NO CHILL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES from Browned Butter Blondie

 

This recipe is from Browned Butter Blondie. They're very good but too salty. I made 1/4 of the recipe and got 13 1 T. dough balls using 1/2 c. chocolate chips. My chilled dough balls baked in 8 minutes after sitting out on the counter for an hour (they were still pretty cold). 

I give these 5 stars despite there being too much salt in them. As of right now I do think they're my favorite homemade chocolate chip cookies. I like how you just whisk the ingredients together without a mixer. I look forward to making these again and they're not too buttery.

DUTCH COCOA COOKIES from The Toasty Kitchen

This recipe is from The Toasty Kitchen. I don't have a photo of my baked cookies. I made 1/4 of the recipe, weighing my flour and egg, and mine didn't spread much and stayed puffy. I had to flatten them after taking them out of the oven. I got 13 1 T. dough balls. I have no idea why they didn't spread. The flavor isn't good at all, very buttery, and I would never make these again for that reason.

DAD'S COOKIES from All Recipes

This oatmeal cookie recipe's from All Recipes. It uses equal parts rolled oats and flour. They taste good but I don't like the texture of them. They're sort of hollow inside because of the high amount of rolled oats, which aren't very absorbent. I used equal parts oil and cooled melted butter instead of all oil. I omitted coconut and added chocolate chips. Mine baked in 8 minutes but they need a little less time as these were a bit overcooked. I made half and got 23 cookies using a 1 T./1.5" scoop.

I give these 4 stars and I'd like to try them again using quick oats and all oil, no butter like last time.

REFRIGERATOR COOKIES I from All Recipes

 

This good tasting cookie recipe came from All Recipes. I made half and got 22 slices. I added 1/2 c. dried sweetened tart cherries that I'd chopped, and 1/4 t. almond extract. They baked in just 7.5 minutes. They spread out a lot and are pretty flat. I should have formed my dough log narrower so my cookies didn't bake up so big. They're crunchy on the outside and chewy in the center, and not too buttery tasting though you can definitely taste butter. The amount of salt in the recipe is perfect.

I give these almost 5 stars.

LIP-SMACKING LEMON COOKIES

This recipe comes from The Great American Cookie Cookbook. These are slice 'n bake cookies that use lemon juice and zest. I made half and got a 1.75"x7" log that I rolled in yellow sugar, like they did in the cookbook. I got 20 from just half the recipe. They baked in 8.5 minutes, nowhere near the 15 they said it would take. These taste exactly like a lemon bar, which I'm not crazy about anymore. That's the only flavor these have. Take out the lemon and the dough would have no flavor to speak of. The outside is crunchy, the inside slightly soft.

I give these 3 stars for blandness and wouldn't make them again. 

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

These are great and come from Baked By An Introvert. I made half and got 8, not 6 as the recipe states. I omitted raspberries and used 1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. I used an extra 1/8 t. salt. I used yogurt (the recipe says you can use that or sour cream) and baked them on 350 F, not 400 F and they took 16 minutes. While not bitter, I think these could have used a little less cocoa, about 1 T. less.

I give these 4.5 stars. These aren't quite as moist the next day but are perfect when heated in the microwave for 10 seconds.

Here's a tip- you can freeze sour cream and yogurt, thaw it and use it in baked goods. Sour cream will be very runny but yogurt will still be thick and will look a little different. I used thawed yogurt in this recipe.

CREAMY CHICKEN PASTA from Sugar Spun Run

This comes from Sugar Spun Run. I made half and got two big servings and used one small boneless skinless chicken breast and it was plenty. I added thawed spinach just for color though the recipe didn't call for it. I didn't add spices to the raw chicken nor did I fry it. I baked it plain and shredded it up after it cooled. I added the spices to the sauce instead but couldn't taste them much so added more. I added a little flour to the sauce to thicken it more. I don't think the smoked paprika and Italian seasonings go together at all, or maybe it was the smoked paprika and Parmesan cheese that didn't go together. I like that the sauce is a blend of heavy cream and chicken broth.

I give this 4 stars and would leave out the smoked paprika.

RASPBERRY LEMON LOAF CAKE from Julia's Cuisine

This dry cake comes from Julia's Cuisine. I made half the recipe in an 8"x2" round pan. I weighed the flour, didn't overmix or overbake it and it's dry. It baked in 23 minutes and when tested twice had moist crumbs on the toothpick. I used sour cream in place of Greek yogurt. Julia told someone in the comments you can do that and I've read you can evenly swap one for the other in baking, so I did. I added poppy seeds too. Half this cake got thrown in the trash. I said in my review on her site that it's dry and she intimated my cake pan size may have something to do with it, but it certainly doesn't. SMH.

This gets 1 star from me.

CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP from Sugar Spun Run

This recipe comes from Sugar Spun Run. This soup tastes good but I'm giving it 3 stars because it calls for entirely too much rice and chicken. I used the same brand as shown in the photo on the website and it took 45 minutes. I let it sit for 20 minutes afterwards and it got so thick I had to add water to it which heavily diluted the flavor. I think this only needed half that amount, so 1/2 c. of rice. I had to add more smoked paprika too because I couldn't taste it at all after it sat for those 20 minutes. And the amount of chicken called for was too much and I ended up wasting most of a chicken breast. Adding cream to this was 100% pointless. All it did was turn my soup a pale chocolate milk color and it was so gross looking that I didn't want to eat it. I will make this again using less rice and chicken and no cream.

WHITE (CHERRY ALMOND) CAKE from Just Plain Cooking

This dry as can be cake came from Just Plain Cooking. I made half, dividing the batter between two 6"x2" round pans, made a layer cake out it that was 3.5" tall. They baked in 26 minutes (there was still wet batter on the toothpick after 24 minutes) and are extremely dry. I added 1/4 c. pureed maraschino cherries, 1/4 c. ground toasted almonds, 1/4 t. almond extract and I used less vanilla than called for. The cake is made with equal parts butter and shortening and egg whites only, not whole eggs. I made my own yellow tinted frosting for it.

I give this 1 star. It's dry and is a big disappointment.

MINESTRONE SOUP from Bellyful

This comes from Bellyful. It's a good, basic recipe but has too much pasta in it. I left out the bay leaf, tomato paste and zucchini. I used pureed fire roasted tomatoes, 3/4 c., in place of diced tomatoes. I used frozen drained spinach in place of kale. I used chicken broth and water in place of vegetable broth. I only needed 1/4 t. of table salt and I used close to 1/4 t. red pepper flakes in place of black pepper.

I give this 4 stars.

PEACH GREEK YOGURT CAKE from The Chocolatess (and Ina Garten)

This comes from The Baking Chocolatess via Food Network's Ina Garten. Ina's recipe uses sour cream and this one uses Greek yogurt. I made half in an 8"x2" round pan and it filled it full. It baked in 35 minutes in my Breville oven. I used canned peaches that I patted dry and cut into 1/2" chunks. I used 1/8 t. extra salt. This cake is good but not very moist. Becauses my peaches are very soft I actually like them with a drier cake, so it's OK to me that this cake isn't as moist as it should be. The yogurt is fat free. The original recipe uses fatty sour cream which helps make cakes/muffins moist so if I made this again I'd use sour cream, and I would definitely make this again, and I'd add ground pecans to the batter too.

I made a thick glaze for this too. (1 c. powdered sugar, 1 T. melted butter, 1/8 t. vanilla extract, a drop of almond extract, and enough water/milk to make it of drizzling constistency.) 

I give this 4 stars because it should be moister than it is.