Wish Upon A Chef

Let's just call a spade a spade here, people. It's called Christmas Crack because that's what it is - one bite and you can't stop. You're hooked. An addict. Much like what happens when you log onto Pinterest, which is where I found this recipe. It appears to have originated from A Southern Grace.

I'm betting you probably keep everything needed to make these in your pantry as staples, so you can fuel your crack addition anytime you want.  It's quick.  It's easy.  It's addictive (did I mention that?)

And can you believe what it's made with?  Saltine crackers.  Pretty soon the grocery store is going to start keeping saltines behind a locked case and you'll need to show and ID and give personal information for their database in order to buy them.  They're going to know you're an addict....they'll see the crazed look in your eyes.

Go make a batch NOW and join me on the dark side. 
 

Christmas Crack

1 cup unsalted butter (do not use margarine)
1 cup brown sugar, packed tightly
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
40 saltine crackers
Sprinkles, nuts or anything you'd like to use a garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan or a 12x17-inch cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Lay a flat layer of crackers out on the foil.  Melt the sugar and butter until boiling.  Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until mixture is thickened and sugar is completely dissolved (if you don't dissolve the sugar completely, your toffee will have a grainy texture).  Pour this mixture over the crackers and spread to coat evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the toffee becomes bubbly.  After removing the pan from the oven, let it sit for 3-5 minutes.  Sprinkle on the chocolate chips, let them soften and melt, and then spread them into an even layer.  You can add nuts, cracker crumbs, or whatever else you'd like as garnish at this point.  Let cool and, if desired for expediting purposes, refrigerate until hardened. Break into pieces the size of your choice.

Peppermint Pinwheels, Chocolate Caramel Delights and Toffee Shortbread

This trio of cookies was the hit of the cookie exchange party that I hosted a few years ago (and now that we know my deep dark secret about who baked most of the cookies....)

I will admit to making the Peppermint Pinwheels and the Chocolate Caramel Delights, but I'll give all the credit to my friend Dawn for the Toffe Shortbread.  You can't go wrong with any of these treats and they all hold up well on cookie platters.

You'll also find a recipe for George's Lavender Cookies in this past post and yes, I made those for the party as well.  Now that I have my own crop of lavender growing, I can't wait to make those more often. 

I still have two more recipes to share to make your 12 Days of Cookies platter complete!

soft and chewy molasses cookies

I love gingersnap cookies but the ones that you buy in the store can be so hard and dry that they dang near come close to breaking a tooth when you eat them.  These soft and chewy molasses cookies from the Silver Palette cookbook have a slightly spicy and peppery bite from the addition of cloves and ginger and beat the Christmas socks off of store-bought any old day.   They bake up perfectly and stay chewy for days when stored in an airtight container. 

Leave a batch of these out for Santa and I guarantee you'll get lots of presents under your tree!

Some 30+ years ago, my mother attended a holiday workshop hosted by the Sullivan County Extension Homemakers (which is the grown-up version of 4-H) to learn how to make gingerbread houses. She came home that evening sporting her decorated house, the recipe for gingerbread dough and a cut-out pattern for future constructions of the house. As a kid, I was mesmerized by her cute little bungalow-style house smothered entirely in candy and sugary sweet icing and to this day I'll admit to still being verklempt anytime I see gingerbread construction.

It wasn't something we did together every year, but I can remember my mom and I making the houses together a few times and giving them as gifts to my school teachers, grandmothers, and some very close friends. If you got one of our houses, you were somebody special because this project was very detailed, time-consuming, expensive and alot of hard work.  I see these all-inclusive gingerbread house kits in the stores with everything already baked and candy and icing included, but I cannot and will not succumb to buying them because for me, it's a labor of love and a tradition to make them with my own two hands.



This year I am so excited to share my and my mom's tradition of decorating gingerbread houses with Boy Toy's daughter and some of her friends (I was probably more excited than they were!)  I volunteered to host a building and deocorating party for them this past Saturday afternoon and everyone had a great time - even the grown men who originally thought candy and icing was only for girls! 














I prepared the dough and baked the houses a week ahead of time because I've found that if you construct the houses right after baking, the pieces are soft and are easier to break or crumble.  I leave the pieces out on the counter for a few days to let them harden. 


The windows are made with crushed Jolly Rancher candies and I make some of them solid colors but I love the stained glass window effect of mixing two colors together in the same window.  When making the windows, make sure you use plenty of candy - it's okay if it's heaped up just a bit because it will melt and fill the space nicely (just make sure you don't get any bits of candy on the walls.)  I purchased 12" x 36" pieces of white styrofoam and cut them into thirds to act as the base for the house and I used Wilton Meringue powder to make the royal icing but you can make your own per the recipe below. 



Waiting for the decorators to arrive

The party guests ranged in age from 9 to 11 so I went ahead and constructed the houses about an hour before they arrived so the icing would have time to dry a bit before adding the candies.  I feared the kids' attention span wouldn't allow for the construction AND decorating and I was right - they were all about the candy and icing.  A great time was had by all and I'm hoping it is something that will become a holiday tradition in the Boy Toy household.

The gingerbread 'hood

Visit this post for my tried and true gingerbread dough recipe and to see some of my past housing creations.  I've included below another copy of the pattern that I've used every year as I noticed the link on my original post is no longer valid (and I'm too lazy to try and fix it). 



If you'd like even more ideas, check out my Flickr slideshow from last year's gingerbread house competition at the Ballentyne Resort here in Charlotte. 

Chocolate Chip Espresso cookies

Holiday cookie platters are usually all about having pretty decorated cookies and "fancy" cookies, but I think you should include some all-time favorites that people enjoy as well.  Today I'm resurrecting yet another one of my most favorite cookies recipes:  Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies.  No other chocolate chip cookie compares to this one, in my opinion, as the marriage of espresso and chocolate is divine.  No worries if you can't find espresso powder - you can substitute 4 teaspoons of instant coffee granules and get the same result.

The trick to getting these cookies to turn out perfectly is refrigerating them for at least an hour.  I usually scoop them onto parchment paper and then pop them right into the oven to bake.  You can also roll them into a log, refrigerate, and then slice into rounds for baking.  Bake them with or without nuts - it's your choice.

I hope Santa brings a whole platter of these just for me! 

As I mentioned in a previous "12 Days of Cookies" post, it has been my tradition for many years to make loads of cookies and candy this time of year to have around the house for visitors and to give away to friends. But I recently saw some photographs depicting a not-so-skinny-anymore person who looked alot like me and who was trying to squeeze into wearing my clothes. It was obvious from the photographs that this person has added some poundage lately and should not be tempted by cookies lying around her house, so the decision was made to not participate in the marathon cookie baking tradition this year. I didn't think it was fair, though, to leave you high and dry for cookie recipes this holiday season so I thought I'd resurrect some oldies but goodies from Wish Upon A Chef's kitchen.

This sugar cookie recipe is a snap to mix up, easy to work with and the cookies hold their shape really well during baking. I love to make different traditional holiday shapes but I always crack myself up making these ABC (Already Been Chewed) sugar cookie guys.  I strategically hide them on the cookie platters that I give to my friends and how I wish I could see their faces when they find these lurking in with the rest of the beautiful cookies. Only those who know my warped sense of food humor understand...

Click on over to the original post for the recipe and the link for buying these kooky cookie cutters. Have a Macabre Christmas!

ABC sugar cookies

It's hard to believe that it's been three years now since I hosted a holiday cookie exchange with my friends...my how time flies!  I have to make a confession about that party -  a dark secret I've been holding on to for all this time.  The day before the party, several of my friends called to say they weren't able to come because they didn't have time to bake their cookies and didn't want to show up empty-handed.  This was pretty much going to wipe out most of my guest list because it was a small affair and I was faced with having to cancel the party.  It really wasn't so much about them bringing cookies or not, I really just wanted to spend time with my friends during the holidays so I decided to bake all the cookies if they would still promise to come. 

Yes, that's right.  I bribed all of my friends to come to my cookie exchange party by agreeing to bake all of the cookies myself.  I'll probably have to tie a pork chop around my neck next just to get the dog to play with me.  

The party went off without a hitch, everyone took home delicious treats and I got to enjoy the holiday baking season and share with my friends.  That's what it's all about for me. 

These Rosemary Caramel cookies are still, to this day, one of my favorite cookie recipes.  It's a delicious combination of shortbread cookies sandwiched together with rosemary infused caramel.  Unfortunately the only photos I have of them are this pre-I-want-to-learn-how-to-take-decent-food-photos blurry photo and the quick glimpse of them on the top right of the table at my cookie exchange, but don't let that discourage you from trying them.  Click the photo to be directed to the recipe and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Rosemary Caramel Cookies, compliments of Bon Appetit

Don't forget about man's best friend this holiday season - after all, our four-legged friends give so much unconditional love to us and work really hard (like dogs, practically) protecting and guarding the homestead.  My little guy can make a full day of work out of guarding the comforter on my his king-size bed and protecting it from being used by anyone else. 


Sometimes the work is very grueling and tiresome, but nevertheless he's always there keeping my side of the bed warm and making sure no one else sneaks in and steals it.


These canine cookies from Tasty Treats for Demanding Dogs are really simple to make and if your kids are getting bored and a bit unruly during their holiday break, turn them loose in the kitchen to make these.  Most likely you already have everything in your pantry to make them with the exception of the baby food (unless of course you have a two-legged baby too).  If your dog is sensitive to store-bought brands of treats, this is a great book to have because the recipes are really simple and alot of them use regular people food.  It is available on Amazon.com for really cheap.   And wouldn't this make a great Christmas gift for pup!


The cookies do puff a bit during baking so make sure to only roll them about 1/4" thick.  I used a medium-sized bone shaped cookie cutter and got approximately 50 cookies.


You will be tempted to give Fido a cookie straight away as soon as they cool (especially if he's a moocher like my boy), but he'll be happier than a kid at Christmas if you let them dry overnight because they become hard and crispy just like the store-brand cookies that Santa usually brings.
 


Canine Cookies
yield: approximately 50-90 cookies, depending on size of cutter

2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk or whey powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 large egg
1 TBLS molasses (optional)
4.5 oz jar chicken-soup baby food
3/4 cup broth or drippings, or sufficient for forming dough

Postition rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease or use parchment paper to line two cookie sheets or baking trays.

In a large bowl, using a fork or wire whisk, blend the flours, dry milk and garlic powder.

In a medium bowl, using a wire whisk or electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg until foamy before beating in the molasses, baby food and broth.

Using a large spoon, spatula or your hand, combine the two mixes, blending until the mixture pulls away from sides of the bowl and forms a soft dough.  If the mixture seems a little dry, add a little broth, a tablespoon at a time.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured flat surface, and using a rolling pin, roll out to 1/4" thick.  Use a 1-1/2" round cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as you can, reworking the scraps as you go.  The doug will become still as it is reworked.

Place the cookies side by side on the prepared cookie sheets or baking trays.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cookies appear very dry and the edges are light golden brown.  Remove the trays from the oven and cool to room temperature.  Turn off the oven.

When the cookies have cooled completely, put all of them on a single baking tray and return them to the cooling oven.  Leave them undisturbed, without opening the oven door, for 8 to 16 hours. 

Please note:  Some dogs may be allergic to garlic or sensitive to dairy products. 

My holiday cookie recipes consist mostly of tried and true favorites, alot of which date all the way back to my childhood years when my Mom and I would make goodies together for several days to fill dozens of metal tins with treats for all those who passed through our doors to enjoy.  Through the years I've amassed my own collection of vintage cookie tins and always look forward to filling them each year for friends and family.

Several years ago, I decided that I was tired of my recipes and wanted to make different cookies so I purchased several magazines touting things like "award-winning" cookies and "100 best" cookie recipes.  I spent numerous days and an insane amount of money trying out the recipes only to be disappointed in most of them.  I came to the conclusion that just because a recipe is complicated, it doesn't mean it is good.  And with the hustle and bustle of the already busy holiday season, who needs to add more complication?  I'd rather spend my time and money elsewhere, so I reverted back to alot of my old-time tried and true favorites.  I've added a few new favorites along the way but now I'm more particular about what I look for in a cookie recipe. 

This recipe for Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies involves a box of cake mix which definitely reminds me of my childhood because this is the type of cookies that I started baking with and that piqued my interest in the kitchen.  They are quick and easy which makes them perfect for kids to do mostly all by themselves.

I tracked this recipe from Pinterest to a website called Six Sisters' Stuff.  They are best right out of the oven warm, but even the next day I think you won't be able to turn them away.  The flavor of mint is perfect for the holiday season, so get your kids involved and bring some holiday cheer to your kitchen!


Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies
makes approximately 20 cookies

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 package of Andes Mints

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet (I used the medium sized Pampered Chef cookie scoop.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 6-9 minutes. Don't bake any longer than that as you don't want them to be overdone (mine were perfect at 8 minutes.)
 
Take sheet out of oven and while the cookies are still very hot, place an Andes Mint on top of each cookie. In about 5 minutes, the mint will be melted.  Using a spoon, smooth out each mint like frosting.

If the thought of spiders, skeletons, witches and ghosts scares you, you may just need your mummy. 

Mummy cookies, that is. 

These cookies are so cute and fun to make and don't require any advanced skill level or long list of ingredients.  Let your little ghouls have just as much fun wrapping the mummies as they do eating them!

View the recipe and instructions for decorating here.

Happy Halloween!

I finally finished my Christmas shopping. Not one who likes to shop under "normal" circumstances, venturing out during the full-swing hustle and bustle of the holiday season makes me just want to hurt someone. I always manage to get the shopping cart with the bent wheel that pulls to the left like a wrecked car and it's always fate that I end up in line behind the "Why the hell can't you pick an item with a price tag on it??" lady. Instead of visions of sugar plums, I'm seeing a crime scene unfold right in the middle of Nordstroms.

Short of coming home and slugging a liter of vodka to calm my nerves, I decided to create my own crime scene with these funny but slightly macabre ABC (Already Been Chewed) gingerbread cookie cutters. Nothing tickles me more than the thought of the look on my friends' faces when they raid the cookie platter and find one of these appendageless men hiding amongst the other goodies.

This sugar cookie recipe is delicious and super easy to work with, but keep in mind the dough needs to be really cold for best results, so roll it out and work in small batches.  Refrigerate again between batches, if necessary.  To color the decorator icing, I find it best to use the Wilton gel colors as opposed to regular food coloring because the colors are more vibrant and just follow the directions on the Wilton meringue powder canister for royal icing (add water to thin it to desired consistency).

Let your slightly deranged imagination run wild when decorating!


Roll-out Sugar Cookies
recipe from Contessa's Kitchen message forum

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda


Heat oven to 375°F

In large bowl, beat powdered sugar and butter on low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, almond extract and egg. Stir in flour and baking soda. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Divide dough in half. Roll each half ¼ inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into desired seasonal shapes with 2 to 2 ½ inch cookie cutters. If cookies will not be frosted, sprinkle with sugar. On ungreased cookie sheet, place cutouts 2 inches apart (I use parchment paper). Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Ice when cool, if desired.

Beginning the day without eating breakfast is the equivalent of starting out on a long journey with no gas in the car. You can coast for a little while on the fumes but eventually wind up sputtering and stalled out on the side of the road. Eating a good breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day, which in my case means the bitchiness is kept to a minimum for at least the first half of the day. We won't even discuss the ramifications if I don't get lunch.

I struggle with breakfast because I can't exactly go into the office kitchenette and whip up a full-fledged Bob Evans breakfast. There are very few portable breakfast items and too, I have a very low threshold for food boredom. After I've exhausted the breakfast burritos in every form, fashion and flavor and made the fruit and muffin round, I'm over it.

Perusing my dust-gathering cookbook collection for a new way to start the day, I ran across these breakfast cookies from the quaint Cafe Beaujolias in Mendocino, California. Manipulating the recipe just a bit to accommodate what I had on hand, I very much enjoyed the results. I picked up a few containers of yogurt, crumbled the cookies and added some fresh fruit for a tasty morning parfait.

So, grab a breakfast cookie, rev your engine and start the day on a full tank!


Breakfast Cookies
Morning Food - Cafe Beaujolias
Makes about 5-1/2 dozen

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup regular rolled oats, toasted
1 cup Grape Nuts cereal ( I used Rice Krispies)
1/2 cup peanut butter
2-1/2 cups white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup + 1 tblsp toasted wheat germ (I omitted this)
1/3 cup + 1 tblsp oat bran (I used Steel Cut Oats)
1/3 cup + 1 tblsp nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup raisins or currants (I used dried cranberries)
1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg, then the oil and vanilla. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Form into balls between 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Place on ungreased baking sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. Check the bottoms because they are very brown to begin with and you must watch this closely. Remove from the pan and cool.

During the Christmas season, there is a constant flow of baked goods coming from my kitchen. It's to the point that my friends and coworkers run in the opposite direction when they see me coming because they know I'm going to force my sugar laden treats upon their already overloaded sweet tooths. I decided this year I should find more victims friends to subject to my obsessive compulsive baking habits by hosting a cookie exchange.

It wound up being a small Sunday afternoon affair with gold and silver friends, a few munchies and alot of fabulous cookies.



Our cookie bounty consisted of:

Almond Butter Cookies from epicurious.com courtesy of Sherrell

The kitchen maven Paula Deen's recipe for White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies contributed by Candace

A tray piled high with Dawn's Toffee Bars

Team Mary and Jessica brought a batch of one of my favorites ~ Rosemary Caramel Sandwiches

Rose and Angela joined forces to bake up a batch of serious bling in the form of gorgeous Chocolate Caramel Delights

And our token males, George and Domenic showed us that they know their way around the kitchen by wowing us with Lavender cookies and Peppermint Pinwheels from Southern Living, respectively.

It was a great way to get others excited about holiday baking and gather new recipes for my ever-growing recipe file. Click the links above for the recipes that are available online and make sure you try the ones posted below as well!



Toffee Bars by Dawn

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sifted flour
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
Multi-colored sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add flour.

Pat evenly onto a 15x9x2 ungreased cookie sheet. Note: the mixture should not stick to your fingers, add more flour if needed.

Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Immediately top with chocolate chips. Wait a few minutes until melted before spreading chips.

Top with sprinkles (do not use colored sugar)
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Chocolate-Caramel Delights by Angela and Rose

1 each egg
1/2 cup butter -- softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 each vanilla caramels
3 tablespoons whipping cream
1 1/4 cups pecans -- finely chopped
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon shortening

Separate egg, reserving yolk and white. Cover and chill egg white until needed. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat well. Beat in egg yolk, milk and vanilla.

In another bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until well combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350. In a small saucepan heat and stir caramels and whipping cream over low heat until mixture is smooth. Set aside.

Slightly beat reserved egg while. Shape the dough into 1" balls. Roll each ball in egg white, then in nuts. Place balls 1" apart of a lightly greased cookie sheet. Using your thumb, make an indention in the center of the cookie.

Bake in preheat oven for 10 mins or until edges are firm. Spoon some melted caramel mixture into the indention in each cookie. Transfer cookie to wire racks; cool. If necessary, reheat caramel to keep it spoonable.

In another saucepan heat and stir chocolate pieces and shortening over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth; cool slightly. Transfer the warm mixture to a self sealing plastic bag. Close bag and cut a small hole in one corner. Drizzle cookies with chocolate mixture. Let cookies stand until chocolate is set.

Source:
"BH&G 100 Best Cookies 2004, pg. 101"
Yield:
"36 "

NOTES : To store: Place in layers separated by wax paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temp up to 3 days or freeze undrizzled cookies up to 3 months. Thaw cookies, then drizzle.

Be careful not to overfill with caramel filling.

Melted chocolate is VERY hot! Let cool for quite a while before filling bag!
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George's Lavender Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar -- packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup Rice Krispies®
1 cup oatmeal
6 teaspoons lavender buds -- finely ground
1/2 cup pecans or almonds -- finely ground

Beat together butter, Crisco and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs. Beat until fluffy. Sift together flour, soda, and cream of tartar. Add to mixture. Stir in rice krispies, oatmeal and lavender. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonsful on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 mins.

Source:
"Cedar Creek Herbs, 246 Cedar Creek Road, Hot Springs, AR 71901"
Yield:
"10 dozen"

I'm not one to lay awake, tossing and turning at night fraught with stress and anxiety. Usually, I'm lucky if a full 30 seconds pass after my head hits the pillow before my sweet dreams barge into the darkness. But lately that hasn't been the case. Thoughts of recent failures swirl in my head night after night, making sleep nearly impossible. Whispers and voices were mocking me and I had to find the source of those voices...had to smother it with my pillow and put it on permanent hiatus.

Late one night after the haunting started, I stole through the darkness and followed the voices. Since the last Daring Bakers' challenge had been the source of my nightmares, it was no surprise that the voices led me straight to the leftover almond flour in my pantry. The bag sat on the shelf taunting me, issuing a challenge to do better. And in an effort to reduce the black circles forming under my eyes, I accepted that challenge.

The source for my original attempt gone very wrong at espresso flavored macaroons came from the September 2008 issue of the now defunct Gourmet magazine. I had torn the recipe from the magazine and filed it away and since I had just enough uber-expensive almond flour to try this recipe, I figured there was nothing to lose but more precious beauty sleep.

Maybe it was because I had already failed once and learned from my mistakes. Maybe it was because Gourmet's recipe was just a better recipe. Either way, I can finally claim victory over the doomed macaroons and peaceful slumber will soon be mine. I've copied the recipe in its entirety but chose not to use the blackberry jelly, opting instead for Nutella hazelnut spread. The combination produced an excellent tasting caffeine and chocolate jolt to the system guaranteed to keep anyone awake for days should you get so excited that you nearly eat the entire batch (ask me how I know that).

Sweet dreams....


Espresso-Blackberry Macarons
September 2008

Makes 2 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies

For macarons
3 oz almond flour (2/3 cup) or blanched sliced almonds (3/4 cup) or slivered almonds (2/3 cup)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon instant-espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large egg whites, at room temperature 30 minutes
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For filling
3 About 1/2 cup blackberry jelly

Equipment: a food processor with a sharp blade or an electric coffee/spice grinder; a large pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain tip or a qt-size sealable bag with a corner snipped off; an offset spatula

Make macaron batter:
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Grind almond flour or almonds with confectioners sugar in food processor until powdery, 30 seconds for almond flour, about 2 minutes for almonds. (If using grinder, grind in small batches.) Sift through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl (if not fine enough for almost all of nuts to go through sieve, regrind). Sift again into a large bowl.
Stir together espresso powder and vanilla in a cup until powder has dissolved.
Beat egg whites with salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Beat in granulated sugar, a little at a time. Increase speed to high and beat until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks, about 1 minute. Add espresso mixture and mix at low speed until incorporated. Fold meringue into almond mixture with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. (Meringue will deflate and batter will be loose.)

Pipe and bake macarons:
Put small dabs of batter under corners of parchment to secure to baking sheets.
Spoon half of batter into pastry bag. Holding bag vertically just above baking sheet, pipe 1 1/2-inch-wide mounds of batter about 1 inch apart, stopping pressure and flicking tip sideways to avoid peaks (tamp down any peaks with a wet finger). Refill pastry bag and repeat. Let macarons stand, uncovered, at room temperature until a light crust forms, 20 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
Bake macarons, switching position of sheets halfway through, until crisp and interior does not give easily when a macaron is gently pressed, 22 to 28 minutes total. Cool completely on baking sheets (for residual heat to harden bottoms) on racks, about 30 minutes. Loosen macarons from parchment with offset spatula (they will be fragile).

Assemble cookies:
Sandwich flat sides of macarons together with a thin layer of jelly.
Layer macarons between sheets of parchment in an airtight container and let stand at room temperature at least 2 hours to soften before eating.

Cooks’ note: Filled macarons can be kept in an airtight container wrapped in plastic wrap, chilled 2 days or frozen 1 month. Bring to room temperature in wrapped container (to avoid condensation), about 1 hour if chilled or 2 hours if frozen.

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. I mean, when else can you dress up like your alter ego and parade around in public without a second look from passers-by? Well, okay, maybe a few people did do a double take but I think they were just jealous of my turkey basting abilities.

In addition to the cool, crisp air and the ability to dress and act like a fool, I also love these chocolate mummy cookies that I found a couple of years ago on Baking Bites. They've been in my "To Try" file all this time and I was elated to run across them the other day while looking for Fall recipes. The dough was very easy to work with and held its shape during baking. Nicole recommends melting white chocolate for the mummy wrapping and for some reason I never have luck working with white chocolate. I'm sure it has something to do with the amount of cocoa butter in the chips, but either way I had to add a touch of vegetable oil while melting to get it to the right consistency for piping (note added to her original recipe below). Nicole also mentions that she has cut the cookies into animal shapes and piped skeleton bones on them. What fun! Run on over to the Halloween section of her blog and check out the rest of her spooktacular ideas.

Mummy Cookies with White Chocolate Wrapping
From Nicole at BakingBites.com

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, followed by the vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. With a mixer on low speed (or by hand), gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until the dough just comes together and no streaks of flour remain.
Divide dough in half, shape each piece into a disc, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours (overnight is fine) until firm.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Working with half of the dough at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is approx 1/8 thick. A little thicker is ok, but it should be less than 1/4 inch because the cookies will puff up during baking. Use lightly floured cookie cutters (mine were mostly 2-3 inches) to cut out various shapes from the dough. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet. Cookie dough may be balled up and rerolled a second time. Repeat with remaining refrigerated dough.

Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until they are slightly firm at the edges (you can check by poking a corner carefully with a fingertip). Depending on the exact shape of your cookie cutter, baking time may need to be slightly lengthened if you want very large cookies. Cool for 5-10 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies, depending, of course, on size and shape of your cutter.

For the mummy wrapping, you will need:
Melted white chocolate, about 4-oz.

Melt the white chocolate in a small, microwave safe bowl by heating it in 30-45 second increments and stirring frequently until smooth (you may need to add a touch of vegetable oil to the chips while melting to get the correct consistency). Scrape into piping bag with a small spatula. Make the “wrapping” by piping horizontal and vertical lines along the contours of your cooled cookie shapes, as though the gingerbread person/unicorn, etc. is wrapped up in white bandages.

Allow cookies to sit for 30 minutes or so on a wire rack until the icing completely sets before eating.

Call me a procrastinator. Go ahead....I'm a big girl and can take it when people call me names. Especially when they're true. Give me any amount of time to complete a project and you'll find me in the 11th hour trying to put the finishing touches on it. True to form, here I sit finalizing this post for the July Daring Bakers' Challenge on the eve of it's due date even though I've had an entire month to complete the project. I'm not ashamed of my procrastination habit ~ I'm quite proud of it, actually, because I work better under pressure. When time is of the essence, I can turn out some fabulous results.

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

The pressure was on this morning when I finally rolled out of bed at nearly 10am to get these cookies done. Each individual component was easy enough on its own but like most DB challenges, the time involved was rather extensive. We had a choice of making one of the cookies or both and since I was already under the gun, I chose to only make the chocolate marshmallow cookies. It was an all-day project and the results turned out great even though I wasn't overly impressed with the finished product. I'm more of an ooey-gooey, warm, slightly under baked chocolate chip cookie kinda girl myself but I think the guys at work will lay waste to these little chocolate dipped treats in no time.

The recipe said it yielded 2 dozen cookies so can anyone tell me how I wound up with 4 dozen cookies?? And exactly enough marshmallow to pipe on all 48 cookies? And just enough chocolate for dipping all of them? The longer I worked, the more they multiplied....it was like rabbits! The only problem I ran into is that, nearly 4 hours after they were dipped, my chocolate still has not set up. That may only be because I chose to use what I had on hand and combined 3 different types of chocolate. I wound up being 1 ounce short so I shorted the vegetable oil just slightly. I'm currently financially embarrassed thanks to a busted air conditioner and a trip to the beach, so it was nice to not have to add to my already exorbitant grocery bill for this challenge.
The real treat in this challenge was the homemade marshmallows. I've never made them before and I'm already thinking of other projects that I want to do with them and these will be at the top of my list!

Thank you Nicole for a great Daring Bakers' challenge and for giving me the inspiration for yet another project!





Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze (I actually balanced my cookie on the fork and used a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over the cookie).
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff (the recipe didn't state how long it would take but I found it took nearly 15 minutes to achieve a stiff consistency).
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

I've been to alot of parties in my life.

I've planned parties right down to the last minute detail, cooked at parties, served at parties, and cleaned up at parties. Oh, wait...I don't think that counts as actually being AT the party, does it? No. Absolutely not. It's been a long, long time since I've hosted a party myself or actually been a guest at a party. I've been in the mood to party. And what a girl wants to do, a girl does.

I wanted to get my new house completely in order before I started entertaining, but are we ever completely settled? There's always something that needs to be done so I decided to get the invitations in the mail and commit to a date. Forget the fact that my window sills need to be cleaned and my closets need organizing...a party is supposed to be about good food and good friends!

The whole time I was getting ready for the big day - planning the menu, making lists, shopping, prepping, cleaning - I kept thinking that I could NEVER do this for a living again!

There were no real surprises on the menu. Since it was MY party, I wanted all of my favorites. The recipes that my catering business was initially built around and made the business a success. I've blogged about most of them before, so I've linked back to the posts and also included the ones that I've never shared with you below. I wanted things that I was comfortable with so I could enjoy my own party and not worry about how a new recipe was going to fly. There will be plenty of time to play with new recipes and have them ready for the next big event.

It was a wonderful Sunday brunch, thanks entirely to my wonderful girlfriends! We laughed, drank, gossiped, ate, and then did it all again. Everything turned out perfectly and we had so much fun!

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Candied Pecans (these little jewels made my salads famous!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 each egg white
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Beat egg white and water until frothy. Stir nuts into mixture to coat, then drain slightly in a colander, 3-4 mins. Mix sugar and spices in a plastic bag. Add nuts and shake to coat. Spread wet nut mixture in a single layer on a microwave safe plate; microwave on high for 1-1/2 minutes, or until mixture is bubbly. Stir. Microwave another 1-1/2 minutes. Remove; stir to separate. Cool. Store in a sealed container.


Raspberry Vanilla Vinaigrette
Recipe By :Jackie Alejo (Cooking For You!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/3 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Shake all ingredients together in a jar, until well blended. You may want to increase vanilla according to taste.


Coconut Dream Bars (one of the most requested desserts from my catering business!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
18 1/4 ounces yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
8 ounces cream cheese
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecan

Beat 1 egg and butter. Add cake mix. Pat into 8x12 inch pan. Mix cream cheese, 2 eggs, and stir in sugar. Add coconut and pecans. Spread over cake. Garnish with slivered almonds. Bake at 325 for 45 mins. Cut when cool.

Chocolate Chess Tartlets

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Dash salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
5 (2.1-oz.) packages frozen mini phyllo pastry shells, thawed
thawed frozen whipped topping -- for garnish

Preparation
1. Stir together first 7 ingredients until blended. Add eggs, stirring well. Spoon about 1 heaping tsp. chocolate mixture into each pastry shell, and place on 2 large ungreased baking sheets.
2. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or just until set. Remove to wire racks, and let cool completely. Garnish, if desired.

Store tartlets in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Yield:
"72 "

With the constant barrage of advertising centered around Valentine's Day, it's hard not to think about the "L" word these days. Roses, candy, and jewelry offered at inflated prices just to prove your love on February 14. For me, it's not so much about the proof of love on this single day as it is about the little things done on a day-to-day basis - consideration, compromise, thoughtfulness, the occasional PDA. If spouses, soul mates and significant others would put half as much thought into these daily gifts as money spent on the one time purchase, alot of relationships would be much better off, in my humble opinion. But what do I know? I'm obviously not one to be offering advice with two failed relationships under my belt, but I am an eternal optimist when it comes to love.

The question of who do I love is an easy one. There are the obvious people - my family, my dog, my closest friends. Then, there is love for people who are no longer in my life. That love continues to fade and become a distant memory.

And then there is love for THE ITALIAN. *Swoon*

The Italian and I met at a party nearly 10 years ago and there was something about him that captivated me immediately. It usually takes a while for me to warm up to people - it is very rare that someone impresses me from the get-go. He walked me to my car that night and planted a kiss on my lips and I swear I forgot my own name. *Swoon again* The Italian and I had a hot and steamy romance that summer, a relationship built entirely on physical attraction to one another. Eventually other people entered our lives and while the spark never fizzled between us, I ended the relationship to further another seemingly more stable one. I would cross paths again with the Italian quite by accident during this visit and with one quick flash of his pearly white smile I had to learn my name all over again. *Swoon again and again*

Today, so many years later, the Italian is in my life again. The spark, the flame, and all the fireworks are still there but this time there is much more to our relationship. It goes much deeper and has more substance. He has absolutely no qualms in saying the "L" word every time we're together but it has become a running joke between us that I haven't responded in kind as of yet. Oh, the Italian knows I love him. And I know he knows. But when the words finally do escape my lips, it's going to be him who has to pick himself up off the floor and be reminded of who he is!

Happy Valentine's Day, my love{s} and please enjoy this batch of cookies that I baked just for you. I followed some web links and eventually wound up using the cookie recipe from this website. I halved the recipe and they turned out quite nicely since they held their shape during baking as well as the transfer from the roll and cut stage to the baking sheet {where I always seem to have problems}. They weren't overly sweet on their own which is good considering I smothered and covered them in sickening sweet royal icing. Just pick up a can of Wilton Meringue Powder, follow the recipe and decorate until your heart is content :)




NO FAIL SUGAR COOKIES
recipe from Kitchen Gifts

This recipe is GREAT when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking. Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking these or any other cookies.

6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I used almond)
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add dry ingredients a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies.

HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper.

Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.

I don't have alot of girlfriends and quite frankly, I find it hard to make friends within my own gender. Why is that, I wonder? Is it because we, as women, are happy with only having a few close girlfriends to share our secrets with and don't want to broaden the circle? Or maybe, we as {single} women, feel other women are competition within our pool of male friends? Or....dare I think it's because I'm really not a likable person? Surely not! Regardless of the reason, the few girlfriends whom I do have are near and dear to me because I realize how special the bond is.

My friend Angela is a lovely person, both inside and outside. She is of Greek decent and is blessed with beautiful olive skin and dark hair. She also has a baby-soft voice that makes me melt every time I hear it so I can't imagine what it does to the men! She's a thoughtful person - the kind who calls for no reason other than to just say hello. We met when we were both young(er), single and living the high life here in Charlotte. We partied. We shopped. We laughed. We took weekend trips to Hilton Head. It was during one of those trips that Angela and I found ourselves in a situation that would cause a rift in our friendship. That rift would go unaddressed for nearly 9 years while our lives took different directions and it was also something that forever troubled me. And even though that water had gone under the bridge so long ago and I felt the friendship was gone for good, when I relocated back to Charlotte Angela was the first person I called. She owns a staffing/recruiting agency and with her help I landed my current job which made my entire transition back to Charlotte so much easier.

A few weeks after my move, Angela and I met for dinner and drinks and we chatted about "safe" things like the weather, our love lives, our jobs, etc. And then THE DREADED SUBJECT came up. We didn't talk specifics or rehash the incident. Instead, we each apologized for letting something that now seems so trivial come between us and the air was cleared and our consciences were lightened!

Lovely Angela is coming to see my new house tonight and I'm serving a dinner of quiche, salad, and some delish chocolate chip cherry cookies that I made from Bon Appetit earlier in the week. We'll laugh. We'll gossip. We'll plan shopping trips and weekend getaways. It will be like old times only better because now we both know how special we truly are to each other!















Bacon, Spinach & Mushroom Quiche

Recipe By : Candy Wallace - APCA
Serving Size : 8
Categories : Quiche

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/4 pound bacon -- cooked and crumbled
1 small onion -- cooked (I saute it in the rendered bacon fat!)
1 1/4 cups half and half or milk
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
dash pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
dash cayenne pepper
dash nutmeg
dash Worcestershire sauce
dash Tabasco sauce
2 ounces fresh mushroom -- sliced & sauteed just a bit
3/4 cups Swiss cheese -- diced (I used smoked Swiss)
1/2 cup frozen spinach -- thawed
1 9 inch pie crust -- defrosted

Beat eggs with seasonings and add half & half or milk. Layer bacon, onion and mushrooms, cheese, spinach. Pour in egg mixture. Bake in 375F oven for 40 minutes.

___________________________________________________________

Cherry and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe By : Bon Appetit Magazine, July 2008
Categories : Cookies, Desserts

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup dried tart cherries
1/3 cup cherry liqueur (I used cherry brandy)
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Bring cherries, cherry liqueur, and water to boil in small saucepan. Remove from heat and let soak for 15 minutes. Drain cherries; pat dry.

Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Add eggs and both extracts and beat to blend. Add flour mixture and beat on low just to blend. Stir in cherries and all chocolate chips. Scoop tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 1" apart.

Bake cookies until edges are light golden brown, about 11 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

When I retire from the world of catering, I think I'll get my food kicks from entering cooking and baking contests. And just maybe I'll win a million dollars like Anna Ginsberg of Cookie Madness did in the 2006 Pillsbury Bake-Off competition and most recently Carolyn Gurtz,who is the 43rd grand prize winner of the Pillsbury competition. She won the $1,000,000 grand prize plus an additional $5,000 Jif Peanut Butter Award. Not bad, eh?

The winning recipe was forwarded to me in a email originating from my mother's friend, Jennifer. She gave it rave reviews, so it quickly moved to the top of my "Must Try" pile. I had the perfect opportunity last week when I filmed my latest (and what will be my last) round of cooking shows that air on a local TV channel here in Hot Springs. I'm always looking for quick and easy things since I only have about 7-10 minutes of air time and this recipe fit the bill. Carolyn's recipe can be found on the Pillsbury website, complete with reviews. It's no surprise that the 89 reviews were mixed from good to bad to ugly - different people like different things. But it always amazes me when people, who clearly did not follow the original recipe in the first place, leave a bad review. I mean, c'mon people, how can you deem something "not so good" if you didn't follow the directions in the first place! One reviewer said he/she was surprised that the recipe won because it used pre-packaged items. That's the whole idea of the contest!! To use a Pillsbury product!! The recipe won because, as one judge put it, Gurtz’s recipe surpassed the 99 other competitors as the grand prize winner for its simplicity and approachability, allowing the home cook to take a convenience product and turn it into an unexpected cookie that bursts with layers of peanut butter flavor.

I agree wholeheartedly. The cookies were easy to make and I'll admit that I did leave out one of Carolyn's steps. I used my fingers to smoosh (there's a nice culinary term) the cookies. I think her method of spraying the glass and using it was an attempt to add another product in her recipe that was on the approved list of products to use. My fingers worked just as well. If I found myself with a roll of prepared peanut butter cookie dough, I'd definitely make these again. Congrats Carolyn and thanks Jennifer for bringing this to my attention!

Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies
by Carolyn Gurtz, Pillsbury Grand Prize winner

1/4 cup Fisher® Dry Roasted Peanuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup Domino® or C&H® Granulated Sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Domino® or C&H® Confectioners Powdered Sugar
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create ‘n Bake® refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
2. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls.
3. Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls.
4. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray; press into remaining peanut mixture. Flatten each ball to 1/2-inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough.
5. Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered.

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