Peppermint Bark Covered Shortbread

As promised, here is another festive cookie recipe. I made these for my brother-in-law for Christmas. These pack and ship really well (they did from Illinois to Virginia anyway!)

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
6 ounces chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped candy canes
2 ounces white chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 9x13 inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray. Line the pan with parchment paper. Allow some of the parchment to hang over the sides. This will help remove the cookies from the pan after baking.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.

In a separate bowl and using an electric mixer, beat the butter for about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in vanilla and the egg yolk.

Gradually add the flour mixture (about 1/3 at a time) until just combined.

Using your finger, spread the dough evenly in the pan and then pierce the dough all over with a fork.

Bake the cookie base until light golden brown and slightly puffed and edges begin to come away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes.

Place the pan on cooling rack and immediately sprinkle the cookie base with the chocolate chips. Let them stand until the chocolate softens (about 3 minutes) and then spread the chocolate using a spatula.

Immediately sprinkle chopped candy canes over the chocolate layer.

Using a microwave safe bowl, melt the white chocolates using bursts of 30 seconds of heat. Stir the chocolate to make sure it is completely melted. Using a fork, drizzle the white chocolate over the chocolate/candy cane layer.

Place the pan in the refrigerator for about an hour to firm the entire cookie.

Using the parchment paper overhang, lift the cookie from pan and transfer to a large cutting board. Using large knife, cut cookie into irregular pieces.

Original recipe from www.RecipeGirl.com.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

Even thought the holidays have come and gone, I’ve got a few festive cookie recipes still to post. Sorry I’m a little late with sharing these! But who says you can’t enjoy Christmas cookies AFTER Christmas??!!

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon orange juice
¼ cup molasses
2 Tablespoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together with a mixer the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg.

Stir in the orange juice and molasses with a spoon.

Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the creamed ingredients. Blend well.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour, or put into the freezer for at least 15 minutes to firm up dough.

Place the 2 Tablespoons sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the sugar.

Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet (line with parchment for best results).

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Seasoned Oyster Crackers

As promised, here is another salty potluck-perfect recipe!

2 (12 oz.) packages of oyster crackers
1 (1 oz.) package Hidden Valley Ranch dry dressing packet
½ teaspoon dried dill weed
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon lemon pepper
½ cup vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Whisk together the oil and all the seasoning. In a large bowl, toss together the oyster crackers and the oil/seasoning mixture.

Spread the crackers on two rimmed cookie sheets and bake for 35-40 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Allow the crackers to cool before storing in Ziplock bags.

Chex Mix

This time of year I’m inundated with potlucks: family potlucks, friend potlucks, work potlucks…day after day after day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining (At least not at this point. Talk to me again after the holidays when I’m trying to squeeze into skinny jeans). Even though I’m a sugar addict, I find that the balance of sweet to salty treats at these potlucks is disproportionate. The past few years, I’ve been opting to bring something salty. Here is my Chex mix recipe (A CROWD PLEASER! MUCH BETTER THAN THE STORE-BOUGHT STUFF!), but a seasoned cracker recipe will soon follow as well.

6 cups Corn Chex cereal (I double the corn Chex since I don’t like wheat Chex. If you are a fan, use 3cups each)
3 cups Rice Chex cereal
1 cup pretzels
1 cup mixed nuts
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
½ teaspoon onion powder

Preheat your over to 250 degrees.

Measure your cereals, pretzels and nuts into a large bowl.

Over low heat on your stovetop, melt the butter. Add the Lea & Perrins and your spices and stir to combine. Pour the butter/spice mixture over the cereal/pretzels/nuts and mix thoroughly to combine.

Spread the mixture onto two rimmed cookie sheets and pop them in the overn for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

After an hour, spread the Chex mix on paper towels to cool and then transfer to plastic bags for storage. The flavors fully develop overnight.

Last Minute Christmas Gift: Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

I always struggle with what to give coworkers around the holidays. I don’t want to spend a fortune, and I don’t want to just give a generic gift cards to the coffee shop around the corner, which seems to be done by just about everyone. (I’m not complaining though! The “coffee” we have in our office is terrible!) So I usually end up giving some sort of homemade treat. This year I decided on hot chocolate mix. It’s quick, easy and festive. Did I mention delicious? Well, it’s that too!

I packaged the cocoa mix in holiday treat bags and topped each with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. I recently purchased a sewing machine as well, so I whipped up a few “coffee cozies” as well. I placed the little bags in the cozies, and PRESTO! A festive little something for my office mates…

Ingredients:
10 cups dry milk powder
4-3/4 cups powdered sugar
1-3/4 cup cocoa powder
1-3/4 cup powdered non-dairy creamer

Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container until ready to package.

To enjoy: Dissolve ¼ cup cocoa mix in ¾ cup hot water or milk. For a mocha, substitute the water or milk with coffee.

Stay warm this winter, my friends!

Gooey Choco-Mint Cookies (two ways)

Soft pillows of delicate minty goodness - what more need I say to convince you to make this recipe? In my opinion…‘nuf said.

Ingredients

1 (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18 oz.) boxed chocolate cake mix (choose a “moist” variety)
1 theater-size box of Junior Mints
6 mini candy canes, crushed

Instructions

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Once that is combined, add in the egg and vanilla extract. Continue mixing.

Slowly add in the boxed cake mix, 1/3 at a time. Mix thoroughly between additions.
Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and put the bowl in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, until the dough is firm enough to roll into balls.

*the dough will be very sticky*

After 2 hours of chilling the dough, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll small walnut-sized balls of dough and place them on the cookie sheets. Bake them for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, remove the pans from the oven and top each with a Junior Mint (or two).

Return the cookies to the oven to continue baking for 2-3 minutes.

Remove your cookies again from the oven. Allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheets for about 3 minutes before trying to move them to a cooling rack. The cookies will still be gooey in the middle. They are done though, trust me!

For a variation on the mint flavor, before baking your cookies, dip the dough balls in crushed candy canes. Bake them a full 12 to 13 minutes.

Pistachio & White Chocolate Cookie Bars

I’ve said it before - I can be quite lazy. Not in all aspects of my life, but I do get especially lazy when making cookies at my boyfriend’s place without a mixer. Yes, creaming butter and sugar by hand gives you a pretty good upper body workout. But no, I’ve never really enjoyed working out. So after mixing the batter, I’m pretty tired, and I don’t want to scoop out the dough into a million little balls. I’d rather just lie on the couch and wait for my cookies to bake. Hence the one thousandth variation of cookie bars I’ve made. I like the fact I can plop the batter in the pan and walk away. Man, I really am lazy!

Recipe adapted from www.honestfare.com
Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup oats
1 cup chopped pistachios
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking spray along the sides and bottom of a 9”x9” pan, and set it aside.

Cream together your sugars and butter. Add in the egg, milk, and vanilla, and continue to mix.

Add in the flour, baking soda and powder, salt and oats and mix until thoroughly incorporated. The dough will be very thick.

Lastly, fold in your chocolate and nuts (reserve a handful of the chopped nuts for the next step.

Spread the batter across the bottom of the prepared pan and top them with the handful of reserved chopped pistachios.

Pop the pan in the oven to bake for about 35 minutes. Test the cookies by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cookies. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cookies are done. The top of the cookies will be golden brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool in order to fully set up in the middle. Once cooled, cut the cookies into squares and enjoy!