Best Christmas Cookies Ever!!

I am a bit ridiculous when it comes to cookies. I don't like "brown" cookies. I like them white and soft. For this reason, I don't eat them very often. Which is not really such a bad thing. You know, when you consider the whole trying to lose weight thing.

But alas, it is Christmas time which definitely calls for cookie baking. I had bookmarked this cookie recipe ages ago and came across it again recently. These cookies looked so cute and fun. They would be great to do with kids, but not my kid. At only 18 months, he was a little less than enthused. When I told him we were going to make cookies, he did not understand why we could not eat them right then. There was a lot of waiting involved, which he is not so great at. I did give him some cookie dough while we waited for them to cook. Yes, I gave my child cookie dough with raw eggs in it. Trust me, I am sure it is not the worst thing he has eaten.

I am not even going to try and do this recipe justice. Click here to see the original post from Pioneer Woman. She is awesome. And so are these cookies!

Run, Run As Fast As You Can...

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man! My nephew loves this line from one of his books, so when he and my sister came over one day we made gingerbread men. We took a quick time saver by using the Pillsbury slice and bake cookie dough. Instead of slicing and baking, we rolled it out and cut out the little men. We then iced them with a simple mixture of powdered sugar and milk. They were fantastic and so much easier than making them from scratch! I highly recommend the Pillsbury gingerbread dough, especially if you need to save time when baking with children. Do you know any two years olds who are good at waiting??

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I have a wonderful husband who got a new job that he loves. I have a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby boy. I have the best family a girl could ask for. And I am thankful that I managed to bake not one, but two items for thanksgiving without screwing them up!!!

For Thanksgiving with my family I made pumpkin cookies. I've been wanting to make these since I started my food blog and just never got around to it. My nephew, who is 2, was very excited because he loves pumpkins and he loves cookies. (I don't think he realized the cookies were made with pumpkin.) I tried to make them in the shape of a pumpkin to get even more smiles out of him, but it didn't work. These are strictly drop cookies, people. The directions say to drop them, and this is what you should do. Don't be like me and waste your time trying to press sticky cookie batter into a pumpkin cookie cutter. It just doesn't work. Other than my lack of a pumpkin shape, these turned out perfect!! I don't think I've ever said that in regard to baking before. This is a major milestone! The recipe can be found here.

These cookies are soft and cake-like, not overly sweet, and have a wonderful cinnamon-spice taste. YUM!

For Thanksgiving with the in-laws I made a strawberry cake.

I took a little help from the store and used a box mix, but I made it my own by letting a strawberry puree soak into the cake and I made my own cream cheese icing. This was actually the first cake I have ever iced! I was pleased with myself. :) (I have to thank my sister for the tip about using a butter knife to make the design on the top.) This cake was pretty easy and tasted really good!!!

“And above all…Think Chocolate!”

The above is a quote by Betty Crocker. Very fitting for the queen of baking to say chocolate is at the top of her list. For me, chocolate is one of those things I crave. It’s not something I have to have all the time, but when I crave it, get out of my way! It’s one of those foods that can make you feel better when you’re having a bad day. There have even been scientific studies to show the effect chocolate has on the brain as it releases certain endorphins. Add some peanut butter and that makes it even better to me.

My sister made some Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies a while ago and I loved them! I am not a big cookie person, so I only really tried them to be polite, but WOW. They are awesome! I asked her to send me the recipe and decided to make them for our weekly girl’s night tonight. Last night wasn’t a big TV night for me, but I did want to watch Private Practice. So, I got started on them about an hour before it started and they were done in plenty of time. They were really pretty easy to make. **Helpful Hint: I could only get the batter combined so much using the spoon, so I ended up just using my hands to finish it.**

Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies

Source: Unknown (I forget where my sister found the recipe)

1 box fudge brownie mix
1/4 cup Land O Lakes butter, melted (and unsalted butter is fine)
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter (creamy works best)
1/2 container chocolate fudge frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl beat brownie mix, melted butter, cream cheese and egg with spoon until well blended (dough will be sticky). Onto un-greased cookie sheet(s), drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart to make 24 cookies. Smooth edge of each to form round cookie. In small bowl mix sugar and peanut butter until forms a ball. Make 24 balls and lightly press one into the center of each ball of dough. Bake 10-14 minutes. (The picture to the right is after they came out of the oven before they were iced) Cool on cookie sheets at least 30 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and spread a thin layer of frosting over peanut butter.