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.

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.

Melt Away Christmas Cookies

This is my favorite Christmas cookie! They have such a yummy/unique texture, and the cream cheese frosting finishes them off perfectly. These are the reason my cupboard is most often overflowing with a questionable amount of cornstarch. I like to eat them best frozen, straight from the freezer. Perhaps this is because I used to sneak them this way as a kid :), but my husband and kids also agree that this is the best way to eat them so I know it's not just me!

Cookie Ingredients:
1 C (2 cubes) softened butter, unsalted (unsalted is important since this recipe does not call for salt)
3/4 C cornstarch
1/3 C powdered sugar
1 C flour

Frosting Ingredients:
3 oz cream cheese
1 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
food coloring (optional-my mom always added a touch of green for a light green color)

Directions
Beat cookie ingredients until well mixed, then chill slightly. Roll the dough into small balls and flatten with a cup, covered by a dishtowel or paper towel dipped in flour. Bake for 10-12 min at 350 degrees.

Beat together frosting and spread generously on completely cooled cookies.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These chocolate crinkle cookies used to be a favorite of mine growing up, and now they seem to be requested most often by my kids. They are pretty simple to make, but do need to be chilled in the fridge for a while before baking. I use just one bowl to make them--one that has a lid to cover them with while they chill. This recipe is identical to the one my mom makes, but with less salt. I also experimented with coconut oil and loved the result!

Ingredients

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, broken into square so it will melt faster

1/2 C oil (you can use coconut oil if you want to add some coconut flavor)

2 C sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

2 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C powdered sugar (for rolling the dough in before baking)

Directions

Melt the chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl (if using coconut oil add this now), stirring every 30-60 seconds until smooth. Add the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and stir until fully combined. Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Cover the dough in the bowl and chill several hours or overnight.

When the dough has fully chilled, make small balls of dough (1-2 TB) and roll in a bowl of powdered sugar. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes (if you use coconut oil they may need to cook a few minutes longer). 

Sour Cream Cookies

These are a little gem I adapted from a great cookie my mom made growing up. I replaced the shortening with butter and, of course, substituted in some wheat flour. You can use any kind of nuts you have on hand, but we like almonds. 

Ingredients

10 TB butter, softened 

1 1/2 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 C sour cream

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3 C flour (I use 1 C wheat and 2 C white)

1/2 C chopped nuts (I use 1/2 C almonds pulsed a few times in the blender)

Frosting

6 TB butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

2 C powdered sugar

2-4 tsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put parchment paper or cooking spray on a cookie sheet. Cream the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until fluffy and white. Add the sour cream and beat a little more. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat well. Place by tablespoons on cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven. Makes three dozen cookies.

After the cookies are cooled, beat together the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar for the frosting. Add a few tsp of milk to make it a good spreading consistency. 

Soft Sugar Cookies

I was never a fan of sugar cookies until I found this recipe. These are truly amazing! Every now and then I just have to go and make up a batch. We especially like to make them around holidays so we can invite friends over to help us frost and decorate them. I got the recipe from here, where you can find additional pictures and such if you'd like.

Ingredients

1 C butter, softened

2 C sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp vanilla

1 C sour cream

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

5 1/2 C flour (I always end up needing more so the dough will roll out better, maybe closer to 7 C)

Frosting

1/2 C butter, softened

4 C powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/4-1/3 C milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix some more. Add the sour cream, then everything else and add a little more flour if needed so the dough isn't too sticky.

Roll out the cookies pretty thick (1/4-1/3 inch thick) and bake for 7-8 minutes. Be careful to not over bake these so that they stay soft and scrumptious! If they are golden brown around the edges, you've baked them too long. So take them out even if they don't look all the way done.

Beat together the frosting ingredients and add food coloring if desired. I like to frost these while they are still slightly warm (just a tiny tiny bit) so that the frosting is smooth. I put sprinkles on immediately after frosting so that they harden into the frosting. 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This has been my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe since I discovered it a few years ago. Adapted from here. 

Ingredients
3/4 C softened butter
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 C flour (I like the flavor using 1/4 wheat)
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C chocolate chips

Directions

Cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, then the rest of the ingredients. Scoop by the TB and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, being careful not to overcook them. Makes about 2 dozen cookies (I usually double the recipe and get between 3-4 dozen).

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

This one is a contribution from Steve. He was in charge of dessert and chose this bit of deliciousness for the evening. The whole family devoured them shamelessly. Adapted from here.

1 C softened butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 C flour (we liked it with 1/2 C of this being whole wheat flour)
2/3 C cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Space on cookie sheets by TB and bake 8-10 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees. Devour shamelessly.

No Bake Cookies

Absolutely delicious! This is my husband's favorite cookie, but of course I like it too!

Combine the following in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a rolling boil.

1 1/2 C white sugar
1/4 C cocoa
1/2 C milk
1/4 C butter

Boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, and add the following:

1 tsp. vanilla
1 pinch salt
1/2 C chunky peanut butter
4-5 C oats

Drop by TB onto waxed paper. I put them in the fridge and they're ready to eat in 15 minutes!

Giant Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you like peanut butter and chocolate, this recipe is for you. This cookie is big, chewy, and rich. If you were to ask me what my favorite kind of cookie is, this would be it!

3/4 C butter 
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C peanut butter (I make sure to fill the whole 1/2 C, plus a tiny bit extra)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3 C flour (I often do 1 C whole wheat flour and 2 C white)
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt (the recipe calls for 1 tsp. but Steve and I prefer less)
1/2 bag chocolate chips

This recipe makes 18 very big cookies. I roll out all 18 balls, making them the same size and placing them on three different cookie sheets (6 to a sheet).

Bake for 7-9 minutes in a preheated oven at 400 degrees until the tops are just starting to turn golden. They may seem like they aren't done all the way, but as long as they are slightly golden, take them out. If the whole cookie is starting to brown, you've cooked them too long. Let them cool on the cookie sheet (I leave them for an hour or so).

In my opinion, these cookies are best chilled in the fridge. But then I'm weird and I like to eat most of my desserts cold, or even frozen. I keep these cookies in the fridge and LOVE eating them cold with a glass of milk. Happy eating!

Tip: If you notice the cookies aren't spreading out like you want them to, you may want to flatten them slightly before baking (or even while they are baking if you catch it in time).