Crock Pot Chicken Soup

Nearly every week Dennis and I go through the same routine when it comes to dinner.  We stare blankly at each other, shrug, then default to burgers, pasta, etc.  I usually get home around 7, then have to go pick Dennis up at 7:45.  That doesn't leave us with a lot of time to prepare anything if we want to eat before 9.  Once the weather started getting cooler and Dennis became less willing to grill outside in the freezing cold I decided to finally break out the crock pot that my mother-in-law had given us.  After only a few instances of using it I can admit it - I'm in love.

There's really nothing easier than using a crock pot.  We set ours on a timer so it turns on after we've left for work and keeps cooking until we get home.  I was a little nervous about doing this the first time, but it works out great and I love coming home and smelling dinner cooking away.

This recipe was my first attempt at chicken soup in the crock pot.  I cut up the vegetables the night before then plopped the chicken on top and put it all in the fridge.  The next morning I put it in the slow cooker and had chicken soup waiting for me when I got home.  I did run into a slight problem as the original recipe called for a slow cooker that's larger than what we have.  I ended up not measuring how much water I added, making sure I covered the chicken while also leaving a bit of room at the top so it wouldn't overflow.  This made enough soup for at least 4 servings so if you don't want leftovers you can cut the recipe in half.  But the only thing better than using a crock pot for dinner one night is having leftovers from it for another night.


Chicken Noodle Soup (from Good Housekeeping)

8 cups water (or however much you can fit in your slow cooker)
4 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 medium stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 small onion, chopped
2  bay leaves
.5 teaspoon(s) dried thyme
Salt
Ground black pepper
1 whole(s) (3 1/2-pound) chicken
2 cup(s) egg noodles, uncooked

In 4 1/2- to 6-quart slow-cooker bowl, combine water, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place whole chicken on top of vegetables. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low setting 8 to 10 hours or on high setting 4 to 5 hours.

Boil water for noodles, then cook noodles.  I only cooked as much as we wanted for that night, then the next night I threw uncooked noodles in the broth as it warmed up.  I think that's better than having the noodles sit in the broth for a day or more.  

Transfer chicken to cutting board. Discard bay leaves and shred chicken.  Once the noodles are cooked, ladle soup into bowls and add noodles and chicken.  

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Is it possible to improve upon a chocolate chip cookie?  This recipe answers that question with an emphatic “Yes!”  The original idea from Bread & Butter included bananas, but I left that out since I wasn’t sure how people would react to banana in their chocolate chip cookies.  But her idea of putting a dollop of Nutella in the middle of each cookie – genius.  I started off putting a bit too much Nutella in the thumbprint, which led to a few of them falling apart.  So just use a light hand with the Nutella.  Oozing out the top is a-ok; not so much when it’s coming through the bottom of the cookie.

Dennis moved these to the top of his favorite cookie list, the sort of comment that makes my heart go aflutter.  Make these for family, for co-workers, for friends, for yourself.  Just make them.

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Bread & Butter)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Nutella

Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper or Silpat.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough by the spoonful onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Put a small thumbprint in each cookie, then drop in some Nutella.  Cover up the Nutella with some more cookie dough, pressing lightly so it adheres to the bottom part.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Soft Ginger Cookies

One of my favorite flavors is gingerbread, whether it’s found in a latte from Starbucks or a freshly baked treat.  For Thanksgiving this year I was tasked with bringing a dessert (surprise, surprise) so I wanted to find something that people would want to eat after stuffing themselves silly with turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes….

Our cookie preference is always for chewy versus crispy, so I knew I didn’t want a traditional gingersnap but something that was softer.  Google to the rescue!  This recipe from All Recipes was exactly what I was looking for, not to mention that it provided enough cookies so I could leave some for my parents while we were able to hold onto a few ourselves.  I made a few changes to the original recipe, subbing in brown sugar for half of the white sugar and increasing the spices slightly to really bring out that gingerbread flavor.  I also rolled the cookies in turbinado sugar, which provided a nice contrast between the crunchiness of the sugar and the softness of the cookie.  I absolutely loved these cookies, enough that they’ll be added to the regular rotation.  Try them out!

Soft Ginger Cookies (adapted from All Recipes)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 heaping teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and white and brown sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in turbinado sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased or Silpat covered cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.  Place the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator in between batches so it’s easier to handle. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 32 cookies.

Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Rice Krispies Cookies

After making these last week I still had half a box of Rice Krispies left over.  I didn’t want to make Rice Krispie treats again so I went on a hunt for a cookie I could throw them into.  Success!  This recipe originally called for just butterscotch chips but I thought throwing in some chocolate chips would help cut the sweetness of the butterscotch.  These cookies do take a bit of time to make as they have to chill before baking.  But I just made sure I cleared a space in the fridge then threw the trays in there while I let the oven pre-heat.  I don’t think these are cookies you really want sitting around for a few days as the Rice Krispies lose some of their crunchiness and become chewier.  So if you make them just plan on sharing so you won’t have to worry about that. 

Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Rice Krispies Cookies (adapted from Baking Blonde)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons hot water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup butterscotch chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg, beating until combined. Mix in hot water and vanilla. Add flour mixture, in two batches, beating just until combined. Using a wooden spoon, fold in butterscotch chips and Rice Krispies. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min. or longer. 


Preheat oven to 375. Scoop out tablespoons of the dough and roll into balls. Place all balls on one baking sheet, and chill at least 30 min. Remove from fridge and place 12 balls on cookie sheet at a time. Bake until the middle looks just set and the edges begin to turn a light golden – about 8-12 minutes. Remove and let sit on the sheet for a minute. Move cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles were not a cookie I grew up with.  But last year I tried my hand at Snickerdoodle Blondies and loved the cinnamon sugar combination.  So when I was looking for a treat to pull us out of our Halloween candy coma I thought something simple would be best.  These cookies come from The All American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett, one of my favorite cookbooks to flip through. 

My first batch came out rather large – like giant cookies.  But for the other batches I put the dough in the fridge, letting it chill for a bit.  I also made my scoops a bit smaller and the cookies came out a bit thicker and spread less.  These were a big hit.  They had the perfect hint of cinnamon and sugar.  My co-workers gobbled them up, and my boss even named them one of his favorites.  I’m definitely adding these to the Christmas cookie rotation.

Best Ever Snickerdoodles (The All-American Cookie Book)

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 Tbs light corn syrup

2 large eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar combined with 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon for topping

Preheat oven to 375º and line baking sheets with a silicone mat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, set aside.  In another large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and corn syrup together until well blended and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla, beating until well blended and smooth.  Beat in half of the flour mixture until evenly incorporated.  Stir in the remaining flour mixture just until combined.  Let the dough stand for 5-10 minutes.  Mix together the additional sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Roll portions of the dough into generous 1 1/2 inch balls with lightly greased hands (dough will be soft).  Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar.  Place on the baking sheets, spacing about 2 3/4 inches apart. 

Bake the cookies 8-11 minutes, or just until light golden brown at the edges.  Transfer the baking sheets to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, about 2 minutes.  Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.