Stephanie's Recipes

I love cooking, especially yummy things like treats and desserts.
Here are a few of my favorite recipes.
I can't possibly list all of the recipes that I love and for now,
the few that I have here will have to do.
Hopefully, there will be more later, and if you have any suggestions,
please let me know. I am always on the lookout for more good recipes.

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*Cookies*

This first recipe was kind of inherited from a dear friend.
I've tried lots of recipes and never found one
for chocolate chip cookies that I liked better.
This recipe is great with chocolate chips,
but I also like to use other stuff such as M&Ms and Reese's Pieces.
Delicious!

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening,
3/4 cup white sugar,
3/4 cup brown sugar,
2 eggs,
1 teaspoon vanilla ,
1/2 teaspoon salt,
1 teaspoon baking soda,
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups flour,
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream sugars and shortening together. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the soda and salt. Add flour and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Roll into balls or drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F, for about ten minutes, or till slightly golden.

This recipe is a lot like the first cookie recipe. The main difference is the coconut. You can also use oatmeal in place of the coconut.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups shortening,
1 1/2 cups sugar,
1 1/2 cups brown sugar,
4 eggs,
2 teaspoons vanilla,
2 teaspoons soda,
1 teaspoon salt,
2 1/4 cups coconut,
2 1/2 cups flour,
2 cups chocolate chips,
Optional: additional butterschotch chips.

Cream sugars and shortening. Beat in the eggs. Stir in the vanilla, soda and salt. Add flour and coconut and mix well. Add more flour if needed. Dough should not be stiff. Stir in chips. Roll into balls or drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F. for about 10 minutes or until tops of cookies are just barely golden. Cookies will appear soft. Allow to cool on pan one minute; then remove to a cooling rack or paper. Cookies are delicious warm or cool.

These cookies are great when you're in a hurry and you *need* something sweet and chocolately. They cook fast -- just 1 1/2 minutes -- and the ingredients are easy to gather as well as put together. Have fun!

No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar,
1/2 cup milk,
6 Tablespoons cocoa powder,
1/2 cup butter (or margarine),
2 teaspoons vanilla,
3 cups oatmeal,
1/2 cup peanut butter.

Boil sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa in a pot for 1 1/2 minutes. (Do not over-boil or cookies will be sugary and fall apart.) Remove immediately from heat and add peanut butter, oatmeal and vanilla. Mix well. Before mixture cools, drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper or plastic wrap. Allow cookies to cool and harden.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar,
1 cup corn syrup,
1 1/2 cups water,
1 1/2 teaspoons salt,
2 Tablespoons butter,
Flavoring and food coloring

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan, except the butter, flavoring and food coloring. Cook slowly, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved. Cook to hardball stage (about 260 degrees F) without stirring. Remove from heat and add the butter about 1/4 teaspoon flavoring and a few drops of food coloring. Pour into a well buttered dish and allow taffy to cool, until it's comfortable enough to handle. Rub butter on your hands and pull candy until it becomes full of air and light in color. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container. Makes about 1 1/4 pounds candy.

Ingredients:
*Pastry for 9-inch two-crust pie crust,
5 cups of apples; peeled, cored and sliced (tart is best),
1/2 cup water (for cooking the apples),
1 cup sugar,
2 Tablespoons flour,
1 teaspoon cinnamon,
1/8 teaspoon salt,
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (unless your apples are very tart),
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

First, steam or simmer the apples in water, until they are cooked all they way through. (They will look almost transparent.) Combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Then spread about half of the dry mixture in the bottom of the pie shell. Place the cooked apples on top of that and pour about 1/4 cup of the water used for cooking the apples on top. If desired, add lemon juice at this time. Finally, sprinkle the remaining dry mixture on top of the apples and dot with butter. Fit and seal a top crust on the pie and be sure and make some cuts in the top for the air to escape. Bake on the lowest shelf in the oven at 425 degrees F., for 30 to 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned on top.

*And just in case you don't have a favorite crust recipe of your own, here's the one that I use:

Two-crust Pie Crust Recipe

2 cups flour,
1 teaspoon salt,
2/3 cup shortening,
6-7 Tablespoons cold water (more if needed)

Sift together the flour and salt. Cut in shortening until pieces are the size of peas. Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon of water. Mix with a fork and repeat until all the mixture is moistened. Form into two balls and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Bake according to pie recipe.