Sunday, May 23, 2010

Fluffy Pancakes

I didn't like pancakes growing up. I did like waffles. I ran out of the pancake mix a few months ago and have been making my own (which is really not hard at all) and LOVE them. I make a batch or double it and save them for half the week's worth of breakfasts. It's great.Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Flour
3 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 1/4 cup Milk
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons Melted Butter or Margarine

Instructions:
In a medium sized bowl (big enough to hold 2 quarts or so I'd say), combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Melt the butter in the microwave for about 25-40 seconds. Heat up griddle if you have one to about 300 degrees or prepare frying pan or whatever you use to make pancakes. Add milk and egg to flour mixture and then add butter. Mix well. I like to use a rubber or silicone spatula. Use a 1/2 or smaller measuring cup to scoop batter out of the bowl and pour half of it onto the griddle, depending on how big you want your pancakes to be. I like mine kind of small because I have kids and because they are easier to turn with the spatula. When they all have bubbles on the top (2-3 minutes), it's time to flip them. I use the back of my wide spatula to push them down a little when I flip them to make sure it all gets cooked. Wait about 2 more minutes and they will be ready to eat.While they cook I usually get the plates and table ready so we can eat.
Pour on the syrup or whatever you like on your pancakes and enjoy.
I went to a friends' Pig and Pancake party where everyone was to bring a topping for pancakes and I brought caramel and chocolate ice cream topping. It was SO good. Try that if you want, but add a strawberry or something to it so it feels more healthy. =)This is the mixing bowl I like to use. It's from Dollar Tree, so I don't care much about it, but it works very well and even has a little bit of the rubber stuff on the bottom so it doesn't move around. I have six of them, I think.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe came from an Amish novel that I borrowed from my mom by Wanda Brunstetter. The cookies are delicious. They really have more chocolate chips than it appears. They are all sunken or something in this picture.Ingredients:
3/4 cup Margarine
1 cup White Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 (8oz) Chocolate Candy Bar, Chopped

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat margarine, sugars, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate pieces. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Makes four dozen cookies.

This time I doubled the batch and only baked two cookie sheets worth of cookies. I rolled the rest of the dough up in three different sections of greased wax paper and then put them in a ziplock bag. I made one of the extra batches for our game night on Wednesday and they turned out well then too.