Simple Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie

This is the easiest cookie recipe that I know. I’ve got it memorized, so that whenever my husband and I are craving something sweet and yummy, we’d make this together.

Simple flourless peanut butter cookie

• 1 cup peanut butter (preferably chunky)


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 egg


• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Preheat oven to 350^oF. Mix all ingredients. Roll into one inch balls. Flatten with a fork dipped in sugar. Bake for 10 minutes.

That’s all there is to it! And it’s gluten free! My dad can’t have anything with gluten, so this is a good cookie for those who have Celiac Disease or wheat allergies. It also tastes just like a regular peanut butter cookie, that you’d never notice there was no flour in it!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another favorite recipe that I made a few months ago. A good recipe for the chocoholic.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies

• 1/2 c butter, melted
• 1c flour
• 3/8 c. cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1c white sugar or 1/2 each of white and brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1c chocolate chips
• 1/4 c chopped peanuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 F. While butter is melting (you can use a double boiler or just the microwave), combine flour, cocoa, soda and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside. In a larger bowl, blend butter, sugar, and egg until creamy. Stir in vanilla, then add dry ingredients. Fold in chips & nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes. Leave to cool on pan for 5 minutes (cookies will be soft out of the oven) before transferring to a wire rack.

Simple Beer Bread

Yummy. I originally tried this with a bottle of Guinness. Wasn't bad, but wasn't my favorite. The flavor was too overpowering. Keystone Light...not bad, but a bit too overpowering still. Then when I was in the mood for a quick bread, I only had a bottle left, which was a Zima XXX (lemon lime flavor). It turned out to be the best beer bread I ever had. My husband didn't care for the other beer breads I had made before, but he devoured the one made with Zima XXX.

This recipe is wonderful for beginners because it's hard to go wrong with this recipe. Just mix the dry ingredients and add beer. Stir...then bake.

I found this recipe through recipezaar.

BEER BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (12 oz) can of beer (I used a bottle of Zima XXX)
• 1/2 cup melted butter (I used 1/4...thought 1/2 cup was too much)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients then add beer. Pour into greased loaf pan. Pour melted butter over mixture. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes. NOTE: Make sure you put foil or something under the loaf when baking, because the butter bubbles over. :-p I learned my lesson. heh.

Also, use real butter, not margarine, because it really makes it taste yummy. :) It sort of makes the crust a little bit crispy. The crust is my favorite part of this bread.

Monterey Chicken Bake

This is one of my favorite recipes. My husband often requests this one. I came across this when I was looking for something to do with my boneless skinless chicken breasts. The original recipe asked for teriyaki sauce and other additional ingredients that I didn't have on hand. I adapted it to barbecue sauce and other ingredients and it tasted really good. I passed the recipe on to friends and it was a huge hit!

MONTEREY BBQ CHICKEN BAKE

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 to 6 slices of bacon
• barbecue sauce (works better if thick)
• 8 oz. shredded monterey jack cheese
• *2 or 3 each green onion stems
• large bottle of hidden valley ranch dressing
• McCormick Grill Mates barbecue seasoning (to taste)

*optional

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly spray bottom of medium to large baking dish with regular cooking spray. Chop green onion stems into shallots - as much as you desire.
• Fry bacon on stove until crispy. Lay flat on paper towels to absorb grease. After 15 minutes, crumble bacon and set to the side.
• Brush both sides of chicken breasts with barbecue sauce. Lay chicken flat in a shallow baking dish and season with the barbecue seasoning. Flip and season opposite sides.
• Let chicken set for 10 minutes. Brush each chicken breast with barbecue again. Pour Hidden Valley Ranch dressing over each chicken breast, covering thoroughly.
• Place crumbled bacon pieces over chicken in dish. Add shredded Monterey Jack cheese (make sure to completely cover the chicken with cheese) and shallots over dish.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes uncovered. Chicken is done when middle is no longer pink. Enjoy!!

I usually serve this with mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce.

Ooh. First food blog

I had been thinking of starting my own food blog, especially after enjoying reading other food blogs. I love to cook, but sometimes I get in a rut. We'll see if I'm able to keep this blog up.

The reason why I came up with this name...I love monkeys and we're all like monkeys, right? Sometimes monkeys make a huge mess...and when I'm doing big cooking projects, I make a big mess in my little kitchen. :-)