Oatmeal Spice Cookies

I have had a box of Spice cake mix in my cupboard for a couple of months waiting for some inspiration. When I saw these cookies on the Confessions of a Cookbook Queen earlier this week, I knew that I needed to try them out.  These cookies are SO unbelievably delicious that I have made these twice this week!  The first batch was for a boat ride that we took with our dear friends and their son - I gave them half of what was left over and my hubby ate the other half.  I do admit to eating one for breakfast...... The second batch was for the office and across the board everyone LOVED them!!! They are so easy to make, the only change I made was to add white chocolate chips and I didn't have any cream cheese frosting so I left that part out.  

These cookies have a wonderful warm spicy taste - the addition of cinnamon chips, which I love to add into my oatmeal cookies, give it a great cinnamon flavor.  The oats are enough to give it some texture and the addition of the white chocolate gave it a nice sweetness.  I am so glad that I found this recipe! 

Oatmeal Spice Cookies

Recipe from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

1 box spice cake mix

1 stick softened butter

2 eggs

1 cup cinnamon chips

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together cake mix, butter and eggs until smooth.  Add in both chips and oats, scrapping down the sides.  

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll these into the sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 9 - 10 minutes.  Cool for 2 minutes on the sheet and place on cooling rack.  

ENJOY!

Chocolate Chip Roll out Cookies

As I mentioned before one of my new years goals is to practice my royal icing skills and decorating cookies.  I am constantly inspired by a couple of blogs that I follow: Bake at 350; i am baker and The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle just to name a few!  Take a look at their blogs and tell me you are not inspired to pull out your piping tips and give it a try!   

The one problem I always have is with the sugar cookie dough - I find that it is hard to roll out even after refrigerating.  I am also a chocolate girl and while the hubby gobbles up the vanilla based sugar cookies I am always sneaking in the cupboard looking for the lonely piece of chocolate that I must have left back there!  When I saw these chocoalte chip roll out cookies on The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle I knew I had to try them out!!!  Once again Baking GALS gave me the perfect opportunity to try out this new recipe and not have dozen of cookies tempting me.

This dough was really easy to pull together and roll out really well.  No sticking!  I did put the dough back in the fridge when I wasn't using it to keep it cool.  I didn't have any problem with the cookies spreading out while they baked, I am not sure if this is because I kept the dough really cold.  The cookie wasn't too sweet which is good since royal icing is so incredibly sweet, so the combination was perfect.  

I can't recommend these cookies enough!!!  I can't wait to have an excuse to try these out again!

Chocolate Chip Roll out Cookies

Recipe from The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars until light in color and fluffy.  Add in egg yolk and vanilla, beat well.  Slowly incorporate flour and salt mix until incorporated.  Mix in chocolate chips.  Place dough in medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.  

Roll dough out onto parchment paper covered with flour and cut out shapes.  Place cookies on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Refrigerate cookies for 15 minutes before baking.  Bake for 10 minutes.   Remove from oven and cool completely.  

Once completely cooled frost with your favorite icing!  

ENJOY!

Shared on Sweet as Sugar Cookies

My first attempt at Royal Icing

 

I have been inspired!  I recently came across a great blog called Bake at 350.  This wonderful blog is filled with treats that look mouthwatering and make you want to RUN into the kitchen or better yet her kitchen to try them out!  After spending a really long time looking and drooling over all the creations on her site I became inspired to try my hand at making some cookies decorated in Royal Icing.  Her instructions make what seems at first glance an intimidating project straightforward and uncomplicated.  So when a family friend asked me to make some cookies for her daughters Hawaiian themed Birthday I know that I wanted to try these out!  (I did make a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip and a batch of oatmeal cranberry just in case!)

I followed her instructions on both making the Royal Icing, found here as well her instructions on flooding and decorating found here.  I highly recommend trying these instructions - once you make the first one and see how fun it is you will be hooked!  My hubby even got in on the action and was having a great time decorating!

I am deciding on a theme for some Thanksgiving cookies for next week and will post the cookie recipe later this week!  Jump on over to Bake at 350 for some inspiration!

ENJOY!

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I love fall, it is my favorite time of the year!  I'm ready to pull out my sweaters and boots and sip my Pumpkin Spice Latte!  Unfortunately we have been hit with weather that is record breakingly hot so I have had to make do with just baking the flavors of fall!  I was so excited to see pumpkin back in the stores that I snatched up 4 cans right away and ran home to make these cookies!   The result was a very moist and flavorful cookie that smelled of all the wonderful spices that remind me of fall.  Delish!

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Recipe from Allrecipes


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 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle with glaze.

Glaze

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

Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.  Drizzle cookies with glaze, reserving a small amount.  Add cinnamon to reserved glaze and mix completely.  Drizzle over glaze and let dry.

ENJOY!

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1. 
   
3. 
   
4. I love the peanut butter chocolate combination!  As my hubby noticed I seem to be on a peanut butter chocolate kick, especially when I need to take goodies to a pot luck!  Ever since I got these mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's I have been itching to throw them into some peanut butter cookies.  I finally did and I can't believe I waited so long!  I love the extra surprise of peanut butter when you bite into one of the peanut butter cups, I think that these might be my favorite cookies!  

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Recipe Adapted from Jif 

1. 
   
2. 3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
3. 1/2 cup Shortening 
4. 1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
5. 3 tablespoons milk
6. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
7. 1 large egg
8. 1 3/4 cups Flour
9. 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
10. 3/4 teaspoon salt
11. 
    
12. HEAT oven to 375°F. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.
13. 
    
14. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with tines of fork.
15. 
    

BAKE one baking sheet at a time 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to cooling racks to cool completely

S'mores Cookies

I love to bake, but I usually don't care much about eating what I bake.  This is an exception!  I could have eaten them all, these are so delicious that my hubby ate a DOZEN in one day!  I had to make them again just so that I could get to eat one and because I had told the whole office about them and they needed to try them!  So far everyone who has had them loves them, the mixture of graham cracker crumbs, chocolate and marshmallows makes you feel like you are sitting around a campfire.

They are a little time consuming but they are SO worth it!  I will be making these next week for my sisters bake sale - I hope that people like them! 

S'mores Cookies

Recipe from Baked Perfection

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 dash of cinnamon

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups miniature chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2 Hershey bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Cranberry Orange Shortbread

My love affair with shortbread began several years ago when I was in Ireland.  Right next to the tea pot in my room were these packages of Walker's Shortbread, they were so wonderfully buttery and delicious that I had to have one every morning.  For some reason I never tried to make shortbread until a couple of weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was!  These have a wonderful fresh flavor with the addition of orange zest and dried cranberries!

Cranberry Orange Shortbread
Adapted from Honey and Jam

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon fresh orange juice
Zest of one orange
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Beat butter until creamy and smooth.  Gradually add in sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Add in vanilla, orange juice and zest and beat until incorporated. Add in cranberries.  Reduce speed and gradually in flour, baking powder and salt.

Form the dough into two logs wrapped in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 3 hours.  Slice dough into 1/4 inch slices and bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  Allow to cool on sheet 5 minutes before removing to a rack.  Once cooled store in an airtight container.

Blackberry Almond Thumbprints

These are delightful little cookies that are easy to make using ingredients that I already had at home! I got these from the great blog, The Feast Within and after a quick look in my pantry to make sure that I had the almond extract I began softening my butter! I didn't add the glaze cause I have been sick, which equals lazy and I didn't want to run to the grocery store for powered sugar. I can image that these would be even better with the glaze, I'll probably do that next time!

Blackberry Almond Thumbprints

Adapted from The Feast Within

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups flour

1/2 cup blackberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper - this is helpful in case your jam runs over like mine.

Combine butter, sugar, and almond extract at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low and add all of the flour at one time. Beat until well mixed. (At this point feel free to eat about half of the dough - it is amazingly delicious!)

Shape dough into 1" balls and place 2" apart on the baking sheet. Press thumb into center to create a well. Fill each well with jam.

Bake 14 - 18 minutes. Let rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a rack. Once cool drizzle with glaze.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

2 - 3 teaspoons water

Stir together sugar and almond extract. Add enough water to make a stiff medium glaze. Zig zag glaze over cookies and ENJOY!

Operation Baking Gals February Shipment

This year my husband and I decided that we would try and do one philanthropic act a month. We both feel that we are very luck to have the life that we have and that we need to try and give to others. After some searching to find something that I could dedicate my time to regularly - my job has erratic hours and I often have to work nights and weekends, I found Baking Gals. This is an organization that bakes and ships homemade goodies to military that are in active duty. Many of these men and women have been away from home for months and this organization hopes to show them that there we are there for support and that we thank them for their service to our country. What a perfect match for me! I love to bake - but my husband and I can't eat all that I make, we wouldn't be able to get out of our chairs! :)

This was my first month and I signed up for a team that had me tearing up while reading the description. Mind you I cry all them time - those Pedigree commercials really tug my heart strings! ASPCA forget it - the channel must be changed unless you want me to have a full breakdown! As luck might have it, this team was a wonderful man and his dog who are part of the Special Ops team in Afghanistan, it was a perfect opportunity to add in my peanut butter dog treats!

In addition to the doggies treats we added Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies (recipe below), pumpkin cookies, snickerdoodles, jelly beans, black licorice, trail mix and magazines. This was a wonderful experience and I felt so wonderful when I sent off my care package! Hopefully everything will get there intact!

I tried this new recipe from Smitten Kitchen, with a few changes below. They were WONDERFUL! They were wonderful little bites of goodness, flecked with cinnamon and mini chocolate chips. I strongly recommend making a batch RIGHT now!!!

Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

24 - 30 smaller cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Add in cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and flour. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

Chill the dough for 1 hour. Bake for 10 minutes on parchment lined cookie sheets. Let them sit for five minutes before transferring to a cookie rack to cool.