I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again. Sorry, every time I get on a plane that song gets stuck in my head. I have my dad to thank for that one! I do know when I will be back…Sunday night. I am headed to sunny Florida for Food Blog Forum this weekend. It will be an amazing weekend, and I am so excited it is finally here!
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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, are you ready? I am not usually that into the holiday. I am horrible with crafts, so I don’t get into all the cute and fun ideas (although sometimes I wish I did). What I am into though? Any excuse to eat chocolate. Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is pretty much all about chocolate. So that is what I am sharing with you today. #SundaySupper is going Valentine’s on you today, and I am bringing chocolate.
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Most of January I tried to be good. I only gave you one dessert all month, and that was my birthday cake. So I think it is about time I shared a sinful chocolate treat. Just in time for the February #ChocolateParty too! This month the secret ingredient for the #chocolateparty was….chocolate! That is correct, everyone participating made a “double chocolate” treat. Pretty heavenly, right?
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Remember when I made Brown Butter Pumpkin Pancakes, and jumped on board the Brown Butter bus? Well, now I am driving the bus. Brown Butter is amazing!! I think it just might be the best thing since sliced bread. And, I am pretty sure that my dad agrees, even if he doesn’t know it.
When we were home last week my dad asked if I could make cookies for him. They bid on these cookies when I did the Colorado Wildfires Bake Sale, but were outbid in the last minute. Apparently he has been thinking about them since. I shouldn’t be surprised, I know how much he likes toffee and chocolate chip cookies. Since I am such a good daughter, I went to the store to get the ingredients to make him these cookies.
These cookies were nothing short of amazing. The brown butter gives them such a great depth of flavor. So much more flavor than you get in a normal cookie. Then you have chocolate chips, AND toffee chips! They were soft and chewy, even a couple days later. I am not sure my dad knew anything about the brown butter or what made these cookies different, he just knew he couldn’t stop eating them. I got a call from my dad when we were on our way back to Colorado, asking if I had posted the cookies yet. He was raving to people about how these were the best cookies, and they needed to know where to find the recipe. So here it is.
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It is time for the #ChocolateParty! Do you know what the #ChocolateParty is? The first Monday of each month we post a recipe that uses chocolate, and a themed ingredient we are given. For November Roxana challenged us with cranberries. Last month it was pumpkin. If you are interested in joining, just let Roxana know!
I am not a huge fan of cranberries, so I wasn’t sure what to do for this month. But then I remembered dried cranberries, those I do like. I was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies, so I figured this was the time to play with cranberries to see what I could come up with. These cookies are based on the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe I have been making for ever. I swapped out the regular chocolate chips for white chocolate. I added in the cranberries, and decided to change up the extract to almond extract. I love almond extract, but have never used it in cookies like this before.
These were a huge hit. I brought them to my sons school, and the teachers loved them. They were soft, chewy, and the almond extract worked really well with the white chocolate and cranberries. They definitely were a fun twist on the regular chocolate chip cookie. Don’t miss all the other great recipes the group made below. Next month we will be back with chocolate and mint for the holidays!
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Before we get into the Halloween fun today, I wanted to make you aware of a great cause I am involved with today. Over at Country Cleaver, Megan is hosting a bake sale for Crohns & Colitis Foundation of America. I have my Peanut Butter Bars up for sale, so please go check it out!
Halloween is just a few days away? Are you ready? Are you excited? Well today for #SundaySupper, Leslie from La Cociana de Leslie is hosting a Trick Or Treat event. You have lots of drinks, dinners, desserts and more, all perfect for Halloween. Plus, make sure to stop back all week, as I even more fun Halloween treats in store.
These cookies are so easy to make, and completely up to you how crazy you want to get. You could start with store bought cookies, frozen cookie dough, from scratch, whatever works for you. You can even use store bought frosting if you are in a hurry. Just bake cookies, color some frosting, frost a mouth, some hair, put on some eyes and you are done. Use whatever colors you want. The eyes can be the googly candy eyes by Wilton, or M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces…whatever you want!
My 7 year old and I picked 3 colors for our monsters. I put the frosting in 3 piping bags, with 3 different tips. Then we just went to town, and had fun frosting. There is no right or wrong way to do it. My 7 year old kept asking if he could mix up the eyes (1 yellow, 1 googly etc). Why not? They are monsters after all!
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Posted in Desserts
Tagged chocolate chip cookies, halloween cookies, monster cookies, scary cookies, spooky cookies
So today is the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness week. I hope you enjoyed all the pink and cancer fighting food. I really hope that you were inspired to do a self exam or get a mammogram, and take action to take care of yourself! Breast Cancer can affect anyone; young, old, man, woman, healthy, unhealthy etc. Please be proactive, and help the stop of this horrible disease.
To end the week I made something sinful and pink. I had to laugh on Monday when That Skinny Chick Can Bake make these cookies. I guess great minds think alike. Considering we used the same recipe, I am just going to send you to Liz to grab the recipe. I tried to adjust the color to make them more pink that red, but that is really hard when you are starting with brown. But they taste good, are soft, and have just a hint of chocolate, so I am not too sure the color really matters.
To end the week I would like to say Thank You to everyone who joined me this week. I know I asked all of you pretty last minute, so thanks for stepping up and helping me pull this off!
We also have a fun giveaway for you!
Green Mountain Coffee generously donated a Cafe Escapes Gift Basket
Gift Basket contains:
- 12-count box Café Escapes® Milk Chocolate Cocoa K-Cup® pack
- 12-count box Café Escapes® Dark Chocolate Cocoa K-Cup® packs
- Café Escapes® Artisan Mug
- (1) 3.88-oz. box Dark Chocolate Toasted Almond Nutt-eš
- 4-oz. box Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies
Open to US Residents only.
**This giveaway is being sponsored by Green Mountain Coffee
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The kids don’t have school here today. Not really sure why, but I will take the day with my favorite 2nd grader. I think we might bake some muffins together and go to the library. Sounds like a busy day, huh 
Do you have days where you just need a cookie? I have those kind of days. That is why more days that not you can find cookie dough in my freezer. Ready to just bake a few fresh cookies. M&M cookies have always been a favorite in my family. Not sure why they better than just plain chocolate chip, but I guess adding more chocolate is never a bad thing. As you will see, my M&M cookies aren’t only M&M. They have chocolate chips in there too!
These are a staple at our house over the holidays. Often times they are the first baked right around Thanksgiving, and they are the kick off to the holiday season. I am really not ready for the holiday season, but I just had to share these with you. They are super simple, but oh so good! And with all the colored M&M’s out there, you can make them fit with whatever seasonal party or get together you are doing.
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Posted in Desserts
Tagged candy in cookies, chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, Christmas cookies, cookie dough, cookies, M&M cookies, m&m's
I am in a new group this month for Secret Recipe Club! It is exciting to have a new group of blogs to get to know. Today I was assigned Crumbs and Chaos. This blog is written by 4 sisters. Between them they have 11 children, and 1 more on the way. There are so many great recipes, I really did have a hard time picking what to make. I thought about Thin Mint Popcorn, Butterfinger Oreo Ice Cream Dessert, and Wonton Tacos.
In the end I had to go with these cookies. I have seen a few version of a Hot Chocolate Cookies, and have wanted to try them. Now that the mornings are a little cooler, it seemed like the right time. But what do you need with hot chocolate? Marshmallows! I have been wanting to use those new little marshmallow bits, and this was the perfect opportunity.
This is your basic chocolate chip cookie, with hot chocolate mixed in, and then for good measure some marshmallows. They are soft, extra chocolatey, and delicious. Definitely calls for a tall glass of milk. I gave one to my son when they were still warm, and he said “This is one of the reasons I love you, you are the best cookie baker”. So you know they must be good!
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Posted in Desserts
Tagged chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cocoa cookies, cookies, desserts, hot chocolate, hot cocoa, hot cocoa cookies, marshmallow bits
By now I think most of you know about this new cookbook out called The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook. It was available last week for purchase, so hopefully you already went out and got it.
This book is written and photographed by Lindsay from Love and Olive Oil. I am not kidding you when I say I want to make Every.Single.Recipe. I couldn’t make up my mind, everything is seriously amazing! So when we went to Wisconsin last week I let my father-in-law pick a recipe. If possible, he might like cookie dough more than anyone I have ever met. Finally, after a lot of deliberation and discussion he chose Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwich Cookies. They are exactly what they sound like. Two chocolate chip cookies with cookie dough in the middle!
I must admit, I had high expectation for these cookies. I mean think about it. Chocolate Chip Cookies. Cookie Dough. How could these not be incredible? Well, they lived up to my expectations! The cookie is soft and chewy, and the cookie dough is…well, cookie dough! My dad who does not like raw cookie dough (I know, there is something wrong with him) ate these. Trust me, that says a lot.
All of the recipes in here have a beautiful, droolworthy picture to go along with it. There is everything from waffles to granola bars, to cupcakes in this book. Next up, we are trying the S’mores. That was my 7 year old requested.
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Posted in Desserts
Tagged chocolate chip cookies, cookie dough, cookies, egg free dough, eggless cookie dough, sandwich cookies
