Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease at least two cookie sheets with cooking spray.

Cookies: In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, and eggs. Using an electric mixer, beat the ingredients at medium speed until well blended.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk until well blended. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and use an electric mixer to beat at medium speed until smooth.

Coating: In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Roll the cookie dough into small balls the size of walnuts. Next roll each ball in the sugar and cinnamon mixture so it is coated all around. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. No need to flatten them, they will spread out by themselves.

Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven. Let cool on a rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Recipe idea: Serve while still warm, on a plate next to some french vanilla ice cream with caramel topping drizzled on top.

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

2 lbs chicken tenders or 4 large chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup whole milk
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoon butter

Crush crackers. If using chicken breasts and not tenders, cut each chicken breast into 3 large pieces. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the salt and pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Then press the cheesy coated chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in.

Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.

In a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

On a tinfoil lined baking pan, slice one lemon and layer it on top of the tinfoil. Place shrimp over lemon slices. Place one stick worth of sliced butter "pats" on top of the shrimp. Then sprinkle one pack of dried Italian or Creole seasoning. Put in the oven and bake at 350 for 15 min.

Recipe options: You can also substitute finely chopped garlic (for the dried Italian or Creole seasoning,) if you prefer garlic butter shrimp.


If you like to use "I can't believe it's not butter" instead of real butter, you can pour on one half of a cup of it melted, (1/2 Cup "ICBINB" equals 1 stick of real butter.) It melts very fast in the microwave, so watch it while it heats so it doesn't get a burnt taste.

This is a tasty quick meal idea for when you are busy:
If you put to boil one pot, about six to eight cups of water, before you begin getting the shrimp ready... after the shrimp is in the oven and the water has come to a boil:
You can remove two cups of the boiling water from the pot, carefully pouring it into a large glass measuring cup (glass preferably, so it doesn't melt like plastic might.)
Then you replace the remaining boiled water (in the pot) back on the stove, turn off the burner. Add frozen broccoli florets to the boiled water. Put the cover on and let it sit in the pot until the shrimp is done.

Brown Sugar Candied Bacon Recipe

8 ounces sliced bacon
1/2 -3/4 packed cup brown sugar
Don't preheat your oven.

Line a large baking sheet with tin foil.
Stick a rack on top. Set aside.

Scoop brown sugar into a long shallow baking dish (long enough to accommodate the bacon). Pat excess grease off strips of uncooked bacon with paper towels, then place bacon in brown sugar. Transfer sugary bacon strips onto rack nestled over your lined baking sheet. Pop bacon into the cold oven. Turn the heat to 350 degrees.

Flip bacon strips after 15 minutes in the oven. At this point, you'll want to check on the bacon every couple of minutes - it can quickly go from cooked to burned. I've found that my thin-cut bacon is done after 20-22 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on the thickness of your bacon - a thicker bacon should take an extra 5 minutes. When it's done, you want the bacon to be glistening with the sugar glaze. Let it cool on a rack and it will crisp up.

Homemade Samoas Bars (our FAVORITE Girl Scout cookie EVER!)

Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.

(recipe found on chefthisup)

Ingredients:
6 slices cooked crumbled bacon
6 cups broccoli florets (about 1 & 1/4 lb)
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup sunflower seeds


Dressing:
1/2 cup plain yogurt (low-fat, non-fat or whole milk)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. orange juice

Utensils:
Wire Whisk
Large spoon
Large skillet
Large mixing bowls
Shallow dish

While the bacon cooks, prep the broccoli. Wash well, pat the tops dry with a paper towel (if you have time to drain well in a colander, this is worth doing).
Place raisins in a shallow dish of hot water, cover and allow to plump.
Cut the broccoli into small bite-sized florets and discard the stalks.
Peel and mince the onion.
Set the crispy cooked bacon on paper towels to remove excess grease. Pat dry, allow to cool. Crumble bacon into small pieces.

In a large bowl, add the dressing ingredients. Use a wire whisk to blend thoroughly, whisking for 2-3 minutes or until a creamy consistency is reached. Toss in the broccoli, stirring until the sauce completely covers all the pieces, you really want to distribute it evenly.  Drain the excess water from the raisins and pat dry. Add the raisins, minced onions, sunflower seeds, walnuts and cooked crumbled bacon, distributing evenly. Use a large spoon to thoroughly combine all the ingredients.

Can be eaten right away but is best if left to sit for 2 - 3 hours, in the refrigerator, letting the dressing soften the broccoli and the flavors meld. Can be served cold or at room temperature at your table or gathering.

Recipe Alternative: You can use slivered almonds instead of chopped walnuts.