Devilish Delights

I had to change up the recipe for this. For some reason it wasn't working, and was way to wet to make nice cookie mounds. But, never fear, they are still pretty yummy. They are chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. With a splash of coffee liqueur. The good news is, they are yummy. The bad news is, I can't remember how much flour and cocoa powder I ended up adding. So these will be my one hit wonder this year.

Lemon Crescents

These came out pretty good. They weren't as sweet as I thought they would be, though. If you are looking for a lighter, less rich cookie, this is a good option.

Lemon Crescents

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, beat butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and lime juice until smooth. Beat in flour, salt and lemon peel.

Shape dough into crescent shapes, about 2 inches long. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges just turn brown.

Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar and cool on wire rack. Dust with more powdered sugar once cooled.

Rhubarb Strawberry Thumbprint Squares

These are so flaky and yummy. Fairly easy to make too. I used Tastefully Simples Rhubarb Strawberry Fruit Spread to fill the thumbprints and it gave them this wonderful tangy flavor.

Rhubarb Strawberry Thumbprint Squares

1 1/4 cups softened butter
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3 cups flour
Rhubarb Strawberry Fruit Spread

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 15x10x1 jelly roll pan. Set aside.

Beat butter for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar, beat until combined. Beat in egg and lemon extract. Beat in flour.

Press dough into bottom of pan. Using a pizza cutter cut 9 rows down, and 6 rows across. Make indentations on each square with thumb. Add small teaspoon of fruit spread.

Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Then cut along lines with pizza cutter again. Cool on wire rack and dust with powdered sugar.

Absolutely Almond Cream Cheese Cookies

Absolutely Almond Cream Cheese Cookies. Ohh... If you like fluffy, light cookies, these are the cookies for you. This is a recipe from my Tastefully Simple website. I was looking for something super easy that used the Absolutely Almond Pound cake mix. I like this pound cake, but I love it even more as a cookie! Only thing I added, to the recipe, was the colored sugar sprinkles.

Absolutely Almond Cream Cheese Cookies

8 oz. pkg. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1 egg
Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix

Combine first 2 ingredients; mix until smooth. Add egg; blend well. Stir in AA Cake Mix (may have to knead with hands until dough forms). Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 11-12 minutes or until cookies are light brown on bottom (cookies should not brown on top and will only flatten slightly). Cool on baking rack. Makes about 45 cookies.

Check my TS website for Absolutely Almond Cake Mix

Rum Flavored Meringues

My goal this season is to try making cookies I have never made before. Ultimately, I would really like to do 25 days of baking. All new recipes! I don't know that I will be able to make that many, as it is my busy season at work, but I am going to do my best and bake as much as time (and my waistline) will allow.

My first batch of cookies is Rum Flavored Meringues. This is my first attempt at meringue cookies. They came out light and fluffy. Melt in your mouth delicious! They were also easier then I had anticipated.

Rum Flavored Meringues

3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp rum extract
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In large (glass or metal) bowl combine first 4 ingredients. Beat until soft peaks form, Gradually add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Spoon into a pipping bag with a star tip. Pipe 2in stars on parchment paper an inch apart.
(can also use a spoon to make small mounds instead of using a pipping bag)

Bake for an hour and 20 minutes, or until cookies are dry and firm when lightly touched. Cool on wire rack, or do what I did, and just pull the parchment off the sheet and onto cool counter.

In honor of St. Patrick's day

Mint cookies! These were super easy and festive. Brought them to work and they were gobbled right up. My kids loved them too! I had the idea and just went for it. I'm so glad I did. It's just to bad I'm on a diet and can't eat them. I did taste one, to make sure they were good, though.

Ingredients~

1 packages sugar cookie mix
3/4 of a bag of thin mint cookies, chopped up
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/8 tsp mint extract
8-10 drops of green food coloring

Preheat oven to 375.

Whip butter until smooth. Add cookie mix, egg, and mint extract. Mix until combined. Add food coloring until desired color is achieved. Stir in chopped up thin mints. Scoop onto cookie sheet, two inches apart. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

Enjoy.

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies

Do you want a delicious oatmeal cookie? I know you do. Here is a recipe I changed a bit. I got the recipe out of my Better Homes cookbook that I love so much. However, I have made that recipe several times and wanted to change it up a bit. So instead of adding peanut butter, I added pumpkin spice pudding mix. I had no idea what the change would do to the cookies. But, let me tell you, I am sooooooo glad I tried this!! The only problem is, you can only get pumpkin spice pudding mix during the holidays, so I won't be able to make these again until the fall. I will however try different pudding mixes to see how the flavors mesh.

Here's the recipe-

3/4 cup softened butter
1 pkg pumpkin spice pudding mix (I used Jello brand)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl beat butter and pudding mix until combined and smooth. Add sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Beat until combined. Scrap sides of bowl as needed. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Once combined, mix in flour. Lastly, stir in oats.

Drop my rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on baking sheet. (I used a handy dandy cookie scoop, if you make a lot of cookies you have to have one of these. Best thing ever..right next to my Kitchen Aid)

Bake 10 minutes or until edges are just slightly browned. Let rest for a few (3-5) minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

Another Cookie Swap

My dear friend, Debbie, hosted her annual cookie swap this past weekend. It was a blast. She is a wonderful hostess, and always goes above and beyond. Really, she does...to prove it...those are her snowflake cookies on the white platter. So much detail, and yummy too! It was great seeing everyone, and all the cookies were delicious.

Almost as good as Thin Mints

Pudding cookies. You know I love them. Here is my latest take on my favorite cookie. This version uses chocolate fudge pudding mix and dark chocolate and mint chips. I also used crisco instead of butter. If you love Thin Mints, you'll love these cookies.

Easy Pudding Cookies!

These are my all time favorite cookies! They are also the cookies I made for the cookie swap. They are super easy, and they don't take a lot of ingredients. Plus, they are moist and sweet and oh so chocolaty.

I got the recipe from kraftfoods.com but here it is, just in case you want to make these yummy treats.

Pudding Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups flour
1 pkg. white chocolate chips

BEAT butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add dry pudding mix; beat until well blended. Add eggs and baking soda; mix well. Gradually add flour, beating after each addition until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

DROP dough 2 inches apart, onto un-greased baking sheets.

BAKE at 350°F for 10 to 12 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 min. on baking sheets; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

COOKIES!

I hosted my first cookies and recipe swap this weekend. I had 18 guests. Each person made 9 dozen cookies. In all, we had over 2000 cookies! That's a lot of sugar!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Pudding Cookies

As we already know, I love pudding cookies. Here is my latest variation. Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk. They came out pretty good. So far, I haven't found a variation I don't like. If you want to try these cookies, try them soon. The pumpkin spice pudding is only available during the holiday season.

A twist on my favorite cookie

I love pudding cookies!! They are my all time favorite cookie. It is similar to a chocolate chip cookie, but has instant pudding added in. I have always made them with chocolate pudding and white chocolate chips. Very tasty!! But, you can change up the pudding and mix-ins. I like to add my own twist to things, so I decided to try a different pudding and chip combo. I went with banana pudding with peanut butter chips. I love this flavor combo, so it seemed so natural to try it in my favorite cookie. And guess what... it was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The cookie is moist and soft, with a hint of banana and a sweet peanut buttery taste. I look forward to making these again. You can get the recipe for Easy Pudding Cookies on kraftfoods.com.