Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've never been a cookie maker....or real baker for that matter. Although those are my passions, my favorites, I've always been much better at savory dishes. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, meatballs, sauce, gravy~I've got those down. But baking has always been my Achilles heel. And that's been heartbreaking for me. Homemade bread....never rises. Home baked cookies, flat and crunchy. Pie Crust, from a box because I still can't make it (did I mention I have a giant "How to Make the Perfect Pie Crust" print on my kitchen wall and I still can't get it right!). Cakes....lets not go there. {sigh}

So, I have a glass cookie jar. I've had it for nearly 20 years, before I ever of became mom. I always fill the cookie jar with home baked cookies. However, my cookies ALWAYS turned out flat, crunchy, crumbly and far from what I had hoped they'd turn out to be. Y'All it was embarrassing...

Until today....

The dear Lord has blessed me, yet again, with my saving grace of chocolate chip cookie recipes. These are the BEST cookies hands down, I'll never try another chocolate chip cookie recipe again, these will be my go to for the rest of my life and I'll pass this recipe down to my children and grandchildren....and sadly I've eaten like 6 so far; they are that good. So if you like soft batch cookies, the kind of cookies where the chocolate seems to melt with each bite, then you must give these a try!

But I have to say before you try this recipe, just know for the wanna be bakers like me out there, it isn't always our fault. I follow directions to the exact, but sometimes all it takes is a tiny tweak to make it work for me. There are so many ways people make recipes with their own little secrets and they have that secret to make it taste heavenly and flawless....so just know, the recipe books are not always 100%. So please don't give up, have fun trying and learning! 

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

14 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature

{notice how its not 2 sticks...don't use the whole 2 sticks!}

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

{this is not a typo, I promise}

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour 

2 tsp flour

{again, not a typo, trust me}

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
(if you are using salted butter, omit adding salt)

1 bag chocolate chips, any kind you like

Preheat your oven to 350

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and both sugars until creamy

Add eggs one at a time until well blended

Add vanilla and mix well

Add 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda and salt all at once

Mix until well blended

Add your 2 TBSP flour and mix well

Fold in your chocolate chips

Using a cookie scoop or teaspoon, make a ball out of your chocolate chip cookie dough and place on your cookie sheet. Allow some room for the cookie to spread. The smaller the cookie
 (1 round tsp), the more airy and soft it'll be. The larger the cookie, the more it'll spread and you run the risk of crispy cookies!

Bake for 10 minutes, or longer if you need to. 

{all ovens vary, do what works best for you}

I hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

Happy Baking, Y'All!!!

This recipe was found and adapted from this link: 

http://www.thebakingchocolatess.com/omg-soft-batch-chocolate-chip-cookies-pure-nirvana/

S'Mores Teacher Valentine's Day Gift

I absolutely love homemade and handmade gifts. I found a pin on Pinterest that allowed me to do both for my daughters teachers this Valentines Day. Instead of a card and chocolates we made these super cute "I Love You S'More" jars for her teachers.

S'Mores Jar

16oz latch jar or mason jar for gifting

1- 11.4oz bag Valentine's M&M's

1- 10oz Honey Teddy Grahams

1- 160z bag mini Marshmallows

Construction Paper, Ribbon

In a large mixing bowl add M&M's, Teddy Grahams and Mini Marshmallows

Let your child mix ingredients together with a scoop or large wide mouth spoon

Let your child scoop combined mixture into latch jars or mason jars. 

**Mixture obviously makes a lot. We made double the recipe and it filled 3 jars

 and had plenty left over for our cookie jar to snack on.**

Cut hearts with construction paper and let your child write "Love You S'More"

 and their name on the heart.

{I love the idea of handwritten cards for the jars instead of printing or typing something. It shows that your child played a part in crafting this gift for them. My daughter is in Pre-K and I find her handwriting makes me smile...shows just how small she is}

Punch hole in corner and tie heart on jar with the ribbon.

And there you have it. And easy and fairly cheap Valentine's Day Teacher Gift.

Have a blessed Valentine's Day!

This idea came from the blog and link found on Pinterest. See original recipe here!

http://www.anightowlblog.com/2013/02/smores-mason-jar-valentines.html/

Sweet Blueberry Biscuits

I'm a tad obsessed with Nordic Ware. Especially nifty little pans that make your food look so pretty, people think you spent hours crafting it to perfection. Truth be told, I spent 15 minutes prepping and about 15 minutes baking these delicious Sweet Blueberry Biscuits. The pan did all the pretty work for me, and I get to sit back and take credit with all the oohs and awes of how beautifully delicious these biscuits look. 

Pan from Nordic Ware provides swirls and beautiful details! 

{Swoon}

https://www.nordicware.com/store/product_detail/cinnamon-bun-pull-aparts#.VqAeSfkrLIU

Click on link  above to purchase this pan for some seriously beautiful baking!

Sweet Blueberry Biscuits

GLAZE

1 cup powder sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

BISCUITS

2 cups all purpose flour 

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

2 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup FROZEN blueberries

~1/2 stick melted butter~

Begin by making your glaze. In a small bowl add powder sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir all 3 ingredients until powder sugar has dissolved.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

For the biscuits: add all the dry ingredients {flour,baking powder, salt and sugar}

 Mix well in a large bowl.

Cut in butter and cream cheese using a pastry blender or fork until pea sized

Slowly stir in your buttermilk until your dough no longer sticks to the bowl

Mix until blended well

Prepare a large area for kneading. Sprinkle some flour on a large cutting board or counter top.

Put dough on floured surface and sprinkle top of dough with a little more flour

Press the dough out to 1/2" thickness

Place frozen blueberries over dough and begin to fold dough over the blueberries. 

**I used a dough scraper for this step, as the blueberries like to roll off and its just easier to fold over when the dough is full.**

Knead it a few times and keep it about 1" thick. 

(Unless you are using a pan like mine from Nordic Ware)

Cut biscuits using a biscuit cutter or cup

Place biscuits in a well coated pan using Bakers Joy or some sort of non-stick cooking spray.

Bake at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes

When you put the biscuits in the oven, melt the 1/2 stick butter 

At 6 minutes into your bake, take biscuits out of the oven and brush the melted 1/2 stick butter over them, making sure to get the edges well.

Return to oven to finish out baking process

Once the biscuits are done, take them out of the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

If you are making these biscuits as traditional cut biscuits, after 10 minutes add the glaze.

If you are making these biscuits using the Nordic Ware pan, turn over onto pan and make sure top is baked as desired. If not, return to oven for a few more minutes (mine took about 3 more minutes)

Once cooled for 10 minutes after last bake, add your glaze.

Enjoy!!!

This recipe was adapted by  AC @ See.Try.Eat

Try it, you'll LOVE it!!