Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar + ¼ cup for rolling
½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
36 mini peanut butter cups

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the Hershey's Kisses and set aside.

Combine butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, milk, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat well until light in color. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined. 

Scoop out small, tablespoon size amounts of dough and roll into balls between your palms, then roll each ball in the extra sugar in a shallow bowl. Place on a baking sheet spaced an inch or two apart, then bake for 7-9 minutes. Do not overbake. 

Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, gently press a mini peanut butter cup in the center of each cookie. It will melt from the heat of the cookie and then eventually harden again as the cookies cool completely. You can also use Hershey kisses instead of peanut butter cups.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ground Turkey Vegetable soup

This is a new favorite soup of ours! Adapted from here.

Ingredients
2 lbs ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced
2 large carrots, sliced
15 oz (3-4 C) cubed butternut squash 

3 cloves garlic, minced

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

15.5 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

6 C beef broth (or 6 C water + 2 TB Better than Bouillon)

Seasonings

1.5 tsp cumin

2 tsp granulated sugar

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2.5 tsp chili powder

Instructions

Saute onion, carrots, and squash for 3-4 min. Add ground turkey and cook until meat is no longer pink. Drain excess fat.

Pour in diced tomatoes with juice, add beans, broth, and seasonings. Stir well to combine. Simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add additional seasonings to taste.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

These are fantastic little squares of deliciousness. We have made them with all kinds of jam. Last time I mixed some homemade raspberry jam with homemade golden plum jam. The result was amazing. So use whatever jam you have on hand and these will turn out fabulous.

When I make them, I triple this recipe and press it into a large jelly roll baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Perfect for serving a crowd. As with all my desserts, I prefer them chilled in the fridge.

Ingredients
1/2 C light brown sugar
1 C flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 C rolled oats
1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C raspberry jam

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one 8 inch square pan (or a jelly roll pan if you're tripling it) with greased foil.

Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Cut the butter into the mixture using a pastry blender (or rub in with your hands if you don't have one) to form a crumbly mixture. Press two cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.

Bake for 35-40 min in preheated oven (30 min in a jelly roll pan), or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

A new favorite cookie in our home, adapted from here.

Ingredients
1 C softened butter
3/4 C light brown sugar
3/4 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 C flour (I like to add 1/2 white whole wheat, 1/2 half regular flour)

2 1/2 C oats (I like to mix some old fashioned, some instant)

2 C chocolate chips (I like dark chocolate)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until creamy. Add baking soda, powder, salt, and mix well. Add flour, oatmeal, and chocolate chips until evenly combined. 

Form cookie balls about 2 TB each. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.

Christmas morning Quiche

This quiche is our traditional Christmas morning breakfast! Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1 9 inch pie crust, unbaked (I recommend this one)
4 slices bacon

3/4 C shredded swiss cheese

3 eggs

3/4 C skim milk

1 C heavy cream

1/2 tsp salt

pinch of pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put bacon and cheese into the bottom of the pie crust. Beat the eggs, milk heavy cream, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl until blended. Pour over bacon and cheese in the pie crust. Bake for 45-60 min, or until quiche has puffed and browned.

 

Soft Gingersnaps

I make these often from my friend Jennie's website--they are the best! Chewy and delicious perfection. I add a little extra flour from her recipe since I like them a little thicker.

Ingredients
1 1/2 C (3 sticks) butter, softened

2 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C molasses
5 C flour
3 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
additional sugar (to roll the cookies in)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and molasses and mix well. Add baking soda, salt, spices, and flour and mix again. Roll into roughly one inch balls and then roll them in sugar. Bake for 8-11 min, or until there are large cracks in the top of the cookies and they have a golden hue (instead of the brown color of the unbaked dough).

Chocolate Balls of Goodness

This Christmas cookie is one I grew up eating--we called them chocolate cool-whip cookies. But then one day I made them for my husband to take to a work party, and one of his co-workers called them chocolate balls of goodness, and the name stuck! 

Ingredients:

2 (8 oz) Symphony bars w/almonds and toffee

1 (8 oz ) pkg Cool Whip

Vanilla wafers

Directions:

Melt chocolate slowly in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth and glossy. Stir in the cool whip and cool in the fridge or freezer until firm. Place vanilla wafers in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin until you have a very fine crumb mixture. Shape the chocolate mixture into balls and roll in the wafer crumbs. Place on wax paper on a cookie sheet and freeze.