Ghirardelli Truffle Cookies with Sea Salt

I just recently finished reading Josi S. Kilpack's book Fortune Cookie, which I know many of you have read or are at least familiar with the Sadie Hoffmiller series. In this one, Sadie goes to San Francisco and Pete buys her some cookies from the Ghirardelli bakery. Luckily, I had all the ingredients on hand when I read the recipe and had to try them out. I loved them. They are very rich and taste like a brownie cookie, so have some milk handy if you try these out!

1 (10-ounce) bag Ghirardelli 60% cocoa bittersweet baking chips, divided
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons coarse sea salt

Set aside 1/3 cup baking chips for later use. Melt the rest of the chocolate in microwave by heating at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir. Continue heating at 20-second intervals, stirring after each heating until mixture is smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar, mixing until well combined. Slowly add egg mixture to the warm chocolate, whisking constantly. Add vanilla. Mix well. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well and let batter cool for a few minutes. Add reserved 1/3 cup of baking chips. (If batter is too warm, chocolate chips will melt.)
Chill batter in fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
After batter has chilled and thickened slightly, drop batter by rounded tablespoons on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with a pinch of sea salt. Bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until the outside edge looks slightly cracked, but centers are soft and gooey.  Cool cookies for four minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
She notes that this was adapted from a recipe found on www.ghirardelli.com
She also notes that you can use semisweet chocolate chips for an even sweeter cookie.

Submitted by: Gina

Baked Spaghetti

I made this dish a few weeks ago from a recipe I found on Pinterest, but I guess I didn't actually pin it. I've been wanting to make it again, but I switched it up a bit more to my liking. I think it turned out really well this time.

10 oz. angel hair or thin spaghetti pasta
1/2 pound gr. beef/turkey
1/2 pound gr. sausage
1/3 cup onion
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 package cream cheese
grated mozzarella cheese

Brown meats with onion. Drain any excess grease. Add spaghetti sauce and heat. Cook pasta to al dente directions. Drain and mix in cream cheese. Pour half of the spaghetti meat mixture into a 9 x 13 pan, then layer the pasta on top of that, and pour the rest of the sauce on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake, uncovered, at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Submitted by: Gina

Taco Pasta Bake

I made this last night and everyone liked it, so I thought I'd share. It was quick and easy, so that is a definite plus! Also, on the site I got the recipe from (canadianmomscook.com) some of the people that commented said they added a cup of salsa as well. I am going to try that next time. You could also add corn or other veggies if you like.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 3/4 of a bag of large noodle pasta like ziti 
• approx. 1lb of ground beef
• 1 pkg/envelope of taco seasoning
• 1C water
• 1/2 pkg of cream cheese (about 4oz)
• 1 1/2C shredded cheese (I used colby jack)

Directions:
1. boil pasta until just cooked, drain, run cold water over it
2. brown ground beef
3. mix together taco season and 1C of water, pour over cooked beef and let simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced
4. add the 1/2 pkg of cream cheese to the beef mixture, stir until melted and combined, remove from heat
5. put pasta in your casserole dish or pot, mix in 1C of the shredded cheese
6. top pasta and cheese with beef mixture, gently mix until the pasta is coated
7. top with remaining 1/2C of shredded cheese
8. bake at 350 uncovered for approx 30 minutes 

Submitted by: Gina

Carrot Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Filling

I found this recipe on shugarysweets.com and made it for Easter. It tasted really yummy, though it stuck to my bundt pan. Not sure if that is due to the altitude or if I didn't use enough cooking spray. She used nuts in hers, but I don't like my cakes to be crunchy, so I left them out. Here's the recipe I followed:

Ingredients

For the Cake:
• 2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cup shredded carrots
• 
  
• For the Filling:
• 1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
For the frosting:
• 4oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 2 cup powdered sugar
• 
  Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Spray a 12 cup bundt pan generously with baking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combined all the ingredients for the cake, mixing until well combined. Batter will be very thick! Set aside.
3. For the filling, beat cream cheese with sugar, vanilla and egg until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
4. To assemble, fill bottom of sprayed bundt pan with about 3/4 of the batter. Spoon the cream cheese into the pan, being careful not to let it touch the sides of the pan. Spoon the remaining batter over the cream cheese layer. It's okay if it doesn't cover completely.
5. Bake cake in a preheated oven for 60-65 minutes. Cake will be browned and will pull away from the pan when done. Remove from oven and cool for 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. (I waited 10 minutes, but it was still pretty hot. I think next time, I will wait a little longer for the cream cheese filling to cool down and then hopefully it will all come out in one piece.)
6. Cool completely before frosting.
7. For the frosting, beat cream cheese, milk and powdered sugar together until smooth and creamy. Pour over cake. ENJOY!

Submitted by: Gina

Caramel Brownies

Another recipe from Sister Leonard.

Ingredients:
1 package German Chocolate cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted
1 small can of evaporated milk
1 package of caramel bits (or about 50 caramel squares)
Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix cake, melted butter, and 1/3 cup of evaporated milk. Divide the mixture and press half evenly into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Melt the caramels and other 1/3 cup of milk, stirring frequently. Pour the melted caramel over the baked brownies. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the caramel. Drop the rest of the brownie mixture on top and bake for another 14 minutes.

Submitted by: Gina

Chocolate Caramel Rolo Cookies

Kaela's Beehive adviser would make treats for them almost every Sunday. She just moved due AF orders and gave us some of her favorite cookie recipes.  This is one of our favorites.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
30-36 chocolate-covered caramel candies (Rolo's)
2 Tbsp. sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together until well blended.
Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Mix well.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 1 Rolo in the center of each dough ball.
Form the dough ball around the majority of the Rolo. Roll each dough ball in sugar.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes.
Let cool on pan for 1 minutes then take off and place on cookie cooling rack.

Submitted by: Gina