Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Besides being uber-fabulous, my friend, Missy, is a professional baker. She wouldn't give up her secret cookie recipes, but she did provide a great recipe for her chocolate chip cookie bars. These are so easy to make and are so good (crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside)!! I made some for a ladies night out yesterday and I think the extra sugar definitely helped us in playing Rock Band on Wii. ;) Thanks, Annie, for all the fun!

Missy’s Chocolate Chip Bars
¾ c. butter, melted
1 c. white and
1 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 c. flour (or 9 oz.)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla
1 (12 oz.) bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix the butter and brown sugar and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir in 2/3 of the chocolate chips. Press dough into a greased 10” square or 9x13 pan & sprinkle the rest of chocolate chips on the top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes (until lightly golden on top).

The little flowers on the top look fancy, but they are SO EASY to make. I used a technique called chocolate transfer that I read about in my Whimsical Bakehouse book. (BTW, in my opinion the book is ok but the chocolate techniques in it are GREAT!). If you want to see an easy way to make cute chocolate daisies, check it out here from Bakerella. Inspiration for these particular flowers came from sugar coated love. She makes such cute stuff!!

I need help!!

I've been on a brownie kick lately. I've tried lots of recipes, but can't seem to find one for the PERFECT brownie. It's driving me crazy, I'd love to have a really good go-to recipe for brownies. Do you have one that you like? I'd love to try it!!! Please email me or post it in the comments! mandyheaston@gmail.com. I'll keep you posted on my brownie quest.:)


Here's one from my friend Erin that's pretty darn good:
Hershey's Double Chocolate Mint Brownies
1 c. flour 4 eggs
1 c. sugar 16 oz. can of chocolate syrup
½ c. butter

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and then spread with mint layer. Then chill again before putting the chocolate layer on top. Cover and chill again before serving.

Mint Layer:
Beat until smooth.
2 c. powdered sugar
½ c. butter
1 Tbsp. water
½ tsp. mint extract
few drops of green food coloring

Chocolate Layer:
Microwave for 1 to 1½ min & Stir until smooth
6 Tbsp. butter
1 c. milk chocolate chips

Blueberry Muffins w/ Cream Cheese Icing

Our little cutie-patootie friend, Bennett, came to visit today. I asked him before they came what he'd like for a special treat. He replied, "Blueberry Cupcakes?". Well, I happen to be in the middle of 30 lbs. of blueberries (I'm canning blueberry sauce for waffles, etc., for my hubby) so I was happy to oblige! These muffins are to die for with any kind of berry. Try them once and I'm sure it will be your favorite muffin recipe!!

Blueberry Muffins
3 C. flour
1 1/2 C. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 ¼ c. buttermilk
2 cups fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix in oil, eggs, and buttermilk. (TIP: if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add about 1 T. lemon juice to a cup of milk and let sit for about 5 minutes). Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18 minutes. Frost with Cream Cheese Icing. Makes 24 muffins.

Easy Cream Cheese Icing
8 oz. cold cream cheese
5 Tbsp. softened butter
2 tsp. vanilla.
3 c. powdered sugar (or to taste)
Beat cold cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until well blended. Slowly add powdered sugar, adding more depending on the thickness of frosting you want. Enjoy!

NOTES: I made the little "blueberry" garnishes out of chocolate. Just draw some circles with brown candy melts on wax paper, add a green stem. When dry, drop in a little purple. If you're feeling artsy, add a little drop of white in the circle for a highlight first. Let cool completely and peel off wax paper.

Mom?! There's something in my dinner...

The girls surprised me by cleaning up their room yesterday without being asked, so I figured I'd put a little surprise in their dinner.
They are big fans of the Huggly books so I made some monster eyeballs to hide in their spaghetti! It was super easy and got a lot of giggles. This would be great for a book-and-a-snack playdate!
My mom taught me to make great and easy meatballs by baking them, here's my recipe! I like to make up a big cookie sheet full and freeze some for later.
To make them into "eyeballs", simply slice a green olive in half, put the tip of a sharp knife in a baked meatball to carve out a little space, then slip the olive in. Voia! Monster eyes!

Baked Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1/2 c. bread crumbs
2 T. ketchup
2 tsp. mustard
1 egg
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 T. grape jelly (weird, but apparently that's what Olive Garden puts in their meatballs. It's really good!)
dash garlic powder
dash celery salt
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup!). Mix all ingredients together. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on cookie sheet, make sure they aren't touching. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes or until done.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! :)

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

I've been wanting to try these for awhile, I saw them in my favorite cupcake book "Hello, Cupcake!" I whipped these up yesterday for a picnic, here's how they turned out:

Ingredients:

Cupcakes, any flavor
white or yellow icing

various colors of Jelly Belly candies (I used Buttered Popcorn, Lemon, and Banana)
White and Black colored sugar (optional)

several yellow Starburst Candies

Corn on the cop picks (optional)

Directions:

Frost two or three cupcakes together so they look like a giant corncob (use plenty of icing and make sure it's pretty thick to fill in the cracks). Place rows of Jelly Belly candies across the cupcakes to make the kernels. Sprinkle with white & black colored sugar for the "salt & pepper". Melt Starburst Candy for a few seconds until it is softened and place it on top as the "butter." Add corn picks on the side and serve 'em up!

Note: I didn't have any starburst candy on hand, so I used two yellow candy melts to make the "butter". One I cut into a square shape and the other I melted and spread out to make the melted part of the butter.

Mousey Pizzas

Thanks to Jenn for this super-fun, easy recipe! I love your great kitchen ideas & thanks for letting me share! You can check out her fabulous blog here.

Mousey Pizzas
Ingredients:
tortillas (or you can use pizza dough)
pasta sauce
mozzarella
mushrooms
pepperoni
olives
corn
green onions

Directions:
Cut the tortilla into a “V” shape, put sauce on it - jarred pasta or pizza sauce is fine, lay down the cheese then just start making it look ‘mouse’ like. I found that mushroom ears were the winner here. As well as beady little yellow corn eyes.
However you make your pizza, lay it on a baking sheet and broil for two minutes and you’re done. Yum!
Note: if you're using pizza dough, adjust cooking time and heat (around 400 degrees).

Cupcake Pops

Oh, how I love that Bakerella! I finally decided to give her cupcake pops a try for the 4th of July. They were super-fun to make! I was going to post the recipe, but I figured I'd send you to her blog, you can get it here. I used some heart-shaped red hots for the "cherries" and they turned out pretty cute for my first try!

As far as presentation, I recommend cheap plastic glasses (you can get them at the dollar store, 4 for $1). Some I filled with red/white/blue candy corn and patriotic tootsie rolls.

BUT, you know what I decided was even better and cheaper to put in the base of your glasses? Rice Krispy Treats! I put the hot rice krispy treats right in the glasses and put some sprinkles on top. A Double Treat!

Here they are in their glory. Thanks, Bakerella for the great recipe!:)