Iron Bowl Cookies

For those of you that live outside the south or do not care about football you might not be familiar with the Iron Bowl.  It is the game played every year between Alabama and Auburn.  This year it is a big deal because Alabama is undefeated and Auburn has lost only 1 game.  This game is for the 356 days a year Braggin' Rights.  So these cookies are perfect for game day this weekend.

These cookies are super easy, the main ingredient is a red velvet cake mix.

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla added to the cake mix.

Mix well.  The batter will be thick. Place batter in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes.

In a bowl add some powdered sugar.

Roll balls of dough in the powdered sugar.

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Place in a preheated 350 oven.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Fresh from the oven some nice red and white cookies for game day.

Iron Bowl Cookies Recipe

1 box red velvet cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Cheesy Gnocchi Casserole with Ham and Peas

Have you ever cooked with gnocchi?  I had not and was a little curious about them.  I had seen recipes with them and have seen them in the grocery store in the pasta section.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and good they were.  This is a great recipe to use after the holidays with that leftover ham.

Yes there are a few pieces of corn in the peas.  I mixed a few of my leftover frozen veggies.  Not enough to make a difference.

Start with 1 Tablespoon butter in a skillet or large pot.  The recipe calls for using a skillet that can go in the oven and I wasn't sure about using my cast iron skillet so I started this in a large pot and transferred it to a casserole dish.

Chop one medium onion.

Add the onion to the melted butter and sauté.

Chop up some ham.

Add the ham to the onions.

Add 1/2 cup chicken broth.

Add 3/4 cup of water to the broth.

Then add it to the ham mixture.

This is what the gnocchi look like. They feel like pasta that hasn't been cooked yet.

Add the gnocchi to the ham mixture.

Cover and cook until the gnocchi is slightly tender about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

Uncover.

Add about 1 cup frozen peas.  I didn't measure the peas.

Stir well.

Add 1/4 cup heavy cream.

I transferred it to a casserole dish.

Add 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese.

Well a little extra cheese doesn't hurt anything.  Preheat the broiler to high heat and place inside. Bake for about 3 minutes or until cheese is nice and bubbly.

Fresh and bubbly from the oven.

A nice warm filling meal for a cold fall night.

Cheesy Gnocchi Casserole with Ham and Peas Recipe

1 Tablespoon butter
1 onion chopped
8 oz ham
1/2 cup chicken broth
17.5 ox pkg potato gnocchi
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat the broiler and bake for about 3 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Pumpkin Spice Pretzel Treats

When I bought the pumpkin spice candy melts this is what I originally planned of using them for.  I will say now that I have them finished I should have found the smaller pretzels because I think they would look more like a pumpkin.  I stopped putting the stem in and just made pumpkin spice pretzels. These would be cute to have the kids work on while waiting on that Thanksgiving turkey.

These are the mini M&M's that I picked out the green ones.

Place the candy melts into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 sec intervals until they are melted.  If you cook them at longer intervals they could burn.  Burned chocolate is not good.  It will get lumpy and thick.  Stir after each cycle.

It is all finally melted.

Drop a pretzel in the chocolate.  Using a fork swirl it in the chocolate.

Using the fork tap it on the side of the bowl to get the excess off.

Place it on wax paper.

Add the stem

When they dry and you put them on a plate you can clean up some of the little drippy pieces.

A close up of the pumpkin look.

Jigglers

I know jello is for kids but I love jigglers. With the kids going to home some in the coming weeks for the different holidays I thought I would share this recipe.  This is something that the kids can have some fun with, especially if you have some cute molds.  Of course I used football molds for game day.

I made a half recipe.  Mainly because I only had two boxes of jello the same flavor.  So if you want to make double just double this recipe.

While my cup and 1/4 of water is heating to boiling in the microwave, spray your molds.  The recipe told me to spray the molds.  I don't think I would do that again.  The spray left a film on the footballs. These molds are easy enough to get your finger under to pop them out.

Add both boxes of jello into the hot water. I used sugar free too.

Mix well.

I used a cupcake filler cup to fill the molds to try and minimize mess.  It's hard to do things left handed and try and take a picture.

The two boxes filled this many of the large molds.  If you had some pumpkin molds it would be cute to do orange jello for Thanksgiving or Halloween. Pop in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

I pulled the first few out of their molds.  

Here is the other mold.  You can see some of the film on top.  It will wipe off.  Dig in.

Jigglers Recipe full recipe

2 large boxes or 4 small ones Jello regular or sugar free

2 1/2 cups boiling water

shaped molds.

Soft and Chewy Seven Layer Magic Bar Cookies

Back in the summer I made the 7 Layer Bars and shared that recipe with you and then in the fall when I had all those fresh apples I made a 7 Layer Bar with apples and shared that with you.  Both of those recipes are good and very easy to make. But now I have found all those wonderful flavors together in a cookie.  I really like making cookies.  I really don't know why but I do.  They are usually fairly easy to make and great to share.  I couldn't wait to try these.  So last weekend I made these for our Saturday football snack.  I couldn't wait for my husband to try these because he loved the bars.  He said they taste familiar but couldn't put his finger on it.  When I told him what they were he said he could see that.  These will be added to the rotation that is for sure.

The same things you would use for the magic bars except these do not have sweetened condensed milk, which makes them really, really sweet.

Start with 3/4 cup softened butter.

Add 1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar. Cream all ingredients for about 7 minutes, to make nice and fluffy.

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup graham cracker crumbs.

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup butterscotch chips

3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Mix well. 

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon scoop out cookie dough.  Then place in the fridge for about 2 hours to chill.  Or you can cover and place in the fridge for up to 5 days before baking. When ready to bake, place in a preheated 350 oven and bake for about 9-10 minutes, or until golden.

Fresh from the oven. Taste just like the magic bars.

Seven Layer Magic Bar Cookies Recipe

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup butterscotch chips

3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350.  Chill dough for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.  Bake 9-10 minutes.