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Eats

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on August 4, 2017

Happy National Chocolate Chip Day!! If you were looking for an excuse to make some chocolate chip cookies today, today is the day to have that cheat day because c’mon it’s a national holiday!  And any reason to make these soft cream cheese chocolate cookies is a good day in my book! These cream cheese chocolate chip cookies are so soft and moist with the addition of a little bit of cream cheese.

Would you believe me if I told you that the secret ingredients to these soft cookies is cream cheese and cornstarch?!? If you don’t believe me, give this recipe a try and tell us what you think. The other secret to thick soft cookies is to refrigerate the dough for up to 2 hours or overnight. I know some people hate recipes that require you to refrigerate your dough, but if your dough is warm your cookies will spread while baking and turn out thin.

I love how these cookies are thick without being cakey and the texture of these cookies are a bit chewy around the edges while the interior is soft, tender, and moist.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
  1. 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  2. 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (don't use fat-free, light or whipped)
  3. 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  4. 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  5. 1 large egg
  6. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  7. 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  8. 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  9. 1 teaspoon baking soda
  10. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  11. 2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I like to use 1 cup chips and 1 1/4 cups chunks)
Instructions
  1. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese (to get an accurate measurement, put it into a 1/4-cup measure cup rather than using the marks on the outside package), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
  3. Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat for just a minute to incorporate, or fold in by hand.
  4. Using a medium cookie scoop, form heaping mounds. Place on a large plate and flatten mounds slightly with your palm.
  5. Cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Baking with warm dough causes cookies to spread and bake thinner and flatter.
  6. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat and place dough on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set. They will look slightly under cooked, pale and glossy in the center. Rotate pans after 4 minutes and do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool. (If dough is refrigerated overnight, allow dough to come to room temp for 15 minutes before baking).
  7. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Sweet Lemon Made http://sweetlemonmade.com/

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Eats Uncategorized

Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Poppy Seed Dressing

Posted on July 24, 2017

Were you invited to a BBQ and don’t know what to make or forgot you needed to bring a dish? I’ve got you covered with my go to dish I like to bring…Broccoli Salad! This salad is so simple and easy to make and it’s soooo good!! This broccoli salad is my favorite! It’s full of broccoli, crispy crumbled bacon, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, and sweet poppyseed dressing! It always seems to be one of the first dishes to get eaten up too, so that tells you how yummy it is! The only thing you have to cook is the bacon. How much easier can a recipe get? Not much easier. All you have to do with the rest of the other ingredients is pour it into a bowl and mix it all together.

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So hit up the grocery store and grab all the ingredients needed and a giant bowl and whip up this delicious salad! You won’t regret it! I promise. And you can get any brand of poppyseed dressing, but I love the BRIANNAS brand the best!

 

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Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Poppy Seed Dressing
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Ingredients
  1. 1 (12 ounce) bags of broccoli florets, cut into bite size pieces
  2. 1 bottle Briannas poppyseed dressing
  3. 1 (16 ounce) package of bacon, cooked and crumbled
  4. 1 and 1/2 cups of Golden Raisins
  5. 1/3 cup unshelled sunflowers seeds
Instructions
  1. Combine broccoli, golden raisins and sunflower seeds in a bowl.
  2. Pour the bottle of dressing into the salad and mix all together. Tip: I usually use the whole bottle but if you don't like as much dressing you can start off with half the bottle and then continue to add dressing until desired.
  3. Let salad chill for 1-2 hours. It might look like the salad doesn't have enough dressing when you take it out of the fridge but it is. The salad dressing marinates into the ingredients.
  4. Give the salad a stir before serving, mix in bacon leaving a bit for the top, and serve!
Sweet Lemon Made http://sweetlemonmade.com/

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Celebrate Eats

America’s Best Donut Shop

Posted on June 2, 2017

I love donuts. And I eat a lot of them. I’m always on the hunt for the best donut spot in every city I visit. And given that today is NATIONAL DONUT DAY, I wanted to share one of my ALL-TIME favorite donut spot with you–Holy Donut in Portland, Maine. Also, just so you know, I’m not the only one obsessed with this place. The have only been open since 2012, but have almost 900 reviews on Yelp and manage to maintain a near perfect 4.8/5 rating, Trip Advisor has over 1,200 glowing reviews.

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I found this place on a work trip to Portland as, per usual, I was searching for a great donut spot. Some people go sightseeing to get to know a city—I eat donuts. Lucky for me this place was just around the block from my hotel—SCORE. The first day I went there I restrained myself to two donuts. Little did I know that “moderate” decision would only ignite an obsession for these fantastic donuts. You see, these are not just any old donuts. These made-from-scratch donuts use real Maine potatoes as the (not-so) secret ingredient! Yes, potatoes! Who would have thought?? But I’m convinced this is what makes the donuts magical.

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Their texture is superb. They’re not quite a cake donuts, but not quite a yeast donuts either. It’s a perfect mix of the two. It’s like a loaf of potato bread and a pound cake got together and had a donut baby. It’s soft and moist with a perfect density that is enough to fill you up, but not weigh you down.  I’m a sucker for a maple-bacon donut and these guys hit it out of the park. The sweetness of the dough was not over done and was accented perfectly by a thick maple glaze, studded with small splashes of bacon.  It was wow. The triple berry donut had a bright and flavorful glaze made with real berries that was perfectly sweet, perfectly tart, and equally addicting. But we can’t overlook the simplistic supremacy of the sweet potato donut. Like its fellow donut friends, the sweet potato donut had a perfect moist, dense, but not heavy texture. The simple sweetness of the sweet potato was accented by a subtle cinnamon-spice undertone that made this baby absolutely delicious. Oh yeah, and then they topped it with a sweet glaze–YUM. every bite was filled with culinary satisfaction. And then there’s the dark chocolate sea salt donut…this one was my very favorite. I don’t even think I got a good picture of it because I inhaled it SO FAST. I mean, I don’t have to tell you about the beautiful combination that is dark chocolate and sea salt, but just imagine all of that awesomeness in a donut. The bitterness of the dark chocolate is a perfect balance to the sweetness of the dough and each bite is punched with a hint of sea salt. The salt really ties all the flavors together in medley of sweet and savory. It’s a hands down winner in my book.

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Not only do these donuts taste awesome, but they use fresh, local ingredients in their recipes. In addition to plenty of fresh Maine potatoes, they include the highest quality dark cocoa powder and 60% dark chocolate chips in all chocolate donuts and glazes, and only color their donut glazes with fruit juices or vegetable dyes–no fake colors. And all of the donuts are still hand cut!

Oh these donuts, I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that if you EVER find yourself in Portland MAINE, you’ve GOT to try these donuts. And if you ever see a donut made from potato dough anywhere else, you should probably get three. Potato donuts are LEGIT.

There are two locations in Portland (but do not worry…THIS IS NOT A CHAIN. You people know how I feel about chain restaurants…)

Holy Donut
7 Exchange St
Portland, ME 04101

Holy Donut
194 Park Ave
Portland, ME 04102

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Eats

Caprese Salad Skewers with Balsamic Drizzle

Posted on May 22, 2017

Even though we had a winter day in May here in Utah, it’s starting to feel like summer. And that means BBQ grillin’ time and summer foods! These Caprese salad skewers are perfect bites of freshness and assembly is as easy as 1…2…3!

  1. Basil
  2. Mozzarella ball
  3. Tomato

Made with fresh mini mozzarella balls, skewered with tender basil leaves and juicy tomatoes and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Tip: You can use a plain balsamic vinegar or try our secret ingredient–pomegranate balsamic vinegar from a local Ogden restaurant called Hearth on 25th! You can also find it online here. 

This stuff is delicious! This simple appetizer will have people coming back for more and I know they won’t be able to eat just one!

Caprese Salad Skewers with Balsamic Drizzle
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Ingredients
  1. Fresh mini mozzarella balls
  2. Cherry or grape tomatoes
  3. Fresh basil leaves, cut if large
  4. Balsamic vinegar or our favorite pomegranate balsamic vinegar
  5. Toothpicks or bamboo skewers
Instructions
  1. Drain mozzarella balls.
  2. Wash and dry tomatoes and basil leaves.
  3. Cut basil leaves if too large.
  4. Assemble skewers--basil, mozzarella ball, and then tomato.
  5. Plate and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
  6. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
  1. Tip: If you would like to make the balsamic into a glaze here are the instructions.
  2. 1.Over high heat, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil in a saucepan. Lower heat to medium and simmer for about ten minutes, or until it has slightly thickened.
  3. 2.Remove from heat and let cool.
Sweet Lemon Made http://sweetlemonmade.com/

 

Eats

Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Posted on May 9, 2017

Grab yourself a cake mix and once it’s done and cooled down, grab your wooden spoon and start poking those holes!
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Next, whip up your banana pudding and pour it all over the cake and spread evenly making sure to get it into all of the holes.

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Then slice your bananas and layer them on top of the pudding in a single layer.

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Then, top the cake with cool whip.

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Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or overnight if possible. It taste so much better the next day! Right before serving sprinkle crushed Nilla Wafers on top. Garnish with banana slices and a whole Nilla Wafer and ENJOY!

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Banana Pudding Poke Cake
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Ingredients
  1. 1 box yellow cake mix
  2. ingredients to make the cake: eggs, oil, water
  3. 2 (3.4 oz) packages of instant banana pudding
  4. 4 cups milk
  5. 1 (8 oz) tub of Cool Whip
  6. 20 Nilla Wafers, crushed
  7. 3-4 bananas
Instructions
  1. Prepare cake mix according to package for 9x13 pan.
  2. Once cake is done and comes out of the oven, allow it to cool for about 10-15 minutes.
  3. Then, with a wooden spoon poke holes in the cake making sure the holes are big enough for the pudding to get down into the cake.
  4. In a bowl, whisk together the pudding and the milk until smooth and begins to thicken.
  5. Pour pudding all over the cake and getting it into the holes. Using the back of a spoon or an off set spatula, spread the pudding out and gently pressing pudding into the holes.
  6. Slice bananas and top cake with a single layer of bananas.
  7. Top with cool whip and place in fridge for at least 1-2 hours before serving.
  8. Crush Nilla Wafers and sprinkle on top before serving.
  9. Garnish with banana slices and whole Nilla Wafers.
Sweet Lemon Made http://sweetlemonmade.com/
Do you know a banana lover? Or maybe it’s you? Either way, you or the banana lover in your life are going to go bananas over this banana pudding poke cake! Not only is it yummy, it’s super easy and simple to make, and you can make it ahead of time. And when I say super easy, I mean it. All you need is a box cake, pudding, bananas, Cool Whip, and Nilla Wafers!