Sunday, April 10, 2011

Double Crunchers

 I think I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens - I tore it out of a magazine and cut around the recipe so I can't tell for sure which magazine I found this in. I've been meaning to make these cookies for over a year now and finally got around to doing it. They are slightly labor-intensive but they taste really good! Here's the finished product:



 Here's the recipe:

The recipe says it makes 3 dozen sandwich cookies, but I was only able to get 2 dozen out of the batch I made. I must have made the cookies a little larger than they're supposed to be:

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cornflakes, crushed
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 package (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon water
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, cream together the shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Add the flour mixture.
4. Blend in cornflakes, oats and coconut.
5. Divide the dough into two pieces, one twice as large as the other. Shape the larger piece into balls about 3/4 inch in diameter. Shape the smaller piece into the same number of balls (they will be smaller). Place the balls on a lined baking sheet and flatten them to a 1/2 inch thickness.
6. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until golden. Let sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
7. Meanwhile, make the frosting: In a double boiler (I didn't have one of these so I boiled water in a small pot and placed a small frying pan on top of the boiling water), melt together chocolate chips, confectioners' sugar and water (I had to use more water, 3 tablespoons, maybe because I didn't use a double boiler). Off the heat, beat in the cream cheese.
8. Frost the larger cookies and top with the smaller ones.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

I fixed it!

I got the perfect lamp for the bedroom at the HomeGoods store for $40 which is pretty cheap for a lamp. I didn't realize until I got it home and cut the tags off that one of the birdies had a missing tail. I was able to fix it by forming a new tail out of clay. Once the clay dried, I painted and glued the tail on the lamp. It's not perfect but I'm happy with the results. Take a look:


Broken tail :(
New tail I made out of clay
Fixed Birdie on the left

Found this gem at Marshall's

On my weekly trip to Marshall's I found this cute shabby chic bird cage for $20. There were two at the store and I was very tempted to buy both of them. I thought they would look cool on each end of a credenza or buffet in the dinning room. I only ended up buying one since I don't have a buffet just yet. I'm sure I'll regret it later ;) but I think it looks good on the dinning room table. I'd like to get a little plant to put inside it. For those of you who have kitties that like to eat houseplants, this is a good way to keep your plants safe. Take a look: