Cherry Melt in Your Mouth Cookies

It's cherry season and boy are they good this year.  The cherry recipes are coming out of the woodwork and I want to try all of them.  I have not tried a bad one yet.  The beauty of this one is that I did a test on it and it passed!  More about that in a little bit.  I actually have made this recipe twice.  I just thought the cookies would be better with a little chocolate.  Think Jerry Garcia ice cream.  And guess what they were.  So you can make them with or without chocolate.

These cookies are with the chocolate. 

This is a basic cookie recipe.  You could probably swap out some other fruit for the cherries and it would be fine.

Soften one stick of butter.  Beat well

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda.  I forgot to take a picture of 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well.

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup pitted, diced cherries.  If you have a cherry pitter it comes in handy.  Pit the cherries and then chop them. You don't want the pieces too big or too small, just right.

A few left over cherries for the cook. I mean after you have pitted them they can't go to waste.

Mix the cherries into the batter.  These cherries must not have had as much juice because the second batch I made turned a little purple which is fine too.

Scoop out on to a baking pan lined with parchment.  Place in a preheated 350 oven.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Now I made my cookies smaller than the recipe calls for so watch them around the 15 minute mark to make sure they are not over baked.

You see these two cookies?  I placed them in the freezer to see how the fruit would freeze.  I wanted to make some for the freezer since cherry season will be gone soon.  Well the freeze test worked. So there is now a batch of cookies in the freezer for later.

Then I thought they would be better with chocolate.  I wanted the chunky pieces of chocolate but couldn't find them, I actually had some in the pantry and didn't realize it. So I added dark chocolate chips. They were really good.

Cherry Melt in Your Mouth Cookies Recipe

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup pitted diced cherries

If you like add 1-2 cups chocolate chips/chunks
Bake 18-20 minutes in a preheated 350 oven.

Pioneer Woman Fresh Cherry Cobbler

The fresh cherries this year have been wonderful.  So big and juicy.  And with cherry season there have been lots of new recipes using fresh cherries.  This is just the first of a couple of recipes I have tried this season. 

The extra sugar on top could probably be left off next time. 

Very simple recipe.  Pitting the cherries takes the most time.  If you are going to use a lot of fresh cherries you might want to get a cherry pitter.  I have had mine for a couple of years and it works great.

Butter a 12 inch cast iron skillet

Melt 4 Tablespoons butter

Add 1 cup sugar to the butter.

Add 1 cup milk

1 cup self rising flour.  Make note of the self rising flour instead of plain.

Mix well.

Pour in the buttered skillet.

Place the pitted cherries around in the skillet.

Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup sugar.  I think next time I might toss the cherries in the 1/4 cup sugar instead of sprinkling it on top.

It is ready for the preheated 350 oven.  Bake for 50 minutes.

After 5o minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle 2 teaspoons sugar on top.

Place back in the oven for 10 minutes.  I don't think the sugar did anything on top.  I thought it might be a little crusty but it didn't.

After the extra 10 minutes.  Now it is ready to eat.

Serve with ice cream while it is still warm.

Pioneer Woman Fresh Cherry Cobbler Recipe

4 Tablespoons melted butter
extra butter to butter the skillet
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup sugar for either the top or to toss the cherries in
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup milk
2 cups pitted cherries
Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350.

Tangy Cucumber Salad

Need something a recipe for all those cucumbers that have overtaken your garden.  This is the perfect recipe for those cucumbers. 

It makes a pretty dish. 

Just a few simple ingredients make a delicious side dish.

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar.

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 Tablespoons fresh chives

Slice about 2 lbs cucumbers.  Slice them as thin or thick as you like.  Let sit in the vinegar mixture for at least 2 hours.  Overnight is best.

If you have stored them overnight in the fridge I like to let them sit out for a while to get to room temperature and the olive oil will become less solid.  Mix well.

Then serve.  They will last in the fridge at least a week.

Tangy Cucumber Salad Recipe
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
black pepper
2 lbs cucumbers
2 Tablespoons fresh chives

Melon Prosciutto Salad with Mint basil Vinaigrette

Summertime is a great time to try out some new salad recipes.  No one wants to heat up the kitchen when it is hot outside.  This is a different kind of salad but it is a nice change from a traditional salad.

It is very easy to throw together. It looks pretty on the plate too.  The recipe calls for using watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew but I only used cantaloupe.  If you have the others on hand by all means use them too. 

 We are going to start by mixing the dressing so it has time to sit and the flavors have time to marry.

 Start with about 1/2 cup of fresh basil

 1/2 cup fresh mint

 1 garlic clove.  Blend all in a food processor.

 zest of one lemon

 juice of one lemon

 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.  (I doubled the recipe)

1 Tablespoon honey.  Blend well in the processor.  Then store in a container until you are ready to use.  This salad you can have all the parts made ahead of time then put together when ready to serve.

 Now to make my melon balls.  Clean out your melon.

 Then using a melon baller start making melons.

 I made mine ahead of time and stored until ready to use.

 Wash your baby arugula leaves and then add strips of prosciutto and pearl sized mozzarella balls to the greens along with the melon balls.

When you dish it up you can add the dressing before hand or dress it when you dip it up. It makes a pretty dish.

Melon Prosciutto Salad with Mint Basil Vinaigrette Recipe

For the Salad
melons of your choice
1 container pearl sized mozzarella balls
8-10 slices prosciutto torn into pieces
4 cups baby arugula

For the Dressing
1/2 cup fresh mint
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil