Chocolate Chip Cookies by Nat's friend

2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp soda

Mix, set aside

1 C butter
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C white sugar
2 eggs
cream, but not too much (That's what she wrote, go with it!)

Add 1 packet instant vanilla pudding powder mix (she didn't say, so I went with the small or half the big)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix a bit
Add dry stuff and chocolate chips (I have noticed that mini-chips are the best in these)

Bake 350 for at least 8 minutes, then watch carefully. She says to take them out when they barely start to turn brown, then leave on the cookie sheet another 4-6 minutes. I thought they were too flimsy (Not enough flour?), so I left them a little longer in the oven and less time on the sheet.

Cake Ball Goodness

God bless the woman who gave me this recipe. She made them for the nursery teachers as a thank you, and I dreamt about them for a week after I had snarfed down the last one. I seized the first opportunity I could to make them again when I helped throw a baby shower this week and made them as a party favor. They are a-ma-zing. It's less work than you'd think and good for any occasion, so without further ado, I give you cake balls:




1 package red velvet cake mix (Duncan Hines makes it)
1 can cream cheese frosting (I made it from scratch, needs to be 2 cups)
Chocolate bark

Make the cake in a 9x13" pan according to package. Cool it completely and crumble it into a bowl. You want the crumbles to be fairly small. Add the icing and mix it all together with a spoon.

Roll the cake into quarter-size balls and place on wax paper on a cookie sheet. I get about 60 balls, give or take a few, per cake mix. Refrigerate for several hours, or speed it up by placing it in the freezer.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave and use spoons to roll the chilled cake balls in the melted chocolate to cover completely. Place on wax paper and let chocolate harden. They can be stored in the fridge or at room temp in an airtight container. I prefer them cold. You can also dye white chocolate and drizzle it over the top for an added effect, though I didn't include a picture of that.

I originally used chocolate chips to dip the balls, but it was really thick and I didn't want to add too much butter because you want it to harden, so I bought chocolate bark at Krogers. You could definitely taste the difference in chocolate (Kroger chocolate bark isn't as good), but it coated easier. I don't think there's a right or wrong way.

~L

NY Black and

These were a hit at book club, for sure. They were very soft -- almost TOO soft to pick up off the tray and definitely too soft to layer on top of each other. I wonder if cooking them a smidge longer would help. Hard to frost, but I'm retarded. VERY tasty. Martha has a recipe for a mini-version that I'll post and we can compare, which, after all, is the purpose of this blog, right?

Martha's version:

1 1/4 c flour
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 TBS butter, room temp
1/2 sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c low-fat buttermilk (Do they make such a thing?)

Oven 350. Sift dry together. Mix butter until creamy, add sugar. Mix until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Mix in dry in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, drop onto baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until bottoms turn golden, about 10 minutes. She says to rotate sheets half-way through, but she's neurotic about this throughout the book.

Icing:
2 c powdered sugar
1 TBS plus 1 tsp light corn syrup
2 1/2 tsp lemon juice (think you could omit?)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 TBS water, plus more if needed
1 TBS cocoa

Whisk powdered sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and water in small bowl until smooth. Get it to a consistency slightly thicker than honey. Transfer half out. Stir coca into half; thin with water if needed. Frost white first?

The thing I liked about your recipe was the sour cream in the dough. We'll see if it matters...
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