Here’s a link to a great cookie recipe I made last weekend. If you go to the link, just want to warn you that there’s a typo. It says bake them 8-22 minutes when it’s actually 18-22 minutes!!! I’ve provided the text below, with corrections, also with my notes on how I made my cookies taste better!

Mrs. Fields Peanut Butter Cookies

2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 c Peanut butter — creamy
3 Eggs
1 c Butter — softened
1 1/4 c Sugar
1 1/4 c Dark brown sugar
1/4 t Salt
1/2 t Baking soda
2 c Flour

Preheat oven to 300ºF.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk.

In a large bowl, blend sugars using a mixer at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste.

Add eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla. Mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed until just mixed. (Do not overmix).

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, (I used a melonball scoop to measure cookie dough onto the sheet)1 1/2 inches apart. With a wet fork, gently press a crisscross pattern on top of the cookies.

Bake for 18-22 minutes (for my oven, the ideal baking time is 25 minutes!) until cookies are slightly brown along the edges. Transfer cookies immediately to cool surface with a spatula.

====================================================================================
Writing-wise, if there are any questions that readers may want to ask me about how I went about getting commercially published, feel free to send me an email at dowdywriter@aol.com I might answer the question on my blog.

Tomorrow there will not be a blog. It’s a national day of mourning for the victims in Monday’s Virginia Tech shooting. I’ve also heard that it’s supposed to be a silent blog day. I’ll continue praying for the friends and families of the victims.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

This is a Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe I used for Easter. The link that I’ve provided has a slightly altered version than the one posted from my cookbook. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. If you use a melon ball scoop to measure dough onto the cookie sheet, and bake them just right, and use milk chocolate chips, you’ll take one bite and feel like you’re in sweet chocolate heaven! Yum!

2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. Dark brown Sugar, firmly packed
1/2 C. white sugar
1 C. Salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp. pur vanilla extract
2 C. semisweet chocolate chips (NOTE: I PREFER USING MILK CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN MY COOKIES SINCE THEY HAVE A SWEETER FLAVOR)

Preheat oven to 300°F

In medium bowl combine flour, soda and salt. Mix well with wire whisk. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips and blend at low speed until just mixed. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2″ apart.
***NOTE, I USE A MELONBALL SCOOP TO PLACE COOKIES ONTO SHEET. THIS IS THE PERFECT SIZE FOR THE BEST COOKIES. ALSO, MY OVEN BAKES THE COOKIES PERFECTLY WHEN THEY ARE LEFT IN THE OVEN FOR 22 MINUTES.
Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Happy Easter! He has risen! I’m sure many of you bloggees have dyed eggs for this blessed holiday. I found a great link with deviled egg recipes for you to enjoy with those edible colored eggs. I’d wanted to dye some eggs for my son to enjoy, but, alas, I was just too tired! I did manage to make some great chocolate chip cookies for our Easter dessert, though! Yum! I’ll be sure to share that recipe with you all sometime this week!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

I know I said I would blog about self-publishing today, but I’m tired and currently don’t have the energy to do my blog post about self-publishing. I’ll be posting blog entries about the following later this week: self-publishing, my writers meeting yesterday(Saturday), and The Winter Pearl by Molly Noble Bull.

It snowed today, but it only left a dusting on the ground. When it’s cold, as it has been over the last week, I love to bake! Yesterday, we baked a Mrs. Smith’s Apple Pie and it was great! Almost tasted like homemade. Since I forgot to take my daily banana to work last week, we had a bunch of over-ripe bananas left over this weekend. I decided to make a loaf of banana bread. Here’s the recipe that I used:

Tropical Banana Bread

1/2 cup CRISCO all-vegetable shortening or 1/2 CRISCO Stick (I didn’t have any edible Crisco since I rarely use it. I found an old can of it in the back of my cupboard, but the shortening was old and cracked, and was not fit for use so I threw it away. Instead, I used a stick of fresh butter! The bread still turned out yummy!)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (2 to 3 medium)
1/2 cup dairy sour cream (I didn’t have a half a cup of sour cream. I only had about 1/3 or 1/4 of a cup of sour cream left in my refrigerator. I just used what I had and kept going!)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I didn’t have any nuts so I omitted them.)

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch loaf pan.
Combine Crisco and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until creamed.
Add eggs, bananas and sour cream. Beat until well blended.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Mix at low speed of electric mixer until blended. Stir in nuts. Spread in pan.
Bake at 350ºF for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool conpletely before slicing.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Happy Valentine’s Day! My hubby and I already celebrated this past weekend by attending an old-school concert in Washington D.C. We had a great time! Today, I’m at home since we had a snow and ice storm and the roads are really treacherous today! My job is closed and I’m making the most of my time by working on my novel and by baking! Yum! Below, you’ll find a recipe for the chocolate pound cake I made today. I’ve also included a recipe for the glaze, also.

I’ve been having trouble with my son and his sweet tooth. I guess he inherited that from me? He doesn’t want to eat food. He only seems to crave the lemon cream-filled cookies we purchased from our last trip to the grocery store.

Here are the recipes below and happy eating!

Chocolate Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups of softened butter or margarine(three sticks)(I only use real butter when I bake. It tastes better in sweets.)
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of instant coffee granules
1/4 cup of hot water
2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of buttermilk or sour milk
***to sour milk use 1 tablespoon vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup

Cream butter or margarine, sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl 5 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Dissolve coffee granules in hot water. (I did not use instant coffee and I didn’t want to purchase it just to make this recipe. I used 1/4 cup of regular coffee that was leftover from the pot I’d made this morning. I just heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds to heat it up.) Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder; add alternately with coffee and buttermilk or sour milk to creamed mixture, beating just until mixture is blended.

Pour into well-greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely; sprinkle with powdered sugar. (I’m going to use a chocolate glaze on mine, instead. Glaze recipe follows:)

Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar

Combine cocoa, water, butter, or margarine and corn syrup in small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens; remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth and thickened.

Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Currently, I’m reading The Winter Pearl by Molly Noble Bull. Good read. I’ll post a full review once I’m done. This book was re-released this month as a mass-market paperback novel.

On Superbowl Sunday, I made lasagna with garlic bread for dinner and pound cake for dessert. I even munched on some for breakfast yesterday! Below, you’ll find the recipe for Southern Pound Cake:

Southern Pound Cake

1 cup butter or margarine,
softened
3 cups sugar
3 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 large eggs
1 8-ounce carton sour cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the butter at medium speed
with an electric mixer until creamy,
about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar,
beating at medium speed for 5 to
7 minutes. Combine cake flour and
baking soda, and add to butter mixture
one cup at a time. Batter will be
thick.) Separate eggs; add yolks to
batter, and mix well. Stir in sour
cream and vanilla. Beat egg whites
until stiff, and fold into batten Spoon
the batter into a greased and floured
Bundt or 10-inch tube pan. (You may
also spoon batter into two 9x5x3-inch
loaf pans, and bake at 300 degrees for
1 1/2 hours or until a wooden pick
inserted into the center comes out
clean.) Cool in pan on a wire rack for
10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan,
cool completely on a wire rack.

Yields 1 10-inch cake or 2 loaves

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com