My First Guest Post!!!!!! YAY!!! (And just so you don't miss us too much, a couple of pics!)

So today is my very first guest post.  Hope this works out.  I'm a little nervous.  But I am going to help out with the Cookie Countdown over at Scraps and Scribbles.  So I have decided to do 3 cookie recipes, I will do 2 today and one tomorrow (don't forget that Sunday is family day). Also today, I am going to show you just a few pics of the crazy family, but in a separate post.  So enjoy the recipes, make sure there is some left for Santa, he will love these.

Recipe 1

Chocolate Banana Cream Pies (sorry for the messy pic, I had to take a quick pic before more little fingers got into them)

4 ripe (or over ripe) bananas, smooshed
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups four
1/3 cup cocoa

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla, mix well.  Stir in smooshed bananas.
Slowly add flour, baking soda and cocoa.  Stir until just mixed.
(This is probably sounding quite like a banana bread recipe, and that's cause it's adapted from one)
Your dough should be thicker than a cake dough, but thinner than a drop cookie dough.
Put dough into icing bag, with 1 1/2 inches cut from tip (I used a disposable one, but you can use a sandwich bag if thats what you have on hand). Drop cookies onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  At this point, the cookies should look something like reindeer poop (at least thats what my kids thought it was)

Bake for 10-15 minutes (I know it's not super specific, but everyone's ovens vary)
Let cool completely.

Cream Filling:
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup (+) icing sugar
sprinkles, tinted sugars to decorate.

In another bowl, on high speed, mix whipping cream and icing sugar to a thick consistency. Feel free at this pint to tint it yourself, or keep it white and roll the entire cookie in sprinkles or tinted sugar.

Once the cookies are cooled, take 2 cookies approximately the same size, and sandwich about 1 teaspoon of cream filling between them.  At this point you could leave it, or you could roll the cookie in sprinkles or tinted sugar.


Recipe 2

Those wonderful looking cookie bars in the middle are one of the easiest and most delicious recipes ever.  Not to date myself, but I have made these for ** years.  They are actually from a kids cookbook that my grandpa gave me when I was 10.  Yes I still have the book, and yes I still use it.  So here they are.

Lemon Slice Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup flour

Topping
2 eggs
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish
Beat butter and icing sugar until smooth.  Stir in 1 cup flour, mixing into a smooth dough.  Press evenly into prepared dish. Bake 20 min.  Set aside to cool.

Topping:
Beat eggs well, stir in lemon juice and rind.  Stir in sugar and 2 tablespoons flour and baking powder.  Stir until mixed well.
Pour over cooled base and bake again (at 350) for 25 minutes.
Let cool.  Sift icing sugar over the top and cut into squares.


Hope you all enjoy the post and the recipes.  Until tomorrow, enjoy your day, enjoy your family and happy baking.

Merry Christmas