This week was our BIG BAKING WEEK! In 3 days the kids & I made 14 different kinds of cookies. Crazy, I know – but I like to have a good assortment to take to my neighbors & what-not =)
Baking Tips:
Anyone ever try to make great-grandma’s favorite recipe and become completely frustrated when it doesn’t turn out? Guess what – it’s not your fault! Believe it or not, companies change the recipe for their ingredients constantly so you are not using the same ingredients as she did so you do have to ‘tweak’ the recipe to get the same results. Don’t believe me, call Toll House, Land o Lakes and more and ask for yourself, the ‘recipes’ even change from year to year.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that not all brands / generics work well in my baking. And this year I found a couple more that I will NEVER again use in my baking- they just don’t turn out right.
- NO Land O Lakes Butter (it always produces extra liquid in my casseroles & baked goods). I prefer Target brand!
- NO Meijer Vanilla (it leaves a terrible after taste by itself & so do the cookies – YUCK)
- NO Natural Peanut butter (it is too liquidy and you will need to compensate by adding about 3/4 cup more flour). I stick to non-natural Jiffy or Skippy (I haven’t had great luck with Target’s brand either – in baking only)
So what ingredients are on your don’t use list?
TIP for soft cookies: Leave your cookies in for the minimum about of time (or even a minute less) and then let them cool/harden on cookie sheet before removing. This will give you soft cookies! I think hard cookies are the #1 complaint I here; we don’t like hard cookies either =-)
Okay… back to my 1 Recipe 3 Ways
You can make all three of these unique, fun looking cookies from one recipe! I got the inspiration for the ‘checkerboard’ cookies form my mother-in-law Retha – aren’t they cute! But my family likes soft cookies (not that there is anything wrong with crunchy ones) so I had to find a recipe that would produce the same result, but be soft. So after tweaking around I came up with this one (my secret ingredient is cream cheese – don’t worry you can’t taste it!)
To make these cookies mix 3 TAB cocoa in 1/2 of the dough only. Roll out each color to be about 8” x 12”. Put the rolled out rectangles on top of each other. Roll dough together leaving 12” of length. Chill 1-2 hours. Slice cookies to make pretty Pinwheels!
To make these festive colored pinwheels divide the dough in thirds. Mix red food coloring in 1/3, green food coloring in another 1/3, and leave the last 1/3 plain. Roll out each color to be about 8” x 12”. Put the rolled out rectangles on top of each other. Roll dough together leaving 12” of length. If you like roll loaf in sprinkles. Chill 1-2 hours. Slice cookies to make pretty Pinwheels!
To make these cute checkerboard cookies cookies mix 3 TAB cocoa in 1/2 of the dough only. Divide each color in 4-5 pieces. Roll each piece into a 12” long rope. Stack the roped on top of each other in the pattern seen above (bottom row chocolate, plain, chocolate; next row plain, chocolate, plain, final row chocolate, plain, chocolate). Roll up in parchment paper and press slightly in all directions to get the ropes to bind together & created your rectangular loaf. Chill 1-2 hours. Slice cookies to make pretty Checkerboard cookies!
Breakfast Recipes
- Amazing Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
- Homemade Oatmeal: Crockpot Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal,Slow Cooker Blueberry Oatmeal. Bannana Oatmeal, Chocolate Berry Overnight Oats, orButterscotch Oats – a really good oatmeal !
- Cinnamon Zucchini Coffee Cake
- Family Favorite Blueberry Muffins with a streusal topping
- Blueberry Breakfast Casserole
- Fall favorite, Breakfast Apple Cake
- Breakfast Pizza is such a yummy, Easy Breakfast Ideas
- Overnight French Toast Casserole
- Dad’s Healthy Egg McMuffin
- Heavenly Orange Rolls
- Super Easy Egg Casserole you can make ahead
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
- No Fail Pancake Recipe or our Yummy Banana Pancakes
- Sourdough Crepes with Bananas Foster
- Homemade, Bread Machine English Muffins – way better than the store bought and easier than you’d think
- Pumpkin Waffles are so flavorful and taste like fall
- Easy Breakfast Casserole with Croutons
Soup Recipes
- BEST Sweet Chili Recipe
- Easy Pumpkin Chili
- Instapot Corn Chowder Soup
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Best ever Tomato Soup with bacon
- Leftover Thanksgiving Soup
- Green Chicken Taco Soup
- Early Autumn Fall Soup Recipes with sausage and apple
Recipes for Salads and Sandwiches
- Creamy Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich
- Shredded Chicken Sandwich Recipe that is perfect for company
- Grilled Brie and Pear Sandwich
- Kid Favorite Quesadilla Pizza School Lunch
- Best Oriental Coleslaw with Soy Sauce
- Beet Pear and Goat Cheese Salad
- Easy Chicken Salad Recipe
- Ground Beef Taco Salad
- Easy Spinach and Berry Salad
Main Dishes
- Mom’s Easy Lasagna Recipe
- General Tso Chicken Recipe
- Easy Cashew Chicken Recipe
- Delicious Homemade Tortilla Recipe
- Rich Mac and Cheese Pies
- Sausage Make Ahead Foil Packet Dinners
- Easy Barbecue Chicken Recipe
- Juicy Lemon Chicken Pasta Instant pot
- Jazzed up Creamed Chicken over Biscuits
- Best Ever Mac and Cheese
- Copycat Dave’s Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
- Easy Cheese Souffle
- Super Tender BBQ Roast
- Homemade Copycat Godfathers Taco Pizza Recipe
- Easy Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
- Leftover Turkey Pot Pie Recipe
- How to make homemade pasta
- Super Flavorful Grilled Pork Loin
- Healthy Pineapple Fried Rice
- Seriously the Best, Make Ahead Twice Baked Potatoes
- Easy Pasta Recipe with Ham, Walnuts, and Parmesan Cheese
Desserts
- This Easy Oreo Cheeseball can be served as an appetizer or dessert!
- Making this snow ice cream is one my kids’ favorite annual traditions!
- Pumpkin Lava Cake is an ooey gooey fall dessert your family will want seconds of!
- This sandcastle ice cream is so clever and EASY to make! You are sure to be the coolest mom on the block!
- You don’t need a fancy ice cream maker; here is how to make ice cream in a bag
- These homemade cinnamon sugar tortilla chips are the perfect dessert to go along with your Mexican dinner
- If you’ve never tried our melt in your mouth sugar cookies, you are missing out!
- Whip up a batch of this carmel chex mix for your next game night or potluck!
- These snicker cookies are so decadent with a delightful melty middle!
- This soft Gingerbread Man Recipe for kids is my most requested for every cookie swap!
- I can almost smell this cooking, my perfect every time, best pumpkin pie recipe
- My kids favorite cookies – Monster Cookie Recipe
- Or make these classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- So good their gone, easy homemade brownies recipe
- Perfect for summer, Lemon Bars with vanilla wafer crust
- Homemade Ice Cream Cake – this is what I request for my birthday cake every year! YUM!
- Classic Vanilla Ice Cream in a homemade ice cream maker
- Our favorite cake ball recipes
- So good you just can’t stop eating it Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge
- Mom’s Homemade Apple Pie
Appetizers
- Pepperoni Cheeseball Game Day Appetizers
- My famous pineapple cream cheese dip
- Zesty Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Our GO TO Salsa Recipe with gardne fresh tomatoes
- Grab your veggies, they are going to want to take a dunk in this Southwestern Dip
- Family Favorite appetizer meatballs with super quick secret sauce!
- Quick Pineapple Salsa made from scratch
- Sweet and Sour Bacon and Water Chestnut Appetizer
- Go to Peanut Butter Dip for Apples
- It wouldn’t be Christmas without serving up this family traditional Wassail Recipe
Breads and Side Dishes
- Super Moist Southern Cornbread recipe with creamed corn
- Easy Bread Machine Hamurger Buns
- Super Yummy Quick Yeast Rolls
- Rosemary Crock pot Bread
- Sweet Potato Sourdough Buns
- Delicious Yeastless Bread – quick bread recipe no yeast
Beth Gorden
Beth Gorden is the creative multi-tasking creator of 123 Homeschool 4 Me. As a busy homeschooling mother of six, she strives to create hands-on learning activities and worksheets that kids will love to make learning FUN! She has created over 1 million pages of printables to help teach kids ABCs, science, English grammar, history, math, and so much more! Beth is also the creator of 2 additional sites with even more educational activities and FREE printables - www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com and www.preschoolplayandlearn.com. Beth studied at the University of Northwestern where she got a double major to make her effective at teaching children while making education FUN!
