Cookies!!!!

So I’m late on the Christmas cookies from this last year…  I forgot about them.  Oops. 

But I remembered eventually, so here I am, posting about them.  This is gonna be one big post, cuz there were LOTS of cookies!!! I’ll link back to the ones I did not change at all, to make it easier on you guys!

First, the I made some brownie covered Oreos from Picky Palate (not shown above).  These were pretty good.  I made them in paper cupcake liners b/c I saw someone else make them on another site and highly recommended using the paper liners b/c they stuck to the pan even w/ cooking spray.  The first time I made them, I used too much brownie batter (huh, too much???) so they were more like brownies surprises, but the second time (and the picture time), I used a lot less batter.  They were delicious either way, really. 

Yum!!

So next around were the red velvet shortbread from Kribie’s Cravings.  I was sooooo excited about these.  I love everything and anything red velvet.  I made them EXACTLY how they were written on the site…  but they didn’t work for me.  I couldn’t figure it out at the time, but I realize now (silly me) that she used 1 cup of butter, but the original recipe only had 1/2 cup of butter.  I am VERY determined to make this, especially b/c they would work so well with Christmas and Valentine’s Day, at least.  And you can change the color to make them work for any holiday...  So I will definitely try them again with the appropriate amount of butter.  I’m sure they will not spreadthe nexrt time around.

Oh and the flavor was EXCELLENT!  They were buttery with a hint of cocoa, so they were PERFECT, other than the increased butter. 

Then there were these pinwheel cookies…  These were really yummy, bujt I think I will use different kind of filling, like Solo pie filling.  Something of more substanance.  But the cookie was delicious.  I would just highly recommend baking them on parchment paper, not foil.  On foil, they spread and stuck.  But they were very yummy! 

 

I also made some yummy chocolate cookie covered rolos.  Mmmm…  I adapted it from Twol Peas and Their Pod’s recipe for Chocolate Caramel cookies with sea salt.  I used the cookie recipe and made some changes on that too. 

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/4 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

5 tbsp butter

4 oz milk chocolate

7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 rolls of Rolos

Preheat oven to 350ºF; line 2 baking sheets with baking paper, lightly coated with cooking spray. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Sift together flour, soda, and salt; set aside.

Melt butter and milk chocolate in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa powder and sugars (mixture will resemble coarse sand). Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine. Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Wrap the chocolate dough around the Rolos. Place balls on cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

The cookie was very soft and chewy and the addition of the ooey gooey rolo made it that much better.  This was definitely one of my favorites and LOVED by the security guys in my work building.  They loved these.  I should have included more!!!

The Nocha Buena cookies.  I copied this recipe to a word doc and I forgot to put the website.  I’m so sorry to whoever I copied this from!!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 ounces fine-quality chocolate, finely chopped, melted, and cooled

About 1/2 cup dulce de leche (I used Trader Joe’s fluer de sel caramel. Yum)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F with oven racks in upper and lower thirds.

Sift or whisk together flour, cocoa, chili powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl until combined. Set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in a bowl. Using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, beat until light and fluffy.

Add egg yolks, and vanilla, beating well, scraping down the sides after each addition. Mix in the cooled chocolate.

Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until combined well.

Drop batter by rounded teaspoons 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until cookies are puffed up and dry looking around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool.

Continue with the remaining dough, making sure to let the baking sheets cool between batches.

A couple of options for the caramel. You can make them thumbprints like I did the second time around.  Or you can make sandwiches like I did the first time (I didn’t take pics of those).  The Trader Joe’s caramel was thinner and not thick enough to handle a sandwich cookie.  the cookies were too heavy and the caramel oozed out…  Oops.  If you choose thumbprints, make a thick disk with the dough and make a little bowl on the top.  Bake them like that, then fill once they’ve cooled.  To make the sandwiches, make thinner disks so they aren’t too huge or fat.  Dust with additional cocoa powder and a sprinkle of cinnamon and/or chili powder.

These cookies are not hard or soft.  They weren’t really crumbly like shortbread…  They were almost a tender shortbread, if that makes any sense?  But the chili makes a really good addition to these cookies, they were not “spicy” at all, more like a kick of something. 

So my FAVORITE dessert for Christmas were these chocolate dulce de leche bars…  I saw them on What’s Cooking, Chicago?

The only thing I changed was that I added 6 oz of cooled melted milk chocolate when I added the eggs and vanilla.  OMG, these were absolutely to die for!  The actual bar was soft and chewy, the caramel was rich and gooey.  The combination of the two was amazing.  My other recommendations would be to spray the pan, line it with foil-enough to have overhand, then spray it again.  Then, let them cool in the pan on a wire rack.  After they’ve cooled most of the way, put them in the fridge to help the caramel set.  Once they are completely cooled, lift the foil out of the pan.  I used a nifty little brownie cutter made by Wilton. It makes three rectangular bars at once.  All neat and the same shape.  I like when things are nice and even.  :)

And it let me have all the scraps, hehe.

These are definitely going to be made again and again and again.  They were awesome. 

So thank you for forgiving me my late post on my Christmas goodies.  And enjoy!