m&m chocolate chip cookies

I do believe the quest for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie has ended with these. Oh my gosh! These are AMAZING! I got the recipe from my mother inlaw and they are perfect; the only cookie i can compare it to is the cookies you can get from Costco. Make these for your husbands and they will promise to wash the dishes for the rest of your life. OK, that's probably too far, but at least until you make them again. To all the single ladies, make these and you will no longer be single. These are that good. I made them for Gavin's basketball team that plays tonight. It's the final game and they wanted some victory cookies because they're sure they've got this one. All i can say is they are going to love me. oh and annie, this is for you and josh. You are going to love me and josh will love you even more so you'll love me even more because he's goint to love you even more.

Here's what you need.

• 3/4 c. Butter flavoured shortening ( must be butter flavor)
  11/4 c. Firmly pack brown sugar
• 2 Tbsps Milk
• 1Tbsp Vanilla
• 1 Egg
• 1 3/4 c. Flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp Baking soda
• 2 cups chocolate chips (best with milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet. You can mix it up with peanut butter chips, mint, butterscotch etc. anything will work).
• M&M's if you wish. I think it adds a nice touch.
  

First cream together the the shortening, sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat in the egg.

In a seperate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda and mix into shortening mixture just until combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be alot wetter than most cookie doughs. It's almost like brownie dough. Don't worry, you added the right amount of flour. Chill in the fridge for an hour or in the freezer for 20 minutes. This will make it easier to work with. While they're chilling, go to the gym like i did to make yourself feel better for eating so much dough. By the time you get back, you'll feel all better and be ready to have some more.
I like to make monster cookies out of this recipe so i scoop out a little less than a 1/4 c, roll it into a ball, flatten it slightly and place onto a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. This is kind of meticulous, but i'm a meticulous person when it comes to detail so i take the m&ms and press them on top of each cookie. Be generous because the cookie will spread out along with the m&ms on top.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. The time will vary depending on the size of your cookies. Cool on a wire wrack if you can wait that long.Look at that. Perfection. This should be in a museum.

Ok, these are better than Costco cookies. I think i've decided this will be the recipe i whisper into my grand daughter's ear on my death bed. There you have it, the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. Enjoy and happy baking. and eating. Love, Emily

key lime limeade

I had a whole bunch of key limes in the fridge that I needed to get rid of because Gavin and I are leaving to Canada on thursday. I thought about a key lime pie or cheesecake but then i'm stuck with a whole pie or cheesecake, which isn't really a downer but i also want to be able to fit into my clothes so limeade it is.

Here's what you need. 3 cups of cold water, 3/4 cup of sugar or splenda and a bunch of key limes.
First roll the limes between your hand and the counter with pressure. This makes it easier to get all the juice out. Cut them in halves. Next squeeze all the juice out either with your hands or a juicer(i got mine at walmart and it works really well). Squeeze enough juice to make one cup. Don't worry about seeds because you'll strain the juice as you pour it into a pitcher.Pour the strained juice into a pitcher of 3 cups of cold water. Next add the sugar and stir. If it's too tart just add some more sugar.There you have it. Homemade limeade. Mmm!

Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Emily here, reporting live from California. I have been on a quest to find the best oatmeal raisin cookies forever (i've also been on the best chocolate chip cookie quest, but that's for another post)and these fit the ticket. If you love oatmeal and raisins, you'll love this recipe. They're thick, they're chewy and they're delicious. Make these today, you can thank me later.

Here's what you need.

1/2 c. softened BUTTER
2/3 c. brown sugar1egg
1/2t. vanilla3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 c. rolled oats

3/4 c. raisins

1/2 c. chopped walnuts (i don't usually add walnuts, but i had them on hand so i went ahead and added them to this batch. i prefer to not use them). I apologize for the formatting there. My computer went crazy

First, cream together the butter, egg and vanilla.
Add the brown sugar and mix until smooth.



Next combine the flour, salt baking soda and cinnamon in a separate bowl and add to the butter mixture.


Stir in the walnuts, oatmeal and of course, the raisins.


The dough should look like this. Yum. You may want to put your finger in it and taste it. You probably should. Maybe once or twice or 10 times.
The secret to thick cookies is to chill them. Do this in the fridge for an hour, or if you're impatient like me, put the dough in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Feel free to laugh at my old, fake metal flaking temperature adjuster.

Roll the chilled dough into 1 1/2 '' balls and place on a parchment-lined or greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER COOK! just keep checking on them.

Cool on a wire cooling wrack.

Voila! The most delicious oatmeal raisin cookie you will ever eat. Enjoy.

BBQ Chicken, and Pesto Chicken Pizza

Tonight in the Allred home we had a delicious feast of pizza! We've always loved pizza, but I usually use a different pizza crust recipie that is a little higher in carbs, and calories etc. So this time I tried a recipie I found on Pioneer Woman. I used her BBQ recipie, which is devine! I then made a Pesto chicken pizza, with mushrooms, tomatoes, monzerella, and Pesto sauce. Super yummy!

Crust Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
• 1-½ cup Warm Water
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ⅓ cups Olive Oil

I doubled this recipie, because thinner crust doesn't seem to fill you up as quick , so if you have a lot of mouths to feed, I suggest you double the recipie. So I doubled the recipie, but only made 3 pizzas, rather than four. To begin making the crust, desolve your yeast in warm water.
In a seperate bowl mix your flower and salt together.

Take your olive oil and pour it into your flower and salt mixture.

Now take your yeast mixture (that has been sitting for the last couple of minutes) and pour into your flour mixture.

Mix on low until the dough is sticky.
Pour a small amount of oil in a bowl, and coat the sides well. Form your dough into a ball, and cover with plastic wrap. Place in fridge for 2-3 hours, or until you are ready to use it.
BBQ chicken:

Preheat oven to 375. Take your favoirte BBQ sauce and spread over uncooked chicken breast. Place in oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile grease your cooking sheets with olive oil.

Take your dough and squeeze into a tight ball.
Stretch out pizza dough, until the dough is thin. Coat dough with olive oil. Take your BBQ sauce and spread over dough, like you would with pizza sauce. Then create a layer of mozorella cheese. Now I missed a couple of pictures, but you now cut up your chicken you cooked earlier, and spread it out evenly. Top with red onions. Cook in oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown, and topping are bubbly.Remove from oven and coat in fresh cilantro. Yummy! You won't want to share this one!Pesto Chicken Pizza:

Take a small can of tomato paste, and empty it into a small bowl, add a small amount of water and Italian seasoning.
Spread over your pizza dough. Cut up onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

After putting your layer of mozorella cheese, load it up with mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. Then sprinkle it with shredded cheese.

Bake, at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and dab pesto sauce over pizza, remember, a little bit goes a long ways.

And Voila delicious pizza! Enjoy!