Snickers Cookies

With all of this Halloween candy craziness, I was looking for a way to get rid of some. How much does one 4 year old need anyway?! I picked out all of the Snickers candy bars and made these cookies. They turned out divine. The caramel melts into a delicious, gooey bite and the cookie itself proved to be perfect. Chewy and a little crisp on the edges...just they way they should be!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granualted sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
10 fun size Snickers bars, cut into small pieces
1/2-3/4 cup milk chocolate chips (depending on how "chunky" you want them)

Cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and whip until well blended. Add salt, baking soday and flour. Stir until just combined. Stir in Snickers bars and chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool on tray for 2-3 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack. Enjoy!!

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

I was really feeling like a shrimp pasta dish today. And what Mommy wants, Mommy gets:) This is so light, yet packed full of flavor. I was worried that the sauce wouldn't be "saucy" enough and I can't eat a pasta without a flavorful sauce, but I was surprised at how thick and delicious the sauce was. If you're looking for a lighter touch to your life, try this recipe!

8 ounces spaghetti
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 lb shrimp
1 cup chicken broth
1 t. dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2 T butter
3 T parmesan cheese (or more depending on your taste)
Olive oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and return it to the pan. Add spinach and 2 tablespoons olive oil; toss and set aside.

While pasta is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet on medium high. Add onion and cook for 1 minute. Add shrimp and garlic; cook for 2 minutes or until shrimp begins turning pink. Add broth, salt and pepper; cook for 2 minutes or until shrimp is cooked. Stir in butter and parsley. Toss with pasta and top with Parmesan cheese. Add more Parmesan cheese to taste.

*Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

I'm so tired of eating the same thing over and over and over...aren't you? Maybe it's because for the past 4 months I've been making the same thing. Well, that's over now. And I'm dying to eat new and exciting recipes! This was SO good to me. I was even surprised with my 18 month old shoveled it in her mouth by the handful since she's on a hunger strike now. The hubby even loved it even though he despises corn. It's just a great balance of flavor and turned into an awesome, fast fall dinner.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
11 oz frozen sweet corn (you can sub canned corn)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package cornbread stuffing

Make stuffing according to package directions. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and lay chicken breast in the bottom of a baking pan. Saute pepper, onion and garlic in about 1 T olive oil till tender, about 3 minutes. Spread evenly over chicken. Mix corn and cream of chicken soup. Spread evenly over chicken and peppers. Top with prepared stuffing. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 for another 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

So have any of you been wondering where I've been?! I sure have! I found out several months ago that I'm pregnant with #3! Well, with that came EXTREME sickness and my inability to look at food, let alone cook it. This week I'm 15 weeks, which came with a little bit of relief. I found myself making dinner several times this week AND whipped up these puppies. They are SO easy, SO moist and SO delicious. I threw in a few peanut butter chips for good measure, cause it just sounded good to me. I definitely recommend this. Yummmm...

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1/4 sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 small box chocolate pudding
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a standing mixer, cream together butter and sugars about 2 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add chocolate pudding and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla and whip another 1-2 minutes. Add flour, salt and baking soda. Mix until just blended. Stir in chips (you can eliminate peanut butter chips and just double the chocolate chips if you'd like, but come on, it's peanut butter and chocolate!!)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Tres Leches Cupcakes

Me, I'm not much of a fan of Tres Leches. But we live in a world where a lot of people are. And I sometimes do what people want cause it makes me happy. This was a request from the hubs...he likes tres leches. And I have to say - not bad, not bad. If you're a Tres Leches fan, you must try these! Oh, and that Dulce de Leche whipped cream...DIVINE. These definitely hit the spot!

For the Cake:

1 box French Vanilla cake mix

1 small box French Vanilla pudding

1 cup sour cream

1 cup buttermilk

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup evaporated milk

Start by making the cake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cupcake pan by lining it with cupcake liners. Mix the cake mix, pudding, eggs, sour cream, milk and oil in a standing mixer and beat until well incorporated (about 2 minutes) while scraping the sides. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Place in preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until tops spring back when touched.

While cupcakes are in the oven, prepare the Tres Leches mixture: mix the whole milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk.

Remove cupcakes from oven. Immediately poke several holes in each cupcake with a skewer stick or knife.

Drizzle Tres Leches mixture over each cupcake, waiting for it to absorb, using all of the mixture evenly between eachcupcake.

Dulce de Leche Whipped Cream:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4-1/2 cup dulce de leche (found in the mexican isle in the grocery store)

3 T powdered sugar (or more depending on how sweet you like it)

Combine all ingredients in a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high until soft peaks form. Pipe over cooled cupcakes. Store extra cupcakes in the fridge.

Grilled Pizza

Oh boy. This is the death of me! If you've never tried grilled pizza you are DEFINITELY missing out! The perfect dough, with the perfect fresh mozzerella and a sprinkle of a little Italian seasoning...mmmm. Just thinking about eating this makes my mouth water. This pizza recipe is incredible. The best part about it is the options for toppings are endless, so it makes it easy to eat it 4-5 times a week:) Eat it. Then you'll die.

Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 cups warm (105-115 degrees) water

1 T sugar

1 T yeast

1/2 t salt

3-4 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl (the bowl of a mixer, if you have one) combine water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes or until nice and bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 cups flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the b0wl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubles in bulk. Remove from bowl and separate into about 4 equal sized balls if you are making individual sized pizzas or into 2 for larger ones. Roll out.

The ladies at Our Best Bites do everything perfect in my mind. They are the masters! I'm not going to attemt to try and explain how to grill the perfect pizza when they've done it for me. For instructions on grilling the perfect pizza go to their site here.

*For the maximum yumminess pizza, it's a MUST to use fresh mozzerella. Try it once and you'll understand why:)

*From Our Best Bites

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

One of my favorite things is eating cookie dough. I think I would rather eat the dough than the actual cookie. So when I saw these I knew I had to make them. It's a rich, fudgy brownie topped with straight cookie dough...uncooked. Now don't worry, there's no eggs in the dough so it's completely safe:) Wow, such a perfect combination!

Brownies:

1 cup butter

3/4 cup cocoa

2 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 t salt

3 eggs

1 t vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prepare 9x13 baking pan by spraying with cooking spray. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla. Beat with a spoon until combined. Add flour and baking powder and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Allow brownies to cool completely before moving on to the next step.

Cookie Dough:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

4 T milk

2 t vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and cream together. Add flour and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in an even layer on top of the cooled brownies. Chill before adding chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 T oil

Melt chocolate with butter and stir until smooth. I do this in the microwave in 20 second increments. Spread the glaze over the chilled cookie dough layer.

*From Jersey Girl Eats