Thursday, September 11, 2008

Chewy Gooey Peanut Butter Brownies

This could very possibly be one of my very favorite desserts at the moment. We went over to some friends' house for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I asked if I could bring anything. She told me that I could bring a dessert. Yay! My favorite thing to make. The only hard thing was deciding what to make. It was a Sunday and the dinner was that night, so I had to make something with ingredients I already had on hand. So I searched AllRecipes.com, my FAVORITE website, to see what I could make. I eventually landed on this recipe and decided to make them because they looked really good and I had everything for them and they didn't look too complicated (not that I can't do complicated, it was a Sunday and I just didn't want to take on a huge project.) The original recipe doesn't call for Chocolate Chips, but I like chocolate and peanut butter together and it gives it a little extra texture. Mmmm...these are SO GOOD!

Chewy Gooey Peanut Butter Brownies




1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup margarine, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 C. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
(I use a slightly bigger pan so they are a little thinner and chewier).

In a medium bowl, cream together peanut butter and margarine. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended.
Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool, and cut into 16 squares.

*If you want them a little gooey, I would take them out at 28-30 minutes.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Low Country Cookie (Bars)

The other day I was flipping through the channels and saw that Paula Deen was on, so I decided to see what she was making. Most of the food that day was seafood type stuff, but these "cookies" looked really good and really easy, so I decided to make them and see for myself. I didn't have pecans, so I used chocolate chips, but they were good and I bet they would have been good with the pecans, too.


Low Country Cookies

Filling:
1 (16-ounce) box graham crackers
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup or 3 (1/2-ounce) cans shredded coconut

Topping:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons milk

For the filling: Line a 13 by 9-inch pan with whole graham crackers. Melt the butter in saucepan and add sugar. Beat the egg and milk together; add to butter mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add the nuts, coconut, and 1 cup graham cracker crumbs. Pour over the crackers in the pan. Cover with another layer of whole graham crackers.

For the topping: Beat all the ingredients together and spread over top layer of crackers.

Chill. Cut into squares.

By the way, we can't (and shouldn't) eat a whole 9x13 pan of these, so I halved the recipe and put it in a smaller pan. It was the perfect amount for our little family.



Thursday, July 31, 2008

Egg Rolls and Fried Rice

Fried Rice
White Rice (cooked)
Frozen Peas and Corn (thawed)
Diced cooked ham
Oyster flavored sauce
Egg

Fry 1st 3 ingredients in oil and garlic till warm. Push rice to the side and in the middle cook an egg, then mix together. Add oyster flavored sauce.

Egg Rolls

Shredded Cabbage
Shredded Carrots
(Both Cabbage and Carrots should be equal amounts)
1 lb ground pork (not cooked)
Angel Hair Noodles/Chinese Noodles (soak in warm water for 20 minutes and cut up in small pieces)
Salt
Oyster Flavor Sauce
Phyllo Wraps/Egg roll wraps (I've only found these at Winco)
Egg to seal the egg roll

Mix together. Place mixture on wrap and wrap/seal with egg. Deep fry for about 7 minutes.

It does help to cut the phyllo wrap in half (from corner to corner). It makes the egg rolls smaller, easier to cook.