Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

The weather this weekend was perfect. Sunny, but not too hot. Saturday, I attended the Bruins Parade, but Sunday, I got in some time at the beach. My friends and I went to Singing Beach, in Manchester-by-the-Sea, about 45 minutes north of Boston. It was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better! Since I am the baker, I decided some chocolate chip cookies were in order for our trip. I found this recipe a while ago, and it has become my standard go-to chocolate chip recipe. The key ingredient to these cookies are the vanilla pudding packs. The pudding mix keeps these cookies soft forever, not that they usually last that long!


Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Recipe Link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/award-winning-soft-chocolate-chip-cookies/detail.aspx 

Magic Cookie Bars

My sweet tooth really got the best of me last night. I was craving something sweet. A dozen chocolate chips would have probably satisfied me, but then I found this recipe on the side of a can of condensed milk and it all went downhill from there. It's very easy to make. Once you have the crust, the rest of the ingredients just have to be sprinkled on top. The recipe suggests substituting 1 cup of semisweet chocolate morsels with either butterscotch flavored chips, white chocolate chips or peanut butter flavored chips. I didn't have any in my cupboard, so I just stuck with semisweet chocolate chips and used walnuts as my choice of nut. I couldn't wait to try them. Waiting for them to cool before cutting was painful. They're addicting, especially with a glass of milk.

 Magic Cookie Bars
    1/2 cup butter, melted
    1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
    1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
    2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
    1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
    1 cup chopped nuts

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees for glass dish). Coat 13x9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with a fork.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature.

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

I found this Creamy Chicken Pot Pie recipe on Kraft's website a few months, ago and it skyrocketed to the top of my favorite recipes list the first time I tried it. It's super easy and absolutely delicious. You can make it even easier on yourself by using rotisserie chicken and frozen vegetables. What gives this pot pie real flavor is the Philadelphia Savory Garlic Cooking Creme. The cooking cremes, which come in several flavors, are a new product from Kraft. They look like cream cheese but are a looser substance with a lot more flavor. You can find them in your local grocery store right next to the Philadelphia Cream Cheeses. If you're looking for a quick, delicious weeknight dinner recipe, you found it!

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups  frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas), thawed, drained
1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme
1   ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 14.1-oz. pkg.)

1. HEAT oven to 400°F.
2. COOK and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 5 to 6 min. or until chicken is lightly browned. Add vegetables; cook 1 to 2 min. or until heated through. Stir in cooking creme; spoon into 9-inch pie plate.
3. COVER with crust; seal and flute edge. Cut several slits in crust. Place pie plate on baking sheet.
4. BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown.

Summer Corn Chowder

I have a sweet tooth and love to bake, but I also like trying out all kinds of other recipes. I have a list of my favorites and this one definitely makes the list. The chowder is one of my most popular things to make in the spring and summer when all the sweet corn is in season and on sale. It's delicious and also healthy. It's loaded with colorful vegetables and uses low fat milk instead of heavy cream.


Corn Chowder Recipe
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
    1 strip of bacon or 1 teaspoon of bacon fat (substitute 1/2 Tbsp of butter for vegetarian option)
    1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
    1/2 large carrot, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
    1/2 celery stalk, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
    3 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs (about 2 cups), cobs reserved (see steps for taking corn off the cob)
    1 bay leaf
    3 1/2 cups milk, whole or low fat
    1 medium Yukon Gold potato, or Russet, peeled and diced
    1/4 red bell pepper, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
    Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
    1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the bacon strip (skip this step for vegetarian option, just add more butter) and fry until the bacon renders its fat, but doesn't begin to brown, 3 or 4 minutes. Add the onion and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft. Add the carrot and celery and cook for 4 or 5 more minutes.
2. Break the corn cobs in half and add them to the saucepan. Add the milk and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes. Make sure the heat is as low as can be and still maintain a gentle simmer (on our stove we had to use the "warm" setting) to prevent scalding the milk on the bottom of the pan.
3. Discard the cobs, the bacon strip, and the bay leaf. Raise the heat, add the potatoes, red pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, fresh ground pepper to taste, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost fork tender.
4. Raise the heat, add the corn kernels and the thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Original Recipe Link: Corn Chowder Recipe