Cookie Exchange: Mexican Wedding Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1/2 C sugar
- 2 C flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 C pecans (chopped)
- 1 C butter (2 sticks)
- 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Roll into balls (about 1 inch)
3. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes
4. Cool and roll in powdered sugar

We may have not been able to decide whether the cookies are really Mexican or not, but one thing we do know for sure is that they were delicious!

Cookie Exchange: Meltaway Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 C butter
- 3/4 C cornstarch
- 3/4 C powdered sugar
- 1 C flour

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, beat butter until it is light and fluffy
2. Add cornstarch and sugar and blend well.
3. Beat in flour until thoroughly mixed.
4. Drop small teaspoons of dough onto baking sheets and flatten with the bottom of a glass. (Dip glass into powdered sugar to prevent dough from sticking.)
5. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
6. Allow cookies to cool on a wire rack and then frost them!

These were so delicious and appropriately named! They really do melt in your mouth!

Cookie Exchange: Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 1/4 cups of flour

Directions:

1. cream together sugars, butter, oil, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar
2. add flour 1 cup at a time (don't beat for too long or cookies will be flat and dense)
3. bake at 375 degrees until light and golden brown around the edges (about 10 minutes)
4. this recipe makes approximately 100 cookies!

I have always thought of sugar cookies as the official cookie of Christmas. Do you agree?

Cookie Exchange: Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. mix together all ingredients
3. roll into 1 inch balls
4. roll in granulated sugar
5. bake for 8-10 minutes
6. once cookies have cooled a little, dust the tops with powdered sugar

These were absolutely delicious! And they look so easy, I might just make them today :)

Cookie Exchange: Millionaire's Shortbread Bars

A couple of weekends ago I hosted a cookie exchange at my apartment. It was so much fun to be able to relax with some friends during this hectic time of year. I decided that instead of everyone writing out several copies of their recipe, I would just put them all online (I also tend to always lose the paper copies of recipes...). The next few posts will consist of all of the recipes that everyone brought. They were all so delicious!

I chose to bake one of my favorite (and easy) cookies for the exchange: millionaire's shortbread bars.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter almost at room temp (1 1/2 sticks of butter)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp of salt (I usually just leave this out)
1 can dulce de leche filling (I found it at Kroger)
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 Tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease a 9x9 in pan (I used Bakers Joy... Things like Pam will destroy the nonstick coating on your pans).
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla.
4. Beat in the flour and salt just until it comes together. (If you beat it longer, the shortbread will be dense instead of light)
5. Press into the bottom of your pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.
6. Warm dulce de leche in your microwave (30 seconds at a time) until it is spreadable. Spread over the cooled shortbread.
7. After the dulce de leche has cooled, melt the chocolate and 1 Tbsp of butter in the microwave, stirring every 20-30 seconds. Pour over the top and then use a rubber spatula to spread evenly.
8. Allow bars to cool and then use a sharp knife to cut it into squares.

Miss Amy's Belgian Spice Cookies

This week it was my turn to bring snacks for my small group and I was feeling quite festive, so I made some gingerbread men and these Belgian spice cookies. I liked them so much, I decided to post the recipe here so I wouldn't forget how I made them.

Cast of Characters:

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.25 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to blend together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then mix in egg and vanilla extract.
4. Gradually mix dry ingredients into butter mixture. Mixture may be a bit crumbly, but should still stick together when pinched.
5. Form dough into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 - 60 minutes.
6. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Be sure to use plenty of flour on your rolling pin, hands, and counter. This dough can be really sticky.
7. Spray cookie sheets with non-stick spray.
8. Bake each batch of cookies for about 8 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

Toffee Crackle Cookies

Baking as a result of boredom... Well, that, and I figured I'd do something nice for my coworkers at camp this summer, so I decided to bake some cookies to share with them. I made these to share with my family for Christmas one year and they were a hit and it's easy to understand why. They're not too sweet and they have a fabulously soft texture. Not to mention they have toffee in them! So without further ramblings from me...

Cast of Characters:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature (don't microwave it)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup toffee pieces (If you're a chocolate lover, you can crush up bite size heath bars)
• granulated white sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until butter is softened.
3. Add brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
5. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Use a wooden spoon to incorporate the rest.
6. Stir in toffee pieces.
7. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar.
8. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets
9. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. You'll know they are done when the tops are slightly cracked (these cookies don't brown).
10. Allow cookies to cool for a little while on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack, otherwise, the cookies will fall apart.

I know these cookies don't look that exciting, but please trust me, THEY'RE AMAZING! Happy Baking!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In 1930, the chocolate chip cookie was invented by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. The story goes that one day she decided to add chunks of Nestle's Semisweet Yellow Label chocolate bar to her butter cookies. The cookies were an instant hit and Nestle went on to buy the right to the name "Toll House" and began printing Wakefield's cookie recipe on the back of their bags of chocolate chips.

It's taken some time, but I think I have finally found my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and it happens to be very similar to the original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put rack in the center of the oven.
2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
3. Add the white and brown sugars and then beat until fluffy.
4. Beat eggs in one at a time. Be sure to beat well after each addition.
5. Beat vanilla in until fully incorporated.
6. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt using a whisk or a fork.
7. Add about half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and blend well.
8. Next, beat in your chocolate chips and then beat in the rest of your flour mixture.
9. Place rounded tsp of dough on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-14 minutes until brown around the edges.

If cookies are spread out too much while baking, make sure your cookie sheets are completely cooled before putting dough on them.

If the edges or bottoms of your cookies are burning, chances are your oven is too hot.

Happy Baking!

Pumpkin Cookies

I have had several people ask me for the recipe for the pumpkin cookies, so here it is:

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cups QUICK oats

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup packed pumpkin

Directions:

1) Preheat your oven to 350

2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

3) In a large bowl, use your electric mixer to soften butter. (hint: whenever a recipe calls for softened butter, it's best to use cold butter softened with your mixer instead of softening it in the microwave)

4) Add sugar and brown sugar to the softened butter and beat until light and fluffy.

5) Mix in your egg and vanilla.

6) Alternate beating in dry ingredients and pumpkin

7) Fold in chocolate chips

8) Drop rounded Tablespoons of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes

9) Once cookies have completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting (cream cheese frosting recipe is below if you're feeling especially productive, but Betty Crocker works just fine too!)

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (softened using your mixer)

8 oz cream cheese room temp

3 cups powdered sugar sifted

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1) Beat the butter and cream cheese together until creamy and smooth

2) Slowly beat in the powdered sugar

3) Beat in the vanilla extract

Enjoy!