Birthday Monster Cookies

Today is my 24th birthday and being the cookie lover that I am it has been tough trying to decide what kind of cookies I wanted for my celebration. Finally, I decided since it is my birthday I should not have to choose only one. Instead, I made these monster cookies that combine a bunch of my favorite flavors into one awesome cookie. Honestly, this cookie has everything I could think of and it tastes delicious, too!

Recipe yields 24 cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup M&M's
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.

Add the peanut butter and cream until incoporated.

Next, add the egg and then the vanilla extract. Mix in the baking soda, salt and half the amount of flour. Once combined, add the other half of flour.

Using a big spoon, mix in the quick oats by hand. Start by adding your chocolate chips.

Then comes the M&M's, butterscotch chips, chopped walnuts, and anything else you might want to throw in there. Mix it all together to evenly distribute all those delicious add-ins.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop out balls of dough on the paper. I used my 1.5 tablespoon cookie scooper and I had 2 dozen of the perfect sized cookies. Not too massive, but thick and delicious. Place the cookies in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Once the cookies are browned on the bottom edges, remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes or so before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

These cookies are a real treat and I am sure you will enjoy them! If you manage to have any left over, store in an air tight container.

Gingerbread Houses: Make & Decorate

After receiving a request email from a loyal reader to make a gingerbread house from scratch, I knew it would be a challenge I could not ignore. Much to even my surprise, I was able to successfully (at least I think so) bake, build and decorate a gingerbread house. Nothing quite puts a home in the Christmas spirit as the smell of freshly baked gingerbread and a decorated house to display. Thanks to Haydn for putting me up to the challenge!

Recipe yields 2 gingerbread houses (with enough dough left over to make a few gingerbread men and a snowman or two!)

The gingerbread house recipe was adapted from foodnetwork.com along with the stencil dimensions.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
3 tbsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cloves
3 tsp baking soda
6 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 - 3/4 cup water

Plenty of candy to decorate with (and snack on!)

Stencil Details (See image below for shapes)
2 rectangles 3 x 5 inches
2 rectangles 3 x 5 1/2 inches
2 pieces (rectangle with triangle on top) 3 inches at the base, 3 inches to the roof line and a slanted peak 5 1/2 inches from the bottom
4 rectangles 1 1/2 x 1 inches
1 piece (rectangle with triangle on top) 2 inches at the base, 1 1/2 inches to the roof line and a slanted peak 2 1/2 inches from the bottom

Icing (Edible glue!) - You will need multiple batches, but start off one at a time as the icing tends to thicken up very quickly
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp cream of tarter
5 tbsp water (more as needed to thin it out)

It took all day Saturday for Hollie and I to make these but it was well worth it! Start off by making your stencils. It is a good idea to make them out of cardboard or thick paper so they don't rip easily. Once those are set, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda in a medium bowl until all ingredients are incorporated.

Mix together the butter until smooth and add the molasses until combined.

Add the sugar mixture to the butter and molasses and mix until all dry ingredients are well combined.

In intervals, add flour (while continuously mixing) and then a few tablespoons of water. Continue to add flour and then water until all flour is combined. Only add water as needed if the mixture becomes to dry to mix.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

While the dough is in the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare your baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Take the dough out of the fridge and place about 1/2 onto one of your baking sheets. Sprinkle the top with a little flour to prevent sticking.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough so you have an even layer about 1/4 inch thick. Line up your stencils over your dough and using a sharp knife, cut around your stencils.

Remove excess dough but leave your pieces in place. Bake for 15 minutes.

Once finished in the oven, remove baking sheet. You will notice your shapes have become slightly deformed, so place the stencils back over each piece and trim off the excess cookie. Be sure to do this quick, the cookies harden very quickly and it will become hard to trim them and they will crack easily.

Now let the cookie cool to become completely hard. We threw ours in the fridge to speed up the process. Once the cookies are ready, you can make your first batch of icing. Don't make it too early or it will harden up. Combine sugar, cream of tartar and water in a bowl and mix for 5-7 minutes.

Once you have your pieces and your glue (I mean icing!) it is time to assemble your house. Glue together all edges and hold together for a few seconds until the icing begins to harden. Then let the house sit for about 45 minutes to an hour until it has completely hardened and is sturdy for decorating.

Once it is all set, it is time to decorate your house. Be creative! Below are a few shots of our finished house. Good luck to anyone making a gingerbread house this year!

Frosty snuck in on this photo!

Coconut Almond Chocolates

I am a HUGE fan of Almond Joy's. I can't get enough of them. The smooth coconut with the crunchy almond in the middle, all covered in chocolate. I mean, what's not to love? So I set out to make my own version of coconut chocolates and at the last minute thought to myself, why not add an almond in the middle? If you are like me and find Almond Joy's to be absolutely delicious, try out this recipe! The only regret I have is that I made such a small batch! I highly suggest tripling or quadrupling this recipe!

Recipe yields roughly 9 chocolates (Depends on how big each coconut ball is)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sweetened flake coconut
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
Handful of whole almonds
3.5 oz dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa)

Line a baking dish or other flat tray with wax paper. In a bowl, combine coconut and milk.

Using a small ice cream scoop (or your fingers!), create little balls with the coconut mixture.

Set tray in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. When you remove, the coconut balls should still be soft. Push an almond into the center of each ball.

Place tray back in the refrigerator for an additional 10-15 minutes. This allows the coconut mixture to harden and become easier to handle when dealing with the chocolate.

Break chocolate into small pieces and add to a bowl. Using a double broiler or the microwave, melt the chocolate until smooth. Place one coconut ball in the chocolate at a time and completely coat with chocolate.

Remove from bowl and place back on wax paper. Repeat this process until all coconut balls are coated with chocolate.

Place the tray back in the refrigerator for 10-15 more minutes. This allows the chocolate to harden. Remove from refrigerator and enjoy! (If you make a large batch, you can store them by placing in a sealed plastic container.)