Cookie Friday: Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these for some of my husband's students last week.  I wished I hadn't sent so many away! 

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• Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting 
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• 1 stick butter or margarine 
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla 
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1tsp.  baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Adapted from a Family Circle recipe.  

 Preheat at 375. Line baking sheets with foil.  Blend the  first five ingredients.  Mix remaining four ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to mixer by the spoonful.   With a melon baller, drop cookies onto cookie sheets with lots of space and bake until just cooked through (about 7-8 minutes.  I tap the center very lightly with my finger if I'm not sure.)  Allow to cool completely. 

Frosting: 

2 Tbs. butter or margarine. 

1 package cream cheese

powdered sugar (1 to 1 1/2 cups) 

food coloring (optional) 

Blend first two ingredients, then add powdered sugar to desired consistency (thick is better than thin, I think.  Otherwise, the cookies can slide).    Frost the bottom of a cooled cookie, then top with a second cookie.  Repeat until all cookies are paired.  

Let me know if you give them a try.  I loved them! 


Shared at skiptomylou.org

Cookie Friday: Saucepan Brownies

I started cookie friday a few years ago as a way of celebrating the weekend finally arriving. I fell out of the habit, but I'm tryin to restart the tradition. These are some of my favorites.

I really need to work on my food photos. blah!

Saucepan Brownies

2/3 c flour
1/4 tsp baking soda

a pinch salt
1/2 c. sugar
2Tbs margarine or butter
2 Tbs water
1 bag of chocolate chips (the cheap imitation stuff seems to work the best here, surprisingly)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract (try others. Almond is awesome).
Other brownie fixin's, as desired.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Mix flour, soda , and salt in a small bowl. Mix eggs and vanilla in separate small bowl. Melt butter, sugar, water and half of the chocolate chips in sauce pan over low heat until boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add remaining chocolate chips, flour mixture, egg mixture and any fixin's you like. Bake in a greased pan for 40 minutes, or until the brownies start to pull away from the edges.

Summer Joy no. 18

Summer Joy #18

cooking food fresh from the farmstand. blackberry crisp recipe from The Motherhuddle. if you're shy on backberries, you can use an apple to make up the difference; mine is half and half and you can't tell. eat it a la mode. thank me later.

Recipe: Chicken with Leeks

My mother joined a CSA this year, and got to pick up her first box last week. She said it was the never-ending box of produce and they would certainly be sharing. No complaints here. One of this weeks treasures was a group of leeks. Leeks are super yummy. Stinky reacts to onions, so leeks can be a good substitute when a recipe calls for them. This chicken dish is one of my favorite ways to use them, and I find that it impresses people with very little real work.

You'll need:
2 leeks
2 chicken breasts
canola oil (or other cooking oil of your choice)
1 can or 1/2 a carton chicken broth
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
salt and pepper

The first step is to pretend that my stovetop and counters were totally clean when I took these pictures, and that the lighting didn't suck. Okay, we're ready to go.

To prep your leeks, chop off the bottom and top, from where the leeks turn a darker green. take the centers and slice them into 1/4-1/3 inch rounds. Seperate the rings out and soak for at least half an hour. This frees up any dirt that might be lurking inside the rings. It reminds me a little of kalamari, only I'm not grossed out by them.
While they soak, slice your chicken breasts on the diagonal and season with salt and pepper. (While I think leeks are milder than onions, they still have a strong flavor, and you don't want too many other flavors competing. )

Drain the water, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium high heat. Sautee for 3-4 minutes, or until the rings soften. See two pictures down for how they should look.

Take leeks out of the pan, and add your chicken slices (no picture, because raw chicken isn't pretty). Once cooked through, add the leeks to the top of chicken.

Pour in chicken broth until your leeks float- either one can or 1/2 a carton. Turn up heat to high to reduce, just long enough to load your dishwasher.

Turn off heat then add the ricotta cheese in spoonfuls throughout the pan. Stir until mixed evenly. You may be able to get a similar result with cream cheese, but I needed to use up my ricotta.

Turn up heat if necessary to acheive desired consistency on your sauce. Serve over pasta, or with mashed potatoes. Either way is super yummy. We added a side salad with dinner.

That's it! It's super easy and takes about 20 minutes, but your don't have to tell anyone that part. This should serve four, but WBH didn't eat lunch today, so no leftovers this time. Enjoy!