sweet treats

I have been wanting to post this recipe for some time now. Look at these!



They are so good! Trust me...I'm pregnant!
I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

•2 cups Butter, Divided
•¾ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
•2-¾ cups Granulated White Sugar, Divided
•1 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
•3-¼ cups All-purpose Flour, Divided
•3 whole Eggs
•½ teaspoons Salt
•½ teaspoons Baking Powder
•4 Tablespoons Milk
•3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract, Divided
•2-½ cups Mini Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips, Divided
•1 Tablespoon Shortening, Such As Crisco

For Brownies:

1 c. butter
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prepare 13X13 baking pan by laying a piece of foil in the bottom and up the sides. Spray with cooking spray or butter the foil.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a medium saucepan; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add sugar, salt, eggs, and vanilla; beat with a spoon until combined. Add flour and baking powder; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (I always remove my brownies from the oven when a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the side of the pan comes out clean or almost clean.) Allow brownies to cool completely before moving on to the next step.

For Cookie Dough Filling:

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and cream together. Add flour and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in an even layer on top of cooled brownies. Chill before adding chocolate glaze.

For Chocolate Glaze:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. Crisco shortening

Melt chocolate with shortening and stir until smooth. Spread over chilled cookie dough layer.

When I made these the second time, I skipped the foil part and just buttered the baking dish with perfect results. I made these as written, but did the chocolate glaze layer a little differently. I made a ganache by meting the chocolate chips with enough cream to get it to spreading/pouring consistency. Anyway, they really rich but good!

A couple of weeks ago we stopped to get donuts after church.



We really wanted donuts from Spaldings...a fantastic hole in the wall, non-chain donut shop, but the line was out the door when we drove past. Instead we got Krispy Kreme and their "HOT" sign was on and they sucked us into getting a dozen instead of just 6.

Grubby little hands were all over them!


Warm donuts....yum!


Apparently, they were close your eyes good!

a little fun on the fourth

To celebrate the 4th of July we got a few fireworks for the boys this year. They were SO excited but didn't even really know what to expect. We did the fireworks on the evening of the 3rd. While we waited for it to get dark the boys ran around catching fireflies.



They started off with some "snap-its" and loved the noise they made when they threw them at the ground.



Time for the "big" stuff:)







On the 4th we were invited to a cookout and fireworks at our friend's house. In addition to fresh berries and jalapeno poppers (similiar recipe here), I made a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. It was festive and good:)





Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 stick Butter
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoons Almond Extract
1 whole Egg
1-¼ cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, light brown sugar, and extracts on medium speed until well combined. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides combined. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg. Blend on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and combine on low speed until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Put the batter into a greased and floured 10-inch round cake pan. Smooth the batter into an even layer and bake until lightly golden and puffy around the edges (the center should still feel quite soft), 18 – 22 minutes. Cool for 4 hours before cutting. Store in a cake carrier or simply wrap the cake pan in cellophane.

I pretty much made the recipe as is except maybe added a few more chocolate chips...I used the mini ones and baked it my springform pan and it came out of the pan perfectly!

We had a very nice holiday weekend!

happy b-day

to my "older" (wink**wink**) husband!!

The boys wanted to make a special dessert for Daddy and we talked about making him a giant chocolate ship cookie because he loves cookies so much. But we couldn't tell him because we wanted to keep it a surprise. After we decided on it, X asked Steve at dinner a few days before, what his favorite dessert was.

Steve: Well, I like eclair cake...
X: What else?
Steve: I really like berry cobbler...
X: Is there anything else?
Steve: Well.... I like chocolate chip cookies!
X: (smiling huge)Well, I am not not going to nod my head...
Steve: So I guess it will have to be a big surprise then!

So as a big surprise we made Steve this



Xavier helped me make the cookie dough. After that, he helped to clean up by doing this


and this



He also helped to choose the right blue.



It was a nice day. By chance Steve had the day off. He and Dax went to get haircuts.



We fed the kids early and then had a "date" and made homemade crab cakes and scallops for dinner and had his special cookie for dessert.



I asked Steve if he wanted a candle and at first he refused. I asked him if he was sure about that. After all, you only get to have a birthday wish once a year...he reconsidered and blew out the candle. At what point do the candles stop being better than the cake??? Not yet... although the cookie was delicious!!



***We just used the regular Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe and added pecans. I then spread about 2/3 of the dough on a pizza pan and baked it at 325 until it looked done. I used a cookie scoop on the rest of the dough, put them on parchmant and stuck them in the freezer to harden. After I remembered that they were in the freezer, I took them off the parchamet and stuck them into a ziplock freezer bag to bake later. I have made a giant cookie before using all the the dough and it was BIG disaster, with dough oozing over the pan and all over the oven. Lesson learned there!! My MIL also has made this with the chocolate chip cookie bar recipe with good results.

happy valentine's day

It was a busy crafting week here at the Noe place. Xavier made valentines for school. Of course we had to do Batman ones:)


There was not room to write the names on the back of these valentines when you are just learning to write so we improvised and had room for a sucker:)

We were also hosting the Valentine Party for playgroup so we made even more valentines.


Dax wrote his name on every one himself!

We saw an idea for Xavier's valentines online and had fun making these together.


It says "Have an a"maze"ing Valentine's Day!

We put up some decorations upstairs and downstairs.


Everyone brought snacks to share and made little valentine holders at the party as a craft




and then decorated cupcakes.

My friend sent me the link for these cupcakes and they turned out so cute. You can find that here.




The real trick to it is to make sure to insert the tip of the baggie or pastry bag down into the cupcake and then squeeze. They were fun!!

After the party we delivered cupcakes and valentines to my friend who does story time at the library as the boys and I just love her!!

After that we took some quick valentine pictures. Not everyone was happy about all the ice and wind.


Dax had just fallen and claimed that the wind had done it!!

Xavier has his school party on Tuesday as it was supposed to be last Thurs. but many of the children didn't bring in their valentines because the weather was so bad on Tues and Wed. they could not go out to get them. And so the love fest continues:)

"b" is 4 brownie...

I have been on a bit of a brownie kick here lately. It all started last Sunday when the boys and I found 2 new brownie recipes to make.... technically, it started when my friend brought along some fantastic chocolate chip cookie/brownie bars with fudge ganache last Friday for a little play date. (You can find that recipe here...thanks Denisha!!)

The first recipe we made was for these babies from Martha Stewart.



Rocky Road Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped nuts, such as cashews, pecans, or walnuts

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper.
2.In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, combine butter and 1 cup chocolate chips. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted, 3 to 5 minutes.
3.Remove mixture from heat; stir in sugars and salt, then eggs, and finally flour, stirring just until combined. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes.
4.Remove from oven, and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips, then marshmallows and nuts. Bake until chocolate is shiny and marshmallows are puffed, about 5 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift cake onto a work surface; cut into 16 squares.

They were very good although I made a small error and didn't thoroughly read the instructions and added the whole bag of chocolate chips instead of a cup! I had to break out another bag to use on top! Ooops. They were dense and fudgey....probably due to the additional chocolate chips!

The second recipe we made was for something called Brownie Pudding. This was from the Tasty Kitchen site. This is a vintage recipe.



Brownie Pudding
½ cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
⅓ cups Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Cocoa, Divided
¼ cups Milk
1 Tablespoon Melted Butter
½ teaspoons Vanilla
¼ packages Crushed Walnuts (optional)
½ cups Brown Sugar
•¾ cups Boiling Water

Mix flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt, and one tablespoon cocoa. Then add the milk, butter, and vanilla. Mix until smooth, add nuts (reserve some for sprinkling), and pour into the greased baking dish. Mix the brown sugar and the remaining two tablespoons of cocoa together then sprinkle over the batter. Also sprinkle a little bit of nuts over it, and then pour the boiling water over the top.
Bake at 350F for thirty to forty minutes, then cool before serving

After you pour the hot water on them...


After baking.


This recipe was certainly interesting and a bit odd in preparation but Steve really liked them. He liked them more than I did. I used about 1/3 cup of pecans that I chopped in the food processor. They contributed to an "oatmeal" type texture and the brownies tasted really salty to me. If I make these again, I would definitely cut down on the salt to maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. They have hardly any butter and no eggs but they were very moist. They did lack they full flavor, fudgy texture of their counterparts but certainly would do in a pinch!

On Wednesday evening I made my go to recipe for homemade brownies to take to a friend's house on Thursday. I topped them with mini marshmallows, Valentine plain m&m's and mini chocolate chips and stuck them back in the oven for a few minutes to puff the marshmallows. They were so festive and cute!! Regrettably, I didn't get any pictures. Here is the recipe:

Hershey's Best Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

If I have some chocolate chips on hand, I almost always throw some in the batter for an extra chocolate boost. Also, I really watch them closely as to not over bake so they are moist and fudgy.

The 4th and final recipe I made last night when we had some friends over for beef and shrimp fajitas. In sticking with the Mexican theme I found a recipe for Dulce de Leche Brownies and just had to make them!!

Look at these!!! The caramel didn't melt into the brownie but rather made little caramel pockets throughout.



Dulce de Leche Brownies

8 tablespoons (115g) salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup (25g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140g) flour
optional: 1 cup (100 g) toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup Dulce de Leche (or Cajeta)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C).

Line a 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with a long sheet of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and reaches up the sides. If it doesn't reach all the way up and over all four sides, cross another sheet of foil over it, making a large cross with edges that overhang the sides. Grease the bottom and sides of the foil with a bit of butter or non-stick spray.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate pieces and stir constantly over very low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, then the flour. Mix in the nuts, if using.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Here comes the fun part.
Drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then drag a knife through to swirl it slightly. Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the Dulce de Leche slightly.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The brownies are done when the center feels just-slightly firm. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

I used Ghiradelli semi sweet chips and made my own Dulce de Leche by gently boiling an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk (label removed) for 3 hours on the stove. I checked it often to be sure that the water stayed high enough to come to the top of the can. Cool completely and then open the can. Inside you will find a delicious caramel. I have heard that it can explode if you let the pan boil dry. If you think this sounds risky....just try it, the brownies are totally worth it. Refrigerate any leftover caramel, or simply eat the remainder with a spoon!! This is definitely up there with my favorite brownie recipe!

goodbye december

We certainly enjoyed you!!


I have one last recipe to share this year. I had been looking for a new sugar cookie recipe that tasted like a sugar cookie that we made all the time growing up called "Mary's Sugar Cookies" but that held its shape better for cutouts. I think I finally found it on Tasty Kitchen of course:) You can find it here.
And her icing is dynamite too. Found here. (Thanks Amanda!)

my big boy turns 5!!!

Xavier turning 5 was a big deal to both he AND I! For him, it means really being a big boy and closer to loosing his teeth (which he is pretty much obsessed with but has zero loose teeth). For me, it means that he is no longer my baby and that he is closer to growing into too big of a boy. The fact that I can still lift him and cuddle him are 2 things that I will sadly miss when they are gone!!! BUT that won't be for a very long time so I am not going to worry about that today:) Xavier is a joy and a blessing and I am so happy that he made me a MOM. It is and was the best Christmas gift I have ever been given.

We celebrated his b-day earlier in the month with some friends and family. For that he requested cupcakes AND cake. I made him choose between the two and he decide on this....



For his actual birthday he requested a Batman cake. Great, I thought. Frost the cake, stick an action figure in it and call it a day!! When I ran my idea by the b-day boy, it was not what he envisioned. "I thought you could draw a Batman on the cake Mom!" Sure ...why not??? Of course that is what you want. So I drew Batman for the 698th time this month on the cake. We did a sketch on a piece of paper beforehand; deciding what colors were going where. The spikes on his glove must be blue and so is the cape. Don't forget the yellow for his belt.... "Can I give him a smile?" I asked. No...just do a line for the mouth, I was told. Here he is!




Instead of cake, I made an eclair cake which has been in the Noe family for a long time.

ECLAIR CAKE

1 (1 lb.) box graham crackers
2 sm. pkg. instant French vanilla pudding
4 c. milk
1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip

Butter bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan, line with graham crackers. Mix pudding with the milk. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Blend in Cool Whip. Pour half the mixture over graham crackers, then place second layer of crackers over pudding. Pour remaining pudding mixture over, and cover with more crackers. Refrigerate for 2 hours, then frost.

FROSTING FOR ECLAIR CAKE:

2 1 oz. pkg. pre-melted unsweetened chocolate
2 T. white Karo corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla
3 T. softened butter
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3 T. milk

Beat all ingredients until smooth; spread over cake. Refrigerate 24 hours.We used chocolate pudding per Xavier's request:)

THANK YOU family for all of the wonderful gifts you sent for Xavier. Each was very much appreciated by the birthday boy. Here are some opening pics.



A funny comment when Xavier opened his card from MN Aunt Mary. "Oh!!!! Dollars!!! Will these spend at Wendy's????"

Legos from Grandpa and Grandma Lein


Cool space projector from Aunt Aimee


Scooter from "Grandma from MN"


We also carried on the tradition of letting the birthday person choose dinner. We made chicken nuggets and fries AND green beans.

Happy Birthday to Xavier!

a super birthday celebration

We had a fun time celebrating Dax's 3rd birthday. Dax picked his theme and we ran with it:)He also chose the menu of cheeseburgers, pineapple and strawberries and Cheetos. Mommy threw a few extra items of her own in there too:) Steve's whole family from Cincinnati came to celebrate with us.





Dax wanted chocolate cake so I made and decorated a zucchini chocolate cake. I used this recipe . I believe this was the recipe that my mom used to make years ago and it is one of my all time favorites. It makes such a moist cake.









We all had a wonderful time!

On Sunday, his actual birthday we went to the pumpkin patch after Mass.
The boys were really wanting their pictures taken here....not!



The boys had a great time playing and running around.






After the pumpkin patch we had more presents more cake! Dax had a wonderful birthday and received so many nice things. Thanks all of you who helped make it special!!