The Big Debut With New Mixer

So, I stand in line the day after Thanksgiving at Kohl's to get a new Kitchen Aid Mixer. I never go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. And I've never owned a decent mixer. But I have a food pantry now, which means more cabinet space, which means I buy things to accessorize it, like a case of spaghetti sauce at Sam's Club just because I liked the label and jar. It's my last room to decorate, what can I say. Besides, any girl that has a nail gun needs a good kitchen power tool, right? I may become quite a chef this year, who knows?

In any case, here is the result of my first use of my mixer...Caramel-Stuffed Cookies, a Paula Deen recipe. And anything with a Rolo stuffed in a ball of dough has to be good.

Caramel Stuffed Cookies

1 package of fudge marble cake mix

2 large eggs

1/3 canola oil

26 individually wrapped Rolos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (I didn't have any, so I sprayed with Pam and wiped a little with paper towel).

In a large bowl, combine yellow part of cake mix, eggs, and oil, stirring to combine. Slowly incorporate chocolate mix to form marbled cookie dough. Roll dough into 26 (or so) balls.

Shape each dough ball around one candy, rolling into a smooth ball. Place dough on prepared baking sheets. Bake to 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are firm. Cool on pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

I like to see what I need to get rid of in the refrigerator or pantry sometimes and add extra ingredients. Sometimes it is because it will go bad soon (and I don't want to waste anything...you'll note that often as I continue with this blog) and sometimes I'm just tired of looking at it.

So with this recipe, to make the cookies look a little prettier (and just because I wanted to play), I melted white chocolate chips and brushed on cookies. Then I used some left-over Hershey's Chocolate Bars (yes, from Halloween, but they taste just fine), melted those, and placed chocolate in a Ziploc bag, using it like a cake decorating bags, squeezing and cutting a small hole in the corner to drizzle chocolate on cookie.

To melt your chocolate, put in a glass bowl or measuring cup, microwave in 30 second intervals, and stirring each time. You'll screw it up if you microwave it too long, so if it is smooth, go with it. And don't add milk to try to thin it out, that did not work for me and had to start over. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Hope you enjoy my blog as I try new projects and venture around in travels and life in general.

Happy Holidays.