Shortbread Mint Sandwich Cookies

I could easily sum up this post in one word.  Yum.  Yes, simple but true, these cookies are awesome.  But first, I hope everyone here in the US of A enjoyed Thanksgiving.  I know I did.  I hosted the festivities at my house this year.  Wow.  It’s a lot of work.  My Mom came and stayed the night before and we literally started baking the afternoon before and didn’t stop until the food hit the table.  We were exhausted.  And it always gets me that your work soooo hard for sooo long and it takes 2.5 seconds to fill the gut and clear the table.  But, it was well worth it because we had some amazing food.  Thanks for all of your help Mommy!  Yes, I still call her Mommy.  

Now onto the cookies.  As Christmas time approaches, my friends at Keebler, (okay they really aren’t my ‘friends’), bring out the holiday cookies.  No, these are not your Grandmother’s homemade holiday cookies, but I have to admit that I have become addicted to a certain cookie called the Merry Mint Pattie.  Now, these cookies are not cheap.  You get about 12 cookies in the box and they are almost $4 a box.  So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make these myself.  They are simply a shortbread cookie, topped with a mint frosting and dipped in chocolate.  Well my re-creation are sooo much better than the box, sorry Keebler.  You must try them.  They are rather simple, just a few steps and you’ve got yourself a beautiful and tasty cookie.  You can’t beat it my friends!  Give them a try and just try and tell me I’m wrong!  

I hope you all have a happy weekend.  I promise I will try and post a little more often.  I can feel the baking mojo returning little by little.  Cheers!

Shortbread Mint Sandwich Cookies

 

For the shortbread:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the mint icing:

2 cups confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon mint extract

4 tablespoons milk

For the glaze:

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

2 ounces white chocolate

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.  Set aside.  In a mixer, cream the butter and confectioners sugar.  Add vanilla.  Slowly add the flour mixture until well combined.  

2. Chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Using your choice of cookie cutter, cut the cookies and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Chill for an additional 10 minutes.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.  Cool completely on a cooling rack.  

4. In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar, mint extract and milk until smooth.  Add more milk or sugar, if needed, to make a frosting like consistency.  Spread on cooled cookies and top with another cookie to make a sandwich.  Chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, or until icing is set.

5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double broiler and stir until smooth.  Dip the tops of the cookie sandwiches into the chocolate and let stand on the cooling rack.  Set in the refrigerator to let the chocolate harden. 

Hope you enjoy these!

Baked on December 3, 2008 | Recipe Card: cookies | 23 Bites 

Lost and Cookies

I know, I know, I know.  Every time there has been a post, which have been far and few between, I have some excuse as to why I’ve been away.  Sickness, sickness and more sickness have been the main reasons. Another reason I feel comfortable in saying now is that I am pregnant.  And all that comes with pregnancy has come and has left me quite miserable.  I have had no desire to cook or bake let alone eat anything that I would cook or bake.  So I do apologize my poor blog has been neglected for the last couple of months.  I’m hoping that I will be feeling better soon, but I have no idea when that will be. Please bare with me and don’t give up on me quite yet.  Please don’t take me off of your must read lists or anything. I can feel the sun right around the corner and I will be on a roll again here shortly.  And I am starting right now.  

This morning I had something pop in my head, and I couldn’t resist attempting this idea and I indulged! Boy was it worth it.  Molton Chocolate Lava Cake is one of my favorite treats of all time.  That ooey gooey center gets me every time.  Well, I thought, why couldn’t I turn it into a cookie? So I did.  What I got was a deliciously chewy chocolate cookie with an oozing center of chocolaty goodness.  My oh my.  I have had 4 and it’s not even lunch time yet.  I’m in trouble.  You must eat these warm.  Mine haven’t even cooled off yet to see how they will be when cooled, but I’m guessing these are cookies that you must eat fresh. I’ve put a dozen in the freezer just so I can make some fresh for my hubby, because I know he will love these! So, give them a try, they will be a perfect holiday cookie!  

And again, please, please, please, don’t give up on me!  I appreciate every single one of my readers and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.  I am trying my hardest right now.  And before long, I will definitely be back to my old self.  Have a great week!  And Happy Thanksgiving!

Molton Chocolate Lava Cookies
makes 3 dozen

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups cocoa
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Add vanilla. Slowly add cocoa and mix until well combined.
3. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture.
4. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Use your thumb and press a hole in the center of the dough. Fill with a piece of chocolate and fold the dough over to cover the chocolate completely.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar. Serve warm.

Baked on November 24, 2008 | Recipe Card: cookies | 36 Bites 

Winners and Cookies!

So lets get right to the giveaway! I had so many wonderful comments and so many great fall baking and cookies ideas, thanks everyone!  It made me hungry just reading them.  So using Random.org, I got to random numbers:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

53

72

Timestamp: 2008-10-28 21:04:35 UTC

So, that means the first winner of the lovely French Linen Apron goes to Dawn of Vanilla Sugar!  Yay! You have 1 week to email me your address so I can mail this beauty out!  

And the second winner, of The Gathering Of Friends Cookbook goes to Aubrie of We Eat, What Else Is There?.  Same goes for you, you have 1 week to email me your address so I can get that cookbook out to you!  

Thanks so much everyone for participating and hopefully we’ll have another great giveaway soon!  So, are you in the mood for a really awesome cookie recipe? Great.  These cookies are probably one of my favorites so far.  Oatmeal Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies.  Yes, they sound so simple, but these cookies are extraordinary.  They are delicious.  My husband had been requesting them for months, and I finally got around to making them and now I want to make them every week.  That’s how good they are.  I added the cute Halloween m&m’s just for some pizazz, and my kids love the cute colors.  Hope you all have a great week and I’ll be back tomorrow for Daring Bakers, so be sure to check back!  Happy Tuesday!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ cups oatmeal

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup m&m’s

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Cream together the butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time until mixed through. Add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients until well combined.

3. Stir in oatmeal, chocolate chips and m&m’s.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Do not overbake.

Baked on October 28, 2008 | Recipe Card: cookies, giveaway | 8 Bites 

Cookie Madness!!


I’ve been on another cookie spree addiction.  It all started with Jenny at Picky Palate’s Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies.  My oh my are these delicious.  I kept thinking…why didn’t I ever think of doing that?  I don’t know.  Than I kept thinking, what other similar things could I throw in an ordinary chocolate chip cookie to make it extraordinary?  I couldn’t think of anything.  I would walk up and down the isles of the grocery store, but nothing came to mind.  Maybe someday it will come to me, although I’m sure someone else will beat me to it.  Anyways, these cookies are to die for and you must try them.  Click here for the recipe.


I found a great blog called Sunday Baker.  Tanya makes my kind of food. I seriously have 6 or 7 recipes bookmarked to try very soon.  So anyways, back to the cookies.  I have a fetish with cookies.  I have tried so many different kinds of chocolate chip cookies, and I have loved most of them.  When I saw her recipe for Pudding Cookies, I literally stopped what I was doing to see if I had a box of vanilla pudding mix.  I had to try them, and I couldn’t wait another second.  30 minutes later, I had hot cookies out of the oven.  They were delicious!  You must try them. Click here for the recipe.

So, 2 great cookie recipes from 2 great blogs.  And I do have many more recipes from fellow food bloggers to share.  I love using your recipes!

And by the way, I love comments people.  They make me smile and feel really special and important.  When someone actually takes a couple of seconds out of there busy day to write me a note, it just makes me feel so darn happy and bubbly inside.  I almost always try to comment back on your blog, (sometimes it doesn’t happen and I apologize.  I still love you, but it’s probably just at a moment when my 18 month old is throwing his bowl of milk and cereal onto the clean floor. And I loose track of what I was doing.)  Anyways, I have found so many new and awesome blogs this way.  Just by someone being so nice and dropping a note.  Thanks everyone!

Baked on September 22, 2008 | Recipe Card: cookies | 26 Bites 

Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookie Bars


Happy Monday everyone! Not much going on in my life right now.  Just trying to get through the rest of the hot hot hot summer here in Utah.  My darling sister and her cute son are coming to visit on Thursday, so you most likely won’t hear from me until Monday when I will be very depressed after she leaves me to go back home to Oregon.  :(  We don’t get to see each other very often, maybe once every year or two, so I get very excited to see her and very depressed when she leaves. But I will be back to baking along after that.  I’ll have to keep myself very busy to keep my head up!  Now onto the goodies!!!

Yum Yum Yum.  That’s all I can say about these chewy, chocolaty bars of goodness.  Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside.  It’s like eating a huge, chunky, chewy chocolate chip cookie. That is my kind of treat! I don’t make bars very often and I’m not sure why, because I really enjoyed these.  They are exactly how I like my cookies, but in a bar form.  Give them a try, you won’t be sorry!  I hope you all have a great week!
Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookie Bars
recipe by Stephanie
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda and salt.  Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time until thoroughly mixed.  Add vanilla.  Mix until creamy and smooth.
4. Slowly add flour mixture a little at a time until mixed thoroughly.  
5. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips by hand.
6. Pour batter into a greased 9 X 13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until center is set through and top is browned.  Cut into squares and indulge!

My kids couldn’t even keep away!

Baked on August 18, 2008 | Recipe Card: bars, cookies, desserts | 24 Bites 

« Previous Page — Next Page »