Classic Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Classic peanut butter kiss cookies.  One of my favorites.  Also a Christmas tradition in our house.  I always looked forward to the day my mom made these.  You can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter.  Not at all.  

 These cookies will be one of the cookies at the cookie bar at our wedding. Believe it or not, I've never attempted to make these cookies on my own. D had a request for these cookies from a co-worker....so I tested them out for the last USF football game today. I used the Betty Crocker recipe for the peanut butter cookies and placed Hershey kisses on them when they came out of the oven. I followed the recipe below, but put the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour after mixing, before baking.

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions: 

1. Mix sugars, peanut butter, shortening, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Heat oven to 375ºF.
3. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with fork dipped into sugar.
4. Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

Pretty Pumpkins

Look at what a little ribbon can do!
I bought a bunch of pumpkins after Halloween on sale from JoAnn Fabrics. I found decorative fall ribbon and hot glued it around the pumpkin. It ended up making a perfect little gift and was a great decoration for the house!

Candy Cookie Surprise

I love to bake, but that doesn't mean I like spending all day in the kitchen. I like recipes that are easy, different, and delicious. This recipe is all of the above! I needed a quick recipe for a going away party and this was sure to be a hit! I found the recipe in the Taste of Home magazine Best Loved Cookies and Bars. I followed the recipe exactly and they were fantastic.

Ingredients:
1/2 tube refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened
1/4 cup all purpose flour
24 miniature Snickers candy bars

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, beat cookie dough and flour until combined. Shape 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of dough around each candy bar.
2. Place 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks.

Makes 2 Dozen

Personalized Sugar Cookies

A great friend of mine is getting married soon and I wanted to add some personal touches to her Bachelorette weekend. A friend from work let me borrow a martini glass and a diamond ring cookie cutter (www.cookiecutter.com). They provided the perfect personalized touch that I was looking for. I used a sugar cookie recipe from All Recipes.com and an icing recipe from my friend Danielle. The cookie dough was a little difficult to work with. If I made these again, I would chill the dough overnight. I was concerned with the cookies spreading, but everything worked out. Make sure to let the cookies cool completely before putting the icing on.

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites:
2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

PUMPKIN COOKIES

Those who know me well, know I LOVE anything Pumpkin. I was so excited for October to be here so I made these pumpkin cookies for work. They were pretty simple to make and came out great. The cookies were a little cake like (which was good), and I added a little extra pumpkin than the recipe called for. Many people have asked for this recipe, so here it is! Happy Fall =-)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies III from All Recipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Man Dip

Earlier this year I tried "man dip" at a friends bachelorette party. The dip was a hit among 20 girls and was the first dish we finished. It tasted just like chicken wings, without the mess! I've been wanting to make this for a long time now and with the start of football season, it was the perfect opportunity! I didn't have the exact recipe, so I visited my friend Google. I found a few recipes and decided to go with a recipe from All Recipes (Buffalo Chicken Dip) and made a few minor changes. Below is the recipe from All Recipes. I used blue cheese dressing instead of ranch, I used buffalo sauce instead of hot sauce, and added blue cheese crumbles to the top of the dish before I baked it. I served it with tortilla chips and it was also delicious with Fritos. This dip was amazing, and I have a feeling I will be making a few more times before the end of the football season!

Man Dip

INGREDIENTS:

2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 cup Ranch dressing 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces 1 (8 ounce) box chicken-flavored crackers

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

S'mores Cupcakes

I came across this recipe on Facebook and it looked delicious. I needed a dessert to bring to a football party and this was the perfect recipe to test out! I had never made cupcakes from scratch before, so I was a bit nervous. I followed the directions to a T and the cupcakes were easier to make than I thought they would be. I brought them to the party and they were enjoyed by everyone. They were a little messy (lots of crumbs), so next time I will use less batter so they can be more of a one bite cupcake. I will definitely make these again!

S’mores Cupcakes
Yields 30 cupcakes

For the graham crust:
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 - 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the topping:
Marshmallow Frosting (recipe below)
Finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
Chocolate sprinkles (jimmies, for those of us from New England!)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. Combine 1/4 cup sugar,graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl.
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of graham crakcer mix into the bottom of each muffin cup. Press crumbs firmly, using the bottom of a small glass. Save the remaining mixture for topping.
4. Top graham cracker mix with several bittersweet chocolate chips.
5. Bake graham mixture for about five minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
6. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
7. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir until well blended.
8. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
9. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
10. Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full with batter (about 1/4 cup).
11. Sprinkle batter with small amount of remaining graham cracker mixture.
12. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely

Marshmallow Frosting
Yields enough frosting for 30 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups marshmallow creme (about 8 oz.)
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Cream together shortening and marshmallow creme.
2. Beat in about 1/2 of the water, followed by half of the powdered sugar.
3. Add the remaining powdered sugar and enough water to bring the frosting to a smooth, spreadable consistency.

Assembling the cupcakes:

1. Spoon a small amount of frosting onto the center of the cupcake and spread towards the edges with a knife. This frosting is very soft and will run down the edges of the cupcake if too much is applied.
2. Sprinkle frosted cupcakes with crushed graham cracker crumbs and chocolate sprinkles.