Cookie Exchange Recipes

Here is a compiled list of recipes for some of the cookies that were brought to the cookie exchange. Thanks ladies for a wonderful evening. I hope everyone is enjoying their cookies. I can't believe what talented friends I have, they all looked lovely!

Chocolate Chews

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt the chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan over very low heat. Stir to evenly melt.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars until light. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture slowly. Blend thoroughly. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 12 to 14 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing to a rack to cool.


M&M Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate
pieces
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs, shortening, and vanilla thoroughly. Add flour, salt, and baking soda to creamed mixture. Blend well. Add 3/4 cup of M&M candies.
2. Drop dough by teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Slightly push a few candies on top of each dough ball with remaining candies.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 9 to 11 minutes, to your liking









Peppermint Biscotti
Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup crushed peppermint candies

FROSTING:
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies
Directions
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir in peppermint candy. Gradually add to creamed mixture, beating until blended (dough will be stiff). Divide dough in half. On an ungreased baking sheet, shape each portion into a 12-in. x 2-1/2-in. rectangle. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully remove to wire racks; cool for 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board; cut diagonally with a sharp knife into 1/2-in. slices. Place cut side down on

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon brandy 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and brandy. Combine the flour and baking soda; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in the white chocolate chips and cranberries. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. For best results, take them out while they are still doughy. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.


Candy Cane Blossoms



1 bag Hershey’s Kisses brand Candy Cane Kisses
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons milk
Red and Green colored sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove wrappers from candies (approx. 35)

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red and/or green colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Yields approx. 35 cookies.

NILLA Turtle Cookie Balls

What You Need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
70 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 2-1/3 cups)
3 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans

Make It
MIX first 3 ingredients until well blended.
SHAPE into 42 (1-inch) balls. Freeze 10 min. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm.
How to Easily Dip Balls
To easily coat balls with the melted chocolate, add balls, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Use 2 forks to roll balls in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove balls with forks, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place balls in prepared pan; let stand until firm.
Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.
PHILADELPHIA Sugar Cookie Cutouts
What You Need

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup colored sugar

BEAT cream cheese and butter in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add granulated sugar and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour, beating well after each addition; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters. Sprinkle cutouts with colored sugar. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets.
Or…instead of cutting out and decorating divide half the dough and color one ball with food coloring then roll them both out separately; then put one on top of the other and then roll it up like a log; wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for a few hours...then pull out and roll in your choice of sprinkles; cut and bake.
BAKE 12 to 15 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 2 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Rolo Pretzel Bites

Ingredients
Rolos, pretzels, pecan halves
Place pretzel on cookie sheet, top with a rolo.
Bake in the oven at 250*F for 4-5 minutes (no longer).
When you remove them from the oven, the Rolo will still be in the same shape as when it went in the oven. Place a pecan half on top of the Rolo and press down a bit.
Place the entire baking sheet in the freezer for about 5-7 minutes to allow the Rolo to cool.
Remove from freezer and enjoy! Or place in a container to enjoy later.




Eggnog Cookies

Cookies:
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Eggnog Glaze:
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons eggnog




Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C)
2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Cream sugar and butter until light
4. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks; beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth.
5. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined.
6. Do not over mix
7. Spoon onto un-greased cookie sheets or parchment paper and make the dough balls rather small, they will spread generously in the oven.
8. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.
9. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until the edges barely start to brown.
10. While cookies are in the oven, make the eggnog glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar with 3 T eggnog.
11. Gaze your cookies warm or cooled and top with cinnamon.

Chocolate Chip Surprise
Bake a pan of brownies according to recipe of choice.
Mix together a recipe of Chocolate chip cookie dough of choice.
Once brownies are cooled, cut into small square, take cookie dough and scoop one scoop on top, and another on the bottom. Gently form around brownie and bake at 325 til golden brown.

Fudge Puddles
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fudge Filling-
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed
milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecan halves
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Cream butter, peanut butter and white and brown sugars. Mix in egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into creamed mixture. Shape the dough into 48 balls, 1 inch each. Place each ball in one compartment of a mini muffin tin.
4. For filling, put chocolate chips in a double boiler over simmering water. Stir in milk and vanilla, mix well.
5. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately make wells in the center of each using a melon baller. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then carefully remove to wire racks. Using a measuring cup fill each shell with the chocolate mixture. Top with a pecan half

Oct. Freezer Meals

Ok a few of these are left from last month that we didn't get to yet. But most of them are ones we cooked this time. It was a long day and half to make all the meals, but know that it's so helpful the rest of the month. If you want recipes for something specific let me know and I'll see if I can get them to you. Some recipes are my mom's or sister's.


BEEF

Chicken Fried Steak
Sloppy Joes
Roast Beef Aujou Sandwich
3 Min. Steak Sandwich
Roast Beef
Chili
Beef Stew
Stuffed Shells
Lasagna Roll-ups
Meatloaf
Slumgullion
Green Chili Flautas
taco meat
Mozzerella beef rolls
Steak Fajitas


CHICKEN
Chicken Chili
Chicken Spaghetti
Chicken Chimichangas
Pear Chicken
Angel Chicken
Hawaiian Chicken
Applesauce BBQ chicken
cranberry chicken
Chicken Bacon Sub
Orange Chicken
Honey Sesame Chicken


OTHER
Mustard ham
Minestrone soup
Alfredo Sauce
Mushroom Corn Chowder
Brocolli Cheese Soup
Pepperoni Pizza Roll-ups
Spinach and Sausage rolls
Ham and Pineapple rolls
Twice Baked potatoe casserole
Mac and Cheese and Ham


BREAKFAST
Choc Chip pancakes
Breakfast burritos
Peach Muffins
Sausage Egg Cheese Biscuits
French Toast Sticks

Aug Freezer Meals

My mom, sister and I started trying to cook freezer meals for easier weeknight cooking. We haven't worked up to Once a Month Cooking yet but we are close. We have each picked out some meals and we triple them to portion out between the three households. It has worked well and takes a good 8-9 hours of work. We feel the long cooking day pays off during the week when dinner time isn't such a headache anymore.

Here is a list of the items I cooked for August.

Beef-
Stuffed bell peppers
Lasagna
Lawnmower tacos

Chicken-
Orange chicken
Chicken chimichangas
Chicken bacon subs
Southwest Chicken Soup
Angel Chicken Pasta

Other-
Hash brown Potatoes casserole
Sausage egg cheese biscuits
Spaghetti sauce
Peach muffins
Cranberry Pork Chops

Wedding Cakes

I was asked to help with the cakes and cupcakes for a friends wedding recently and decorated about 100 cupcakes and two large square cakes. Thank goodness my little man was patient while I was working, although I had to stop and hold him or feed him plenty. Mostly he just wanted to watch what I was doing. So again one handed I made the frosting while letting him watch.

I also made the cupcake stand to display the cupcakes and since they weren't having a traditional wedding cake I made the stand take the place of it. I covered some boxes with fabric and wrapped a ribbon around them, and tiered them using the dollar store candlesticks. It looked lovely and the bride, groom, and guests were very well pleased.

I made chocolate monograms which were incredible simple. I printed out a sheet with the letter "N" on it with the font I wanted, about 12 on a sheet. Layed a sheet of wax paper on top of it and piped the melted white chocolate on top. Basic tracing.  Once hardened, gently peel them off the wax paper and place on the cupcakes.

I wasn't too thrilled with the roses for the square cakes, but they were OK enough to use. My frosting was a little too stiff and I messed the color up, but thankfully they still liked it and were able to extend grace.

Success!!!

Grad party

I have been busy planning and making cakes for the last several weeks and have some time to post about it. I got to help my sister-n-law plan an out of town surprise graduation party for my nephew. It turned out very elegant and nice, which fits my nephews personality. He's one of a kind, he always dresses to the nines, I mean what kid wants to wear a suit and tie everyday to school...him!  And even while he is being causal he's at least in a button up and tie.

Anyways, after throwing a few ideas around it was decided to go with a black and gold damask theme. Here are some pics including the carrot cake I decorated.

I used the stenciling technique for the cake and it was so simple and turned out really great. I was a little worried about doing it on the cream cheese frosting because it didn't get a crusty layer like a buttercream does, but still worked out. Once the cream cheese frosting set up, I very carefully laid a stencil on the cake and using black buttercream, I spread it on using the little scraper tool that comes with the pampered chef stoneware. Once it is covered lift up your stencil, rinse and dry it and place it where you want it next. It is important to clean it after each time, otherwise it leaves marks on the cake.

I also have my first experience with Mod Podge, I made the card box and it turned out pretty good too. I let my SIL take it home to decorate with or put to good use at church fundraisers.

Enjoy.

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

I came across these wonderful looking cookies the other day on picky-palate. So I thought it would be wonderful to surprise my Hubby with them, since his two favorite things are chocolate chip cookies and brownies. What could be better than to combine the two?

To start I whipped together a quick batch of brownies from a box.

While the brownies cooked, I made a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies. However I didn't have chocolate chips, but I had some mini M&Ms and mini rainbow chips. I had a little helper also, my Little Man wanted to watch and help measure, with one hand the batter was made. And it looks so pretty with all the colors.

Then after the cookie dough was made and the brownies were cooked, I stuck the cookie dough in the fridge to set up a bit while the brownies cooled, maybe about an hour.  When the brownies were ready to cut I used my pampered chef mini spatula to cut about 1" squares. I then took my pampered chef large cookie scoop and put a scoop on the bottom and scoop of dough on the top to sandwich the brownie.

Very gently I smashed the sides together so the brownie wasn't showing. These babies are huge, I barely got 6 of them on a large cookie sheet. I lined the cookie sheet with parchment paper, which made them very easy to remove for cooling.

After baking them at 350* for about 18 mins, I let them cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes and then transferred to a cooling rack. Aren't they just beautiful.

My Hubby loved them and like the surprise in the middle.

I hope you enjoy them if you make some for your family. They were a big hit here. Only thing though, one batch doesn't make a lot of cookies, only about 10. But you'll have half a pan of brownies left over.

New Life

A few weeks ago I had noticed a birds nest on our playground. I didn't think too much of it. It was nice out the other day and I took Little Man to go down the slide. When I looked up there was a momma Robin sitting on the nest, I didn't want to disturb her so just put Little Man on the slide, then she flew off. So I got up there and there were four perfect little blue eggs in the nest. I took pictures however they were deleted.

I went out last night to take another picture, I was too late. They were already hatching. Three were completely hatched, and one was just coming out of it's egg.

I am just amazed by these precious little birds. How amazingly intricate the nest is that the robin forms from scraps and weaves it together and then how she can lay 4 eggs that are probably the same size as her, then these little birds arrive. God will take care of the birds, I know he loves us so much more!!! Matthew 6:26
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

It was so beautiful to see this new life being born. It was very encouraged and excited.