All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel
When the craving for pumpkin spice and chocolate takes hold, these Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies are the perfect treat for you.
It’s Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day. I hope everyone who has it off gets to enjoy their long weekend.
Unfortunately, Price and I don’t get it off, but Autumn’s daycare is closed so Price is taking it off. (I’ll take off Veteran’s Day next month when daycare is closed then).
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I am kicking this week’s butt!!!
Okay, so it’s just Tuesday but it feels like this is going to be a good week.
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Orange You Glad You Made Chocolate Chip Cookies?!?!
Ugh, I’m the worst! ha!
But you know what was the best?!?!?! Watching The Bachelor finale last night!!!!!
I had always told myself that I wouldn’t watch The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, but I was getting tired of being surrounded by co-workers talking about the episode that aired the night before without knowing what was going on and being able to chime in. So I started tuning in to watch the trainwreck that was Juan Pablo. And, damn it, I got hooked. So then we had to watch Andi on The Bachelorette. Which lead to us watching Chris, aka Prince Farming.
I mean, I still can’t actually beleive it’s a show that people watch. I’m ashamed. I think. It’s all so weird. But it’s a fun guilty pleasure (Just like Dancing with the Stars!)
Are you as excited as I am about The Bachelorette? With Brit AND Kaitlyn!!! Oh man, this should be interesting. Can’t wait for May 18th! I’ll get my wine and cookies ready!
And I might just need to watch Bachelor in Paradise as well to watch Ashley S. I swear she is just playing us all and it’s all an act. I mean, it has to be, right…
Anyway, these cookies have the perfect amount of chocolate and orange. I’ve loved that combo ever since I wacked into my first Terry’s orange. I stuck with the milk chocolate and orange combination by using milk chocolate chips in these cookies. Semi-sweet or dark work well but I think the milk chocolate is the best. I added a bit of instant coffee to make both the chocolate and orange flavors pop. And they really do!
Damn, I have to make these again. ASAP.
Makes 24 cookies
Ingredients
Process
The year is winding down. Just a few days to go!! I just can’t believe it. Time is flying.
Sure, sure, I can comment on how fast Autumn is growing but the real thing that ‘gets’ me is that the show Friends has been off the air for 10 years. And that it started 20 years ago. OMG.
That is just too much for my brain to comprehend. I mean, I still watch Friends A LOT.
I can tell you the story-line just by hearing the title of the episode... all of which start with “The One Where…”
I know random factoids about the show. I know silly little things about the cast, characters, and the show. I will kick some butt at Friends trivia. Kick butt!
I pride myself on that fact that I can quote a lot of it. “They don’t know, we know, they know!”
Anyway, when I was making these Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups, I remembered that Rolos are Joey’s favorite candy. Loved them so much that he ate them all over the apartment, including in his recliner, Rosita. I’m sure that he would love these babies.
I suggest that you make these guys for a party or cookie exchange as you get a lot from a batch. 60 cookies in fact! Hey, just invite Joey Tribbiani over. He will help you eat all these cookies. Or just eat them all yourself. I don’t judge.
These cookies are super simple to make. I actually had Autumn help me. She helped push some of the Rolos in the cookies. Aww! Anyway, the only thing that is ‘tricky’ about the cookies is that you need to wait until they are completely cooled before taking them out of the muffin tin. If you rush it the cookies will break apart or collapse in on itself. I ending up putting mine in the refrigerator for a bit so they were really cool before running my knife around them and just popping them out. I just put the chilled cookies in the microwave and nuked them for bout 15 seconds to get ooey gooey again. yum!!
So, enjoy some of these Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups while watching your favorite Friend’s episode.
What’s my favorite episode? ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!
Makes 60 cookies
Ingredients
Process
Cookie dough adapted from Nestle
I have a project under construction that is in Miami that I needed to visit so I just ‘dragged’ Price and Autumn along with me this past weekend. Friday was a work day for me and the weather was down right crummy, but the weekend was beautiful so the trip was totally worth it.
Since I was working, Price and Autumn hung around the hotel in the morning and then they went to the Miami Children’s Museum in the afternoon. It was so cute to see their pics pop up on my phone while I was taking pics of stone tiles. Let me tell you, it’s a wee bit stressful to have to select pallets of stone tiles when each tile is about $120 each!! Anyway, Price suggests taking kids to the museum, it’s pretty cool.
After my site review, construction meeting, and nerve wrecking tile selection, the fun began for the weekend!! The weather got better and better so we got to enjoy the pool on Saturday. We took dips in the pool and splashed around with Autumn. And then while she took her afternoon nap in the room I snuck away for some solo lounge time!
I was initially really bummed that we didn’t go to Miami Beach but once we figured out the logics of getting from the hotel Downtown to the beach associated with the hotel (25 mins each way for a cab/1 hr each way on public transportation) and the cost (~$50 round trip for cabs & $15 per chair & umbrella), it was very clear that we made the right decision to stay at the hotel.
Plus, it gave us a chance to hang out on the hammocks, we couldn’t have done at the beach. I put Autumn in one and at first she was spooked but then she relaxed and settled in. Within just a few minutes her eyes began to flutter so I hopped in a different one and Price brought her to me and we snuggled while she (we) slept for about an hour. Pure bliss I tell you!!
Speaking of bliss… these cookies!
I’ve been recently making chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese since I had a 1/2 of an 8 oz block left over that was begging for me to use it in something. I was craving chocolate chip cookies and when I went to grab the butter out of the fridge I saw the cream cheese and figure ‘hey, why not!?’ I had made a 1/2 batch of cookies then since I knew I would have inhaled them all so the proportion worked out perfectly. Since then I’ve scaled back up to a full batch of cookies and a full 8 oz block of cream cheese.
The cream cheese just adds a bit of tang to the cookie, which goes well with the semi sweet chocolate chips. And since you don’t completely mix it in you get some streaks of it in the cookie which changes up the texture, but in a really good way. They are still super soft and not dense so they hold up their fluffy texture well, making them pillowy. I suggest eating them hot from the oven- well that holds true with any cookie, no? But they will last up to 2 days in an air-tight contianer.
PS- Sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on the top right before baking and it will knock your socks off.
Makes 32 Cookies
Ingredients
Process