Amazing Fall Pumpkin Dip

I have made this dip twice (in the last week) it is amazing. I got the recipe from a friend and decided to make it for my coworkers, my roommate and proceeded to eat most of the first batch so today I made more! It is light and airy and tastes just like pumpkin pie with whip cream!

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. Cool Whip
• 3 Packets Vanilla (or french vanilla) instant pudding
• One can of pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie)
• Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Cinnamon
• 2 tsp. Vanilla (optional, I like it to kick up the flavor)

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients (that's it). I actually mix the first three ingredients and the vanilla and then add the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to taste, I like a LOT of both, but that is just me!

This dip is great with Nilla wafers, I imagine it would also be great with various sweet breads and graham crackers! Get creative let me know what amazing things you find to pair it with!

If you are watching your weight/sugar feel free to swap the regular cool whip for the lite version and the pudding for sugar free! You can always add more spices to offset the diet taste!

Heart Shape Cookies

I tried these today for Valentines day and they turned out pretty well! I hope they will go over well at my potluck dinner tonight! I used my "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" for this tutorial.

 Start our with quarter sized balls lightly flattened on a cookie sheet.

Next use the handle end of a knife to lightly push down the top part of the cookie dough to create the heart shape. This works best if you use your first finger and thumb to create point at the bottom of the cookie dough.

Some turned out better than others, the ones with the more distinct gap at the top and the pointer bottoms turned out better in the long run as they spread out a bit while baking.

The best Chocolate Chip Cookies you will ever eat!

These are my "famous" chocolate chip cookies. I have been debating posting this recipe for awhile, because it is my FAVORITE, and kind of my "go to" cookie. I wasn't sure I wanted to tell my secrets it, but I think it is time to share it with the world!

These chocolate chip cookies don't get hard, they are soft even after they cool down and they are the only chocolate chip cookies that I prefer when they aren't warm (though they are pretty darn good right out of the oven too!).

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. Sugar
• 3/4 c. Brown Sugar
• 2 sticks of butter (Original recipe calls for 1 stick butter 1 margarine, read my post on why margarine is horrible for you to see why I adapted to 2 butters!)
• 1 pkg. Jell-O INSTANT pudding
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 2 1/4 c. flour (I use 1/2 whole wheat 1/2 all purpose)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 pkg. chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and pudding mix in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add flour and baking soda gradually.

 Next stir in chocolate chips. 

Put the batter in the refridgerator for about 10 minutes to make it easier to work with (you can skip this step if you are short on time). Roll into about quarter - half dollar sized balls (I like big cookies) and flatten slightly about 2" apart on a non-greased non-stick cookie sheet.  

Bake 8-10 minutes.

When they are ready cookies will no longer be shinny (compare the before and after going in the oven pictures). Do not over bake!

 Cookies should be lightly browned around the edges, if you are using a darker colored pudding it may be hard to see. 

Place Cookies on a drying rack to cool.

Makes 1-2 Dozen Cookies

Delicious Variations:

• See my post on Heart Cookies for how to make Heart Shaped Cookies!
• I like to use butterscotch pudding with chocolate and sometimes 1/2 chocolate 1/2 butterscotch chips, these are a favorite of my friends, last Christmas I had to make them 3-4 times they kept disappearing!
• I have also done chocolate pudding with butterscotch or peanut butter chips, they went over very well as well!
• Change up your pudding/chip flavors to make amazing flavor combinations! See if you can come up with new combinations! Please comment and tell me what you think would be the best flavor combinations!

*Recipe adapted from "Big Dave Heler Chocolate Chip Cookies" in the Wooster Brush Cookbook*