No Bake Cookies

We're still fighting the heat - here's a great quick cookie that doesn't require much cooking time (and no time in the oven!).


1 cup butter over high heat.

Add 1/2 c. milk.

Add 2 cups sugar.

Add 4 Tbsp. Cocoa powder. Bring to boil. Allow to boil for 2 minutes.

After 2 minutes of boiling, add 1/2 cup (heaping) cup of peanut butter. Quickly stir until smooth and take off heat.

Add 3-1/2 cups oats and 1 Tbsp. milk. Stir quickly.

Drop with spoon onto wax paper.

Easy Key Lime Frozen Pie!

The hot and humid weather has arrived. Start Jimmy Buffett on the ipod, sip a margarita (optional) and conga into the kitchen for this quick summer treat.
1 can Eagle Brand
1 container Cool Whip
6T. Lemon Juice (fresh or bottle!)
1T. Lime Juice (fresh or bottle!)
1 packet Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid
Graham Cracker Crust

Dump the cool whip into the mixer and beat smooth. This is easier if the cool whip has sat on the counter for a few minutes.

Add the eagle brand and lime and lemon juices.

Add kool aid!

Continue beating until well mixed - this only takes a few seconds.

Pour into crust and freeze or refrigerate (your choice).

Oooohhh soooo good.

Since I send these treats to work, I usually make a tiny one to keep here at the house. You can find these pre-made mini crusts in the baking aisle near the full size crusts. They're usually on the bottom shelf. They come in a 4 or 6 pack and they're great to have on hand!

Blueberry Cobbler-ish

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This is a recipe from Ruth. The great thing about that fact is that the recipe is so old that I don't know who Ruth is!! This isn't a super sweet treat. It's more of a cobbler though (served with vanilla bean ice cream) than a coffee cake - but I've been known to eat it for breakfast (I'm glad we're friends and keep secrets!).

Let's get started

2 cups blueberries (maybe a little more, maybe a little less if you pop 'em in your mouth like I do!), a splash of lemon juice, 1 1/2c. sugar, 3T butter, 1/2c. milk, 1t. baking powder, 1/2t. salt, 1c. flour, 1T cornstarch, 1c. boiling water (not shown). Flour and sugar are in their canisters in the back. Yes, cornstarch is in that strange container - more on WHERE I SHOP this week!


Spray or butter a 8"x8" dish. Toss in the clean berries and add a splash of lemon juice - you can use a real lemon if you have one!


Cream butter and 1/2c. sugar. This works best if you butter is SOFT. Then add milk.


Add baking powder, 1/4t. salt and flour. Blend well.


Dump over the blueberries. Yikes, look at that glare. See what happens when I only have 2 hands and use the timer on my camera. Seriously - this is difficult!


There, it's all dumped. I'll spread it around a little more evenly.


In bowl add 1c. sugar, cornstarch and salt. Sprinkle ontop of the batter.


Lookin' good!


Pour 1c. boiling water over the top of everything!


Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour (Mine usually bakes for 70 minutes - check it with a toothpick, looking for clean toothpick.)


Oohhhhh, look at it! Try to eat it in a day or two or you get some berry funk.

Ice Cream Cake-ish

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Ok, this was 100% adopted from a great ice cream cake I had last summer. The original cake was made in a loaf pan and cut in thick slices. It was delicious.

This is a quick crowd pleaser. I asked our guests for their favorite ice cream and candy bar. They gave me chocolate and snickers. Here are the ingredients. Cool whip not shown. Notice I allowed the icecream to sit and get soft first.

I also was in a HUGE hurry to make this and needed to get it in the freezer, so I'm using a (cheater) crust. Bonus, I have a stockpile of these crusts, they're great to have on hand. There's usually a coupon for these too (and even better when my store triples my coupons - I get them for nearly free, or less than 20 cents!) I usually use a crushed cookie.

Here's the soft ice cream. I meant it when I said soft. Trust me, you'll thank me!

Gently start smooshing the ice cream. It doesn't have to be perfect. That's the key to this masterpiece!


Now cover the icecream with the topping - chocolate syrup in this project. And use as much (or as little) as you'd like. Other options on this layer are hot fudge, strawberry topping, real peanut butter. At this point, put it back into the freezer and let it freeze. Otherwise, the topping will goo the next layer....

Also, let this set on the counter and get soft. It's much easier to spread. I've taken a spatula and beat it around a bit - again so it's easier to spread.

Remember what I said - this is not perfect! Dump the cool whip and start spreading. I was in a hurry (shocker) so I didn't let the icecream and chocolate syrup refreeze. But that's ok - because I have another cheat that comes in the form of the caramel I'll swirl on the top of the cool whip.

Dice up your candy bar, nice small even pieces.

Add the caramel and the snickers. Here's the final product. Again, let it refreeze to get a solid frozen treat.

Great options:
Chocolate peanut butter cookie crust, peanut butter or PB cup icecream, PB or chocolate syrup, cool whip and reese cups.

Vanilla wafer cookies, strawberry ice cream, strawberry topping, cool whip and fresh strawberries.

Keebler Grasshopper cookies (they're similar to Thin Mints - only year 'round!), mint chocolate chip ice cream, hot fudge or chocolate syrup, cool whip, topped with andes mints.

Good luck!

Wedding Mints

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Or graduation mints, or because-it's-Wednesday mints. My family calls 'em wedding mints because we typically have them at weddings. These are very simple to make and a crowd-pleaser.

Side note: I should have taken these in better light, I should have staged them on a pretty plate. To be honest, these are the last remaining mints from a party. Next time I'll take fresh photos. Because the poor lighting, the color isn't accurate. The mints were a nice light blue color.

Let's get to the Sweet Details. Here's what you'll need. (A nice daytime photo - see the difference!)

4 oz. cream cheese (SOFT)
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 drops flavoring
(optional) food coloring as desired
a couple tablespoons sugar in a shallow bowl (not shown)

The oil comes from Michael's or a baking store, I think Wal-Mart carries the oil. This is highly concentrated. When I say two drops, I MEAN TWO DROPS. Deal? You can make these in an array of flavors and colors. Here I used Wilton Peppermint and blue food coloring.

The molds you can find online or at a baking supply store. Michael's carries a few candy molds also. They come in an assortment of sizes and shapes and designs. I used a simple flower because it's wedding-appropriate. Having this one mold in my arsonal fulfills most of my mint-making needs. I also have a graduation mold. There are two types of molds. There are the thin, clear plastic ones (what I'm using) and the new rubber molds. I've used both. The rubber ones are a bit easier to get the mint out.

Tip - Let your cream cheese sit on the counter for the morning getting SOFT before you make these. Dump it in the bowl and start stirring, get it all whippy - put some muscle into it. Again, this is easier with SOFT cream cheese. Once it's all whippy and smooth, add the coloring and flavoring - continue to stir. You don't want all the flavoring in one bite. After it's mixed well, add half of the powdered sugar. Still stirring with the spatula. Add the remaining powdered sugar and start kneading it with your hands. It's ok. That's why you made sure the coloring was already mixed in. Knead and knead. Add a little powdered sugar to your hands if you need it.

Tip - After you mix the ingredients - place the bowl, covered with saran wrap, in the refrigerator. Let it get good an cold and solid. Trust me. 4-6-8 hours. This is especially imporant if your kitchen (or your hands) are warm. The soft dough will stick to your fingers and hands making a huge mess.

Now it's time to begin. Take a small pinch of dough, roll it in a ball. Roll the ball in sugar and then with your thumb press the dough into the mold. Remove any excess that spills from the mold. I find that a full mold pops out easier - so don't be stingy. I do the entire sheet of dough.

Tip - After I press the sugar-rolled dough into the molds, I place my mold in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Please don't leave your mold in the freezer for too long if you're using a plastic mold (like mine shown above). I'll digress and be an Engineer for a moment and tell you the thin plastic will become very brittle at low temperatures and will want to break very easily. This would not be good. So 5 minutes in the freezer. I cover a cutting board with wax paper and gently whack the mold on the board and 95% of the mints fall out. If you're using a rubber mold, take your finger and gently push the backside of rubber - the mints will fall out. There's not a real right or wrong way to do this.

Tip - After I've finished, I'll place the mints in one layer on a wax-paper-covered cookie sheet in the freezer. Let them get solid - about 6-8 hours. Then you can place in an air tight container - using wax paper in between the layers for best results. Keep these refrigerated until it's time to serve them. The mints will keep in the air tight container for several weeks. This is an added bonus - you can make them ahead of time!

Are you going to try to make these? How was my instruction. Leave me a comment. Let me know what you think so I can make this better!

Happy baking,
SHERRI

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by. As long as I can remember I've been cooking and baking. Do you have these memories? I remember going to my Aunt Jo's house during Christmas break and baking and decorating cookies. I remember making crepes and home made ice cream in the summer with Aunt Lois. And I remember cooking and baking everything else with my mom. Some memories go pretty far back, I think I was standing on a chair helping.

I once heard a pastry chef say you can make a really good pot roast, and get complimented, but if you want praise, bake something. There's something about sweet delicate treats. I have a great test group (co-workers) that willingly accept my treats and I try to make them something once a week. Some weeks the goal is to try something new, other times, it's something FAST. This often results in wives of said co-workers writing for the recipe. I smile. Since I have the recipes almost all typed in emails, I've decided to add a step and post 'em here for you. Try 'em out. I'm a visual learner, so maybe a few pictures will help you too.

Now, I must be honest. Before I tell you who I am, I must tell you who I am not. I am not Bakerella. She's far too talented and patient. I am not Ree. I love Ree. She's great. She has a cookbook. She lives on a ranch. She details each and every step. I am not Smitten Kitchen. Although she has a tiny kitchen like myself, Deb is a writer, a photographer and a kitchen genuis.

I have a nice old camera and an itty bitty kitchen with poor lighting. I have a full-time job in a crazy city and I keep things crafty over at sweetestdesigns. My friends recently asked me what cooking shows I watch. Confession: outside of the occassional Martha show, I don't watch; I'm too busy creating. I do not hold a culinary degree. I've never taken a baking or decorating class. I do hold a Civil Engineering degree, but that has nothing to do with this site. There may be some parallels - cooking and baking often includes precision. If a recipe doesn't work for you, re-read it and ask yourself are you following it exactly? It's a science. Now, with all that said, I'm also not as tedious as Michael because, as I mentioned, I have a full-time job. I'm busy - just like you!

Are you still with me? Let's get started.
I'll try to post preparation and baking times, level of difficulty, and whether it's good the next day! Those are all important - although sometimes omitted from recipes.