Festive Treats

I think everyone at work is on a diet because of me.   I bring in treats for them to try new recipes or I just share goodies to celebrate a holiday or birthday.  They hate the temptation, then love when they finally give in.   These cookies were so freakin' easy and tasty!  I brought them in for St. Patrick's Day. I'm glad I left some at home to share with the hubby and have for snacking all weekend.   Try them out!  Be prepared my fellow co-workers... someone's birthday is next Tuesday.  I am whipping up a special treat to celebrate!

Festive St. Patty's Cookies

Shortbread Cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
2 c white chocolate chips
green sugar crystals
crushed pistachios
green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   In a large mixing bowl, add butter and powdered sugar.   Cream together until mixed.  Add vanilla.   Gradually add flour.  Mix well.

You can roll it out onto a lightly floured surface and cut in shapes or use cookie cutters. Or just simply shape a tablespoon of dough into logs or squares.  Leave about 2 inches between each cookie.  Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for about 9-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.   Cool for 2 minutes on pan and then move cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

You can drizzle or spoon melted chocolate over cookies. Then sprinkle with toppings of your choice.   I spooned white chocolate and sprinkled green sugars or pistachios over mine.  I also colored the white chocolate with green food coloring on some.  Makes about 24 cookies.

Whoopie Pie Wednesday

Cakeballs are fabulous.  Cupcakes are fabulous.  Anything with frosting is fabulous.  Whoopie Pies have now been confirmed by me as fabulous!  I've been wanting to try these out for a while now.  I finally caved.  I made Red Velvet and Devil's Food. Ohh emm geeee!!   Babe, you're taking these to work for the guys to devour.  I've had one of each flavor and I'm going to have to let them go far away from me or I'm gonna have to call in sick tomorrow just so I can stay home to stuff my face with this sweetness in private!

Cookies
1 Box Cake Mix (any flavor)
2 eggs
1/2 c butter (1 stick)

Beat ingredients in a mixer until combined.   Using cookie scoop, place them on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-11 minutes.  Let cool in pan about 5 minutes transfer to rack to cool completely while you make the filling.  Or you could just enjoy them as cookies.  They're very moist! But why wouldn't you want frosting?!

Cream Cheese Filling
1 pkg cream cheese, room temperature
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients in a small bowl until combined.   Add powdered sugar in increments of 1/2 c to thicken if needed.  Spread about 2 tablespoons of filling on the flat surface of cookies and sandwich together.  Makes 16 cookie sandwiches.

March Cookie Madness

We're going to a BBQ today to watch the basketball games, drink and eat delicious food. I asked if there were specific cookies he wanted and the host requested Chocolate Chip Pecan. I'm not one to eat cookies with nuts but I don't mind making them for a friend. And I have to admit, I did give in and try one after being tempted by the chocolate-nutty smell that filled my house. They were really good! I may have to rethink the whole nut thing. I also made Oatmeal as they are my all time fave. I've provided both recipes and pictures.


Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cup flour
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini chips)

Preheat oven to 375.

Beat butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, beating well after each one. Gradually beat in the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the chocolate and nuts. Use a cookie scoop or spoon and make rounds on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool in pan for 2 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.















Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned work)

options: 1 cup raisins, 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and any other optional ingredients if you choose. (nuts, chocolate chips, raisins). Use cookie scoop or spoon to drop rounds onto ungreased cookies sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute on pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen.

Valentine's Day Treats

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

I decided to try and win the love of my new co-workers with some homemade treats for Valentine's Day. And it worked! Everyone enjoyed the goodies. Chris sent me a website with a recipe for homemade thin mints. These were a little time consuming in my opinion but so worth it. I would still buy the box of them from Girl Scouts just to have instant gratification.

The cake balls are a required holiday treat I share. Everyone seems to love them. They're so moist and delicious you can't have just one. They're very versatile so you can make shapes and try different cake mixes. Making homemade cake just for these cake balls seems like a waste of time and good ingredients so the boxed mix is definitely the way to go.






















THIN MINTS

2 1/4 c all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c white sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup milk (any kind) I used evaporated milk since I had it on hand.
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Put the mixer on low speed and add the milk and extracts. Gradually add the flour mixture until incorporated.

Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours until dough if firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. With a sharp knife, slice dough into rounds no more than 1/4 thick. If they are too thick they will not be crisp. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cookies will not spread very much so you can put them close together. Bake for 12-14 minutes until cookies are firm at edges. Cool cookies completely on wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

DARK CHOCOLATE COATING

10oz dark or semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

In microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high in microwave stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.

Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, using a fork turn to coat and give a little shake to remove excess chocolate. Place on parchment or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate is dry.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

RED VELVET CAKE BALLS

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13x9 cake)
1 tub cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 pkg chocolate bark or baking chocolate (regular or white)
wax paper

After cake is baked and cooled completely, crumble in large bowl. Mix thoroughly with the whole tub of cream cheese frosting. I use a sturdy spoon or rubber spatula. Using a cookie scoop, make balls of the mixture and lay onto cookie sheet. (should make 45-50.) Chill in the freezer for a couple of hours or until firm. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package. Using a fork, turn balls in the chocolate and tap off excess. Then lay on wax paper until dry.

Andes Mint Chunk Cookies

I use to not have the appreciation of chocolate and mint together. I started to love the combo when I had an Andes Mint. hmmmm I tried out some cookies using a package I found in the baking section of Andes baking chips. I knew they just HAD to be good. Sure enough... they are. These cookies probably disappeared faster than any I've made recently. My husband must approve of their deliciousness.

Please note that most baking recipes call for unsalted butter. This one, however, calls for salted. So make sure to get that for extra flavor. I used the unsalted but I could kind of tell it was missing something. It probably won't make a huge difference but just wanted to point that out.


1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 pkg (10 oz) Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips (or you can chop up a package of the Andes chocolate mints)
2 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Blend butter and sugars until incorporated. Add vanilla and eggs and blend well. Then add baking soda and baking powder. Stir in the baking chips and then the flour. Chill for approximately one hour in the fridge. Using cookie scoop, make balls of dough. You can probably use scoop for uniform size but you can roll in hands to form balls as the dough may be a little crumbly. Put balls of dough on non-stick baking sheets and slightly flatten with fingers. Raise the oven rack one level above middle. bake at 350 for approximately 8-10 minutes. Cool on pans for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

White Chocolate Craisin Chews

We worked hard all day to organize our office closet and file cabinets. The shelving units we found are perfect for what we needed. It made me realize what a pack rat I am. (not that my husband didn't have his own share of stuff to purge such as old computer equipment, cords, cables, etc) It was a great feeling to get rid of so much stuff that we didn't need. I threw away tons of paperwork I've kept and collected over the years like old bills, bank statements, etc. Now I need a shredder to run 4 boxes of old checkbooks through. I may just burn them sometime this week. That would be a nice release for me. Yes, I'm a pyro sometimes and it gives me joy to see some sort of destruction. ha ha I still have things on my desk to find a place for or decide whether to throw out or not. After 4 moves in 9 years since I've been in Dallas, you'd think I'd have less crap to get rid of but it really seems like more and more piled on during or after each move.

I was in the mood for sweet, chewy cookies so I decided to reward myself with these delights today. I pretty much just used a basic cookie dough recipe and stirred in chunks of white chocolate and craisins. Yummy!! I love them!



White Chocolate Craisin Chews

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup craisins
6 oz. (About 1 1/2 cups) white chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used baking chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, blend until mixed. Add flour, baking soda and salt, mix until incorporated. Stir in craisins and white chocolate. Use cookie scoop and place cookies on ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 9 minutes or until you start to see them lightly brown around the edges. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack. Note: The cookies will flatten when they cool. Store in airtight container.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze

My husband (Chris) and my best friend (Lesley) love bacon. So I thought I'd try something out of the ordinary just for them. I tried two recipes that were very different. The first turned out very bland and was more like a biscuit than a cookie. I should have known by looking at it that without sugar and vanilla it was going to be a little tasteless. Lesley enjoyed them and took the leftovers home to have with coffee for breakfast. Chris & I didn't like them at all so we were glad that they weren't going to waste. Then I tried another recipe this morning that turned out amazing. It could use more bacon and chocolate but I'll include that in the recipe so that you don't feel cheated. The glaze is optional but it definitely adds another layer of sweetness to the cookie.


Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Maple-Cinnamon Glaze

6 tbsp butter, softened
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips (I cut up baking chocolate into chunks and it worked well)
1 cup crumbled cooked bacon (about 1 pound)
Maple-Cinnamon Glaze (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars and extracts until blended. Then add the egg and mix until incorporated. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir together (or mix on low).

Stir in chocolate chunks and crumbled bacon until integrated well.

Create a ball out of the dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from fridge. Use a cookie scoop or roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place dough about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten dough slightly with fingers by pressing on center. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Allow cookies to cool on cooling rack while you make the glaze.

Maple-Cinnamon Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup (best if you use 100% maple syrup)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 tbsp water

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Add a little water at a time to get a creamy consistency.

Spread a small amount of glaze on top of each cookie. Makes about 18 cookies.

Let me know what you think!!

Cranberry Shortbread Squares

I've always had shortbread cookies during the holidays and loved them. As far back as I can remember as a child, my mother made them and squirted them out of the cookie press onto the baking sheet. (Sorry, that is the only word I could think of at the moment.) We'd pick out our favorite shapes like stars or Christmas trees and dye the dough red or green. I remember making Christmas trees one year and I put sprinkles that looked like little dots because they reminded me of little lights. That was the extent of my creativity.

This year I figured I'd try something different. I'm not passing up the usual shortbread cookies from the handy cookie press but these are delicious and different. I'm definitely adding them to my annual list of
goodies to make and share.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (using good, non-generic butter makes all the difference in taste)
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped dried cranberries or cherries (I used craisins and they were tasty)

**(Next time I plan to add about a 1/2 cup of white chocolate chunks or chips. Craisins and white chocolate go so well together.)

Heat oven to 325 degrees with a rack in center. Combine butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon until combined but not too creamy. Stir in dried cranberries.

Spray an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan lightly with non-stick spray. Pat dough evenly into pan. Bake until just beginning to turn golden, about 20 minutes.

Place pan on cooling rack until cool enough to touch, about 20 minutes. Cut shortbread into small squares (about 2-inches). Run knife around pan edges to loosen and slide out gently. Or you can use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies in shapes. Cookies will keep for 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

Makes about 16 squares.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sandwiches

Once you get the tree up you know that Christmas is just around the corner. (usually closer than you had realized) My husband, Chris, and I went to chop down our Christmas tree again this year. Yes, you can actually do that in Texas. We found a wonderful tree farm about 45 minutes north of us in a small town called Bonham, Texas. The first year we decided to start this family tradition, we visited two other tree farms in the same area. Nothing was really up to par with what we expected. I can't really explain how we decided on Wishing Star Farms. Maybe it's the talkative and sweet nature of the owners or it could be the friendly big dog named Buster who runs up to greet each visitor as they get out of their vehicles. Or maybe it's the smell of the campfire where you can toast marshmallows while you sip on tasty hot chocolate. Each time we go, it's like we're visiting relatives or old friends. They make us feel so welcome. It's become a tradition since we've moved to our first house. I think it's been about 5 years now. We both love fall and winter and especially Christmas. This is definitely a tradition to keep alive.

For this special day, Chris requested that I make some sweet treats to enjoy after we set up our tree. He shared a link which had the top 50 cookies. He selected one recipe and said we should try it. So even though I was tired and my feet hurt from walking all day, I made a quick list of what I needed and went off to the store to grab the few ingredients to make his treats. It was a long day but well worth the effort. They looked too pretty and seemed like they'd take a while to make. So needless to say, I was NOT excited at first to put so much work into them. But as I got started, I realized they were really simple. I hope you find them as easy and tasty as we did.















COOKIES
1-3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ( I used Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg

FILLING
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops red food coloring (or more depending on the shade of pink/red you like)

1/2 cup crushed red & white striped candy candy canes

For Cookies: Whisk flour, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in the egg. Add dry ingredients and beat until blended. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough using a teaspoon or cookie scoop, then roll in one hand until dough forms a ball. The dough may be crumbly at first but will come together the more you play with it. Place balls on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass or hands, flatten each ball to 2-inch rounds. (edges will crack) Bake about 11 minutes. Do not overbake or cookies will be too crisp. Cool about 5 minutes then transfer to racks to cool completely.

For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl until well blended. Add peppermint extract and 2 drops of food coloring. Beat until light pink and well blended. (add more food coloring if you wish for desired color) Spread 2 generous teaspoons of filling evenly over flat side of 1 cookie to edges; top with another cookie flat side down and press gently to adhere. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.

Place crushed candy canes on plate. Roll edges of cookie sandwiches in crushed candies or use fingers to gently press on filling edges. Store in a single layer in airtight container up to 3 days at room temperature or frees up to 2 weeks. MAKES ABOUT 18 COOKIE SANDWICHES