Last Friday night

Sorry, now you've got Katy Perry (really cute video if you have 5 minutes to spare watching it) in your head. I didn't have THAT kind of Friday night. Mine was spent in the kitchen with my mixer and oven so I was more preoccupied with hot cookie sheets than hot quarterbacks.

By the end of the night, this is what I had:
















From left to right: White Chocolate Fluffernutter Gooey Cake Bars, mint ice cream with mint Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, and whiskey slush.

The WCFGCB's were very good. I didn't love the bite I had the night I made them, but they were much better the next day. The McHusband, of course, loved them. Peanut butter and white chocolate? An irresistible combo for him.
















Next in line is the mint ice cream with mint Oreos.
















I combined two recipes to get mine. I started with this recipe but since I couldn't find the mint syrup, I referred to Allrecipes, my go-to source, for the mint flavoring. This recipe used mint and vanilla extracts, and I read people's comments about using a little less vanilla and a little more mint. The mint was still pretty subtle even with an extra 1/2 teaspoon.

The McHusband was breathing down my neck waiting for the ice cream to come out of the ice cream maker. I barely got it into the bowl and the mint Oreos stirred in before he was dipping his spoon in.
















Let's see, what was next in line? Oh yeah, chocolate chip cookies.

I liked the story behind these - that this recipe was the only good thing the ex-wife brought into the marriage. Also, I've been known to run out of sugar so it's good to have a back-up recipe when you're out of a pantry staple.

See the cookies on the right side and toward the top of the cooling rack?
















That was my first batch. I used my cookie scoop and the cookies didn't flatten at all. They really didn't seem done so I figured the McHusband and I would be eating the half-cooked cookies by ourselves. Talk about a blessing in disguise! But those cookies eventually set up just fine so I was able to share them. However, I still flattened each subsequent batch just a touch, and I got a more classic cookie shape.
















My coworker considers himself a bit of a chocolate chip connoisseur so I made sure to bring him a few to try. His take on them was that they had a really good flavor and he liked that I went with semisweet chocolate chips. (The recipe called for milk chocolate chips, but I prefer semisweet in my chocolate chip cookies.) He said his only critique was that the dough was almost too sweet. I don't know how that could be. I mean, there were ONLY two full packed cups of brown sugar in it.

Lastly, I made that whiskey slush that I've made before. It's always a hit, and I knew a couple neighbors who really liked it were going to be at the party for which I was making the cookies and bars.





















I divided the treats (except the ice cream; the McHusband wasn't sharing) between a plate and a platter - the plate for the smaller gathering at our next-door neighbor's house and the platter for the bigger neighbor party up the street later that night.
















Stack of cookies!





















There's that cute helmet-shaped cookie from my first batch on top. Definitey err on the side of underbaking.
















The WCFGCBs were simple to make and the flavors did come together really well. If you're a cake mix snob - as in, don't like the flavor of them - then this isn't a dessert for you. But if you don't turn your nose up to boxed mixes, this treat should hit the spot. (You know, right there on your hips...)
















That's a lot of sugar in one post. Thank goodness reading about food is calorie-free.