Cookie Dough Truffles - Best treat ever!

I have always loved truffles. Ever since I learned there was a chocolate kind of truffle instead of a mushroom dug up by pigs/dogs, I have been hooked. I have also always been a fan of cookie dough, and this runs in my family (my dad used to eat about as much dough as was baked for his famous chocolate chip cookies). When I saw a recipe for eggless cookie dough truffles on Annie's Eats, I knew that I was going to have to make them. I have actually made these twice in the last month. Once was for the co-workers at my office and the bike shops, and the second time was for my dad & my grad (nephew - high school). This was the first time ever that my office ate the same amount of treats as the bike shop. Granted we have three times as many employees working, but we are a little more health conscious and a lot more sedentary than those guys. One of the guys at the shop told the husband "Your wife made heaven!" after trying these, and my nephew declared these "The very best thing (I've) ever made, ever." So I would recommend these to just about anyone. I highly recommend a double boiler set up for dipping the balls, as it melts the chocolate so much smoother than microwaving, without any guesswork. They taste best when just out of the fridge, even though they are counter safe if you need to have them out at a party for a while. These will probably become a staple treat that I will bring to potlucks, etc.


Cookie Dough Truffles (from Annie's Eats)
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
2¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
I added 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1½ lb. semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Almond Bark)
Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, salt, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up enough to form balls (about an hour or so, overnight is too long!).

Shape the chilled cookie dough mixture into 1-1½ inch balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Cover loosely, transfer the pan to the freezer and chill for 1-2 hours. (this step might not be 100% necessary if you are time or freezer space crunched)

When ready to dip the truffles, melt the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Dip each chilled truffle, one at a time, coating in chocolate and shaking gently to remove the excess. I found that shaking the candy gently off the fork rather than rolling helped to avoid the tell tale fork marks. Once all the truffles have been dipped, store them in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Makes 40-60 truffles depending on the size of the balls.

Lemon Bars/Cookies

I had two rather large lemons in my Plow to Porch box and had no idea what to do with them. Thankfully, lots of the blogs that I follow posted lemon bar recipes right around that time, and I found an easy recipe in my trusty checkerboard cookbook (Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook). While I loved how easy these were to whip up, and the flavor was pretty good, I wasn't very pleased with the texture of this bar. The shortbread crust had a nice flakey & crumbley texture, but the lemony filling baked up much quicker than the original recipe stated and I was left with almost a hard candy topping instead of the sweet soft curd like texture that I was expecting. The lemon bar tasted like a lemon flavored shortbread cookie. This is almost certainly not the recipe's fault, but my ridiculously tempermental oven's fault. I'm pretty sure the oven runs at least 25 degrees too hot, but if I try and lower the heat to compensate, that doesn't help much either. I've mentioned it to the owner of the apartment building in the hopes that she will replace the entire oven/stove unit (like she did with our awesome kitchen faucet!), but she's stated that the oven is a compact size that she can't find anywhere, and barring a complete kitchen remodel, we are out of luck until we move out of this joint. So, next time I get lemons, maybe I'll just make lemonade!

Lemon Bars (from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook)
For Shortbread crust:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup All Purpose Flour

For Lemon topping
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbs All Purpose Flour
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
3 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp baking powder

In Medium mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and beat until combined. Beat in the flour until crumbly. Press mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 8x8x2" baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-18 minutes until just golden. Meanwhile, for filling, in small mixing bowl, combine eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 Tbs flour, lemon peel, lemon juice and baking powder. Beat 2 minutes or until combined. Pour filling over baked crust. Bake 20 minutes or till lightly browned around edges and center is set (this took about 10 minutes for me, stupid oven). Cool on wire rack. If desired, sift powdered sugar over the top before cutting into squares. Makes about 20 bars

Margarita Cupcakes!

I have wanted to make these cupcakes from the moment I saw them. They were really popular in the blogging world about a year ago, but I think the moment I saw them on Annie's Eats (seriously one of the best blogs ever), I knew I was destined to make them someday. I decided to go with the easier cake mix version on Confections of a Foodie Bride since I'm pretty new to baking and I knew the audience I was baking for wouldn't really mind. I made these for my office summer barbeque, which took place at my boss' house on a gorgeous day. Of course, my office is so darn health conscious that for my party of 13 people, we went through exactly 13 cupcakes. So the leftovers went to the bike shop, where 4 guys took care of the remaining 11 cupcakes. I made the frosting on these very limey, and that was what everyone kept talking about. Even with following Annie's advice and basting each cupcake with a little extra tequila (and I was using Patron Silver, nothing but the best for my people!), there still wasn't much alcohol flavor, but with the extra lime frosting, there was still a great punch to the cupcakes. This is a great treat for any backyard barbeque, just make sure its a grown up party if you are painting the tops with the tequila. Even though you can't really taste the liquor, I'd say there is enough uncooked tequila in them to be un-kosher for the little ones!

Margarita Cupcakes

9 oz Margarita mix

3 oz tequila

3/4 oz Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)

White cake mix (No-pudding mix works best)

3 egg whites

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp lime zest (I omitted, oops!)

1 recipe Lime Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows)
Mix together the margarita mix, tequila, and Grand Marnier in a large glass or spouted bowl. You will use 1 1/4 cup of this in the cupcake mix. Put the remainder in the fridge to chill and then consume how you see fit (there won't be much left!). In a stand mixer, add the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, lime zest, and 1 1/4 cup of the margarita mixture. Mix on low for about 30 seconds and then increase to medium speed for two minutes (the batter will still be a bit lumpy).Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan (fill the cups somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 full) and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick registers “done” in the center cupcake. Remove the pan from the oven and cool 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and cool completely on a baking rack. When cooled, brush each cupcake with a little more tequila.
Lime Buttercream Frosting

4 cups confectioners sugar

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

1/8 tsp salt

3 Tbsp lime juice

green food color (optional)
Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, food coloring, and lime juice to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined. Turn the speed to med-high until the icing is fluffy. Add the icing to a pastry bag or use a spatula/knife to frost the cupcakes.
Note: Use additional lime juice or water to thin the frosting, if necessary.

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

I came to the realization that I haven't done nearly enough baking to justify the purchase of my new Kitchenaid mixer. I wanted to make pretty cupcakes. Not just yummy cake with some frosting slathered on, but some that looked beautiful, too. After researching a bit online, I realized that pretty cupcakes come from frosting with a pastry bag and a large tip, usually a star tip. I knew that my first pretty cupcake attempt would have to be double chocolate cupcakes, because I knew even if they came out awful, the husband would still eat them because he loves chocolate cake so much. I found both the cake recipe and the frosting recipe on the Hershey's website. I had heard really good things about the perfectly chocolate cake recipe, and it didn't disappoint. The only change I made was to use about half of dutch process style cocoa and half regular Hershey's cocoa in each recipe. This made the cake really rich and chocolatey, but didn't use up ALL my hard to find dutch process cocoa. I will say though, dutch process cocoa is totally worth it. Just looking at the two versions, you can definitely tell which is which! These turned out so good! The cake batter is way runnier than I would have thought, but it still turned out great. I think my decorating skills were pretty good, too, although I think I will need to make just a little extra frosting next time, since you tend to run out faster when piping instead of traditional frosting. The best part about the frosting is that, while it still isn't exactly good for you, I felt so much better knowing exactly what was going into it. No trans fats when you use straight up butter! I brought most of these to the bike shop and they were devoured in 24 hours, but my favorite was bringing one to the little guy I mentor. His response when I asked him how he liked his cupcake was simply: "I love you!" I've already made him another batch for his birthday!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting (From Hershey's)

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)
Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 24 cupcakes.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I think there is something with males and the mint/chocolate combination. So many guys I know say this is their favorite ice cream & candy combination. My husband is one of them. He loves mint chocolate chip ice cream. We were watching the Food Network the weekend before St. Patrick's Day this year and the Neely's were making some mint chocolate chip ice cream. The husband immediately declared that the ice cream should be my special St. Paddy's recipe, since it is green. Not necessarily Irish, but I thought the husband was being awfully cute, so I obliged. The recipe is straight out of my Cuisinart Ice Cream maker manual (a variation on their basic vanilla ice cream, which is not cooked). This recipe, like most homemade ice cream recipes, is very rich, but since I was making my husband's favorite flavor and not my own, I didn't care how fattening it was (I had a couple very small bowls, but it wasn't calling my name each night!). I was particularly pleased with the dark chocolate mini chunks from Whole Foods. They were a perfect mix-in for ice cream - deep chocolate flavor, but small enough to not hurt your teeth while eating. I'm going to try and use my ice cream maker more this Spring & Summer, so stay tuned!



Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (from Cuisinart)
1 cup whole milk, well chilled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
6-8 drops green food coloring (or to your liking)
3/4 to 1 cup mini chocolate chips or mini dark chocolate chunks
In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 – 2 minutes on low speed. Stir in the heavy cream, food coloring, and peppermint extract to taste. Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 25 – 30 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips during last 5 minutes of mixing. Freeze in airtight container at least 2 hours before serving.

Stuffed Strawberries

I just finished "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. In it, she describes how she and her family ate entirely locally (from their own or neighbors farms) for one year. It inspired me to go a little more frequently to our (very local) Farmer's Market. It is literally a walk in the park away, so I don't know why we don't go more often. One of my latest finds, in addition to my absolute favorite local strawberries, was a soft German style cream cheese called Quark. I always think of ad formats, not food, when I hear this word. It comes in lots of varieties, but the kind sold at our market is a lightly lemon flavored and slightly sweet cheese and it is fantastic with strawberries. I stuffed our local strawberries with this cheese and rolled them in graham cracker crumbs to create this lovely dish. Served with a little Hershey's syrup, these were a delicious and light dessert. The cheese only has about as much fat as yogurt, believe it or not! I don't know how regularly available this cheese is elsewhere, but if you have access to it, I urge you to try this application!

Pat's Pie (chocolate silk pie)

As much as my brother wanted to think this pie was named for him, Pat's Pie is a creation of a friend of my grandfather's, long ago. This is the pie that meant "Holidays" to my brother and sister and me. I haven't made this in a very long time (and probably have the recipe a little messed up), but I decided to make this for our Christmas Eve dinner that some sweet friends invited us to. We were leaving for Michigan the next day and Roger was sick, but these guys had us over for a delicious Christmas spread. Unfortunately, the pie sat out of the fridge while we ate dinner, so, while it was still cold, it lost a little of its firmness. Thankfully, the flavors were still delicious! I think it even tasted good enough that Roger might "let" me make it for my family next year instead of his traditional pie requests.



Pat's Pie (old family recipe)
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 square unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs
1 pie crust
Melt Chocolate square in the microwave. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time, beating each egg for 5 minutes. Blend in chocolate and vanilla. Pour Mixture into a blind baked, cooled pie shell and chill in fridge for at least 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Peanut Butter Cookies

This was the last of my cookie recipes for the year. I wasn't extremely happy with how these turned out (they were a little thin for my liking), but I got a compliment on them that made me think a little more highly of them. I have a co-worker with 4 kids who were the consumers of his entire cookie bag this year. They actually called me after work to tell me how much they enjoyed them. His oldest son (about 6 or so) has loved watching the Food Network since he was really young, Paula Dean is his hero, and he's always game for trying something new. This little guy grabbed the phone and said "Thank you, the Peanut Butters are my favorite!" How cute! If the little kiddie foodie likes them, they must be good! So thanks to the BH kids (all their names start with "B") for giving me a little confidence with this recipe!

Peanut Butter Cookies (from Crisco)

3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 stick Shortening
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

HEAT oven to 375°F. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt (I sifted these). Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls (You might want to use more) 2-inches apart onto greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with tines of fork.
BAKE one baking sheet at a time 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

And here is what my goodie basket looked like for the bike shop! I look forward to doing this every year. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season!

More Cookies - Cake Cookies

Here is the secret of my Cookie Extravaganza success: Cake Cookies. I get the most compliments on these cookies every year, and they are so easy to do, and they are actually pretty cost effective as well, since boxed cake mixes are usually on sale during the holidays. For this year, I purchased 4 boxes of cake mix (2 yellow, 2 chocolate) for $4 total, and my add-ins were chocolate chips for the yellow cake cookies and butterscotch chips for the chocolate cake cookies. These cake mixes made about 15 dozen cookies, and I cranked out these batches in about one afternoon of solid work. This is the only way I can really accomplish the amount of baking I have to do during the holidays to have enough cookies for everyone, and it doesn't really feel like I'm cheating because people really love these cookies!

Cake Cookies (from Allrecipes.com)

1 package cake mix (any basic flavor will do)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or other mix-in goodies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix and baking powder. Add eggs and oil, then mix until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips, or your choice of additions. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Bake less for chewy cookies and more for crispy cookies. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now, my friends, begins the cookie assault of 2009. I am not a huge baker, but for the last 3 years, I have set myself a goal of baking cookies for all my co-workers and my husband's co-workers for the holidays. It would be one thing if I was making 2 cookies per person, but we're talking 8 cookies per person for 25 people. Lots of cookies every year, and although it does increase my chore workload in a potentially stressful time, I get a lot of joy from sharing these baked goods with our co-workers, who are truly like family to us. These cookies were the first I made for the holidays, and since my husband and I didn't see each other for a couple of weeks during the season due to crazy schedules, I left him 2 cookies with a note that said "For my taste-tester" before going to bed. I woke up to a return note saying, "I say, these are awesome! Great job!" These cookies were our only source of communication for about a 24 hour period. And my husband does say these were quite possibly his favorite cookies of all time.

Double Chocolate Dream Cookies (from the Tollhouse bag)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels (I used Ghirardelli)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl (I sifted these). Beat butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs and beat for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded Tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets (I used parchment & silpat). Bake for 9-10 minutes until cookies are puffed up. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely. Makes 4-5 dozen cookies.

My Lighter Textured Pumpkin Pie

This year, my family didn't request my pumpkin pie, but my husband was really itching for some pumpkin pie, so I decided to bake one for our Holiday visit to our friends who live about an hour and a half away. I used a frozen pie crust, which fit perfectly in my pie carrier and allowed me to leave a good section of pie with our friends. Someday, I will master a homemade crust, but this wasn't the day. I didn't like pumpkin pie for most of my life, but a few years ago, I decided to make one for my husband and didn't feel like using the one on the back of the Libby's can. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, but the recipe is no longer active on the site. The original recipe included a homemade whipped cream topping with candied ginger, but I haven't ever made that. I just love the basic recipe for this pie. It is a cross between a standard pumpkin pie and a chiffon pie - a little airier than normal, but still substantial enough. This was a big hit for our holiday visit!

"My" Pumpkin Pie

1 Prepared, uncooked pie crust

2 eggs

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 15 oz can pumpkin

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or a little more, if you like it spicy)

1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Beat eggs at medium speed in a large mixing bowl until thick and lemony (about 2-3 minutes). Add cream. Beat for 1 minute more. Add remaining ingredients and beat until well incorporated (1-2 minutes). Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 10 minutes. Cover edges and reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. Serve with whipped cream.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

It has been a really long time since I've made homemade ice cream. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is that I wisely decided to throw away my ice cream maker direction booklet, and although I have found lots of great recipes, didn't want to mess up the maker by making too big a batch or doing something wrong. Have no fear, loyal readers, the interweb is here! The entire booklet was available for download online (duh), so I've ventured into ice cream again. Homemade vanilla bean ice cream is so amazing. I like to cook the custard until it has a cooked flavor to it. Not burned, but slightly scalded so that it blends well with the vanilla bean. The only trouble with this is that it ices up a little too much if you try and freeze it, so it is best to just serve it the day you make it, after about 3-4 hours of firming up in the freezer. No chocolate syrup needed for this ice cream! I apologize for the over exposed picture, apparently vanilla ice cream is tough to shoot!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (from a mix of the Cuisinart direction book, a cooking light recipe, and my own preferences)

3 1/2 cups 2% Milk

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Cup Granulated Sugar (I ran out and used about 3/4 granulated, 1/4 powdered)

1 vanilla bean

3 large egg yolks

Prepare countertop ice cream maker insert according to directions (24 hours in freezer works for mine). Combine milk products in a medium saucepan. Split vanilla bean down the middle and run knife through the cut to scrape out all the little seeds. Add seeds and split bean to the milk mixture. Heat until just boiling. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks & sugar and beat on high until lemony colored. Ladle half the hot milk mixture into the eggs very slowly (one ladle at a time) to temper the eggs (constantly stirring), discard the vanilla bean shell, then add milk & egg mixture back to the remaining dairy in the saucepan. Cook over medium low heat until custard coats the back of a spoon (if you take a swipe with your finger down the spoon, the trail should hold up). Stir constantly during this step to avoid burning the dairy. Remove to a bowl and refrigerate until cold. Following manufacturers directions, freeze custard in ice cream maker (mine has me pouring mixture into churning unit and churning for 25-30 minutes or until nearly all crystalized. Remove to a freezer safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours before eating.

Cake Balls for Father's Day!

I have been enamored with the Bakerella site for a while. I can't believe the creativity of this woman, especially with her cake balls, cupcake bites and cupcake pops. I don't pretend to be a baker, but this technique seemed to be something I could handle. Store bought cake mix & frosting plus candy coating from Michael's? I can do this! I stuck to the cake balls, since I had heard the pops could be a little tricky. I'm glad I did, since I had a few little kinks to work out and would have been bummed if I had started with the pops first (the balls allow a lot more room for error). I decided to make these for Father's Day, and since I had taken the child I mentor to a pottery painting shop, I had a vessel for delivery that was perfect (see below). I also made a couple boxes for the rest of my family, the kid I mentor, and the bike shop. These should be treated as controlled substances. They are that good, and they aren't exactly good for you, but I guess they are good for the soul! Already my mom and my aunt in Indiana have made them this week, so I guess I made an impression!

Cake Balls (from Bakerella)

1 box cake mix with all ingredients - I used Chocolate

Nearly 1 tub frosting (regular, not whipped) - I used Chocolate

Chocolate candy melts or chocolate bark (from craft store or Kroger)

Prepare cake as directed. Allow to cool completely (very important). Crumble cake into a large mixing bowl until all consistent and the texture of soil. Mix in almost all of the frosting container and press with the back of a large spoon until cake is well incorporated with the frosting and all is one consistency. I chilled the bowl for about 30 minutes at this point. Using a small scoop or a teaspoon, scoop out enough mixture to make about a one inch ball. Roll to even ball. Set onto a waxed piece of paper on a cookie sheet and chill in the fridge for another 30 minutes. Melt chocolate in a deep plastic bowl in the microwave (or use double boiler) according to package directions (be sure to follow the power level directions or you will ruin the chocolate!). Working quickly, drop balls one at a time into the chocolate and drizzle over the top with a large spoon. I removed from the chocolate with two forks and allowed to dry on the wax paper. Depending on your method and/or size of the balls, you can make anywhere between 40-80 balls. The balls are counter safe and do not need to be refrigerated. Enjoy!