Christmas Cookies

Guess who ate an unknown amount of Chocolate cookies off the counter last night???

I was so paranoid that he would get sick on them but surprisingly he didn't even act like it phased him last night or this morning!  We are not talking about my husband but about the puppy.  He is so rotten.  I strategically placed the tupperware far enough back so I didn't think he could reach them...apparently he has been growing and mom has not realized how much!  I came down stairs to find him scrambling to finish crumbs off the floor.  Luckily I had a sinking suspicion since he was not at my feet as usual and went down to see what he was getting into.  Otherwise I am pretty sure he would not have practiced restraint and only had a few.  I guess, who could blame the little guy...these things were pretty good!!!

Saturday I got together with Corey's Mom and sisters and made snickerdoodles:

Fat Fluffy Snickerdoodles
makes 16-20 cookies
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon for dipping
Preheat oven to 375.
Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk. If dough is still crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
In a bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on baking sheet. Lightly press down on dough to flatten it. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Then last night I wanted to make these, but couldn't find mint M&Ms or peppermint kisses, so instead I made Chocolate Peppermint Cookies and Chocolate Caramel Blossoms.  The peppermint ones were by far our favorites.  If you like the mint/choc combo like me you will be happy!  I started out making a batch of these below and used the Caramel kisses for blossoms and then folded Andes mint chunks and regular chocolate chips into the remaining dough for my peppermint cookies.

Double Chocolate Cookies
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
Fold in any chips, m&m’s or nut’s if you’d like. Leave plain to make blossom cookies.
Spoon onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
If making blossom cookies, roll into balls and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and push Kiss into center of cookie. Bake for 1 more minute.