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Even with the best of intentions, sometimes, life just happens. Who doesn’t want to be Becky Home Ec-ky, the hostess with the mostest, when holidays and special events come up? The reality is that sometimes we have weeks where our kitchen sink backs up, tires go flat, children are sick, or that deadline at work [...]
Even with the best of intentions, sometimes, life just happens. Who doesn’t want to be Becky Home Ec-ky, the hostess with the mostest, when holidays and special events come up? The reality is that sometimes we have weeks where our kitchen sink backs up, tires go flat, children are sick, or that deadline at work gets moved up. We’re busy spinning all the plates that busy wives and moms get used to, and it becomes difficult to figure out how to fit in one more thing. I love baking from scratch and it’s fun to watch my kids and grandkids get excited as the yummy treats come out of the oven! The reality for me, this week, is that I’m not going to have as much “free-to-be-me-time” in the kitchen as I would like.
The good news? That doesn’t mean I can’t bake, and share, some delicious treats that will leave the youngsters (and the oldsters) at my house oohing and aahing and feeling pretty special, for Valentine’s Day. Pillsbury has a super fun line of Ready-to-Bake Cookies that give me fresh, delicious treats, right from my own oven, in just minutes. Their Valentine varieties have Disney characters inside a heart, centered in a round sugar cookie. Your kids can choose from Mickey and Minnie Mouse or the Disney Princesses, Belle, Cinderella and Tiana. The cookies come 24 to a package, so you have plenty to satisfy all the Valentine “sweet tooths” on your list. Grab a package or two in the refrigerated case at your local grocery store, next to the other Pillsbury dough products.
It would only take a couple more seconds to turn those yummy cookies into over-the-top ice cream sandwiches or cookie pops and still net me that Becky Home Ec-ky award, too! So, I’m off to the store to grab a couple packages; and I’m going to enjoy some fantastic savings using this high-value coupon, which I’m allowed to share with you! You can print a coupon for $1.10 off 1 package of Pillsbury Ready to Bakes PLUS you can also enter the giveaway, below, to win a fun Pillsbury Ready to Bake Gift Pack!
For the mandatory entry, just leave a comment on this post, telling me how you celebrate Valentine’s Day with your family. Click the DO IT button and then Enter. You’ll unlock several more opportunities to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I received a Pillsbury Ready to Bake Gift Set from Pillsbury, through My Blog Spark, in order to test the products in my own kitchen and write this review. No monetary compensation was received and a positive review was not required. As with all Busy-at-Home reviews, the veiws and opinions expressed are wholly my own.
One lucky Busy-at-Home reader is going to win a “Be a Good Cookie” spatula for their own kitchen! Oh my kitchen tool heaven! Have you found the OXO website, yet? Every wonderful kitchen tool you can imagine – in bold colors, modern designs and sturdy craftsmanship. Not only that, they have products for all through [...]
- One lucky Busy-at-Home reader is going to win a “Be a Good Cookie” spatula for their own kitchen!
Oh my kitchen tool heaven! Have you found the OXO website, yet? Every wonderful kitchen tool you can imagine – in bold colors, modern designs and sturdy craftsmanship. Not only that, they have products for all through the house, to help with cleaning and laundry, baby care and more. I could browse their online catalog for hours, oooohing and aaahing and making a wish list! Love it! Love it! Love it!
I got a unique opportunity, this week, to try out their limited edition “Be a Good Cookie” spatula. The message etched into this perfectly-sized kitchen tool, is meant to be a reminder of the great cause that inspired it — Pediatric Cancer Research, through the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Foundation. The spatula is constructed from stainless steel and covered in silicone. It’s strong and it’s ideal for non-stick cookware and bakeware. It even has one rounded corner to scrape sticky cookie dough from a spoon and an angled handle to protect hands from hot dishes and keep them from bumping fragile foods. It’s a tool you’ll find yourself reaching for almost every day.
Cookies for Kid’ Cancer is an organization formed by OXO employees, Gretchen and Larry Witt, who were inspired by their son, Liam’s, battle with pediatric cancer. OXO is a small company, employing fewer than 70 people, so they are a tight-knit group, viewing co-workers as family. The news of Liam’s illness hit all of them hard and they were anxious to support the Witt’s Cookies for Kids’ Cancer organization, baking cookies and holding bake sales. To date they have raised more than $150,000 to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and they still want to do more. They created the “Be a Good Cookie” spatula, to that end. It’s available at Bed, Bath and Beyond, on Amazon. OXO will donate 50% of the profits on every “Be a Good Cookie” spatula sold PLUS match the proceeds from all registered Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Bake Sales, until December 31, 2011, up to $100,000!
How can you get involved? There are several ways:
- Purchase a “Be a Good Cookie” spatula. They’re only $6.99 and eligible for free Prime shipping on Amazon. – 50% of the profits will be donated to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
- Send a Virtual Cookie to all your friends – You can send up to 25 cookies per day, using Facebook, and OXO will make a donation for each cookie sent, up to 10,000 cookies per week. There’s a new cookie every day. I sent Dark Chocolate Cranberry, today!
- Buy Cookies! – send all natural, fresh baked-to-order cookies. 100% of the profits fund pediatric cancer research
- Host a registered Bake Sale – Large or small, your bake sale will raise funds for new and less harmful treatments for pediatric cancer. Every dollar counts! To make the cause even sweeter, OXO will match proceeds from all bake sales, up to $100,000. What’s more, the Top 5 highest-grossing individual bake sales will be awarded $500 worth of OXO Baking Tools.*
- Make a secure, online, tax-deductible donation.
You’re going to see this spatula popping up in a LOT of blog posts, at Busy-at-Home, over the next few weeks as we bake cookies and candy in preparation for Christmas. Be sure to check back often, for recipes. In the meantime, be sure to enter the giveaway to win a “Be a Good Cookie” spatula and please share this post, spread the word and help to raise money for pediatric cancer research! You guys rock!
I received a limited edition OXO “Be a Good Cookie” spatula to test it and learn about Cookies for Kids Cancer, so I could complete this post. No monetary compensation was received and a positive review was not required. As with all Busy-at-Home reviews, the views and opinions expressed are wholly my own.
We all love participating in cookie exchanges, this time of year. It’s such a great way to try new recipes and a great excuse to get together with friends to share indulgently delicious treats! I’ll have several cookie recipes to share over the next few weeks, but Chex has challenged to put a twist in [...]
A couple of the recipes I made for a Chex Party Mix-Change.
We all love participating in cookie exchanges, this time of year. It’s such a great way to try new recipes and a great excuse to get together with friends to share indulgently delicious treats! I’ll have several cookie recipes to share over the next few weeks, but Chex has challenged to put a twist in our party plans and make it a Party Mix-Change. They have also provided plenty of recipe inspiration – Chex PB & Chocolate Blast, Traditional Chex Mix, Chex Caramel Chocolate Drizzles, Hot Buttered Yum Chex, and Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch. The best part about a Chex Party Mix Exchange, besides the yummy treats, is that the recipes are quick and easy to prepare. Even a little simple packaging You won’t spend hours in the kitchen, creating these delicious party snacks. One lucky Busy-at-Home reader will discover how sweet and easy it is with the giveaway prize pack they will win from Chex!
The prize pack from Chex filled with recipes, cereal, take-out containers and a $20 VISA Gift Card to purchase recipe ingredients!
Chex really hit on a great idea, with this one! Quite honestly, the combinations are limitless. So, if you’re feeling festive, I’d encourage you to create some of your own exciting recipes or use the ones from the Chex Party Mix-Change website and vary them to fit your pantry ingredients and family preferences, like I have in the two tasty recipes, below. The first is my finicky family’s spin on traditional Chex Mix and the second is just a slightly altered version of the Chex Peanut Butter and Chocolate Blast.
Ingredients
- 5 cups Rice Chex
- 4 cups Corn Chex
- 2 cups mixed nuts
- 1 (10 oz bag) Rolled Gold Everything Bagels Rings
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 packet Chex Party Mix Seasoning (If you don't have a packet, you can use 2 tsp. Worcestershire, 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon onion powder.)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl mix the cereal, nuts and bagel rings.
- Mix the seasoning packet (or seasonings & Worcestershire) into the melted butter.
- Pour seasoned butter over the cereal mixture and toss to coat.
- Pour onto a large baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour.
- Cool and package in decorative containers for gifting and trading at your mix-change!
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Ingredients
- 4 cups Rice Chex
- 4 cups Corn Chex
- 12 oz bag peanut butter chips
- 12 oz bag white chocolate chips
- 2 cups red and green M&Ms
- 1 cup mixed nuts
Instructions
- Melt the white chocolate chips on full power for about 1 minute in the microwave. Stir until smooth.
- Pour melted chips over the Rice Chex and stir to coat. Spread out to cool on waxed paper or plastic wrap with a light coat of pan spray.
- Melt the peanut butter chips on full power for about 1 minute in the microwave. Stir until smooth.
- Pour the melted chips over the Corn Chex cereal and stir to coat. Spread out to cool on waxed paper or plastic wrap with a light coat of pan spray.
- When the candy-coated cereal has cooled and the candy coating is hardened, break the cereal pieces apart and mix both the candy-coated cereals, the M&Ms and the mixed nuts in a large bowl.
- Serve or package for gifting.
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I received the Chex Mix prize pack pictured above, through My Blog Spark, in order to test the product and recipes and write this post. No monetary compensation was received and a positive review was not required. As with all Busy-at-Home reviews, the views and opinions expressed are wholly my own.
Pinterest is a dangerous place! We’ve already established that. But it is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. When I’m tired and I need to just unwind and “do” nothing, I love to browse through the latest recipe pins. I was innocently scanning the latest posts, when I came across the most delectable picture, entitle [...]
Pinterest is a dangerous place! We’ve already established that. But it is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. When I’m tired and I need to just unwind and “do” nothing, I love to browse through the latest recipe pins. I was innocently scanning the latest posts, when I came across the most delectable picture, entitle Almond Joy Bars. They looked amazing and I clicked through to Our Recipe Garden blog to find out how they were made. After reading it, I realized I already had all the ingredients and it was only about a 5 or 10 minute mix-up. Needless to say, the other four blog posts I was working on, were set aside for a moment and I set out to put this yummy treat together. Since I love Almond Joy candy bars, the first thing I changed up was to add almonds to the recipe. I also used an additional bag of chocolate chips and simplified the assembly. This makes a HUGE batch and cut into 2 x 2 pieces, made 54 squares. They are fast, easy and definitely worthy of any Christmas cookie and candy tray you put together over the next few weeks. The recipe below is my variation on the original.
DELISH! Simple, easy and chocolatey satisfying.
Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 2 (14 oz) bags shredded coconut
- 3 1/2 (12 oz) bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup whole almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Spray a 12 x 18 sheet pan with pan spray.
- In a small bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until combined.
- Add the flour and salt.
- Mix to combine until it resembles chunky bread crumbs.
- Press crumbs into the prepared pan.
- Spread coconut in an even layer over the crust.
- Sprinkle whole almonds over the coconut layer.
- Drizzle condensed milk evenly over the coconut and almonds.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until set.
- During the last five minutes of baking, put chocolate chips into a large microwave safe bowl and melt them on half power, stirring every 30-45 seconds, until chips are completely melted and can be stirred smooth.
- Remove the bars from the oven and set pan on a cooling rack.
- Spread the melted chocolate over the top of the bars.
- Cool completely and then refrigerate until the chocolate hardens.
- Cut into squares.
- Enjoy!
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http://busy-at-home.com/blog/dark-chocolate-coconut-joy-bars-delicious-easy-homemade/This recipe will rank right up there with No Bake Cookies when it comes to getting that chocolate craving satisfied in a big hurry! Our family loved this recipe. I came across it on “Mostly Food and Crafts” blog. Danielle says that these are her husband’s favorite and I can see why. Mine is a [...]
This recipe will rank right up there with No Bake Cookies when it comes to getting that chocolate craving satisfied in a big hurry! Our family loved this recipe. I came across it on “Mostly Food and Crafts” blog. Danielle says that these are her husband’s favorite and I can see why. Mine is a big fan, now, too. The most beautiful part? They take less than 10 minutes to whip up — maybe a half an hour in the fridge to firm up — and then chocolate bliss is yours! I’m not even a marshmallow fan and I love these! Hope you will, too!
Chewy, crunchy, chocolatey goodness! Don't you love that gorgeous Lenox plate? Its' Kiwi Floral Fusion and I love getting to try them out. Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win FOUR place settings of your own!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (1 bag) chocolate chips (I had milk chocolate on hand, but use your favorite)
- 1 2/3 cups (1 bag) of butterscotch chips
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy. I used creamy.)
- 9 cups of mini marshmallows (1 bag)
- 1 cup of dry roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Cover a 9x13 baking pan with foil.
- Melt chips and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 2 minutes.
- Stir until smooth when completely melted.
- Mix marshmallows and peanuts in a large bowl.
- Pour melted chip mixture over marshmallows and nuts and stir to completely coat the marshmallows and nuts.
- Spread evenly in pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Lift foil from the pan and peel away from the bars. Cut into squares.
- Enjoy sweet, chocolate satisfaction! Yum!
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So, I was getting ready to make Apple Cider Doughnut Holes, but realized I am simply too exhausted to be trusted with hot grease, at the moment. I’ll melt a hole in something or singe something off or … something yucky. I just can’t do it. I’m still offering up a quick sugar fix that [...]
So, I was getting ready to make Apple Cider Doughnut Holes, but realized I am simply too exhausted to be trusted with hot grease, at the moment. I’ll melt a hole in something or singe something off or … something yucky. I just can’t do it. I’m still offering up a quick sugar fix that is sure to please, however. As a matter of fact, I offered them up and they were gone so quickly, I almost didn’t get a picture. It was a serious case of inhaling. I guarantee, whatever degree of chocolate craving you are experiencing, these brownies will totally fix it. Actually, whatever is going on in your life -no worries- these brownies will totally fix it. lol They’re REALLY amazing! They are a slight variation on the Whatever Floats Your Boat Brownies that I posted back in January of 2010 and to be honest, the KAF Dutch Process Dark Cocoa is what put them over the top. Heavenly! I was so tired, I didn’t even get step-by-step pictures, but you won’t need them, anyway, and I did manage to get one picture of the finished product before they were gone. These brownies are incredibly simple, and thanks to my friends at King Arthur Flour, I may be completely ruined for any other brownies, EVER again. I love those people!
Yum!
Here’s how you can be eating your own pure chocolate heaven in 38.64924 minutes really fast!
Dark chocolate, fudgey decadence spiked with peanut butter. DELISH and easy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup KAF Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla
- 1 cup KAF Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-2 cups peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Melt butter in microwave safe mixing bowl. Mix in cocoa.
- Add sugar.
- Mix in eggs and vanilla.
- Add flour and salt and mix until incorporated.
- Mix in peanut butter chips.
- Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
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http://busy-at-home.com/blog/dark-chocolate-peanut-butter-chip-brownies-kingarthurflour/We‘ve clearly established that I LOVE surprises — for me, for someone else — it doesn’t really matter. Surprise!!!! So, pair up August’s Secret Recipe Club and Chocolate — wow! Yah! Darn good day! Gooey it up with melted caramel and I’m SO gone. lol You’re going to love this recipe! Just sayin’. Just [...]
We‘ve clearly established that I LOVE surprises — for me, for someone else — it doesn’t really matter. Surprise!!!! So, pair up August’s Secret Recipe Club and Chocolate — wow! Yah! Darn good day! Gooey it up with melted caramel and I’m SO gone. lol You’re going to love this recipe! Just sayin’.
Hello Snickers! bar cookie. Delish! Please note the beautiful salad plate it is displayed on. It's a sneak peek of the next fabulous giveaway in my 50th Birthday Bash! Four 4-piece place settings of this lovely Lenox china. Stay tuned for the giveaway post!
Just in case you haven’t caught my previous Secret Recipe Club posts, “Lucy, let me ‘splain.” (P.S. It scares me when Jr. High kids stare at me blankly and say, “Wha…?” when I make I Love Lucy references. There needs to be more classic TV education. I’m just sayin’.) Okay, Secret Recipe Club… It’s so-o-o-o fun! I’m assigned a blog to make a recipe from, someone else is assigned my blog and they make a recipe from here, then we all have a big reveal day and surprise each other and you all get to check out the amazing recipes! How could it be better? There is always eating cooking or baking involved and discovering dozens of new food blogs. And seriously, if you search deep enough in their archives, there could be chocolate every single month – mmm hmmm, 100% of the time! But, you’d miss so many other great recipes, so… yah, I picked chocolate, this month. That’s just the way I roll. But, you will seriously want to check out all the other fantastic recipes over at Little Bit of Everything, my assigned blog for August. Julie likes to cook, travel and garden and her blog is a journey through her yummy cookbook collection. If that wasn’t enough to make her a “neighbor”, turns out she lives just down the street! –er, well about 75 miles, east. But truly, she’s right here in Nebraska, too!
I’m not sure where the name Hello Snickers hails from, because these didn’t taste like Snickers to our family, but they tasted like “it’s time to make another pan”, because those locusts gluttons piggies my family has already eaten them ALL. I didn’t really change anything up in the recipe, except to double it. The learning curve for doubling this particular recipe was that I wouldn’t have needed to double the butter. It basically works as moisture and prevents the bars from sticking to the pan. Two sticks was too much and left the bars a little greasy. Next time, I will double everything but the butter. I completely forgot to chop the peanuts and I will definitely do that next time, too, instead of leaving them whole. We felt these were even better cooled, than directly out of the oven. Chocolatey, caramely (It’s okay, I added it to my computer dictionary, so now, it’s a word.), gooey, chewy goodness with the wonderful texture contrast of crunchy peanuts. Yum!
…
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
- 1 cup caramel, melted
- 1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- 1 cups chocolate chips
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Unwrap and melt caramels in a microwavable bowl. I did mine on 30% power for 4-6 minutes.
- Melt 1 stick of butter in a 9 x 13 pan.
- Layer the chocolate cookie crumbs over the butter.
- Pour the melted caramel over the cookie crumbs.
- Sprinkle peanuts over the caramel.
- Layer chocolate chips over the peanuts.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk over the chips.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, (350 for a glass pan).
- Cool and cut into 16 squares.
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Check out all the Other Fantastic Secret Recipe Club Recipes for August
I have the great, good fortune, to be participating in Arm and Hammer’s Switch and Save Challenge, which means I get to try new products and take a good look at old favorites, plus share what I find with all of you! This week definitely qualifies as “an old favorite”. Arm and Hammer Baking Soda [...]
We're definitely going to bake some cookies!
I have the great, good fortune, to be participating in Arm and Hammer’s Switch and Save Challenge, which means I get to try new products and take a good look at old favorites, plus share what I find with all of you! This week definitely qualifies as “an old favorite”. Arm and Hammer Baking Soda is as common and trusted a brand as could be found, in our household. Like many of you, I grew up with this very familiar product. It is the box I reach for each time I need that leavening power in my baking and it is my go-to cleanser, when I have a tough stain that needs extra oomph, without being too abrasive –like the glass doors on our woodburning fireplace.
Arm and Hammer Baking Soda is a staple in our home.
If you own a woodburning fireplace with glass doors, you will know exactly what I mean when I say they propose a tough cleaning problem. Regular glass cleaners don’t have the power to cut through the smoky, baked-on stains and abrasive cleaners run the danger of scratching the glass. Arm and Hammer baking soda is a perfect solution. Using a damp cloth, I rub the stubborn stain with baking soda and easily remove the mess without damaging our glass doors. A quick rinse with clear water and drying with a soft cloth and the glass sparkles like new!
I went down to the basement to get a picture of me scrubbing this glass clean with Arm and Hammer Baking Soda and found that my sweet, overachieving husband had already done it. So, while you missed the demonstration -- just look at that sparkle! (Note, the ashes are still inside, though. - lol)
Arm and Hammer Baking Soda is 100% pure sodium bicarbonate. When heated, it releases carbon dioxide making our doughs and batters rise; and it contributes to the light, porous texture of the baked goods made from our favorite recipes. For me personally, it’s the only leavening I use when making cookies. Our family prefers soft, chewy cookies with a slightly crisp outer crust. Baking soda causes the perfect rise, without rising so high that the cookies have a “cake-like” texture. Arm and Hammer Baking Soda is a critical ingredient in achieving the perfect texture in our favorite cookie recipes!
Ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookies. They're the perfect texture - crisp outside, soft and chewy inside. That's the Arm & Hammer Baking Soda - just enough rise to be perfect, but not enough to be tall, cake-like and dry.
It gives me great confidence to know that when I use Arm and Hammer Baking soda, it is a natural and pure product. I don’t have to worry about dangerous additives in my recipes, nor am I concerned about chemicals coming in contact with kitchen surfaces or toys that my children or grandchildren may use, when I clean with it. For frugal-minded families living on a budget, Arm and Hammer Baking Soda is a great value at less than $1 per box!
And just in case you’re feeling the need to whip up some of those yummy chocolate chip cookies for your own family, here’s my recipe.
The name says it all! It’s our family-favorite cookie recipe and it produces perfect cookies with slightly crisp outsides, and soft, chewy centers. Yum!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugars together.
- Mix in the eggs.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined into a soft dough.
- Mix in the vanilla and rolled oats.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix until they are evenly distributed through your dough.
- Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Don’t overbake! They will be just turning brown around the edges and will continue to cook after you pull them out. Trust me! :)
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(This recipe post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and These Chicks Cooked.)
Anxious to see how it’s done? It’s a pretty basic recipe, but here are a few pictures to encourage you.
- Cream the butter and sugars.
Butter, white sugar and brown sugar in my Bosch mixer.
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Beat in the eggs.
Add eggs to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
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Add the flour, Arm and Hammer Baking Soda and salt.
Stir in the flour, Arm and Hammer Baking Soda and salt, mixing until a soft dough is formed.
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Add rolled oats and vanilla.
Oatmeal and vanilla added to dough.
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Mix in the chocolate chips.
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Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
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Bake in a 350° oven for 12 minutes. Don’t overbake! They will be just turning brown around the edges and will continue to cook after you pull them out. Trust me!
You will have a perfect, chewy, chocolate chip cookie!
Heavenly
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This is a sponsored post for Church & Dwight Co., Inc, the maker of ARM & HAMMER branded products, who is compensating me to try different products. Save 50¢ off two 2lb or 4lb boxes of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda. And be sure to visit The Switch & Save Challenge to tap into more resources and enter to win $25,000.
It’s finally here! Can you believe I have been bending your ear with this blog for a year, now!!?? I can’t tell you how fun it has been for me to “meet” all of you along the way. To celebrate, I’m kicking off our new series, A Homemade Holiday. We’re going to start with some [...]
My review package of King Arthur products. Sorry about the crazy lighting. I'm still trying to adjust to flourescent lighting in my new kitchen.
It’s finally here! Can you believe I have been bending your ear with this blog for a year, now!!?? I can’t tell you how fun it has been for me to “meet” all of you along the way. To celebrate, I’m kicking off our new series, A Homemade Holiday. We’re going to start with some delicious recipes and fantastic kitchen products. We’ll move quickly into Thanksgiving and Christmas projects to decorate your home and holiday tables, gifts you can make simply and frugally and continue with delicious recipes to make your meals, celebrations and entertaining a smashing success. There will be picture tutorials for each project and I hope you will all find ways to make your holidays about family and fun, without stressing the family budget. An investment of your time and heart will save money AND build memories. I’m looking forward to sharing in your homemade holiday!
King Arthur Flour has long been my “go to” place to shop for supplies and for information, recipes and tips when it comes to bread baking. Ingredients that I was not able to find in my local small town stores were easily available from them, online and were delivered right to my front door! Woohoo! Over the years, more and more King Arthur products have shown up on the shelves in our stores, so I can pick them up on a regular shopping trip, but I still shop online for their unique specialty products. I’m so excited that they have agreed to participate in our A Homemade Holiday series and I know you are going to be, too!
Everything from grain to specialty flours, quality spices to baking mixes, kitchen tools to bakeware can be found at King Arthur Flour. Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour is one of their newest products! I love how they see a need and then strive to meet it. Are you in the market for a grain mill, bread machine or a stand mixer? You can find them there. You can also learn about specific ingredients — what they are, how to use them and how they will work in a recipe. Recipes are kitchen-tested and cover every baking category you can imagine. You can even subscribe to The Baking Sheet, a fantastic 24-page newsletter that’s published six times per year or take advantage of their many online education opportunities to fine tune your skills in the kitchen and learn new techniques.
When a King Arthur catalog shows up in my mailbox, I have to do some pretty fancy footwork to get to be the first to read it. It’s chock-full of fantastic kitchen gadgets, recipes (with pictures) and products that make you want to get out to the kitchen and create a flour cloud! My husband is a fan of gadgets of any variety and insists a cookbook isn’t really a cookbook without pictures, so if I’m not quick, I have to wait until he has finished with the new catalog before I can pour over it. I love the information and tips I can glean from it and often the gift items and kitchen tools are so unique, I have not seen them anywhere else. You could literally polish off your Christmas list, even the hard-to-buy-for people, with some unique and inspiring presents that will be practical AND fun!
I received a magnificent sampling of King Arthur products to review and share with you, plus I will be highlighting many of the King Arthur products already in my kitchen. The review package (and the set that a Busy-at-Home reader will receive) contained:
5 lbs. King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour – This is an unbleached, unbromated flour with 11.7 % protein. Unbromated means that it has a higher than average amount of protein and contains no potassium bromate. It’s an excellent choice in all your typical baking projects.
5 lbs. King Arthur Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour – My family normally eats just about anything. I have never had a problem with finicky eaters, however, my husband flatly refused to eat whole wheat bread until I switched to King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour. The flour is milled from hard white spring wheat and is ground more finely than other whole wheat flours. This means that the finished product has a lighter color and smoother texture, both of which won my husband over. Now, I can provide the nutrition he needs from whole grain, in products that taste delicious! For bread baking, the only thing that would switch me from this flour would be the magical appearance of a Nutrimill Grain Mill in my kitchen , so I could grind my own fresh white spring wheat flour. Since that is not currently in the budget, I can still have the best flour for my family using King Arthur Unbleached White Whole Wheat. It’s perfect for us!
2 lbs. King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour Blend – Bake high-quality, moist and delicious cakes, without the added chemicals and bleaching of many other available brands.
6 Bake and Give Wooden Bakers – I love these wooden baking pans! Bake in them, wrap the cooled product and decorate with a ribbon or a ruffle and have a wonderful gift that looks better and saves the cost of purchasing a gift bag. These are not the tiny little mini-loaves that we are used to. Each basket measures 7″ x 4″ x 2 ½” and can hold up to 2 ½ cups of batter, though I personally had better luck with about 2 cups. Bread bakes up into beautiful, generous loaves that are smaller than full-sized but large enough to be a welcome and substantial gift. They are made from poplar wood and assembled with heat resistant glue. The pans are not reusable for baking, but I have a few project ideas that they will be great for, even after they have outlived their baking usefulness!
Set of 24 White Tulip Papers – These cupcake/muffin tin liners add a dainty, dressy feel to your baking. Add a narrow ribbon bow for a quick gift or to create pretty favor cups for a wedding or bridal shower.
Set of 12 Bake and Give Mini Round Pans with Lids – These ingenious little paper baking pans are 4″ in diameter and perfect for a mini cheesecake, single cinnamon roll, personal fudge brownie — you get the idea. They come with their own clear, snap-on, plastic lids to let the happy recipient see the beautiful gift inside. They would also be a simple way to serve perfectly portioned individual desserts at a get-together. Just like the wooden bake and give pans above, they make a great gift presentation and the recipient never has to worry about returning dishes or bakeware.
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion Cookbook - This beautiful, 500-page, hardcover cookbook is a cookie-lover’s dream! Whether you love the traditional or like to experiment and try something more exotic, it has recipes for every taste and skill level. Beautiful color picture insets sprinkled through the book, portray many of the sweet goodies and the cookbook is loaded with illustrations and diagrams, tips and information that will help you be successful with any recipe you try. The text is divided into nine categories of cookies : chocolate chip, sugar, oatmeal, molasses, peanut butter, shortbread, biscotti, brownies, and decorated cookies. A comprehensive index at the back of the book makes finding specific recipes quick and easy. Do you like your chocolate chip cookies soft and chewy or crisp and crunchy? Find recipes that accommodate both. How about ginger cookies? Are you a “snap” kind of person or chewy? Ever tried biscotti, but been afraid it was too difficult to make at home? From drop cookies to rolled and cut-out cookies for the holidays, you’ll find the perfect treat to tame your next cookie craving.
Because of King Arthur’s amazing generosity, one Busy-at-Home reader will be baking right along with me, through this series, using the same marvelous products, I listed above. The recipes are coming very soon, in separate posts, but the giveaway begins, today!!!
Giveaway Rules
You must reside in the United States and be 18 or older to enter. The mandatory entry must be completed before any additional entries will be counted. Deadline to enter is midnight (CST) on Sunday, November 7. Winner will be selected by random drawing utilizing random.org.
Mandatory Entry
Visit King Arthur Flour, find a product, baking tip or ingredient that you weren’t familiar with before and would like to try. Leave a comment and tell me what it is. (Warning: this website is addicting to hard-core kitchenistas
Optional Additional Entries
- Visit King Arthur Flour and find a recipe you would like to see demonstrated step-by-step, here at Busy-at-Home. Leave the recipe title in a comment, below.
- Like King Arthur Flour on Facebook. Leave a comment below with your Facebook Name to let me know you’ve done it.
- Follow King Arthur Flour on Twitter. Leave a comment below with your Twitter handle to let me know you’ve done it.
- Tweet this giveaway (maximum of 1x per day, please). I’m entered to win a fabulous King Arthur Flour kitchen products set from @KingArthurFlour & @busyathome. http://ow.ly/2XlMI #giveaway Leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.
- Post this giveaway on your Facebook page. I’m entered to win a fabulous King Arthur Flour kitchen products set from King Arthur Flour & Busy-at-Home. http://ow.ly/2XlMI Leave a comment below with a link to your post.
- Follow Busy-at-Home on Twitter. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done it.
- Like Busy-at-Home on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done it.
- Follow Busy-at-Home on Google Friends Connect. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done it.
- Subscribe to the Busy-at-Home Newsletter with this link or in the right-hand sidebar. You will receive an email confirmation with a link that must be clicked to confirm your subscription. Once you click the email link to confirm your subscription, leave me a comment to let me know you’ve done it.
The fabulous assortment of King Arthur Flour products one Busy-at-Home reader is going to win!
That’s ten opportunities to win some fabulous gifts for your kitchen! Be watching for the first baking projects using some of them. I’m going to add Pumpkin Bread, Zucchini Bread and Chocolate Banana Swirl Bread to your recipe boxes!
I received the set of products listed above in order to conduct reviews, now, and in upcoming recipe posts. A positive review was not required and no monetary compensation was received. As with all Busy-at-Home reviews, the views and opinions expressed are wholly my own.
