I saw these on another website and thought they would be perfect for a quick christmas cookie. They require no butter, and are super easy to make. At first as I made the first batch I thought they weren’t going to turn out at all. I had to convert the measurements and I thought I might have done it wrong, but when I went to get them from the oven 10 minutes later, I was pleasantly surprised to see how great they turned out! I made two batches.

These are super quick and a lighter christmas cookie alternative, crispy and chewy. Their inspired from the Starbucks cookies apparently, which I wouldn’t know as I don’t drink coffee, and rarely visit starbucks. But they are good!

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Of course it’s that time of year again to bake cookies galore!! I baked a ton last year, like Chocolate Thumbprints, my favorite mini-toblerone shortbread, mini chocolate pecan tarts, festive two bite brownies (definitely making these again this year) , and these toasted coconut clusters, which I could eat the entire bowl full.

My aunt also just happened to buy me a new rolling pin! And it was perfect timing, as my old one was falling apart. You see, it had the handle and the metal bar through the middle wooden roller. The one she bought me is a different style than your regular rolling pin with two handles, it’s called a French Rolling Pin. And it’s one large wooden rolling pin with no handles, but slightly larger in the center and slimmer on the sides. It is perfect for rolling out cookie dough, you don’t get those lines or creases in your dough from the handles! I love it!

This one’s similar to mine! If your needing a new rolling pin, get a French pin!

This year we’re having a smaller christmas at home so I’m not going to go overboard with cookies, as i’m sure my mom and I will just end up eating them all!

But I couldn’t resist making these gingerbread men once I bought my cute little mini gingerbread cookie cutter the other day. Along with, a super cute cupcake tree ornament!! I couldn’t help myself.

I don’t overly love gingerbread cookies usually their kinda bland, and seem to always need more icing. But I added a little less spice to these and a dash of cocoa powder to make them a bit sweeter. I made a buttercream type of frosting since i’m not the greatest when it comes to cookie decorating. They make a ton of cookeis, I made them twice and depending on how thick you make them ( for softer men ) or thin ( for a crunchier man ) you can make quite a few, and as well however big your cutter of choice is. You can definitely double the recipe.

I used little sprinkles to decorate with them, and if you don’t want the fuss of icing their already ready when you take them out of the oven!

And, is it just me or was I the only one who didn’t know that gingerbread cookies were made without eggs??  haha, you learn something new everyday!

Give these little guys a try if you starting your holiday baking early. And while you’re here, leave a link to one of your favorite cookies you’ve made for the holidays this year! (more…)

First off – I love my cookie jar. that is all.

Now, As I’ve mentioned before, I have a slight, slight, peanut allergy. Meaning when I was 16 I went for allergy tests and they said I was allergic. Funny, as I had definitely consumed my fair share of peanuts and peanut butter in my 16 years and hadn’t experienced any type of reaction. So I quit it. Cold turkey.  No Pb&J sandwiches, no Reeses Peanut Butter cups, no Oh Henrys. Zilch. I was livin peanut free. Which was good I guess. But a girl can only go so long without peanut butter. So dare devil that I am, I decided It was about time I ate them again, seeing as how I’d lived 16 years with it. So now whenever I have a craving for peanut butter I go right ahead and eat it. In small quantities that is.

And I just purchased some new mixing bowls! I was getting mad the other day as somehow all the bowls seemed to have dissapeared. We moved two years ago, downsized, and I think half of our stuff is still packed up I swear! So I decided it was about time I bought some new ones. So I got a set of glass Pyrex ones. Their great!

Back to the story, yesterday as I was visiting some friends in town at their work, they had kindly requested, for the 1000th time, that I bring them baked goods. I decided this time I’d give in. The boys, as i’ll call them, work at a TV and Stereo store in town and spend the majority of their day “working” and taking time out of their busy day to talk to me whenever I stop by before work or on my break (as I work across the street.) So they requested the following types of cookies: Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Cookies (what are those?? he just likes vanilla), Sugar Cookies, Peanut butter (which I could make because the other guy who works with them who is actually deathly allergic to peanuts wouldn’t be there today.) So I thought of what I could make to satisfy them all. I thought of making a couple different types of cookies, but that takes too much time and quite frankly, I didn’t want to = ). So I thought I would satisfy them all with these Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Hopefully they’ll like em.

After looking for some recipes online I combined a few ideas and recipes to satisfy their cravings.

Ingredients – in nice little prep bowsl! (that’s a first!)

Mix it up good!

Roll em into ball and dip em in sugar!

Flatten with a fork – and put in oven!

Chunky-Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 Cup Butter, Room Temperature
• 1 1/4 Cups Crunchy Peanut Butter
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
3. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder. Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the peanut butter. Beat on slow and add the sugars.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula or wooden spoon, and on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
6. Mix in the chocolate chips.
7. *Optional* Pour 1/2 cup sugar (fine, granulated or large decorating sugar) into a small bowl. Use a small ice cream scoop or spoon to scoop dough and then roll the dough into small balls and then roll the ball into the small bowl of sugar, coating it evenly.
8. Place on the backing sheet. Using a fork, press it into the top of the cookie, to make the signature criss cross pattern on the cookie, flattening it just slightly.
9. Bake for 12 minutes, until slightly browned and just about set in the center.
10. Carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Make sure they are fully cooled before storing them.

    Note – You can make these in advance, and roll the cookie dough into the little balls, storing them in a container and freezing them until ready to use. When baking from frozen cookie, place them on the sheet and into the oven for a few minutes til they get soft, and then pull them out and make the criss cross pattern with the fork, and then stick em back in the oven to fully bake =) baking time may need to be increased by a minute or two since they are baking from frozen. You can also make these with smooth peanut butter, or if you want crunchy add peanuts to them.

Enjoy = )

So i’ve been stuck inside for the past 5 days, studying. It has been absolutely gorgeous outside this past weekend and I haven’t enjoyed any of it. So at exactly 3:30 today, as I walked out of my first exam I decided two things. 1. I feel like baking. 2. Good god I need to go to the gym! Now, some people may think those two things don’t go together, but I think they go just well. I feel like i’ve been cooped up not doing anything & I need to get moving! And, as long as I’m burning all those extra calories, why not eat some cookies while im at it?? So I decided to buy some white chocolate wafers, and use the macadamia nuts we had at home to make cookies! These are really really really good. I don’t love white chocolate, but I like it in these cookies.

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Recipe from Joy Of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Line or grease cookie sheets.
2. Whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Beat in a large bowl until light and fluffy, butter and both sugars. 
4. Beat in one at a time eggs and vanilla.
5. Stir in dry ingredients. Stir in macadamia nuts and white chocolate.
6. Drop by heaping measureing teaspoons 1 1/2 inches apart and bake for 15-18 minutes depending on how large you make them!

Her and I enjoyed a cookie, both macadamia and chicken flavored

Yet another chocolate chip cookie. I wonder how many there are out there?? I made the Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies by Martha before and said they were the softer more cakey cookie recipe I use. This one is the opposite. These are crunchier, softer in the middle and crisp on the edges.  After coming home from the gym (yea, gym and cookies? not a good combo! But I’ve got another membership, and been going everyday this week! good for me right?) my mom requested some chocolate chip cookies that were crispy and thinner than the last ones I made. So I grabbed my book and got a recipe. Her and my brother consumed the entire first batch.. yes the entire cookie sheet. Alright I may have had one..or two. Sorry mom. I’m sure it was mostly Nick… right? So if you’re looking for a crunchy chocolate chip cookie I suggest you give these a try.

So you think that I would know by now, from baking so many things, the proper way to add ingredients. Sadly I have proved myself wrong. As I was making these last night (post gym) I thought it would be easiest to quickly make them(so I could go shower, change and eat them, obviously..and undo all the hard work at the gym.) But in doing so I made a mistake. While adding the eggs, one at a time, I thought what the heck, why not crack them on the side of the bowl, while the paddle attachment is on low. Why not indeed…Oooh maybe because half of the egg shell fell into the bowl and continued to beat into the cookie dough. Yes, this happened. Luckily my instincts kicked in and I turned the down the mixer to off, or so I thought. The swtich turned out to be the locking swtich, so I quickly pushed the (right) switch to off, and proceeded to dish out the hunks of shell. Luckily they hadn’t been smashed to little bits and I got them all out safely. Please, don’t do this. It is not fun.

Recipe from: Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup 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
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)

Directions

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
2. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. 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.
4. 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 tablespoonfuls 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.)
5. Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.
6. Bake the cookies- one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point- for 10-12 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.
7. Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Enjoy with a nice tall glass of milk!

After having the baby shower this weekend, I think I need to stay away from cupcakes for a while (we’ll see). I had wanted to enter the Iron Cupcake Challenge this month, but never got around to it as I was busy with the baby shower. But please vote for the people that enterered! I really wanted to, I loved the Coffee theme! I was going to make Mocha Cupcakes.. maybe i’ll have to make them sometime anyways.

xo Bakeaholic

First off I’d like to say that I have a peanut allergy. Crazy, I know. So why would I want to whip up a batch of Peanut Butter cookies? Because I’ve convinced myself I can eat a small amount without breaking out in hives. And really, who can stay away from peanut butter?? Especially Reese’s. So when my brother asked me to make cookies again, and when I saw we had a large jar of Peanut Butter I decided I wanted to make some good old peanut butter cookies. Something I haven’t done in three years! Of course I didn’t really eat any, and let the taste testing up to my mom and brother. But I did nibble on a small one..or two, topped with Nutella. That should cancel out all the peanuts right? MmMmm, oh well. These are really yummy and taste just as a peanut butter cookie should. Crunchy on the sides and soft and pea-nutty in the middle. Martha pulls through once again. But then why wouldn’t she, she’s Martha.

These cookies were originally supposed to be chilled for several hours before baking, but I didn’t read that far before beginning and didn’t want to wait. So I modified it a little. If you would like the original recipe click here. These ones looked good also!

These were the December 28th Cookie of the Day: Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter (I used KRAFT * Read note below about Peanut Butter Products Recall)
• ** I added about 1/4 cup granulated sugar as well

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
2. Sift together flour, salt and baking sodea, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add peanut butter, and beat until smooth. Add flour mixture, and beat on low until combined.
3. Form each cookie into a ball using about a tablespoon of dough. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Place cookie sheet in freezer for about 10-15 minutes to chill.  If they stay in the freezer too long they will be hard to flatten, so place them in the oven for a few minutes, and then take them out to press them.
4. Remove from freeze and flatten them slightly with your palm or the bottom of a cup or spoon. Then dip a fork into flour, and tap off excess. Press fork slighty into the cookies to make a decorative top.
5. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Check and if needed, bake about 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven, and place on a wire rack until completely cooled.

Just a note

Peanut Butter Ingredients Update:

Kraft is NOT recalling any products in connection with the recent salmonella outbreak involving peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). Neither we nor our suppliers purchase peanut butter or paste from PCA for any of our products, including those sold in the U.S. or Canada under the Kraft, Nabisco and Planters brands.