I've been craving peanut butter cookies for a year. Yes a year. I know they aren't exotic or hard to find, but it's taken me this long to get some of my very own. All for MEEEEEE. (But I'll probably share a few. I'm nice.) I settled on a recipe I found in an old recipe box. It was clipped out of a magazine advertisment for Borden sweetened condensed milk. They were super-easy and super-tasty from dough to finished product.

Recipe:

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3/4-1 C. peanut butter (I used one cup of crunchy)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. biscuit mix (I used bisquick)

Mix milk, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla until combined. Add biscuit mix gradually until dough is formed. Refrigerate for one hour (at least). Roll into one inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Do the criss-cross fork motion on each ball. I had a little trouble keeping the dough from sticking to my fork, so I dipped my fork in granulated sugar between each cookie to prevent sticking. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

yum yum yum yum yum

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think every family has a chocolate chip cookie recipe they call their own. In my family, this chocolate chip cookie recipe is almost a religion. It's not weirdly top-secret though. It's just our trademark. For some reason, the cookies I make taste much different from the version my mother whips up. Not bad-different, just different. Nevertheless, the cookies are heavenly...no matter who makes them. In fact, my old piano teacher even gave us a placard for Christmas one year that says "Life's Short...Eat Cookies." I must say, I don't disagree.

Recipe:

1 C. butter (softened)

1/2-1/3 C. packed brown sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 C. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3 C. any kind of chips...be crazy...be experiemental

Cream butter and sugars until fluffly. Add vanilla. Add flour and baking soda gradually. Stir in chips. If you wish add nuts or oatmeal for a true textural experience. Plop spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 9-15 minutes depending on the monstrosity of your cookies.

I like my cow patties a little warm and gooey.

Some people call these wonderfully warm chocolate lovelies "No Bake Cookies," but I much prefer the "Cow Patty" terminology. Maybe it just comes from the fact that I'm a native Oklahoman. Or maybe I'm just amused by base body humor. Or maybe I just like naming things by the way they look. Cow patties aren't pretty, but they're tastier than those hoity toity bakery delectibles. They've got this incredible chocolate-peanut butter-oatmealy thing going on (and this time I snuck in some Nutella...just because).

The Recipe:
The following goes in a big sauce pan:

2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's dark chocolate this time)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk

Boil for one minute and remove from heat.

Stir in (in this order):

1 tsp. vanilla (imitation is fine)
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
3 cups oats (I used quick oats)
and if you're feeling adventurous....a glob of Nutella :)

Drop on wax paper or parchment paper. Let 'em cool until hardened...or not. I much prefer not. I recommend them in the warm and gooey stage with ice cream.

The Play-by-Play:

Funfetti Update

My Funfetti cupcakes were a big hit tonight at the soup kitchen! One man asked me to marry him (I think he was joking). Anyway, they were all gone within twenty minutes. I think the Pillsbury doughboy himself would be proud. I love baking for a cause.

Funfetti Remastered: The Play-by-Play

Funfetti Remastered

Pillsbury's Funfetti has magical powers. In a second, it takes me back to gradeschool birthday parties. Funfetti reminds me of my mom, the quintessential woman. Funfetti is the core of American womanhood. When a girl can make a Funfetti cake, they are no longer a child, but a woman. Well...maybe not...I could make a Funfetti cake when I was eleven. An eleven year old is definitely not woman material.

Despite these facts, I think Pillsbury has seriously dropped the ball where Funfetti is concerned:
#1 They discontinued the world famous rainbow chip frosting. Now, they only sell frosting with sprinkles on top of the lid. Lame. (I don't even like canned frosting...but if I found a can of Funfetti rainbow chip, I think I would eat it like a barbarian...with my fingers only...and I would wear my cavewoman outfit from halloween two years ago).
#2 The cake isn't the white rainbow flecked moistness I remember. It's sort of dry. And crumbly. And I promise it isn't me.

Today I vowed to bring back the Funfetti I remember from childhood--but better. And thus, Funfetti Remastered is born (in cupcake form).

The Cake:

1 Box Funfetti Cakemix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

3 eggs

1 one-pound bag of powdered sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter

6 T milk

2 T vanilla (imitation is fine)

1 Can Rainbow Chip Frosting (Betty Crocker is the only brand to make a semblance of Pillsbury's former Funfetti frosting.)

Preheat that oven to 350, throw the cake ingredients (everything up to the eggs) in a mixing bowl and let her mix! I came out with about 35 cupcakes, but they were small. They baked about 25 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking cream together butter and sugar, alternating with milk. If you're really a perfectionist, sift the sugar. I sure didn't feel like it today. Vanilla goes in last. If you forget that's okay. I usually do. When frosting is fluffy and to your likings, stir in the can of rainbow chip frosting. This make a lot of frosting. I planned it this way, so you'll be able to steal spoonfuls without stealing from the cupcakes' glory.

When cupcakes are cool (and not before please) frost 'em. And then eat 'em. Promptly.

My cupcakes are a donation for the local soup kitchen. Don't worry, I did donate a couple to myself. They were mighty magical. Just like childhood.