Christmas Cake Pops

Joe had a Club Christmas party over the past weekend and volunteered me to make a dessert for about 45 people. I figured making some cake pops would be the best bet because they're simple, one bite desserts, I could make a couple different flavors and I got a new stand for pops/cupcakes that I was dying to use!

These little guys came out really cute and I adore the stand! It also doubles as a cupcake stand by adding the larger separators - and it has a little carrying hook part for your fingers at the top as well, although I transported them in a tupperware then assembled them at the party.

Here were the selections:

Additionally, I had seen a recipe for these Oreo Snowmen. 

Knowing how much Joe likes Oreos I figured I'd make them as well. The problem though with these guys is that the sticks do not fit in between the Oreo cookies. So you therefore have to unscrew each one (hoping not to break them) then carve out a little place for the stick to rest, add some melting chocolate as "glue" and out the top of the cookie back on. All without breaking one side of the cookie. I broke about half a package of cookies trying to do this (which I saved for use in another dessert).

Thankfully before I threw in the towel, Joe stepped in and made them all work, and even put the hats and faces on them after I dipped them in the white chocolate - he seriously saved the day with these and it seems that they were quite popular that night as well. 

To recap: 

Oreos - separated and sealed with melting chocolate and a stick. Let set. 

Dip entire Cookie in white chocolate melts. Let set. 

Dip corner of cookie in a color for the hat, top with M&M candy (I used Mint flavored). Let set. 

Faces: You can do whatever here I used a combination of mini chocolate chips, an orange sprinkle (yes, I plucked out the orange ones from a container of rainbow) and then I used a food coloring marker for the mouth, although I'm sure you could use some melted chocolate as well. 

Cookie Butter Cookies

About a month ago my partner at work had told me that on a visit to NY he had acquired a jar of "Speculoos Pasta". I had never heard of such a thing before and after reading up on it - I was intrigued. You can read the description in the photo below but as far as I could tell it's made up of mashed up cookies and some other goodness - and if you ask my brother-in-law it "tastes like Christmas morning". The consistency is smooth like creamy peanut butter - but the taste is totally different. It also goes by the name of Speculoos, Cookie Butter or Biscoff Spread depending on the brand. 

As I've mentioned, I read a LOT of food blogs. So about a week after learning about Speculoos, I began seeing it pop up in the food blogs everywhere. Now I knew I had to try this. It seemed that Trader Joe's made it's own Cookie Butter as well and since it survived the great peanut butter recall of 2012 it was a no-brainer.  

I decided for my first recipe, I'd try this one (another from Sweet Pea's Kitchen): Biscoff Oatmeal Cookies. These cookies are amazing. You must make them. Seriously incredible. I've made this recipe twice and on both occasions someone has said "these cookies are even better the second day" I'm not sure why this is - but it's definitely good to know. They come out crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. A perfect cookie indeed.

4th of July Cookie Fruit Pizzas

I have to come up with another name for these then "Fruit Pizzas" because to me, fruit and pizza should never go together.

Nonetheless, We have Cookie Fruit Pizzas. This recipe came from my friend Nicole who make them for a BBQ of her own a year or two ago. I feel in love with them and have been waiting to make them for my own function every since!

4th of July is my father-in-law's birthday. Every year we celebrate at my in-law's house and watch the fireworks from their backyard with about 30 or so friends and family. This year I made 2 of these delicious cookie fruit desserts.

Ingredients go like this:
1 package of pre-made sugar cookie dough
1 bar of low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 of a can of sweetened condensed milk

Assorted fruits: kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, banana, peaches - whatever you like!

Instructions:
Line baking pan with parchment (I find parchment is the best thing ever when it comes to baking as the chance of burning things is much less and the chance of these items sticking to the pan is also much less. Invest in parchment!)

Preheat oven to 300˚ (I think the package says 350˚ but this cookie will be BIG so you don't want the edges to burn before the middle cooks all the way through. You'll want it to cook slow and even)

Pile the cookie dough into one ball and flatten it out slightly in the center of the parchment, it will do the rest on it's own. Then bake for about 30-35 minutes keeping an eye on it. Cookie is done when the edges are slightly browned and the center doesn't look raw anymore. Let cool on pan or wire rack.

Next up, Add cream cheese and brown sugar and combine with a mixer until smooth. Once cookie is cool spread frosting over top and decorate with fruit!

After this was finished I opted to drizzle a tiny bit of sweetened condensed milk across the top of each cookie. But this is not necessary. The dessert is plenty sweet on it's own. The only thing I would suggest is perhaps brushing the bananas with the condensed milk only so that they do not turn brown by the time you're ready to serve it.

Enjoy!

St. Patty's Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lucky for us every year the next town over has a huge St. Patrick's Day Parade. Even luckier, we have a good friend that lives right on main street who is kind enough to invite us over to enjoy the festivities! I wanted to bake something "green" in honor of the holiday, so I looked through some recipes I bookmarked and I found just the thing...Green Mint Chocolate Chip cookies.

I'd venture to say this recipe is my own, only because referenced two different recipes when coming up with this combination. The recipe that inspired me was on the Betty Crocker Website Mint Chocolate Chip Cookes but this one calls for their cookie mix in a bag which I didn't have and figured I could make cookies from scratch. The other recipe is off of the back of the Shoprite Chocolate Chip bag. (Original, I know.) However I changed the amounts of the ingredients and the bake time & temperature, so I'm going to assume this is the first recipe I've actually invented....maybe?

Here we go:

Preheat oven to 325˚.

In a bowl, combine:

1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2-1 tsp mint extract (I used 1/2 tsp & the hubby said "they could even be mintier and it would be okay")
6-10 drops of green food coloring

In another bowl, combine:
 2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Mix thoroughly and then add to liquid mixture above 1/3 at a time. Once combined shut off mixer.

Next, stir in (by hand):

2 cups of Hershey's Mint Chocolate Chips (or any other Mint Chocolate Chips you can find!)

Spoon mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes (until edges are just beginning to turn brown).

Let cool on pan for a few minutes then remove to rack to finish cooling. I brought just over 60 cookies to the party. When we left there were only about 8 left. Not too shabby!

Enjoy!

Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies

Seems everyone I know lately is watching what they eat...which is why last weekend when we celebrated my mother in law's birthday my brother-in-law's girlfriend made the most amazing low fat and WW friendly cookies. These were some of the best cookies I've had in a long time – so good in fact, that half of the cookies she brought were eaten before dinner! I was lucky enough to have 2 that night before they were devoured!

She told us the recipe came from Skinny Taste - Chewy LowFat Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies. I've heard of this site before and after making this recipe I'm sure I'll be back.


Gina @ Skinny Taste says:
Serving Size: 2 cookies • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 175.8 • Fat: 6.7 g • Protein: 3.5 g • Carb: 28.3 g • Fiber: 1.6 g • Sugar: 14 g

The recipe goes like this:
1c flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp unsalted butter room temp.
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c unpacked brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4c mashed ripe banana (I used 1 whole banana)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c quick oats
3/4 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350˚.

1. Mix first 5 dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

2. In large bowl mix butter, sugars, egg, banana and vanilla. 

(Note: I had received a mortar and pestle for Christmas from my sister and thought I'd pull it out to mash the banana - not sure if this is what one might use to mash a banana - but it worked.)

3. Add the flour mixture & oats to this bowl and combine by hand.

4. Add the nuts and combine well.
(Note: I also decided to chop the walnuts a bit finer then the way they came.)

5. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (Note: Parchment is amazing for baking, I never ever bake without it - Not only does it seem to help prevent burning and sticking to the pan but cleanup is practically nothing!)

6. Bake for about 10 minutes. Just until they begin to brown. Do not overcook otherwise they'll be crispy as opposed to chewy. 

7. Let cool on tray for 3 min then transfer to rack to finish cooling. 

Makes about 36 cookies. Enjoy!

Italian Flag cookies

These cookies are my husband's favorite cookies - ever - almond flavored with jelly and chocolate. On a rare occasion these cookies could sometimes be found in the fresh baked goods section of our local supermarket, but it was very rare. However, when they were spotted, they would more often then not find their way into our cart because he just couldn't resist. I used to complain that they were so expensive for the small amount of cookies that were in each pack and to top it all off...I didn't even like them! One day he suggested I just learn how to make them so that he wouldn't have to  buy them the next time.

Challenge accepted!

It's been about 5 years now that I've been making these cookies. I've heard them called Italian Flag Cookies because they represent the colors in the italian flag or sometimes referred to as Rainbow cookies or 7-Layer Cookies as well. Regardless of what you call them, everyone seems to be a huge fan.


The recipe I follow for these is Rainbow Cookies - By, Carole Walter. This recipe most resembles the cookies my husband has grown so fond of.


Over the past few years I've made these cookies around Christmas time, we always spend the holiday with family at various locations and everyone seems to attack these cookies like they're gold. I've come to discover why the cookies were so expensive in the store...they're very very time consuming to make - but ask anyone - totally worth it. Enjoy!