Coconut Toffee with White Chocolate Chip Cookies

On the first day of summer, all I wanted to do was BAKE BAKE BAKE! Surprisingly, the sun was out and about, but I didn't have anywhere to go. I actually started off trying to make french macarons, but it was an epic fail. I've never baked something where it didn't turn out, so I was pretty disappointed. The batter came out too runny, it never got its "feet" and when I baked it, it got mutant feet and spread into each other.

I whipped up some of these cookies just to try and I am now planning to bring them to Bunco night on post. They turned out pretty sweet. I added way more coconut than the recipe intended, but I think I would like to toast them next time and add less toffee chips (I kind of added the whole bag).



Coconut Toffee with White Chocolate Chip Cookies
original recipe from lick the bowl good

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg toffee bits
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and both sugars together, then add egg and vanilla, stir.

Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt just til combined. Stir in toffee bits, white chocolate and coconut.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Twix Cookie Bar

I went to my first ever Super Bowl Sunday this past weekend at my friend Ana's and I was asked to bring a dessert. I decided to bring a fruit platter with marshmallow fluff dip and a side of cookie butter, but I also wanted to bring something chocolatey.

I was instantly hooked to a dozen recipes while browsing Bakers Royale and decided that since I was short on time, I would go with twix cookie dough cheesecake bars. I loved that the recipe used pre-made ingredients for those that are short on time (like I was) but I'm sure it would taste even better if you used homemade cookie dough with homemade caramel.

The Twix cookie bar turned out really sweet, but oh so good. Great with a glass of milk. Even though I was filled to the brim with Ana's delicious homemade nacho bar and grazing at the fruit and veggie tray all through the game, I was able to stuff a small piece of it. I literally could not move for hours after that!

Highly recommend making these or pretty much anything on Bakers Royale's page. Her desserts do not disappoint!



Twix Cookie Bars
recipe from bakers royale

Crust and topping

one 16-oz. package of ready-made chocolate cookie dough
one 16-oz. pacakage of ready-made chocolate chip cookie dough
5 Twix, king size packages or 8 regular packages

Cheesecake layer

8oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup caramel sauce (I used the one from Trader Joe's)
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (for topping)

Create a sling by lining the pan with foil so that there is a one inch overhang on each side. Cover foil with bake spray.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cookie Crust:

Flatten chocolate fudge cookie dough to a 1/4 inch thickness using a rolling pin. Pinch off chocolate chip cookie dough into pieces and then drop it on top of fudge cookie dough. Using a rolling pin roll chocolate chip cookie dough into chocolate fudge cookie dough; set aside.

Cheesecake:

Add cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla and caramel sauce into a bowl and beat until blended. Set aside.

Assembly: Cover the bottom of the pan with a little more than three-quarters of flatten dough. Set aside remaining dough to sprinkle on top. Place Twix bars side-by-side directly on top of crust.

Pour cheesecake mixture on top. Crumble remaining cookie dough and sprinkle on top of cheesecake layer along with remaining 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips all over top.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees F. Remove from oven set on wire rack to cool.

Holiday Baking: Peppermint Mocha Cookies

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday! I've been so off my game this year and since I wasn't planning to ship any cookie gifts to my family and friends, I didn't bake anything special until the other night. I had picked up Andes peppermint crunch baking chips earlier this year and have been dying to use it since. With the holiday drinks out in full force, I wanted to make a Starbucks inspired peppermint mocha cookie and was lucky to discover Tracey's blog!

My butter didn't come to complete room temperature, so my dough ended up being a little crumbly. I recommend putting the dough in the fridge for a good 30 minutes before scooping and dip the top of the dough in a plate filled with the peppermint baking chips before baking.



Peppermint Mocha Cookies
recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups peppermint baking chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Jumbo marshmallows, cut in half (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee granules, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together. Cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and egg yolk, and then the vanilla and peppermint extracts. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined. Mix in the peppermint baking chips and chocolate chips.

Bake for 8 minutes and add half of the marshmallow. Bake an extra 3 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set (don't overbake!). Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool for a few minutes then remove the cookies to the wire rack to cool completely.

Trail Mix Cookies

LA was an amazing trip and kinda sad it has ended, but also so glad to have returned home. Aside from cooking some meals for my brother, cookies has been requested, especially a batch of S'more Cookies. I was home to actually surprise my Mom for her birthday and even though I was the actual present, my Mom could never turn down some cookies. My Mom doesn't like milk or dark chocolate, let alone white chocolate, but thought these trail mix cookies were a "healthier" choice. The boys exclaimed how delicious they were and with my brother's palate, his opinion is definitely important and he never lies to me.



Trail Mix Cookies
original recipe from country cleaver

2 cups Flour
¾ tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Sugar
10 Tbsp Butter, cubed
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 cup Oats
1 cup White Chocolate Chips
½ cup chopped Almonds
½ cup Dried Cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place oven racks on middle top and middle bottom racks. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Set aside. In a stand mixer combine brown and white sugars. On medium low speed, add in butter and cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds in between. Add in vanilla extract. Slowly add in flour/oats mixture until just combined. Add in white chocolate chips, pecans and dried berries. Mix until just incorporated.

Place in fridge to chill for 20 minutes.

Scoop out ¼ cup of dough and roll into a ball. Lightly press into the cookie sheet until 1" thick. Add about 8 cookies per sheet.

Place cookies in oven and bake about 10 minutes. Rotate and switch cookie sheets onto opposite oven racks and bake an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack until cool.

"Cowboy" Compost Cookies

I was invited to attend a recipe swap and I had the hardest time coming up with a recipe to share. In all honesty, I was too darn lazy to run out to the grocery store. So, I looked over my recipes over and over again picking this and that, but I don't know too much about my new friends and what their palate is, so the safest thing is cookies. Normally I would of gone with my ever so popular s'more cookies, but instead I went to cowboy cookies which I posted about last August. After mixing up the dry ingredients, I even second guessed myself if this was the right recipe to share. I almost made S'more cookies, but you know what, it was 2AM and nobody got time to start all over.



The cookie was chewy from the oatmeal, not too sweet from the chocolate chips and a hint of saltiness from the potato chips. All a great combo. While waiting for the cookies to bake, my house literally smelled like movie theater popcorn *drool*

No recipe to be shared today, but you can find the cowboy cookie recipe here and substitute potato chips for pretzels.

Holiday Baking: White Chocolate with Pistachios and Cranberry Cookies

Today I'm sharing with you my last holiday baking recipe that was sent out to my closest family and friends. I honestly can't tell you how these taste since I baked and packaged, but hopefully Melissa will leave a comment and let me know how it is taste wise. The original recipe calls for rolled oats, but I omitted that and added pistachios instead. Let me tell you, if you can, buy the deshelled ones... It will literally make your life so much easier! I used what I had on hand and it was not fun whatsoever standing there for a good 10 minutes.

White Chocolate with Pistachio and Cranberry Cookies
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2-1 cup pistachios

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the white chocolate chips, pistachio and the dried cranberries.

4. Drop dough onto baking sheet. Bake until cookies turn slightly golden about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cool.

Holiday Baking: Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

Simple recipes with minimal ingredients makes holiday baking stress free and I will take all the help I need. These are seriously so simple to make and you can also make the dough, scoop out into balls and freeze ahead of time. I'm not a fan of cake batter flavor anything (except candles), but these cookies turned out super moist and really good!

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality of photos... gloomy skies make ugly photos :(



Confetti Cake Batter Cookies
Recipe from Sallys Baking Addiction

1 box (18.25 oz) vanilla/white cake mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together everything but the sprinkles. Gently fold in the sprinkles.

Drop rounded 1-inch balls of dough onto baking sheet. You can also roll the top of the cookie dough in more sprinkles.

Bake for 9 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Guest Post: Helene in Between

I'm so excited to be able to share with you my very first guest post on my blog today! Please welcome Helene from Helene in Between and her dinosaur poop! Who doesn't love a simple no bake cookie? Thanks Helene and hope your ankle gets better soon!

Hi! I'm Helene from Helene in Between!

And I blog mostly about Love and life but I decided to do a recipe post for y'all!
Usually I bake all the time, but because I have a walker (I broke my ankle in a rock climbing accident) it makes it pretty hard. So I made something easy:Dinosaur poop cookies

Here are the ingredients via Bottled Beauty:

Ingredients-
1 stick butter
4 T. cocoa
2 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
2 1/2 C. quick cooking oats
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. peanut butter

PAPER TOWEL holder not necessary!

Combine butter, cocoa, sugar, and milk in sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Try to remember to take off all the wrap on the butter.



Am I the pioneer woman yet?



Boil that bad boy for 2 minutes and remove from heat.Add the remaining ingredients. And mix it up.

Note how I have to carry stuff:

This is what happens when your hands are using a walker. Oh, I know your next thought. How do I look so good? It's not a secret, don't bathe. Or I could use this:



But I hate that effing tray. It makes me hobble in short bursts leaving me out of breath by walking across the room. It's not pretty. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Or if you're lazy, don't use wax paper like I did. (Hint, use wax paper.) I know they look like crap but the point is they taste good. Real good.



Trust me. It took me about 3 times as long to make them because of my handicap and I still went through the trouble.

Hope you enjoy them as much as me! Stop by my blog sometime, I blog about other things I am much more talented at, like watching TV. I kid, I'm probably good at something.

Holiday Baking: Chewy Nutella Cookies

It's already December 5th and I've been searching and testing a couple recipes for a good couple weeks now and I am so glad I tried this recipe from Buttercream Blondie because it is so so so good! The last recipe I tried from her site was a bit of a fail on my end, but these cookies are far from that! If you like a nice chewy cookie, this is it! Next time I'm going to add more Nutella... I'm not even sure I added 3/4 cup since I didn't measure and only added what I had left.

Chewy Nutella Cookies
recipe from buttercream blondie

8 ounces unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup nutella
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 & 1/2 cups AP flour

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Add nutella and continue to mix.
Add eggs and extract, mixing till combined.
Mix in dry ingredients.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate a few hours or over night.
Scoop dough using a 1 ounce cookie scoop.
Bake at 325 degrees for approx. 15-16 minutes rotating once halfway through.

Holiday Baking: Chai Pumpkin Spice Kiss Cookies

Been testing out some recipes for this years cookie gram to my family and close friends and I personally love Chai anything and everything. Plus, I was stuck with 2 bags of the Pumpkin Spice Kisses and I desperately needed to get rid of them.... not to mention, I'm still stuck with a bag of them!

I ended up chopping up the kisses and mixed it in the dough since my last thumbprint recipe was a disaster which I had to turn them into a cookie bar. Thankfully these cookies turned out really good! Very cake-like, moist and delicious. The chai flavor wasn't as strong as I hoped for and the original recipe only called to sprinkle the chai spice on top, which I ended up adding it into the dough. I recommend putting in less cinnamon, more cardamon and maybe add in more chai concentrate.



Chai Pumpkin Spice Kiss Cookies
Original recipe from Pass the Sushi

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup chai concentrate (I used the brand Oregon Chai)
1 large egg
1 teas vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teas baking soda
1/8 teas salt
1/2 teas chai spice mix (recipe below)
10-12 pumpkin spice kisses, chopped, optional
OR 22-24 Pumpkin spice Hershey’s Kisses to top on cookie

Chai Spice Mix:
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer and cream at medium speed until fluffy, or with a hand mixer, for about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg, chai concentrate, and the vanilla, mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, chai spice mix and salt, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl as necessary. Mix in the chopped kisses.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Using your hands, roll the dough into 22 to 24 1 inch round balls. Place the dough balls on parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, unwrap kisses.

Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately place pumpkin kisses in the center of each cookie. Don’t touch or the kisses will turn into puddles! Cool completely.

Holiday Baking: Candy Cane Cookie Bars

November is finally over and I've been thinking about what treats I plan to send out this year. I really wanted to make the candy cane kiss cookies which I made a few years ago, but I don't know what happened, but the "dough" was extremely crumbly. I did refrigerate it for awhile, but trying to form a ball was a huge mess! I already used up a whole bag of the Hershey's candy cane kisses and I really didn't want to waste it. Instead, I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper, poured crumbly mix on to sheet, pressing down evenly and baked it for about 15-20 minutes. The cookie is really good, like a shortbread. Even though I won't be remaking these for Christmas presents, but definitely give it a go! Maybe you'll have better luck than me :)

Spiced Pumpkin Kiss Cookies

It's that time of the year to start thinking about holiday baking whether you already have a set list of goodies you bake year after year or if you're like me, you like to test out new recipes. A couple years ago, I did send out candy cane kiss cookies, eggnog shortbread, chocolate covered gummi bears and chocolate bark. This year... I'm still thinking whether I want to send out goodies or not, but I do have a couple recipes set aside and these spiced pumpkin kiss cookies from Buttercream Blondie were one of them.

When stores started stocking shelves with Halloween candy, for the life of me, I couldn't find these pumpkin kisses which everyone on twitter and instagram was boasting about, but when I eventually did, like a crazy person I bought 3 bags!! I actually do not like them. I have no clue what I'm going to do with them, but I saw this recipe and figured I'd give it a go. First off, I don't drink. Maybe once year? Or every other year? Obviously I don't own Bourbon so I omitted that, but I'm sure if you added it, it would of tasted a lot better. Sadly to say, this cookie will not be appearing in this years Christmas box. It was a little bland... probably from omitting the Bourbon? I'm not sure, but I wish the cookie itself had more spice because adding the kiss itself doesn't make the cookie that much better. Oh well, I ended up freezing the rest of the dough and will bake them when my mom is here. I know she'll gobble them up :)



Spiced Pumpkin Kiss Cookies
recipe from buttercream blondie

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon Bourbon
1/2 cup mascarpone
2 & 3/4 cup AP flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag Hershey's Pumpkin Kisses

Cream butter and sugars till light and fluffy.
Add egg, extract and bourbon.
Mix in mascarpone.
Sift dries together & mix in till combined.
Scoop cookies using a half ounce cookie scoop and roll.
Chill cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Bake at 325 degrees for 12-13 minutes rotating halfway through. While they're baking, unwrap the kisses.
As soon as you remove cookies from oven, place them on a cooling rack and press a pumpkin kiss into the center of each one.

Martha's Buttery Pecan Rounds

The recipe is super simple and you could easily double or even triple the recipe to your liking. They're really light and flaky and just melts in your mouth, literally. I'm going to definitely add these to my holiday bake list :)



Buttery Pecan Rounds
Recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies

1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg yolk (I accidently added the whole egg instead)
2/3 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
pecan halves, for decorating

Preheat oven to 325F. Sift together flour and salt into a bowl.
Cream butter and brown sugar til smooth, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg yolk until combined. Add flour mixture, mix until combined. Mix in chopped pecans.
Drop batter onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. Press one pecan half into the center of each. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Butter Sandwich Cookies

The dough was perrrrfect and rolling it out was pretty easy. I used one of those linzer cutters since i wanted it to be pretty and whatnot. Overall, it was awesome!! The cookie had a nice crunch when i bit into it and the cream cheese filling was tangy (not necessarily in a bad spoiled way) and of course my jam/jelly/fruit preserve was delicious!! Speaking of the jam/jelly/fruit preserve i used, I have no clue what is it. My friend brought it back for me from Germany when she was visiting her boyfriend and his family. Its completely homemade from Patrick's mom's kitchen and i wish there was more!!



Butter Sandwich Cookies
recipe from The Cookie Calendar 2010

for the cookies:
2 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

for the filling:
2/3 powdered sugar (or confectioner's sugar), sifted
3oz. cream cheese
4 TBsp fruit preserves
extra powdered sugar, to decorate

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the butter less 2 TBsps, the sugar and the vanilla until creamy but not fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add salt and flour and mix to a smooth paste. Shape the dough into a flat round, wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins, or until firm.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface 1/8in. thick, and cut out rounds. Place rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

For the filling, beat the remaining butter and powdered sugar until the mixture is pale and soft (that totally did not work for me). Stir in the cream cheese. Spread half the cookies with preserves and the other half with cream cheese icing. Sandwich together and dust with powdered sugar.

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies is as simple and classic as they come! Except the one thing that sets these cookies apart from the rest is how they melt in your mouth. They're really soft and delicate and really delicious. Definitely delicious with a glass of milk!



Peanut Butter Cookies
Original Recipe from Simply Recipes

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Honey Roasted PB)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Cream the butter for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, cream for 2 more minutes. Mix in the peanut butter and egg. Mix together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the sugar butter mixture.

2. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork. Bake until light brown, 9 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for a minute; transfer to rack to cool completely.

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Recipe from Recipe Girl

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped Candy Cane flavored Hershey’s Kisses
granulated sugar
additional, unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses- about 30

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In large mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, extracts and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy (2-3 minutes). In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet mixture and beat, scraping bowl often until well blended (1-2 minutes). The mixture will be a bit crumbly. Stir in chopped Kisses.

3. Shape dough into ¾-inch to 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. As soon as they come out of the oven, press a Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each cookie. They’ll crack a little around the edges, so just use your fingers to kind of hold the cookie together while you set the kiss inside.

Egg Nog Shortbread

Egg Nog Shortbread
Original Recipe from The Fig Tree

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of white sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon of eggnog
3 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3 cups of icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
3 to 4 tablespoons of eggnog (enough to make a spreading consistency)


In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on high for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Beat until combined.

Beat in vanilla, egg and eggnog into the dough. (note: I added a lot more eggnog because my dough was really dry and crumbly or some reason)

Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. If it becomes too tough, mix in the remaining dough by hand.

Divide dough in half, cover and chill for 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 375'F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the dough portions to 1/4 inch thick. Using a fluted 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out the dough. Place dough rounds 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet (I used parchment paper).

Bake cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes (or until the edges look lightly golden).

Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool. Repeat with second portion of dough.

Once cooled, drizzle or ice the cookies with the eggnog drizzle/icing.

Eggnog Drizzle/Icing

Stir 3 cups of icing sugar with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Slowly add in 3-4 tablespoons of eggnog or until you get the right consistency to either drizzle the icing or spread it.**

** I added about 2 cups of powder sugar for mine.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from Lovin the Oven

2 cups flour
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup m&m's

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

2. Beat the butter in a mixer until lightened. Add granulated sugar and beat for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and beat for another 30 seconds. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until blended.

3. Turn mixer speed down and add flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Add chocolate and mix until evenly blended in.

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for several hours to overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 350. Drop a heaping tablespoon full of dough onto sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Soft & Chewy Choco Chip Cookies with M&M's

Soft & Chewy Choco Chip Cookies with M&M's
Recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies book

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups plain M&M's (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and M&M's.

Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.