Caramel Apple Cider Cookies (Round 2, Week 2)

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

Fall is officially here. Just ask me. I have already indulged in Pumpkin Lattes, light jackets and closed toe shoes. 60 degree weather is in the forcast and we've turned off the air. It doesn't get much more fally than that! Along with the cooler weather comes apples and cinnamon and caramel and...the list goes on and on. It was time for a fall cookie.

I have also become quite addicted to Pinterest lately. It is where I find all my recipes, crafts, home remedies and clothing I'll never be able to afford. It also introduced me to many other blogs I wouldn't normally visit. One of those being Michael Wurm's blog entitled "Inspired by Charm". I think he is me in another life. He has such cute ideas for decorations, crafts and sweet treats. You can find his blog here: www.inspiredbycharm.com. He also runs a bed and breakfast (my favorite) that I think if I ever visited I would just move in. I have pinned and repinned many of his posts, this being one of them. These cookies seemed so significantly "fall" that I had to make them right away. Apple pie is next on the docket...

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies
Original website: http://www.inspiredbycharm.com/2012/09/caramel-stuffed-apple-cider-cookies.html
Please note: I halved everything since my grocery store was not yet stocking Alpine Cider. Apparently the didn't know my feelings on it already being fall. I did, however, find five packets of apple cider lounging around in my cabinets so I went from there. I am listing the original measurements for a whole batch.

Ingredients: 1 cup butter, softened; 3/4 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 7.4 oz box Apline Spiced Cider Instant Original Drink Mix; 2 eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 3 cups flour; 1 14oz bag Kraft caramels

Directions: 1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. 2. Beat together butter, sugars and all 10 packets of drink mix. 3. Beat in eggs one at a time and then add vanilla extract. 4. Add in dry ingredients, a little at a time, until just combined. 5. Refrigerate dough for 30min to 1hour. This will help to form the dough around the caramels. 6. Preheat oven to 350 and unwrap your caramels. 7. Roll 1 1/2 tbsp of dough in your hands and flatten between palms. Place caramel in center of the dough and wrap dough around the caramel to seal it up. Feel free to add more dough if it is thin. This will help keep the caramel tucked inside while it bakes. 8. Place dough balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 12-14 mins or until edges are just slightly brown. These cookies are easily burnt so watch them carefully. Mine baked for 12min 30 sec and they came out perfect. 9. After you take them out, slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheet and onto the counter to cool. When they are cool to the touch, twist them off the paper and cool them on a cooling rack. If they are oozing from the bottom, cool them upside down. I let mine cool on the paper for a while so they were just perfect when I put them on the cooling rack.

They were warm ooey gooey when they came right out of the oven. It was very hard to let them cool long enough to not burn off the roof of my mouth, but totally worth the wait. They taste just like a caramel apple with a hint of spice. I love the mix of flavors it creates by adding the cider mix to the bater. Definitely the "fally" type of cookie I was looking for!

Frosting Cookies (Round 2, Week 1)

Frosting Cookies

It is obnoxious how many half used containers of frosting we have in the refrigerator. Seriously. I have used them for various reasons and never got through the entirety of them in the past few months. I only know we had so many of them because of the smell coming out of our freezer. We had to take everything out of the refrigerator and freezer to try to get rid of the dead animal smell eminating from its bowels. (As I am writing this a skunk just sprayed its heavenly scent in our backyard. Our windows are open because of the lovely weather and the smell is remeniscent of our fridge. Sick.) While putting everything back I started piling up the frosting containers. It was ridiculous:

 

I needed to find some way to use them to get them out of my refrigerator! Since I am not a huge fan of using frosting on cookies, I looked up ways to use them in the cookies. I found out there is a huge following of people who use frosting instead of butter in their cookies! Little did I know. Apparently, since you can use frosting, you can also use any flavor and the cookies will taste very similar. I gave my husband his choices and he chose strawberry frosting with chocolate chips. Here's how they turned out:

 

FROSTING COOKIES

Original Website: http://thecaramelcookie.com/2011/03/frosting-cookies/

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 3/4 cup any flavor frosting, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar

 

Directions: 1. Heat oven to 350 and grease a cookie sheet. I always use foil on the pan so I don't have to do dishes as often! 2. Mix flour, salt and baking soda together. 3. In a separate bowl beat frosting, egg, vanilla and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 min. 4. Slowly add dry ingredients until combined. 5. Drop cookies by large tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet. 6. Bake 10-12 mins or until edges are slightly browned.

 

 

They were such a cute pink color which didn't come across very well in the photos. And though I was trying to get rid of the frosting containers, there are still a few spoonfuls of strawberry frosting left. I may need to make a mid week batch of these for the next 12 weeks! They were scrumptious while still warm, though very sweet. By the fourth or fifth day of mingling in the container together they got a little crumbly, but the sweetness was still there! I will try this again with another flavor. Only four containers of frosting left!



The Return of Cookies

Well, well, well. It is that time of year once again. Time to roll out the dough, push up my sleeves and fill the bellies of cookie lovers everywhere. Well, at least my families bellies. My hubby's to be specific. It is time to get back into cookie cutter shape and practice for the season ahead. Though I've been quite busy making cookies all year, it is time again to write about them. Lack of any extra time on my hands has permitted me from documenting my cookie treks all summer. I have taken pictures which I will post and label, at some point. Again, the rules. I have to make each cookie from scratch. The cookie cannot be a recipe I have used before. (I'll try not to cheat on this one) I will take pictures, post the recipe, explain what I changed, if anything, and come back a few days later to let you know how they fared. I have quite a few more taste testers this year. Not only does my husband get to stuff his face full of sweetness, but my coworkers will get their crumbs as well. Let me know what you think, if you've also tried the recipes and if you have any suggestions. I love a good cookie party! And so it begins...

Xmas cookie #8

Best Linzer Cookies
Yields 96 cookies
Recipe from Good Housekeeping

Ingredients:

2 bag(s) (8 ounces each) pecans

1 cup(s) cornstarch

3 cup(s) (6 sticks) butter, softened (no substitutions)

2 2/3 cup(s) confectioners' sugar

4 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

2 large eggs

5 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup(s) seedless raspberry jam

Directions:

In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse pecans and cornstarch until pecans are finely ground.

In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and 2 cups confectioners' sugar until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl with rubber spatula. At medium speed, beat in vanilla, salt, and eggs. On low speed, gradually beat in flour and pecan mixture just until blended, scraping bowl.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces; flatten each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until dough is firm enough to roll, 4 to 5 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Remove 1 disk of dough from refrigerator; let stand 5 minutes for easier rolling. On floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/2 inch thick. With floured 2 1/4-inch fluted square cookie cutter, cut dough into as many cookies as possible. With floured 1 3/4-inch star cutter, cut out centers from half of cookies. With spatula, place cookies, 1 inch apart, on ungreased cookie sheets. Refrigerate trimmings.

Bake cookies until edges are golden, 17 to 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.

Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar through sieve over cooled cookies with cut-out centers.

In small bowl, stir jam until smooth. Spread top of each whole cookie with scant teaspoon jam; place cut-out cookies on top. Store in tightly sealed container, with waxed paper between layers, at room temperature up to 1 week or in freezer up to 2 months. (If cookies are stored in freezer, re-sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving.)

I received a large batch recipe book for cookie exchanges from my friend Lisa last year for Christmas. These cookies have always looked so adorable and I wanted to give them a try. They were quite the process. First to make the dough, then to refrigerate the dough then to roll the dough, then to cookie cut the dough, then the cook the cookies, then to cool the cookies, then to fill the cookies, then to powdered sugar sprinkle the cookies then to sandwich the cookies. ahhhhh....and deep breath. They took forever but they were definitely worth the effort. They were so yummy. However, I did burn a pan of these the first time around. I tried to speed up the process by using two smaller pans instead of my one big pan. They were different pans that I just wasn't used to using, which was a bad idea. So, for the next batches, I used the normal pan and they turned out great! I had a lot of seedless raspberry jam left over so I have been eating it on toast every morning for a month now and it never gets old! I love these! But they are definitely a once a year cookie due to all the work they entail.

Xmas cookie #7

Decadent Double Chocolate-Cherry Cookies
Gluten Free!
Yields 32 cookies
Recipe from BettyCrocker.com

Ingredients:

1 box (19 oz) Betty Crocker® Gluten Free chocolate chip cookie mix

1 box (4-serving size) chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix

1 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)

1/4 cup whipping cream

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mix dry cookie mix, dry pudding mix, cherries and pecans. Add melted butter, eggs and vanilla; stir until soft dough forms.

Drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets; flatten slightly. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, in small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and cream uncovered on High 30 to 45 seconds; stir until smooth. Spoon generous teaspoonful on each cookie; spread over cookies. Allow chocolate to set until firm, about 1 hour.

I am always looking for new Gluten Free recipes for my mother-in-law. Especially during the holidays since everyone else gets tons of cookies and I don't want her to feel left out. I love the fact that Betty Crocker has come out with boxes of GF mixes for cookies, brownies, etc. These cookies were very yummy and my husband had no idea they were GF until I told him! The cherries were a tarty contrast to the sweetness of the cookies and chocolatey topping. Please note: when you make GF recipes, make sure everything is cleaned out from the last batch of cookies you made so there are no lingering flour particles on any piece of kitchen equipment.

Xmas cookie #6

Coconut Macaroons
Yields 20-24 cookies
Recipe from Ina Garten, FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients:

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

My grandmother used to make macaroons and they were her favorite dessert. My mom used to love her macaroons and would always think about them when she'd see macaroons in the store. I tried this recipe to see if I could replicate hers, but I am sure they didn't come close. I never had hers, but my mom did enjoy these as well. They were actually far too sweet for me and I never got past the first bite. They were super easy to make with only a few ingredients. I think they would be even better dipped in chocolate, which I may try next time. My husband was impartial. I'm sure if I never made them again he wouldn't miss them. My mom, however, still misses my grandmother and her macaroons. I'll never replicate them, but I hope one day to come close.

Xmas cookie #5

Snowy Bon Bons
Yields 36 cookies
Recipe from BettyCrocker.com

Ingredients:

Bonbons

1 1/2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2  tablespoons milk

1/2  teaspoon vanilla

1/2  package (7- or 8-ounce size) almond paste

White candy sprinkles, edible glitter or coarse sugar

 

Almond Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

4 to 5 teaspoons milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 375ºF. In large bowl, beat flour, butter, 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk and the vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Cut almond paste into 1/2-inch slices; cut each slice into fourths.

Shape 1-inch ball of dough around each piece of almond paste. Gently roll to form ball. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until set and bottom is golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In small bowl, mix all Almond Frosting ingredients until smooth. Dip tops of cookies into frosting. Sprinkle with edible glitter.

Another Christmas staple, these fly off the counter. I have to hide them from my husband before everyone else gets their cookie tins because he would eat them all. I usually make a double or triple batch and each batch makes way more than 36 cookies. I also think that I own every color of edible glitter ever made, if you could imagine that of me. I used the clear and the pink glitter this year to mix it up. You can usually find it at Michael's or anywhere else that would sell Wilton baking essentials. I think I actually found mine at the Wilton tent sale as well as a craft fair. I also bake them for the least amount of time listed so they are moist and yummy. They go by the handfuls!



Xmas cookie #4

Baked Hazelnut Truffles
Yields 42 cookies
Recipe from BettyCrocker.com

Ingredients:

4 oz semisweet baking chocolate

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (filberts)
About 40 milk chocolate stars
1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Betty Crocker® candy sprinkles, if desired

Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. In large microwavable bowl, microwave baking chocolate and butter uncovered on Medium (50%) 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once, until softened. Stir in condensed milk, liqueur, flour and hazelnuts. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Shape dough by tablespoonfuls around each chocolate star. On ungreased cookie sheet, place 1 inch apart.

Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until dough is shiny and set but still soft. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool about 30 minutes.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips and oil uncovered on Medium (50%) 1 minute to 1 minute 15 seconds, stirring once, until softened. Stir until smooth. Dip top of each cookie into melted mixture; immediately top each with candy sprinkles while mixture is still soft. Let stand until coating is set.

Sorry the pictures are so blurry. Apparently a smudgey, sugary finger had grazed over the lens of the camera and I didn't figure it out until all the pictures were already taken. These are another must have on the cookie list for Christmas. My husband likes to eat them before they are fully cooled because the chocolate in the middle comes oozing out like a volcano. I can never find chocolate stars so I always use Dove milk chocolates for the middle. I also have never boughten hazelnut liqueur. I have always used amaretto, but they are still delectable. Last year I tried to top them with edible glitter but I like the smooth shiny appearance of them plain on top. I might have actually taken them out of the oven a little too early this year, but they were still super yummy!

Xmas cookie #3

Dulce de Leche Cookies
Yields 40 cookies
Recipe from Pilsbury.com

Ingredients:

Garnish

1 cup flaked coconut

Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

3 tablespoons dark rum or 1/2 teaspoon rum extract plus 2 1/2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

Filling

1 cup caramel apple dip (from 16-oz container)

 

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut in ungreased shallow pan. Bake uncovered 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Turn off oven. In food processor bowl with metal blade, place cooled coconut. Cover; process until ground. Set aside. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth. Add egg yolks, rum and vanilla. On high speed, beat about 1 minute or until blended. In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes. Heat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. On ungreased nonstick (not insulated) cookie sheets, place balls about 2 inches apart. Dip bottom of small glass into 1/4 cup sugar; press on cookies to make about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Bake 10 to 11 minutes or just until edges begin to brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. For each sandwich cookie, spread about 1 teaspoon of the caramel apple dip on bottom of 1 cookie, spreading to edge of cookie. Top with second cookie. Gently squeeze until filling oozes out a little around the side. Roll edges of cookies in ground coconut.

These are little sandwiches from heaven! They look so pretty but they are super easy! I was initially a little intimidated by toasting my own coconut, but it was easier than I thought. Plus, it tasted super yummy and I didn't use it all for the cookies so I ended up using it in some brownies that I made. I was apprehensive that the caramel dip would be too runny to sandwich between each cookie, but after I squeezed it in and rolled it in coconut, it stuck like glue. They were very sweet and caramelly. My husband says they were awesome. I happen to agree...

Xmas cookie #2

Apple Cider Snickerdoodles
Yields 1 1/2 dozen
Recipe from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups apple cider

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 3 tablespoons for rolling

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped red and green crispy apple chips, plus whole chips for garnish

2 teaspoons apple pie spice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the cider in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Continue to cook until syrupy and reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 12 to 14 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat the butter with 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and the light brown sugar in a separate bowl on medium-high speed until fluffy and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the reduced cider and the egg (the mixture may look slightly curdled). Stir in the flour mixture and 1/4 cup of the chopped apple chips until combined.

Stir together the remaining 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons of chopped apple chips and the apple pie spice in a small bowl. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, using lightly moistened hands if the dough is too sticky, and then roll in the spiced sugar mixture. Place the dough balls 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and top with a few pieces of whole apple chips. Bake until the edges are just set but centers are still soft, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating pans halfway through the baking time. Cool 2 to 3 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Let me tell you a little story about a cookie named Apple Cider Snickerdoodle. We are not friends, nor will we ever cross paths again. I never tried one and will never, ever, ever make them again. It was the worst cookie experience I've ever had. Ever.

I didn't have apple pie spice, nor could I find any in a store. Therefore I had to use a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg that I came up with on my own. Then, the recipe said to bake them for 11 to 13 minutes with the apple chips on top. This is extremely inaccurate. They were done after about 6 minutes when I was supposed to turn the pan. And, by that time, the apple chips on top of the cookies were burnt to a crisp by that time. I had to chip the burnt cookies off the pan and suffer through the smell of burnt failure for the rest of the night. I'm lucky I got the batch that is pictured above after much trial and error. My husband says they were ok. The world may never know...

Xmas cookie #1

Raspberry Frosted Candy Canes
Yields 36 cookies
Recipe by Betty Crocker

Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tsps vanilla
1 egg
3 cups flour
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp butter or margarine, softened
3 tbsp raspberry flavored syrup
2-3 tsp milk
3-4 drops red flood coloring
1 cup white baking chips
1 tsp veggie oil

Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F (if using dark or nonstick cookie sheet, heat oven to 325°F). In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, 1 cup butter, the vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in flour.

Divide dough into 9 pieces. On floured surface, shape each piece of dough into 16-inch rope, slightly less than 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut each rope into 4-inch lengths; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bend 1 end of each cookie into candy cane shape.

Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until bottoms are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

In small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, the syrup, milk and food color. Spread on top and sides of cookies; let stand until set before drizzling with melted white chips.

In small resealable plastic food-storage bag, place white baking chips and oil; seal bag. Microwave on High 1 minute. Gently squeeze bag until chips are smooth. Cut off tiny corner of bag. Squeeze bag to make stripes on cookies to look like candy canes. Let stand until frosting is set before storing.

These are a hubby fave, so they were required on the cookie list. These are so soft. I bake them the least amount of time so they bake just enough to stay together. I also used to cut each rope like it says to do in the recipe. This year, however, I knew about how much goes into each cane so I picked off pieces of dough from the bowl and rolled them into canes. The dough is yummy and stays in the shape of the candy canes. Only one broke this year! I use Smuckers raspberry syrup for the frosting because it has the best taste. And I can't find anything else!!

Christmas Cookies!

Christmas Cookies!!!!
Well, the time has finally come for the penultimate cookie experience. The cookies have been made, and eaten, and the recipes are in the process of being blogged. I will keep posting all the recipes until each and every one has been posted. Since I am up to my elbows in cookies, I am taking a hiatus from baking. I will continue to bake after a few weeks so no worries my fond followers. Stay tuned!!

Week Fourteen: Rum Balls and Butter Rum Cookies

Rum Balls
Yields 4 dozen
Courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil, cooking spray

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

3 large eggs

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark rum

Coarse sanding sugar, for rolling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Melt butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in chocolate mixture, then fold in flour. Pour batter into prepared baking sheet. Spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until top is shiny and a cake tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Break up brownie into small pieces; transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With machine on low speed, pour in rum, and mix until crumbs start to come together to form a ball.

Shape into 1-inch balls, and roll in sanding sugar to coat. Transfer to a baking sheet; refrigerate, uncovered, until cold, about 2 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Ms. Martha Stewart and I have a love\hate relationship. I love how crafty she is but sometimes her recipes and crafts are a little out of my league. I found this recipe when I was looking for rum recipes last week and wanted to give it a try. My mother-in-law makes awesome rum balls that are gluten-free. I wanted to try this recipe because I love brownies and figured this would be a new way to try them. I also tried different decorations for them as well. Hers are always rolled in powdered sugar. My friend Lisa gave me the cute colored sugar as a gift one year and I had the Christmas non-parels sitting in my cupboard. I like the sugar crystals better and it looks really cute! These are really strong. I didn't have dark rum on hand because I hate the way it tastes, so I used our St. Lucian rum once again. These also taste a whole lot better once they are refrigerated.
Since I feel as though I have jipped my readers by not continually making cookies and taking breaks some weeks, I decided I would double it up this week. Here is a bonus recipe that I also made tonight!! Enjoy!

Butter Rum Cookies
Yields 4-5 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar, divided by recipe directions
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp rum
2 1/2 cups unsifted flour
1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped orange peel

Directions:
Cream butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light. Beat in egg yolks, flavorings and rum. Gradually add flour, using hands to knead in last of it. When dough is smooth, shape into rolls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, wrap in waxed paper (or plastic wrap) and place in the refrigerator. Chill for at least 6 hours or overnight. Cut into 1/4 inch slices and roll each slice with hands to form a ball. Roll balls in a mixture of the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and orange peel. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with a flat bottom glass dipped in the sugar-orange mixture. Bake on lightly greased and floured cookie sheet at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container for at least 1 day before serving for best flavor.

These cookies were easy to make but included a lot of waiting time. Once again I used the Admiral Rodney Rum from St Lucia to flavor these cookies. I tried one straight out of the oven and it tasted wonderful. The orange is a bit much so I wouldn't use as much as the directions say. They are very soft cookies and the added sugar in which they are rolled add some much needed sweetness with all the butter. These are cute and sparkly cookies that would be great in a cookie tin as a gift as they would package very well.

Week Thirteen: Chocolate Chip and Coconut Rum Cookies

Chocolate Chip and Coconut Rum Cookies
Yields 24-30 cookies
Courtesy of Cooks.com

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp light rum
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and rum. Beat the mixture well.

Fold in the flour mixture, coconut, and chocolate chips. Form the cookies on a baking tray, using a small ice cream scoop. Bake at 375°F for about 8-10 minutes.

After cleaning my kitchen, I realized that we have a lot of hard liquor that we never drink! I have used it in many a recipe but we just aren't big drinkers. I figure I need to start using some of this stuff in my recipes and the best place to start would be in cookies! When we were on our honeymoon in St. Lucia, we bought rum that is very cheap there but extremely expensive here. We thought it would be great to have on our one year anniversary. However, when we popped the bottle, it tasted horrible! Very rummy...so it has been sitting on our counter ever since. I loved it in this recipe. It was not overwhelming and the coconut made the cookies seem like a tropical trip. All these needed were little plastic umbrellas! They were very soft and tasted better once they had been sitting for a little while rather than right out of the oven. We had company so they were gone in a couple of hours, so I am not sure what they would have been like a few days out. I'm sure it would have been like getting on the plane coming home from vacation, sad, but glad to be back in the real world. Actually, nope. Just sad.

Week Eleven and Week Twelve: Thanksgiving

Although I have no pictures, I can honestly tell you that I did not slack off these two weeks. It was my first year making Thanksgiving dinner in its entirety for my family as well as my in-laws. I love to cook and bake, but this was a huge undertaking. My mother-in-law had been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the past thirty years and this was the first time she was passing on the torch. No pressure, right? I used BonAppetite.com for all my recipes and guides. It was the best, most complete guide to the entire dinner that I could find. And the recipes were amazing! I am always for easy and make ahead recipes for a big event so these were perfect. I will add the menu in the comment section and if you would like any of the recipes, let me know!
It was a great meal and everything turned out wonderful! There were many long nights in the few days prior and even the night before I was up until three am. It was amazing to have such a great, supportive family telling me how yummy it all was and made all the hard work competely worth it. I am looking forward to making Thanksgiving dinner every year from now on! Happy Holidays!!

Week Ten: Homemade Apple Crumble Pie

With our bestest friends' engagment party this weekend, I went back to an old favorite that they absolutely love. I bought a cute purple ceramic pie plate and made their favorite pie as a gift. Please see October 3rd's post for the recipe. I love homemade gifts!

Week Nine: Nutella Pocket Cookies

Nutella Pocket Cookies
Yields 4 Dozen Cookies
Courtesy of La Fuji Mama

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 pkg 8oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Nutella (probably more)

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until smooth, light, and fluffy.  Add the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon and mix until well combined.  Gradually add the flour to the creamed mixture and mix well.  Divide the dough into four portions; cover and refrigerate until the dough is firm and easy to handle.
Preheat the oven to 350.  Remove one portion of dough from the refrigerator.  On a floured surface, roll out one portion of dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick.  Using a circle cookie cutter (or biscuit cutter) that is approximately 3 inches in diameter, cut circles out of the dough and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Place approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons of Nutella on each circle, slightly off-center, then fold each circle in half so that the edges meet and lightly press the edges to seal.  Repeat this process for each portion of dough.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.  Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for 2 – 3 minutes before removing them to wire racks to cool.



My new-found love for Nutella led me to the recipe for these cookies. These cookies were a wonderful disaster. The directions listed above are straight from the website. Maybe they will work for you. However, for me, I wanted to rip my hair out. First, I did not have enough sugar and along with no sugar, no desire to go to the store to buy more. The only other sugar I could find was rimming sugar for margaritas that was colored pink and blue. Hence, the green color of the cookies. My sister-in-law swears the greenness makes them even more yummy. Then, after letting them set in the refrigerator, I took them out and tried rolling them out so I could cut them. They stuck like crazy to my rolling pin no matter how much flour I used. I ended up scraping pieces of the dough off the ball and rolling it in my palms and squashing it between them. I then placed the squished circles on the baking sheet and put the dab of Nutella on one side of the dough. When I rolled the Nutella-free half over, I pinched the edges together. They tasted amazing, but they were a lot of frustrating work. Totally worth it. The cinnamon adds the best sultry flavor with the hazelnut and chocolate inside the pocket.

Another great Nutella recipe can be found here:http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/nutella-lava-brownies. They are super easy to make and so gooey straight out of the oven. Again, I ended up using more Nutella than the recipe called for because it is sooooo yummy!!!

Week Eight: Iowa Trip!

This weekend we went to the Iowa game. For the tailgate I made my choco covered doughnuts again. However, this time I colored the almond bark with yellow food coloring and drizzled melted semi-sweet chocolate over the tops. They were a bit hit! I, however, made it to the DL for not taking pictures of them! ARGH!!!

Week Seven: Halloween!

Every year on Halloween, for the past three years, we have a Halloween brunch. We invite our immediate family and watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play. I used to make creative invitations but they have since gone by the way-side because of my busy schedule. However, I do try to make the party as creative and fun as possible for the fam. I make some signature recipes and then supplement them with fun new recipes I find in Halloween recipe books and magazines. I took some pictures of the treats on which we dined.

Candy Corn Jellies

http://jelly-shot-test-kitchen.blogspot.com/

For this recipe and others, click the link above!

Alcoholic and non!

Doughnut Dreams

Original recipe is from and Everyday with Rachel Ray

These are great. I buy Old Fashioned Sour Doughnuts from Jewel, usually two boxes because they go so quickly! You dip each doughnut in melted almond bark and let it dry on either wax paper or foil. I've made these with several diferent decorations. For Halloween this year I made ghosts with mini choco chips and pumpkins by using food coloring to make them orange and cutting mini mallows in half and dipping them in green food coloring. I have also make them into eyeballs by using a red hot and red frosting for eye veins. You can make them into pretty much anything. For my nephew's birthday I used red frosting and made some into baseballs, blue frosting to make others into volleyballs, and dipped the rest in choco almond bark and used white frosting to make footballs. The pictures will follow.

Gluten Free version of Hungry Girl's Ultimate Move Snack Mix

I am OBSESSED with the Hungry Girl website. And it is super easy to make a lot of her recipes gluten-free. Most of the recipes use Fiber One cereal to make breading. I use Chex Mix instead which is already gluten free. The recipe for this sweet mix can be found here: http://www.hungry-girl.com/biteout/show/1991

Swap out Chocolate Cheerios for Chocolate Chex cereal and it is instantly gluten free! This is really sweet and an easy spin on a traditional Chex party mix.

Not that these are recipes, but I found a great alternative use for the silicone baking cups I bought years ago. Each one had a different veggie stacked inside.

I had many other dishes, but by the time I remembered take pictures of the food, most of it was gone!!

Week Six: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Yields 36 cookies
Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cupos white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking poweder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
To make glaze, combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

In the fall, I am always looking for new pumpkin recipes. I have always made pies before, but this time I wanted to do something else. Since they fit the cookie project mold, they came to fruition. I like recipes in which my cabinets already contain the ingredients and in this case, they did. I chose to dip the cookies in the frosting instead of drizzling so I had to make it a little thicker. These taste like little bites of pumpkin pie. I only baked them for 15 minutes so they are quite soft, but I like them that way. Bake them 2-3 minutes longer and they'll crisp up nicely. Yummy fall recipes!!