The Bouchards’ Crazy Craisin Cookies

The Bouchards are some of the most fun, funny, and caring people I know. While I have tons of cousins, Mary and Mark are my only actual blood cousins. Mark is absolutely hilarious. He comes to visit for a few weeks each summer and we always have a great time. Whether it’s at Darien Lake, a Yankees game, or Dave and Busters we are always laughing. Mary and I have a lot in common, and yet she is only ABOUT half my age hahaha. I'm not sure if she is really mature or I'm not mature, I thinking probably a little bit of both! Mary is incredibly smart and even more caring. She is my Harry Potter buddy and my Twilight enemy. And she is turning out to be an absolutely amazing young woman! My Uncle Mike has always been so incredible to me and I realized that at a young age because I adopted him as my godfather when he and my aunt got married. We still have great times now, he is my “blue bomber by the pool” pal. And last but certainly not least is my Aunt Sharon. She is my mom’s sister, my middle name sake, and my go to person on so many things. It is absolutely true when they say “Only an Aunt can give hugs like a mother, can keep secrets like a sister, and share love like a friend." She has always been, and continues to be, all of these things to me. I honestly could not love the Bouchards any more than I already do. I wish they lived closer but I guess it always makes our time together during the summer that much more special! Love and miss you guys!!!!!!!


Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
By: Liane McKellar

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-craisin-cookies/detail.aspx

Original Recipe Yield 4 dozen

Ingredients
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions
1. Beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla for 5 minutes. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture 1 cup at a time.
2. Mix in raisins and craisins.
3. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). These freeze very well. Enjoy!!

*** A few side notes…
- I used 2 cups craisins instead of 1 cup raisins and 1 cup craisins
- I made a little over 3 dozen cookies instead of 4 dozen, I guess I prefer bigger, softer cookies
- I cooked the cookies for about 13 minutes and they still came out a little chewy since they were a little larger than the recipe indicated.

Bryan and Ella and the Funfetti Cookie Sandwiches

If you know me than you know how much I love my baby brother and my beautiful niece. I could honestly go on for pages and pages writing about how wonderful I think they are. For your sake, I am not going to do that. I am going to keep it short and simple. I absolutely adore Ella and Bryan (and yeah probably in that order haha) and love them both more than anything else in this world. Bryan is such a wonderful man and an amazing father!!! And he’s a pretty good roommate too . Ella is my life!!! Plain and simple. I don’t know what I would do without her. She is so smart, so funny, and maybe just a little bit crazy too but that makes me love her even more. I know some people say that you don’t know what love is until you’ve loved your own child but I know that I love Ella as much as I would my own child. She is my baby girl!!! Alright well before I get too carried away I am just gonna end it with this, Bryan and Ella- I love you!!!

Now as for the cookies, Bryan really wanted funfetti cookies (I guess one of the perks of living with me is that he repeatedly told me what cookies he wanted- and sorry that’s the only request I will grant). However, I felt like funfetti cookies were kinda cheating being that a majority of the recipe comes from a boxed mix. So I decided I would make cookie sandwiches and make my own filling for them, in order to make them a little more homemade. I’ve never made frosting before so I am a little nervous about how it will taste, and let’s be honest Ella is going to tell me EXACTLY what she thinks about them so the pressure is on. Anyway here we go, fingers crossed!!!

Cakespy: Funfetti Cake Mix Cookie Sandwiches ( http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/cakespy-funfetti-cake-mix-cookie-sandwiches-betty-crocker-recipe.html )

Ingredients
For the cookies:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 package funfetti or rainbow chip cake mix

For the filling:
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

***Optional: Sprinkles (for rolling around the middle of the cookie where the frosting is)

Procedures
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Note: the original cookie recipe called for 8 to 10 minutes at 375°F, but I found that baking slightly longer at 350°F worked better for my cookies.

3. Cream the butter and cream cheese. Blend in egg and vanilla.

4. Add cake mix in two parts, mixing well (it will be a super thick batter—if it is too stiff, add a small quantity of heavy cream to the batter and mix well).

5. Using a small cookie scoop (Laura speaking here- I did not have a small cookie scoop so I used a tablespoon to measure out the dough) drop balls of cookie dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between the cookies.

6. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. (Laura again- it seemed to take about at least 12 minutes for my cookies).

7. Cool cookies for at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack; the cookies are very delicate when they first come out of the oven and they will break if you try to transfer them too soon.

8. Once completely cool, add a generous dollop of filling to the bottom of half the cookies, and then sandwich the rest of the cookies on top to form something that vaguely resembles a whoopie pie, but tastes like something else entirely. (Laura yet again- I have absolutely no idea what a whoopie pie is…)

*** I also rolled the cookies in sprinkles so that the sprinkles stuck to the sides of the filling in the middle***

Andy and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies I

Andrea “Andy” is one of my favorite cousins and best friends. She is the most amazing 21 year old woman that I have ever met. Andy has the biggest heart and is always serving other people. She not only did she volunteer 3 summers at an orphanage in Poland but she is currently volunteering for an entire year at a woman’s shelter in Arizona. I personally was rooting for Andy to be in Ohio because I knew I would miss her way too much, but I know that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. So I have to put my selfishness aside and try to be happy for her. Andy is a die-hard Sabre and Notre Dame fan (as every Gadawski must be) and will kick your ass if you talk badly about them. I miss Andy so much and am literally counting down the days (333) until she comes back home

It was somewhat easy to pick a recipe for Andy’s cookies because she doesn’t like, wait let me rephrase that, she will not eat fruits or vegetables, so choosing a chocolate chocolate chip seemed only natural!!! Enjoy Andy- love you!!!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies I by: KATHY
(http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookies-i/detail.aspx )

"These cookies are great...you get a double dose of chocolate! My kids love them."

Original Recipe Yield 4 dozen
Ingredients
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

*** I used the following alternate suggestions for this recipe***
1. Instead of 1 ½ Cups White Sugar, I used 1 Cup White Sugar and ½ Cup Brown Sugar
2. I did not use the walnuts (I guess I just don’t like nuts and usually don’t put them in…. sorry guess maybe I should start- but I thought Andy wouldn’t want them in this one)
3. I let the dough cool in the fridge for an hour before baking the cookies.
4. I made the cookies a little larger, only made 3 dozen instead of 4, and cooked them for approximately 10 minutes. They turned out so soft!!!

Danny-L and The Whole Jar of Peanut Butter Cookies

Although the list was randomly ordered by a computer program, it seems fitting that the first person chosen was one of my oldest (not age-wise but duration of friendship-wise) friends Danny-L, or Danielle as most of you call her. We became friends in elementary school and it didn't take long before we were inseparable. We have been through everything together, both good (like volleyball, cross-country vacations, all of the boyfriends/husband) and the bad (illness', deaths, heartbreak (Open Arms was our favorite post-break up song hahaha)).Danny-L currently works... well I can't really tell you where she works only that it is down in DC and involves a few letters of the alphabet. She lives down in Virginia with her husband Matt, stepdaughter Bailey, and soon-to-be son Holden. Holden in due to grace us with his presence on October 17th and I could not be more happy to meet him. He will be a very lucky little guy because he will have one of the most amazing mommies in the world. Hopefully both he and his mommy will enjoy the cookies that I made for them... (like that casual segue to the cookie portion of the blog- although I guess its a little less casual since I pointed it out hahaha).


The Whole Jar of Peanut Butter Cookies By: Kevin Ryan
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-whole-jar-of-peanut-butter-cookies/detail.aspx
"This cookie got its name because a whole 18-ounce jar of peanut butter is used to make it. It is the creamiest, moistest cookie I have ever had, and bound to be a favorite with anyone who makes them. Just don't over bake them!"

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (18 ounce) jar peanut butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped peanuts

***Instead of using chopped peanuts I used chunky peanut butter***

Directions
1.In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, yolks, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Stir in peanut butter. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Finally, stir in the peanuts. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
3.Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Place on the prepared cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies should look dry on top. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to cool completely on a rack.

***According to the recipe these cookies actually taste even better when slightly undercooked so I only cooked them for 10 minutes***


Ok well the cookies are sent and the blog is written so I guess that is the post for this week. Check back next week to see if you are the lucky winner of some fabulous cookies!!!