Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pretzel M&Ms

A while ago, Joe came home from work with a bag of pretzel M&Ms. I didn’t even know such a product existed, but I was incredibly eager to try them, since the salty-sweet flavor combination of pretzels and chocolate is one of my very favorites. Needless to say, we all loved them. They’ve since become a staple snack in our house, to the point that every night after dinner Andrew runs to the cupboard where they’re kept and asks for a few for dessert: “Numa-numa-num, peese?” he queries, and there’s just no way I can resist his sweet little voice.

I decided to use some of the M&Ms to make us some cookies. I was thinking of something like a monster cookie, only using the pretzel version of M&Ms instead of the plain ones. But then I decided on a peanut butter cookie base instead, because the only combination I love more than chocolate and pretzels is chocolate, pretzels, and peanut butter.

I was really happy with how these cookies turned out. They have great peanut butter flavor and a wonderful salty-sweetness from the chocolate and pretzels. Like the M&Ms themselves, I think these cookies are quickly going to become a staple in our house!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pretzel M&Ms
source: adapted from Allrecipes

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups pretzel M&Ms

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, peanut butter and vanilla.

3. Add flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in chocolate chips and pretzel M&Ms.

4. Roll into balls about 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls and place onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly because they do not flatten much while cooking.

5. Bake for 14 minutes.

Secret Kiss Cookies

Do any of you get those recipe packets sent to you in the mail? You know the ones I mean -- where a company sends you ten or so recipes on those 5 x 7 cards, in hopes of luring you into ordering even more recipe cards? I get them all the time and I have for years, but to date these cookies are the first recipe I ever tried. Joe saw the picture on the front of the card and said, "You have to make those. Right now." And who am I to deny a request from anyone for cookies?

Okay, I'm going to warn you: I found these cookies to be very inconsistent. The first time I made them they turned out so dry they were barely palatable, and I decided that I wasn't going to post the recipe. But then I thought I'd try them again, just to be sure, and the second time they turned out perfectly: nice and chewy with a sweet, semi-soft chocolate surprise inside. I have no idea what I did differently the second time. Because of the inconsistency, I don't know if I'll make this particular cookie again, although I do love the idea of them. Maybe I'll try them with a chocolate chip cookie dough, or maybe I'll use the peanut butter dough from these Snickers cookies to make them taste like inverted peanut butter blossoms. (Holy yum!) If you try them, will you let me know how they turn out?

Secret Kiss Cookies
source: Great American Home Baking recipe card

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
25 Hershey's Kisses
1 1/2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheate oven to 350 degrees. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Combine the flour and cinnamon in another medium bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well.

2. Shape the dough into 25 1-inch balls. Flatten each ball into a 2-inch round. Place the rounds 1 inch apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Place 1 Hershey's Kiss in the center of each round. Enclose the candy with the dough, making sure the candy is completely sealed in the dough. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

3. Combine the confectioners' sugar and cocoa in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the hot cookies. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Easter Bunny Cookies

For those of you who celebrate Easter, here's a fun cookie to make for -- and with! -- your kids. I made these for my son's daycare class, and I think he and his friends are just going to love them. Start out with a batch of your favorite sugar cookies (or just buy a mix like I did, semi-homemade girl that I am), add icing, shredded coconut, and decorations, and voila!: adorable little Easter bunny cookies. I was going to make some flowers too, but it turns out the cookie-cutter that I thought was a flower was actually a snowflake, which isn't exactly appropriate for the season. I think the bunnies are cute enough on their own though.

Easter Bunny Cookies

Equipment: bunny-shaped cookie cutter
1 batch of sugar cookies (make them from scratch, or use a mix)
White icing
Shredded coconut
Easter M&Ms
Black decorating gel

1. Cut sugar cookie dough using bunny cookie cutter; bake cookies (according to directions on package, if using a mix). Cool.

2. Spread cooled cookies with icing and sprinkle with shredded coconut, pressing gently to ensure that the coconut sticks to the icing. Add M&Ms for eyes and nose. Use decorating gel for eyeballs and mouth.

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies

First of all, please tell me you appreciate the humor of the pig in the photo. Special thanks to my son for letting me borrow one of his (many) farm books expressly for this purpose.

I knew I wanted to try this recipe as soon as I saw it in my reader. I've been intrigued by the chocolate-bacon pairing for a while and have just been waiting for the perfect recipe to try. If you think putting bacon in a cookie sounds weird or gross, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised! The bacon adds a nice smokiness to the cookies, but it doesn't make them overwhelmingly porky. The bacon flavor is really subtle, and the saltiness works perfectly with the chocolate. Typically I like a cakey chocolate chip cookie, but I really enjoyed this crispier version for these cookies. It complimented the crispiness of the bacon nicely, so the bacon sort of just melded into the cookie.

If I'm being honest, I almost didn't make these after I sampled the brown sugar-coated bacon on its own. It was so good that I could have just eaten that and been a very happy girl. But because I have some serious will-power, I forged ahead with the cookies, and I'm glad I did. They're so different and delicious. And Joe loved them; combining two of his favorite things, chocolate chip cookies and pork fat, they are pretty much the perfect man food.

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies
source: Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup candied bacon bits (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line three baking sheets with a silicone liner or parchment paper.

2. Beat the sugars and butter together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Whisk together the flour and salt, then sift them into the batter. Stir in the chocolate chunks and bacon bits.

3. Using a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop the cookie dough into small balls, about 1 inch in diameter, and place them 2 inches apart on each of the baking sheets.

4. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Rotate sheets halfway through baking for even browning. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Makes about 3 dozen 2-inch cookies.

Candied Bacon Bits

8 strips bacon
1/2 cup light brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil, shiny side down.

3. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon.

4. Bake for about 15 minutes. (Mine definitely took longer to get crispy -- probably about 20 minutes.) Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the dark, syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet. Add the rest of the brown sugar and continue to bake until a deep mahogany color. Remove from oven and cool the strips on a wire rack.

5. Once crisp and cooled, chop into little pieces, about the size of grains of rice. Candied bacon bits can be stored in an airtight container and chilled for a day or so, or stored in the freezer a few weeks ahead.

Chubby Hubby Cookies

I know, I know...In my last post I was patting myself on the back for trying to eat healthy, and today I'm posting a recipe for cookies. I may need to work on my willpower, because when these cookies popped up in my Reader I just couldn't resist them. I had to make them immediately. Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream is pretty much the best ice cream ever, in my humble opinion, so I thought the idea of using those flavors in a cookie was absolutely genius.

These cookies are so delicious! I was skeptical of how they'd turn out before I baked them, because the dough was really crumbly, but they turned out just fine. The pretzels added a nice salty element to the cookie, and really, you just can't beat the chocolate-peanut butter-pretzel combo. I'll definitely be making these little bad boys over and over again!

Chubby Hubby Cookies
source: Joelen's Culinary Adventures

3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup crushed pretzel sticks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer attached with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

3. Sift flour and baking soda together. Beat into batter on low speed. Stir in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and crushed pretzels.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoons (or use a small scoop) onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 11 to 14 minutes until golden on the bottom and just set in the middle. Cool on wire racks.

Mocha Toffee Chocolate Cookies

I know, I know, these cookies really don't look like much, do they? Let me assure you that their appearance is very deceiving, as these are truly some delicious little treats!

It's very rare that I see a recipe and know that I have to make it immediately, right now, yesterday. Last weekend the new edition of Betty Crocker's Annual Recipes arrived in the mail, and when I saw these cookies it was like they were speaking to me from the page, just begging me to make them and then eat six of them while they were still piping hot and fresh from the oven. I couldn't say no. When cookies speak to you, you listen.

I didn't have any instant coffee in the house, so I used a few tablespoons of the pot we'd brewed that morning, which worked out just fine. The cookies had a nice coffee flavor that balanced perfectly with the chocolate and the toffee. These cookies will be making a yearly appearance in our kitchen, and on my annual Christmas cookie trays.

I hope all of you have a blessed holiday with your families. It's been a pleasure sharing my cooking adventures with you this year, and I can't wait to see what 2010 brings for all of us!

Mocha Toffee Chocolate Cookies
source: adapted from Betty Crocker 2010 Annual Recipes; original recipe found here

3 teaspoons brewed coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist fudge recipe chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup English toffee bits

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl, stir together coffee and vanilla. In large bowl, mix cake mix, coffee mixture, butter and eggs with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits.

2. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

3. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until surface appears dry. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Be forewarned: These cookies are incredibly addictive. If you're anything like me, you'll find yourself eating three, four, five of them without even realizing it. Just be sure you have a glass of milk handy, because this is a cooke that's just begging to be dunked.

We really loved these cookies. I usually substitute butter for shortening whenever it's called for in a recipe, but at the suggestion of some of the recipe reviewers I went ahead and used the shortening. And I'm glad I did; it made these cookies delightfully crispy. I also made the cookies a little more special by using Peanut Butter & Co. cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter, which added a lot of wonderful flavor. I definitely recommend trying some type of specialty peanut butter in this recipe. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing about these cookies, and I will be making them frequently.

And just a quick content-related note: Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be featuring a couple of Thanksgiving-related recipes, so stay tuned. My 300th post is scheduled to occur on Thanksgiving Day, so in honor of that occasion I'll be hosting my first-ever give-away on Friday. Be sure to check back for that!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
source: Allrecipes

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co. cinnamon raisin swirl)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats until just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

When I was paging through cookbooks last week trying to decide what I wanted to bake, these cookies caught my eye immediately. They grabbed my attention mainly because of all the chocolate, and chocolate is something that the baby and I just can't get enough of these days. They sounded really simple to make, too, which is always a plus.

These cookies contain no eggs, and they call for confectioners' sugar rather than granulated, so their texture is really light and airy. They have great chocolate flavor without being too rich, which makes it especially hard to eat just one. We loved these cookies, and they were so delicious that I just had to let Andrew try one. He seemed to enjoy it, as I knew he would:

I'm pretty sure these cookies will be making their way into my Christmas packages (yes, I'm already thinking about Christmas. I'm one of THOSE people). They're such a sweet, delicious, irresistible little treat!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies
source: The Taste of Home Baking Book, recipe also found here

1 1/4 cups butter, softened
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chocolate sprinkles

1. In a large bowl, cream butter, confectioners' sugar and cocoa until light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add flour; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Roll into 1-inch balls; dip one side in chocolate sprinkles. Place, sprinkled side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Yields about 5 1/2 dozen cookies.

Snickers Cookies

Most of you have probably visited Donna's blog, right? If you haven't, go ahead and click on over. I'll wait.

I love Donna because of her ah, um, unique and hilarious take on food and her awesome personality, which shines through so brightly in all of her posts. Not to mention the fact that her food always looks so amazing! I've bookmarked about a million recipes from her site to try, and this recipe for Snickers cookies is one of the ones I've been most excited to make. And I have to say, with all honesty, that these are probably the best cookies I have ever made. They taste exactly like peanut butter blossoms, but with the added bonus of a chocolatey, peanutty, caramely center. See?

Oh. SO GOOD. If loving these cookies is wrong, I never, ever want to be right.

What's awesome about these is that the dough requires chilling time, so I was able to start them on Saturday night after Andrew had gone to bed and finish them up the next morning. They were so easy to make and baked up absolutely perfectly. My stepmom, stepsister, and dad all raved about them, not to mention Joe and Andrew, who devoured them with gusto.

And now it's Tuesday, and there are only three cookies left. From a batch of 35. And I'm sure they'll be gone by the time I get home tonight.

It's dangerous for me to be in possession of this recipe.

Snickers Cookies
source: My Tasty Treasures

1 bag Snickers miniature candies (I used half a bag of regular Minis, and half a bag of dark chocolate Minis)
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teapoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Hersheys kisses, or any milk chocolate

1. Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugars using a mixer on medium to low speed until light and fluffy.

2. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda.

3. Cover and chill dough 2 to 3 hours up to a couple of days.

4. Remove dough from fridge. Divide dough into 1 to 2 tablespoon pieces and flatten.

5. Place a Snickers Mini in center of each. Form a ball around the Snickers Mini, taking care to cover it all.

6. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust time as needed if using more than 1 tablespoon dough. (Mine took about 15 minutes.) Let cookies cool 1 to 2 minutes then remove to rack to cool completely.

7. Drizzle melted milk chocolate over each cookie in a zig zag pattern.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

I first saw these cupcakes on Denise's blog and I found myself practically drooling. And then I saw that the recipe comes from a cookbook I actually own, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, and I knew that I had no excuse not to make these delicious little delights immediately. So that's exactly what I did.

These were sooooo good -- creamy, decadent, rich, and delicious. And addictive, too! I'd eaten three before I even knew what I was doing. Needless to say, they disappeared very quickly. They're so easy to throw together and bake up in no time, and they taste really special. Next time, I may try making them with peanut butter Oreos -- or even mint Oreos during the holidays. You're going to love these!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes
source: Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

42 Oreos, 30 left whole, 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place one whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes.

5. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate in tins at least 4 hours or up to overnight. Remove from tins just before serving.

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Up until pretty recently, most of my pregnancy cravings have been for savory, salty things -- anything barbecued, pickles (how typical, right?), eggs. But last Friday I got a craving for chocolate chip cookies that just would not go away until I made a batch. I always have all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies on hand, so to find a recipe I turned to a cookbook I knew wouldn't let me down: Martha Stewart's Cookies. There are three or four chocolate chip cookie recipes in that cookbook, but I turned to the one I knew I would like the best: the cakey version. I loooove cakey cookies.

Can I tell you how hard it was to keep myself from eating the raw cookie dough? Despite the whole "pregnant women shouldn't eat raw eggs" thing, I actually did sneak a couple bites of the dough. I couldn't resist. I'm so terrible.

These cookies marked Andrew's first foray into the world of chocolate chip cookies, and as you can imagine, he absolutely loved them. If I hadn't limited him to one, he would have eaten almost as many as his father did -- and that's really saying something. I wish I had a picture to show you!

We all loved these cookies. They're everything you want a chocolate chip cookie to be -- chocolatey, sugary, and absolutely irresistible. As Martha herself would say, these cookies are a very, very "good thing"!

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Martha Stewart's Cookies; recipe also found here

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips (I used a combination of both)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies

Believe it or not, I found this recipe on the back of the cardboard insert of a Wilton cookie sheet I was using for the first time. I was in the mood for some cookies, and I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I thought I'd give them a try. I'm a huge fan of anything lemon-flavored, and I was intrigued by the lemon-white chocolate combination, which I don't think I'd ever had before.

I couldn't believe how good these little cookies were! They tasted exactly like lemon cake, so they were right up my alley. Joe even liked these, and he's not a huge fan of lemon (he had a bad experience with a something called "lemonade pie" a few years ago) (and no, it wasn't made by me!). These cookies are light and flavorful and just all-around delicious. They taste like summertime. I'm so glad I noticed the recipe before I threw that cardboard insert away!

White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies
Source: Wilton

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well.

3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture; mix well. Stir in white chocolate chips and lemon zest.

4. Drop by tablespoonfuls or cookie scoop onto ungreased (Wilton!) cookie pan. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are a light golden brown. Cool 3 minutes in pan; remove and cool completely on cooling rack.

Sweet Strawberry Cookies with Chocolate Cream Filling

The first Valentine's Day that Joe and I spent as a couple was in 2001. I wasn't much of a baker at that time, but I still decided that I wanted to bake some cookies for Joe for Valentine's Day. I came across a recipe for some cookies called "pink pillows" that sounded simple to make and very tasty. It was the first time I'd ever tried to bake cookies without my mom's help.

Alas, because of my relative baking inexperience, I did not know about a little thing called "carry-over cooking." So when the 10 minutes were up and the cookies didn't look quite done, I just left them in the oven instead of taking them out to finish baking. I think I ended up baking one batch of cookies for 30 minutes. Ya'll, I was a novice.

I still remember Joe's face when he tried to bite into one of the cookies. (Yes, I still gave them to him. I knew the bottoms of the cookies were burnt to a crisp a little bit brown, but I thought they might still be all right.) But Joe could barely bite into them, they were so hard. When he finally got a bite off, I watched his face crinkle up as he mumbled, "They're delicious." I remember being so touched at his sweetness that I actually cried a little bit. Mostly, though, I think the tears were from sheer embarrassment.

Joe mentions those cookies every Valentine's Day and teases me about them mercilessly. I kept the recipe and I've been meaning to redeem myself for quite some time now. This year was the year.

To make the cookies more special, I decided to make little strawberry cookie sandwiches with chocolate cream filling in the middle. These cookies are such a sweet treat for Valentine's Day. These are very cakey cookies and don't spread when they're baking, so next time I think I'll flatten them before baking so they're not quite as thick. I do think they're awfully cute, though, as they are; they look like little scoops of strawberry ice cream. I doubled the cookie recipe, which gave me 25 cookie sandwiches.

I have officially redeemed myself. Joe loves these, and so do I. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Sweet Strawberry Cookies with Chocolate Cream Filling
Source: cookie recipe adapted from Meals.com; chocolate cream filling recipe from Baking Delights

For the cookies:
4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Nestle Nesquik Strawberry Flavor Powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs

For the filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
3 tablespoons sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375º.

2. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, Nesquik and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

4. While cookies are baking, prepare the filling. Cream butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Beat in melted chocolate and sugar, scraping down the sides as needed. Place filling in a plastic bag; snip one corner of the bag.

5. Pipe the filling onto the bottom side of 25 cookies. Top with the other 25 cookies, pressing cookies together firmly to adhere filling. Refrigerate.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

This cookbook is filled to the brim with delicious-sounding old-fashioned desserts, and out of all the choices, it may seem a little bit odd that I chose to make chocolate chip cookies. But my grandma makes the most delicious chocolate chip cookies, and one of my favorite memories is of going over to her house and curling up with a stack of them (with milk for dunking, of course). She always put walnuts in hers, but I saw this recipe using hazelnuts and I just had to try them. I'm a sucker for the hazelnut-chocolate combo (I believe that I am largely responsible for keeping Ferrero Rocher in business), and once again, the pair did not disappoint me. These cookies have wonderful texture, and they're very good. I'm visiting my grandma tomorrow, so I'm going to take a few of them to her. Of course, they're not nearly as good as her chocolate chip cookies, but I don't think I'll ever find any that are!

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: Taste of Home's Grandma's Great Desserts

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add gradually to batter, beating well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips and hazelnuts.

3. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Flatten with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Remove to a wire rack to cook. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Salty-Sweet Butterscotch Cookies

There are only a few types of Christmas treats that I make every year -- Buckeyes and Nutter Butter Santas being the two most notable examples. Generally I try to switch up the types of cookies I make each year, just to keep things interesting. And this year, the new cookies I've tried have really been wonderful. And the cookies I'm sharing with you today are no exception.

These cookies have a fabulous texture and the perfect balance of flavors. They're nutty and salty and sweet in equal parts. If you like the flavor of butterscotch but want an alternative to oatmeal scotchies, if you like nuts in cookies but you're sick of using the same old walnuts, this cookie is for you. I know I'm posting this kind of late, but seriously, if you're still baking for Christmas (like I am; I'll be in the kitchen again tonight), I would strongly encourage you to give these a try!

(Also: Since this recipe calls for less than a cup of cashews, I didn't want to buy an entire tub because they're just too expensive! So I went to our local convenience store and picked up a couple of the individual serving-sized packages. It was the perfect amount!)

Salty-Sweet Butterscotch Cookies

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
3/4 cup coarsely chopped salted dry roasted cashews
2/3 cup butterscotch-flavor pieces

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Stir in cashews and butterscotch pieces.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. Makes about 48 cookies

Nutter Butter Santas

Joe's grandma makes these adorable little treats for her Christmas Eve feast every year, and a couple of years ago I asked her for the "recipe." I thought these would be the perfect snack to take to work for my coworkers during the holiday season; they require very little effort, but they're so yummy and festive. Who can resist a Nutter Butter by itself, let alone one covered with white chocolate, sparkly sugar and chocolate chips? No one, that's who. My coworkers love these, and they've come to expect them every year. I'm happy to oblige; these take no time at all to put together! (And as you can tell from the picture below, I couldn't resist snacking on one of them this year!)


Grandma D's Nutter Butter Santas

2 packages white baking chocolate, chopped
1 package Nutter Butter sandwich cookies
red colored sugar
32 white chocolate chips
64 miniature sweet or semisweet chocolate chips
32 red hot candies

1. In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt white chocolate, stirring occasionally.

2. Dip one end of each cookie into melted chocolate. Place on wire racks. For Santa's hat, sprinkle red sugar on top part of chocolate. Place one white chocolate chip off-center on hat for pom-pom; let stand until set.

3. Dip other end of each cookie into melted chocolate for beard, leaving center of cookie uncovered. Place on wire racks.

4. With a dab of melted chocolate, attach semisweet chips for eyes and a red hot for nose.

5. Place on waxed paper until chocolate sets.

Buried Cherry Cookies

I've never been a huge fan of chocolate-covered cherries, but it turns out that if you take out that white creamy stuff inside and plop a chocolate cookie underneath, I actually love them. Who knew? This is another cookie for our holiday bakesale at work, and let me just say this: It's a good thing I only had to bring a dozen of them and that the recipe makes 40 cookies, because I just can't seem to get enough of these. They're absolutely succulent, and so cute too! To me, this is the type of cookie that epitomizes Christmas: decadent and irresistible, the kind of treat that just makes you happy. These are awfully rich, so be sure to have a tall glass of milk nearby. (And I'm already scheming about other ways to use this technique; you could put caramel and pecans inside instead of cherries to make a turtle cookie, or put a dollop of peanut butter mixed with vanilla and powdered sugar under the frosting and have a buckeye cookie! The possibilities are endless, and delicious.)

Buried Cherry Cookies

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries (42 to 48)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk or low-fat sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain cherries, reserving juice. Halve any large cherries. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press your thumb into the center of each ball. Place a cherry in each center.

3. For frosting, in a small saucepan combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Stir in 4 teaspoons reserved cherry juice. (If necessary, frosting may be thinned with additional cherry juice.) Spoon 1 teaspoon frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover.

4. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes 42 to 48 cookies

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cranberry and white chocolate is another one of those classic recipe combinations, and it's one that I absolutely love. The balance of sweet and tart is just so wonderful. I've had this particular recipe bookmarked for quite a while, and a Christmas cookie exchange at work gave me the perfect opportunity to try them. And I love them. And the best part? You can eat them for breakfast! They're just like a granola bar, with the oats and the dried fruit. (Okay...I am totally just trying to justify the fact that I had three of them this morning. So sue me.) I added a few ingredients to the cookies which worked very well, and they're reflected below in purple.


Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: Allrecipes

2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
2/3 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate (I used a full cup of white chocolate chips)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Combine oats, flour, salt, baking soda and orange zest; stir into butter mixture one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate.

3. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Christmas Cookies

Oh, food blog, how I have neglected thee. Thanksgiving came and went, and I did some cooking, and my dad's 60th birthday party came and went, and I did some cooking for that, but nothing seems to have made it up here lately.

So. I feel like if I post this (because writing anything on one of my blogs is like writing it in stone, of course), I will actually buckle down and force myself to get baking. Yes, I am totally in denial that Christmas is almost here. Without further ado, here is the list of Christmas cookies you can keep an eye out for coming up soon:

• oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies
• tiramisu cheesecake bars
• buried cherry cookies
• grasshopper squares
• Mom's Buckeyes
• Irish creme delights
• salty-sweet butterscotch cookies
• oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies

I have some other holiday desserts planned, too, plus some baking to do for a co-worker who just had his first baby, but I think if I pace myself I'll be fine. Look for the first two recipes on Monday, since I've committed to baking two dozen cookies for our holiday cookie exchange at work.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Drop Cookies

"Now that's a cookie!" were my husband's exact words as he chewed his first bite of the cookies I made last week. I had some pureed pumpkin left over from the pasta I made, so I scoured online recipes trying to find something that sounded good. I came across a recipe on Allrecipes for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that sounded delicious, so I was going to make those, but then I had a brainstorm: What if I used cinnamon chips instead of chocolate chips? The pumpkin-cinnamon culinary combo is second only to chocolate and peanut butter in my book, so I decided to go for it.

These cookies are, hands down, my new favorite fall cookie. I made them twice last week, and both times they were devoured. These are a cake-like drop cookie -- very moist and flavorful. They're addictive, too, so make with caution!


Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Drop Cookies
Source: inspired by this recipe from Allrecipes

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups Hershey's cinnamon chips
1 cup chopped pecans (the original recipe calls for walnuts, but I didn't have any, and I like pecans better with pumpkin anyway)

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add pumpkin, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla; beat on medium speed until well mixed.

2. Stir in cinnamon chips and nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.

3. Bake at 375° for 13-14 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.