The perfect blend of mint and chocolate!

 We have a new 

favorite cookie creation at our house...

Who would have known that Pastel Junior Mints, put on top of  double chocolate cookie dough cookie would be SO yummy but I'm here to tell you that it is!

Lots of chocolate flavor, with a hint of mint that is not too over powering!

In fact,  

90+ fifth graders thought they were the best and wanted seconds at a birthday party celebration I took them to this past week! 

Double Chocolate Cookies
(cream together)
1 cube REAL butter  (1 cube of butter equals 1/2 cup)
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla

(then add in)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Roll into balls and 
bake 350 degree oven for 14 minutes or until no longer doughy.
Remove from oven and as you pull them off the cookie sheet and put them to cool  
"smash" the cookies down with your spatula. (it gives you a nice dense cookie)
After you have removed from cookie sheet 
put a Junior Mint in the middle of each cookie and lightly smash it down.  The heat from the cookie will melt the Junior Mint into the cookie.
Let cool on wire racks. (this makes around 15-18 cookies)

Other variations of this cookie recipe... 

here and here!

 ENJOY 

a plate of yummy cookies today!

 Perfect for Spring and Easter-Time!

Oatmeal Cookie Dough + M&M's = Yummy!!

 I can't believe it is the first week of April...

the year is definitely flying by faster than I would like it to!  I'm excited to finally have my entry shelf decorated with Easter/Spring decor.

'Tis the week of coloring eggs, 

 enjoying the sunshine and walks around the block, 

and LONGER days with more sun at the end of the day.  

It's noticing 

 the trees starting to leaf/bud, 

tulips/perennials starting to sprout, 

enjoying the music of the birds chirping 

and the excitement of planning what you're going to plant in your garden.

I LOVE spring time SO much!

 While I don't make fancy Easter Treats,  

or amazing things like you see in the world of Pinterest,  

I do usually buy a holiday bag of M&M's and add them to my Oatmeal Cookie Dough to add some festiveness to spring time!

They always are a hit every time we make them up!

M&M's are a treat that doesn't grace our home too often, so to get to enjoy them in cookies is a welcome sight to my hubby and kids! 

(that is, if we can keep Ethan from devouring the bag 

before it gets made into cookies!)

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cube REAL butter (1/2 cup)
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups unbleached flour

½ teaspoon soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats (enough to make a nice dough)

(add in your choice of chocolate chips, chocolate/butterscotch chips mixed, M&M’s, raisins, or Gumdrops cut into little pieces)

Cream together sugar and butter.
Add egg, vanilla, salt and soda.
Then add flour and oatmeal.
Then add in your choice of chocolate chips, M&M’s, raisins or gumdrops.  (about 1 cup of whatever you choose)

Mix well
Roll into balls and put on greased cookie sheet. (if dough is a little sticky, roll into balls and then put in the fridge to chill for 3-4 minutes before baking)
Bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

HELPFUL HINT:  
The way to get a truly dense and rich cookie, is when you remove the cookies from the cookie sheet, and put them to cool is to "Smash" them down.

(see original post about this here) 

Happy Easter Week!
I hope it's full of everything that brings 

JOY to you and your family 

at this wonderful time of the year! 

Mint Chocolate Cookies

 If I were to think of a cookie  

that gets requested for about any event we go to, it would be that of my

 Double Chocolate Cookies.  

They taste really similar to brownies, 

but they are SO much more yummy, and more frugal to make as well!  

Truly a favorite with my kiddos,

 in fact, I'm making up a batch this weekend so Ethan can take them 

to his school class for his birthday treat to share on Monday.

HOWEVER, this recipe is also yummy to replace 

 part of the chocolate chips for mint candies or baking chips.

At Christmas I found these yummy peppermint baking chips and made these cookies and my family loved them so much so I went back to buy more and they didn't have anymore.

However, they had these Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips and so I bought them.  They were even a bigger hit than the original mint baking chips I bought. I thought I would buy another bag of them to make Mint Chocolate Cookies as our  

St. Patrick's day treat, 

but they must have been seasonal as I couldn't find anymore.

SO, I bought a bag of Andes Mints for $2.24, unwrapped 15 mints and cut them into chunks and added them to the cookie dough and they were PERFECT!!
(you can make 3 different batches of cookie dough 

with 1 bag of Andes Mints) 

 ALSO, remember if you make these up that... 

"The Secret's in the Smash" 

The way to get a truly dense and rich cookie, is when you remove the cookies from the cookie sheet, and put them to cool is to "Smash" them down.  

(see original post here about this)

Mint Chocolate Cookies
(cream together)
1 cube REAL butter  (1 cube of butter equals 1/2 cup)
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla

(then add in)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
15 Andes Mints cut into small chunks (or about 1/2 cup Andes Baking Chips, if you have them). 

***NOTE...if you don't want mint, just add in 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead).

Roll into balls and bake 350 degree oven for 14 minutes or until no longer doughy.
Remove from oven and as you pull them off the cookie sheet and put them to cool "smash" the cookies down with your spatula. (it gives you a nice dense cookie) 

Let cool on wire racks. (this makes around 18-20 cookies)

Enjoy a plate of cookies today...

whether you make a batch of 

Double Chocolate, OR,

Mint Chocolate you'll find out that 

they are absolutely delicious

and they are sure to be a HIT with everyone 

that is a lover of chocolate or brownies!

It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas!

 I can't believe how fast the month is just flying by... 

here we are 6 days into the month of December and before we know it Christmas will be here!

 When I think of a favorite flavor of Christmas time, it is that of 

Peppermint, Cinnamon and Oranges! 

 As I was shopping in November, 

I noticed these fun Andes Peppermint baking chips.

I instantly thought of Tracy and Jade who love MINT anything.  

 Jade loves mint tea, mint gum and loves to take candy canes and break them into his hot chocolate.

Tracy's FAVORITE ice cream is "Mint Chocolate Chip"...every time we go to an ice cream shoppe, I can always count on him to pick out that flavor.

SO, I took my Double Chocolate Cookie dough recipe and made it up, 

replaced 1/2 of the chocolate chips for Peppermint chips 

and these were MORE than a hit with my family

(I had to make another batch the next day)

AND they are also SO yummy and FESTIVE for the Christmas Holidays!

If you need a quick recipe to make up to bring to a  

party or a cookie exchange, 

these are easy and definitely a very big HIT 

with the perfect amount of chocolate and mint!

Peppermint Chocolate Cookies

(cream together)

1 cube REAL butter  (1 cube of butter equals 1/2 cup)

1 egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

(then add in)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips

Roll into balls and bake 350 degree oven for 14 minutes or until no longer doughy.

Remove from oven and as you pull them off the cookie sheets and put them to cool "smash" the cookies down with your spatula. Let cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!

Make some for your family today and it will have you singing...

"It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas..." 

at your house as well!

Happy Holiday Baking!

Taste of Fall... (and a secret!)

Pumpkin Cookies!

 These truly are one of our family's 

VERY favorite cookies, just as Sugar Cookies are a tradition at Valentines day, Pumpkin Cookies are a tradition to make up in October

and it is a good thing we only make them up during the Fall Time, because we can pretty much eat a whole batch (which makes 24 cookies) in one whole day.   

They are just SO amazingly yummy!

They are the perfect texture, 

have a hint of cinnamon flavor 

and the semi-sweet chocolate chips and
cream cheese frosting make them irresistible!
WOW, 

every event that we bring these to they are always the biggest hit!
Absolutely DELICIOUS! 

 *************************

I have to  make this next step known 
 as it is something I do out of habit and don't even really realize I do it... 
it's that perfectionist in me that wants to make each cookie I pull off the cookie sheet, perfectly round and uniform looking,
But my sister-in-law Cheryl was baking with me a month ago and as I was 
pulling cookies off the cookie sheet, she said something to the effect...
"THAT is why my cookies don't  
look or taste exactly like yours"! 

Who would have known 
that such a simple thing of "smashing" a cookie after you pull it off the cookie sheet, could make that big of a difference.  Sorry!!
So something to remember when you make the majority of the cookie recipes on my blog...
"The Secret's in the SMASH"!!
(someday when I get more free time I need to add that to all of my cookie recipes) 

Pumpkin Cookies
(these are an “egg-less” cookie)
1 cup sugar
½ cup REAL butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup leftover squash/pumpkin
2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cream together sugar and butter and vanilla.
Then add squash/pumpkin, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Then mix in flour (to make a nice consistency) and last chocolate chips.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-18 minutes (or until lightly browned).
When you remove cookies from the cookie sheet, "smash" them with your spatula to flatten them slightly.This makes a really nice, dense cookie. 

 Frost with Cream Cheese frosting 

and you will have the yummiest cookie ever to enjoy!

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese (1/2 a package)
¼ cup REAL butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
In a mixer bowl beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla till light and fluffy. 

Gradually add the powdered sugar beating until smooth.

PS...I keep mine in a cool place until we eat them...either in our cool basement, OR, in the fridge.

Enjoy!

 SO happy that we have this yummy recipe 

to make up and enjoy during this 

wonderful Fall-time of the year!
I hope it becomes a favorite 

of your family as well!