Simple White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

In all the twelve years Charlie and I have been married, I've NEVER baked his all time favorite cookie from scratch.  (I can hear the air being sucked out of the room.)  Of course, I love my husband!

While I'm confessing,  I guess it's high time I let you know where I get all my cookie recipes.  The book that is my absolute favorite cookie slash sweet craving cookbook.  I turn to it EVERY TIME I want to bake something sweet for family and friends and it has never let me down.

HERE IT IS, MY SECRET BOOK TO BAKING SWEETS

No, it's not hoity toity.  It's probably not even fashionable to mention in the least little bit, but I don't really care.  This book works for me! I've laughed to myself, many times, when folks have eaten the treats I make from this book and think, I'M the BEST cook ever.  HA! I was only following the directions.

Although I love listening and gathering bits of information about the science behind cooking, the science of baking makes my brain go numb, and my mind's eye glazes over at the thought of experimental baking.  I don't have the time & resources to set myself up for such failures.  When my family wants something to sweet to eat, I go for the traditional favorites first and grab my gal, Betty.

So when Charlie sent me the text message that he was having a rough day at work, I knew I needed to have something comforting for him to come home to, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.  I turned to Betty and she came through for me in the most delicious way.

HERE'S ALL IT TOOK

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 package (6 ounces) white baking bars, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 jar (3 1/2 ounces) or 2 bags (2.25 ounces) macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 350º F degrees. Beat sugars, butter & shortening in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Mix in vanilla and egg.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, chopped white chocolate and nuts.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture a third at a time until all is flour is moistened or absorbed.  Do not over stir.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (use a 1 inch scooper) about 2 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes, until LIGHT, light brown on the edges.  Cool 1 to 2 minutes BEFORE removing from the cookie sheet.  Continue cooling on wire rack.

NOTE: It's important to bake these cookies on the light side.  They should look under cooked in the center and light brown on the edges.  They will finish setting as they cool on the cookie sheet and have a smoother finish.  I didn't learn this until I baked the last batch of cookies.  As you can see from the photo above, the cookies have cracks.  This does NOT affect their flavor at all.  But I noticed that the last batch of cookies baked for 9 minutes had a creamier texture than the cookies baked for 12 minutes. The smooth 9 minute cookies are shown below, they were eaten immediately after the photo was taken.

By now, all the cookies are gone.  No one cared about or even mentioned the cracks, they just kept going back for more cookies.  The extra chopped nuts really make these cookies hard to put down.  They weren't so rich that one cookie was enough.  Unfortunately.

Doug’s Over Easy Breakfast

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Today's breakfast recipe is brought to you by Simple Daily Recipes reader, Old Doug.
Doug, thank you for this easy and fast breakfast that was fun to make.

ALL IT TAKES

• 1 piece of toast
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper

Use a biscuit cutter to cut a two inch hole in the center of the toast. Get a small nonstick fry pan hot over medium heat.  Lay in the toast, crack the egg into the hole.  Season with salt & pepper.  Cover the pan.  I like to use the plate that I eat off of; the pan warms the plate and keeps my breakfast hot.

Turn off burner, but do not remove from heat.  Set the timer 3 to 4 minutes, depending how runny you like your egg.  Try not to peek or you'll let out the steam that is cooking the top of the egg.

Slide the egg-toast onto the hot plate, top it with the center cut of the toast and whatever hot sauce or hot peppers you like with your eggs.  You're ready to eat!

Grilled Rainbow Trout

Grilling Rainbow Trout is SUPER EASY and leaves no mess in the kitchen.
I LOVE IT!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• heavy duty aluminum foil
• nonstick cooking spray
• 1 large Rainbow Trout fillet
• 1 large lemon, cut half of it into thin slices
• 1 small onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1 hot grill

Go ahead and prep fillet, first. Use a large sheet of heavy duty foil, enough to wrap around fish. Spray it generously with nonstick cooking spray. Lay down a bed of onion slices. Lay the fish on top and spritz with nonstick spray. Season generously with salt and pepper, then lay lemon slices on top. Using the remaining lemon, squeeze lemon juice all over the fish.

Bring the edges of the foil together over the top of the fillet, then fold over to close. But now, don't fold up the top so tight that you can't take a peek later on. You will want to close up the ends securely to hold in the juices.

You're ready to start the grill. (Don't forget to grab your beverage; it's hot outside.) Your grill needs to be hot, hot, hot. As soon as you settle the hot coals from the chimney starter into the grill, return the grill grid and lay on the foiled fish.

A large fillet, 3/4 inch thick needs to grill at 400F degrees for 15 minutes.

How do you know how hot your grill is without using a thermometer?
Use the Hand Count Method -

Hold your hand at grilling height over the coals. Count the number of seconds you can hold you hand there before the heat forces you to move it.

• 2 seconds, hot coals: 400 - 450 F degrees
• 4 seconds, medium coals: 350 - 375 F degrees
• 5 seconds, low coals: 300 - 325 F degrees

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And THAT'S IT! That's all there is to grilled Rainbow Trout. Serve it with oven roasted red potatoes and onions, you're family will love it!

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes and Onions

Oven roasted vegetables are so delicious and easy to serve. No matter what it is, as long as the oven is hot, there's good olive oil on hand and you season it with plenty of coarse salt and fresh ground pepper...you cannot go wrong.

HERE'S A GREAT VEGGIE COMBO

• red potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
• yellow onion, cut into 1 inch slices
• extra virgin olive oil
• course salt and fresh ground pepper

Heat oven to 425F degrees. On a large sheet pan, drizzle enough oil to coat potatoes and onions. Use your clean hands to toss the vegetables well and coat the sheet pan, too. Spread vegetables in a single layer. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender. Midway through roasting, turn the veggies once with a metal spatula. Potatoes will have a crispy outside and remain creamy, soft on the inside. The onions just turn into a sweet & savory sidekick to the potatoes that cannot be compared.

Slow Cooked Chicken with Carrots and Peas

This delicious and simple chicken dinner comes from my new friend, Sheri Bond. I asked all the good folks, who subscribe to Simple Daily Recipes newsletter, for simple crock pot or slow cooker, ideas that would help me out over my busy weekend.

I had a yard sale on Saturday and I KNEW after a day of hocking our stuff, my family would be starving for something hearty. THIS DINNER HIT THE SPOT! Thank you, Sheri!

Like any good cook will do, I used Sheri's recipe as a guide and cooked with the ingredients I had on hand to get this dinner going. I posted Sheri's recipe with her own notes, below my version. You can take the rest from there and make your own twist. That's how all good recipes live on anyways, right?

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 4 skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 cup frozen peas

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Remove all the skin and as much fat from the chicken meat as possible. Place the chicken in the slow cooker.

In a small bowl, mix the flour and dried spices together, then sprinkle over chicken. Add garlic.

Heat up the chicken broth (if it's cold) before adding it to the slow cooker. Pour over chicken.

Cook on high for 5 hours. Add the carrots in the last 30 minutes, and the peas in the last 10 minutes. I heated up leftover mashed potatoes and served them up on the side. It seemed fitting for this meal. You're READY TO EAT!

SHERI'S CROCKPOT CHICKEN RECIPE

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. thyme
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1 Tbsp. diced garlic ( used fresh garlic)
• 1 tsp. onion powder ( used a little onion salt be cause it's what I had)
• 1 chicken bouillon cube (I used chicken broth)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup flour ( would either use less flour or add more liquid because I think it needed it.
• 1-16 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables

Grease the crock pot.
Put the olive oil in the bottom of the crock pot. Add the chicken.
Spoon spices and garlic over chicken. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Cook on high for 5 hours. (You have to watch this because it seems to run out of liquid pretty fast on high) My crock pot cooks thing fairly quick, but I also used chicken tenderloins instead of whole pieces or whole breasts.

Add the frozen vegetables and cook for an additional 45 minutes.
Serve over biscuits or toast.

Sheri, THANK YOU, again, for sharing your recipes with me. You really came through for me and my family.

Blue Magnolia Bread Pudding Mix

I wasn't a bread pudding fan until I ate Blue Magnolia's Cinnamon Bread Pudding. Oh mercy, was it GOOD!
I was over shopping in my favorite little town of Winnsboro, Texas. Winnsboro is such a cool little place with great live music, awesome restaurants and fun shopping. Oh, and the spa! (pause for a moment of daydreaming)

ANYHOO! This bread pudding is AWESOME! EASY! and anyone can bake it, even me. All it takes is one normal size loaf of french bread, some milk, a little butter, and a bag of Blue Magnolia's Cinnamon Bread Pudding.

I haven't made the Lemon-Chiffon, yet. But I will soon and post it.

Here's what it looks like straight from the oven.

Being the first time to make bread pudding, I baked the simplest version offered and topped it with homemade whipped cream leftover from the Strawberry dessert I made days ago. (I told you in that post that you would have extra whipped cream for other desserts. I wasn't just making that up.)

Oh and just so you know: I'm not getting paid to talk about this product. I sampled it in a tasting at Ladles to Linens, bought a couple of bags for myself, and baked it up. Now, I'm sharing my experience with you. It's good stuff, Maynerd. You ought to pick up a few bags for yourself online and see for yourself.

Simple Spicy Salsa Recipe

Every Texan, I believe, ALWAYS keeps a jar of salsa in their frig. It's as much a highly valued pantry staple as flour or sugar. Oh sure, there's those that like to make their own from scratch. But I'll bet ya, they store a back up jar in the back of the pantry.

But can you believe? Me, born and bred from Dallas, Texas (actually Garland or as my grandfather would say "Gawland"). Did not have one back up jar available the other day when I needed it! YIKES!

Oh WAIT A MINUTE.... Here's a can of diced tomatoes with Chipotle Peppers, I can use it. Shew!

I'll admit to you folks that I'm watching my spending these days. If I can get away with buying a store brand verses the larger name brand without sacrificing taste, I'll do it. My local grocer carries Food Club products and this week I happened to have picked up some petite diced tomatoes with chipotle peppers for 69 cents. SOLD!

I've tried making salsa from canned tomatoes before, and didn't really like the taste. Something was always missing; the smoky flavor mostly.

Well, Food Club got it right and their spicy tomatoes are delicious and full of flavor! All I really needed to add was a handful of cilantro and we were ready to eat!

HERE'S ALL IT TOOK FOR THE SALSA

• 1 (15oz) can Food Club petite diced tomatoes with chipotle peppers
• handful of fresh cilantro; rinsed, thick stems removed
• 1 small garlic clove
• juice from 1/2 lime

Drain about 1/3 to 1/2 of the liquid from the can. Pour tomatoes into a small food processor and place cilantro and garlic on top. Pulse for 20 to 30 seconds, just until there's a happy medium of small chunks without it being pureed.  Transfer to bowl and stir in lime juice.

We were all impressed that it didn't taste like it came from a can. Since making it, I've poured it on top of my morning eggs, my afternoon nachos, and my dinner time bean burritos. I'll hestitate buying another jar of salsa. I think I'll just keep a can of these tomatoes in the pantry instead.

Extra Photo

I must have been hungry when I got behind this truck, because this is what I saw.

Sloppy Chicken Enchiladas

This dish has been a family favorite for years.  The kids never grow tired of Sloppy Chicken Enchiladas.  You can make it as spicy or mild as your family can handle.
HERE'S HOW EASY IT IS

• 1 1/2 pounds of frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 can (10 oz) cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 1 can (4 oz) green chilies
• 1/3 can roasted garlic tomatoes, drained
• 6 flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 350F degrees.

Gently defrost frozen chicken breasts in microwave, enough to cut up easily. In medium pan with 2 tablespoons of oil over medium to medium high heat, add cut up breasts in half dollar size pieces, onions, water, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper, cover with lid. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, until fully cooked.

In a large bowl, mix cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Use a pizza cutter to cut up tortillas into bite size pieces. Misted a 13×9x2 casserole dish with nonstick spray. When the chicken is finally cooked, empty the chicken mixture (broth & all) into the large soup mix bowl and stir. Toss in the tortillas and stir them around until they are well coated with the soup mix. Then, transfer the sloppy enchiladas to the casserole dish, spread it out evenly then top it with the cheese. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes.

KID FRIENDLY TIP
Top only half of the casserole with green chilies and tomatoes.

Peanut Butter Chocolates

You may be tired of looking at chocolate recipes after Valentines. Is that actually possible? If so, think about the peanut butter filling instead. It's my favorite part of this recipe. Traditionally, these are called 'peanut butter balls.' All the times I've eaten them at parties, I found them to be so sweet, I couldn't taste the peanut butter. This recipe changes all that. These peanut butter chocolates taste more like a rounded Reese's peanut butter cup with a darker chocolate coating.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 teaspoons shortening
• wax paper

In an electric mixer bowl, mix together peanut butter, flour, powdered sugar and butter, until it forms a dough and sides of bowl are clean.

Get a small cookie sheet and line with wax paper. Quickly roll a rounded teaspoon of dough in the palm of your hands and place on cookie sheet. (A melon baller tool is great in keeping the balls a uniform size. A pair of pharmacy grade latex gloves are handy for keeping your hands clean.) Chill in refrigerator 15-25 minutes, until dough balls firm up.

To melt the chocolate chips
Use a metal or glass bowl that fits snug over a small pan, but where the bottom of the bowl will not touch the water in the pan.

Bring one cup of water to a simmer in a small pan, do not let the water boil. You need the low heat to melt the chocolate, not the steam. Put the chocolate chips and shortening in bowl and place over pan. It will take 1-2 minutes to fully melt the chips, so do not walk away.

When you see the chips starting to melt, get a spatula and gently stir the chocolate. Do not over stir, just move the chips around to help them melt. When you see there's just a few chips left, turn off heat. Go get the peanut butter balls.

Using the same pan, push all the balls to one side and make room for chocolate dipped balls. With a fork or dipping tool, place one ball in melted chocolate and quickly coat evenly. Lift up ball and gently shake extra chocolate off. Flip coated ball back onto sheet pan. Get another dough ball and repeat steps. Chill in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes, until chocolate coating sets, then they're ready to eat.

If you're making them ahead of time, up to three days ahead, move to an airtight container after the chocolate coating sets and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Just so you know, they're not delicate. They can be left out during a party and eaten at room temperature.

Here, have a bite!

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Before I served the Simple Cocoa Brownies the other night, we enjoyed these sweet potatoes buried under mini-marshmallows. It really put everyone in the mood for the holidays. And, it was practice for the big day, Thanksgiving.

Sweet potatoes are always around, but honestly, I never think to eat them until now. Their delicious cooked different ways, and they're loaded with nutritious goodness. (That's why I smother them in marshmallows so the kids don't find out!)

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO DO

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, all spice or pumpkin spice
• Mini Marshmallows

Peel and cut up potatoes into large chunks. Place in large pot, cover with water, add salt. Bring to a boil then lower heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Cook until their tender enough to pierce with a fork, but don't let them get too soft. You want the potatoes to hold their shape. Unless you prefer mashed sweet potatoes, then cook longer.

In the last few minutes before the potatoes are ready, melt butter in small sauce pan, add brown sugar and spice. Stir until sugar dissolves.

Drain off excess water from sweet potatoes. Place them in oven proof serving dish, coat them with sugar mixture, toss as needed. Cover with mini marshmallows, as much as you like. Set the oven to low broil and place pan on center rack, heat until marshmallows turn light brown. Watch the marshmallows carefully, don't walk away!

I enjoy sweet potatoes more the day after. I really love them as dessert with my coffee. It must be all the spice and marshmallows.

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