Mint Oreo Cookie

If you know me, you know I dont bake. I am making the effort again, mostly because home baked does taste so much better then store bought....even good store bought. I keep finding all these awesome recipes for cookies, cakes, and candy and it has me inspired. I am actually baking this year for the first time in a while. I am not going nuts but a few different kinds of cookies shouldn'y kill me. I hope :)

I made these for a cookie exchange and I loved them. Everyone in my house gobbled them up and I have to make a new batch for Christmas. They are a little time consuming, but well worth the effort I promise. And if you are only making one batch it should be much easier then 6 dozen.

They came out a bit flatter then I expected and I had wanted to roll them in candy cane dust, but I wasnt sure how much creme frosting I needed for the middle for the 6 dozen I made so I was being conservative with the amount I put between. Next time I know I will have left overs so I can make them slightly thicker.

Mint Oreo Cookies

Time: 1 hour

Yield: 30 Oreos

Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Cookie Dough:

2 boxes devils food cake mix

2 sticks melted butter

2 eggs

Frosting:

5 C powdered sugar

1/2 stick butter, softened

1/4 C milk

dash salt (just a sprinkle)

1/2 t peppermint flavoring

1 t red food coloring gel ( like them bright)

1. In a large mixing bowl (or in your Kitchen Aid Mixer) combine cookie dough ingredients. Mix for about 1 minute, or until all ingredients are incorporated.

2. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Smash the balls down just a bit.

3. Bake the cookies at 350 for about 8 minutes. This is not an exact time. You don't want to over bake them. A cookie that isn't soft, isn't worth eating in my book. Take them out of the oven when the tops have cracked, as in the picture above. Let them finish baking while they sit on the hot cookie sheet. When the sheet is cool, you can place the cookies on a wire rack to finish cooling.

4. To make the frosting whip the butter until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar and add the milk a little at a time. You don't want the frosting to be too runny.

5. Add the food coloring, peppermint and the salt and mix.

6. Frost the underside of a cookie and place another cookie on top.

Iced Pumpkin Cookie

I have been making this cookie for years. I usually make them once a fall, and share them with everyone I know, so I dont eat every single one myself. They arent too sweet and have just the right amount of pumpkin. They are more cake like then crunchy. These are highly addictive.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

adapted slightly from an Allrecipes.com recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sprinkle:

1 tsp white sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.

Pumpkin Cookies #1

This recipe is marked #1 because I know there is another pumpkin cookie out there and this will be the first of many. My Mother in Law Susan Bramley made the most delicious cookie and cant remember exactly where the recipe came from. This was not it. They were good, but not the ones I really really liked. I did pass these all around town and everyone really enjoyed them so feel free to make them and report back, but a recipe I like even better is out there and I wont stop until I find it. Pumpkin Cookies and Meatballs....aggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
from Food Network
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.
Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds.
Stir in the chips.
Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges.
Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes.
Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

A helpful hint--buy parchment paper. It makes clean up so much easier. They sell it in the regular grocery aisle now.