Toasted Coconut Macaroons

    These macaroon cookies were a hit! They're so good! I was trying to find a gluten free option for the market and I figured I could never go wrong with coconut! I bought a pretty basket with mesh at Hobby Lobby to keep my samples in, it definitely added a little something extra!

Toasted Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

- 1 (14 ounce) package of unsweetened coconut

- 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1 and 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together. Using a cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, roll cookies into tight balls. Place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and enjoy. 

Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

   I hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July! We had a big crawfish boil/BBQ out at my parent's house last weekend, it was awesome! I've been preparing for the farmer's market this weekend all week and I finally have a minute to post my recipe for these heavenly chocolate cookies! I made them last weekend and they are family tested and approved! Hope you love them as much as we did! I tried switching out the white chocolate chips for peanut butter chips too, so good! These are best prepared a day in advance so they can freeze completely before you bake them.

Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

- 4 and 1/4 cup of flour

- 3/4 cup of cocoa powder

- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

- 2 teaspoons of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of sea salt

- 1 cup of butter, softened
- 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening
- 1 and 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 2 eggs

- 1 (12 ounce) package of white chocolate chips

    Prepare you dough in advance, anywhere from 4 hours to the day before. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside the dry ingredients.  In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars. Once fluffy, mix in the vanilla and eggs. After combined, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet. I like to do it in thirds. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips. Measure cookies into 1/4 cup serving, I used a large cookie scoop. Place the dough in the freezer for at least 4 hours. When you're ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, place cookies 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet, and bake for 17-20 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. 

S'mores Cookie Bars

    I have found the perfect dessert for your summer cookout!! We had THE BEST CAMPING WEEKEND!! We thought it was going to rain all weekend, but in true Florida weather fashion, it held off until Sunday evening for us! We were prepared this time and we had a blast! I'll post some pictures after this AMAZING recipe! Seriously, you're going to love this dessert and you will be the hit of the cookout! I made mine with whole wheat flour but, I'm sure you could make it with regular all purpose flour just as easily.

S'mores Bars

Ingredients:

For the crust:

- 2 and 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs

- 1/3 cup of sugar

- 2/3 cup of butter, melted

For the cookie top:

- 2 and 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened to room temp

- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 2 eggs

- 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips

- 2 cups of mini marshmallows

- 2 large Hershey's bars, broken up

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium sized bowl, start the crust by mixing together the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar. Pour the melted butter on top and gently mix together with a fork until crumbly. Press the mixture into the bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake the crust for 7 minutes and mix together the topping meanwhile. To make the cookie top, start by stirring together the flour, salt, and baking soda, set aside. Next, cream together the softened butter (not melted) and the sugars. I used a spoon to mix this recipe, but you could whip out the mixer. Once the butter and sugar is creamed, mix in the vanilla and eggs. Once thoroughly combined, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients only mixing until just combined. Fold in the mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows (I may have used my hands at that point). Carefully dollop the cookie dough on top of the baked graham cracker crust, pressing the mixture flat without disturbing the crust underneath. Bake the bars for 12 minutes, remove and top with broken Hershey's pieces. Quickly return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. It will puff up a lot due to the marshmallows, you want it to do that. Let it cool and slice into bars. Enjoy!

Now for some camping pictures! 

My camp kitchen setup!

My man!

Happy Birthday Heather!!!!

Devil's Food Cake Mix Cookies

    Valentine's Day is quickly approaching! I'm on the lookout for cute and yummy Valentine's treats. Send me ideas! These chocolate cookies are so rich and chocolatey! This is not my first rodeo when utilizing boxed cake mix to make cookies. It's so darn convenient! Just like my recipe for Easy Fluffy Cake Cookies, you could change up the type of cake mix that you are using in this recipe. I thought that these would be perfect as devils's food and rolled in pink sugar for Valentine's!

Devil's Food Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 box of devil's food cake mix

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 2 eggs

- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- coarse sugar or sprinkles for rolling

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the cake mix, baking powder, and salt. Next, add the eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Mix well until combined. Scoop tablespoon sized cookies, roll them in sugar, and line them on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool and enjoy!

Orange Cranberry Sugar Cookies

    Goodbye 2016! I had to get one last post in before this year was over! I made these cookies with all of my Christmas cookies this year. I was really happy with how they came out. They're chewy and packed with fresh orange zest. They just scream Florida Christmas! I chopped up my dried cranberries because I bought mine at Trader Joe's and they were really big and fresh.

Orange Cranberry Sugar Cookies 

Ingredients:

- 1 cup butter, room temp

- 1 cup packed light brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- the zest and juice from 1 ripe orange (about 1/4 cup of juice)

- 2 and 1/2 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda 

- 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- 1 cup of dried cranberries 

    Preheat over to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set that aside. Whip the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the sugars and continue to whip. Once fluffy and completely combined, add in the egg, vanilla, orange zest, and juice. Once completely combined, add the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix well and then fold in cranberries. Scoop tablespoon cookies on to a greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before transferring from the baking sheet. 

Easy Oatmeal Dog Cookies

    My new sister-in-law and my brother got me a super cute set of doggy cookie cutters for Christmas. So, of course I had to test them out! These are literally the easiest and simplest dog treats that you can make. With only 3 ingredients and a great consistency for rolling, you'll be surprised how easy it is to whip up a batch of these. Oh, and my dogs LOVE them!

Easy Oatmeal Dog Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 and 1/2 cup of old fashioned rolled oats

- 1/2 cup of peanut butter

- 1 banana, mashed

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the oats into your food processor and pulse until powdered. In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter and banana, add all but 1 tablespoon of the oats. Knead the dough until it all comes together. Roll the dough out, using the reserved tablespoon of oats to dust the surface with. Place cutout cookies on a greased cookies sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms start to brown. Cool and enjoy!

Coconut Clouds

    If you are looking for the perfect gluten free Christmas cookie, look no further! These are great! They are light, chewy, and full of coconut! Imagine that a coconut macaroon had a baby with a meringue, that's what I think these cookies resemble. Be careful whipping the sugar into the egg whites, take it slowly. Hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday!

Coconut Clouds

Ingredients:

- 1 (14 ounce) package of sweetened coconut

- 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- 4 cold, fresh egg whites

- 2/3 cup of sugar

- 1 cup of chocolate chips for drizzle

    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt. Set that mixture aside. Next, whisk the sugar slowly into the egg whites. It's easiest to use an electric mixer. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Once just combined, scoop into tablespoon mounds on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Once baked and cooled, microwave the chocolate chips in 30 second increments until melted and smooth. Drizzle melted chocolate on top and enjoy!  

Key Lime Snowball Cookies

    I have been slacking in the blogging department! November was a very stressful month. It was mostly busy! Catering for the holidays in Dr. Phillips has been INSANE! (Insanely awesome!) Anyhow, I am back just in time for National Cookie Day! Over Thanksgiving, my family took a visit to The Showcase of Citrus in Clermont where we picked oranges, lemons, and key limes! I decided to turn some of the key limes that I brought home into some cooler cookies that will make an excellent addition to your holiday baking!

Key Lime Snowball Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of softened butter

- 2 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, divided

- 1/4 cup of key lime juice

- 2 teaspoons of key lime zest

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1 egg yolk

- 3 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whip together the butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Next, mix in the lime juice, zest, vanilla, and egg yolk until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 3 increments. The dough will be on the dry side, press together to form a large ball. Pack cookie dough into a small cookie scoop and scoop cookies out onto a greased cookie sheet. If you don't have a scoop, you can form the dough into 1 inch balls. Bake for 15 minutes. Once the bottoms of the cookies have begun to turn golden, remove them from the oven and immediately toss in the remaining powdered sugar. Let cool (or not) and enjoy! 

Citrus picking with my family!!

Coconut Cookie Bars

    I found this recipe months ago after my visit to Massachusetts. My plan was to make it for my family while they were visiting for the wedding be cause my Uncle Phil loves coconut! Well, to my disappointment, he was unable to make the trip. That's ok, it didn't stop me from making it for him anyways! With a shortbread cookie bottom and a chewy coconut top, it's everything a coconut lover is searching for in a dessert! I bet it would be great with some melted chocolate drizzled on top!

 Coconut Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

  For the shortbread layer:

- 1 cup of butter, room temperature

- 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

- 2 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

  For the coconut layer:

- 2 cups of shredded coconut

- 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

- 1 large egg

- 1 teaspoon of coconut extract

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, flour, and salt until the mixture resembles wet sand. Press this mixture into the bottom of prepared baking dish and make in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. While it is baking, mix together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, egg, and extract. Once the bottom layer comes out of the oven, pour the coconut mixture over the top and gently spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Slice and enjoy!

Pot O'Gold Cookie Cups

    Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I knew I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when I stumbled upon this cookie cup idea! The kids at church loved them and devoured them all. They are almost like brownies that I stuffed with mini Reese's cups. Amazing! You're going to love this recipe. You could even experiment with filling them with different candy, I almost put mini Butterfingers in them. I hope everyone has a fun and safe day. Someone please drink a couple of green beers for me! 

Pot O'Gold Cookie Cups

Ingredients:

- 1/3 cup of butter, at room temperature

- 1/3 cup of vegetable shortening

- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 1/4 cup of brown sugar

- 1 large egg

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1 and 1/3 cup of flour

- 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 24 unwrapped mini Reese's cups

- 1 and 1/2 cup of vanilla frosting, store bought or homemade

- food coloring

- 24 Airhead Extremes or any gummy rainbow candy really

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and shortening until smooth. Then, beat in the sugars, egg, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Once combined, take a tablespoon cookie scoop and scoop the dough into a well greased mini muffin pan. It should be distributed evenly. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. Act swiftly and press each Reese's cup into the center of each cookie cup before they start to cool. You want to do this as fast as you can before they start to get firm. Now let them cool completely. Next, color your frosting gold, pipe it over each cookie cup, and top with an Airhead Extreme. Easy stuff!

Samoa Coconut Bars

    Oh man, have I been crazy busy lately! I got a new car on Saturday! People keep telling me that I drive "the hamster car" now. It's a white 2016 Kia Soul and it is absolutely beautiful! Ok, back to these coconut bars. It's Girl Scout Cookie season!!! Woot!! I spent the better part of my youth as a girl scout and I still remember vividly, standing outside of stores and asking everyone and their mother to buy our cookies! My favorites when I was little were the Samoas. I decided to try making something similar. I love anything with toasted coconut! Hope you love them too!

Samoa Coconut Bars

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 and 1/2 stick of butter (3/4 cup) at room temperature

- 1 egg

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 2 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt, divided  

- 3 cups of shredded sweetened coconut

- 12 ounces of chewy caramels (I used the caramel bits)

- 3 tablespoons of half and half

- 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. First, make the crust by creaming together the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Once fluffy, add the egg and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the flour and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. It may be crumbly. Then, press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake for about 25- 30 minutes or until the edges start to lightly brown. Cool completely before topping. While you are baking the crust, you can toast your coconut. I like to toast it in my toaster oven. I spread all of the coconut out evenly on a small pan and set the toaster on dark. Then, I just watch it until the edges start to brown and I stir it. I repeat the process until all of the coconut is a golden brown color. You can totally do it in the oven while your crust is cooling or over the stove top in a dry skillet. Toasting coconut is not rocket science, google it. Next, place the caramels in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on high for 1 minute and then stop to stir. Keep melting it in 30 seconds intervals (stopping to stir) in the microwave until it's completely melted. Then, stir the half and half and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the caramel, you may have to put it back in the microwave for one more round. Just keep stirring until it is combined and melted, but be careful not to burn the caramel. Add the toasted coconut into the caramel and mix until combined. Once combined, spread onto the cooled cookie crust. I pressed it on there pretty tightly. I cut it into bars at this point. Then, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals, put the completely melted chocolate into a piping bag, and drizzle it over the top of each bar. Let the chocolate set (or not) and enjoy!

My new car you guys!
Omigod, she is so beautiful!

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

    I made a whole lot of cookies this year! Everything from Eggnog Snicker-doodles to Mint Crackles. But, my favorite of all of them were these Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Crinkles! Having a cookie scoop is going to make this recipe so much easier. They not only look good, they taste good too. Good luck trying to save some for your cookie plates!

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of flour

- 1 cup of cocoa powder

- 2 teaspoons of baking powder

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 10 tablespoons of butter, softened

- 1 and 1/2 cup of sugar

- 2 eggs

- 2 teaspoons of vanilla

- 24 to 30 unwrapped Rolo candies

- 1 cup of powdered sugar

    In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. Then, add eggs and vanilla. Once combined, add the flour mixture. Let the dough chill for 1 to 2 hours. If using a cookie scoop, you don't really even need to chill the dough, just scoop and press candy into soft dough in the scoop. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough and cover each each Rolo candy. Roll in powdered sugar and place cookies onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool and remove from baking sheet. 

Citrus-Kissed Fig Thumbprint Cookies

    I had never thrown a cookie exchange party. I decided to try this year! We had a small group but we still had a nice time. My friends did such a fabulous job creating some delicious Christmas cookies. My friend Ashley's thumbprint cookies were such a hit! These cookies have a hint of citrus while cradling sweet fig preserves! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us Ashley!

Citrus-Kissed Fig Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

- 1 cup of butter or margarine, softened

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

- 1 egg

- 2 and 1/2 cups, plus 3 tablespoons of flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar

- 1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest

- 1 teaspoon of grated orange zest

- 1/3 cup of fig preserves

- granulated sugar for garnish

    In a large bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, lemon, and orange zest. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Using your thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make indentation in the center. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon preserves into each indentation. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes, remove to a wire rack, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cool completely. Store tightly covered at room temperature. 

Magic Coconut Cookies

    Here it is folks! The easiest Christmas cookie recipe ever! It's really just so simple. We went to the Ocala Christmas parade on Saturday! It was really cool to see it from the sidelines. I had never gone to actually watch it, I'd always been performing in the West Port Marching Band. It's been 9 years now, I'm getting old! What?!?!? They were awesome this year! Well, after all of the excitement we decided to go home, bake some Christmas cookies, and finish decorating the tree. It was a nice evening. Ok, back to these cookies! You're going to love them!

Magic Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 (14 ounce) bag of sweetened shredded coconut

- 1 bag of chocolate chips or I used mini M&M's for a more festive look

- 1/2 cup of chopped pecans

- 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together. Scoop onto a well greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Let them cool and use a spatula to remove. Enjoy!

My hunnie is the best!

The Christmas tree is finally finished at my parents' house!

Ginger Snaps

    Friday was National Cookie Day! I have so many plans for this cookie season. It's so exciting! I may have eaten all of the ginger snaps that my dad had bought. Oops! I think I did a pretty good job baking some homemade to replace his store bought ones! In our house, we eat Ginger Snaps topped with port wine cheese. If you haven't tried it, you need to! This is definitely one of my new favorite recipes.

Ginger Snaps

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup of shortening

- 1 cup of sugar

- 1/4 cup of molasses 

- 1 egg

- 2 cups of flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Then, beat in the molasses and egg. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Form the dough into 1 inch balls, roll them in sugar, and pace them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake them for 10-15 minutes. The longer you bake them, the crunchier they will be. Let them slightly cool before removing from the cookie sheet.

So delicious with a smear of port wine cheese! 

  

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

    I actually made these cookies months ago for a friend! They're really chewy and super good. I just forgot to blog them. I know it's cookie season so, here they are!

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of butter, softened

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of peanut butter

- 1 egg

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla

- 1 and 1/2 cup of flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. Scoop the dough into 1 inch scoops and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until just set. 

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

    They may look like candy corn but they don't taste like them. They're definitely better! They're pretty easy to make too. Take a basic sugar cookie recipe and create something festive!

  

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, room temperature

- 1 and 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

- 1 egg

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 3 cups of flour

- red food coloring

- yellow food coloring

    Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and egg until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking soda, salt, and flour. Slowly incorporate the two mixtures. Divide the dough into three equal parts. Color one with the yellow food coloring and another with yellow and red to create orange. Layer the different colors, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for several hours. Once chilled and you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the dough to look like candy corns and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake them for 10-12 minutes.

Crispy Sugar Cookies

    I was searching for something cute to make for a friend's baby shower this weekend and I came upon a recipe for truffles made of sugar cookies. I thought that sounded like a good idea! The recipe called for store bought cookie dough, oh heck no! I decided to make my own of course. I even threw in some red food coloring and made them pink because she is having a girl. This recipe is so super simple. And they come out light and crispy. My mom said they are almost like vanilla wafers. Stay tuned for my version of sugar cookie truffles, I'm thinking I'll call them bon-bons instead!

Crispy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of softened butter

- 1 cup of sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 2 1/2 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

    Preheat oven to 365 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until combined. Mix in first egg completely and then, mix in the second egg. Next, stir in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and mix until combined. Drop the dough with a teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet about two inches apart. Bake the cookies for about 10-15 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Let them slightly cool before removing from the cookie sheet. 

Fairy Bite Shortbread Cookies

    With such a whimsical name, these tiny shortbread cookies are so much fun! They'd be an adorable snack for little kids. I made these over the weekend for a baby's first birthday party! They're so super easy and so cute!

Fairy Bite Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, at room temperature 

- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1 and 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- 2 tablespoons of rainbow sprinkles

    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add in the flour and salt. Slowly mix until completely combined. Fold in the sprinkles. Line an 8x8 baking pan with plastic wrap, leaving about an inch overhang. Press the dough into the bottom of the baking pan evenly. Remove compacted dough, using the plastic wrap overhang. You will be left with an 8x8 square of dough. Slice the dough into 1/2 inch squares. Gently place each square 1/2 inch apart onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until bottoms become slightly brown. Let cool completely and enjoy. (If you try to remove them from the cookies sheet before they've cooled, they will crumble.)

The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I've eaten a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my days. If you love them chewy, these are the best! My younger brother has been in Afghanistan for about a month now. I really didn't know what to expect when he told me he was leaving. I definitely didn't think I'd be able to talk to him while he was away! I really love hearing from him, he sends me snapchats and scares the crap out of me sometimes. I told my mom that I wanted to send him some homemade goodies in one of the care packages that she sends him, I think these cookies are going to take a trip next month! That's the great thing about this recipe, you freeze the dough. That way, you can just take out what you'd like to bake and save the rest. You're probably going to want to bake and eat them all though!

The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of butter, softened

- 1/2 cup of shortening

- 1 and 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar

- 2 large eggs

- 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 4 and 1/3 cup of all purpose flour

- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

- 2 teaspoons of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1 (12 ounce) bag of chocolate chips

     In a stand mixer (or with an electric hand mixer) beat together the butter, shortening, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla, mix until combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Slowly incorporate the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Once combined, fold in the chocolate chips. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form the cookies (you may need to refrigerate the dough for about an hour before forming the cookies). Place the formed cookies in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Once the cookies have frozen, remove the amount that you'd like to bake and place them on a cookie sheet that you've sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Make sure they are at least 3 inches apart. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes. Hint: they are perfect right out of the oven!