Gloomy day

It was a bit overcast today.

Still hot and humid, but not quite

as blazing hot as it has been.

 Made cookies - super easy

 and very few ingredients.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 pkg. devils food cake mix

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

~

Preheat oven to 375

Put all ingredients in your mixer

and combine.

*I added about a cup of choc. chips too.

Shape into 2 inch balls, roll in granulated

sugar and flatten ea. ball with a fork in

a criss-cross pattern.

Bake 7-9 min. or until edges are set.

Allow cookies to cool on a

wire rack.

Makes approx. 3 doz.

~



After school

 Mixed up a batch of

Monster Cookies

for an after the

1st day of school snack

 such colorful dough

 YUM!

Overall I think it was a

great first day of school.

MONSTER COOKIES
1 1/2 cups creamy or chunky peanut butter
(I used chunky)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
8 T. unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
3 lrg. eggs
1 T. vanilla
4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&M's

 ~

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheets

with parchment,or nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, or mixer, combine peanut butter

sugars and butter. Mix well. Add eggs and vanilla.

Mix together the oats and baking soda, then

add to peanut butter mixture. 

Stir in M&M's and choc. chips.

Drop the cookies by heaping spoonfuls onto

your cookie sheets.

Bake 10-12 min. Do not overbake.

Cool for 5 min. on cookie sheets until

cookies are set. Transfer to wire racks to

cool completely.

Then.....

enjoy like a COOKIE MONSTER!

~

Saturday afternoon treat

{Homemade Oreos}

1 Devils Food Chocolate Cake mix

2 Eggs

1/2 cup oil

Mix it all up and shape into balls.
Slightly flatten the balls with your hand or
the bottom of a glass.
Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.
Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes before removing
to cool on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1-4oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. butter (1/2 a stick), softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 c. powdered sugar

Mix it all together until nice and
fluffy and creamy.
Put it into a plastic bag and snip the end off.
Pipe a large "blob" onto a cooled cookie.
Place another cooled cookie on top
and gently squish it.

Lemony goodness

Mixed up a batch of Barefoot Contessa

Lemon Bars.

Lemon Bars

For the Crust:

1/2 lb. unsalted butter at room temp.

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

For the filling:

6 large eggs at room temp.

3 cups granulated sugar (ugh)

2 Tbl. grated lemon zest

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup all purpose flour

Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until

light, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with

the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and

salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter

until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured

board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough and press

into a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish, building up about a

1/2 inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 min., until very lightly browned.

Let cool on a wire rack. Leave oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest,

lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to

35 min., until the filling is set. Let cool to room temp.

Cut into triangles or squares and dust with powdered sugar.

*

Warning: Try not to eat too many,

they may be a bit fattening...!