Brownies and Cookies? It must be Funday!

Last Sunday I went to church (as custom in Utah). I had already volunteered to make the treat for Game Night. Michelle had also planned to bake cookies for something she was doing that night. She had the brilliant idea to bake together.
Anyway, I made my Lemon-Filled Short-bread Cookies  (I haven't perfected the name yet). I've made these many a times in the past usually around Christmas. And I kinda invented a new recipe. Cheesecake brownies.

 Lemon-Filled Shortbread Cookies recipe

COOKIES:

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon Zest, pinch

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons lemon juice (Juice from 1 medium lemon)

2 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar and lemon zest. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle. Roll into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make an indentation in the center of each. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Make filling as cookies cool off.

For filling, combine the sugar, cornstarch, lemon peel and salt in a saucepan. Stir in egg, lemon juice and butter until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat until thickened. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Cool. Spoon 1/2 teaspoonful into each cookie while still warm. Allow cookies to cool completely before enjoying. 

Cheesecake Brownies recipe

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, divided

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided in half

1/2 cup white sugar, divided in half

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided (two 2/3 cups)

1 teaspoon baking powder, divided in half

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch glass baking pan.

Combine cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and 2 egg in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Set aside.

Fill a double boiler with water and bring to a boil. (If you don't have one this is what I did Fill a pot with water and bring to a rolling boil. Turn the heat off, and set a frying pan over the water.) In the top pot or pan, combine 1/4 cup butter with one cup of chocolate chips; stir until just melted and blended together. Stir in  1/4 cup sugar, then sift together flour, and baking powder; stir into chocolate until evenly blended.  

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan spread it to coat the entire pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate layer.  Repeat step two this time adding 2 eggs before flour add salt with flour mixture.

Top cheesecake layer with chocolate mixture (this doesn't need to completely cover the cream cheese layer). Using a knife, swirl the top chocolate layer into the cream cheese to make a marble pattern.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is crinkled and edges pull away from sides of the pan. Cool thoroughly. Cut into 16-20 squares. Store in the refrigerator.


The cheesecake brownies are extremely moist and rich. Someone at game night said "It's like a cheesecake wrapped in brownie!"

ENJOY!!!! 

Sesame Chicken Stirfry

So I just cooked dinner for myself. Yes, I had dinner at 3 pm. I work tonight so I figured I had to eat earlier than usual. So anyway I mulled over the many dinner posibilities for hours and landed quite nicely on stirfry. Upon checking my refrigerator for vegetables I found my sesame seeds. Then I thought why not sesame chicken? 

This is what I came up with...

Ingredients:

Seasame Chicken-

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon pinapple juice

2 dashes sesame oil

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon canola oil

4 (5 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes

vegetable oil for frying

Sesame sauce-

1/2 cup water

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup rice vinager or distilled white vinegar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon red chile paste

1 teaspoon Ginger

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 clove garlic, minced

Stir fried Veggies-

2 tablespoons vegatable oil

1 green bell pepper, julianned

1 red bell pepper, julianned

1/2 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed

1 large carrot, sliced or julianned

1 small head broccolli, chopped

minced ginger, optional

Sesame seeds

Directions

1. Combine the ingrediants for sesame chicken. Mix well; stir in the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a large wok or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Combine the ingredients for sesame sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn heat to low and keep warm, stirring occasionally.
4. Fry the marinated chicken in batches until cooked through and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
5. Transfer the chicken to a large platter, top with sauce, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
6. Heat 2 tbs vegetable oil in wok or medium sized skillet. Stir fry the vegetables with ginger 2-4 minutes. Add Chicken mixture heat for 2 min longer serve over rice.