First Batch

I love baking.  An excuse to bake for others (read: I have fun but don't inhale all four-thousand calories myself).  This is how I know the holidays have officially begun - taste testing my Christmas cookies.  Yeah, boo for me.

Whiskey is a Food

This is not for the faint of heart...first two ingredients - butter and whiskey.  Let me re-phrase that -
THE FIRST TWO INGREDIENTS ARE BUTTER AND WHISKEY!

Indeed.  I started with this recipe (photos also stolen, since the time change has screwed with my photograph taking sessions recently).  Highly modified, but started none the less.  I also used Maker's Mark instead.  Cheaper, bourbon-y-ier (yes, a word.), and so good.

Oh Geez...

Miss Martha's tried-and-true Chocolate Chip with nuts

Okay, don't hate.  I know some of you may feel like pulling out your hair at this comment.  The holidays are almost here.  For serious.

Diva Drop Cookies

This week I traded work on my truck for cookies.  Best barter ever.  So, I needed to make a cookie that was cheap, man-friendly and really quick (I'm the queen at procrastinating...this last batch was literally with hours to spare!).  My girlfriend, Soseh is not a baker, but she created this recipe that I felt I needed to share.  Super simple, really quick, and tastes so yummy.

No joke, I ate my breakfast while making these cookies.  True testament to how easy they are.

Grab:
1 cup Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 cup White Chocolate Morsels
1 Egg
1 Tb Vanilla Extract

Combine all in a bowl.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees (seriously, you're only 3 minutes away from baking).

Drop tablespoon sized amounts onto a cookie sheet (for me, this made about 16 cookies).  Look, I still had some coffee left.

Bake on center rack for about 12-14 minutes.  Cool on the sheet for a couple minutes, then transfer to a rack to stop the cooking process.

Kindergarten Cookies

Remember the snackies you used to make in preschool?  Or kindergarten?  Yeah. It was more like playing with your food than cooking.  Pretty sure that was kinda' the point.  So when I stumbled upon this blog, I couldn't resist putting my own spin on her recipe.  I'm also pretty sure I hurt my brain.  How did I live this long without these cookies in my arsenal?

I warn you...they are amazing.  

It Fig-ures

I have noticed a trend.  I am both incapable of passing up gift-giving opportunities and baking opportunities.  No shame here.  So, while in the process of researching engagement parties for a friend, I stumbled upon this lil' gem for packaging cookies (step-by-step found, here).

Really?  I needed another reason to bake?  Well, let me just say, once these babies cool, they will be my first test batch for DIY cookie packaging.

And, in case you were curious, these cookies were highly-modified from Stonewall Kitchen's Oatmeal Fig Ginger Cookies recipe (great book I have, but their recipe can be found here).

Comfort Cookies

Bad news should always be accompanied by home-baked cookies.  Always.  Write that down.  While I make no boasts about my cooking skills, my cookies are generally well-received.  And somehow, shortbread cookies always come out on top.  They require the baking skills of a six-year-old but magically come out looking uniform, shimmering in sugar, and flawlessly flaky.  Really, four ingredients never looked so good.

I generally start with this recipe, and omit the crazy upgraded skills like melting chocolate or half-dipping.  Start with a good butter and a good vanilla, and you're halfway done.  I also don't have fancy things like cookie-cutters.  I find a rolled sheet of dough and a knife work just as well (I'm sure they taste the same, too).  And, if you ever think it's too early in the day to start taste-testing your masterpieces...just know, they are great dipped in black coffee.