Tips for cooking

So here is a link on making Vanilla Extract it will help you save money and have lots of Vanilla Extract for cooking so here you are http://tidymom.net/2012/recipe-for-vanilla/

Next  tip is Ingredient Substitutions you hopefully will find this line useful Ingredient Substitutions

And here is another good page to keep or print out. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Bulletins/measurement_equivalents.html

Also here is a link for an online stopwatch http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

Ok thats enough tips for now more soon

Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

OK these are very yummy and not to hard to make and there are many thing you can do the change them to your taste.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup peanut butter 1/3 cup margarine, softened 2/3 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONs:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
2.	In a medium bowl, cream together peanut butter and margarine. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended.
3.	Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool, and cut into 16 squares. One thing you can do is add chocolate chips half a cup or even a full cup. When it comes to chocolate chips I'd go with Ghirardelli. The pic is with chocolate chips

Almond Cookies

So i was trying to make something else and some how made Almond Cookies but there good so here is what i did.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Melt butter in a saucepan, remove from heat.

Stir in brown sugar.

Stir in egg, beating well.

Add dry ingredients, and mix well.

Stir in almond extract

Use a teaspoon or a cookie scoop and make little balls and place on your cookie sheet. I use parchment paper on my sheets make for easier clean up and helps them not to stick to the sheets. Or you can place in a pan and make bars if you want you can also add nuts to the mix or place on top.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

I made bars myself here is what mine looked like yum.

 

Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies

So this is a fast way to do Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies. Your going to use a cake mix for this recipe. If i use box cake mix i tend to sift mix a bit i feel it really helps but it could just be in my head.

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix 1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs 2 cups butterscotch chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.	Combine cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Add butterscotch chips and mix well.
3.	Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto unreleased cookie sheets.
4.	Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the center is just set. Let stand 2 minutes.
5.	Remove to wire rack to cool completely. I have a small cookie scoop that i use i have 3 different sizes. I also use parchment paper on my cookie sheets just so much easier.This is a fun thing to do with the kids and you can Dr it up a bit if you want but it just speeds things up.

Vanilla Pudding

I found this recipe and made a few changes to make it richer 

• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 2 medium eggs
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• 4 teaspoons vanilla

Get out a 2 or 3 quart saucepan. In it combine the sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in the milk & cream. I use a whisk to make sure the cornstarch doesn't lump. If the milk is cold, so much the better, cornstarch dissolves most completely in cold liquids. Heat the pudding over medium heat. You will have to stir it a lot. Maybe not constantly, but darn close to it. Keep stirring it until it boils. Then count to 60, so that it boils for a full minute. The pudding will thicken up considerably as it cooks.Next crack your egg into a cereal bowl. Ladle a bit of the hot pudding into the bowl with the egg. Stir the egg up pretty fast (so it doesn't cook in the hot pudding) until it is well incorporated. Then scrape this egg/pudding mixture back into the saucepan. Whisk it up smooth. Bring the pudding back to a boil and then remove it from the stove. Drop in the margarine and measure in the vanilla. Stir the margarine in until it melts. I place the pudding into a cold metal bowl and then put into the refrigerator wait a day it taste so much better after sitting for 24 hours but that's your call can be hard to wait lol

Cream Cheese Brownies

These are great Brownies I've done these 2 different ways I'll post them both you can try them both and see which one you like better.

here is the first way 

FIRST BATTER: --------------------

1 1/3 cupsSemisweet chocolate

6 tablespoonButter or margarine

1 cupFlour

4 largeEggs

1 1/2 cupsSugar

2 teaspoonsVanilla

1 teaspoonBaking Powder

1/2 teaspoonSalt

SECOND BATTER: --------------------

6 ounceCream cheese

1/2 cupSugar

2 largeEggs

2 tablespoonFlour

1 teaspoonVanilla

Cream Cheese Brownies Preparation

Preheat oven to 350?

You will be making two mixtures for this recipe. The first batter will be with chocolate and the second will be with cream cheese.

FIRST BATTER--------

Melt chocolate and butter on low heat, set aside to cool.

Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix till smooth and add cooled chocolate and butter.

SECOND BATTER-----

With mixer, mix cream cheese , sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla in separate bowl.

You now have two separate mixtures. Pour half of chocolate batter into 9 x 13 greased pan.

Pour all of cream cheese mixture evenly over first chocolate layer. Pour remaining chocolate batter evenly over cream cheese batter. With a knife, slice through all layers of batter several times to marbleize brownie mix.

Bake at 350? for 35-40 minutes. 



OK now for the second way to do this if you don't have Semisweet chocolate.


FIRST BATTER: --------------------

2 cups white sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

SECOND BATTER: --------------------

6 ounceCream cheese

1/2 cupSugar

2 largeEggs

2 tablespoonFlour

1 teaspoonVanilla

Cream Cheese Brownies Preparation

Preheat oven to 350?

You will be making two mixtures for this recipe. The first batter will be with chocolate and the second will be with cream cheese.

FIRST BATTER: --------------------

Melt the butter or margarine and mix all ingredients in the order given.

SECOND BATTER:-----

With mixer, mix cream cheese , sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla in separate bowl.

You now have two separate mixtures. Pour half of chocolate batter into 9 x 13 greased pan.

Pour all of cream cheese mixture evenly over first chocolate layer. Pour remaining chocolate batter evenly over cream cheese batter. With a knife, slice through all layers of batter several times to marbleize brownie mix.

Bake at 350? for 35-40 minutes. 

So if your going to do the recipe with  Semisweet chocolate I'd use ghirardelli Semisweet chocolate.

let me know how you liked it and which one you liked better and why thanks

welcome

Well this is my blog about cooking and food. A place to post recipes and talk about them and places to eat more to come soon.