Honey Peanut Butter Cookies

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

The Chewy

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth!

Maiden Voyages

Treat #2 for the World Champions!

The competition that the girls won at worlds was the choreography competition. For this competition each dance school comes up with an original story that is read before the dance begins. Then, the dance should tell the story through both traditional Irish dancing techniques as well as original choreography. The story that our choreography tells is called 'Maiden Voyages'. It tells a tale of young Irish girls who have to leave Ireland and travel to America because their families have no money. Once they arrive in America they start out working as maids and eventually rise to become part of the middle class of America.

So, long story short, I tried to make these cookies look like little ships to represent the story. I was going to pipe milk chocolate on the cookies to look like wood planks, but it was 80 degrees here and we had not yet turned on our air conditioning, so that didn't go so well. To make these ships I used round cookie cutters and then cut the circles in half. When the cookies were finished, but still warm, I stuck a toothpick in them with papers I cut to look like sails. The girls seemed pretty excited when they saw the cookies, so I think I got my point across, even if they weren't as "ship like" as I had hoped.

Brownie Roll Out Cookies
(Source: Smitten Kitchen)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup lightly salted butter, softened (Deb note: I don’t really see “lightly salted” much these days, so I used one stick salted, one stick unsalted)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used the “good” stuff–Droste or Galler–but I can assure you that my mother only used Hershey’s growing up, so your choice)

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.

Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.) Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Taking on the World....

That's what a group of dancers from McGing (the school where I teach Irish dancing) did just 2 weeks ago. The World championships for Irish dancing are held every year during Easter week and this year, for the first time ever, they were held in the United States. Also, for the first time, a group of dancers from our school won FIRST PLACE!! Our junior choreography team took first place. We also had a soloist take first in the under 21 competition. Needless to say, it's a pretty exciting time at our dance studio.

To celebrate their win the choreography team is having a party/lock-in at the dance studio tonight and I thought it was a great excuse to bake something cute. I decided to make sugar cookies with a world on them. Turns out, making world cookies with royal icing takes a royal amount of time. I wound up doing half royal icing worlds and half buttercream "1's". I think they turned out pretty well, but I wish they were a little smoother. Next time I will use a smaller piping tip for the outline, I think it will be easier to work with. I'm also making another treat which I will update later today.


Sugar Cookies
(source: Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest
5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.
-Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
-Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.
-Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time.
-Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.
-Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away.
-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes.
-Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.


Royal Icing
(Source: Annie's Eats, she has great instructions for working with the royal icing)

Royal Icing
Ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. meringue powder
5 tbsp. water

The Perfect Dessert

A giant chocolate chip cookie with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. The combination of sweet, smooth, cold, and chocolate. Yum. There is really not much else I can say about it.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(As found on Annie's Eats)

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven 325°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.

Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

(Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebowitz)

1 cup milk

A pinch of salt

3/4 cups sugar

1 vanilla bean

5 egg yolks

2 cup heavy cream

A few drops of vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a paring knife. Add the bean pod to the milk.

2. Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Rinse the vanilla bean and put it back into the custard and cream to continue steeping. Chill thoroughly, then remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

Half wheat?

If I use half unbleached all-purpose and half unbleached whole wheat flour does that make the cookies half wheat's? Well, I don't really know the answer to that but I do know that it makes these cookies delicious! This is probably one of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I have ever made. The cookies are slightly crisp on the outside, chewy and tender on the inside and they have great depth in their flavor. On top of all of that they are also the prettiest chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I used my medium scoop for these cookies and the centers stayed thick and puffy and they spread just enough to give them a perfect round shape. The original recipe is from the Levain Bakery that was featured on Bobby Flay's show, Throw Down. I made a few modifications (hence the half wheat) so the recipe below is with my modifications. I really think that the whole wheat flour enhanced the flavor, so if you have some give it a try, if not all-purpose is good too.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: Levain Bakery)


1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I recommend King Arthur)
1 1/2 cups unbleached white whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts (I omitted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl combine the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Give it a good stir with a fork.
In a large bowl (or standing mixer bowl) cream the butter and sugars. When they are well combined add the eggs and vanilla. Next slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Be VERY careful not to over mix. Stay on low speed!! Add the chocolate chips (and walnuts if using) to the dough and blend with a wooden spoon.
Using a medium scoop, drop by the scoop full onto a baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes (mine were finished at 18 minutes).

Bliss in a cookie

I made these cookies for super bowl Sunday and they were a huge hit! They really are the perfect brownie cookies I have been searching for! I like that they are also pretty little cookies, with their shiny tops and mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. They are perfect for when you want a dessert that is portable and pretty. Like a brownie without the crumbs.

Chocolate Bliss Cookies
(Source: The Cookie Bible)


1 package (8 squares) Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour (3/4 cups if you omit nuts)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped Walnuts (optional, I left them out this time but next time I will definitely use them!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the semi-sweet baking squares in the microwave or on a double boiler, stirring often. Once the chocolate has melted add the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Next add the flour and baking powder and mix well. Then add the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop the batter by rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 13-14 minutes. Cool 1 minutes then remove from baking sheet and finish cooling on a wire rack.

We are the World....

So anyone that knows me well knows that I have a small obsession with food. Especially baking (hello! I have a FOOD blog). I like to make, eat, and talk about food, a lot. So naturally when friends come over for dinner and I have a bag of undecorated sugar cookies on the counter, it's bound to come up. This time I roped Michelle and Shane into doing some decorating. One thing led to another and the next thing we know we've got the line up for "We are the World" Really, this post has no new recipe or purpose except to show off the adorable cookies we made and the fun we had. And in case you're wondering, yes, they do taste as good as they look.

8 hours in the kitchen....

1 batch of cinnamon rolls, 1 batch of homemade marshmallows and 4 kinds of cookies. That's how I spent my day today. I have been planning this day of baking for weeks and it definitely did not disappoint. I am so happy with how all my cookies came out! Rather than bore you with a play by play of my day I 'll just jump right into the recipes and pictures. (OK so really it might be because I'm exhausted and can't think of anything else to say!)

The spread:
Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, Yule log cookies, thumbprint cookies, sugar cookies and not pictured, marshmallows.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
(Source Smitten Kitchen)



I've made this before, find the recipe here.

Yule Log Cookies
(Source: The Cookie Bible)



1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup sprinkles

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa and salt, set aside.
Beat butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended. Cover and chill dough at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Form dough into 1 inch balls. Shape balls into 2 inch logs about 1/2 inch thickn. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12 minutes or until set. Let stand on cookies sheets 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks; cool completely.
Melt chocolate chips (in microwave or double boiler) Dip each end of the cookies into the white chocolate then into sprinkles. Return to wire racks and let stand until chocolate is set.




Thumbprint Cookies
(Source: Vintage Victuals)



1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour

Seedless Raspberry Preserves (I used seedless Blackberry preserves)


Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour and, if necessary, chill until firm enough to handle. With floured hands, roll in 1” balls. Put 1 and ½ inches apart on cookie sheets. Lightly flour your thumb, and make a small indentation in center of each cookie. Fill with raspberry preserves. Bake in preheated 325 degreeoven about 15-20 minutes. Cool on racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

Sugar Cookies
(Source: My Blog :))



Recipe here


Homemade Marshmallows
(Source:Good Things Catered Blog)



Ingredients:
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
water
3 c. granulated sugar
1 1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar for slicing

Directions:
-In large saucepan over medium high heat, combine 3/4 c. water, sugar and corn syrup.
-Meanwhile, in bowl of stand mixer place 3/4 c. water and sprinkle gelatin on top, let plump.
-Bringing sugar mixture to boil, place candy thermometer in middle of mixture, making sure not to touch the side or bottom of the pan and let keep a rolling boil until mixture passes 235 degrees, about 3-5 minutes.
-With mixer on low, carefully pour sugar mixture into mixer bowl and slowly raise beater to high speed.
-Beat sugar mixture on high for five minutes and then add vanilla. (If you'd like to add other flavors here like peppermint, color, or cocoa powder for chocolate, add now).
-Continue beating mixture for an additional 5 minutes.
-Meanwhile, oil a 9x13 pan for large marshmallows or two 10x10 pans for small marshmallows.
-When done beating, pour sugar mixture into pan(s), smooth top and tap to release extra air.
-Leave on counter overnight to form.
-Generously sprinkle working surface with powdered sugar, turn out marshmallow mixture, generously sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cut as desired, lightly coating marshmallow shapes with powdered sugar to avoid sticking.

9x13 pan makes about 96 large marshmallows that can be stored in a container for about a week.


Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls
(Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

Political Cookies

I have been debating whether on not I would put these on my blog. Politics can be a pretty sensitive subject with a lot of people and I don't really want to start any debates. But, after careful thought, I decided I would share these cookies with my readers (all 2 of you :)) Not just because these cookies are adorable (which they are) but also because I am proud of my candidate and I think it's OK for people to know that. The last presidential election was my first time voting for the President. At that time I felt like I was voting for the "lesser of two evils". I really wasn't excited about either candidate but I voted anyway. This time around I am actually EXCITED about someone. On that note, if you agree with me, then go Barack the vote! If you don't agree with me, then go out and vote! Sure I wish you would vote for my candidate but this America and everyone deserves to have their voice be heard!


Obama Sugar Cookies

I used this sugar cookie recipe. Then I made a big batch of Wilton's buttercream icing. I split it into three and colored one batch blue, one batch red and left one batch white.



To create the Logo design:

Step 1
Pipe a white circle around the edge of the cookie

Step 2
Pipe one half circle with white icing in the middle of the cookie

Steo 3
Pipe 3 diagonal white lines under the half circle.

Step 4
Using Red icing, fill in between the white lines

Step 5
Using blue icing and a zig zag motion fill in the space between the outer white circle and the inner half circle.

Step 6
Step back and admire you work then take a batch to your local campaign office. Then go VOTE!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!!

Chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Tonight we are going to have dinner with one of my very best friends from high school and her fiance. She is making dinner so I told her I would bring dessert. Even though I am always looking for an excuse to bake, I was for some reason stumped. I had no idea what to make. I thought about cheesecake, but Jesse doesn't really like cheese cake so I knew he wouldn't eat that. I also thought about a regular cake, but that seemed like too much. Brownies came to mind but I feel like brownies can some times ::gasp:: be over done. It seems like everyone is always bring brownies. In the midst of the five minute conversation I had in my head about brownies I remembered a cookie I had just tried this week. A bakery near where I work made these delectable chocolate cookies that tasted almost exactly like a brownie. They were rich with a fudgey center, but they were sturdy like a cookie. So I set out on a mission to find a recipe.

I settled on a recipe from Hershey's website since I have yet to be let down by them. These cookies are very good, but they came out a little more "rough" than I was expecting and lighter in color. Maybe I should have blended for longer? OR maybe I should have used half regular cocoa powder and half special dark? Either way the cookies are very much edible and I will be taking them to dinner, but I am still in search of the recipe for that delicious bakery cookie.....



Hershey's Chewy Brownie Cookies
(Source: Hershey's Kitchen)
Ingredients:

* 2/3 cup shortening
* 1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon water
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S Dutch Processed Cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
* 1/4 cup chopped walnuts(optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Beat shortening, brown sugar, water and vanilla in large bowl on medium speed of mixer until well blended. Add eggs; beat well.

3. Stir together flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating on low speed just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on each cookie, pressing down lightly.

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set. Cookies will appear soft and moist. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 3 dozen cookies

**I topped each cookie with chocolate ganache and confectioners sugar. I also added raspberry extract to half of my ganache along with a few drops of red food coloring. The cookies that are pictured have the regular chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Wow! That's really the best way to describe these cookies. Perfectly soft, with just the right texture and a great peanut butter taste. They really hit the spot, and that's saying a lot seeing as I have been craving chocolate chip peanut butter cookies for a while now and my expectations were high.

I started my search for the perfect recipe on Friday night. I started on Allrecipes.com. But the problem with allrecipes is that most of the reviews are crap. Half of them say it is the best recipe ever and the other half say it is the worst recipe ever. So you start reading great reviews and you get really excited. Then you come across the bad ones and you just want to throw in the towel. I decided that it would best if I just found a recipe in a blog. You still get first hand experience, plus you can see pics and read about any changes the author made or will make, with out a bunch of negative to throw you off. Now I have heard great things about this blog, but I have some how never really spent much time looking through it. Now that I know how great it is I am sure I will go back and you will see more entries with her recipes. I know that I will for sure make these cookies again. Mmm mmm mmm!



Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
(Source: Magnolia Bakery Cookbook; found on the Smitten Kitchen blog)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (I used smooth)
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (for sprinkling) sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips (I used milk chocolate peanut butter swirl chips)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crissscross pattern (I used the back of a palette knife to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Sweet and Simple

One of my all time favorite breakfasts is french toast. Of course having a HUGE sweet tooth probably has something to do with. It's just such a simple breakfast, yet it hits the spot every time. Of course it seems like every family has their own way of making it. Jesse looked at me like I had 3 heads the first time I put cinnamon in our french toast. So this is MY version of french toast.

Jessica's French Toast

4 slices honey wheat bread
2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt
1 tbsp butter
Powdered sugar and/or maple syrup to taste

Beat the eggs in the bottom of a wide flat bowl (I actually like to use a small baking dish). Stir in the cinnamon, vanilla, sugar and salt. Let each piece of toast soak in the egg mixture on each side for 30 seconds. In the bottom of a large flat skillet or griddle melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the slices of bread and cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until the outside of the bread has a nice golden brown color. Serve with powdered sugar and/or maple syrup.

Another Christmas Cookie...

This one came from my Kraft food magazine. My friend/co-worker Michelle and I made cookies for all of the other girls in the office. And this was one of our favorites. We also made sugar cookies and buckeyes, but didn't take pictures of those. Next time I make these I will make sure to roll them into thinner ropes. Our's puffed up a lot more than I thought they would.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
(Source: Kraftfoods.com)


1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted
1 pkg. (6 oz.) BAKER'S Premium White Baking Chocolate (we dyed half of the white chocolate red with red food coloring)
12 hard peppermint candies, crushed (we didn't have any so we skipped this part)

PREHEAT oven to 350ºF. Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Blend in semi-sweet chocolate. (Dough will be stiff.)

ROLL tablespoonfuls of dough into 52 balls. Roll each ball into 3-inch-long rope. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheet, bending top of each slightly to resemble a candy cane.

BAKE 10 to 12 min. or until puffed and set; cool 5 min. on baking sheet. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely. Microwave white chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over cookies. Sprinkle with crushed candies. Let stand until chocolate is firm.

Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting

I felt like doing some more fall baking today. These cookies fit the bill perfectly. I am very pleased with the way they turned out. Very moist and tender. Almost a cake like cookie. My only issue was with browning the butter, but that was my fault and not the recipe. Be patient when browning your butter! :)

Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting
(Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker Fall Baking)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup (from 15-oz can) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Browned Butter Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup butter (do not use margarine or spread; it will burn)

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, 3/4 cup butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until well blended. Beat in pumpkin and eggs until well mixed. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
2. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched in center. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 45 minutes.
4. In medium bowl, place powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3 tablespoons milk. In 1-quart saucepan, heat 1/3 cup butter over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until light brown.
5. Pour browned butter over powdered sugar mixture. Beat on low speed about 1 minute or until smooth. Gradually add just enough of the remaining 1 tablespoon milk to make frosting creamy and spreadable. Generously frost cooled cookies.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 12 to 14 minutes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I like to cook, but I LOVE to bake. It is weird because it is actually really theraputic to me. Something about shaping little cookies and watching things rise. I just love it. So this weekend I asked Jesse to take me to Barnes and Noble so I could find a new baking book. I was looking for something that would have more than just recipes. I wanted something that would have a lot of tips and some explanation of why things work the way they do. I found a book called The Cookie Bible. So far I really like this book a lot and the first cookie I tried was a huge success!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
(Recipe courtesy of The Cookie Bible)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter flavored crisco
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp all- purpose flour (next time I will omit the extra 2 tbsp it was just a touch too crumbly)
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup finely chopped peanuts (I omitted these because I didn't have any)
36 miniature peanut butter cups, unwrapped (I used 28)
1 cup peanut butter chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place sheets of foil on countertop for cooling cookies

Combine chocolate chips and chocolate squares in microwave-safe measuring cup. Microwave at 50% power until smooth. Cool slightly.

Combine sugar and crisco in standing mixer (or large bowl with hand mixer). Beat at medium speed until blended and crumbly. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then salt and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add chocolate slowly. Mix until well blended. Stir in flour and baking soda on low until well blended. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll in nuts. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased aking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Press peanut butter cup into center of each cookie immediately. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet then transer to foil to cool completely.

Place peanut butter chips in heavy resealable sandwich bag and seal. Microwave in 30 seconds increments kneading bag periodically until smooth. Cut tiny tip off corner of bag. Squeeze out and drizzle over cookies.

Ginger Cream Cookies

The fun friday theme this week is Around the World - Asia. I had a really hard time coming up with something to bake. I thought about doing something savory but I was really in the mood to bake. So I flipped through my trusty Betty Crocker: Baking for Today cookbook and came up with something I think fits the theme. Sure it isn't authentic Asian, but there is ginger in it. ;)

Ginger Creams
(Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker: Baking for Today)

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter softened
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp groung ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Vanilla Butter Frosting (recipe below)

In a large bowl cream sugar, butter, eggs, molasses and water. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except frosting). Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hr

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 minutes and then cool on wire rack. When completly cool frost.

Vanilla Butter Frosting
1/4 cup butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
About 1 tablespoon milk

In a medium bowl, mix butter and powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla and milk until smooth and spreadable.

Sugar cookies

I have really been craving sugar cookies lately then last night there was a post on my cooking board about them. It must be fate, right? ;) So tonight I pulled out my favorite recipe. It's pretty simple and always reliable.

Ava's Sugar Cookies
Recipe courtesy of Ava

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup butter flavored Crisco (you can sub regular butter if you like)
2 eggs
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine sugar and Criso in a large bowl (I use my standing mixer)beating at medium speed. Add eggs, syrup and vanilla. Beat well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add gradually to the creamed mixture at low speed. Divide dough into quarters and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Sprinkle 1/4 of dough with flour and roll out onto floured surgacte to 1/4" thickness. Cut out with floured cutters (I used my pampered chef medium scoop, which is why they look like ice cream in the picture). Place 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 5-9 minutes. Don't overbake. Cool 2 minutes and frost.