Melting Chocolate

 After 2 hours of fighting to melt chocolate and butterscotch chips in a double boiler--

FAIL

After 5 minutes of melting chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave...

WIN

How to WIN
Heat on 50% power at 30 second intervals, stirring after each heating interval, until melted.
It may appear a bit "lumpy," and not completely melted, just stir for awhile and those little bits will melt, too.

Pumpkin Cookies

I made these last week and they were a hit!  I've had some people ask for the recipe, so I figured I'd post it here.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil* (I used olive oil.)
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)* I didn't use these-- I don't like nuts in my cookies.

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. 
3. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir into the pumpkin mixture.
4. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

5. Add vanilla and chocolate chips (and nuts if you use those, too).
6. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

They are very cake-like and will stay soft and chewy, even if left out overnight. My favorite kind of cookie! A friend of mine suggested that you could also leave out the chocolate chips and then ice them with cream cheese frosting-- I'm going to have to try this because that sounds delicious, also!


Thanks, Daylin, for sharing the recipe with me!

   

Yummiest Cookies Ever!

at least according to me. 

(picture to come after i bake some this week, so i don't have to steal a photo from someone else on the internet)

1 box duncan hines red velvet cake mix
3 large eggs
1-2 TBSP oil

mix above ingredients
add chocolate chips of your choice (i like to use a little bit of dark choc/mint chips and white choc. chips, but plain old milk/semi-sweet chips work great, too)

bake at approx. 350 degrees for roughly 8 minutes (give or take depending on the oven). cookies should be fluffy, but will flatten and become chewy as they cool off.