Dipped Cherry Cookies

Wow, another whole month has passed by where I have yet to update my precious blog. What can I say, life has been pretty crazy the past couple of months and it has been hard to keep up. I hope to do better in the new year by updating more often and even possibly moving to my own domain. But for now let's concentrate of the important stuff, Christmas cookies! A couple of weeks ago my sister e-mailed me this recipe and asked if I could make it for Christmas. Since I am such a wonderful sister I went ahead and added it to my Christmas baking list.


Making the dough for these cookies is very similar to making a pie crust. Cubed cold butter is cut into dry ingredients and then more ingredients are added and the dough is kneaded (I used my stand mixer for this step) until it forms a ball. The end result of this process is a soft and delicate cookie that is both sweet and chocolaty. I personally love the combination of cherries, white chocolate and almond flavor! These are the perfect treat for the holiday season.


Dipped Cherry Cookies
Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries, drained
12 ounces white baking chocolate, finely chopped, divided
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons shortening
Coarse sugar and red edible glitter

Directions
- In a large bowl, combine flour and 1/2 cup sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Knead in the cherries, 2/3 cup white chocolate and extract until dough forms a ball.
- Shape into 3/4-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten slightly with a glass dipped in remaining sugar. Bake at 325° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.
- In a microwave, melt shortening and remaining white chocolate at 70% power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth.
- Dip half of each cookie into chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and edible glitter. Place on waxed paper until set. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: about 4 dozen.

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas!

I made this cake a few weeks ago for my husband's work Christmas party. I did not post it because it was just a chocolate cake with chocolate cream filling and frosted with mint buttercream. It was so beautiful that I could not pass up the opportunity to share a picture of it.

Holiday Goodie Bags

Did you happen to recieve a goodie bag full of treats and are looking for the recipes? Well you have come to the right place. Thank you for stopping by. Here is a list to help you navigate to all of the recipes of the goodies that were included in your bag.


Chocolate-Cherry Pinwheels - I made 3 batches of these festive adorable cookies
Coconut Fudge Cups - I tackled 6 batches of these fudgetastic little bites.
Cranberry Crunch Bark - 8 batches of this festive bark was quick and easy.
Oreo Truffles - 3 batches of these was a little time consuming but totally worth it.
Peanut Butter Blossoms - 3 batches of peanut butter goodness. A classic holiday treat.
Saltine Toffee - After a run to the store for more saltines I whipped up 6 batches of this quick and delicious treat.

I hope you all enjoy your goodie bags and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Chocolate-Cherry Pinwheels

These pinwheels are a new cookie for me to make this year. I thought that they looked adorable and loved that two different flavor combinations were combined together into one great cookie. Cherry vanilla and chocolate, hello delicious. I am also submitting these cookies to the Eat Christmas Cookies round up hosted by Susan at Food Blogga. You can see all the delicious, continuously updated entries here.

Unlike most cookies there is a lot of resting time in the refrigerator for these pinwheels so it is best to plan in advance if you want to make them. Do not let that discourage you though, they are definitely worth the wait. The flavors combine together and make a soft and delicious cookie that just so happens to be perfect and festive for the Christmas season.


Chocolate-Cherry Pinwheels
Source: Betty Crocker

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, finely chopped and drained on paper towels
3 drops red food color
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

Directions
1. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in flour, baking powder and salt until well blended. Place half of dough in another medium bowl.
2. Beat almond extract, cherries and food color into half of dough. Divide cherry dough in half. Wrap each half of cherry dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until firm.
3. Beat vanilla, milk and cocoa into remaining plain dough. Divide chocolate dough in half. Wrap each half of chocolate dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until firm.
4. Place one part of chocolate dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper; roll into 10x7-inch rectangle. Repeat with one part of cherry dough. Refrigerate both about 30 minutes or until firm. Peel top sheets of waxed paper from both doughs. Turn cherry dough upside down onto chocolate dough; roll up doughs together, starting at long side, into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 hours. Repeat with remaining parts of dough.
5. Heat oven to 350°F. Cut rolls of dough into 1/4-inch slices with sharp knife. On ungreased cookie sheet, place slices 1 inch apart.
6. Bake 8 to 11 minutes or surface appears dull. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Time Saving Tips
- Cookie dough rolls can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking. To freeze cookie dough rolls, wrap in foil or freezer proof wrap. To thaw, let dough stand 15 to 30 minutes until easy to cut into slices.
- If you are making more than one batch of these cookies save yourself the hassle of dividing the batter and make your first complete batch cherry flavored and the second chocolate flavored.

Oreo Truffles

If you hang out in the parts of the Internet that I do I am sure you are sick and tired of hearing about these Oreo truffles. Those of you who are random readers of my blog, you might actually appreciate this post. I can't remember if it was last year or the year before that I made these but they were a huge hit with everyone. I decided to give them another go this year, but I changed up the recipe so they did not have to be stored in the refrigerator.


These truffles are very easy to make but can often be time consuming when it comes to rolling the balls and dipping them into chocolate - especially when you are making three batches like I did. If you are making more than one batch of these I would suggest only mixing up the cookie/cream cheese (milk) mixture one batch at a time. If the mixture sits for two long it starts to dry out and is very crumbly and hard to roll into balls.

Oreo truffles are always a hit with everyone, especially my husband the Oreo lover. I have to try to keep him away from them or he will eat them all and they will not end up making it to their recipients. This recipe seems like it is quickly becoming a holiday classic, it's like an epidemic. Don't be scared though, it's a great epidemic to be a part of.

Oreo Truffles
Adapted from : Kraft Foods

Ingredients
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo cookies, finely crushed
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened *(see variation below)
2 pkg. (8 squares each) semi-sweet chocolate or 1 pound almond bark, melted

Directions
1. Mix cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into ~50 (1-inch) balls.
2. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.)
3. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

*Variation - For truffles that do not need to be refrigerated use 1 can of sweetened condensed milk instead of the cream cheese.

Saltine Toffee

I came across this recipe sometime this past year and saved it, thinking that would be a great holiday treat to pass out. I mean who doesn't love toffee, it is so melt in your mouth smooth and buttery, and delicious too. This is a nice and quick alternative to the traditional English toffee that I enjoy so much.

Just like making the real thing, this mock toffee can be tricky to make. It needs to be cooked just perfectly to yield the right caramelized taste without being a sugary mess. The crackers add the perfect crunch for those people that love eating crunchy things (such as myself). :) This recipe is easy and delicious. Perfect for the busy holiday seasons.

Saltine Toffee
Source: Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
1 stick butter
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
saltines - enough to line your baking sheet
1-2 cups semi chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400. Line your baking sheet with foil.
2. Neatly place saltines on the foil lined baking sheet.
3. In a sauce pan, melt butter and add brown sugar. Allow butter and sugar to caramelize and boil for 2-3 minutes. Pour mixture over the saltines and spread it around to cover evenly.
4. Bake saltines in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the saltines. Allow it to rest for 2 minutes - enough for chocolate chips to melt. Using a rubber spatula or spreader, spread the melted chocolate over the saltines to evenly coat. Sprinkle the top with chopped nuts. Refrigerate to harden the chocolate. Break into random pieces.

Cranberry Crunch Bark

There are so many different variations on the traditional "bark" recipes that it is always hard to decide which to make, but this one stood out to me. First of all, it has white chocolate, and I love white chocolate. Secondly, it has a great mixture of goodies inside that seem perfect for the holiday season. There are sweet and chewy cranberries, puffy crisp cereal bits, and salty crunchy nuts. Those ingredients paired with white chocolate sounded like a match made in heaven.


This has got to be the easiest thing in the world to make. All you have to do is melt the chocolate, mix in the ingredients and spread it onto a baking sheet and let it cool. Pretty much effortless, but totally delicious all at the same time. This bark is a great festive looking holiday treat that I think everyone would enjoy.


Cranberry Crunch Bark
Source: Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
8 oz vanilla flavored almond bark or candy melts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions
1. Place almond bark or candy melts into a microwave proof bowl; microwave according to package directions until melted and smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir until fully coated. Spread mixture on parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Let stand at room temperature until set. Break into random pieces.

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies

There are so many recipes that I have been meaning to make but I had no peppermint extract. I finally remembered to get some while at the store today. I got out all the recipes I have wanted to make and asked my husband to pick one. He picked this one that I found on Land O' Lakes website. It would probably be wise of me to invest in their stock as much as I buy their butter, but I suppose that is beside the point. :)


These cookies were pretty easy to make and they taste excellent but I definitely would not recommend trying to mail them. My experience is that they are very fragile and brittle. Heck, I looked at one wrong and it fell apart. Ok you are right, I am just kidding about that one but they are pretty fragile.


Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies
Source: Land O' Lakes

-makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies-

Cookie Ingredients
3/4 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup mini real semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 drop green food color

Drizzle Ingredients
1/2 cup mini real semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vegetable shortening

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Combine all cookie ingredients except flour and 1 cup mini chocolate chips in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy.
2. Reduce speed to low. Add flour; beat until mixture forms a dough. Stir in 1 cup mini chocolate chips by hand.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten each ball to 1 1/2-inch circle with bottom of glass dipped in flour. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until set. (DO NOT OVERBAKE.) Let stand 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely on wire rack.
4. Combine all frosting ingredients in small bowl. Beat at low speed until smooth. (Add additional milk, one teaspoonful at a time, for desired frosting consistency.) Frost cooled cookies. Place cookies onto waxed paper.
5. Place 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH, stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth (60 to 90 seconds). Drizzle thin lines of chocolate over frosting with teaspoon. Let stand until chocolate is set (at least 30 minutes).

Recipe Tip If desired, place melted chocolate in small resealable plastic food bag. Cut tiny tip off one corner of bag to drizzle chocolate.

Love, Hugs, and Hershey Kisses

A couple of weeks ago I won an awesome gift basket on the Baking Delights blog. I received the basket in the mail and have been dying to make peanut butter blossoms ever since. Things have been crazy since the holidays are here and the end of the school semester is upon me. I decided to take a little break from paper writing and whip up a batch of these cookies using the ingredients provided in my awesome prize! If you would like to win one of these baskets yourself check out Marye's Baking Delights blog for you chance to win. She is on the third week of the giveaway with one more week to go. That is two more chances for you to win.


There is so much going on in this post. I am so excited because this is also the first time I have gotten to use my new camera, a Cannon Rebel Xsi, to take some food shots. Thank you for my early Christmas present dear husband, I LOVE my new camera. I am sure you will also appreciate it this summer when drag racing season is upon us and I get some awesome shots of your sexy car. :)


Ok back to the important stuff, the food! I got the recipe for these very traditional Christmas cookies in the Hershey's gift basket that I received and thought they would be the perfect addition to my blog.


Besides making some smaller cookies and some larger cookies the only change that I made was to use butter instead of shortening. I also managed to drop an entire pan of straight from the oven cookies on the floor, but we'll just all forget about that, ok? These are just as delicious as I remember them being. Definitely a great holiday treat.


Peanut Butter Blossoms
Source: Hershey's Kitchens

-makes about 4 dozen cookies ~

Ingredients
48 Hershey's Kisses
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

200 Posts and Going Strong

I can not believe that I have 200 posts in this little ole food blog of mine. Who would have thought that I would have become so, ummm, addicted. :) I hope that all of you enjoy reading my blog as much as I love cooking and baking for it and writing up these posts. Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff. Lets talk about what you all came here for, the food!


I found this recipe in a Betty Crocker recipe magazine that I got in the mail a few weeks ago. I had bookmarked the recipe as something I wanted to try sometime before the holidays. I was looking through the book today, to pick something out to bake, while asking my husband what sounded best. He immediately picked these as soon as I told him the name. Apparently my husband loves coconut. :)


These were not the easiest things in the world to make. Well, I would not say that they were hard either. They were just a little time consuming and kind of messy. The cookie part is very thick and kinda sticky. I used a mini cookie scoop to portion out the dough and a mini tart shaper to form it. My husband said he did not care how hard they were to make because they were definitely worth it. Ha, easy for him to say. :) But in all honesty he was right, these things were awesome! Strong and sturdy on the outside and soft and gooey in the middle. Definitely worthy of holiday goodie trays. Give them a try, you will not be disappointed.


I am also sending this recipe off to Joelen at Joelen's Culinary Adventures to be included in her Holiday cookie swap event.

Coconut Fudge Cups
Source: Betty Crocker, Christmas Cookies, Dec 08/Jan 09

Ingredients
- Cookies -
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Coconut Fudge Filling -
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup flaked coconut
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
- Garnish, if desired -
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 drop red food coloring
1 drop green food coloring

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with a spoon. Stir in remaining cookie ingredients.
2. Shape dough into 24 (1-inch) balls. Press 1 ball into bottom and up the side of each of 24 ungreased mini muffin cups (I used a mini tart shaper and dipped it into sugar to prevent the dough from sticking before forming each cup). Mix filling ingredients until spreadable (throw everything into the mixer, it will be much easier this way). Spoon about 2 teaspoons filling into each cup.
3. Bake 18-20 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when filling is touched lightly. Cool slightly, carefully remove from muffin cups to cooling rack.
4. In 1-cup microwaveable measuring cup, microwave chocolate chips and whipping cream on high 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Microwave 15 seconds longer if necessary to melt chips. Frost tops of fudge cups with chocolate.
5. In small resealable food-storage plastic bag, toss 1/4 cup coconut with red food color. In another small bag, toss remaining 1/4 cup coconut with green food color. Garnish each fudge cup with red or green coconut.

Toffee Bars

Hasn't this year just flown by? I can not believe that it is November already! Now that everyone is beginning to think about the holidays I think that it is time to start sharing some holiday recipes with my readers. I hope to be cooking and baking up lots of delicious treats and sharing recipes from classic Thanksgiving dishes to Christmas baked goods. These bars would definitely go into the Christmas baked goods category.


These bars took about 10 minutes to mix up and called for basic ingredients that any well stocked kitchen should have. I chose to top my bars with almonds because almonds are probably my favorite nut and I think they go very well with toffee.

The taste of these bars varied with how long they sat. The first day they were good but after sitting for a couple days and letting their flavors develop they started tasting much better. I thought they were a little to floury so I would recommend cutting back the flour by a couple tablespoons. Also adding more chocolate is a great idea. The recipe calls for 2/3 cup but I probably used 1 cup by the time I was done. I am going to edit the recipe as to how I made it; click on the Betty Crocker link to be taken to the original recipe.



Toffee Bars
Adapted slightly from Betty Crocker

Ingredients
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 scant cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted chopped nuts, if desired

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg yolk. Stir in flour and salt. Press mixture into an ungreased, foil lined, 9x13 rectangular pan or baking sheet.
2. Bake bars 25 to 30 minutes or until very light brown (crust will be soft). Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on hot crust. Let stand about 5 minutes or until chocolate is soft; spread evenly. Sprinkle with nuts.
3. Cool bars 30 minutes in pan on wire rack. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows.

Merry Christmas (cookies)

A couple of years ago my husbands grandmother came down to Indiana for Christmas and she brought these joyous cookies with her and I just loved them. So last month when I was up in Michigan visiting her I asked her for the recipe. She told me the story behind the recipe and that it came out of the Betty Crocker cookbook that she received at a young age. She was kind enough to gently get the book down and make a copy of the recipe for me. I then googled it so I could find a link to source the recipe too.

These cookies remind me of a moist delicious sugar cookie with just the right amount of a lemon kick to them. They are really easy to make and take minimal ingredients. I know you are asking if I really used shortening (AKA "white devil") and yes, I did. I did not want to mess with the "science" of the recipe but I plan to try making them at a later date with either margarine or butter. At first my frosting (glaze) looked wonderful but for some reason it now looks funny. So please excuse the fact that it looks all weird. :)

Merry Christmas Cookies
(Source: WhatsCookingAmerica via Bettty Crocker Cookbook circa 1960's)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
- In a large bowl, cream vegetable shortening, sugar, egg, honey, and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt; stir until well blended. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.
- On a lightly floured board, roll dough to 1/4-inch thick; cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks. When cool, frost with Milk-Frosting and decorate as desired.

Milk Frosting

Ingredients
1 cup powdered (confectioners') sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
Food coloring of your choice

Directions
-In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon extract, and enough milk to make frosting easy to spread. Tint, if desired, with a few drops of food coloring.

Fake-out Reese's

A friend from Arkansas shared this recipe with me last week and suggested that I make it because they were so good. I thought that it would be the perfect addition to my Christmas goodie trays. I contemplated so many different ways to make them but decided on just going with the flow of the recipe and making them into bars. But I think next time I will make them into truffles or cut the PB mixture into little discs and then dip into chocolate for a more peanut butter cup look. These babies are pretty sinful if you are a Reese's lover.


Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Bars
(Source: RecipeZaar.com)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 cellophane package and 3 extra grahams)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
- Mix butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. (An easy way to measure the peanut butter is to put 1 cup of water into a measuring cup, and then add enough peanut butter to it that the water reaches 2 cups).
- Press mixture into a 9x13" pan.
- Melt chocolate chips in microwave and stir until smooth (try a minute first, and then check).
- Spread chocolate carefully over peanut butter layer with a spatula. (Having one person to pour the chocolate and one to spread works well!).
- Let the chocolate cool for a while, and then cut into bars before the chocolate is completely hardened (or else the chocolate layer will just crack).

My Addiction

This stuff, oh my word, this stuff is my holiday crack!! I absamolutely love it and could eat it every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas and not think twice about it. But if I did that I would probably weigh close to 500 pounds and I certainly do not need that. But you get the point that I could eat this all day every day.

This has to be the easiest thing in the world to make because it is very forgivable. Add more of one thing, less of another, add in a few extras; it does not matter party mix will love you anyway. I always manage to overfill my pans (yes, all 3 of them) and the dog really appreciates that because he manages to eat whatever falls as soon as it hits the ground. Do not be fooled by the hot sauce, it does not give the mix any heat it just adds the right hint of flavor. This is yet another treat that people will be receiving with their goodie trays in a few days.


Zesty Party Mix
(Source: Ambers Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
1 box Rice Chex
1 box Corn Chex
1 box Wheat Chex
9 cups Cheerios
1 pkg (18 ounces) cheese crackers
1 pkg (8 ounces) pretzel sticks
1 pkg (7 ounces) Bagel or rye chips
1 pkg (7 ounces) shoestring potato sticks
1 pound butter (or margarine if you wish)
3 Tbls garlic powder
3 Tbls onion powder
2 Tbls hot pepper sauce (I use Tabasco, Mmmmm)
2 Tbls lemon juice
2 Tbls worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic salt

Directions:
-In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients.
-In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add seasonings; stir until dissolved.
-Pour over cereal mixture; stir to coat.
-Place in large greased roasting pans.
-Bake, uncovered, at 250° for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes *Store in airtight containers

Substitution or additional ingredients:
Fritos, Bite-size shredded wheat, Sesame sticks, Peanuts or mixed nuts

Dogs Need Treats Too

I told Cole (my dog) that I had found a recipe for treats. His ears perked way up so I was assuming that meant he wanted me to make some for him. Then I realized it was the holidays and Cole should not be the only doggy in town getting spoiled with homemade treats so I decided to bake some for all of Cole's doggy friends to go with their owners goodie trays.

This recipe was so easy to make, I believe I got around 40 cookies out of one batch. But of course that depends on how thick/thin you make the dough.

After several failed attempts of getting a cute picture of the dog and the treats together I decided you have to see them separately. :) So here is a picture of my 3 year old black lab Cole all decorated up for the holidays.

And here is a picture of the treats that Cole loved so much.


Peanut Butter Doggie Bones
(Source: Sugar and Spice)

Ingredients:
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup low-fat milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk. Add wet mixture to dry, and mix well.
Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Jam Filled Delights

First off I need to announce that this is my 100th blog entry. I had always hoped to make some delicious ooey gooey chocolaty cake for my 100th post but it snuck up on me and I sure do not want to wait around to post anything until I find the time to make a cake. So here is my 100th entry celebration cookies. HeHe :)

This is yet another item that I will be adding to my goodie trays that I will be passing out over the weekend. I had some leftover blackberry jam from making the chocolate tart with candied cranberries over the weekend and I knew that it would just go to waste if I did not find something to do with it. These were a breeze to make and cooled very quickly too. I followed the instructions for the cookie but went a different route to decorate them. The orignal recipe says it yields 2 dozen cookies but I was able to get a couple more out of the dough resulting in 26 cookies.


Empire Cookies
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon hot water
1/4 cup candied cherries, chopped

Directions:
- Cream butter. Add sugar, creaming well. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 2 inch rounds, and place on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until very lightly browned at edges. Cool thoroughly.
Spread half of the cookies with jam, and top with remaining cookies.
- Combine confectioners' sugar, almond extract, and enough hot water to make a thin icing. Frost tops of cookies. Top each with a small piece of candied cherry.

Molten Middles

I am sure you all know what I mean when I say that "it is that time of year again." That's right, time to buy huge bags of flour and sugar and pounds upon pounds of butter and chocolate chips and get some holiday baking done. This is one of the items that will be on my goodie trays that I pass out to friends and family. The one thing that I realized is that in order for the center to be "molten" and not hard caramel people are going to have to warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds.

My tips about the recipe
- I believe it took longer than 30 minutes to make all the balls and roll them in sugar. I would guess more around 45 minutes.
- I did get more than 48 cookies, I ended up with almost 60.
- I would measure a heaping 1/4 cup of sugar because I had to add more sugar into my bowl.

Molten-Middle Truffle Cookies
(Source: KraftFoods.com)

Prep Time:30 min
Total Time:38 min
Makes:4 doz. or 48 servings, one cookie each

1-1/2 pkg. (12 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup finely chopped PLANTERS Walnuts
24 KRAFT Caramels, cut in half
1/4 cup sugar

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Microwave semi-sweet chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted, stirring after 30 sec. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Blend in milk and vanilla. Add flour and walnuts; mix well. (Dough will be stiff.)
SHAPE 1 level tablespoonful of dough around each caramel half, enclosing caramel completely. Roll in sugar. Place, 1 inch apart, on ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE 6 to 8 min. or cookies are until soft and shiny. Let stand 5 min. on baking sheet. Transfer to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cookies will firm up as they cool.)

Kraft Kitchens Tips
How to Warm Cooled Cookies - To warm cookies and soften caramel centers after cooling, microwave each cookie on HIGH 10 sec. or just until warmed.
Marshmallow Centers - Prepare as directed, substituting 48 JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows for the halved caramels.
White Chocolate Centers - Substitute 1 pkg. (6 squares) BAKER'S Premium White Baking Chocolate for the caramels. Cut each white chocolate square into eight equal chunks; set aside. Prepare dough as directed; shape 1 level tablespoon dough around each chocolate chunk. Place on baking sheets and bake as directed. Cool completely.