Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 

1 Cup Butter, Softened

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

2 Teaspoons Hot Water

2 Cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1 Cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)

 

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Use a medium cookie scoop that I use so that I have uniform sized cookies and use parchment paper to bake the cookies on the cookie sheet.

 

Bake aprox 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges are lightly browned 

 

I try not to leave cookies on the hot pan as they continue to bake as they sit on the cookie sheet.       

Marshmallows dipped in Chocolate

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

I love easy and quick little treats to take to picnics, bbq's and potlucks. These are the easiest things to do. Marshmallows you can find in a crazy amount of flavors now a days. I found Key Lime and Lemon Meringue Marshmallows and dipped them in white chocolate and put some sprinkles on them and bam they are done. Tasty little morsels and people think you worked so hard and you made something at home.

All you need is Milk Chocolate Almond Bark or White Chocolate Almond Bark (or melting chocolate) and Marshmallows and some waxed paper on some cookie sheets.

Mock Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties / Tag-a-longs

Another Pin I found on Pintrest. These are amazing and my Hubby says these are his new favorite cookie

Homemade Tagalongs (a.k.a. Peanut Butter Patties)
Cookies
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk. The dough should come together into a soft ball.
Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread too much, so you can squeeze them in more than you would for chocolate chip cookies. (Alternatively, you can use a cookie cutter, as described in the post above).
Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set.
Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use your thumb or a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookie
Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (natural or regular)
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar*
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Almond Bark Milk Chocolate  

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (again in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft. Working carefully with the hot filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie’s “thumbprint”.
Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.
Melt the chocolate in a small, heat-resistant bowl. This can be done in a microwave (with frequent stirring) or on a double boiler, but the bowl of melted chocolate should ultimately be placed above a pan of hot, but not boiling, water to keep it fluid while you work. Just follow the directions on the package.
Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the cookies set up. The setting process can be accelerated by putting the cookies into the refrigerator once they have been coated.
Makes about 3-dozen