Category Archives: Kitchen Tips

Day 1 of LJB Cookie Week… Double Chocolate Peppermint Surprise Cookies

Posted in Cookie, Desserts, Kitchen Tips by

We are excited to kick off our Holiday Cookie Week with this fabulous, scrumptious cookie.  We’ve never met a person who didn’t go wild over these tasty little gems!

Double Chocolate Peppermint Surprise Cookies

  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 ½ sticks butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 24 mini peppermint patties , unwrapped and chilled
  • 6 ounces white chocolate, from a bar, not chips
  • ½ cup crushed peppermint candy canes

Using an electric mixer, mix the flour cocoa powder, both sugars, salt and baking soda on low speed.  Add the butter and egg and mix to combine.  Turn out the dough onto plastic wrap, wrap tight and put in the refrigerator to chill about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Working with 1 Tablespoon of dough at a time, evenly encase each peppermint patty with dough.  Place on jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

As cookies are baking, melt white chocolate in the microwave in a small bowl for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each interval, until melted.  Using a spoon drizzle the white chocolate over each cookie and immediately top with crushed candy cane.  *** Tip… place a piece of parchment paper under the wire cooling rack when drizzling the chocolate for easy clean up!

Linking up at: Stuff and Nonsense, Simply Sweet Home, This Chick Cooks, Ginger Snap Crafts, Skip to My Lou, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Mandy’s Recipe Box, Chef In Training, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Mom’s Crazy Cooking, The Gooseberry Patch

Personal Scrambled Egg Burrito

Posted in Breakfast, Kitchen Tips by

 

This one of my favorite things to eat in the morning.  It’s quick and easy to make.  It’s tasty and it’s filling, and best of all, it’s portable for those mornings when you may need to take out the door with you!  This recipe may seem like such a simple thing, and in all honesty, it is.  But at LJB, we have come up with a few little extra touches that make these the “BEST”.  Using half & half instead of milk adds a depth and flavor.  Adding a little grated cheese at the end adds texture and flavor.  And cooking up your own fresh tortilla (we always have these on hand) just makes it delicious!  See if you don’t think so too!

Scrambled Egg Burrito

  • 1 uncooked tortilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons half & half
  • salt & pepper, taste
  • 1/8 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • pat of butter
In small bowl, crack eggs then add half & half and salt and pepper, and scramble until completely combined.  Set aside.
In medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook raw tortilla about 1-2 minutes on each side or until light brown “cooked” spots appear.  Remove from pan and set on breakfast plate.
In same skillet, add the pat of butter and let melt.  Add egg mixture and scrap along bottom every couple of minutes until eggs start to set.  When almost cooked, add the cheese.  Allow cheese to melt while still tossing and scraping eggs.  Once eggs are set, remove from pan and place on tortilla.  Roll up and enjoy!
We like these just as they are… plain and delicious, with no doctoring, but if you prefer you can top this dish with salsa, sour cream, tomatoes and/or avocado.
Obviously, this recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc for how ever many people you need to feed.  If you do this, upgrade the skillet size to large; cook all the tortillas first, and cook all the eggs together afterwards.
Enjoy!

Chocolate Crinkles

Posted in Cookie, Kitchen Tips by

My oldest son is a chocoholic.  I don’t fault him for this.  He comes by it naturally.  It’s handed down from generations of chocoholics… my grandfather, my mom, me…  to name just a few.

This is his all time favorite cookie.  Chocolately, sugary, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.  Some say it’s “too much” , or “too rich”.  He says “It’s perfection!”

Chocolate Crinkles
  • 3 beaten eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 squares (4 Ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted
  • 1/2 cup cooking oil
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • sifted powdered sugar (for rolling)
In a mixing bowl, combine beaten eggs, sugar, melted chocolate, cooking oil, baking powder and vanilla.  Gradually add flour to chocolate mixture, stirring till thoroughly combined.  Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours or till easy to handle.
Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  *(see kitchen tip 1)  Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat generously.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet *(see kitchen tip 2).  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8 – 10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are crackled.  Cool cookies on wire rack.  Makes about 48.
* kitchen tip 1:  Ever wonder how bakeries make such uniformly round cookies?  I use a cookie scoop to form the dough into nice, round, even balls.  They make cookie scoops in 3 different sizes (small, medium & large).  You can find them in most kitchen specialty stores; Sur La Table, William Sonoma, etc, or online.   I have one of each size and use them all regularly.  For this recipe, I use the small one.
* kitchen tip 2:  When baking cookies I always use aluminum jelly roll pans lined with parchment paper.  It cooks the cookies evenly, allows for baking larger batches than ordinary cookie sheets, and clean up is a snap!