I know right?! Divine.

I saw this recipe here and haven't been able to get it out of my mind since.  I also knew that neither my husband nor I have big sweet tooths (teeth?) so if I made them at home, we'd each have one and call it good.

Thank goodness for parents and Father's Day.  Always a great excuse for recipe testing.  

I was absolutely correct when I thought they were going to be sugar loaded.  But here I am 3 days later and I'm kind of really craving another one of these cookies.  Darn.  Left all of them up the parents.  What I'm really thinking is that this recipe would be delightful as a filling between two layers of chocolate cake.  Are you following?  OR, in between two layers of graham crackers which are then dipped into dark chocolate.  

Oh geez.. I need to go to bed before I start a mad witch hunt of anything with sugar in my house. 

I actually ended up following the recipe exactly for the sugar cookie topped with cookie dough frosting minus a few key instructions which would have resulted in more perfect cookie.  You see, you're supposed to refrigerate the cookie dough mixture for at least 30 minutes before cutting the dough.  But I had chicken already baking in the oven (to shred because it was correctly predicted that we'd have 100 plus degree temperatures and I knew that I wouldn't want to cook anything this week).

And remember our oven door is.. um.. shattered?

Turns out that the oven door great at keeping heat inside the oven.  And even though I picked the coolest day to cook it was still 80 degrees.  And our kitchen was heating up quickly.  So I decided the cookies needed to be cooked immediately.  Regardless of the 30 minute fridge incubation period.  (Do only scientists use the word incubation?  I didn't realize that I even used it until rereading this paragraph.  Nerd alert!)

So I skipped it.  And didn't use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter.  Which resulted in flattish cookies instead of the beautiful fluffy cookies seen in the link above.  Maybe next time.

While these were super delicious, the combo of sugar cookies plus frosting was an intense dose of sugar.  Although I can't wait to make these for the kids from our church when it's mine turn to bring snacks for small group.  Their parents will kill me!

Okay.. below is the recipe for the cookie dough frosting.  Ignore the diabetes and heart disease warning.  

Cookie Dough Frosting 
From Iowa Girl Eats, originally posted by Love and Olive Oil.. they made a whole cookbook!

- 3/4 cups of butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup of flour
- 1/3 cup of heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (didn't add)
- some chocolate chips (mini suggested, I ended up chopping up regular sized chips)

Mix together the butter, sugar, and flour.  Add the salt and heavy cream.  Slowly add the powdered sugar.  Add chocolate chips if you want them incorporated into the dough (which I will do for my to-die-for cake that I don't even have the pans for) or sprinkle on top. 

 Or eat the dough plain... no eggs!

My brother and his wife live really close to Sloan's Lake in Denver and around the lake is a wonderful park.  And my sister-in-law's birthday was last week, which was a perfect excuse to have a party in the park.

P.S. I asked my brother what his wife wanted for her birthday.. he said earring backs (really? c'mon).  So I prodded a little more and asked her where she buys clothes from and he said she doesn't like to buy clothes (Lie #2).  We were stuck with a gift card.

The day turned out to be just great with beautiful weather and a cool mountain breeze.  It was the temperature where you didn't know if you should take off your sweatshirt or leave it on.  We at some delicious grilled food, played volleyball, canoed, tossed a football, and a few lucky guests kung fu'd a pinata.  

It was highly amusing.


Oh, and someone brought a unicycle.  

If you want to add instant humor to any party add a unicycle.  I'm not lying.

Anyways, pictures are below.  And below the pictures is a recipe for Monster Cookie Bars.  They were monstrous and delicious.  I will definitely make these again.  You really can't go wrong with peanut butter, chocolate, and more chocolate.... AND because they're bars, you don't have to sit around making multiple pans of cookies, ultimately resulting in burning the last batch because you were tired of watching them.

Are you ready people?  In 100 days the Summer Olympics of 2012 are going to begin. London, here we come.  

Directly from our local T.V. provider. 

Please tell me you're cool and you have an opening ceremonies party where you eat only the host country's food. Oh, not cool?  I beg to differ.

Anyways, because all significant events must be marked by food I've started practicing making biscuits, scones, and crumpets.  (That's interesting, I think I just spelled crumpets correctly because there is no squiggly line underneath.  I don't even know exactly what crumpets are.)

We will also be having fish and chips.  And English bangers. And Newcastle.  And tea. 

Not that I've thought about this or anything... but seriously.  Only 100 more days to prepare.

You're invited of course.  Usually the only attendees are Cale and myself.  But we have enough party in us for everyone else combined.

Oh, the above list is too much food for 2 people. Absurd. 

No such thing.

Also, have you ever thought at what you'd be able to participate in if you ever made it to the Olympics.  

In summer I would be a speed-walker for sure.  I'm not even sure if this is an event but I can walk pretty fast.  Just ask any of my friends with short legs.  Or my husband.

And for the winter games I'd be a curler for sure.  Plus I grew up in Minnesota where all good curlers come from.

And just for kicks, I happened to make shortbread cookies this weekend.  Not even planned, I swear.  This is exactly what happened.  I wanted chocolate chip cookies but didn't have enough of all necessary ingredients.  So I searched until I found a recipe that would work.  Boo-yah!  As you can see in the posted recipe below (my inserts are in bold) I didn't actually have all the ingredients but they're still delicious.  Just don't think of these as a substitute for CCC (that's my shorthand for chocolate chip cookies) because they aren't.  But if you think of them as shortbread delights.. you've got a winner!


Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread
from Use Real Butter from Smitten Kitchen

*Note: I didn't follow all of Use Real Butter's instructions and she apparently didn't follow all of Smitten Kitchen's instructions.  Just think of how delicious it could actually be!

1 tbsp instant espresso powder (I like Medaglia D’Oro) (did not have, just used 1 tbsp of real espresso)
1 tbsp boiling water (see above)
8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature (unsalted? dang, used salted.. it's all I had)
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (whoops.. didn't have this either)
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped OR 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips OR 1/2 bag of dark chocolate chips chopped for as long as my patience allowed
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional) (I kept this as optional)

Dissolve espresso powder in boiling water. Set aside to cool to tepid. (I just measured out 1 tbsp of my fresh from the press espresso and allowed it to cool)  Beat butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in vanilla and espresso, then reduce mixer speed to low and add flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate or chips with a sturdy rubber spatula. Using the spatula, transfer dough to a gallon-size zip-loc bag.  (so cool.. worked like a charm)  Put bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. (Didn't bother because I like creases) When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag but lick any remaining buttery goodness first) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares (or just guess). Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet (okay, I didn’t poke the cookies and they’re fine me either.. still fine). Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point (I didn’t do that either – I bake one sheet at a time I just shoved them onto 1 sheet). The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving. Makes about 3 dozen.