded (I used an Italian blend from Sargento)
• 4 cup Sharp Cheddar, shredded
• 1 ½ cups diced ham
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 small tomatoes, sliced
• 1 ½ cups Panko bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Drizzle oil into large pot of boiling salted water.
3. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain well.
4. Heat the milk and 6 Tbs. butter in a 2 qt. saucepan, but don’t boil.
5. Add the flour to the milk while whisking. Cook for a minute or two, until thickened and smooth.
6. Off the heat, add two cheeses, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir until smooth.
7. Pour cheese over cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
8. Arrange the sliced tomatoes on top.
9. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and combine the panko. Sprinkle on the top.
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on top.

Pumpkin Bread

I love the flavors of fall and my signature pumpkin bread is one of my favorite treats that definitely signifies fall to me. I seem to be making the first batch earlier and earlier every year, but it’s a staple every year at Thanksgiving for sure!

I’m a big fan of pumpkin bead as a snack, as breakfast and its sweet enough for dessert. You can even serve it with a big meal. I love it toasted with a little butter on top (yum!).

It makes a great gift for people on your gift list who aren’t “top priority” or a fall delicious treat for the office. And believe me, no one will complain.

Ingredients

• 3 cups of sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. Nutmeg
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 ¾ cups canned pumpkin
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. Baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Then add pumpkin, water flour and baking soda and mix until smooth.
4. Bake in 3 one pound bread pans for 1 hour or until done.

Candy Corn Bark

It’s Halloween and either you bought way more candy than you actually needed for trick-or-treaters, or your kids brought home more candy than they will eat themselves. Solution: start baking!

This recipe is fast and a great way to use up some of those candies from trick-or-treating (especially the ones that the kids aren’t huge fans of).

Want to just get rid of the candy? Whip some of this up and take it in to the office. Your coworkers will love it and you’ll love having the candy out of your house.

Ingredients

• 1 bag (12 oz) white chocolate chips, melted
• 1 cup miniature pretzels, roughly broken
• ¾ cup candy corn
• ½ cup raisins

Directions

1. Line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a small overhang.
2. Spread melted chocolate in the prepared pan and sprinkle with pretzels, candy corn, and raisins.
3. Using a spatula, make sure all ingredients are combined
4. Chill until firm.
5. Remove from pan and break into pieces.