Smore cookies

Jon and I are in a smore season right now. We go through phases of being obsessed with certain foods, namely desserts, and right now it is post dinner/post baby bedtime smores in the microwave by the fire. Jon has perfected the method and we like to experiment with different mini candies instead of just plain ole' chocolate. I got the genius idea to search smores on Pinterest (this goes great with my plan of not eating as many sweets as I did over the holidays) and it was heaven. I got the idea for these smore cookies from this recipe, made it my own, and boy are the GOOD.

Ingredients
Approximately 24 graham crackers, flavor of your choice
1 package pre balled chocolate chip cookie dough
Mini marshmallows (you won't even make a dent in a full bag)
3-4 Hershey bars

1. Break the graham crackers into squares and place them on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet
2. Break each cookie dough ball in half and flatten onto a single graham cracker square
3. Sprinkle each cookie with a few mini marshmallows (I did 3-4 each)
4. Bake for 5 minutes at 375 degrees
5. Break up the Hershey bars into teeny pieces and sprinkle over the semi cooked cookies
6. Pop back in the oven for 5-6 minutes at 375 and immediately remove from heat
7. Let cool and enjoy!
*If you want the warm taste of a traditonal smore, pop a cookie into the microwave for 10 minutes before eating)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Cookies

I have a strong sweet tooth but I am picky about my sweets. If it the dessert isn't decadent chocolate or contain lots of peanut butter, I am not interested. I used to think there wasn't anything better than soft, homemade peanut butter cookies...until I added Reese's Peanut Butter cups. I didn't follow a recipe, winged it, and came out with the most delicious cookies you'll ever taste. Make some and send them to Texas!
Ingredients *makes 24 cookies 2 cups creamy peanut butter (not the organic refrigerator kind with the oil) 2 eggs 2 cups of sugar 15-20 snack size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
1. Mix together peanut butter, eggs, and sugar 2. Scoop onto a prepared baking sheet 3. Press as many or as few chopped peanut butter cups as you'd like 4. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes

Oreo cheesecake cookies

Oreos are America's favorite cookie, right? What about cookies MADE with Oreos. I don't think it could get any better. I found these  5 ingredient Oreo cheesecake cookies and knew they would be a hit in our home. 5 ingredients, it can't get any easier and they are so delicious and almost cake like! You don't want to miss these cookies.

Ingredients- yields 36 cookies
2 stick of butter, softened
1 (8oz) brick of cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 1/4 cup white flour
20 Oreo cookies, broken into pieces

1. Cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar
2. Add flour and mix well
3. Fold in Oreo pieces
4. Scoop 1 inch balls of dough onto a prepared baking sheet (I used my new The Art of Cooking silicone baking mats)
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes. You want the edges to be slightly browned and the middle to be soft
7. Let cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet before letting cool on rack/plate

I've never used silicone baking mats before and always resorted to using oil spray or parchment paper. You guys. These The Art of Cooking silicone baking mats are my new favorite baking essential! I baked half of the cookies on the mats and half on parchment paper which resulted in me having to peel each cookie off the parchment paper. The cookies on the silicone mats slid right off and the mat was so incredibly easy to clean and store. I plan on making these baking mats a staple in my kitchen, no more need for greasing pans or using foil and parchment paper.

Buy The Art of Cooking silicone baking mats 

original recipe

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Okay y'all. If you know me "in real life" or have taken a quick skim over my sweet treats dessert Pinterest board, you'd know I have an obsession with anything chocolate/peanut butter. Reeses are my weakness and you can find me dipping just about anything into a mixture of peanut butter and Nutella. No surprise that these chocolate peanut butter cup cookies me salivate at the mouth, I don't think I've tasted a better cookie. Honestly. We had to bring the leftovers to community group one night because Jon and I were averaging 3-4 cookies a day...not great for the waistline. Enjoy the heck out of these decadent cookies!
Ingredients- makes 24 small cookies 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 6 tbsp coco powder 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 6 tbsp butter, lightly melted 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp milk 2 cups peanut butter cups, divided (this was about 30 of the individually wrapped Reeses cups)
1. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 2. In a large bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and milk. Use a mixer to beat until smooth.  3. Slowly pour in the dry ingredients and beat until dough is formed, it will be thick. 4. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the peanut butter cups 5. Scoop 1 inch balls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. 6. Use remaining 1/2 cup of peanut butter cups and press on top of the cookies 7. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. The cookies will look super soft when done but don't overcook! Take them out of the oven and let cool, they will get harder.  8. Try not to eat them all!
Unwrapping 30 peanut butter cups was quite tedious and messy!

original recipe

Sour Cream Softies

I have so many recipes saved in my queue and since I'm traveling, I thought I would share some beyond the 1 I usually share on Saturdays.


I remember eating sour cream softies at my Gramma Fanning's house all the time growing up. They are delcious sugar cookies but oh-so-soft. I am normally not the biggest fan of just sugar cookies (I need chocolate!) but these are amazing and remind me of my childhood

Ingredients

3 cups flour 

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon sugar

1. Mix together butter and with sugar in a large bowl: 

2. Add in eggs and vanilla

3. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, stirring often.

4. Scoop onto greased baking sheets and dust with cinnamon sugar

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes

Cocoa oatmeal cookies

This recipe comes to you from PB Fingers', Julie! We were going out one Friday night and had an hour and a half to spare before leaving and my sweet tooth was aching. These cookies are easy, delicious, and kind of have the consistency of muffins (which helps me justify eating 3 in 1 sitting).

Ingredients

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup flour

3 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3 tbsp canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup old fashioned oats

*makes 12 cookies (I actually doubled the recipe when I made them)

1. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl

2. In separate bowl, beat the sugars with 1 egg

3. Mix canola oil and vanilla into sugar mixture 

4. Slowly beat sugar mixture into flour mixture

5. Gradually add in oats and beat until fully combined

6. Scoop cookies onto a greased cookie sheet...if you don't already have one, a cookie scoop is worth buying!

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until cookies are slightly browned

Pumpkin cookies

This recipe comes to you from Big Red Kitchen via Pinterest. 2 ingredient cookies, yes please. I kept seeing these pop up on Pinterest and finally made them! Not only was the batter delicious (and raw egg free so you could eat all you want) but the cookies were amazing. They were soft, almost muffin like. 

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix (or spice cake mix)

1 can pumpkin

Sugar to sprinkle on top (my addition)

1. Mix the cake mix and pumpkin thoroughly to form dough

2. Spoon onto a cookie sheet (mine was ungreased) and sprinkle with sugar

3. Bake for 12 min at 350 degrees

4. Enjoy! Warning, you won't be able to eat just 1!

Homemade sugar cookies and buttercream frosting

This recipe comes to you from my sweet Gramma Fanning. She makes the most delicious sugar cookies and buttercream frosting from scratch making me wish I lived closer to her at Christmastime! I attended a surprise 30th birthday party for one of my best girlfriends and decided to use my new margarita shaped cookie cutter for a cutesie dessert. This recipe is quite long and involved but so worth it!

Cookie Ingredients
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
*3 cups of flour mixed with 1/2 tsp salt
*3 tbsp sour cream mixed with 1/2 tsp baking soda
* added alternately 

1. Mix ingredients in order given and chill dough thoroughly (I let chill for 6 hours)
2. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick on floured surface
3. Cut out with floured cookie cutter and sprinkle additional sugar
4. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 7 minutes at 400 degrees
5. Let the cookies completely cool to make frosting easier
6. Store in covered containers with wax paper (they stay crisper in tins and softer in plastic/glass containers)

(these are supposed to be party hats but they look like wedding gowns!)

Frosting Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla 

3 tbsp milk

1. Cream together butter and sugar

2. Add vanilla 

3. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time, mixing as you go

Link to frosting recipe here

 (Ernie's nose was non stop sniffin')

Tips for this recipe:

+ Let dough chill for 6-8 hours before using

+ Only take small amount of dough out of the fridge at a time. The dough is easier to work with if it is cold

+ Let cookies cool over night (or 6-8 hours) before frosting to ensure they are completely cooled.

+ If frosting is too thick, thin with milk to make spreading easier

+ Use a frosting kit (pictured above) or plastic baggie to frost evenly

+ Use a toothpick to spread frosting

+ Let frosted cookies dry for a couple hours before packing into containers

Banana chocolate chip cookies

I woke up on Saturday morning to two over ripe bananas and since we know how expensive those babies are (hehe) I started brainstorming how I could use them. I have a super simple banana bread recipe that I will get around to posting but I wanted something different. Courtney over at Sweet Tooth Sweet Life seems to read my mind when posting her delicious recipes! These cookies are almost a mix of cookie, muffin and bread. Beware, they are lethal and will be gone within 24 hours!

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter, softened (I must admit, I doubled the butter on accident Paula Deen style, this was NOT a problem at all hehe)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 medium mashed bananas

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup oats

1 cup chocolate chips

*not pictured: salt and vanilla

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

2. In another bowl, mix together the butter, sugars (regular and brown) and banana until fully combined. Crack in the egg and add the vanilla. Stir evenly

3. Add the flour mixture and thoroughly mix. Add oats and chocolate chips

4. Place dough on coated cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees

5. Let cool and enjoy! This recipe yields about 25 cookies

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who the heck doesn't love Nutella? If you've never had a taste of it, you are missing out a little piece of heaven. It is advertised as a spread (like peanut butter) but simply eating it out of the jar is satisfying enough. I stumbled upon this recipe and knew I must try it!

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick of softened butter

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup Nutella

1 large egg

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
2. Cream together butter and sugars and mix in Nutella until smooth
3. Add in egg and mix until combined.
4. Add flour mixture and mix and stir in chocolate chips.
5. Chill dough for 1/2-1 hour, it makes the batter so much easier to work with
6. Drop batter onto greased baking sheets in 1 inch balls
7. Bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes 

**The recipe said to bake for 10 minutes and I was weary because the cookies were literally falling apart and still so doughy but I let them cool on racks and they hardened quite a bit. They were a little crispier than I expected, still UH-MAY-ZING but weird right? Next time I'm going to play with the temperature/baking time.