Jolene's Recipe Journal

I'm in charge of the desserts for all of our holiday family gatherings.  I do a combination of new recipes and family favorites, and these Chocolate Caramel Brownie Cups are on the must-make list every year! The recipe was originally given to me by a friend via an online message board, and I've been making them for 10 years.    It doesn't get much easier. You make brownie batter from a box mix, I use the family size Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix.  I scoop the batter into paper lined mini muffin tins using a cookie scoop, then drop one Rolo into each cup. I bake them for 10 mins. It makes 48 yummy bite size treats!   You can also use mini peanut butter cups or the filled Hershey's kisses, both turn out great.  Thank you so much to LaDonna for sharing this recipe with me! Chocolate Caramel Brownie Cups Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene Martinelli Ingredients 1 pkg. (1 lb. 6.5 oz.) Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix, plus ingredients to mak...

  This is the last day of #ChristmasCookies Week and I'm sharing one last find from my Gram's recipe box.  I always hesitate when it comes to rolled out cookies, but the combination of the spices in these just seemed so perfect for the holidays I decided to give them a try. I highly recommend grating the spices fresh if you can.  I have a handheld twist grater that's awesome for this. This post is sponsored in conjunction with Christmas Cookies Week . I received complimentary product from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of my recipes. All opinions are mine alone.   While the dough was in the fridge chilling I searched through all of my fun cookie cutters. At the bottom of the box was the nested set of stars. When my son was small we used them to make 3D Christmas Trees.  I cut out 2 each of the 6 sizes.  Then I chose took the second smallest and used it for the remainder of the dough. They don't spread, but be sure not to crowd the sheets or they...

I hope you are enjoying Christmas Cookies Week as much as I am! So many great recipes being shared, my holiday baking list is getting bigger by the minute! Another find from Gram's recipe box today, classic checkerboard cookies, but I put a bit of a Christmas spin on them. This post is sponsored in conjunction with Christmas Cookies Week . I received complimentary product from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of my recipes. All opinions are mine alone. The recipe calls for superfine sugar, but if you can't get it don't worry about it.  You can j ust pulse 1 cup of granulated sugar in the food processor until it's fine and then measure out the amount needed.   I chose to tint the vanilla dough with green food coloring to make the cookies a bit more festive.  It's a little fidgety getting the 2 colors of dough to make the pattern, but it looks beautiful in the end. I decorated mine with a red "ribbon" so that they resembled wrapped gifts. The base...

  It's the most wonderful time of the year- Christmas Cookies Week! I've got 3 new recipes coming your way, starting with these Cherry Garlands, a treasure I found in my Gram's recipe box. This post is sponsored in conjunction with Christmas Cookies Week . I received complimentary product from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of my recipes. All opinions are mine alone.   The dough for these are super simple. I used Adams Extract Almond, but you could also use Vanilla. If you don't have a piping bag or star tip you can use a zip top bag with the corner cut off, the cookies just won't have the ridges.     I had a hard time finding red candied cherries for the recipe, so I made my own. You can check out that process here . Some I decorated with the candied cherries, some I left plain, others I topped with sprinkles. Be sure to check out all of the other fantastic recipes being shared today as well as enter for your chance to win one of the prize packages from...

Christmas Cookies Week is coming up and I was having a hard time getting the candied cherries I needed for a recipe. I went searching for a recipe to make them myself and found this simple one on the King Arthur Baking Company site. All you need to make homemade candied cherries is a jar of maraschino cherries, sugar and some time.  There is a caution at the bottom of their page that says not to leave them unattended and I concur.  I worked on a dough for another recipe while I kept an eye on them simmering.    I have a candy thermometer, but if you don't you can determine soft ball stage by taking some of the syrup and dropping it into a bowl of cold water.  Let it sit for a minute and if you can pick it up and roll it into a ball you're good to go.    I own a billion different cooking utensils, but not a single slotted spoon.  I started out moving them with just a spatula, which was making a huge mess, and then switched to a fork. That worked mu...