Cream Cheese Filled Snickerdoodles

Yeah, they are as good as you think they will be. Delicious!! A friend on Facebook posted the link to these cookies-

http://cookiesandcups.com/cream-cheese-filled-snickerdoodles/

I saw the recipe and knew I had to make them!! There is A LOT of prep, but the final product is worth it.

These are the instructions with my small variations. You can see the whole ingredient list and all the pretty cookie pictures at her website.

1.Make the cream cheese filling by mixing the cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp vanilla. I used my hand mixer for this. (I didn't use a mixer, just a fork)
2.Cover the cream cheese mixture and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3.Preheat oven to 400°
4.Cream butter and 1 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy.
5.Add eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix until combined.
6.On low speed mix in your flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set dough to the side.
7.In a small bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon, set that aside as well.
8.Remove the cream cheese mixture from the refrigerator.
I did steps 9 and 10 a little differently. I made the first ball with these instructions, but then I changed it up slightly. For each cookie, I made a ball of dough, then smushed the middle down to make a disk shape. Then I put a small amount of the cream cheese mixture in the middle, and closed up the ball, sealing the edges.
9.For each cookie you will need 2 flattened balls of dough, 1 Tbsp each. (The flattened disk will be approx 2″ in diameter)
10.Place 1 tsp of the cream cheese mixture on top of one of the flattened dough disks. Then place the other flattened dough on top of the cream cheese. Pinch the edges together to seal.

11.Carefully form into a ball and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on a plate as you finish making each and refrigerate. Before baking the cookies they should chill for 15 minutes.
12.When the dough is chilled bake on a parchment lined baking sheet 2″ apart for 8 minutes.
13.Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Biscuits Gone BIG Time!

I woke up this morning thinking about scones. My mom used to make them for me. The recipe we use was initially a cranberry-orange scone. But we use the base for our alterations. SUPER easy!! But you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty. :)

Scones

Combine:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange rind

Cut in one stick of butter (1/2 cup). You can use a pastry cutter if you have one, and can find it in your messy kitchen. If you dont, or cant find it, the easiest thing to do it use your fingers. Break up the butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly.

Add 2/3 cup milk or buttermilk. I dont care for buttermilk, and never have it in my house. Milk works just fine.

Add 1 cup dried cranberries.

Stir until just moistened. Dont work it too much.

If you want the wedge shaped schones, turn out onto a floured surface, knead a couple times so it all stays together and pat into an 8 inch disk. Cut into the traditional wedges. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, about an inch apart.

If you dont want to do all that, not really that hard, but slightly messy, just scoop the batter out with a spoon and place on a lightly greased baking sheet, about an inch apart.

Brush with milk and then sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake at 425 degree for 15 minutes, or until the tops are as golden as you like them.

Alterations, today I didnt have an orange, so I just left that out of my cranberry scones. And then I made lemon poppy seed scones. Omit the cranberrys, of course. Add the zest of one lemon and the juice of half of that lemon to the mix. The other half of the lemon can be used to brush the tops of the unbaked scones. I also added a pinch of poppyseeds. Not too many, just enough to know they are there. If you want the scone SUPER lemony, you can always add more lemon juice.

You can add anything to this basic recipe, chocolate chips, nuts, any dried fruit, apricots are very good, let your mind wonder!

Tortilla Soup

I made Tortilla soup today. First attempt at any sort of tortilla soup and I must say this recipe is easy and quick. My friend Ashley referred it to me. This is also the first time I have ever tried blue corn chips. I thought they would taste different, but they don't. Joe apparently isn't a fan of many soups and doesn't like the idea of mushy chips in soup. But even without the chips, it would make a very nice chicken soup. I have seen many recipes for tortilla soup, but they have all been a lighter color. This one got my attention because of the spicier components.

For the link to the recipe click HERE.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 cup diced red onion
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast I used a store bought rotisserie chicken (because I'm lazy), I just broke it apart with my hands.
4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
3/4 cup tomato puree (I only used one 6oz can)
1 tablespoon enchilada sauce mix (recommended: Lawry's)
1 avocado, pit removed, flesh chopped
1 cup shredded Mexican-cheese blend
3/4 cup crushed baked blue corn chips
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves I HATE cilantro!!!!

Directions
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat, add oil and saute the onions. Then add the fully cooked chicken.

Add the chicken stock to the pan and stir in garlic, chiles, tomato puree and enchilada sauce mix. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Put some of the chopped avocado in the bottom of each bowl and ladle the soup on top; stir to combine. Top with cheese, crushed chips and sour cream.

Potato & Spinach Soup with Gouda

By popular demand, this is the recipe for the soup I made today. I think it smells and tastes a lot like my dad's Vichychoisse, a French leek and potato soup. But it was much easier to make.

Combine in crock pot:
6 cups of Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 (14oz) cans of chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 small red onion, finely chopped
5 ounces of baby spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Cook on low for 10 hours, or until potatoes are tender. On high it took about 6 hours.

Slightly mash the potatoes in the crock pot.
Add:
2 cups of shredded Gouda cheese
1 (12oz) can of evaporated milk

Cook on high for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

The recipe now says to thinly slice a clove of garlic and cook the slices in oil on the stove until they are golden brown and then put the slices of garlic in the bowl while you spoon out the soup. But that's not what I did, basically because I'm lazy. I just added a teaspoon of minced garlic (out of a jar) to the crock pot while it was cooking.

And of course for garnish and because I love Gouda cheese, sprinkle some more cheese over the bowl of soup.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.


And if you have a bread maker, I would suggest making some garlic rosemary bread for dipping. Basically it's just a normal box of bread mix with some garlic powder and some rosemary that I've crushed up in my hand. Joe calls it Macaroni Grill bread, since they both have rosemary in them and we dont get out much.


From a Rival Crock Pot Simple 1-2-3 Recipe book.