A few weeks ago I made lunch for my husband’s staff. I do this every few months for them and everyone enjoys it. I enjoy cooking it, and they all enjoy a home cooked meal that they did not have to make.

When I do this I usually take the opportunity to try a new dessert recipe.

I have a lemon bar recipe that I love, but Martha Stewart has a recipe for Cream Lemon Squares that I have wanted to make for quite some time. I knew by looking at the recipe that it was a richer and fancier version than my regular recipe.

I decided our office lunch would be a perfect time to try it.

This recipe was so good. I actually made two pans, the regular version I am posting today, and a gluten free version, which I will post on my allergy site soon.

I sent these to the office along with the meal and everyone enjoyed them. If you enjoy lemon as much as I do, then this is a recipe that you need to try.

Creamy Lemon Squares

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• ½ cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 can (14-ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• ¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from 4 lemons)

1. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. This makes the bars come out of the pan easier, but it is not necessary.
2. Cream butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, and mix just until combined.
3. Press dough into the bottom and ½ inch up sides of prepared pan. Prick all over bottom with a fork. Bake until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Whisk together egg yolks, condensed milk, and lemon juice. Pour over hot crust and bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
5. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar for serving.
6. Enjoy!

This post linked to Foodie Friday.

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I love to make cookies. In fact, cookies were the first thing I learned how to bake. I remember clearly the first cookies I made. They were the same no bake cookies that I wrote about almost two years ago.

My cookie baking skills have grown quite a bit over the years, and cookies long ago became my favorite thing to bake. My cookies even won $1,000 in a cooking contest a few years ago.

Because cookies are my favorite thing to bake, I am always looking for new recipes. I recently came across a recipe that I knew I had to try.

Not only did this recipe look and sound really good, it caught my attention because it had no flour in it. I loved the fact that this was a normal recipe that was naturally gluten free.

I did end up adapting this recipe a little, because you know me, I can’t leave a recipe alone.

I have now made these several times, and my whole family loves them. Even my son and daughter that do not usually like coconut liked them.

These make a fudgy and very good cookie.

Fudgy Coconut Cookies

• 5  1/3 cups sweetened coconut
• 1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk ( I have used the regular and low fat and both work)
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes. I like them to be a little fudgy, so I bake for 9 minutes. If you want them more firm, bake for a little longer.

This post linked to DIY Day.

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Did you know that May 15th  is National Chocolate Chip Day?

Yes, I guess they do have a day for just about anything. However, who can really complain about a whole day to celebrate Chocolate Chips?

Here are some of my favorite ways to use chocolate chips.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Chocolate Toffee Pecan Cookies (also known as the cookies that won me $1000)

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Giant Chocolate Cookie

This post linked to Made By You Mondays and Tasty Tuesday.

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I am fairly new to gluten free cooking. I have only been gluten free for about five months.  I have had a lot of disasters when it comes to baking. Everything is so different when you are dealing with gluten free flours.

This has been hard on my family. I used to bake all the time. I would make cookies, muffins, cakes, etc. Since going gluten free, I have really reduced the amount that I bake. It is just not the same gluten free. Not only is it frustrating to have disasters, it is much more expensive to bake using gluten free flours.

However, I have had great success using Betty Crocker’s gluten free cake mixes. I will be honest, I am not normally a big fan of cake mixes. I rarely used them before going gluten free. However, since going gluten free, I have been using them quite often. Yes, they are a bit expensive, but I have found the to be a no fail way to get good gluten free desserts.

I will admit though that I have not used them to make a regular cake yet. So, I don’t know how they work or taste for that. What I have been doing is taking the cake mix, doctoring it up, and using it in different ways.

I did this with one of my favorite peach desserts. I easily adapted a recipe that my mom has been making for years and made it gluten free.

Today’s recipe is another one that I adapted to be gluten free, by just using a gluten free cake mix. My family loved a sandwich cookie recipe that came from a friend of mine. I was sure I could easily adapt this to be gluten free.

I just replaced the regular cake mixes with gluten free cake mixes and it worked perfectly. My family loved these. My husband did not even know they were gluten free until I told him.

I am so glad I have found a few easy and no fail gluten free recipes like this.

Do any of you that cook gluten free use the gluten free cake mixes? What do you think of them? Do you use them often?

Gluten Free Sandwich Cookies

• 2 chocolate gluten free cakes mixes
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil

Frosting

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl, beat cake mixes, eggs and oil (batter will be very stiff). Roll into 1-in. balls. (I used a small cookie scoop/melon baller so they were all uniform) Place on ungreased baking sheets and flatten slightly. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until a slight indentation remains when lightly touched. Do not over cook. You want these to be chewy not hard. Cool.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth. Spread on bottom of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

This post linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Gluten Free Wednesday.

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I love cooking magazines. I love to look through them for tips and ideas like I do cookbooks. I often go to a used book sale in my area that is several times a year. Last year I came across quite a find at the sale. They had a whole stack of past issues of Paula Deen’s Magazine, for only 10 cents each.

Well, I bought the whole stack and it was well worth the couple of dollars that I spent. I am still finding and using recipes from the magazines that I bought.

I was recently looking through the magazines again and found a recipe for lemon coconut macaroons. Well, I love cookies and I love lemon, so I knew this was a recipe that I wanted to try.

This recipe is really easy and we loved them. Ok, well two of my kids do not like coconut, so they did not like these, but they don’t like anything with coconut in it. But if you like coconut give these a try.

Lemon Coconut Macaroons

• 1 egg white
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1   14 ounce bag of shredded coconut

In a bowl mix whisk together egg white and salt until frothy. This takes about 2 minutes. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and extracts. Then fold in coconut until well combined. Shape mixture into 1  1/2 inch mounds. I use a cookie scoop for this. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheets at bake at 300 for about 20 minutes or until very lightly browned. Serve and enjoy!

This post linked to Frugal Fridays.

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I know most of my readers eat and love gluten, so I thought I would reassure you all that I am still baking some regular, every day, gluten filled treats.

Most of the baked items I have posted recently have been gluten free, but I do plan on posting regular recipes as I make them.  I have realized that I can handle some levels of cross contamination, so I am still baking and sending treats to my husband’s office. Now, it is probably not as often as it used to be, or as often as his staff would like, but I am sending them. As I make and send them, I will post the recipes.

Last week’s treat was easy, it was an adaption of my cake mix cookies. This recipe is a very easy and basic recipe. It made a perfect cookie for me to send to the office this week, because I did not have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen baking.

I usually use a chocolate cake mix, but this time I used a yellow cake mix and chocolate chips. Although I did not eat any of these, everyone else said they were very good.

I know there are many versions of this recipe. Do you have a version that you make?

Cake Mix Cookies

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. It will be a stiff batter and takes a few minutes to mix together. Stir in chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 11 minutes. Enjoy!

This post linked to DIY.

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My kids love rice crispy treats and so do I. They are so easy to put together when we need a quick snack or dessert.

Did you know that you can make rice crispy type treats out of just about any type of cereal? It is a great way to use up cereal that you have bought on sale or maybe cereal that your family did not like very much or that they are tired of.

Over the years I have used fruit loops, golden grahams, honey bunches of oats, captain crunch, and many others. I recently started doing this with gluten free cereals like Chex and that also works well.

I just follow the basic directions for making the treats and use whatever cereal that I have.

What is your favorite cereal to use for these rice crispy type treats?

Rice Crispy Treats

• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• 6 cups rice krispies or other cereal

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add rice krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

For a fun and unique rice crispy treat you should try Amy’s Rice Crispy Roll and Jen’s version of rice crispy treats. They are both fun versions of a classic treat.

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I love to make cookies. They are one of my favorite things to bake. I used to make cookies all the time, however since going gluten free I have only made them twice. Gluten free cookies are just not the same. I am trying to come up with some good gluten free cookies by adapting some of my old favorites, but the results have been mixed.

However I have been craving cookies, so when I saw a recipe from Emeril for flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, I knew I wanted to try it. Not only do we love cookies in our house, we love peanut butter. So, I gave these a try.

We loved these cookies. It was so nice to have a cookie again that was really good. We loved these so much that they did not even last 24 hours. We ate way too many of these. I told my sister about these cookies and she decided to try them. Her family also loved these cookies.

One of the reasons I like this recipe is because it is a normal, but gluten free recipe. There is nothing strange or weird in these cookies. Anyone would have the ingredients on hand to make these. These are a cookie everyone would enjoy.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips ( I used about 3/4 of a cup)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Take about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough and roll between your hands to form a smooth ball. Place the balls of dough on ungreased cookie sheets( I used my stoneware pan), spacing them 1 inch apart. You should get about 12 cookies per sheet. Flatten slightly.

Bake the cookies at 350 until the cookies are puffed and lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheets for 4-5 minutes. Then remove them onto wire racks to cool.

This post linked to DIY Day.

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I really like the combination of chocolate and coconut. I have always enjoyed candies like Mounds candy bars that have the chocolate and coconut combination.

This recipe is a macaroon type recipe, but with a twist, because it contains chocolate chips. Not only does it have chocolate chips in it, you dip these cookies in chocolate. Doubling the chocolate always makes things better.

I will say that these are not one of the prettiest desserts that I made. The fact that they are so good though, makes up for how they look. These are really good and I will be making them again.

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1-14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 -14 ounce packages of shredded coconut
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• chocolate chips for melting ( I used about 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips)

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg whites and salt until foamy, about 2 minutes. Then whisk in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla.
3. Fold in coconut and 1 cup of chocolate chips. Drop by heaping tablespoons on the parchment paper. You need to form these a little and they will look nicer. You just want them rounded and packed a little bit.
4. Bake at 300 for 20 minutes. Let cool on pans for 2-3 minutes and then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
5. Once the macaroons are cool, melt chocolate chips in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted.
6. Dip the bottoms of the macaroons into the melted chocolate. I had a few of mine fall apart during this step. However, my kids did not mind that because they got to eat those ones.
7. Refrigerate until the chocolate on the bottom hardens.

For more dessert ideas see Life As Mom and Simple Sweet Home.

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This is my favorite chocolate chip oatmeal cookie to make. I love this recipe. It is so good and it is semi healthy because it has oatmeal in it. Cookies are healthy if they have oatmeal in it, aren’t they?

This recipe is adapted from an oatmeal cookie recipe that I found on allrecipes. Although the original recipe was good, I thought it needed something more. By adding chocolate to it, I made a plain cookie great. Chocolate was just what these needed.

You can also make these with raisins, but chocolate chips are our favorite.

What kind of cookies do you like, oatmeal or chocolate chip?

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 cups of chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, and then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Scoop cookie dough onto cookie sheets placing them 2 inches.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For more great recipes see Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.