So I found an awesome website, called Top Secret Recipes. I tried a few recipes out so I could make sure it was legit, and share them with you. I found the BEST cookies ever, a great summer Smoothie, some Girl Scout cookies, and Jack Daniels grill glaze.
Here’s what I took, so you can enjoy!
Neiman Marcus’s Chocolate Chip Cookies…
The myth of the recipe of these cookies is that a woman was once in Neiman Marcus, and when handed a cookie was so impressed with it, she asked the sales person for the recipe. She was told it would be 250. Thinking she was being charged $2.50 she charged it to her card. When she found out she was charged $250, she was angered, and sent the recipe out in a chain letter. Supposedly… So Neiman Marcus created an actual recipe for chocolate chip cookies and displayed it on the Neiman Marcus Web site. I got this recipe off of TopSecretRecipes.com.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee, slightly crushed
- 8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation:
- Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract
- Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes, or 10-12 minutes for a crispier cookie.
Makes 15 large cookies.
Orange Julius’s
- 1 1/4 cups orange juice
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups ice
Combine all of the ingredients except ice in a blender and blend for about a minute. The longer you blend, the frothier it will get. You can add other ingredients like a banana or strawberries for fun flavors.
Makes 2 16-ounce drinks.
Girl Scout’s Thin Mints
These are the most popular cookies sold by the Girl Scouts one to four. This similar recipe uses an improved version of the chocolate wafers created for the Oreo cookie clone in the second TSR book More Top Secret Recipes. That recipe creates 108 cookie wafers, so when you’re done dipping, you’ll have the equivalent of three boxes of the Girl Scout Cookies favorite. You could reduce the recipe by baking only 1/3 of the cookie dough for the wafers and then reducing the coating ingredients by 1/3, giving you a total of 36 cookies. But that may not be enough to last you until next spring.
Chocolate Cookie Wafers
- 1 18.25-ounce package Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
- 3 tablespoons shortening, melted
- 1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons water
- Non-stick cooking spray
Coating
- 3 12-ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 6 tablespoons shortening
- 1. Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
- 2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- 3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick. To cut, use a lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter (Schilling brand is good.) Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with a light coating on non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the wafers from the oven and cool completely.
- 4. Combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave – safe glass or ceramic bow. Heat on 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stir gently, then heat for an addition minute. Stir once again, and if chocolate is not a smooth consistency, continue to zap in microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth.
- 5. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the excess chocolate runs off, and then place the cookies side-by-side on a wax paper – lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm.
Makes 108 little cookies.
TGI Friday’s Jack Daniel’s Grill Sauce
Back when I ate meat, this was the most amazing sauces I ever tasted. This sweet and spicy sauce can be ordered on any meat you order at TGI Friday’s. You can use it to top your favorite meats, fish, or even faux meats, but if you’re grilling, be sure to apply the sauce late in the cooking process just before taking the meat off the flame, since the sauce has a lot of sugar in it and will quickly burn. Don’t forget to serve extra on the side for dipping.
Ingredients:
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons minced white onion
- 1 tablespoon Jack Daniels Whiskey
- 1 tablespoon crushed pineapple
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preparation:
- 1. Cut about 1/2-inch off of top of garlic. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove the papery skin from the garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together. Put garlic into a small casserole dish or baking pan, drizzle olive oil over it, and cover with a lid or foil. Bake in a preheated 325 degrees F oven for 1 hour. Remove garlic and let it cool until you can handle it.
- 2. Combine water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium/high heat. Stir occasionally until mixture boils then reduce heat until mixture is just simmering.
- 3. Squeeze the sides of the head of garlic until the pasty roasted garlic is squeezed out. Measure 2 teaspoons into the saucepan and whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and stir.
- 4. Let mixture simmer for 40-50 minutes or until sauce has reduced by about 1/2 and is thick and syrupy. Make sure it doesn’t boil over.
Makes 1 cup of glaze
Well, there’s a few recipes to get your cooking experience going! I hope you enjoy as much as I did, and remember to share! Happy Cooking and Baking!
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