Teacher Appreciation cookies 125/365

Today Matt received some adorable and yummy cookies for Teacher Appreciation week.

351/365 Cookie time!

I made little plates of cookies for my coworkers this year. Here is the collection of recipes I used for this years cookies.

The Candy Cane Blossoms came from Hershey's site.

Candy Cane Blossoms

48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Candy Cane Mint Candies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons milk

Red or green sugar crystals, granulated sugar or powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Remove wrappers from candies.

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternately with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in red sugar, granulated sugar, powdered sugar or a combination of any of the sugars. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookie is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press a candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

The Muddy Buddy recipe can be found here.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Have a bowl of ice water ready. When reshaping the thumbprint after the cookie has caked for ten minutes, dip your finger in the ice water for several seconds and dry before reshaping: this will help your finger cool.

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon table salt

½ cup whole blanched almonds, finely ground

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

½ cup jam or preserves

Preheat oven to 325. Have ready two parchment-lined baking sheets. In an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and ½ cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and vanilla; beat well. Whisk together flour and salt, and add to mixture, beating on low until combined.

Combine almonds with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Form dough into 1-inch balls, and dip in egg white, then in almond/sugar mixture. Make a deep indentation in the center of each ball with your finger or bottom of a thick wooden spoon. Transfer to prepared baking street.

Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and press down the centers again. Rotate sheets, and back until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes more. Remove from oven, and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. Fill centers with about 1 teaspoon of jam.

Triple Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Makes 3 1/2 dozen

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

4 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks

1 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, coffee powder, and vanilla until blended. At low speed, beat in flour mixture just until combined. Stir in semisweet chocolate, white chocolate, and dried cherries.

3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes per batch, until tops are just firm. Cool on cookie sheets 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

301/365 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies today and they were delicious! I was inspired by this recipe, but I omitted the nuts and added about another cup of chocolate chips. I also mixed up the chocolate chips - milk and semi-sweet. They turned out great.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

This chocolate chip pumpkin cookie recipe is a family favorite. The spice of the pumpkin blends great with the chocolate chips.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 (15 ounce) canned pumpkin

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Vanilla Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tablespoon milk

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Hardware

• Whisk

• Large bowl

• Medium bowl

• Cookie sheets

• Mixer

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2: Grease cookie sheets; set aside.

Step 3: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Step 4: In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer.

Step 5: Beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract.

Step 6: Gradually beat in flour, scraping down sides as needed.

Step 7: Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Step 8: Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheets.

Step 9: Bake 15-20 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling surface.

Vanilla Glaze: Step 1: In a small bowl, beat together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Step 2: Drizzle or spread glaze over cooled cookies. Makes about 36 cookies.

166/365 Peanut Butter Cookie Time!

In honor of last Friday being National Peanut Butter Cookie day, I had to make up a batch.

I used this recipe, but made some changes. I find that adding a banana cuts on some of the butter and gives the cookie a delicious banana flavor.

Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 banana

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Topping

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon of sugar

Directions

1. Cream together butter and banana. Then add peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter. Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.

3. Roll into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. Mix together the last two ingredients and sprinkle on top of cookies before baking.

4. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.

133/365 S'mores cookies!

I saw this recipe and was inspired! 

I did make some changes - here's my version:

Ingredients:

1 C. butter, softened

3/4 C. white sugar

3/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

1 3/4 C. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

8 graham crackers (the whole rectangle), crushed into crumbs

3/4 C. milk chocolate chips

3/4 C. semi-sweet chocolate chunks

1 C. mini marshmallows

2 Hershey's chocolate bars, broken up

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars, beat until fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla, beat together.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and graham cracker crumbs.

Gradually add graham cracker mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 7 minutes, remove from oven.

Quickly press marshmallows and chocolate bar pieces into each cookie.

Return cookies to oven and bake for 4 minutes.

Remove from oven, cool completely.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies!

For the recipe - check out my other blog: http://matt-and-sara.livejournal.com/21445.html