Chocolate-covered Cherry Cookies by Lisa

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1/3 c milk (I use Lactaid for Tim)
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries


   1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
   2. Cream butter and sugar. Add milk and extracts and beat well. Mix in cocoa. Sift in remaining dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
   3. Roll into 1-inch balls about the size of a walnut (larger if desired). Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
   4. Drain cherries and reserve juice. Press a cherry into the center of each cookie.
   5. In a saucepan, heat sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips until chips are melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of cherry juice. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mixture over each cherry and spread to cover cherry. (More cherry juice may be added to keep frosting of spreading consistency.)
   6. Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool on cookie sheet.  Additional frosting can be put on the cookies while they're warm, if desired.

These cookies converted me to liking maraschino cherries--so yummy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c (2 sticks) butter

3/4 c granulated sugar 

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c milk (I use Lactaid for Tim)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 c flour (packed)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Chocolate chips as desired (~ 1 1/2 to 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 375F

Cream together butter and both sugars, then mix in milk and vanilla.  Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir well.  Add chocolate chips as desired, usually about 1 1/2 to 2 cups.  When baking egg-free cookies the thickness of the dough is important.  Roll the dough into 1 inch balls--if the dough is not thick enough for the balls to retain their shape then add a little flour to the mix.  You can use a cookie scoop if you're confident the dough is thick enough, but be sure not to scoop too much dough.  These cookies are best when they're smaller.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes depending on your oven.  The key to these cookies is to not overcook them--in fact, they should only be cooked just long enough so that they're golden underneath.  Take the pan out of the oven and let sit for one minute (or less) just to let the cookies set a little longer before transferring them to the cooling racks.  If the first one falls apart on the rack, let the rest sit on the sheet a little longer before transferring, but not too long, since over-cooking is not advised.  No need to worry about egg not being cooked through because these are egg-free!  

The beauty of these cookies is that they are delicious right out of the oven, the next day, or even frozen.  I usually make a double batch so that I can freeze up a couple bags future snacking.  Below is the same recipe, only doubled, for your convenience:

2 c (4 sticks) butter

1 1/2 c granulated sugar 

1 1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c milk (I use Lactaid for Tim)

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 1/2 c flour (packed)

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

Chocolate chips as desired (~ 3 to 4 cups)

Chewy Soft Pretzels by Lisa

(makes 8 pretzels) (this isn't very much and I think it should be doubled.  Also, if you double the sugar it tastes more like Auntie Anne's. Also, I've never been able to get the baking soda to dissolve completely like it says.)

Dough:
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) very warm water


Topping:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Coarse salt (optional)
3 tablespoons butter, melted


In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix to just combine. Add the water and mix well, adding more flour, as needed, a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth and quite slack. The goal is to get a really soft dough that isn't overly sticky. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes (see pictures below).
Preheat your oven to 500°F. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces (about 70g, or 2 1/2 ounces, each). Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda, and place it in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved; if it isn’t, it will make your pretzels splotchy. Sometimes I have a hard time getting the baking soda completely dissolved, so I just lightly stir up the mixture right before adding each pretzel.


Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (anywhere from 14 to 22 inches long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Dip each pretzel in the baking soda wash (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Bake the pretzels for 7 to 9 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Bake one sheet at a time – it won’t hurt the other pretzels to chill out for a little longer.
Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.

Easy chicken

This is always how I cook chicken, to eat plain or in a recipe.  I'm not sure how I got into this rut, but I'm still going to write it down because I think people over-think things sometimes.

I get out 3-4 frozen chicken breasts, put them in a single layer in a round glass pie pan.

Drizzle with light-tasting olive oil, probably about a 1 1/2 teaspoon per piece

salt and pepper (don't skimp on the salt, two pinches over each of them, light on the pepper)

dust with a few pinches of dried oregano on each piece

Then shove it into the microwave.  Yes.  The microwave.  Because the oven makes the house too hot, especially if the chicken is the only thing I would be using it for.

Cook on low for the first 15 minutes to slowly defrost, then switch to medium to cook the rest of the way. Everyone's microwave is different so I can't give exact times.  What I do recommend is a meat thermometer.  They are wonderful.  Chicken breast should be cooked to an internal temp of 170 F.  Don't overcook!

For my sweet vegetarian, I cook Quorn, a meat substitute, which is available in the vegetarian or health foods section of many grocery stores.  In desperation I use frozen Amy's meals for Tim.  He loves 'em.

Pie Crust

Single Crust

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
2-5 TBL cold water


Double Crust

2 c flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 c butter
5-7 TBL cold water

450 F 10-12 minutes

Fluffy Pancakes

2 c flour
2 TBL sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
2 c milk
2 TBL applesauce
4 TBL canola oil
2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in order, then refrigerate batter for 20-30 minutes before pouring.  DO NOT stir after you've refrigerated it, just scoop it into the pan.

Chocolate Mousse / Pie filling

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 c cold water
1 (6 serving) instant chocolate pudding
1 c whipping cream, whipped

In large bowl combine condensed milk and water.  Add pudding mix and beat well, until pudding thickens.  Chill 5 minutes.  While the pudding is setting up, whip the whipping cream till peaks form.  Fold cream into pudding mix.  Spoon into pie shell and chill covered till ready to serve.

This recipe can be altered to vanilla or banana pudding mix for other flavored pies.  I add bananas to the bottom for banana cream pie.