Powers Family Peanut Butter Cookies

Today's scrumdiddlyumptious recipe comes from Livvy! Thank you so much for the guest recipe, Livvy! :)

Our favorite peanut butter cookies!

The original recipe was from one of mom's cookbooks, but after some tweaking, we came up with this version. A delicious summer snack with some cold lemonade!

Powers' Family Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Brown Sugar, packed

1 cup Peanut Butter

2 large Eggs

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups Freshly Ground Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 cups butterscotch or white chocolate chips, optional

Cream the butter & sugars. Add the peanut butter & eggs.
Mix the dry ingredients then add to the peanut butter mixture. Mix all 'till well blended.
Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork (that has been dipped in some flour) in a crosshatch pattern (If chips are added this step can be skipped).
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

~Livvy

Thank you so much for sharing that recipe, Livvy! It looks delicious! :) I can also imagine curling up on a chilly autumn afternoon with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a handful of these tasty cookies! :)

Easy Freezy Key Lime Pie!

My family and I love this delicious recipe for Frozen Key Lime Pie - and the best part is, it's SO EASY! :D (The picture above is not the pie we made, but ours looks just like it except it comes out white instead of green)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Lime Juice

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 12-oz. container of CoolWhip

1 ready-made graham cracker crust *or you can make your own, I didn't*

Directions - (Everybody prepare to be amazed at how easy this is)

Whisk together Lime Juice, Sweetened Condensed Milk, and CoolWhip.
Plop into crust.
Freeze. (That is, put the pie in the freezer.) ;) lol!
That's it! :D

We let ours freeze overnight to serve at homechurch at our house the next morning, and upon trying to serve it the next day, realized it was really hard! So here's a tip...

TIP: To cut a very frozen pie, dip your knife in hot water just before cutting the pie. May take repeated dips. Try not to drip too much water on your pie. :D

Enjoy!

Citrus Cilantro Salsa

A guest recipe from Miss Hannah

My recipe is called: Citrus Cilantro Salsa.

Here is the recipe:

Half of a squeezed lime

Half a bunch of cilantro, rinsed

Seven small tomatoes

One jalapeno, with the seeds

Salt to taste.

Directions: Throw everything in the blender, and then pour into serving bowl. Eat with your favorite chips!

Blessings, Miss Hannah

Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, Hannah! This sounds like a fun throw-it-together summer treat. :)

♫Can she make an Apple Pie, Billy boy, Billy boy... ?♫

♫ Can she make an apple pie, charming Billy? ♫♫She can make an apple pie, ♫

♫With a twinkle in her eye,♫

♫She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.♫

Remember that song? Only I think it was cherry pie. :) But yesterday I made an apple pie! Mama watched and advised, but I made it! Yay! That's my first 'all-by-myself' pie. :) I've helped make many pies, but never done one by myself. :)

What kind of pies do you enjoy baking?

Homemade Pizza!

My mom makes the best pizza ever. Tastier than Papa John's, and way better than the greasy Pizza Hut pizza.

We make our own dough and then top it with delicious sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, parmesan, spices, black olives, peppers, onions, and whatever we want. :) Mama makes sections of each pizza with the toppings that each of our family members enjoy.

Here's how we make our dough:

Take 1 package of yeast, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 cup of hot water, and stir together in large bowl.

Let that sit for 10 minutes to let the yeast activate. :)

Add 2 Tablespoons of oil, then add your flour - We use 1 cup of whole wheat and 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose - mix well.

Let rise. :)

Makes 1 pizza. We usually make two and double this recipe. :) I do, after all, have two hungry teenage brothers. :)

Enjoy!

Surprise Ice Cream Cupcake Cones

Okay, I know it's not very impressive just posting links to Betty Crocker all the time - rest assured, I will try to have a nice long, instructive recipe post soon. :D

Surprise Cupcake Cones
This is such a neat idea! to find out how to make these neat treats just watch THIS SIMPLE VIDEO and find out how, using cupcakes, frosting, candy and ice cream cones you can make a really easy, amazing dessert.

Enjoy!

Cookie Decorating Ideas!

Who doesn't love cookies? And it's always fun finding new ways to decorate them. :) I found the following tips on BettyCrocker.Com. That's one of my very favorite places to find cooking tips, because most of the ones on there are so easy! :)

How about this... I think the cookies in this picture are stuck on lollipop sticks! Cute!!
Drizzle glaze over cookies. Fill a resealable plastic bag with ready-to-use frosting from a tub or with a homemade powdered sugar glaze. Snip off tiny corner of bag, and squeeze glaze over cookies.

Add sparkle to cookies with simple sugars.
Using a very small spoon, add red sugar to cookies in spiral design to look like peppermint candies. Or place red sugar in resealable plastic bag; snip off tiny corner. Squeeze sugar from bag onto cookies.

Let candies star on cookies. Press milk chocolate candies into cookies immediately after baking.

Dip cookies in melted chocolate. (Oooooh, Yummm! I like this idea!)
To melt chocolate for dipping, heat 1 teaspoon shortening with 3 ounces bittersweet, semisweet or white chocolate over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and smooth.

(This would be cool, baking a pizza-size cookie! I love these!)
Embellish cookies with candies. Frost a pizza-size cookie, then decorate with favorite candies.

Drizzle melted chocolate over cookies. Heat white baking chips or semisweet chocolate chips in resealable plastic bag in microwave until softened; squeeze until smooth. Snip off tiny corner of bag, and squeeze chocolate over cookies.

Make an impression with cookie cutters. Dip small cookie cutters into cinnamon, then press lightly onto tops of frosted bars.

Dazzle with gels. Squeeze Betty Crocker® decorating gels over frosted cookies in simple designs.

Dust glazed cookies with baking cocoa, using a stencil. Use ready-made stencils or craft your own using miniature cookie cutters, taping over open areas to use just the outline. Place stencil on cookies.

Jazz up cookie frosting. Frost cookies, then pull the tines of a fork through frosting for a decorative finish.

I hope you enjoy these tips! :) I'll definitely be trying some of these myself. :D