Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle

I have officially been at Decatur General for a little over a month now, and I absolutely LOVE it! Nothing is better than living your dream and fulfilling the plans that God created you to do. I can have the worst day on the planet, but because one patient tells me that I made a difference all that is erased. Knowing that I can make a difference by caring for others is one of my loves, and I am grateful to live in a country where I can do just that.

Over the past 5 days, I have been quite the baker. I made 2 batches of the Golden Oreo Cake Batter Blondies. One for a get together and another to take to work. Have a mentioned that I LOVE my job? AND my co-workers. I knew this week would be filled with goodies galore, so when I thought about what to make for our lifegroup tonight, what better than something easy and more than likely already had the ingredients for.

I found this recipe from A Whisk and a Prayer. I have made this recipe a couple of times, but I always like to add a little spin on it to make it more "mine."

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

What you will need:
1 cup softened butter
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips or any chips of your choice
optional: nuts, rainbow sprinkles(my FAVORITE garnish for anything sweet)

*I also added 4 pinches of brown sugar*

Mix the butter and vanilla together. Once they are combined, add in the salt, sugar, flour, chips, and any other toppings you chose.

Here is what is looks like all combined in my lovely red mixer. The batter is going to be a little thick. This is normal for the cookie brittle. 

Spray your baking sheet with Pam, and spread the dough completely on the sheet. I find it easier to use my Tupperware rubber spatula to flatten the dough and spread it out easier. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
*Make sure you check the brittle at around 15 minutes*

Wait for it to cool completely, and then remove in pieces from the baking sheet. I hope you enjoy this!

What extra toppings did you add to your cookie brittle?

Chicken and Dumpling Bake

Happy Monday my blog followers!
Let me tell you, once I walked that stage on May 5th I have hit the grown up world running. July 4 was my first day off in about a month, and I loved the sweet taste of freedom. No puns :) So Thursday when I had day #2 off, I was antsy. In my previous blog, I mentioned that a precious co-worker's FIL brought us Mexican for lunch one day. I had to pay her back somehow, but which recipe to choose? Luckily, she made it easy for me.

What better than chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes? I took those to work this past Friday, and all of the nurses and techs were VERY pleased :) Always makes my day to know I make tummies happy.

After I finished the cupcakes, I knew that the hubs and I were low of meals, and we had the ingredients for chicken and dumplings that we hadn't used yet.

Chicken and Dumpling Bake:
2-3 lbs chicken breasts
10 oz bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of 10 biscuits

My chicken breasts were frozen, and my waterless cookware cooked them in about 15 minutes. You can't get any better than that :) After the chicken was thoroughly cooked, I preheated my oven to 425 and cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces.

Spray your casserole dish with Pam or any other nonstick spray. In a large bowl, mix the chicken, soup, salt and pepper, and frozen vegetables. Once they are thoroughly mixed, pour into the casserole dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Halfway through the bake time, place the biscuits on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for the remaining 15 minutes or until golden brown. After the 30 minutes are complete, remove the casserole dish from the oven and place the biscuits on top.

I finished this recipe right at the minute that I needed to leave to go in for my last shift at Victoria's Secret, so I did not get a taste and I yet have had the chance. BUT my precious husband brought my repaired rings to the store and told me that the dish was incredible!! I am always thankful to know that I can cook dishes that he loves and asks for again. I didn't come into our relationship cooking. It is something that I picked up and really wanted to learn to do because I feel like its my duty as a wife. Chris is a fabulous cook, and I will always appreciate him stepping out of the kitchen for me to give this a try. I have fallen in love with baking and cooking and I know I have God and him to thank for that.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I have been working at the hospital for 3 weeks now, and I have SO missed baking!! This past Sunday, a co-worker mentioned Mexican for lunch. Her sweet father in law brought it to us, and they wouldn't let me pay them back. What better payback than yummy chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes? Answer:nothing.

I went this morning to get the ingredients.

Cake:
1 box sugar free yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water

I added chocolate chunks to my cake batter. I added around 1 cup. 

Bake the cupcakes on 325 for 19-23 minutes. Mine were perfect at 19 minutes.

While those are baking, you need to make the eggless cookie dough.

Cookie Dough:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup butter
1 TBSP vanilla
4 TBSP milk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar

Mix thoroughly and then add chocolate chunks. I added 1 bag(11.5 oz) of chocolate chunks.

When the cupcakes have cooled, cut a circle in the top and remove the center. You will need to trim the top that you removed once you have filled the center with you cookie dough.

After your 2 dozen yummy cupcakes are filled, add about 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream to the remaining cookie dough. Use this as your frosting :) I can't even begin to tell you how delicious this is!