Butterscotch Chip Cookies

I brought these cookies into the office the other day and there was almost a riot when I ran out.  These come highly recommended!!  The secret ingredient is some cream cheese - adds an interesting texture and tang to the cookies.  You'll definitely have to let me know how these go over if you end up making them.

P.S. I just realized these are the first cookies I've posted to this blog. I'm going to celebrate with a glass of wine.  Fine, it's an excuse to drink wine. 

You'll need... (for about 20 cookies)

1 stick of butter (room temperature)

4 oz of cream cheese (half a package)

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

3/4 cup of packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz of butterscotch chips

[source]

Ok!  Throw in your butter and cream cheese into a mixer and cream that together really well... like 2 minutes on high well.

Should look like this when you're through.

Next you'll add both the brown and granulated sugar, and mix until fully incorporated to the cheese and butter.

It should look pretty similar to this!  

You'll then want to add the egg and the vanilla and mix until everything comes together.

Action shot!

OK! We can move on to the dry ingredients.  You'll want to mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda ... you can sift it if you like but that just dirties another tool and I am against doing dishes.  

Slowly add this to the butter mixture on a low speed.  You don't want to over mix it because the cookies will turn out tough.  Just do it to the point where everything looks like it has come together.

You'll then want to fold in the butterscotch chips with a spatula, then cover and refrigerate the dough for about 2 hours.  This will allow the butter to harden up again, and your cookies won't spread out as much when you bake them.

When the two hours is up you'll want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then scoop the dough into about 1 1/2 inch balls on some lined cookie sheets.  If you overcrowd the pan, the cookies will all run together and not bake properly.  TRUST ME.  (Bad past experience).  

Bake these babies for 10-12 minutes, turning the pan halfway through to make sure everything is cooking evenly.  My oven is pretty hot, I took them out almost exactly at 10 minutes.

Let them sit on the pan for a couple of minutes (they will be really soft at first), then move them to cool on a wire rack.

Ta daaaaa!!  You're done!  Store these in a tupperware container or a ziplock bag, they should stay soft and delicious for about 3-5 days.  I'm just guessing, the batch I made lasted about 3 hours.

Enjoy!

Courtzilla

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Superbowl is coming up soon ... what are you making for appetizers?  I have a suggestion.  JALAPENO POPPER DIP.  It's the deliciousness of jalapeno popper flavor, without the hassle of having to make 235 of them individually.  I got this recipe from Closet Cooking, and I thought it turned out pretty well!  His final product picture is a billion times better than mine.  No seriously, look at it.

You'll need.... (for my version)...

- 1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup of mayo
- 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 can (4oz) pickled jalapenos
- 1 can (4oz) green chilies
- 2 fresh jalapenos, diced
and for the topping, 1/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs and another 1/4 cup of grated parmesean cheese

OK!  Let's get going.

Chop up the peppers so they are diced pretty fine.  I like having a bit of pepper in each bite.  You'll then want to put the peppers, cream cheese, chedder, parmesan, and mayo into a large bowl.

Once everything is mixed together, smooth it out into an oven safe bowl or platter.  I used this bowl, but I think I would use a shallower one next time, the dip was a little hard to get to.  I don't like to work hard for my food.

Mix together the remaining parmesan cheese and panko breadcrumbs.  You may want to mix just a splash of olive oil in there too, just to let it brown up really nice on the top when you bake it.  Sprinkle this mix on top of the dip, and bake it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the top is browning up!

At this point I was 4 beers in the bag at a hockey party (Canadians are hilarious), so I neglected to get an action shot so you could really see the final product.  It was pretty good though!  I would definitely make this again, adding the olive oil to the top so it crisps up a bit more of course.

If you need other ideas for your Superbowl party, check out some of these party favorites...

Superbowl Chili

BBQ Pulled Pork

Stromboli

Enjoy!!

Courtzilla

Fluffity Stuffity Potatoes

Ever had twice baked potatoes?

No?

Then I would argue you haven't lived. These things are potatoes made from little fluffy pieces of heaven. They are argueably not healthy for you...they are also arguably some of the best potatoes ever. Read on if your waistline can handle it. If not, wait about half an hour and I'll post my summer vegetable salad recipe!

You'll need:
- 5 - 10 yellow potatoes. Not the huge ones, the mid-sized ones. Make however many you need/want for lunch the next day.
- a smidge of cream cheese
- couple spoonfuls of sour cream
- a sprinkle of cheese (I think I used Monterrey Jack cheese, but you can use cheddar or whatever you've got)
- couple tablespoons of chopped chives
- garlic
- bacon bits? peas and carrots? onions? peppers? Let's be honest... this is a good way to use up your veggies.
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

Ok! First, you want to preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then, rinse and scrub your potatoes. Throw them on a baking sheet, and drizzle some olive oil on them. You can also add some salt and pepper right now.



Let them bake along all honky dory in the oven for about 45 minutes.


Toasty.

Now, once they've cooled a bit you want to scoop out their souls, so they become shells of their former selves. Like this!


Now, you definitely don't want the souls to go to waste... so mash them up with the cream cheese, cheese, sour cream, garlic, and chives! Plus... any of the extras like bacon bits etc.




Doesn't THAT look appetizing.

Now, take scoops of the stuff, and load them into the potato boats you made earlier.


Now, you just want to stick them back in the oven for about 15 ish minutes!


VOILA!!


Delicious.


My roommate Rob is as happy as a clam. What a lucky guy.

Next up! The corn salad you see pictured.

Enjoy!

<3 Courtzilla

Strawberry Buttermilk Cupcakes

aka. THE BEST CUPCAKES EVER.

Matt made me go to the bookstore, and I ended up picking up three new books that I absolutely do not need, one of them being Martha Stewart's cupcake book. Clearly, I needed to bake immediately.

These may be my favorite cupcakes of all time. I think the boys agreed, they got demolished in record time. I swapped out her frosting for a concoction of my own, and swapped buttermilk for regular milk. Fresh strawberries, vanilla, buttermilk? YES PLEASE.

Here's how you make them! (Makes ... a ton. Like 36 - 40)

You'll need:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour (not self rising)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large whole eggs, plus 1 egg white
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups finely chopped strawberries, plus more for garnish


Frosting:
- 1 box of powdered sugar
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 4 spoonfuls of strawberry jam
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of milk

While not exactly simple per se, these have become my new favorite cupcake. SO moist, SO delicious. Watch me work.

First, sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Might want to preheat your oven to about 350 degrees at this point.



Cream together the sugar, vanilla, and softened butter, until pale and fluffy. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, into the mixture. Make sure each egg is beaten into the butter/sugar before added the next egg. Did that sentence make sense? No idea.

Next, mix in the flour in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk.



Now, you'll want to chop up about 1/2 of your strawberries. We'll use the rest for garnish. Fold the chopped berries into your batter. When it bakes up, it'll look like this...dispersing fresh berries all through your cupcake!



Fill each cupcake tin about 3/4 of the way up, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on a rack completely, about 30 minutes.



For the icing, pretty much dump everything in a bowl and stir.



If you want it thinner, you can add more milk. I really like the flavor of this icing. Originally I was just going to make the one on the back of the powdered sugar box, but it was WAYYYY too sweet. So, to counter it, I added a bit of salt, then some strawberry jam and the cream cheese. WAY good. Too good? I ate the leftovers with a spoon. Don't tell anyone.

Pile the frosting on top, and garnish with your strawberries!




Yeah. That happened. Thank you Martha, you've made my world a much better place.

Enjoy!

<3 Courtzilla