Every good thing Cookie Bars

I love to make cookies. Sometimes, I don't have the time to be make individual cookies, so I will make bars instead. These bars are great because they will satisfy your sweet tooth!

 

 

Every Good Thing Cookie Bars

 

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp water

½ cup butter

½ cup shortening

1 cup peanut butter

1½ cups brown sugar

1½ cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp salt

3 cups flour

2 cups quick oats

1 cup M&M's

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350°.Mix together the baking soda and water in a small bowl, set aside. Cream together butter, shortening, peanut butter and sugars. Add the eggs, vanilla and salt. Mix in the baking soda/water mixture. Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the oats, mix well. Stir in M&M’s and chocolate chips. Spread the dough in a greased jelly roll pan measuring about 15×10 and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

I have a special Valentine treat for you. If you are scratching your head over what simple sweet treat to make today or any day, then make these awesome cookies. Chocolate and caramel make such a perfect match. These cookies are made with a cake mix, what could be easier?

 



Chocolate Rolo Cookies

 1 box Devils Food Cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 bag of Rolo candies

1/2 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

 

Preheat oven to 350º. Unwrap 36 rolo candies and set aside. Mix cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Take a small amount dough and roll into a ball and then press one rolo into the center and form a ball around it. Use just enough cookie dough to cover the rolo. Repeat with remaining dough and Rolos. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

 

Recipe found at My Life as a Mrs. 

 Happy Valentine Day!



Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have found the world's best chocolate chip recipe. I am sitting here hen-pecking the computer, trying not to get my chocolate smeared fingers on my keys. You think I am teasing, but you will know I am serious when you try these amazing cookies. I know there are like a million recipes for the humble chocolate chip cookie, but this one has vanilla pudding mixed in and two kinds of chocolate chips. That is what makes these so spectacular!

 Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding- you will not make the pudding, just use the powder

2 eggs

1 1/2 t vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

2 cups chocolate chips (Semi-sweet and milk chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix together butter and sugars until creamy.  Add the pudding, eggs and vanilla and mix again.  Add the baking soda and salt and mix one more time.  Add the flour and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoonful full and bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.  Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

 

 

 

So go grab yourself a glass of milk and a couple of these cookies....they make a cold afternoon so much sweeter!

 

I found this recipe here.

Chai Sugar Cookies

I think that I have mentioned before of my love and obsession of Chai tea, see here, so it was an amazing day when I found this recipe on My Baking Addiction for Chai sugar cookies. I was so excited to try these cookies out, I immediately went to my spices to make sure I had the right ingredients, and I was found that I didn't have any ground cardamom. Off I went to the store, and several stores later I finally found some ground cardamom that didn't break my piggy bank. These cookies are easy to make, super fragrant and quite delightful. If the aroma of the cardamom is to much for you, decrease the amount. My hubby thought he was eating a perfume cookie, but my boys gave them two thumbs up. I should also tell you, my sweetie is not a fan of chai- shocking, I know!

Chai Sugar Cookies
(Adapted from My Baking Addiction)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cardamom- I used 3/4 tsp.
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice and black pepper. Remove 1/4 cup of the sugar-spice mixture, set aside to reserve for rolling the cookies. Beat the butter and sugar-spice mixture until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla extract, combine until fully incorporated. Slowly blend in dry ingredients mixing until just combined. Roll dough into balls the size of walnuts and then roll in the reserved sugar-spice mixture. Place dough balls on baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

I apologize for the lack of a picture- my boys inhaled the cookies!

Santa Cookies (White Chocolate Cherry Cookies)

Every Christmas baking season, I try to make a new cookie. This year I chose these cookies that I found on Pinterest via Jamie Cooks it up and Better Homes and Gardens. My friend Cathy called them Santa cookies because they looked like festive Santas.

Santa Cookies (White Chocolate Cherry Cookies)
1 (16 ounce) jar maraschino cherries
2 1/2 C flour
1/2 C sugar
1 C cold butter
1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips
1 1/2 t almond extract
2 T maraschino cherry juice
dash salt
White nonpareils and/or red edible sprinkles
1/2 t shortening (I used butter flavored Crisco)

Pour 2 tablespoons of the cherry juice into a small bowl and set it aside. Drain the the rest of the juice out into your sink. Chop your cherries into small pieces. Pour the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl and toss it together to combine. Cut your cold butter into cubes and place it into the bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add your chopped cherries and 2/3 C of white chocolate chips. Pour in the almond extract, dash of salt and the beautiful red cherry juice.Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients together well. Roll the dough into small balls, about 1 inch each. Set them on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Dip the bottom of a small mug or drinking glass into some sugar. Press the bottom of your mug into each cookie, pressing it out flat. Bake your cookies at 325 for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the center of the cookies are set. Allow them to cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Pour the white nonpareils and red sprinkle into two separate small bowls. Pour the rest of the white chocolate into a small bowl. Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Return it to the microwave and heat for another 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until the white chocolate is melted and smooth. Add the 1/2 tsp. shortening and allow it to sit in the white chocolate for a couple of minutes. Stir it in and you are ready to dip your cookies. Dip half of each cookie into the white chocolate. Allow the cookie to hang over the top of the dipping bowl and drip to remove excess chocolate. Immediately dip the chocolate side of the cookie into the red sprinkles or white nonpareils. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and allow the chocolate to harden. 

Photo from Better Homes and Gardens

Orange Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

I think that there are certain flavors that go together so well. One that I am obsessing over lately is orange and cranberry. They are delightful together! When I found this recipe at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, I knew it had my name written all over it. Cranberry+Orange = happy mouth, and then the addition of pistachios? Genius!  Try them, you will see! 

Orange Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

Cookie:

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts

1 Tbsp. orange zest

Orange Sugar:

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. grated orange zest

Mix the sugar and zest and set aside.

Heat oven to 350°. Combine sugar, butter and egg, mix until creamy. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Add cranberries, pistachios and orange zest. Mix until just combined. Shape dough into 1- inch balls and roll in orange sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with bottom of a glass. Bake for 7-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. DO NOT OVER BAKE! Cool for 2 minutes on pan before removing to a cooling rack.

Snickerdoodles

I usually don't like cranking up the oven during the summer. It makes my house to hot. I tend to stick with no-bake cookies. However, today is the perfect cookie making day. It is only in the mid-sixties and it is perfect for baking! Today I found a great recipe on Pinterest for snickerdoodles. It is over on Loving from the Oven. This is a great recipe, my boys inhaled the first batch before I even got the second one in the oven! I wish that I had doubled the recipe, I will next time!

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

For rolling:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

 In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 300°. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping. Roll the dough into ball the size of a small walnut. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press it onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining cookies. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes and no more. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven. Let them rest for 5 minutes before you remove them to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

Peppermint Thin Mints

The Thin Mint is the most popular cookie sold by the Girl Scouts. I have been guilty of buying these whenever I see a Girl Scout selling them. They are only sold once a year. But now, you can whip these treats up when you have a craving for a Thin Mint.

Peppermint Thin Mints

1 package almond bark

1 box Ritz crackers

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Candy Canes, crushed

Melt the almond bark and stir in the extract. Dip each cracker in the chocolate and shake off the excess. Place on waxed paper, and sprinkle with the crushed candy canes. Allow to harden before you move them into your storage container. That is it, easy-peasy.

Cranberry Bliss Bars- a Starbucks knock off

I can remember the first time I had a Cranberry Bliss Bar from Starbucks. They are so good!  However, they are pricey. So instead of having sticker shock at Starbucks, you can whip these up at home and share them with your family as you wrap presents.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup diced dried cranberries

6 oz. white chocolate, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 350°. Make cake by beating butter and sugar together until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger and salt. Beat well. Gradually mix in flour until smooth. Mix in the cranberries and the white chocolate by hand. Pour into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Spread evenly. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake is light brown on the edges. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

4 oz. cream cheese  (softened)

4 tsp. lemon juice

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup diced dried cranberries

Combine all the above ingredients, except the cranberries. Mix until smooth. Spread over the cake. Sprinkle the cranberries on top of the frosting. Lastly, stir together the drizzled icing and drizzle on top of the cake.

Drizzled Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp vegetable shortening

Whisk together, and add more milk if needed to reach a thin consistency. Drizzle over cake. Allow cake to sit for several hours before you cut and serve. Store in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes

These little morsels remind me of a Reese's peanut butter cup.  Yummy! The hardest part about this treat is waiting for them to freeze!

Peanut Butter Buckeyes

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 stick butter, softened

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 package almond bark

Mix peanut butter, butter and sugar together. Use hands if needed. The dough should be thick and stiff, not crumbly or sticky. Roll into 1 inch balls and freeze until firm. Dip in melted almond bark and freeze until set.

Triple Ginger Bars

One of my favorite things in the world is ginger. Anytime I can add a little ginger to a recipe, I will. This recipe is one of my very favorite recipes. It has ginger in three forms, ground ginger, fresh ginger and crystallized ginger. Yum, yum and yum!

Triple Ginger Bars

1 package white cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger root

1 tsp. ground ginger

2 Tbsp sugar

Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottom only of 13x9 inch baking dish. Mix cake mix, butter and eggs with spoon until well blended. Stir in remaining ingredients, except sugar. Press dough in pan. Sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for 18-23 minutes, or until the edges are a very light golden brown. Cool completely before cutting. 

Saltine Toffee aka Christmas Crack

Times are hard. People are looking for ways to stretch every penny. This is a very inexpensive treat to make to take to your Christmas potluck lunch at work or to make for your neighbors. The base of this toffee is made out of Saltine crackers. They make a yummy salty counterpoint to the sugary toffee and chocolate layers.  This is so easy to throw together and as the name suggests, you won't be able to stop eating it- it is addictive!

Saltine Toffee aka Christmas Crack

1-2 sleeves saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 12 oz. package chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with foil. Lay crackers out in a single layer. In a saucepan, melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Stir often and bring to a full rolling boil for exactly 3 minutes. Pour over saltines and bake for 5 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top and spread them when they are soft and melty. Next, sprinkle the nuts evenly over the chocolate layer. Refrigerate for 2 hours and then break into pieces and store in an air tight container.

Simple Pretzel Turtles

I am on a roll with all my Christmas baking. These candies are a staple in my house. I started making these a few years ago, and now they make the "must have" Christmas baking list every year. They are a variation on the Chocolate Pretzel Bites. The strategy is the same, but you will need pecan halves and Rolo candies. Rolo candies are chocolate covered caramels and are quite delightful all by themselves, but when you melt them slightly on to a salty pretzel and press a pecan half on top, the yummy factor sky rockets!

Simple Pretzel Turtles

Small pretzels

Rolo candies

Pecan halves

Lay out the desired amount of pretzels on a baking sheet lined with foil. Unwrap as many Rolo candies as you have pretzels and place each one on the center of a pretzel. Place in a preheated 275° oven for 3 minutes. Immediately press a pecan half into each Rolo candy. Let the chocolate harden in a cool place, I just stick them in my cold garage for half an a hour or so. Enjoy! 

Chocolate Pretzel Bites

These little bites are super easy to make when you are looking for a quick little treat. They look so festive when they are sitting on a cookie tray or when placed in bags and given as a small token of your appreciation to your child's guitar teacher, or basketball coach.

Chocolate Pretzel Bites

Small pretzels

Hershey Kisses

Holiday colored M&Ms

Lay the pretzels on a baking sheet that you have lined with foil. Place a single Hershey kiss on the center of the pretzel. Place in a preheated 275 ° oven for 3 minutes. Immediately press a single M&M in the center of the Hershey kiss. Chill until the chocolate has hardened

Oreo Truffles

A few years ago, I came across a delightful treat that I am going to share with you. Anytime you take the humble little Oreo cookie and turn it into something else, you will have a winner, every time! These little balls of delight are super easy to make, almost embarrassingly easy, but that doesn't stop me, and it should not stop you! They make a great addition to cookie plates that you give to your neighbors or as a take along to a Christmas party!

Oreo Truffle

1 package Double Stuff Oreos

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 package white almond bark- found near the chocolate chips

1/2 tsp mint extract

Place oreos in a food processor and crush them into fine crumbs. Place in mixing bowl, and stir the cream cheese and the extract. Roll into walnut sized balls and chill for 1 hour. Dip in melted almond bark. Chill and let the chocolate harden.

Here are a few variations that I made this year. They turned out really tasty!

These are Coconut Oreo Truffles- in place of the mint extract, add 1/2 tsp. coconut extract. Sprinkle toasted coconut on top after dipping the truffles into the chocolate.

These are the Orange Chocolate Oreo Truffles. In place of the mint extract you would substitute 1/2 tsp orange extract.

There are so many variations that I am sure you could dream up. These really tasted good. The orange and coconut flavors were not over powering. They were just right.

Peppermint Cookies

This week I am going to be baking up a storm. I bought 5 boxes of butter at the store today. I have never done that before. I will be making dozens upon dozens of cookies.  This is one of the recipes that I will be making. It is a classic Christmas cookie studded with crushed candy canes.  Simple and lovely.

Peppermint Cookies
2/3 cup butter flavored shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup crushed candy canes
Cream shortening and sugars, beat in egg. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Fold in the candy canes. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until cookie edges just begin to brown.

*Just a quick note about the shortening, I have tried butter in the past,substituting it for the shortening, but the texture was off. The shortening produced a better cookie, at least my family thought so!

Soft Ginger Cookies

Soft Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 TBSP fresh ginger, chopped

2 TBSP crystallized ginger, minced

Extra sugar

In large bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the molasses. In a small bowl stir together the baking soda and the water, set aside. In separate bowl sift together the flour, salt and the dry spices. Gradually stir in the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Stir in the fresh ginger and the crystallized ginger. Stir in the water/baking soda. Shape dough into walnut sized balls and roll them in the extra sugar. If the dough is to sticky at this point, put in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up. Place the balls of dough on a ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart and flatten slightly. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes.

These cookies are so yummy! All the boys LOVED them and they make you house smell so good while you bake them! Enjoy! For more recipes checkout The Grocery Cart Challenge. The ladies there always share such great ideas!