Chocolate Sprinkle Sandwich Cookies

We had a Christmas party for the Young Women in our ward 

last week, and it was the perfect excuse 

for me to try out THIS cookie recipe.  

Aren't they pretty?

We had to go easy on the sprinkles...

one container was definitely NOT enough!!   

The verdict?  This recipe is a KEEPER!!  

The girls oooh'd and aaaah'd over the cookies, 

and they didn't last very long (that's always a good sign!).  

 

Wouldn't these be fun for other holidays too?!  

Think about all the different color combinations 

of sprinkles they have for every holiday....

pink, red, and white sprinkles for Valentine's Day, 

green sprinkles for St. Patrick's Day, 

pastel sprinkles for Easter..etc.).  

I can't wait to make them again!

My Spin on the Pin {5.04.12}

Ever since we moved in 2009, I've been struggling with my chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I never had a problem with my cookies previous to our move, but they haven't turned out one time since.  It's a mystery that I haven't been able to solve. 

Since my recipe doesn't work, I've been on the hunt for a new one.  Thanks to Pinterest, I've finally found one that I LOVE! 

Here's My Spin on the Pin...

These cookies were perfect!  Soft and chewy...just the way I like them!

 
My kids ate them up like they were going out of style.  I'll definitely be making these again!

My Spin On The Pin

Pinterest is my newest addiction...I spend way too much time searching for and pinning projects.  To justify the time that I spend there, I decided to actually MAKE some of the stuff that I've pinned.

I'm happy to introduce what I'm calling 'My Spin on the Pin'.  Every Friday, I'll be posting projects that I've pinned, then tried.  Let's get started, shall we? 

For my first project, I decided to go with food.  Cookies to be exact.

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies were calling my name.

And they were oh, so good!  If you're a fan of peanut butter and chocolate together, you will LOVE these cookies!!


What about you?  Do you make projects inspired by your pins?  I'm thinking of maybe starting a linky party where you can share your 'Spin on the Pin'.  Let me know what you think.  Happy Pinning!

My New Favorite Dessert...

My sister calls this dessert 'Heaven in a Bowl'.  I have to agree with her on that one!! 

What is this dessert, you may ask?  Well....take a look.

No Bake Cookies over Vanilla Ice Cream = Perfection!  All you do is make your favorite No Bake Cookie recipe, and while it's still warm, spoon it over some vanilla ice cream.  Trust me, you'll LOVE it!!

If you don't have a No Bake Cookies recipe, here's the one I use:

{No Bake Cookies}

1 C. butter
1 C. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 C. milk
3 C. oats (I use quick oats)
1/2 C. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt

Melt butter in a pan and add sugar, cocoa, and milk.  Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Take off heat and add oats, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt.  Mix well.  Drop by spoonful on wax paper and chill.

**When making this for an ice cream topping, don't drop by spoonful on wax paper and chill.  Just pour over your ice cream and chow down!! 

Polka Dot Bunny Cookies

We were in charge of treats for my girls' soccer team last week, so I decided to make them some special cookies.  My plan was to make them some cookies that looked like soccer balls.  That didn't happen.  I need LOTS more practice before that cookie will become a reality!!  So I went with something completely different.

Purple Polka Dot Bunny Cookies:

These cookies were much easier to decorate, and the team LOVED them!!  Maybe next year I'll be confident enough to make soccer ball cookies!!

Chick Cookies

These cookies were truly a labor of love.  They were made to sell at a bake sale that my girls' clogging group was doing (they get to perform at Disneyland this summer, and will be doing several bake sales to help them earn money to go).  Here's one of the cookies all packaged up and ready to go.

I made a total of 72 chick cookies.  What was I thinking?!  It was a lot of work, but they turned out adorable, and were one of the best sellers at their bake sale.

I learned a few things from this experience. 

#1:  Don't put the cookies in bags too soon!!  I waited only a few hours before I did, and they ended up sticking to the plastic some.  It's best to let them sit over night, or for several hours! 

#2:  Don't store cookies in the sun for long periods of time!  The little black eyes started running on most of the chicks, making them look like they were crying.  I don't know if this was because of the heat, or because I used glaze icing instead of royal icing.

#3:  It's always best to make MORE cookies than you plan on selling.  Some didn't turn out as 'pretty' as others, so we didn't use those ones for the bake sale.

There are more bake sales in our future, so if any of you have any experience with glaze vs. royal icing, please email me or leave a comment.  I'm wondering if the eyes ran because of the heat, or because of the icing I used.  Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated!!   





**For those that are looking for a great cookie recipe, I use THIS ONE from Bake at 350.  And my favorite icing recipe is THIS ONE from I Am Mommy.**

Linking to these fabulous parties:

It's Stinkin' Cute Craft Thursday @It's Sew Stinkin' Cute
Show Off Your Stuff Party @Fireflies & Jellybeans

Cookies for My Valentine

I've decided that I need a 'plan' before I start decorating cookies.  These ones were done in the spur of the moment, and I know if I would've thought it out more, they would have turned out SO much cuter!

Oh well.  Atleast they tasted good!! 

More Cookie Boxes...

Here's a few more cookie boxes I made for gifts.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE these? 

You can find a tutorial for these HERE from Inking Out of the Box.

Cookie Box

How many of you bake cookies for your friends and family for Christmas?  Instead of putting them on a plate wrapped in plastic wrap, why not present them in this adorable cookie box?

I'm thinking I'll use these boxes for my homemade fudge too!  You can find the Cookie Box tutorial HERE from Inking Out of the Box!

Ghost Cookies

Happy Friday!!  Today my kids and I are heading on a 'mini-vacation'.  They don't have school on Monday or Tuesday, so we're heading to Grandma's!!  It's been a while since we've been able to spend time with my family, so we're super duper excited!!

In celebration of our long weekend, I made some ghost cookies.  They were easy to decorate, and turned out scary cute!  I used THIS cookie recipe from Bake at 350 and THIS icing recipe from I Am Mommy.   

Have a great weekend! 

4th of July Cookies

*****Edited to Add:  The cookie recipe I used can be found HERE, and Icing Recipe HERE********
My girls and I had a fun time decorating cookies for the 4th of July holiday!  We tried new techniques, and experimented with different designs.  My oldest daughter came up with the star flag cookie design (the one on the left).....then I had to copy her with the circle cookie above it!

I apologize for the terrible picture.....I really need a new camera!!

Yummy Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I was first introduced to these cookies about 4 1/2 years ago around Christmas.  Chocolate wasn't something I could eat at the time (I was nursing, and whenever I ate chocolate it gave my baby an upset stomach).  Well, I gave in to temptation and ate a few of them, and became instantly hooked!!

The best part is that they're simple to make!  All you need are:

*Ritz crackers
*Peanut Butter (I use smooth)
*Almond Bark

Directions:
1.  Spread peanut butter on one cracker and sandwich another cracker on top.
2.  Melt almond bark according to package directions.
3.  Cover cookies in the melted almond bark, and let dry.

Those very first cookies I tried were first covered in the white almond bark, then in chocolate bark....talk about heavenly!!  

Father's Day Cookies

I feel pretty lucky that we get to go visit my family this weekend!  Since we're going to be there for Father's Day, I decided we'd better not show up empty handed!  Here's what I ended up making for my wonderful Dad and brothers for Father's Day.

As I was trying to figure out what I was going to put the cookies in, I remembered having these boxes (I got them for a great deal at the DI!).  With a little paper and curly ribbon, they turned out perfect!

And since I was making some for my side of the family, I went ahead and made some for my husband, my Father-in-Law, and Grandpa-Great.  56 cookies and 8 boxes later, I'm a little worn out, but still obsessed with making and decorating cookies!

Have a great weekend!!




Linking to:

It's Stinkin' Cute Craft Thursday @It's Sew Stinkin' Cute

My New Obsession...

Lately I have been obsessed by a few great blogs, namely Bake at 350, I Am Baker, Sweetopia, and Cookie Crazie.  As I sat salivating day after day at the beautiful cookies these ladies make, I thought, "Hey, I bet I could make some as pretty as theirs!".  Famous last words, right?!

So for the last few weeks I've been experimenting with cookie and icing recipes, trying to find one that my kids all like.  These cookies were my first attempt.  And I loved them!  I don't usually like the taste of sugar cookie dough, but that wasn't the case with this stuff....it was delish!  Sadly, 2 of my girls didn't like the cookies.  Bummer.

I really liked how the icing stayed shiny on these cookies!  Both the recipes came from I Am Baker and can be found HERE.

Can you tell I got brave with this batch?  Instead of using only circle cookie cutters, I went a little crazy and tried some different shapes.

Outling these babies was a little tricky.  I need to work on having a steadier hand.....I'm sure that will come with practice.  Lots and lots of practice!  The good news?  Everyone loved the taste of these cookies!

Both the cookie and the icing recipes for these beauties are from Bake at 350.  You can find the cookie recipe HERE, and the icing recipe HERE.

Yesterday I made more cookies.  My son loves the cars!  I'm getting more confident with each batch I make, but I still have a long ways to go!!

My kids are feeling pretty lucky because I'm making cookies so often now.  A few of them even enjoy helping me 'flood' the icing on the cookies.  Bonus!

What I've learned so far is that it's definitely NOT easy to make cookies as pretty as the ones I was inspired by.  Not by a long shot!  But I'm going to keep practicing.  Hopefully my cookies will eventually look better!       

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Have you tried THESE cookies from Picky Palate? She made them around Easter using the Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, but you can substitute those with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.They turned out yummy (anything made with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups is h.e.a.v.e.n in my book!) Just a warning though....if you want a lot of cookies, don't eat the dough!! It's very addicting and you'll find yourself sneaking spoonfuls of it while getting mad at your kids for trying to do the same thing. Just sayin'!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe in an old ward cookbook when I was in middle school. (holy cow...that was forever ago!). I remember making them with 3 of my friends when we were in High School, and one of their Mom's told us we could make money off of them. They are that good!! I've tried lots of other chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years, but none of them compare to this one.

Here's the recipe:

*1 lb. butter or margarine, softened
*1 1/2 c. sugar
*2 c. brown sugar
*3 eggs
*2 tsp. vanilla
*6 c. flour
*1 1/2 tsp salt
*1 1/2 tsp baking soda
*6 c. chocolate chips
*2 c. nuts (optional)

Beat butter and sugars together. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together then add to mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Place on greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I decided to try something a little different to use up my leftover green M&M's from THIS post. Whole wheat flour in a cookie? I was a bit skeptical of how it would taste, but I tried it. And LOVED it!!

You can find the recipe for these HERE at Kara's Kitchen Creations.

Thrifty Valentine M&M Cookies

As I've mentioned before, we love M&M cookies at our house. But I don't always love the price of the M&M's! As I was checking out the Christmas clearance candy at the grocery store, I saw tons of the Christmas M&M's. In fact, there's still a box of them there. So I grabbed several bags, knowing exactly what I would do with them.

My 2-year-old helped me sort them, then we used the red M&M's to bake our favorite cookies. Perfect for Valentine's Day!!
And what's even better? We're going to save the green M&M's and use them to bake some more cookies for St. Patrick's Day next month! I love it when I get a good deal!

**Edited to add: You can find the recipe for these M&M Cookies HERE from taste buds. Seriously...they are the best!!

M&M Cookies...

It's no secret that I LOVE sweets. And I love to bake. Several months ago my sister found a great M&M Cookie recipe here. It is now one of my most favorite cookies.

Don't they look yummy? They are even better than the M&M cookies at the bakery. I always have one of those big 56 oz. bags of M&M's from Costco on hand so I can make them often. And I do make them often! Try them and let me know what you think!