Cooking Classy

Isn't a thick frosted sugar cookie one of the best comfort foods out there? I love sugar cookies and I love sugar cookie squares even more because they are quicker and easier to make (with less clean up) but they taste just as good as the individual cookie. I know I post a lot of sugar cookie recipes, it's just one of my favorites so it's likely you'll see even more variations on it in the future.  Have I told you yet this Coconut Buttercream Frosting is my all time favorite frosting? I made it to frost the coconut cupcakes I made a few days ago and it got me thinking of what else I would love to use it for. It is highly addictive stuff! I could sit and eat it by the heaping spoonfuls.  Now, imagine a fluffy, sweet, coconut infused sugar cookie covered with silky smooth, fluffy, melt in your mouth coconut frosting - and this is what you get. Let's just say it's very likely to be one of the best sugar cookies you will ever eat! I know I'm in love =). Enjoy! C

Orange Creamsicle Truffles Yields about 20 Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter Zest of 1/2 orange 3 Tbsp heavy cream 1 cup white chocolate chips 1/2 tsp orange extract 1/4 cup powdered sugar Red and yellow food coloring (optional) Directions: Pour white chocolate chips into a mixing bowl, set aside. Melt butter along with orange zest in a small saucepan. Stir in cream and scald mixture. Pour hot cream mixture through a fine mesh sieve over white chocolate chips and using a rubber spatula press zest against sieve to release orange oils into mixture. Allow mixture to rest 1 minute, a dd orange extract and optional food coloring to white chocolate chip mixture  then stir until smooth. Cover mixture and refrigerate 2 hours or until firm enough to handle. Scoop mixture out by heaping teaspoon fulls and form into balls then roll in powdered sugar. Freeze truffles 20 minutes then enjoy. Store truffles in refrigerator as they will soften at room temperature or freeze for up to 1 month. Recipe Source:

Here is a recipe that is my proud result of many trial and error loaves of banana bread in an effort to achieve the perfect loaf. I've tried many other banana bread recipes and experimented several times to create my own recipe. Let's just say baking is an art, it's quite  temperamental  the measurements need to right on. It's easier to create a recipe for an entree rather creating a recipe for a baked good. So, after several loaves of experimenting I've finally found the perfect measurements and ingredients to create what I call The Perfect Loaf of Banana Bread. Just how good? Good enough that it doesn't even need a slathering of butter! It's so good I've made it two days in a row. It's amazingly moist, perfectly sweet, slightly rich, loaded with banana flavor and my favorite part - the topping. Be sure not to leave it off or use  substitutions . It compliments the banana bread perfectly. I wanted a topping that enhanced the bread, you know made it

The greatest thing about these cupcakes (other than taste of course =), they are made using ingredients you likely already have on hand. I eat dessert everyday, I don't go a day without it. I sacrifice by having a low calorie breakfast and lunch so I can splurge at dinner and have dessert. I'd have to say I don't feel very guilty about eating 2 or even 3 of these cupcakes. They don't contain a whole lot of fat, because they get most of their moisture from the applesauce they contain rather than needing loads of butter. I'd say these cupcakes belong to the carrot cake family. They taste very similar but no extra time is needed to grate carrots, bonus! These may seem like fall cupcakes but to me they are perfect year round (I'll take one any day!), they don't require a fresh fruit that's in season. The cupcake recipe I found in the amazing Martha Stewart Cupcakes book but I added my own frosting. The other changes I made were omitting cloves (they listed u

I will admit it, I'm a Cafe Rio/Costa Vida addict.  It's rare that I go more than a week without eating at one of the two. All their entrees are so full of exciting flavors that they keep me coming back for more. Since I eat there so frequently I thought maybe it's time to create another copycat recipe. One of my favorite things to get there is the shredded chicken salad or shredded chicken tacos, so here is my version of that chicken.  This chicken is SO easy to make! If you haven't noticed, I love my slow cooker. You simply toss in a few ingredients along with some spices, and then allow it to cook low and slow all day while the flavors meld together and wallah! It almost seems to good to be true doesn't it? It does all the hard work.  This Shredded Chicken recipe is not only to be used as a taco filling but also for burritos, enchiladas, salads, quesadillas, taquitos, etc. So, if you don't use it all the first night you make it you can use the left over chick

In my opinion there are two Mexican sides that are a must with nearly every Mexican entree, beans and Mexican rice. This recipe is my go to Mexican Rice recipe that I've been making for years. I make it at least once a week, some weeks as many as three times a week. It only takes a few minutes to prepare and it tastes just as good as any authentic Mexican restaurants Mexican rice. I have tried several different recipes for Mexican rice and this one is definitely my favorite. I've tried using tomato sauce and fresh tomatoes but I think the key to great authentic Mexican rice is the Caldo de Tomate. You can find it in the Latin section of the grocery store. My sister gave me the recipe and I added my own additions to it, you will see them where I listed optional ingredients. This rice can be made with or without those but I love the extra boost of flavor they give the rice. Also, I used to always use vegetable oil but I've tried to be a bit healthier =) so I've switched o

These are one of my new favorite cupcakes!  I love how they don't have pieces of the chewy coconut in them because you grind the shredded coconut in a food processor before adding it.  These cupcakes are pure bliss. Everyone loved them! The frosting melts in your mouth.  The cupcake recipe is one I found in the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book, but I decided to add my own frosting recipe.  They are perfect together!  I also like how the frosting recipe I used can be made in under 7 minutes =), it takes maybe 3. I hope you enjoy these dreamy cupcakes as much as I do! Coconut Cupcakes Yields 20 cupcakes Ingredients: ½ cup packed sweetened shredded coconut 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt ¾ cup butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks) 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar 2 large whole eggs, at room temperature 2 large egg whites, at room temperature 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract ¾ cup unsweetened coconut milk 1 recipe Coconut Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows Sweetened shredded coconut

Two of my all time favorite treat are Muddy Buddies and Rice Krispie Treats. Who doesn't love the both of them? I've been making each of them since I was little and I could barely reach the counter to prepare them. Recently I was thinking rather than always having to choose one over the other I would just combine the two into one, because after all they both begin with rice cereal so they do have something in common. Let me just say these are seriously delicious! Now you, like me, wont have to choose one treat over the other, with these you get two in one. Got to love that! Enjoy! Muddy Buddy Rice Krispie Treats Yields 16 Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter 1 (10.5 oz) package miniature marshmallows 6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal 1 cup milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips (I like milk chocolate chips) 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup powdered sugar Directions: Butter a 13x9 baking dish, set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Add

I have the feeling this are going to be my new favorite summer dessert. Simply said, I want to stop everything I'm doing and devour the entire pan =). I thought it would be exciting to create a fun brownie recipe that's not your average chocolate brownie, something different that people haven't tried before. I've seen several different lemon brownie photos on Pinterest so I decided I wanted to create my own version.  What goes better together then lemon, blueberry and white chocolate? My husband said these are one of his new favorites, which I was excited by because normally he doesn't care much for lemon. Guess these are just that good =), even those who don't like lemon love these brownies. Blueberry Lemon Brownies with White Chocolate Glaze Yields 9 brownies Ingredients: 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1 large egg 2 large egg yolks 3/4 cup granulated sugar 6 Tbsp butter, softened 1/4 cup sour cream 1 Tbsp lemon juice (the juice of

Take a moment to think about everything you love about a granola bar, the chewiness, the flavors, the dried fruit and crunchy nuts. Now imagine that in cookie form. What do you get?  These! A loaded, perfectly spiced, chewy, deliciously sweet, thick oatmeal cookie!  They are most definitely one of my new favorite cookies.  I created this recipe this past weekend because my brother and his family came to stay with us and I knew his favorite kind of cookie was oatmeal raisin cookies.  Of course I couldn't just stick with the plan ol' original oatmeal cookie, I had to spice it up and make it fancy =).  Try these and it's likely that your favorite oatmeal raisin cookie may just be pushed to second place.  Everyone loved these cookies! Switch up this cookie as you wish. You could add milk or semi sweet chocolate chips in place of white chocolate chips. You could add in almonds for the nut and use 1/2 tsp almond extract along with 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Or, you could even cha

I'm almost at a loss for words to describe this Broccoli Ham Grilled Cheese Sandwich, it is just that good! I guess I will say, let the pictures tell you everything you need to know about this sandwich.   Several months ago I had, I guess the word is, "pinspiration" when I saw this utterly incredible photo of a Broccoli Grilled Cheese sandwich over at BS in the Kitchen.  It left me salivating and I never did forget about it.  I was purely inspired to make my own rendition.   If you have tried my Healthy Grilled Cheese Sandwich recipe then this recipe and cooking method will be familiar to you (though this version isn't quite as healthy =). Some may say if you are going to have a grilled cheese sandwich you may as well load on the butter, use white bread and just go all out. I say otherwise, not only because it's better for you to fry with olive oil and use whole grain bread but I think it tastes better. I hope you adapt this cooking method for all your grilled

No more buying peaches and cream oatmeal packets with those artificial peaches =). This oatmeal with real  peaches and real cream is so much better that it's likely you'll never be able to return to the packets once you've tried this.  I eat oatmeal about 5 out of 7 days, I often even eat it as my night time snack before bed. Yeah I love oatmeal just that much. I never thought I'd say it, but it's true. My mom would always eat it every morning when I was little and I never would've thought 15 years later I would be doing the same thing.  Of course I never eat it plain, simply sweetened with sugar or as she did by adding a half a stick of butter. I always add other flavors or fruits.  Some of my favorites include Banana Oatmeal , Brown Sugar Maple Oatmeal (a future recipe post) and this Peaches and Cream Oatmeal.  I made this using canned peaches because that is what I had on hand, and also I like the texture of the canned peaches along with the texture of the o

You're looking at luxury in muffin form =). These are incredibly delicious muffins! I decided to create a new muffin recipe this week because my mom asked me to bring muffins to a brunch we are having for my brother this Easter Sunday. He recently returned from serving a two year LDS mission in Brazil so he is going to speak in church on Sunday and we are going to have a get together afterwards (if you are wondering what an "LDS mission" even is I love sharing what I believe so if you'd like to learn more about what I believe, and what my brother spent two years teaching, please follow this link here ). I hope you enjoy these delightful muffins, they are all the great things about carrot cake in muffin form,without waiting for a cake to cool and frosting it =). They would be great for an Easter brunch or any time you've got the craving for a delicious muffin or carrot cake. These muffins are a wonderful surprise to people. They think they are just biting into an o

I just can't get enough of the sugar cookie squares! Yesterday I was making the original Sugar Cookie Squares with Vanilla Frosting and was thinking of what other combinations would be good with these squares. The best that came to mind, these Sugar Cookie Squares frosted with decadent White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Frosting. They basically melt in your mouth while the combinations of sweet yet tangy cream cheese with natural berry goodness tantalize your taste buds.   White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts so I thought this would be a great combination of cookie and cheesecake. Let me tell you it most definitely is!  The great thing about these is that you get the cheesecake flavors without waiting 9 hours for a cheesecake to bake then set in the refrigerator.  The cookie portion of this recipe is so incredibly simple, that is one other reason it's one of my favorites to do variations on.  I hope you enjoy this version as much as I do! Also,

Who says the Easter Bunny doesn't want cookies just as Santa gets each year too? Leaving cookies the eve before the holiday isn't just for Santa, let's not go ripping off the Easter bunny now =).   Have I told you yet how much I love these sugar cookie squares? I make them on average about 2-3 times every month and I take them to nearly every family get together. It's funny, they are always the first thing to go at the get togethers, even beating out my  white chocolate raspberry cheesecake . They are so loved by kids and adults alike. Its hard for me not to eat 3 at a time =). When I make them for my small family I always have to give some to the neighbors because these are dangerously delicious! They are so fun for holidays because you can switch up the frosting and sprinkle colors. I decided to up the frosting amount just a bit, to ensure there's enough for piping the diagonal lines on top so don't use the amounts for frosting listed in the original recipe, u