Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these cookies during a Christmas baking escapade. They are so good!

Confession: I do NOT love cookies. These were amazing though. I was pretty excited about them.

They came out in perfectly round looking cookies which was a huge win for me!

My 6 year old walked in and asked if I was baking ice cream. These little beauties looked just like scoops of mint chip ice cream.

Adapted from Little Diary on the Prairie.

Ingredients

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1½ c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1½ tsp. peppermint extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Mexican vanilla)
• a few drops of green green food coloring (color to your liking)
• 3 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tarter
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 10 oz. bag Nestle dark chocolate chips mixed with mint chips 

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar for about three minutes. It should be fluffy.
2. Add eggs, green food coloring and peppermint extract. Cream for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Measure dry ingredients in a separate bowl or sifter. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix until combined.
4. Add mint and chocolate chips. Gently stir to until incorporated.
5. Spray cookie sheet. Drop cookies using a 2 Tablespoon size cookie scoop.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Watch for the cookies to begin cracking. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes. Transfer to cookie rack and finish cooling.

No-Chill Sugar Cookies

1 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour

Place all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer and mix until completely blended. Add more flour if needed. Dough should be slightly sticky. Place dough on a floured counter *** and roll out to 1/4" thick. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350* 9-11 minutes.
***If you would like colored dough like shown sepearte the dough into 4 (or the number of colors you would like) balls. Knead food coloring in by hand.***

Gingerbread House Recipe

1 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 T ginger
1 c molasses
2 t allspice
2 t cinnamon
2 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 T + 1 t baking soda
1 c (2 sticks) margarine
2 eggs, beaten
7 c flour

Place both sugars, ginger, molasses, and spices in a large saucepan and combine. Stir occasionally while bringing to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. *It will bubble and rise as shown in picture*

Add margarine and stir until melted. Place mixture in bowl of stand mixer and mix in eggs and flour with dough hook (or add other ingredients by hand). Roll out on floured surface to about 1/4" thinkness and cut into desired shapes for houses. (We made 5 houses out of this recipe - may vary depending on size of houses.)

Caramel Glazed Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

All five of my kids (ages 2-10) seriously devoured these muffins this morning. I was really glad I had made 24! My 2 year old finished her first one (without the caramel) and was on to a second one before I finished putting the caramel on the tops.
Line 24 muffin cups with paper baking cups or brush tins with this easy release. Pre-heat oven to 375°.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
½ c brown sugar
¼ c powdered sugar
1 egg
2 t vanilla bean paste (or regular vanilla)

Combine all of the ingredients and beat until smooth. Set aside.

Pumpkin Muffin Batter:
2 2/3 c flour
1 ¼ c brown sugar
1 c sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t pumpkin pie spice (You can also use a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in place of this if you don’t have it)
½ t. ginger
3 eggs
1 c pumpkin puree
1/2 c veg. oil
2 t vanilla bean paste (regular vanilla is fine, too)

Mix together flour, both sugars, baking powder, salt, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice. Add eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla. Mix well. Scoop 1-2 T. of this batter into each muffin cup. Next, place 1 T. of the vanilla cream cheese mixture into each of the muffin cups. Top each one with another T. of the muffin batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes (adjust cooking time as needed). While muffins are baking make the caramel topping.

Vanilla Bean Caramel Topping:(optional)
1 c. cream
1/2 t. sea salt
1 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla bean paste (You can use regular vanilla instead, this is just what I had)

Pour the cream or milk into a small saucepan and place on a low to medium heat. Add the salt and vanilla to the saucepan and stir to dissolve. Bring to a steady simmer, and then add the brown sugar. Stir to dissolve. Bring the mixture to a steady, low boil, and stir frequently. It takes about 5-10 minutes to get to the desired consistency.

When the muffins are done you can either dip the tops of each one into the caramel or drizzle the caramel over the tops of each muffin.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Variation:
Skip the filling and the topping. Add chocolate chips to the batter.

Baked Oatmeal

This recipe cam from Angie Lewis. It is a favorite around here. I love to make it for everyday mornings as well as special occasion mornings.

What you'll need:
1 c. oil
2 t. salt
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
4 eggs
2 t. cinnamon
5 c. Oats
2 c. milk
1 T vanilla
1 t almond extract

Mix all together and pour into 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Serve with fresh fruit and cream. (We love strawberries and raspberries on ours.)

Alicia's Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cube butter, softened
1 cube margarine, softened
2 c. Brown Sugar
1 c. White Sugar
3 eggs
1/2 T. vanilla
1 t. Almond extract
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
4 c. flour
1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
2 Hershey's Bliss Chocolate Meltaway Center Candy Bars, chopped small
Whip butter and margarine until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and white sugar. Mix until fluffy. Add vanilla and almond extracts and eggs. Mix well. Add baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add flour and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and candy bar chunks. Drop by cookie dough scoop onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350* 8-10 minutes.

*This recipe makes about 75-80 cookies.

Crockpot Hot Chocolate

I have a Pinterest addiction. It's a little crazy. On the bright side I try new recipes a lot these days. My bestie, Emily found this recipe and made it a few times. I seemed to always miss out. She made it for New Years Eve and I was going to grab some while we played games. but we played some wild dice game and it was way too crazy to have a drink on the table. Needless to say, two days later I realized I never got any. Sad day. So last night I made it - thanks to Emily and her ingredients. Did I mention she's the best? It was amazing. The recipe comes from Mrs. Happy Homemaker and she says it's the best, but I wasn't a believer until I tried it myself. She's telling the truth guys. Try it out. You'll see.

1.5 cups Heavy Cream (or more if you're like me)
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 15 oz bag milk chocolate chips
6 cups of whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

Put everything in your crock pot and turn it on low for two hours whisking occasionally. Or do like I did and heat the milk up in the microwave until it's warm and then put it in the crockpot. This took my cook time down to about 45 minutes. When the kids want hot chocolate, they want it now! :)

No Fail Caramels

This year I decided to tackle caramels for Christmas. I've done them in the past, but I HATE wrapping all of them so I have never given them away. This year I have a 9 year old daughter. She likes to wrap them. I am loving my life! I found a recipe that looked pretty simple from I Still Love You. It turned out fabulous! You just might be getting some of these from me this year if you're lucky ;-)

Caramels That Won’t Fail

Dorothy Schettler
Makes about 200 one-inch squares

2 sticks butter (or 1 cup)
1 1/2 cups Karo syrup
4 cups sugar
2 cans evaporated milk

Butter a jelly roll pan, set aside. In a large pot, melt butter, add Karo syrup, then sugar. Cook until boiling. Slowly add evaporated milk so candy won’t stop boiling, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. Cook to firm ball stage (235º on candy thermometer.

Pour into buttered pan and cool 5 hours or overnight. Cut in 1″ squares,

wrap in wax paper, and eat or give away. (I suggest giving them away because if they hand around very long you are bound to eat all 200 by yourself. If you do eat them all, it's not my fault. I warned you.)

Homemade Snickers

I found this recipe at Culinary in the Country and had to make it. It turned out amazing! I'm pretty much in love with this recipe and you may be getting some homemade snickers on your Christmas plate from me this year. I changed it up just a tiny bit, because that is who I am. hehe! Tell your "I hate peanut butter" friends and family to close their eyes while you are baking and they will never know it is in there. I gave this to 2 such friends and family. Both ate it and loved it! One knew from watching me bake (and whining about it while I baked - haha), the other did not know.

For the first layer

2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup Reese's peanut butter chips
1/2 cup peanut butter

For the second layer

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped salted peanuts

For the third layer

14 ounce package caramel cubes (I used 3 5.5oz bags of Werther's Original Chewy Caramel)
1/4 cup heavy cream

For the fourth layer

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup Reese's peanut butter chips
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

To make the first layer

In a small saucepan over low heat, add chocolate chips, Reese's peanut butter chips and peanut butter. Stir often until completely melted and smooth. Pour mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13" baking pan lightly coated with nonstick spray with wax paper pressed into it. Using an off-set spatula, spread the mixture to an even layer and place in the refrigerator until set.

To make the second layer

In a medium heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Mix in sugar and evaporated milk. Once it comes to a boil, let cook 5 minutes while stirring. Remove from the heat and quickly stir in marshmallow creme, peanut butter and vanilla. Stir in peanuts. This is going to have a strange texture. Don't panic! It's supposed to. Spread over the set chocolate layer and use an off-set spatula to gently spread mixture in an even layer. Place in the refrigerator until set. I only put it in the fridge long enough to make the third layer.

To make the third layer

Place the unwrapped caramel cubes and heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Place over low heat and stir until the mixture has completely melted and is smooth. Pour in the pan and quickly spread to an even layer with an off-set spatula. Place in the refrigerator until set. I put this in the freezer to make sure my layers wouldn't mix. It worked perfect.

To make the fourth layer

In a small saucepan over low heat, add milk chocolate chips, Reese's peanut butter chips and peanut butter. Stir often until completely melted and smooth. Pour over the third layer and use an off-set spatula to spread to an even layer. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before cutting into squares.

Keep in the refrigerator.