What a month!! It has been so beautiful, and the unusually mild weather has brought with it early signs of spring. Some of which are beautiful and cute and some….. well, lets just say I could live without ticks and snakes being out already.
I don’t ever remember being able to do so much “spring cleaning” outside of the house in February and March. It has felt great to enjoy the sunshine and get my hands dirty already. 🙂
Hope you enjoy some pics from March.
Photo By: Mary
Photo By: Mary
queenofthereddoublewide.com
The orchards down on the river are all in bloom!!
Mary made these cute little coconut macaroon nests with chocolate covered almonds for the eggs.
We finally got last years pigs in the freezer! Oh how I love a freezer full of pork that my parents raised!!
First time mowing the lawn this spring! This is one job I don’t have to ask her twice to do. 🙂
I got my raspberries trimmed back and thinned out, now they are growing like crazy
Hope you all have a productive and fun April. Happy Easter!
The other day Mary asked me what my favorite cookie is. Without much thought at all, I answered “Chocolate No Bake Cookies”. Then I wondered why the heck I don’t make these more often. Then I remembered how I can’t stop eating them and it’s probably good I don’t make them very often. Then I got the ingredients out and whipped up a batch. 🙂
Start by heating up butter, milk, cocoa powder, and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. (stirring constantly) Bring it to a boil and keep stirring for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add vanilla & peanut butter and stir until all the peanut butter has melted and is completely incorporated. Then pour into a big bowl with the oatmeal.
Stir together.
Then plop a spoon full at a time onto wax paper and let them cool. It will take 20 to 30 minutes.
These are sooo stinken easy to make!! It’s the perfect cookie to make with your kids. That’s probably why most people have fond childhood memories of these delicious, easy cookies. 🙂
Heat the butter, milk, cocoa powder and sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Let it boil for 3 minutes while continuing to stir. Remove from the heat and add vanilla and peanut butter stir until peanut butter is melted and incorporated. Then pour into a big bowl with the oatmeal and stir. Drop a spoon full at a time onto waxed paper. Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes.
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Tip: Doing a little prep work before you start making these cookies is a good idea. I lay out my waxed paper and measure out the peanut butter and oatmeal ahead of time. Once you take your chocolate mixture off the heat you want to hurry and finish before your mixture gets to cool. If it cools to much you will end up with chocolate granola instead of cookies. Chocolate granola is tasty but a little frustrating when you were looking forward to cookies. 🙂
These are beyond a shadow of a doubt the BEST peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had!
I cannot take credit for finding this recipe, it was all my kids. It all started with this:
Little Chef came home to find this on her bedroom door.
My boys are smart, when they want cookies they know who to ask. The next thing I know, Little Chef is asking if I will show her how to look up cookies on Pinterest. She wanted to find a “new” recipe. I did, and just like her mama, Pinterest sucked her in and she was there forever looking through thousands of pins of delicious looking cookies. I think her brother became worried that cookies were never going to become a reality. I heard him say something about peanut butter and chocolate chips and bless her cookie lovin’ heart she searched for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and decided on this recipe.
A little while later I walked through the kitchen and stole a chunk of warm cookie (it was a broken piece and NEEDED to be eaten)……as the sweet, buttery, chocolaty, warm, piece of cookie melted in my mouth. The clouds parted, the sun shone through, the angels sang and my taste buds rejoiced. I think I said something like “Holy cow, those are stinking amazing, I’m NEVER going to be able to stay away from these cookies.” I really didn’t need to worry about that though, they were completely devoured shortly after that by other members of our household.
Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide adapted this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Ingredients
1 cup butter at room temperature
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
In a mixing bowl beat together the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and mix well then add the eggs and mix well again. Next add the milk and vanilla stir well. Measure all the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and then add to the peanut butter mixture. Stir just a bit and then add chocolate chips and stir until everything is combined. Let the cookie dough sit for a few minutes to firm up. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop 1 or 2 tablespoons of cookie dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet a couple inches apart and bake for about 10 minutes. They will look a little under done. If you leave them on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes they will be much easier to remove to a cooling rack.
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Tip: These are amazing cookies anytime but if you want to see the clouds part and hear the angels sing you have to try them when they are still warm. 🙂 The only small draw back to these cookies is that they are pretty delicate, I would not recommend these for baking and shipping in the mail…..they would be awfully tasty crumbs though!
Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all had a blessed Christmas and are looking forward to an AMAZING 2014!!
We started off December by decorating. I love that the girls are now big enough to put our ugly, fake, redneckbeautiful, artificial tree together by themselves. They needed a little help from dad when it came to the lights but other than that, it was all them!
Jade came home for an early Christmas and we remembered to get a family picture this time. It’s not the best pic, but it’s all of us. 😀
December was a month of cookies, cookies, fudge, dipped pretzels, almond roca, and more cookies…….I really need to get back to work and away from my kitchen before I can’t button my pants!
This is what happens when you turn your back on the 9 year old with sprinkles in her hand.
Sadly we have received no snow so far this winter. Everything is brown and cold. These are our dormant raspberry bushes.
This goofy dog locked himself in the garden….he’s looking a bit worried. 😉
Digger hauled this home the day before Christmas Eve. It was his Christmas present to himself! As you can see he has LOTS of work to do on it.
We are praising God for a 2013 that was full of change and challenges and praying for a healthy, productive, and happy 2014.
These might possibly be my favorite Christmas cookies. They are so DELICIOUS but the best part is the absolutely wonderful aroma that fills my house while they cook. A Christmas candle or Scentsy Pot can’t even touch the Christmasy (is that a word?) smell from these cookies! My sister told me about this recipe a few years back and I have made them every year since.
The secret to these amazing cookies is Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips.
These things are creamy, melt in your mouth, goodness! Add them into a cookie with oatmeal and coconut and…….WOW! Or you could just upend the bag into your mouth, that would work too.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
On low speed, add baking soda, salt and flour. Mix completely.
Stir in oats, coconut, and peppermint chips.
Measure 1-2 Tablespoons (depending on how big you want them) of dough and place round balls on a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
Press lightly on each ball to flatten a little and sprinkle some of the remaining chips on top of each cookie.
Bake at 300 degrees for 10 to 15 min.
This made about 30 cookies.
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Note: It is a little tricky to figure out when these are done. I check on them at 10 minutes and don’t take them out until they are a little brown around the edges. After they come out of the oven if you let them rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes they will stiffen up a bit and be much easier to lay on a cooling rack.
This recipe was adapted from tootsie.com. I am in no way being compensated for saying these things about these baking chips, I just think they are delicious and Christmasy!
I got this recipe from my mom many years ago, it’s the recipe I grew up on. So anytime I try to make a different chocolate chip cookie it just doesn’t taste right. In my opinion THIS is what a chocolate chip cookie should look and taste like!! I think they’re the best when under cooked just a little….soft and SUPER yummy!!
Mix together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and salt. Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda then add to sugar mixture and blend well. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips mix well.
