C is for ...

COOKIE! That's good enough for me!

Some days you just want a good ole chocolate chip cookie. Soft on the outside. Chewy on the inside. Buttery. Sweet. That's exactly what this cookie is. But with a bit of a bite since it has chopped pecans. A nice little twist on something so classic.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour 

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter (a little colder than room temperature)

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

3/4 granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

• Sift flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
• In a mixer, beat butter until soft.
• Add brown and granulated sugar to the mixer.
• Beat until smooth and combined.
• Add eggs one at a time. Then the vanilla.
• Slowly add in the sifted dry ingredients. Start on a slow speed and add about a cup at a time.
  Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl in between.
• Add the chocolate chips in 2 batches, making sure its evenly dispersed.
• Lastly blend in chocolate chips
• Refrigerate cookie dough for at least 2 hours. Can even be done over night.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Scoop 1-2 tbsp of dough for each cookie. Separating each cookie about 3 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet.
  For uniform cookies, you can use a small ice cream/cookie scoop.
• Bake for 9 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

beat butter 

after mixing butter & sugar, add dry ingredients   

after mixing butter, sugar, & the dry ingredients together ... 

then you can add your chocolate chips 

and lastly the pecans 

take out your refrigerated dough & place dollops on a lined cookie sheet 

after 9 or so minutes they look like this!

Welcome Back

I'm a terrible blogger! I have been missing for quite awhile.
So, let's skip all the blah blah blahs and lets jump right in.

Strawberry Pecan Bars

INGREDIENTS
4 sticks of butter (room temperature)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
1 1/4 cup pecans (chopped)
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 cup chopped strawberries

• Butter two 9x9 pan. Preheat oven to 350degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl or mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth.
• Mix in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
• Slowly mix in the flour (1 cup at a time). Scrape batter from the sides & bottom of the bowl before adding the next cup of flour.
• Once the flour is completely incorporated, add in 1 cup of the chopped pecans.
• Half the batter mixture. One half will be the bottom of the bars & the other half will be the "crumb" topping.
• Spread the already halved mixture between the two baking pans to create the bottom of the bars.
• With the remaining batter that has been set aside for the crumb topping, mix in 1 cup of oatmeal and 1/4 cup of pecans set aside.
• Mix the strawberry jam and chopped strawberries together in a small bowl.
• Spread the strawberry mixture over the batter of the 2 baking dishes.
• To add the crumb topping, place dollops of the batter over the strawberry spread.
• Bake for 30 minutes at 350degrees or until the top is golden brown.
• Let the bars cool for 10 minutes. Slice. Serve (with ice cream of course!)

I clearly forgot to take some pictures along the way. Like I said, I'm a bad blogger.