Famous Choir Recipes
In honor of the arrival of Spring, our April feature article departs from the usual fare of academic pragmaticism, opting instead for lighter fare: Announcing "Famous Choir Recipes" (ta da). Before you click the "back" button in disgust, let me explain.
It’s easier to attract bees with brownies than with Beethoven.
Unfortunately, the average choir member, while completely forgetting their part during the week, will nevertheless wake up Saturday night salivating about choir brownies. Spouses who would otherwise require whole teams of horses to drag to choir practice, will eagerly attend choir in order to get brownies. Once the choir acclimates to brownies, riots will ensue if the brownies are forgotten at home. Complete strangers will follow the smell of dashboard-warmed brownies into the chapel and join the choir. If, after two weeks, you do not see amazing results from "Famous Choir Recipes", send the uneaten portion of your goodies to us and we’ll tell you where you went wrong. Enjoy!
Sister Binette’s Ward-Famous Choir Brownies
1 Stick Unsalted Butter
1/3 Cup Evaporated Milk
1 box Pillsbury German Chocolate Cake Mix (with pudding in it)
¾ lb caramels
½ cup chopped walnuts
2 cups chocolate chips
Use a 13x9 pan; preheat oven to 350°
Part 1: Melt unsalted butter in a medium bowl (don’t let it boil). Add 1/3 cup evaporated milk and stir in cake mix to make a soft dough. Divide the dough in half, putting half in the 13x9 pan. Spread the dough over the bottom of the pan as if it were pizza dough. Bake the "crust" for 8 minutes. While it’s cooking, continue with part 2.
Part 2: In a covered dish, Microwave the caramels on medium/ low until they begin to bubble. Add 1/3 cup evaporated milk and stir to make a caramel sauce.
Part 3: When the crust is baked, pour the caramel sauce over it. Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts evenly over the sauce. Now divide the dough reserved from part 1 into 8 equal pieces. In order to create a "top crust" for the brownies, flatten each piece with your palms and carefully set it in place, until the top is covered. Bake for 18 minutes at 350°. Remove and allow to cool completely before cutting. Cut into 24-48 pieces with a very sharp serrated knife and bring to choir practice.
Orange Cream Chip Cookies
2 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 package (6 oz) semi sweet chocolate morsels
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Sift together flour and salt. Beat together shortening, sugar and cream cheese in bowl until mixed. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add orange juice and rind. Blend in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate morsels. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool on racks. Spread tops with icing (recipe below). If desired, garnish with thin strips of orange rind.
Orange Icing:
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
Gradually beat sifted confectioners’ sugar into softened cream cheese until well blended. Stir in orange juice and orange rind. (continued on the next page)
*Notes on orange cookie recipe: 1) it’s really easy to burn these cookies because they always have a very "white" appearance and never look very "browned"(maybe because of the cream cheese?), 2) the icing is very hard to blend at first and is easiest to use an electric mixer, and 3) although the recipe says to sift things, we’ve never bothered doing that and it all turns out just the same.
Insanely Decadent Brownies
1 ¼ cups real butter
8 Tbsp. Cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
Frosting:
½ cup margarine
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ cup pecans (optional)
Brownies: melt butter; add cocoa and sugar. Mix in eggs and flour, stirring well. Add nuts. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Do not overbake.
Frosting: melt margarine; blend in cocoa and heat just until it comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Mix in the milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and use to frost brownies. (continued on next page)
*Our notes on brownie recipe: 1) if the brownies are overbaked they become more like chocolate cake (not as yummy), 2) the frosting is really good and we use it for frosting other things also, and 3) we have never put nuts in this recipe ever (who can afford them?)!
Southern Chocolate Chip Cookies
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup real butter, refrigerator temperature.
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Salt
Chocolate Chips
mash sugars, shortening, butter, eggs, and vanilla together with a fork or pastry cutter. Add flour, but stir the salt and baking soda into the last cup of flour before adding it. Use a fork to mix the ingredients at first, but once it gets hard to stir, use your hands. Shape the dough into a big ball and press it against the sides of the bowl until it comes clean. Add chocolate chips, and knead dough ball until the chips are evenly mixed. Form in silver dollar sized balls, spaced evenly apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove when cookies have finished spreading out, and when the edges begin to look cooked. The middles will look slightly undercooked, but don’t worry; as they cool, the rising heat finishes them off! Keep extra dough refrigerated between batches.
Spellbinding Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1 ½ cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
1 egg
¼ cup water
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 ¼ cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
½ tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
3 cups quick oats
1 pkg. Chocolate chips
Blend sugar and margarine together. Add eggs, water and vanilla. Stir in other ingredients and drop 2" apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool cookies on newspaper or brown paper. Hide from the hungry hordes until choir practice.
March Feature Article: Recruiting, Retaining and Sustaining a Ward Choir