Apple, Pear, Cranberry Crisp

 I had some cranberry's that needed to be used it and thought this sounded like a perfect fall dessert!

Apple, Cranberry, Pear, Crisp-adapted from Ina Garten
2 lbs pears, peeled, chopped
2 lbs apples(I used honey crisp), peeled, chopped
1 lb fresh cranberries
zest of one lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Topping:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 stick butter, cold, cut up

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place fruit into a large bowl, combine with sugar, flour, lemon juice/zest, and sugar. Spread into a 9x13 pan.


Mix together dry ingredients for toppings, cut butter into mixture until it looks like large crumbles. Place topping on top of fruit and bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.


**I did cut back on the sugar and butter oringally called for in this recipe, but it still tasted excellent. I really liked the kick of the lemon zest and it wasn't overly sweet!

Caramel Apple Cake with Apple Cider Frosting

 We had a few friends and family over this weekend for lunch. One of the guy's birthday was the following day so I told him I'd make a cake. I thought this sounded like the perfect fall birthday cake!

Caramel Apple Cake with Apple Cider Frosting-shared from A Hint Of Honey
Cake:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour(used white whole wheat)
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup caramel sauce
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.

Whisk dry ingredients together except sugar. In another large mixing bowl combine sugar, oil, applesauce, caramel, and vanilla, beat until well combined.Add eggs in one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with buttermilk, and continue to mix until well combined.

Pour batter into cake pans and bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes and then gently remove cake from pan. Let cool completely.

Apple Cider Frosting:
about 6 cups powdered sugar*
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup apple cider
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

*the original recipe called for 7 1/2-8 cups sugar, but I found at 6 it was plenty sweet enough

Place all ingredients in mixer and beat until light and fluffy.

Place cake on cake plate and trim if needed. Place about 1 cup of sugar on top and spread out. Lay second layer on top and frost cake with remaining frosting. Allow frosting to set before serving!


**This cake was PHENOMENAL!! It was moist and not to sweet. The frosting had a nice cinnamon taste to it and added a nice touch to the cake. Everyone loved it!

Nutmeg Ginger Apple Snaps

 (picture courtesy of Vancouver Observer)

I was looking for unique cookies to send to the church bake sale and also needed a way to use up some apples!

Nutmeg Ginger Apple Snaps-shared from Vancouver Observer
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp molasses
5 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch ground cloves
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
4 cups flour(I used white whole wheat)
2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
4 apples
1/2 cup coarse

Preheat oven to 325.

Cream butter until it's light colored and easily forms peaks. Add the molasses, sugars, spices, grated ginger, and vanilla, whip until fully blended.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt together. Add to the butter mixture in 3 batches, on low speed until fully blended.

Roll dough into 2-3 tbsp size ball and flatten them on parchment lined cookie sheets.(I used a small glass, dipped in sugar) Slice apple thinly and place on top of the cookie, sprinkle with coarse sugar to cover apple. Bake for 12-15 mins until golden brown.

**The cookies were nice and crispy and flavorful. The ginger was almost to potent for me, but it was very ginger snap like. The dough was very dry and I'm thinking it was because I used white whole wheat flour, but the dryness did work with the cookie, they just were not easy to roll. The boys liked them...just not the apple part on top, but they were eating the apple chips I made!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

*Sorry no picture...I had every intention of taking one and then the cake was GONE!
This recipe I stumbled on in one of my magazines. I have since made it twice and brought it to a cook out a couple weeks ago! It is perfect for this time of year when zucchini is plentiful!

I am also fairly certain that if you don't TELL the people eating this that there is zucchini it in...they will never know!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour(1/2 whole wheat)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 recipe for peanut butter frosting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 9x13 inch pan if needed.(This is also great for cupcakes!)

In a large bowl stir together zucchini, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Place in cake pan and cook until toothpick comes out clean about 30-35 mins.

Allow to cool and top with peanut butter frosting.

**This is a delicious and moist cake! It got rave reviews at the cook out! I do normally mix in applesauce for the oil but it didn't look right so all oil it was! The frosting isn't overly sweet and is the perfect compliment to the moist cake!

Dark Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

I made this cake for my mother in law's birthday. It's a mix between 2 different recipes. Originally the cake was to have a hot chocolate frosting, but I like to mix a white and dark chocolate together or yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Dark Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Frosting-What Megan's Making? and Jenn's Food Journey
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup strong coffee, cooled
1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour cake pans, set aside.

Sift together dry ingredients. Add in wet ingredients and mix to combine. It will be VERY liquidy! Pour into pans and bake for 20 mins. Turn pans and continue baking for another 15 mins until toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool and place in freezer to freeze. This will help not to have crumbs in your frosting when you got to frost it!

White Chocolate Frosting
4 1/2 oz good quality white chocolate(I used ghiradelli)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2 oz of cream cheese, room temperature
pinch of salt

Melt chocolate and allow to cool to lukewarm. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment add in chocolate, cream, vanilla, butter, and cream cheese. Add in sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add more cream if needed to get to desired consistency. Spread onto cake!*This doesn't make a lot of frosting, but it was enough to frost a 9x11 inch cake(that was cut in half for a layered effect)

**This cake was AMAZING! It was moist and chocolaty! The frosting worked perfectly for it!

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found a couple of good deals on "more natural" oreos this past weekend! Can't beat 75 cents and 99 cents. Problem is my boys want to eat them constantly...even if some were for vacation! I decided to try one of the many oreo recipes I keep finding and it's raining so it was perfect cookie making weather!

I did double the recipe and cut back the sugar! This is my version!

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies-adapted from Picky Palate
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
about 8-10 oreos(I used Back to Nature brand, feel free to use more if you want), broken into quarters

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugars, add in one egg at a time and beat until combined. Add in vanilla and mix to combine. Add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips and oreo pieces. Scoop out with scoop and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 mins until edges are browned.

Peanut Butter {Eggs} or balls

Growing up my mom made these for probably every Christmas. They were always loved by us and the people she gave them to...neighbors or teachers! They are still a favorite today, I love them but don't always like to make them. I just don't have the patience to roll the balls and then dip them! But I needed a dessert for Easter so I thought this would be perfect as I had all the ingredients on hand, plus I knew my family would love them!

Peanut Butter {Eggs}or Balls-shared from my mom
18 oz jar of peanut butter
4 cups rice krispie cereal
1 stick butter, softened
1 box powedered sugar(about 1 lb)
1 bag chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients together except for the chocolate. Roll into balls or egg shapes. Place on cookie sheet. I then put the eggs in the fridge to get nice and cold, makes them easier to dip!

Melt chocolate. Dip balls or eggs in chocolate and place back on cookie sheet. Allow chocolate to harden. I did put them in the fridge to speed this along. Decorate if you would like too!  I used a few colored sprinkles.

**These are fabulous and tried and true! I really like the cereal in them because it helps cut down some of the powerful peanut butter taste that some can have! And make sure you check your jar of peanut butter, mine was only 15 oz, which I figured would be fine, but the eggs wouldn't stick together enough, once I added more peanut butter they were perfect to form!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

I have quite the stockpile of peanut butter from a great amazon sale I took advantage of a couple weeks ago. Then I saw this recipe and figured it was perfect to use some of it up for! Plus this recipe only uses 5 ingredients can't get any easier than that!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies-adapted from What's Cooking at My House?
1 cup creamy Peanut Butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
jelly of your choice(I used strawberry Polaner All Fruit)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients except jelly. Mix together until dough forms. Scoop dough out and place on baking sheet(I used my small pampered chef cookie scoop). Make a small indentation into dough with your thumb. Fill each hole with about 1 tsp jelly. Bake for 8-11 minutes. Allow to cool for 2 mins before removing from the baking sheet.

**These were delicious and came together very quick! They taste just like a sandwich would minus the bread! Perfect for anyone that is gluten free as well!

Homemade "Funfetti"/Yellow Cake

We celebrated an early birthday for Q the other day along with some friends of ours who's son turns 3 next week. I was planning to make chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, but my 4 year old told me know, it had to  be vanilla cake with blue frosting...I thought it sounded pretty boring so I talked him into this!

"Funfetti" Cake-shared from Chef Talk
2 1/4 cup flour(unsifted)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
canola oil
1 stick butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 8-9 inch cake pans lined with parchment paper and greased.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a 2 cup measuring cup, measure the milk to 1 1/4 cups, add in enough oil to bring it to 1 1/3 cups. Add milk mixture, butter, and vanilla to flour and beat on medium speed for 2 mins, scraping down the sides if needed. Add in the eggs and  beat for another 2 mins. Stir in about 1/4 cup of colored jimmies/sprinkles.

Place into greased pans. Bake for 20-25 mins until toothpick comes out clean.

**This is the best homemade vanilla cake I've ever had! It is moist and a bit dense, but is very flavorful and buttery! YUM!

Cookie Dough Truffles and Triple Chocolate Cookie Brownies

I was going to visit a friend over the weekend and she is always commenting on the food I make so I decided to bring her a couple treats for her!

Cooke Dough Truffles-shared from What Megan's Making
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar(I didn't pack it)
2 1/4 cups ap flour
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips(mini preferred)
1 bag chocolate melts or chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy(about 2 mins). Add in milk, flour, and vanilla, beat until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill dough for about an hour.

Melt chocolate chips or candy melts in microwave for 30 second intervals until melted ans smooth.

Roll dough into balls and dip into chocolate. Allow chocolate to harden.

**The dough really did taste like regular cookie dough! The dough itself had a strong sweetened condensed milk taste, but once the outside chocolate later was added they were truly indulgent!

Triple Chocolate Cookie Brownies-shared from Apples to Zucchini

For the brownie layer:

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup ap flour

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix together eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Add in dry ingredients and mix throughly. Place in 9x13 inch pan.

For cookie layer:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 egg

1 stick butter

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup white chocolate chips(or reg. chocolate chips)

Cream together butter and sugars. Add in egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Beat in flour and cocoa until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. *This is a very stiff dough so if you aren't using a stand mixer it will take some elbow grease! Break dough into pieces(about 1 tbsp size) and place on top of brownie batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 mins, maybe longer!

**The orinal recipe states to bake it for 35-45 mins. I baked for 30 mins and I think they were even over cooked a little bit. The brownies were still a bit gooey, but I think if they were a bit more gooey they would even better. This will depend on how you like your brownies...they were STILL marvelous and everyone I shared them with thought they were wonderful and very decadent! I did use white chocolate chips to help break up some of the reg. chocolate flavor a bit, it worked out great!

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

My boys LOVE chocolate milk and I had been buying Nesquik for a while because it was the only one on the market without hfcs in it. But its just expensive and they go through it FAST! I tried a chocolate syrup once before, but it was much thicker like Hot Fudge. I came across this recipe and wanted to give it a try as K has been wanting chocolate milk! The boys haven't realized its been gone...they are happy with cinnamon sugar milk, I much prefer chocolate!

The original recipe calls for Sucanat...but I couldn't find that at my store. I thought what I bought was similar but its actually not. Sucanat is actually a raw form of brown sugar, I ended up with just a raw form of sugar(Demerara). So after figuring that I could sub one for the other, I did add in a little molasses as I didn't want to offset the taste.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup-shared from Heavenly Homemakers
1 cup sucanat OR Demerara sugar(+ about 1 tsp molasses)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
dash of sea salt(I did use kosher)
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients into a small sauce pan. Turn on heat and whisk until it starts to boil. Boil for one minute and shut off heat. Let cool for a few minutes then whisk in vanilla. Allow to cool and place in glass container for storage.

**I wasn't sure how this was going to work at first, it looked thick and from whisking it frothy. BUT by the time it boiled it smoothed and thinned out like purchased chocolate syrup. It is not as thick as the store bought, but it was really tasty and made some delicious chocolate milk, I just had to sample some!

M&M Pretzel Cookies

A begged me to make some cookies...and he wasn't satisfied in just making the oatmeal peanut butter ones I already had in the freezer. I thought this recipe sounded different and it helped use up some pretzels and m&m's I had!

M&M Pretzel Cookies-adapted from Two Peas In Their Pod
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
Scant 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2-1 cup mini m&ms
1 1/2 cup chopped pretzels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add in vanilla and one egg at a time and beat until combined. Add in flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix until combined. Stir in pretzels and m&m's. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 mins until golden brown.

**I really liked the crunch and saltiness that the pretzels added to the cookies. They were nice and chewy on the inside and delicious! A perfect sweet and salty snack!

Red Velvet Trifles

I saw these while blog hopping the week before Valentine's day and knew I wanted to make them for our dessert! This way I had the healthy part of fruit but also a little bit of a treat with the cake!

This is only a half batch, but feel free to double it for a party!

Red Velvet Trifles-shared from Taste and Tell
1/2 9x13 red velvet cake,cubed
8 oz block cream cheese,softened
6-8 oz vanilla yogurt
3 tbsp powdered sugar(or to taste)
1 qt strawberries, sliced

Beat together yogurt, cream cheese, and sugar until smooth.

Place a layer of cubed cake in the bottom of a bowl(or individual serving dish). Top with yogurt mixture, followed by a layer of strawberries. Continue until all ingredients are used up, ending with strawberries.
Serve immediately or chilled.

**This was pretty tasty! It wasn't overly sweet and having the strawberries added a fresh tasted to it. Having the yogurt/cream cheese mix was like a frosting so it was like cake in a bowl! Delish!

Red Velvet Cake and Cake Balls

I wanted to try again at making a Red Velvet Cake. I made one for either Easter or Mother's Day last year and something went wrong as it didn't seem to rise and it was VERY dense. It wasn't as great as I expected it to be. After talking to the girl I got the recipe from she agreed that something wasn't right. So I tried again!

I did alter Hallee's a little bit as I knew I wasn't just leaving this as a cake, but mixing it into red velvet trifles and cake balls. I also forgot to soften the butter so I tried using coconut oil for the first time!

Red Velvet Cake-adapted from Hallee the Homemaker
3/4 cup coconut oil(or butter, softened)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 oz greek yogurt(I used Honey)
2 oz reg. plain yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 oz red food coloring

Beat coconut oil/butter until fluffy. Beat in sugar until fluffy. Stir in applesauce.  Add in the eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Sift together flour, baking soda, and cocoa. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mix alternating with the yogurt, stating and ending with flour. Stir in vanilla. Add in red coloring and beat until combined. Place in your choice of pan.(I used a 9x13) Bake at 350 for 30-35 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

**I think this one came out MUCH better than my first attempt at making the cake! It did rise and was velvety in texture. We liked the flavor much better as well. I'm not sure what happened the first time though!

Cake Balls

These have been floating around the blogosphere for quite a while! The original recipe/method is from Bakerella. I knew I was only going to need half of the cake for our Valentine's Day dessert and I also knew I had some leftover frosting that needed to be used up. Bakerella has some other super cute ideas for fun desserts with cake, so make sure to check out her blog if you haven't already!

Now the first time I made these I used a homemade cake with homemade frosting. I wasn't a huge fan because they were VERY VERY sweet! But people would rave about these. So I tried it with the yucky can frosting...and they were AMAZING! Couldn't even taste the gross frosting! So these are special treats so I'll be ok with using that stuff once in a while! (I plan on making mickey mouse ones for Q's birthday in March). This was only a half batch as I only had half a can of frosting to use.

1/2 red velvet cake, crushed

1/2 can frosting(can use cream cheese frosting)

1/2 bag candy melts(I used dark cocoa)

Mix together cake and frosting until well combined. Roll into dough balls and freeze on a flat cookie sheet. Once frozen, melt candy melts. Roll dough into chocolate until well coated. Remove excess chocolate and place back on cookie sheet. Allow to harden and enjoy!

**Like I said these are AMAZING and slightly addicting. Luckily most of the batch is going to A's preschool tomorrow for snack! (He missed his valentine's party, so he's taking in a special treat!)

Giant Breakfast Cookies

I like to have some muffins, baked oatmeal, or something else quick for breakfast in the morning especially on days we need to actually leave the house! I thought these sounded perfect and the ingredients sounded similar to the Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies, those were always tasty!

Giant Breakfast Cookies-adapted from Heavenly Homemakers
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup applesauce
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup raisins, chocolate chips, or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350

Mix together all ingredients except flour, oats, and raisins. Stir to combine. Add in flour and oats, combine until moistened. Stir in fruit or chocolate chips. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop batter onto cookie sheet. Bake for 15 mins(may need more or less time depending on the size of the cookie). Let cool for 3-4 mins and place on cooling rack.

**My cookies weren't flat like the original post...I feel like this is a theme, but anyway they were tasty. The sugar was reduced(so you can use up to 3/4 of a cup and all honey or all syrup). They were perfectly sweet and delicious! They were even approved by my 4 year old and pretty easy to make!

Gluten Free Chocolate Nut Brownie Cookies

A friend I grew up with started her own blog recently. These looked delicious, easy, quick, and I love to experiment! So I gave these a try. Now she does live in Colorado, so I thought I'd have to change the recipe a bit...well at least when it came to bake time. But I didn't need too. Of course if you were to make smaller cookies you will probably have to cook them at a lesser time. Hers were flatter, but I contribute the elevation to be a factor in this, also the type of pan I used(which was a silicone one).

I was also amazed that there was no butter or leavening in this cookie. It definitely peeked my interest!

I called these "Nut" cookies because she suggested using walnuts or pecans, all I had on hand were peanuts, so I chopped those up and used them. I'm quite excited to see what else she shares!

Gluten Free Chocolate Nut Brownie Cookies-shared from Everything Reconsidered
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 large egg whites
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1.5 cups semi sweet choc. chips,chopped(you will want to make sure these are gf)
1.5 cups nuts, chopped

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

Whisk together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Add in nuts and chocolate chips. Stir in eggs just until moistened, do not over mix. (The dough is VERY thick, so next time I may use my stand mixer) Scoop out dough and place on cookie sheet. I used my large pampered chef scoop and got 15 cookies out of the batch.

Bake for 25 mins turning half way through. You want them hard on the outside, even if they are a little undercooked that is ok, makes them even better!

**These cookies came out AMAZING!  I couldn't believe how chewy they were on the inside and the crunch of the outside added to the texture! I gave one to K when he got home and he said they were great(this coming from a guy who isn't a huge fan of chocolate) I then told him there was no flour in them, he didn't believe me! BUT believe it! They were almost too sweet for me, but being that this is one of the first gf recipes I've done, I didn't want to mess with it too much. Next time I will perhaps cut down on the choc. chips and even chop them!(I did not do that today)

267 cal/cookie

(Mint) Hot Chocolate Cookies

I attempted to make some homemade hot chocolate mix for Christmas presents...but we weren't that impressed with it. So back to the drawing boards on that, but I didn't want to throw the ingredients out so I decided to make these cookies with them.

You can leave these without the mint in them, I used mint chips in the cocoa mix so I went with mint chips!

Hot Chocolate Cookies-adapted from What's for dinner?
2 sticks butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3-3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot chocolate mix(or 4 envelopes)
3 1/4 cup flour(ww and ap)
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup dark choclate mint chips or 1 cup semi sweet

Cream together sugar and butter together. Add in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Stir together dry ingredients and slowly incorporate dry into the wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Place dough in fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Scoop dough by tablespoon onto cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 mins. Try not to over bake them. Remove to cooling rack.

**If you didn't over bake them they should be a little fudgy on the inside, I think this is how they are supposed to be and they are delicious!

Gingerbread Bars

I was looking for a dessert to bring on Christmas Eve. I didn't want something super sugary and I was all cookied and candied out. My awesome friend, Kim, posted this recipe on her blog and it sounded very similar to my Aunt's hermits, although now comparing the two recipes they are slightly different, but to me they tasted very similar!

Gingerbread Bars-shared from Mac's Kitchen Adventures
2 cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
10 tbsp butter(1 1/4 stick butter), room temp
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together dry ingredients. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add in molasses and mix until blended. Add in dry ingredients and beat until blended. Spread into greased and floured sheet pan or jelly roll pan. *The dough is REALLY thick, so make sure you have some patience for this part. Sprinkle top with 1 tbsp sugar(or sanding sugar/raw sugar) Bake for 15-20 mins until tester comes out clean in the center.

**These were a little darker than the hermit cookies, but the taste was almost exact! These were dynamite and I loved them. I served them with fresh whipped cream!

Mocha Thumb Prints and Saltine Toffee

I found this recipe in a Family Circle magazine. I made it for our housewarming 5 years ago. I like to post different recipes so I decided to make these again...I haven't made them since, but they are very tasty!
*I also made them Peppermint Mocha Thumb prints this time as I had a partial bag of dark choc/mint chips.

Mocha Thumb Prints-Family Circle
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tbsp instant coffee
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips(or peppermint/dark choc. chips)
1 tbsp kahlua*

Cream together butter and sugar. Add in egg and mix until combined. Add in flour, salt, and coffee. Mix until throughly combined. You may need to need it a bit and it will be a pretty thick dough. Roll dough into balls(about 2 tsp or so, I used my small cookie scoop). Place on cookie sheet and make indentation in middle of the cookie.(I used my 1/4 tsp spoon and it worked awesome) Place in 350 degree oven for 12 mins. You may have to press the centers down again once removed from the oven.

Once cookies are cooled. Place chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl and slowly melt. Let cool slightly and add in kahlua, mix together.**Now for some reason my chocolate did seize, and it could have been b/c I didn't add in the corn syrup or the butter. So it made it more fudge/frosting like. BUT it still worked out very well!

**The addition of peppermint was like eating a "peppermint mocha" from Starbucks. They are delicious!

Saltine Toffee

I've seen these referred to as "Christmas Crack"...they are very delicious and easy to make. I've seen it in numerous places and almost replaces regular toffee.

35 saltine crackers
2 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 pkg chocolate chips

Lay crackers on foil lined cookie sheet. Melt butter and brown sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 mins. Spread over crackers. Place in 400 degree oven for 7 mins. Remove from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot toffee and let sit for 5 mins. Spread chocolate into thin layer and sprinkle with walnuts, allow to cool.

**This is a staple at our house during the Christmas season. It is a must as it has that sweet and salty taste.

Peanut Butter Crunch Bars and White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Usually around this time of year I make either peanut butter balls or these crunch bars. I really don't have the patience for the pb balls...so I'm gonna let my mom make them! They are hands down THE best, but these are a close second and delish if you LOVE a pb/chocolate combo.

Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
2 cups powdered sugar
6 sheets of graham crackers, crushed
1 1/3 cups peanut butter, divided
1 stick butter
6 oz chocolate chips

Mix together sugar and 1 cup pb. Melt butter and add to pb mixture. Mix in graham crackers.(I did use the stand mixer for the mixing part, its a thick "dough" and wasn't sure if I could mix it by hand). Press into a 9x13 inch pan(or an 8x8 for thicker bars).Melt chocolate chips and pb and spread over the top of the mixture. Let harden and cut into bars.

**I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. I like the crunch that the crackers provide. These are probably just as good as peanut butter cups! YUM!

 White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

The first time I made these K said they were the best cookies I've ever made! This has now become a holiday staple and is perfect for the season. I did use a different recipe this year(slightly) and I liked this even better than the original!

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies-Eat at Home
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups oats
1-2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375. Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and milk. Add in flour and salt, beat to combine. Add in oats and stir to combine. Stir in chips and cranberries. Place on cookie sheets and bake for 9 mins.

**These are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside! I love the flavor combination and the milk made them a bit more moist than the original.