Baker's One Bowl Chocolate Bliss Cookies 2 pkg (8 sq each) Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, divided 3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar 1/4 c butter, slightly softened 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 c flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 2 c chopped walnuts Preheat oven toi 350. Coarsely chop 8 of the chocolate squares, set aside. Microwave remaining 8 chocolate squares in large microwaveable bowl on high 2 min, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla; stir until well blended. Add flour and baking powder; mix well. Stir in chopped chocolate and walnuts. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 13 min or until cookies are puffed and shiny. Cool 1 min; remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely. I swear these are the best chocolate cookies I've ever had.
Russian Tea Cakes 1 c soft butter 1/2 c powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp salt In large bowl, combine ingredients on low speed with mixer - about one minute - blend well. 2 1/4 c unbleached or all purpose flour 3/4 c finely chopped nuts Gradually add flour at low speed until just combined. Stir in nuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 min or until firm to the touch BUT NOT BROWN. While warm, roll in more powdered sugar. Cool and re-powder them. Makes about 4 dozen Family favorite that we make every year.
Day Two. We went with the quintessential Peanut Butter Blossoms. Bugga loved rolling them in sugar and placing the kisses on top.
Made these today, they are my favorite - Peppermint Meltaways - http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Peppermint-Meltaways
Ooh of course! There is actually a surprising number of recipes for these out there. I've tried a handful of them and always come back to a version of the original one. It's yum. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Get your kisses ready..they obviously need to be naked. Mix together and set aside: 1 1/2 c. flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt Cream together until well blended: 1/2 c. butter, softened 3/4 c. your favorite peanut butter Add and beat until fluffy: 1/3 c. sugar 1/3-1/2 c. light brown sugar Add and beat well: 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 tablespoons milk Add dry ingredients until well incorporated. Put some additional sugar on a plate or low-bowl. Shape dough in to balls...about 1 inch. I use a little scoopermajig thing i got from Pampered Chef once upon a time so they are evenly balled. Roll the dough balls in the extra sugar. Place sugared dough balls on cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Watch the first batch to see how they cook. Remove from oven and place a kiss on top of each cookie right away.
I just love that idea ! Each year we bake some cookies with the kids but in one afternoon only. This year I have a whole book of little recipes from Alsace region, I can't wait to try this weekend. Unfortnately all the recipes are in French with French measures so it won't help....
I have some catching up to do with posting. Day Three was a "cheat day". It was Girl Scout meeting day so we went with something simple, easy, and fast. But they are always yum-o. Rice Krispie Treats. Green of course, for the holidays. For these I do the typical recipe but I double it for thicker bars, and I add a handful or so more mallows and a dash of milk for extra ooey-gooey ness. Mmmm..
Day Four. Sprinkle Cake Batter cookies. I was on the hunt for another quick and easy recipe because our day was full again. This is a new to me recipe and it was fun to make with Bugga. She love, loved adding the sprinkles. But it was overall, for me, kind of meh. It was very sweet (and I loooove sweet) and the cookies fell flat a bit (note to self: make sure you have fresh baking powder). The kids at school loooved these though. So win. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix togethe and set aside: 1 box white/vanilla cake mix 1 teaspoon baking powder Whisk together, in a separate bowl: 2 large eggs 1/3 cup canola/vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until all the cake mix is incorporated. Then gently add in 1/2-1 cup sprinkles, careful not to overstir, so as not to get the colors all in the dough. [the recipe calls for 1 cup, which would have been waaay too many, so we used closer to 1/2 cup]. Bake for 9 minutes. Watch to be sure the cookies don't get brown.
Day Five. Smores cookies. Another new-to-me recipe, but this one is a BIG win. Yum, yum. I even made them again for our ugly-sweater party and everyone raved. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line your baking pan(s) with parchment paper (you will definitely want to do this to avoid the Crazy Stick that can happen. I used parchment paper and a wee bit spilled on to the side of my pan and Holy Hard to Clean). I used one 11x17 pan and that was perfect for the recipe. Lay out graham crackers side by side on lined pan (I split the one "big" cracker at its perforation and laid those two "smaller" crackers out covering the entire pan). You want the crackers to sit close together, touching one another. Combine and set aside: 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (this is seriously the key touch here...it brings some serious wow of balance to the flavor portrait) 1 teaspoon cinnamon (this too is a key touch. I don't like tons of cinnamon but the 1 tsp..or just a smidge less is the perfect amount) Cream together until light and fluffy: 11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup sugar Add: 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla Mix until combined, and then add, little by little your dry ingredients. Fold in: 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1 cup marshmallows (I added a wee bit more of each on my second batch of these..yummmm) Place tablespoons of the dough on top of the graham crackers (about 1-2 tablespoons). I divvied it up evenly over my pan of crackers and the resulting thickness was fabulous. *get (hershey) chocolate bars ready. Break regular sized candy bars into their smaller bar pieces. I used 2.5 chocolate bars total, broken into their smaller bits.* Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and place and press (Hershey) chocolate pieces on top of your dough...you can place as many or as little as you want. Then return to oven and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes. The edges should just be starting to get golden brown. Allow to cool completely for easy cutting. Yum. Yum.
Day Six. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. This is a holiday regular for us. And because I think peanut butter and chocolate is the greatest food combination ever devised, I love these. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare your Peanut Butter cups...you want the small miniature (Reese's) cups. And you'll need about 40. I place them in a bowl and put the bowl into the freezer to make sure they don't melt whist I'm preparing the cookies. This makes for an easier place too when ready. Sift together and set aside: 1 3/4 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda Cream together until light and fluffy: 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup your favorite peanut butter 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed Beat in: 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 tablespoons milk Add flour mixture in a little at a time, mixing until well incorporated. Shape dough in to balls (I use one of those little ball scoop jobbies so my balls are consistent in size) and place each one into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place one peanut butter up into each cookie ball. Allow to cool completely for easy removal from the pan. Yum.
Printing these new ones up right now Sara!! I've gained 10 pounds this last month, so maybe I won't be making them right away, but it's always good to have some fabulous cookie recipes!!
I made some chocolate chip cookies these except instead of chocolate chips I used the white chocolate mint M&Ms. Super good!
