White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

When I was little, I was always happy when Easter would come, because my basket always contained lots of chocolate. The candy of my childhood was from a company called Faroh's- their chocolate is like no other. I think maybe there is only one store left in the Cleveland area. They have the most awesome Easter eggs, my mom would get me a giant milk chocolate one with a caramel nougat swirl center. Easter was also one of the few times I would get anything made of white chocolate, which I love.
Anyway, yesterday I made these cookies. The recipe is from Nestles. If you like white chocolate, this is a great recipe! As a matter of fact, this may be one of my all time favorites! The coconut flavor is not real strong, it just enhances the flavor of the chocolate. I skipped the nuts, only because I didn't feel like chopping any......

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
• 1 cup flaked coconut, toasted if desired
• 3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. (10 x 15 jelly roll pan if making bars)
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, coconut and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Cleveland Browns Bars

Edit- I posted this on Sunday- but in the middle of Hurricane Ike so it didn't post. Sorry 'bout the crappy pics! (See last post about Ike)
Uhhh the Browns lost.... But the cookies were a winner!!!! Here is the post.....

I could have sworn I made this recipe from Jennifer of Bake or Break and posted on it a few months ago. I KNOW I made the cookies, but I guess I didn't post on it. Loved the recipe! Not many cookies feature cashews and teamed with butterscotch you can't lose! Even so, when I made the original recipe, I knew I would change it up a bit the next time I made it, because we love pecans!
Tonight is the famous football matchup- Cleveland Browns vs. PITTSburg Steelers. So in honor of my Browns, I have named my changed up recipe Cleveland Browns Bars. They are pretty dang delicious! The crust is like buttery shortbread; and the bscotch caramel- mmmmm!
Here's the play by play...

Cleveland Browns Bars (aka Butterscotch Pecan Bars)
1/2 pound (2 sticks, or 1 cup) butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 & 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
11 ounces butterscotch chips (I used Merckens Butterscotch Wafers this time)
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon
2 cups pecans (toasted lightly in the oven while the crust is baking)
dash salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9″x 13″ pan with parchment paper (line the pan’s width and length, creating a parchment “sling'). Spray parchment paper with cooking spray.
Using an mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt for 1 to 1 & 1/2 minutes. Decrease mixer speed to low and add the flour. Mix just until combined. Lightly press dough evenly into the prepared pan. Poke holes in the dough with a fork. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the crust is a golden color. Remove to wire rack to cool-pretty much completely.
In a saucepan over low heat, stir together butterscotch chips, corn syrup, and water. Stir until mixture comes to a simmer and butterscotch chips are melted. Pour over crust.
Sprinkle toasted pecans over the butterscotch. Bake for 5 minutes. Salt top very lightly. Cool completely on a wire rack. After cooling, remove from pan and use a very sharp knife to cut into bars.

GO BROWNS!

Pepperoni Roll and Rocky Ledge Bars

Today appears to be "sweets- n- bread- use up supply" day. This morning we decided to skip the usual Sunday pancake routine that Mark is fond of lately, and I made Monkey Bread. I had cans of biscuits left since I was gonna make this again over the holidays, but never did.

Since the oven was hot, I picked Martha Stewart's recipe Rocky Ledge Bars to serve at a gathering this evening. Like the biscuits, I had leftover chocolate chips from Christmas to use up. The bars are okay, but I don't think I would make them again- no one was crazy about them. If I do make them I would put on the top marshmallows AFTER they bake, instead of before as the recipe states.

For dinner tonite I am making one of Mark's favorites, Pepperoni Roll. I have had the recipe since early in our marriage. The recipe was originally printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I made one with regular pepperoni and one with turkey pepperoni. I use 2% cheese in both. The turkey pepperoni in not a bad substitute, but I think next time I will add chopped banana peppers, blotted in a paper towel, to give it the extra kick you lose from using the turkey.


Pepperoni Roll

1- 1 lb. loaf frozen bread dough
1 egg - beaten
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2- 3 ½ oz pkgs sliced pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella
½ teas. Dried whole oregano

Thaw dough and let rise according to pkg directions. Divide dough in half. Set one portion aside.
Turn out remaining dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 10 inch circle (or rectangle). Combine egg and parmesan, stir well; spread half of egg mixture over circle leaving a ½ inch margin at edges. Layer half of pepperoni and mozzarella over egg mixture and sprinkle with half the oregano.
Roll up dough in jellyroll fashion. Seal edges and fold ends under. Transfer loaf, seam side down, to an ungreased baking sheet. (line with parchment and foil for easy cleanup.)
Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into slices to serve.
Yield 6-8 servings.

White Chocolate Island Brownies

I fully intend to try new recipes, make old favorites and post pictures, but this last week has been too hectic to think about starting.
Plus I have to figure out how to get the pictures taken without my husband, Mark, thinking I have totally gone 'round the bend. I mentioned to him last week when I made these cookies -White Chip Island Blondies from the Nestles website-that I wanted to take a picture before they were all gone so I could post it on a my new blog to keep track of things and he looked at me like I just walked in the door with purple hair.
Anyway, the cookies were great.
And my mother in law was right- don't ask before you make a new recipe- just make it. I ran this recipe past Mark a few months ago and he wasn't thrilled. But this time I just made it without asking and he really DID like it. I figured he would- he likes everything in it.
So from now on that is my strategy- no asking!

White Chip Island Blondies

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.

COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, nuts and coconut. Press into prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.