CORNMEAL JOHNNYCAKES from The Spruce Eats

This recipe is from The Spruce Eats. My batter was runny, worse than pancake batter and I did nothing wrong. I even added an 1/4 c. flour to thicken it but it didn't help much. I left out the sugar and added 1/4 t. chili powder, 1/8 t. cumin, 1/8 t. each onion and garlic powder, and about 1 t. dried parsley. I used 1/4 t. fine salt, not 1 t. kosher salt, but it needed a little more. I made a cheese sauce to drizzle on top using Monterey Jack cheese. I got ten. These taste great but I'm highly irritated that these turned out thin and so unlike the ones in the photo on the site an in the demonstration video. My batter was too runny yet someone left a comment on that recipe that they needed MORE milk, implying that there's was too thick. 

I can't rate these accurately, I don't think. I will make these again using just half the amount of milk, more salt and I'll add shredded cheddar cheese to the batter.

ORANGE SHERBET from The Kitchn

This comes from The Kitchn. I used store-bought Tropicana orange juice, the zest from two mandarin oranges, and only 1/4 t. vanilla extract. I added 1/8 t. fine salt which made this even better than it tasted before I added it. I used whole milk in place of 1/2 c. buttermilk. I omitted lemon juice. The recipe said to not use zest because theirs was bitter but mine wasn't. This took 20 minutes in my Hamilton Beach ice cream maker. 

Though very good and I'd make it again, it's a bit icy and not as creamy as I'd expected it to be since it has corn syrup in it. Maybe more is needed or more cream. I'm thinking instead of one cup of half and half, heavy cream is needed in its place. Not including the price of the two mandarin oranges I used since they were from a 3 lb. bag that I don't remember the price of, pre-tax this cost just $2.25 to make. EDIT- See last image for alternate version.

I give this 4 stars because it's not as creamy as I was lead to believe.

I made this a couple weeks later (see image below) using 1 c. of heavy cream instead of half and half, 2% milk in place of whole since it's what I had, and no lemon juice like last time, and the consistency is perfect, in my opinion. It's halfway between that of sherbet and ice cream, and it's easier to scoop than the sherbet was. It's not rock hard straight out of the freezer like the original sherbet was. 

While being whipped up in the ice cream maker it looks identical to the original recipe. It's creamier yet slightly icy in texture and this is the way I'll make it from now on. 

Not including the price of the two mandarin oranges I used since they were from a 3 lb. bag that I don't remember the price of, pre-tax this cost just $2.33 and it's all-natural!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES from Mel's Kitchen Café

This come from Mel's Kitchen Café and they're awful. The dough has zero flavor. Literally the only flavor comes from the chocolate chips. I made half and got 26 1 T. dough balls. I used 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips. I doubled the vanilla and you can't even taste it. I used 1/8 t. more salt and it still needs more. Huge disappointment!

I grade these an F.
 

ONE-POT CHICKEN PARMESAN from The Chunky Chef

This comes from The Chunky Chef. I made half using rotini pasta. This took the whole jar of sauce, not half like it should have, plus more water than the recipe called for for half, probably 1 c. more. I omitted chicken. I've made many a one-pot pasta and this is the only one that tastes very starchy from the pasta cooking in the liquids.

Not sure how to grade this. The method gets an A but the amount of liquids gets an F. I wouldn't make this again.

FOOLPROOF BROWNIES from Biscuits and Burlap

These come from Biscuits and Burlap. Like the site says, these are both fudgy and cakelike, which I like. They're very moist. What I don't like is the very buttery taste so I won't be making these again. I made half in an 8"x2" pan and they took 21 minutes. I added 3/8 t. salt and the recipe called for none, and it could have used a little more. I also added 1 t. pure vanilla extract and the recipe called for none. I added a pourable chocolate frosting to it and topped it with 1/2 c. chopped pecans.

I grade these a B.