Soft Molasses Spice Cookies

When it comes to spice cookies and gingersnaps I'm in love. I could eat a whole box of them to myself and it'd be totally worth the belly ache. I made these soft darlings for goodie bags I gave to my co-workers :) I rolled them in brown and then white sugar and I definitely have to say I prefer white sugar as it sparkles a lot better. These had the spice flavor, but I didn't find them too overpowering like some store bought cookies. Also be sure to give them enough room to expand as you can see I didn't and got a few Siamese twins :P That was okay by me though, more for me to eat!


Soft Molasses Spice Cookies
from The Great American Cookie Cookbook (Publications International, Ltd.) - buy it here on amazon.com

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and cloves in medium bowl.
Beat 1/2 cup butter in large bowl until smooth and creamy.
Gradually add brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until fluffy.
Beat in molasses and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth.
Beat in flour mixture at low speed alternately with 1/4 cup milk until blended.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls (sprinkle or roll in sugar if desired) of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake 12 minutes or until set. Let cookies stand on cookie sheets 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am one of those people who go completely nuts for pumpkin, so these are no exception whatsoever. They're not perfect and circular, but who cares? They're pumpkin AND chocolate, best combination ever. Pumpkin is such a great ingredient due to the fact it makes food extremely moist. These are moist and sweet with that touch of chocolate. Go ahead, make them! They didn't last long in my house, and no I didn't eat them all. But now that I think of it, I should of...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Old Fashioned Country Cookies (Gooseberry Patch) - buy it here at amazon.com

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon salt

1 lb. margarine or butter

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla

16 oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt and set aside.

Cream the margarine and sugar together. Add eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin.

Stir in dry ingredients and chocolate chips.

Drop by desired spoonful size and bake for 15min. or until done.

Sour Cream Cookies

My mother tends to always have an obscene amount of sour cream in her fridge so I wanted to make use of some if not most of it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the stuff! But one container is enough for me :) I found this recipe and was curious at how they would taste and turnout! They aren't thtat sweet for being a cookie, but I find just a drizzle of icing is all they really needed. Not too powerful, not too weak, but just right! So let's get started on this easy peasy recipe:


Sour Cream Cookies
from Old Fashioned Country Cookies (Gooseberry Patch) - buy it here at amazon.com

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup chopped nuts (optional, I made mine without due to co-worker's with allergies)


Mix together thoroughly the shortening, brown sugar and eggs.
Stir in sour cream and vanilla.
Sift flour, soda, baking powder, and salt; stir into sour cream mixture. Add nuts.
Chill at least 1 hour. Drop by rounded teaspoonfulls about 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake until delicately browned, about 8 to 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

I drizzled mine in festive colors but the possibilities are endless! The book recommends slathering these cookies with a Burnt Butter Icing. Recipe is as follows:

Burnt Butter Icing:

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

Melt butter until golden brown. Blend in powdered sugar and vanilla.
Stir in hot water until icing spreads smoothly.
Icing for about 30 cookies.

Edible Christmas Wreaths

It's that time of year again! Time to crack open those cookbooks and find what sweet treats you're going to make this holiday season. Every year my mother and I bake up a storm to make goodie bags for our co-workers. Last year I was left to making it all on my own! So i did and it was tiring but well worth it in the end. Some of my co-workers don't have family anymore so it's sometimes all they get for Christmas. It breaks my heart but warms mine as well because I know they appreciate it and are grateful for our gift to them.

This is your typical "rice krispie treat" but I used Special K for this as it's what I had one hand. Honestly, you can't even taste the difference between the two cereals after you pile on all that sweet gooey marshmallow :)

I used red icing for the holly berries, but feel free to let your imagination wander! Sprinkles...red hots...crushed candy cane...



Edible Christmas Wreaths

10 oz. marshmallows
6 cups of corn flake cereal (crush with your hands) or rice krispie cereal
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. green food coloring, or to your desired green-ness
bagged red frosting or other candies for decorating the wreaths


Melt butter and marshmallows over low heat stirring constantly.
When completely melted add vanilla and green food coloring.
Add in corn flakes. Stir until they are completely coated and green!
Grease hands with butter or cooking spray and start shaping into little O's on a silicone baking mat or wax paper. CAUTION: Very Hot!
Repeat steps until all of the mixture is used. Cool before serving.

Sticky Chinese Wings

I saw these on Fake Ginger and thought they sounded super easy and looked delicious. Five ingredients and all I have to do is throw them in a crockpot for a few hours? YES! Normally I'm very eh about using anything with bones in it and I regret being frugal when I bought these. We normally eat the store brand boneless skinless chicken breast, but wings are just another story. The quality wasn't there, so I blame the store not Amanda

Amanda is 100% right that they are sticky, salty, and a little tiny dash of sweet. I was too impatient when it came to letting the sauce simmer forever, but it still was thicker than started. I served this with just plain white rice and butter. They smell AMAZING while cooking, I had to keep slapping the boy's hands away everytime he went toward that crockpot to lift the lid.

Next time I may cut down on the soy sauce since it was a tad too salty for my taste. I also might create the wings and strip them of their goodness and add veggies to the mix such as green peppers, onion, etc. and serve all that over rice.


Sticky Chinese Wings
from Amanda at Fake Ginger.

3 lbs chicken wings
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic powder together. Toss wings in the mixture and allow to marinate overnight. In the morning, put wings and marinade in slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Remove wings from slow cooker and transfer marinade (now sauce!) to a small saucepan. Allow to simmer until thickened. Pour over wings and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Bars

It's nearly that time of year again when the sweets get delivered by the bucket loads and they are wrapped in bright colors to match the season and holidays. Now I know that some of you out there just aren't the greatest bakers, and that's fine. Perhaps you're better at math than I am, though that's not hard to do :P This is a very simple tasty treat that you can make for your holiday goodie bags, gift jars, work parties, or just for you and the kids to enjoy. Honestly, who DOESN'T love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate??

I found this recipe from Betty Crocker, and it actually called for butterscotch chips as well, but I passed as the family doesn't much care for them :)

Remember, this is a quick and easy recipe and calls for you to cheat a bit by buying store bought cookie mixes....but they are delicious! Though feel free to try it with your own peanut butter cookie recipe and if you do leave a comment on how yours turned out! I much prefer scratch to anything :)


Peanut Butter Bars

1 pouch (1lb. 5oz.) of Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
2 cup chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray.
In large bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water and egg until soft dough forms. Press into pan. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 10 minutes.
In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips on High 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until completely melted. Spread evenly over cookie base. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set.
Cut and wrap or serve this delicious treat! :)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies!

So while browsing one of the forums I frequent I found a contest for Fall/Halloween goodies. I could make a sweet or savory dish and of course I pounced on savory. I'm not 100% sure this is what I want to enter in the contest as I have something else in mind (chocolate pumpkin cake with dulche de leche!!). So for now these are my Plan B and will be served tomorrow at my job for our little Halloween celebration :)

The Pumpkin Whoopie Pie part was a recipe I found on Recipezaar posted by Mitra. I loved the adorable pumpkin faces and it got 5/5 stars and seemed like a fairly easy recipe. I added more pumpkin spice than what she called for, but that's just because I'm mildly obsessed with the stuff! These are EXTREMELY moist and delicious.

The Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from Martha Stewart. :) It is delicious and so much better than store-bought icing/frosting. I originally wanted to do some sort of sweet marshmallow fluff, but had none to throw into the mix. The icing wasn't overly sweet and did have that deliciously addicting cream cheese flavor. So if you're not big on cream cheese in general, this isn't the recipe for you! :P

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie

3/4 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (i recommend about a 14-15oz. can)
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

1 2/3 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350°.
Use a non-stick baking sheet or silicone mat
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth.
Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.
Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet.
Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes.
Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Whoopie Pie Filling

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make the filling: Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth.

Add cream cheese and beat until well combined.

Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)
Assemble the whoopie pies: When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

enjoy and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!