Cheese Ball Favorites!

I love cream cheese and love party food, so here you go!

Chocolate Chip/Dessert Cheese Ball
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup toffee bits (haven't tried with these yet but saw it and thought it has to be a great idea)
1. In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in confectioners' sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours (if in a rush you can skip this first chill step).
2. Shape chilled cream cheese mixture into a ball. Wrap with plastic, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
3. Roll the cheese ball in finely chopped pecans and toffee bits before serving.
**Serve with nilla wafers, graham crackers, teddy grahams, shortbread cookies, etc.

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
• 16 ounces softened cream cheese
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cooked and chopped bacon
• 2 Tbsp DRY Ranch Dressing mix
• ¼ cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup chopped pecans
In medium bowl combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, ranch mix, and green onions. Mix well and form into a ball. Roll cheese ball in pecans and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
**Serve with ritz, Triscuits, chicken in a biscuits, rice crackers, saltines etc.

Reese's -I actually haven't tried this yet, but it was a request
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
• 1/2 cup Reese's Pieces
1. In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar and butter together until combined. Then add in the cream cheese and peanut butter and beat until combined. The beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla until combined.
2. Stir in the chopped peanut butter cups.
3. Place the mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap. Bring up all the corners of the plastic wrap and wrap into a ball. Freeze the ball for about 1 1/2 hours or until it is firm enough to keep its shape.
4. Place the Reese's Pieces on a flat plate and roll the unwrapped cheese ball in the Reese's Pieces. Make sure to press the Reese's Pieces into the cheese ball until it is fully covered.
5. Place the ball on a serving dish, cover with plastic wrap and freeze the cheese ball for another 2 hours or overnight. If frozen overnight, thaw for 20-30 minutes before serving. Serve with Vanilla Wafers, pretzels, graham crackers, fruit, or other cookies.

Meatball Soup

I have a dear friend (thanks Lynzi!) that made the soup that serves as the base to the recipe below. It's always been a favorite, but over time I've made some changes. Added more ingredients and increased the quantity. Here is where it stands now. It's an excellent and simple and easy soup to make and it always hits the spot. You should be able to get 6-8 servings out of this easily.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 onion, diced
3 ribs celery
2 carrots, diced
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 zucchini, diced
2 cans tomatoes, undrained
4 cans chicken broth (approx. 8 cups)
1 cup pasta
35 meatballs
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper TT

In a large pot on medium-high heat, saute the onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil, until onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the broth and tomatoes. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Let cook for at least 20 minutes, or longer if you so desire. I've had this on a simmer all day before. I just cooked the noodles separately and added upon serving.

Microwave Score: 4-if pasta is included, the next day it will be softer.
Freezer Score: never have enough leftovers to freeze
Jake Score: 4.5, once I added more meatballs he was a happy camper.
Overall Score: 4.5-easy, yummy, healthy, just wish I could have pasta that doesn't get mushy over the next day or so.

Larissa's chocolate chip cookies

Alright guys. So here's the deal. Since I got married I've probably tried over 30 chocolate chip recipes trying to find one that I love. I am 100% a gooey cookie person, none of that crunchy crap for me thank you very much.
I got this recipe from a dear friend about a year ago, and our lives have not been the same since. You think I am exaggerating? I promise you, I am not.

Forewarning. I've done this recipe probably 30 times in the last year, maybe more. There are a lot of brand specific ingredients in my recipe. Can you make these cookies with general brand products? Of course. Do they taste as good? Not even close. I wasn't a brand snob before I got married, but since then I've realized that you just can't substitute quality. So there you have it. I hope you give this recipe a try and love it like we have!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups softened Tillamook unsalted butter (letting the butter soften on it's own is best. If you have to microwave it do NOT let it get too runny. The cookies will not turn out right)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
4 1/4 cup Bob's red Mill flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 bag Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

Combine all wet ingredients and blend to perfection. In separate bill mix dry ingredients together, then slowly add to wet mixture. Once it is all combined, add other chocolate chips. The dough should be very "fluffy".

Roll in balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Search

I am officially on the mission for the best chocolate chip cookies, and I’ve decided to figure it out on my own. So below will be my work in progress recipe. Our family inspiration are these cookies once made by our old the stake Relief Society president who used to be a baker, so getting the recipe is out of the question. These cookies were HUGE. I mean big and fat and so perfectly chewy and yet cooked all the way through (at least enough not to kill us) and perfectly chocolaty. Now, since I don't really know where to start, I figured I’d start with the best, most well-known recipe out there, Toll House. They haven't been working for me out here in Utah. For whatever reason, no matter how, many times I make them, they are flat and crispy...yuck! I have another recipe from a family friend that makes delicious cookies, but they have oatmeal in them and hubby doesn't like the texture of oatmeal in cookies, sigh. So, I compared her basic dough portion of the recipe and adjusted the Toll House recipe to the below. These cookies are YUMMY and so soft and chewy, but hubby requests fatter cookies, so on to the kitchen!

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool some on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Hot Fudge Sauce

A couple weeks ago we decided to have brownie sundaes for dessert! I decided to make some hot fudge sauce. I wasn't at home so I had to contact every female in my family for this recipe. I decided to add it here so I have a quick way to get it when I'm not with my recipe book. I have also decided to share my PB sauce for ice cream as well.

Ingredients:
6 oz chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
Melt in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir until thickened, about 5 mins.



PB Sauce
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c creamy peanut butter (or more TT)
4 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
Melt in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir until thickened, about 5 mins.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Roll

No joke, this is Jake's most favorite thing in the world. He BEGS for it all the time. I promised him it would always be his birthday cake, but roll cakes just take a lot of prep time that I don't always have, so he doesn't get it as much as he wants. I made it another time last year, and it was the best surprise.
This is a couple different recipes I combined. I got the filling from one place, but the cake did not turn out. I was not a fan at all so I found another cake recipe.

INGREDIENTS
FOR THE CAKE:
Baking Spray with Flour
5 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
FOR THE FILLING & TOPPING:
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons + 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
7 regular size Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped (about 1 cup chopped)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Make the cake: Heat oven to 350°F. Line 15x10-inch jelly roll pan with wax paper. Coat with non-stick cooking spray with flour.
Beat egg yolks in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar. Add flour, cocoa, and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Beat egg whites in small bowl until stiff, but not dry. Fold into chocolate mixture. Spread evenly in prepared pan.
Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Invert pan onto towel dusted with powdered sugar. Remove wax paper. Roll up with a towel from the short end. Cool completely.
Make the Filling: beat cream cheese and peanut butter with a hand mixer until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar until crumbly, then add vanilla and 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream. Mix until smooth and a spreadable consistency, adding up to 2 additional tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped peanut butter cups.
Assemble Cake: Unroll the cooled cake carefully and then spread the filling on the cake, leaving 1” without filling at either end. Re-roll cake, scooping out any filling that spills out as you roll. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour before frosting.
Make the topping: place chocolate chips and 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Microwave for about 30-60 seconds, then whisk until smooth. Chill for about 20 minutes or freeze for 10, until it thickens to a pourable but not watery consistency.
Place cake roll on a wire rack set over a cookie sheet. Pour the ganache over the cake evenly. Top with remaining chopped peanut butter cups. Chill until set. Slice and serve.
May be stored, wrapped in plastic, in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.

Microwave Score: N/A

Freezer Score: N/A

Jake Score: 5-See above

Overall Score: 4.5 timing...the whole wait for it to completely cool thing and make sure the filling sets inside the cake after you put it all together, and then wait for the ganache to cool after you pour it, ugh. Who wants to wait for dessert?

Perfect Biscuits

I love bread. That is all. Here is an easy yummy biscuit recipe. The blog gave me a tip that I followed and it worked perfectly! That picture is of MY biscuits!!!
"The secret to excellent biscuits is COLD BUTTER. Really cold. Many times the biscuit dough gets worked so much that the butter softens before the biscuits even go in the oven. Try cutting the butter into small pieces and stick back in the fridge pulling out only when ready to incorporate into the dough."

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cream of tartar
¾ cup COLD butter
1 egg
1 cup milk

Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Combine the dry ingredients and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in. Don't go too crazy here - you want to see small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough. i had some big chunks and was worried, but it made them flakier!
Add in the milk and egg and mix just until the ingredients are combined. The dough will be sticky but don't keep working it. You should be able to see the butter pieces in the dough.
Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on to the top of dough so it won't stick to your fingers and knead 10-15 times. If the dough is super sticky just sprinkle some additional flour.
Roll or pat the dough out to ¾ - 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or glass or jar lid . s. Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 10-12 biscuits (I got 16, so size kinda matters here).

Microwave Score: N/A
Freezer Score: N/A
Jake Score: 5 Said they were great!
Overall Score: 5...because that is how many I ate with dinner and honey butter last night.

http://www.momontimeout.com/2012/05/perfect-biscuits-every-time-recipe/#_a5y_p=3754492