Breakfast Cookies

This recipe is all over the internet in various forms. I attempted to make it a "bit" healthier with whole wheat flour instead of white, a 1/4 cup less sugar, and bran instead of cornflakes. Most recipes I found called for raisins, but we at the Bringing Up Burns household are not so fond of raisins...so I used blueberries! These "cookies" are a nice combo of crunchy, salty, and sweet. And are the perfect thing to grab on the go the days our mornings start before dawn!

Breakfast Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
10 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
2 cups corn or bran flakes
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together.
Beat in egg, then add flour and baking soda and mix well.
Fold in bacon, branflakes and blueberries.
Drop batter by rounded spoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 10-11 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.
ENJOY!

Gooey Cake Bars

These started with Paula Dean's recipe for "Gooey Cake." My mom had made it earlier this week and was telling me about it. It sounded so yummy, I decided I had to try. Paula Dean is known for being over the top, sugary sweet. Anyone who makes bread pudding out of Krispy Kremes and sweetened condensed milk is dangerous in my book. But probably also a really good dessert cook! The recipe my mom made had pineapple in it. And when I Googled "Gooey Cake" I found about a hundred different variations on the same theme - chocolate chip, pumpkin, banana, carrot, lemon, pecan. All sounded delicious, but I decided to start with the basic. Next time I'll get more adventurous.

Paula recommends baking these in a 9X13 pan. I used an 8X8 brownie pan instead. I liked how mine came out with a thick crust and were more like cookie bars than cake. Be sure and let them cool completely before cutting into squares. And cut them small...these bad boys are SUPER rich!

Ingredients

Crust
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Grease a 9x13 pan.
In a large bowl blend the cake mix, egg and melted butter.
Mix well. Pat into the bottom of the 9x13 pan.

Prepare filling:
Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth
Add the eggs and vanilla.
Pour in the powdered sugar and beat well.
Slowly add the butter and mix well.
Pour filling over the dough, and spread evenly.
Bake 40-50 minutes. DO NOT over bake. You want the middle to be soft and gooey.
Cool completely before cutting into 24 squares.
(My 8X8 pan made 16)

Get a large glass of cold milk, or cup of hot coffee, and ENJOY!

Missouri River Mud Bars

These are some of the best cookie bars I have ever eaten, and I'm not even a big fan of chocolate! (but caramel...yes!) The recipe comes from a good friend, and faithful Haute Plates reader Jodi Wells! I made them for the girls' teachers for St. Patrick's Day and packed them into little green buckets along with some gold chocolate coins. Nothing says "Lucky" like surprise, homemade yumminess!

Ingredients
Crust
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter
pinch of salt
1/3 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts, if you prefer)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Caramel Sauce
9 ounces of caramels
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, pecans, salt, and baking soda.
Add the vanilla to the melted butter and stir.
Mix together the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
Press into a 9X13 pan and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool slightly.

While crust is cooling, make caramel sauce by melting all ingredients in a double boiler, stirring constantly. (I've made it without a double boiler before - just use a super low heat, melting slowly and stirring constantly)
TIP: I spray the inside of the double boiler/sauce pan with Pam before starting - it makes for easier clean up!

Pour caramel over baked crust.
Top the caramel with the chopped pecans and chocolate chips.
Return to oven and bake another 15 minutes, or until the chocolate chips are slightly melted.
Allow to cool completely before cutting!
Run a knife around the edges and cut into 24 bars.

ENJOY!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pastry Cookies

These are the cookies I made for my cookie exchange. The morning after the cookie exchange, I also made breakfast for Matt to take to school for the Science Department. So selfishly, I chose these because I could make them for both events! They taste like mini chocolate croissants. I love how the bittersweet chips balance the sweetness of the cream cheese filling.

Today I went to a Birthday Brunch for one of my girlfriends, and I made these again, using white chocolate chips and dried cranberries instead. They were more sweet than the dark chocolate version, but still very yummy!

Ingredients
1 (17.5 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips, divided

Directions
Roll 1 puff pastry sheet into 14 x 10-inch rectangle on lightly floured surface.
Combine cream cheese sugar and vanilla in small bowl until smooth. (I used the cuisinart)
Spread half cream cheese mixture over puff pastry, leaving 1-inch border on one long side. Sprinkle with half the chocolate chips.
Roll up starting at long side covered with cream cheese. Seal end by moistening with water.
Wrap in saran and refrigerate 1 hour.

Repeat steps with remaining ingredients.
PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F.
Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
Cut rolls crosswise into 1-inch-thick circles.
Place cut side down on prepared baking sheets.
BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Once completely cool, drizzle with a glaze of 2 cups powdered sugar mixed with 2 TBSP milk.
ENJOY!

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies with Maple Brown Butter Frosting

So here's how it happened. Monday night, Wyatt dumped an entire canister of oats out onto the floor! (I have a bad habit of letting him roam free in the pantry when I am making dinner.) And I had already set out some sweet butter to soften thinking I'd try another Christmas cookie recipe in the morning. So Oatmeal it was.

My Dad loves Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Me...not so much. I'm not a fan of the raisins, and oatmeal cookies always seem so dry to me. So I wanted to add something to the mix that I liked, and was readily on hand in my pantry. Cranberries? No - too much like raisins and I only had about 1/4 cup. Chocolate chips? Well - Matt would love it, but I wouldn't. Toffee bits? YES! I still had a half bag left from when I made these. And toffee is basically like hard caramel, (my fav) so in they went. Oatmeal Toffee Cookies. Sounded Yummers to me!

In hopes of counterbalancing the dryness I despise, and since I can't leave a good thing well enough alone, I went searching my favorite recipe blogs for a frosting I thought sounded good atop these cookies. Bakerella delivered (which she always does) in the form of Maple Brown Butter Frosting. I found the Maple flavoring at my grocery store, next to the extracts in the baking aisle.

UNBELIEVABLE. That's about all I have to say about these cookies! That and a quote from my husband last night after he had eaten about 6 in a row: "These are seriously the most addicting cookies EVER!"

OK - now go make yourself some!

INGREDIENTS
Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup toffee bits

Frosting
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp maple flavoring

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, cream together white sugar, butter, and brown sugar.
• Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
• Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
• Stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats.
• Mix toffee bits into dough, combining well.

• Grease cookie sheets.
• Using two spoons, form the dough into balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven.
• Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

At this point, your cookies will look like this:

While your cookies are cooling completely, make the frosting.

• Sift sugar and set aside.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat until golden brown. Watch closely so it does not burn.
• Add butter to sugar, scraping all the butter into the bowl.
• Add milk and maple flavoring. Stir until smooth.
• Spread on top of cookies with a knife or offset spatula.

ENJOY! Be sure and have a glass of cold milk handy. Or if you are like me, an ice cold Diet Coke in the can.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Peppermint is one of the first flavors that comes to my mind when I think of Christmas. I think because of it's color and because of Candy Canes. I love Peppermint ice cream - so much so, it caused me to get my bike stolen in the 7th grade (Libby can attest to the validity of this statement!)....but that's another story! So I decided I wanted to find a Peppermint cookie recipe that I liked. A quick search of the internet resulted in the following cookies from a recipe on FoodNetwork.

The family taste test after dinner last night ended with favorable results. Matt is not a peppermint fan - so he scraped the glaze off and said "The chocolate cookie is great!" MJ loved them so much her eyes rolled back in her head and she sighed. I am assuming MollyB liked them, as she keeps asking for more even now - 6:30AM the following morning. And Munchie, as a result of being fed a tiny bite and wanting more....said COOKIE for the first time!

I think that is evidence enough that these cookies are good! But just to be sure - I thought they were great too. The only thing I will change next time is the glaze. I wont tint it red. Just white. Matt commented that the red looked "pink" and I agreed. And I thought the two colors, plus the candy pieces on top was too much going on. The fact that it was a fabulous chocolate cookie underneath got lost! I thought the cookie tasted a little like a Thin Mint - but more chewy like a brownie. Overall, very yummy!

Ingredients

Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

Glaze
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 drops peppermint extract, or more to taste
3 1/2 tsp water
2 large (or 8 small) Candy Canes

Directions

For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a mixer beat together the butter with the sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl.
Add in the vanilla.
On a low speed beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until well combined.
Gently mix in chocolate chips.


On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop teaspoons of the batter about 2 inches apart.
Bake until just cracked on top, about 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time.
Cool completely.

For the glaze:
In a small bowl mix together the sugar; peppermint extract and water until smooth.
Transfer mixture to a medium ziploc bag and snip off the corner.


Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Top with crushed Candy Canes.
Let cookies stand until set, about 10 minutes.
ENJOY!

Visit Bringing Up Burns today to meet Aubs and learn her favorite family Christmas tradition!

The Best Butter Cookies

This recipe can now be found on my family blog,

Bringing Up Burns