Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

Jessica’s done it again. I think this girl is a Truffle Queen. She’s also the where I found the cookie dough truffles I know and love!

These little gems are just as good. Seriously, how can you go wrong with sweet and salty in one little bite?!

Jessica’s original recipe stated she got 20 truffles, each about the size of a teaspoon.

I chose to double her recipe, and use my smallest cookie scoop (same size I make the chocolate chip dough truffles) and I got about 2.5 dozen. You can increase the amount as many times as you need to!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

(How Sweet It Is)

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (can use regular peanut butter as well…natural just makes it more healthy! LOL)
1/4 cup finely chopped salted pretzels
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, melted

Directions

– Combine peanut butter and pretzels in a small bowl. Chill in the freezer until firm, about 15 minutes.

– Roll the peanut butter mixture into 20 balls (about 1 teaspoon each).

– Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and freeze until very firm, about 1 hour.

– Roll the frozen balls in melted chocolate.

-Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

*I always keep my truffles in the freezer, and then just pull out what I need. I like them cold!

Ghiradelli’s “The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie”

I had a hankering for chocolate chip cookies a few weeks back, so I started with my Google Reader, and searched for recipes.

I have hundreds of chocolate chip cookie recipes bookmarked.

That can be kind of daunting.

Instead, I turned to a Chera, a friend of mine who is an awesome cook and baker, and asked her if she had a favorite recipe for them.

But even she had trouble narrowing it down! LOL

She gave me three…so today I started working through them to see which we enjoy. In the interest of my gym time, as well as my waist line and checkbook, I didn’t make all three today — just one. 🙂

I baked off half this recipe (which my husband, his visiting friend, and dad, promptly polished off) and froze the rest, to be pulled out later when the need for a fresh baked cookie strikes. 🙂

These were fantastic. A very simple chocolate chip cookie, but delicious. You can use any chocolate chip you prefer in them — I just happened to have a bag of semi-sweet on hand so I used those. Chera prefers them with milk chocolate chips, and I think they’d be divine with dark chocolate as well.

Ghiradelli’s “The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie”

(This link, via Chera)

• 11 1/2 ounce(s) chocolate chips (your preference — dark, semi-sweet, milk…)
• 2 1/4 cup(s) unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) teaspoon salt
• 1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup(s) sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla
• 1 cup(s) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

– Preheat oven to 375ºF

– Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside

– In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla

– Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture

– Stir in nuts and chocolate chips

– Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets.

– Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

To Freeze

– Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie on a cookie sheet and set inside the freezer for approximately 1 hour

– Remove from freezer, and package little frozen dough balls in a zip top bag

– Return to freezer, and remove as many ‘dough balls’ as you need at a time for baking

– Follow the baking information above

Homemade Christmas Roundup!

Here’s a roundup of all the homemade items I (or my mom, in the case of some of the cookies…she did pizelles, rice krispies and chocolate chip :)) made for Christmas 2009!

Enjoy!

Cookies

Cookie Dough Truffles

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pittsburgh-Style Rice Krispie Treats

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Peanut Butter Hershey Kiss Blossoms

Italian Lemon Cookies

Pizelles (not pictured) in Lemon, Orange, Anise, and Vanilla

Homemade Gifts

This year for our holiday gift exchange with family/extended family/friends, my mom set the theme as “Homemade” — the gifts had to be homemade by you, or someone else.

I did a package containing the following items…and then discovered I had enough left of everything to do the same packages for my neighbors! So they got the same goodies. 🙂

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Homemade Barbeque Spice Rub

Homemade Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Cookie Dough Truffles

If I pack on any weight over the holidays, it will be a direct result of these pesky little buggers.

They are SO good!

Cookie Dough Truffles

(How Sweet It Is)

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

14 oz sweetened, condensed milk

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

To coat:

1 1/2 lbs chocolate disks or chocolate chips

Directions

– In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed, until creamy

– Add vanilla, then gradually beat in flour and add the milk

– Add chocolate morsels, mixing well

– Shape into 1″ balls and place on waxed paper (to make it easier to shape them into balls, dip your fingers in flour)

– Chill for 2 hours (I put mine in the freezer)

– Melt chocolate disks or chips in a double boiler

– Using 2 forks, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover

– Place on waxed paper and chill to set (Store in refrigerator for at least one hour)

– I kept mine in the freezer for awhile, and now they’re sitting on my cold, enclosed porch. Make sure you keep them chilled — they’re better that way!

–

Sugar Cookie Bars

These “cookies” made their way around the blog-o-sphere several months back, but, at the time, I had no justification to make an entire jelly roll pan full of cookies….and no desire to add 10 pounds in doing so.

We had a get-together to go to Saturday, so I made these.

I also discovered my jelly roll pan isn’t standard sized…so my bars were THICK.

I’d say they were only so-so the day I made them, but for whatever reason, they were AWESOME the next day! I’d make them again, but in a larger pan so they’re not as thick, and, I’d make them a day before…they taste better after sitting overnight!

Sugar Cookie Bars

(Anissa’s Kitchen)

1 cup butter; room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda

Directions

– Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

– Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg.

– Add vanilla & mix well.

– In a separate bowl combine flour, salt & soda & stir with a whisk to combine.

– Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined.

– Spread on a greased jelly roll pan (use a 13 x 18 pan).

– Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean.

– Cool completely and frost.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter; room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
food coloring (if desired)

Directions

– For frosting combine butter and shortening until smooth and creamy.

– Add vanilla and salt.

– Add powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments until combined, then add milk & mix until smooth and spreading consistency.

-Spread over cooled cookie.

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

These tasty little cookies will definately satisfy your chocolate-tooth!

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

(RightatHome)

30-36 cookies *I actually got 42*

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

30-36 chocolate-covered caramel candies (like Rolo’s)

2 tablespoons sugar (for rolling)

Directions

– Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit

– In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your electric mixer) add sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla and mix until well blended

– Add flour, cocoa and baking soda and mix well

– Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes

– Roll dough into 1″ balls and place 1 chocolate-covered caramel candy in the center of each dough ball, then form the dough ball around the majority of the candy

– Roll each dough ball in sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet

– Bake for 7-10 minutes

– Let cook on pan for 1 minute, then remove to a cooling rack

Almond Sandwich Cookies

I made these as a little Valentine’s Day treat for my co-workers. Mmmm..they’re delicious.

I could’ve sat down with a glass of milk and ate the entire batch!! I’ll definately be making these again.

I made them per the instructions this time (using the pre-made sugar cookie dough), but I’d like to try making them with a homemade sugar cookie dough recipe next time. Biggest reason being that the recipe claims this makes 7 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies. Uh…I got more like 2.5 dozen.

Almond Sandwich Cookies

(Pillsbury)

Cookies

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon granulated sugar (I used large granule sugar instead)

Filling

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

4 teaspoons milk (I actually needed a smidge more…)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 drop red food coloring (I used 2 — and use whatever color you want!)

Directions

– Heat oven to 350 degrees F

– Break up the cookie dough into a large bowl and stir or knead in additional flour and almond extract until well blended (I just used my Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle)

– Shape dough into 1/2″ balls and place balls 1″ apart on ungreased cookie sheets

– Press bottom f glass dipped in granulated sugar on each ball until 1/4″ thick; prick the top of each cookie with a fork (I ended up rolling the balls in the sugar and then proceeding — my sugar wouldn’t stick to my glass)

– Bake 6-8 minutes, until set but not brown. Cool 1 minute then remove from the cookie sheet to a cooling rack and cool completely (about 20 minutes)

– To make the icing, beat filling ingredients together with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth and creamy. Spread about 1 teaspoon (this seemed like a lot for a 1/2″ cookie…) on the bottoms of half the cookies, then top each with another cookie, bottom side down. Press gently.

– Store in the refrigerator; remove 15-20 minutes before serving for optimal flavor.

Christmas Cookies 2008: Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Katie and Ashlee are right — these ARE the best sugar cookies! They were super-duper easy to work with, roll out, cut, etc, and they’re very tasty as well!

I wasn’t thrilled with the icing recipe I arbitrarily chose for these guys…so if you have a royal icing recipe that’s tried-and-true, please pass it my way.

You’ll also notice I have no patience for decorating. I like to BAKE. Not DECORATE. This results in my sugar cookies looking like a 4 year old probably iced them 🙂

I’m okay with that.

The Most Fabulous Sugar Cookies

(Good Things Catered by way of Ashlee)

1 1/2 cups butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 Tbsp lemon zest

5 cups 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.

Ashlee says this makes 80, and Katie got about 30 on the recipe I saw on her blog. I did small-ish cut-outs and got about 50. It really depends on your thickness and the size of your cookie.

Funfetti Cookies

I made these because I was pressed for time, but needed a dessert to take to a gathering.

I don’t normally cheat with the frosting/cake mix, but ironically enough, the people I was feeding are so used to ‘store bought’ sweetness, they gobbled these right up! They loved them!

And they only took me 45 minutes from start until dishes washed and dried, to make!

Funfetti Cookies

(Pillsbury)

1 (18.9-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 (15.6-oz.) can Pillsbury Funfetti Vanilla Frosting

Directions

– Heat oven to 375°F.

– In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.

– Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.
– Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.
– Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting.

– Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container.

Christmas Cookies 2008: Peanut Butter Blossoms

These are a traditional Christmas cookie — but my family and friends LOOOOOOVE them 🙂

They’re very easy to put together, and there’s just something incredibly satisfying about squishing that Hershey’s Kiss into the hot cookie fresh from the oven!

Hershey’s Peanut Butter Blossoms

(Hershey’s)

48 Herhsey’s Kisses Brand Milk Chocolates
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
– Heat oven to 375°F.

– Remove wrappers from chocolates.

– 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.

– Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

– 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.

*This recipe says it makes 4 dozen — but I got more like 3 dozen.