Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Every year at work, our division has a ‘Holiday Goodie Table’ the week before break. They divide up the alphabet and folks are welcome to bring in treats to share on their assigned day.

I decided to use up some peppermint chips that I had in the freezer, but I didn’t really like the recipe suggested on the back. I decided the best pairing for peppermint chips would be chocolate. So I adapted the recipe from the back of the Reese’s peanut butter chips bag (a recipe that I have used before).

They turned out great! Here's the recipe:

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Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Adapted from Reese’s Chewy Chocolate Cookies

(recipe on back of Reese’s peanut butter chips bag)

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
¾ cup (I used generous measurements, not leveled off) cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips

Heat oven to 350 F.

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peppermint chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Makes about 4 ½ dozen cookies.
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Enjoy!

Cookie Pizza? Fruit Pizza? Cookie Fruit Pizza!

So, the fiancé and I disagree slightly on what this creation is called. I originally referred to it as a Cookie Pizza. My fiancé thought a ‘cookie pizza’ was just a very large cookie the size of a pizza, like at Old Chicago’s or Papa Murphy’s. He said it should be called a Fruit Pizza. In my mind a fruit pizza is a normal pizza crust with a fruit filling topping and icing drizzled over the top, like the apple and cherry pizzas you sometimes see at Pizza Hut buffets.

I searched online to try and find some recipe titles that would prove me right, unfortunately, most of the recipe titles for this type of creation sided with him. However, in my mind a fruit pizza still has a true pizza crust. So I’m going with Cookie Fruit Pizza, it is much more reflective of what the end product actually is.

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Cookie Fruit Pizza

1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough (or you could mix it up with whatever your favorite cookie dough is…chocolate chip walnut for example, chocolate and nuts go great with fruit)
8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
8 oz tub of frozen whipped topping, thawed (you could try some of the flavored frozen whipped topping options as well)
Variety of favorite fruits for the topping*
¼ cup white sugar
pinch of salt
½ tablespoon cornstarch
¼ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 cup water
¼ teaspoon orange zest (optional)

*I like strawberries, kiwis, mandarin oranges, star fruit, blackberries, and raspberries…I tend not to use bananas unless I’m serving the pizza right away but that seldom happens so I usually leave them off (supposedly you can dip banana slices in lemon juice and they won’t darken, but I haven’t tried it),. You can use whatever your favorites are though…pineapple, peaches, oranges, etc.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out cookie dough and place onto pan (you can use a pizza pan or just make a rectangular Cookie Fruit Pizza with a normal cookie sheet pan). Don’t worry if you don’t get the dough perfect or it tears while placing into the pan, just cover up any holes or thin spots by smushing on some extra dough wherever needed.

Bake the cookie crust for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool.

In a large microwave safe bowl, soften the cream cheese with a couple of quick zaps in the microwave (there are usually time instructions for softening on the cream cheese package). Sir the cream cheese to make sure it is all the same consistency.

Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese. Spread mixture over cooled cookie crust. At this point you can place the crust into the fridge until you are ready to top it with the fruit (this can be done in advance if you want to save some time before a party).

Take your selected fruit toppings, slice and/or peel those that need to be sliced and/or peeled. Arrange the fruit on top of the pizza however you would like – in a circular pattern, in straight or diagonal lines, in shapes, in letters, etc. Place the Cookie Fruit Pizza back into the fridge.

In a small saucepan, mix the sugar, salt, corn starch, orange juice, lemon juice and water. Place over medium heat and stir regularly until it comes to a boil. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes after it comes to a boil or until the sauce has thickened a bit. Remove from heat. If you are using the orange zest mix it in at this point. Allow the mixture to cool, but don’t leave it for too long or it will set-up and you’ll have to start over. Take the Cookie Fruit Pizza out of the fridge and use a pastry brush and brush the sauce over all the fruit. (I usually don’t end up using all of the sauce, I like just enough to have a thin glaze over the fruit, but use as much as you like based on your preference.)

Place the Cookie Fruit Pizza back into the fridge and chill until ready to serve (can chill for as little or as long as you like…anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours).

Cut and serve.

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Enjoy!

Save the Date Cookies

A while back I started thinking about creative and thoughtful ways to ask people to be a part of our special day. Many of our wedding party are located in different states and I wanted to do something more than just a phone call. Plus it’s hard to say no when there’s a small gift involved ;)

Since I love baking and sweet treats I thought I could use cookies to ask. It’d be easy to adapt to the variety of wedding party ‘positions’ and they ship much better than cupcakes.

My vision was dress shaped cookies for bridesmaids, a ring shape for the ring bearer, flower shape for the flower girl, gift cookie for the gift table attendant, book cookie for the guest book attendant, etc. But I needed something for the groomsmen and ushers…

Then I remembered that a long while back I came across a link to a small bakery on the east coast that made ‘Save the Date’ cookies for couples to use in place of standard ‘Save the Date’ stationary. I LOVED the idea! I knew I couldn’t afford to send every wedding invitee a cookie, but I didn’t want to give up on the idea entirely. So, I thought it would be a clever way to let the wedding party know the date we selected and a not too girly cookie design to give all the guys. (Sadly I lost the link to the bakery that inspired me and cannot find it to give them proper credit…if anyone comes across it, please let me know so I can add it to this post.)

I didn’t really want to pay shipping to get the cookies from the east coast to my house and then pay shipping to get the packages sent out to all of the wedding party at their various locations. So I started thinking about other options.

Life has been a bit busy lately, so I thought I might go the outsourcing route. I remembered that there’s a chain cookie bouquet place in the area and they already offered a variety of wedding shapes and I thought they might be open to doing some custom cookies…

It started off well; they said they could make custom cookies…then it took a dive. Each individual cookie (even the standard designs they already had on their ‘menu’) would be almost $8! I’m sorry, but I’m not going to pay that much for a cookie when I can make it myself.

So I made sugar cookies from scratch for the first time in my life.

Then I got started decorating. I used the Wilton recipe for royal icing.

I used stiff royal icing to outline a border around every cookie. Then I thinned the icing out and completely filled in the outlines. I let that set-up overnight.

I also colored some more royal icing to make puddle dots. Basically, just squeeze out the royal icing onto wax paper until you get the size you want. Then just let them dry overnight. I tried to make red…but it was taking too long, so I gave up and made some purple dots also.

The next day, I used this sparkly gel in black for the month and year…however, I didn’t take into account the consistency of gel and so it didn’t exactly hold its shape, plus I was worried that it wouldn’t set-up so I went over it with gray royal icing…the same icing I used to make the calendar lines and the numbers on the dried puddle dots.

Once the writing on the cookies had set a little (a couple hours or so) I used extra icing to attach the puddle dots.

I think they turned out great! I was so excited about them.

Then I packaged them up and shipped them off.

Initial responses thus far have been overwhelmingly positive...and so far everyone that we have asked to be in or help with the wedding has said yes!

First wedding project = success!

Coconut Macaroons

I love coconut! And I love coconut macaroons!

They were always a special treat and they always seemed so elegant and a bit mysterious when I was younger. Probably because they aren’t all that common; they seem to only be found at a few bakeries and the Ghirardelli stores in very large malls. This led me to believe they must be difficult and complicated to make.

Coconut macaroons are also one of my Mom’s favorite cookies. So when I came across a recipe, I took note and thought it might be worth the effort to try for Mother’s Day or my Mom’s birthday one year. However, I either didn’t have the time around those events or forgot about them…

…That is until May of last year when I was looking for cookie recipes to take to my family reunion. Because the reunion was later in the weekend, I had the entire first half of the weekend to play around in the kitchen so I gave the coconut macaroons a try.

They were actually pretty SIMPLE and EASY!

And they were a HUGE HIT! Especially with my Great Aunt, she LOVED them.

So when my cousin’s family came to visit this summer and I found out they would be stopping by to see my Great Aunt, I packaged up some coconut macaroons for them to give her. Well…my Great Aunt shared her cookies with them (or they snuck some on the way there). Either way, my cousin LOVED the coconut macaroons as well and asked for the recipe.

Because I’m a slacker, or because I’m busy, or because it was all part of a greater plan all along, my cousin didn’t get the recipe until she got a box full of Christmas cookies in the mail that had the recipe attached to the tin with the coconut macaroons.

Not all of those macaroons fit into the box sent to my cousin and I took the leftovers to my parents’ house for Christmas, where my sister-in-law tried some that were dipped in chocolate…and she LOVED them too.

I made them for the Sweet Treat Party and one of my friends also became a fan.

The only reason I’m sharing all of this is to let you know that if you make these cookies, people will LOVE them and maybe start to ask for them and you’ll probably have to start doubling and tripling the recipe for there to be enough to go around ;)

Give them a try, it’s really not that hard. After you make a lot of batches, you’ll probably be able to work on the recipe from memory or play around with it and try new things. I have definitely tweaked and modified and still had good results; I even made the recipe with gluten-free flour and they turned out great!

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Coconut Macaroons

1 small package (7 oz.) flaked coconut (more than 2 1/2 cups, but less than 2 3/4)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (can be substituted with a gluten-free baking flour)
¼ teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (can be substituted with ¼ teaspoon almond extract)

Optional:
Chocolate bark/candy coating
OR
2 oz. semisweet chocolate (chopped) and ½ teaspoon shortening

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (DO NOT FORGET THIS or you’ll have a heck of a time trying to get the cookies off the cookie sheet and they may or may not resemble a cookie at that point).

Place coconut, sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Add in egg whites and vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon (cheap plastic spatulas WILL break).

Scoop the dough into rounded ball-like shapes onto the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. It’s easiest if you have a cookie dough scoop, ideally about a teaspoon size scoop or if you use larger that’s fine you may just need to bake the macaroons a little longer. (If you don’t have a cookie dough scoop, just use spoons.)

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges and portions of the tops are golden brown (I sometimes check the bottom of a couple of cookies as well to make sure the bottoms are completely golden brown). I sometimes have to go even longer than the 25 minutes if I’ve used a larger cookie dough scoop.

Place on a cooling rack and let cool. Then enjoy!

OR

Cover the macaroons in chocolate.

The easiest way is to melt the chocolate bark (sometimes called candy coating depending where you purchase it) according to the directions on the package. Usually there are directions for the microwave or the stovetop, the microwave is easy and fast.

Another way is to create your own chocolate coating by melting the chopped semisweet chocolate and shortening in a saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth.

Then dip the macaroons or drizzle the chocolate over the macaroons and place on wax paper to allow the chocolate to set.
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Chocolate or no chocolate, they’re pretty darn good. I promise…you can ask my cousin or my sister-in-law, or my Great Aunt ;)

Sweet Treat Party

Saturday I hosted a casual little gathering for Valentine’s Day…actually it was really more of an excuse to get some girls together and of course to bake!

I called it a ‘Sweet Treat Party’ and there were definitely plenty of sweets…

Cupcakes
Cookies
More cookies
Cupcake pops/cake bites
Candy

It’s a good thing I ran out of time to make the other couple of recipes I was considering.

Don’t worry I did have a fruit tray, a veggie tray and some chips and salsa to balance out the sugar ;)

Cupcakes
I used a white cake mix and canned frosting (white and strawberry) to save myself some time. I played around with a few different decorating techniques with the frosting and a variety of sprinkles.

Look this one matches the napkin!

This one was a little crazy, but was a hit with the 2 ½ year old little boy.

Here are the rest:

Cookies
I had two types of cookies: Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies (click here for more details) and Coconut Macaroons.

The coconut macaroons are becoming very popular. Every time I make these there is another loyal follower. These really are not as difficult as they appear to be, I’ll post the recipe later this week.

Coconut Macaroons and Cupcakes

Cupcake Pops/Cake Bites
I have an even deeper awe, appreciation and respect for Bakerella now. These are a bit more complicated and take a bit more TLC than I had originally thought. I was very rushed and did not allot them as much time as I should have and hence they did not look nearly as good as Bakerella’s. I’ll post more on my experience with cake pops later and re-cap what I think I could do better next time. The good news is that even though they didn’t look that great, my friends thought they were delicious.

A few of the Cupcake Pops that even came close to turning out correctly.

The rest of the Cupcake Pops that didn't even make it to 'Pop' status...they all look so very sad.

All in all, it was a fun and relaxing afternoon visiting with friends and it was exactly what I needed.

Thanks girls!

Super Bowl Update

Why do I like the Super Bowl?

• I love football
• I love any excuse to bake things for gatherings of people, it’s usually a good opportunity to try out something new
• I have a marketing background so I find the commercials interesting even beyond the general entertainment factor

Unfortunately, the Super Bowl didn’t end up quite like I had hoped.

I know, I know, the Saints have never been to the Super Bowl and for the City of New Orleans, they deserve to win…it’s a very compelling story line. However, I really like Peyton and therefore I was the one and only person at the Super Bowl party cheering for the Colts.

Oh well…this is not a sports blog, so I’ll hold any additional commentary and get onto more important things…

What did I make for the Super Bowl Party?

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

I was going to try out a new recipe, but life this past week and especially this weekend was busy and chaotic. So I stuck to a cookie recipe that I’ve used quite a few times before (I have even made these with gluten-free flour); for three reasons: 1) I knew it was easy and quick, 2) it makes a lot of cookies and since they have red and white the extra cookies will be perfect for a little holiday get together I’m hosting next weekend, and 3) because I already had all the ingredients I needed to make the cookies.

I always have Craisens in the pantry, I love them. They're good plain or mixed with walnuts for a healthy snack.

The recipe comes from the back of the Craisens 6 oz. package.

I stashed the rest of the cookies away so they'll last until the party this weekend (more on that in a future post).