Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies

I made these for kids I taught at church and they loved them so much they wanted the recipe! They’re only eight years old! My coworkers were glad to quickly finish off the leftovers the next day. Another simple recipe. They were softer and more butter flavored that I thought they would be – a good surprise!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar, divided

• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup blackberry or any other flavor jam

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine flour and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl on medium speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract; mix until well blended. Add flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until soft dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 325º F. Spread remaining sugar on small plate. Shape dough into 1-inch balls (I am able to make them even by using a tablespoon measuring spoon); roll in sugar. (I prefer to put the sugar in a zip-lock bag and shake the balls of dough to coat them) Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake cookies just until firm, about 5 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Make deep indentation in the center of each cookie. ( I used a 1tsp measuring spoon and that worked well and evenly)

4. Fill indentations with jam. Return cookies to oven. Bake for 10 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

NOTES:

This recipe is from the Grandma’s Kitchen Treasured Family Recipes. The original recipe called for raspberry or cherry jam. I’m sure these will taste great with any flavor you’d like to try. Mix them up and do a few batches and you’ll have some fun colors to liven up a cute plate of cookies! For even more color you could always use colored sugar.

Happy Cooking!

Elisa

Coconut Lime Cake

I made this and took it in for my coworkers to enjoy. It’s one of my favorites because it’s lite and refreshing – not to mention simple! This recipe is from the Grandma’s Kitchen Treasured Family Recipes. I love this collection!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (2-layer) package of white cake mix

• 1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

• 2 tablespoons of lime juice

• 1 teaspoon of grated lime zest (1 lime should be enough)

• additional limes for decoration (optional)

• 1 cup of whipped cream

• 1/3 cup of shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F.

2. Prepare and bake the cake mix using the package directions for a 13×9-inchbaking pan. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

3. Make 1-inch-deep slits in the cake at 1-inch intervals, using athe blade of a sharp knife.

4. Combine sweetened milk, lime juice and lime zest in a small bowl and mix well. Drizzle on top of the cake.

5. Chill, covered for 1 hour. Spread whipped cream on top of the cake. Sprinkle with coconut. Garnish with lime slices, if desired. Refrigerate any remaining cake.

NOTES:

To add color and bring out more of a nutty flavor toast the coconut in a skillet over medium heat string often. Let it cool before topping over the frosting. An additional thought that I had to add more color and flavor is to add a lime jello liquid mixture to the cake at the same time as the sweetened milk mixture.  If you try this please let me know how it turns out!

Happy Cooking!

Elisa

A Classic Cookie – Peanut Butter Blossms

I wanted to make something quick and simple today with what I had on hand and these delicious classics did the trick! This recipe is from the Grandma’s Kitchen Treasured Family Recipes.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar divided (1 cup and 1/4 cup)

• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

• 1/2 cup shortening

• 1 large egg

• 2 tablespoons milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 36-48 chocolate candy kisses

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and mix well.

3. Combine 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, egg, milk, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set at low speed until well blended.

4. Add flour mixture to granulated sugar mixer and beat until well blended.

5. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

6. Arrange balls on baking sheets. Bake until browns, about 8 to 10 minutes. Press a candy kiss in the center of each cookie. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 3 1/2 – 4 dozen.

NOTES:

To keep the cookie size consistent I used a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop out the dough. I made sure it was packed firmly and the top was flattened out by pushing it against the side of the bowl. I suggest rolling all the balls before rolling them in sugar. This will help to keep the size consistent and keep you from having to wash your hands so you don’t mix in extra sugar from switching between shaping and rolling. This will also give you an exact count before unwrapping the kisses.

*To spice this up a bit try different kinds of kisses. Besides the original milk chocolate flavor Hershey’s has special dark chocolate, hugs, filled with peanut butter and more. To check out other options visit http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/kisses.asp

Happy Cooking!

Elisa

Easy & Tasty Chocolate Truffles

I made these the other day an they are tasty and EASY! My coworkers devoured them!! I got the recipe from Time Life’s Family Favorites Made-Easy. Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Coatings: 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, coconut flakes, or finely chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. In work bowl of food processor or, medium, heatproof bowl, place chocolate.

2. In small saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and vanilla. Heat stirring, until it just starts to boil.

3. Remove saucepan from heat and immediately pour over chocolate in work bowl. Process for 15 to 20 seconds or stir together until chocolate has completely melted and is smooth.

4. Pour into 13×9 inch baking dish and refrigerate until mixture is set, about 18 minutes. ( I left it in longer because I got busy working on other things. I pulled it out and let it sit for a bit and then continued.)

5. Put desired coatings into individual bowls. ( I put them in bags so I could shake them and  have less dishes to do. ) Using melon baller (this makes it easier to have them come out as the same size) or two teaspoons, scoop chocolate mixture into approximately 1-inch balls and toss in cocoa powder or other coating. (It was a little difficult to get it out of the scoop so I had to roll them back into shape in my palms.) Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

NOTES:

*I tripled the batch so I could try more coatings and who’s going to use whipping cream again before it goes bad? Since I made a larger batch I did have to put the chocolate back in the frig before I got them all made because it got too soft after a while.

I didn’t like the cocoa powder topping so I tried powdered sugar instead. It’s pretty good. Then I went for peanuts instead of the walnuts. Plain sugar wasn’t anything fancy but I had leftover chocolate sprinkles and I think those were pretty good but my FAVORITE was the coconut!

Next time I want to try adding extracts for different flavors such as orange, raspberry, and mint (1 Tbsp). I’ll also see what other coatings I can come up with. I’ll be sure to let you know!

Happy Cooking!

Elisa