Macadamia Nut White Chip Pumpkin Cookies

This recipe is an autumn twist on a classic - white chip macadamia nut cookies with pumpkin, cinnamon, and cardamom. I'm not personally a fan of pumpkin, but these cookies are pretty good. They're very soft and moist, sweet with just enough spice, and relatively easy to make. I honestly didn't know where to find canned pumpkin; I looked in the baking and canned vegetable aisles to no avail, but then found it on the bottom of a display shelf. Also, I was shocked at the price of ground cardamom, a spice I've never used before: $10 for a cannister. It really does add a nice flavor to the cookies, but if you don't want to spend that much there are suggestions for cardamom substitutes on the Internet (usually involving mixtures of ginger and other spices). I'd give these cookies a 3 1/2 out of 5.

Cheers! This the end of the recipes for October. The next couple of weekends are going to be busy, so see ya in November!

~Jesia <3

Peanut Butter Chocolate Layer Bars

This recipe is basically as follows: combine crumbled Nutter Butter cookies and butter and press into a pan to form a crust, then top with chopped peanuts, chocolate chips, and flaked coconut; to finish it off, drizzle a can of sweetened condensed milk to make it all stick together, and bake it. Like other recipes of this type, it was a little difficult to cut and take the pieces apart. I let it cool overnight, and my mom turned the pan over onto wax paper, peeled the foil off the bars, turned them back over, and cut them again. Apparently that method worked quite well. Thanks, Mom!

These bars are extremely chewy. The odd combination of ingredients makes for an interesting texture and taste. The peanut and chocolate flavors are most potent, while the coconut gives the bars a chewy texture. I'd give this recipe a 3 out of 5. I had actually forgotten that Nutter Butter cookies exist and at first I was going to use peanut butter Oreos; I bet that would be an excellent choice too, though! Especially for chocolate lovers.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Mini Morsel Shortbread Squares

Warning: This recipe is rated PDT for "Pretty Darn Tasty." Shortbread is a really simple kind of cookie, usually soft in texture. This recipe is basically a shortbread cookie plus chocolate, and it's great. You can mainly taste the butter and chocolate in this recipe, and who doesn't like butter and chocolate? (That question is rhetorical, by the way; I realize that people have different tastes.) I feel like this recipe captures the simplicity of the shortbread cookie while mixing things up a little with the mini morsels. It's a simple dough to make and bake. After baking, you take the reserved mini morsels (that you didn't put in the dough) and sprinkle them on top. Once they're shiny, you spread them with a spatula until it becomes a smooth chocolate topping. While dense-looking, these cookies are soft and just right in texture - not too heavy, dry, or crumbly. I'd give these a 4 out of 5. ^_^

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Rocky Road Squares

Sooo, this recipe is a good idea in theory, but... In reality it is very messy. First off, I had trouble finding the right kind of fudge brownie mix - 21.5 ounces calling for 1/2 cup of water. All but one box of mix called for only 1/4 cup of water; the one I ended up with was 20.5 ounces, calling for 1/2 cup of water, and was a low-fat fudge brownie mix. Anyway, you mix it up as directed except you replace the 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 cup of evaporated milk, then bake as directed. Once it's out of the oven you top it with 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 1/2 cups of coursely chopped walnuts, and 2 cups of miniature marshmallows, then you put it back in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Then there was trouble with cutting and pulling the brownies away from each other evenly. I'm not sure if there really is a good way of cutting brownies with toppings like that. (Though, I am asking for a Perfect Brownie pan for Christmas.)

The brownie itself is nice and chewy, which is great. Overall though, these brownies are just pretty good. I personally don't like the nuts, but the rest of it is good stuff. I'd give these a 3 1/2 out of 5. I wouldn't be in a hurry to make them again, unless I had that Perfect Brownie pan.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle

So, I've heard of candy called "brittle," and I've made a peppermint "bark" before, but I didn't realize that there was such a thing as cookie brittle. The dough is easy to make. There is no leavener (baking soda or powder) and no brown sugar, probably to keep the cookie a little more dense and less chewy. I used a regular cookie sheet with raised edges since I don't have a 10"x15" jelly roll pan, and I used foil as usual with my bar cookies to make them easier to lift out of the pan. The sheet of cookie dough baked up nice and golden brown and took a while to cool. The only real issue I had with this recipe was the chocolate drizzle... I used a quart-sized freezer Ziploc bag, and when I got the bag of chocolate out of the microwave and began to knead it, the bag busted. v.v I went ahead and cut a small hole in the corner like usual and did my best. I really don't know why I've had so much trouble with drizzle lately... After the chocolate set, I lifted the brittle out of the pan with the foil and broke it up with my hands into uneven pieces.

This recipe is pretty good. You can definitely taste the butter in it. I think I'd give it a 3 1/2 out of 5. While I would consider making it again sometime, the taste isn't quite "wow" worthy. Also, there is a cup of nuts in this recipe, but because they were finely chopped they hide well within the dense cookie. The recipe does note that omitting the nuts could make the brittle dry, which makes sense since nuts contain fat (the good kind, mind you). Good stuff, Toll House, good stuff.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Easy Butterscotch Chip Cookies

These cookies really are incredibly easy as well as tasty. All you need is a box of chocolate cake mix, 1/2 cup of oil, 2 eggs, and a bag of butterscotch chips (you can also add 1/2 cup of pecans, but I opted out on those). I mixed the first three ingredients together by hand to make a really thick chocolatey dough, and then added the chips. It was a little difficult stirring the chips into dough that thick by hand, but I managed. =) Then just scoop out cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. *Ding!* It's that simple. I love recipes like this that involve using a mix for other than its originally intended purpose. It's just so clever! x3

I'd give these babies a 4 out of 5. They're good and I would make them again, definitely (and maybe try out different flavors sometime). The chocolate cake mix and butterscotch chips somehow meld together to make something magical with minimal effort, which is perfect for busy people.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Chewy Cocoa Brownies

This is a very basic brownie recipe, and since nuts were labeled "optional" I opted out of using them. Once nice thing is that you could probably find all of the ingredients in your kitchen without having to make that extra stop at the grocery, and if you happened to have nuts or chocolate chips or frosting on hand you could use that to make them a little extra special. Like I said, they're very basic, so much so that I honestly would rather use a brownie mix if given the choice between the two. There's nothing bad about the recipe, it's just more trouble than a mix, and I think a mix may even be more flavorful (since they "add pudding" and such to a lot of mixes these days). But like I said, if you have all the ingredients on hand and don't want to go out and get a mix, it's a good recipe. The sprinkle of powdered sugar adds a nice touch, too.

These are pretty average, so I'd give them a 3 out of 5. They are very moist and chewy as the name implies, and you don't need any chocolate chips or chocolate baking squares or any of the like - just some regular baking cocoa powder.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3