{Recipes} - I've caught the bug ...

The cooking and baking bug! It all started last Sunday when I decided to make a huge batch of homemade minestrone, and since then I haven't been able to stop! On Monday I made the Chocolate Pumpkin Bars that were featured on Bakin' and Egg's, along with Renee's blog, and I made banana bread from Sister Scheubert's cookbook. Last night I made a chicken a rice dish in the crockpot, and Monster Cookies, which I found on Pioneer Woman's website!  I love searching for new recipes online and through my cookbooks. I think one of my favorite things has been tweaking the recipes to make them my own. 


The monster cookies have been my favorite so far! They were so fun to make, you literally throw everything into the recipe except for the kitchen sink! I think I was most excited about FINALLY opening my Kitchen Aid Mixer! My parents gave it to me a few years back for Christmas, and I am just now using it for the first time! 

Yea! Finally I have a kitchen for my mixer!

Here are a few pictures of the preparation process and the final result!

Mmm, butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla mixed!

Flour mixture, M&M's, quick oats, chocolate chips, and raisins mixed in!

Rice Krispies added - mmm!

The final product!

Recipe

• 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) Butter (salted) Softened
• ½ cups White Sugar
• 1-½ cup Brown Sugar, Packed
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 1-½ cup Oats (either Quick Or Regular)
• ½ cups M & M's (more To Taste)
• ½ cups Pecans, Chopped (more To Taste)
• ¾ cups Chocolate Chips (milk Or Semi-sweet)
• ½ cups Peanut Butter Chips
• 2-¼ cups Rice Krispies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter with sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add to mixing bowl and mix till combined. After that, add in remaining ingredients in whatever quantity you prefer. Add more nuts if you’d like, or more M & M’s, more peanut butter chips or chocolate chips. Add Rice Crispies at the very end, mixing until just combined. Do not over mix! Use a cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown (approximately 12 minutes), then cool on a rack.