Peanut Butter Cookies

Love is in the air! Can you feel it? I just love Valentine's Day and it's not just because you can eat candy all day long, although that is a big plus!

I wanted to whip up these cookies for our family Valrntine's Day party, but then decided I would have so many leftover that I should bake them ahead of time and send some to Remy's daycare teachers. I boxed them up in a pretty pink package and gave them to the front desk to be put in the break room. I know peanuts have ot be away from the kids, so this way the teachers can still enjoy them!

We will be having some tonight and freezing a few a well. I opted for dove chocolate, instead of the reeses peanut butter hearts. I just love how creamy the chocolate is and think that the cookie has more than enough peanut butter. These are soft, moist and really yummy! I do admit that I hate the fact that you can't eat these until the heart becomes hard again - I wanted one last night but they take a few hours to set. I had one this morning and it was perfect. Yum cookies - Yay for Love!

Peanut Butter Cookies (from I heart Nap Time)
*the original recipe makes about 48 if you go with the 1" balls. I made mine a little bigger*
1 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs (room temp)
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 3/4 Cup Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
Chocolate candies
1/2 Cup Sugar, for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl. Mix well until combined.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour and baking soda and mix until combined.

Place 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll cookie dough into 1" balls and then roll in sugar. Place on baking pan.

Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 1 minute. Place chocolate candy on top and then remove from pan and let cool completely.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

I wonder when cookies became a Holiday staple? I mean, if you are looking to bake something from Thanksgiving-New Years it is probably one of the first things that you think of. Especially when you have a cookie exchange, company or need a personal gift - you look for something new with a little kick.

Enter these babies. They pretty much scream Holiday Time. I love how the cornstarch makes them thick and soft and the cranberries add a perfect twist to the sweetness. Usually I'm not really a white chocolate chip kind of girl, but this cookie is an exception.

I love cookies for the reason that you can bake them, freeze and when you pull them out they are just as perfect as when they go in. If you're having a party it makes it so easy to have your dessert taken care of early. Or if you're making them as gifts you can do it ahead of time so that you arent in such a rush the night before you see the person.

I currently have a freezer full of 3 types of cookies (about 2.5 dozen or so of each) plus an entire gallon bag of Buckeye bark. Um yea, I think I'm on cookie overload, but this is the one time of year where I feel that is perfectly acceptable :) So even if you have no real excuse to bake more cookies, just throw them in the freezer once they are cooled and you can enjoy them yourself for weeks to come. Happy baking!

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies (from Sallys Baking Addiction)
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cranberries


In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color.

Mix in egg and vanilla.

On low speed, mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.  Stir in white chocolate chips & dried cranberries. Chill dough (covered) for 30 minutes or up to 3 days. (I left mine in the fridge for a couple of hours and it was perfectly firm when I scooped it up)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Drop balls of dough (1.5 tablespoons each) onto cookie sheet OR used a standard-sized cookie scoop.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.  Do NOT cook them longer than 9 minutes.

 Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet.  Transfer to cooling rack.

Paper Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are so many recipes out there for chewy, thick chocolate chip cookies. I admit that I love this kind of cookie, especially gooey in the middle, but sometimes I want to mix it up. When I saw these thin chocolate chip cookies on Pinterest, I pinned and decided to make them to store in the freezer. My mom is one who likes really crisp cookies, so this recipe reminds me of her. They are paper thin but the centers remain chewy, with a crisp outside. You get the best of both cookie worlds and I honestly have eaten way too many of these in the past few days.

These do take a while to make as you need to leave plenty of room for the cookies to spread on your baking sheet, so you will do plenty of batches. I also suggest not using the parchment paper and just opting to drop the dough onto the baking sheet itself. I ended up freezing some of the dough in balls to bake later because I was tired of standing for 2 hours, and I had already baked plenty! Just ignore how much butter is in these when you indulge, since the recipe makes so many there isnt too much butter in each (at least thats what Ive been telling myself).

Paper Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Martha Stewart)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or 2 cups like I did)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugars, and beat until combined and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended.

Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Add the chocolate chips, and beat until combined.

Drop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter at a time onto baking sheets (a cookie scoop is ideal for this batter), about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove the cookies and the parchment paper from the baking sheets, and let cool on a rack. (like I said, I found putting the dough directly on the sheets worked much better than the parchment paper, but feel free to experiment)

*Store in an airtight container or place directly in the freezer.

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

I think that I just found my new go-to holiday/event cookie recipe. These little round caramel pockets are so good and just have a great presentation about themselves. The glossy caramel is what really does it, in my opinion. And I love how they aren't too sweet - the chocolate cookie dough is just chocolatey enough to get the flavor without overwhelming when combined with the caramel.

My thighs will hate me for this recipe, or rather I will hate them, but sometimes it's just all worth it!

Chocolate Turtle Cookies (via Pinterest, from Pixelated Crumb)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped fine
14 soft caramel candies
3 tablespoons heavy cream

 Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk egg whites in bowl until frothy. Place pecans in another bowl. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, then roll in pecans. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using 1/2-teaspoon measure, make indentation in center of each ball. Bake until set, about 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.

Microwave caramels and cream in bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Once cookies are removed from oven, gently re-press existing indentations. Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon caramel mixture. Cool 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Black and White Chocolate Chippers

Well, If you follow me on pinterest you know that I pin a lot of things. I usually start on the home decor board, wander to the womens apparel and the DIY boards and then end up at fitness. I get really motivated to eat clean and exercise, and then I visit the food board. I realize that really I should visit food first and fitness last, but it just never happens that way! And pinterest is the place to find some amazing looking things to stuff your face.

I've been craving sweets and so I dug into my pinboards and baked up a storm. I started with these cookies. They looked to me like they may taste like Panera cookies. I tried to make them XL sized, and learned that when using a cookie scoop you should press down in the center once you place on your baking sheet, or you'll get a nice dome shape on the top of your cookie.

Definitely let these cool all the way before you eat. I'm someone who likes undercooked cookies, but I have to warn against doing that with these. Cook for the full time for the best results. And I can guarantee they will be perfect pull-from-freezer cookies. They are chocolatey and a good mix of firm but chewy and soft.

Black and White Chocolate Chippers (via pinterest, from My Recipe Book)
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsps. baking soda
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addiction. Add the salt and vanilla. 

In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and baking soda and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10 minutes until fluffy but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pre-Christmas Weekend

I seriously love the week before Christmas so much that I don't even care that today is Monday! We have a Holiday Lunch outside of the office today and we leave Wednesday for Orlando - I am just taking the season in because it will soon be just a memory!

We had a nice, relaxing weekend and I am ready for a week off. Here's a photo recap:

 Since Adam was gone all week I was ready to get out of the house on Friday night, and so excited that we decided to get sushi!! We went to Lemongrass, I stuck to shrimp and soft shell crab, and we were definitely impressed. There is not much around our area in terms of places to eat out, so it's nice that we found a sushi place.  My shirt and sweater are both from GAP, but neither are online anymore.

 I went with a fishtail, too, because it reminds me of my sister :)

Saturday night we bundled up and went for a 3 mile walk to look at neighborhood Christmas lights. It was chilly out but a lot of fun and I hope to get out again tonight to do the same thing. Im trying to walk as much as I can, and since it was the first time I got out of my pajamas that day I obviously wasn't active enough. This is another photot of our tree in the dark, love it and am going to miss it!

I originially said I was not going to make Christmas cookies this year because of the calories and only Adam and I being able to eat them, but when I woke up on Saturday I really wanted to get some baking - Christmas just isn't the same without cookies! I made Nestle Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies (with dark and semi sweet chips - jumbo size) and sugar cookies. I halved the sugar cookie recipe and didnt even use all of the dough and we still had too many cookies, but just enough for decorating.

Adam did request the 'soft' icing since he claims it tastes much better so I made half a batch of buttercream and colored with wilton 'no taste red' and 'kelly green' gel food coloring. Again, we had more icing than we needed so Adam iced some chocolate chips as well! Our finished products:
 

I also did a little spray tanning for our trip and started to pack! One bag down, 1 to go. All I need is a good eyebrow waxing and I think that I will be all set and ready to board that plane. Happy Monday!

1 Ripe Banana = Banana Bread Cookies

I have been trying to have us brown bag lunch most days of the week, and this includes breakfast. I don't ever really feel like waking up early to make a warm breakfast for us (although today I did, and I definitely won't again) so I have been trying to do fruits and yogurt for us. I buy bananas for Adam mostly because I know he likes and will eat them. I usually stick to strawberries or blueberries for myself!

Anyway, this week I found myself with just 1 very over ripe banana. I didn't want to throw it out, so I let it sit for a few more days until I hit up google and searched for an answer to my banana dilemma. I didn't have enough for banana bread so I searched for a cookie solution. Along came this little recipe which called for 1 banana and no butter. I was able to whip these up in under 30 minutes from start to clean up! They are perfect and I love the browned rims on them! I will pop them in the freezer and they can be a snack or breakfast on the run. They also go great with a cup of coffee and are much less messy than slicing a whole loaf. I got 2 dozen cookies out of this recipe, and each is about 105 calories.



Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies (from Carrots N Cake)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup canola oil
1 ripe banana
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
A few dashes of cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl

Coat baking sheet with non-stick spray

Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to portion cookies onto baking sheet

Bake for 15 minutes until cookies start to brown

PB & J Cookies

I have really been on a peanut butter kick, which is not like me and a pleasant change actually. I wanted to make these cookies a while ago but didn't have anyone to share them with and I was concerned about their freezing factor with the jelly. Turns out they are awesome from the freezer! I whipped up a batch and froze them, taking half to my parents house this weekend and leaving half for me. My sisters ate them all up and agreed that they weren't sure how jelly on a cookie would be but that it worked. For some reason my cookies flattened out, so next time I will try chilling the dough before I fill it with the nutella/jelly combo.
This cookie screams 'fun for kids' to me, too!

PB&J Cookies (from My Baking Heart)
1 c peanut butter
1 c sugar
1 lg egg
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 c jelly
2 tbsp Nutella (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine peanut butter, sugar, egg, and flour in a large bowl & mix until well combined. Roll the dough into small balls and place on a baking sheet (about 15 to a sheet). The dough is a little crumbly, so I would squish each piece in my hands before rolling them into a ball shape.

Using a small rounded spoon, make an indent in the center of each cookie, deep enough to allow for jam filling. If using, place about a 1/4 teaspoon of Nutella into each cookie. Place about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Jelly on each cookie (don’t worry if the jelly overflows a little, it will pretty much hold its shape through the cooking process). Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let set and cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before eating.

Chocolate Chip Macaroons

I am pretty sure that I've stated before that there is one blogger whose food speaks directly to me! Pineapple Grass seems to catch my eye with almost every post, so it was only fitting that I used their recipes for two of my breakfast items. These chocolate chip coconut macaroons are so simple, take only a few ingredients and makes a large batch. I love chocolate and coconut, and i think you could even add some chopped almonds to these to mimic an almond joy! They taste like summer to me, and I couldn't have been more pleased with them.
Chocolate Chip coconut Macaroons (from Pineapple Grass)
12-14 oz. flaked coconut (about 5+ c.)
6 T. flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
4 egg whites
1 t. almond extract
1-1/2 c. miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.


Combine coconut, flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl; mix in egg whites and almond extract. Stir in miniature chocolate chips.


Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or Silpat Liners, or greased and lightly floured).


Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Cool on wire racks.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Google Reader is one of my favorite things; I check it at least once a day to bookmark new recipes to try. The Way the Cookie Crumbles is a good blog to follow, and I have made a few recipes from there. I stumbled upon this cookie post and just the pictures made me want to try this recipe. I got some good tips from the blog post, but this is originally from Kait's Plate.

They are the perfect cookie for me, thin and slightly crisp on the ends, but gooey on the inside. I really would have eaten all 42 of these that the recipe made, so I went ahead and froze about half of the dough for baking up later.  I also used the method of freezing the dough in balls on the baking sheet, and then baking in the oven for 10 minutes. This yielded a good cookie shape and made sure the batter didn't run all over the place.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Kait's Plate)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

(I used 4oz Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate, chopped plus 4 oz white chocolate chips and 4 oz mini semi sweet chips)
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional) or pecans (optional)


Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well-blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and nuts. (The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen. If you'd like, you can freeze rounded tablespoons of dough, ready for baking. Freeze the mounds on a lined baking sheet, then bag them when they're solid. There's no need to defrost the dough before baking - just add another minute or two to the baking time.)

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.

Bake the cookies - one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point - for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle, and that's just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully, using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

The cooking can be kept in a cookie jar or sealed container for about four days, or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to two months. For Freezing the dough, I just froze on a plate in individual sizes, then transferred to a freezer ziplock.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have had these cookies bookmarked for about a year, from Lauren's Kitchen, although originally adapted from allrecipes by Living Insanity. I am a chewy cookie kind of person, I like them gooey and not fully cooked, but after searching far and wide for a chewy pumpkin cookie I have realized that it does not exist. That's why it took me so long to try these out, but now I am so glad that I did because this is a great recipe. I suggest keeping them in the fridge/freezer because it brings the pumpkin flavor out more when they're cold. I followed the recipe exactly, so I am just c&ping below, and I will definitely be making these again.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. Add milk and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon,pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.

Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well; add chips.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 365 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Candy Cookies

I recently expanded the blogs that I follow and found Lauren's Kitchen to subscribe to. These cookies were originally made with christmas m&ms, but I put reeses pieces in mine. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out nice and puffy. I would double the recipe next time, but this is a good one that doesnt spread out much when you bake. I sent most of them off with Erin to give to a friend who really helped me out with my Y membership, so I am happy that I will not be gorging myself on these, as they would probably be gone by Saturday.

No Fail Sugar Cookies

A couple of months back I stumbled upon the Sweetopia blog and fell in love with all of the cookies. I have done the flooding and bordering in the past, but it is so time consuming that you really have to be into it, as sugar cookies just take so much time to prepare and the icing also takes a while. I was inspired and so this past weekend I decided to bake some up. I was lucky enough to have my sisters and mom help me decorate.

No Fail Sugar Cookies (recipe from my mom, original origin unknown)
6 Cups Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups butter, softened
2 tsp Flavoring (I prefer Vanilla)
2 Eggs

In a mixing bowl, fully combine butter and sugar. In a separate bowl, stir together flour and baking powder.

Add eggs to butter mix and combine, then add flavoring. Once mixed well, slowly add in flour mixture until blended thoroughly.

Separate dough into 2 or 4 balls (if you want thin cookies make 4, for thicker make 2). In between 2 sheets of parchment paper, roll out each ball to desired thickness and place on a cookie sheet. Place in refrigerator until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Take cookie sheets out one at a time, cut dough into shapes and place on cold cookie sheet. Pop in the oven for 10-13 minutes (depending on thickness). Roll out the remaining dough and place back in the fridge to get cold. Repeat until all the dough is baked.


For the icing I used the prepackaged royal icing mix, to which you just add water and mix. I use wilton dyes and the disposable piping bags with just the tip snipped off for all icings.

Chewy Christmas M&M Cookies (or Chocolate Chip)

I have finally managed to bake up some Christmas cookies! I love the way that the house smells when you bake anything, but cookies have a noticeable, take-you-back-to-childhood smell to them. I found this particular recipe on all recipes with 3,563 people giving it 4.5 stars, so I knew it would be a winner. It was simple and quick, which is always helpful when you're running around trying to get a TON of other things done at the same time. Before I packaged them up for family and co-workers, I of course had to taste test, and they are full of yummy Christmas cheer!

Chewy Christmas M&M (or Chocolate Chip) Cookies (from All Recipes)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used an entire bag of M&Ms)


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.

Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.

Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Autumn Sugar Cookies

I had found a new recipe for sugar cookies and wanted to try it out early. I was feeling crafty and creative so I whipped up a big batch and they turned out really great. They arent too sweet, so the royal icing balances it out well, without it tasting like youre just eating pure sugar. It was Adams first time working with piping icing, instead of slapping it on with a knife, and he got really good at it! We still have about 30 more to ice, but this was our first go around. the cookie dough is really easy to make and you probably already have everything you need in your kitchen. flour, sugar, confectioners sugar, lemon, almond and vanilla extract, baking powder and butter. the royal icing is Wiltons recipe with just meringue powder, water and confectioners sugar.

here are our christmas cookies from last year, i cant wait to make them again!