Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 egg, divided
• 1/2 c butter, room temperature
• 2/3 c sugar
• 2 Tbls milk
• 1 Tbls vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 16 caramels
• 3 Tbls heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
• 1 tsp shortening
• 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Yields about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Directions:

• Beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue beating until combined and creamy. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and beat until well combined.
• Sift flour, cocoa powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time {trying to avoid a cocoa cloud – quite messy!} and beat until well combined.
• Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill for a couple hours.
• Chop the pecans pretty fine…
• Enlist helpers to unwrap the caramels.
• Heat unwrapped caramels and whipping cream in a small saucepan over low heat until nice and smooth.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll the balls in slightly beaten egg white. Then roll in pecans until coated. Reece did an entire tray all by himself and he’s six. Bryce’s balls were not exactly round per se, but who cares!
• Place balls on a lightly greased cookie sheet about one inch apart. Use your thumb to press in the center, making an indention.
• If you have a helper with smaller fingers, you may want to secretly use your thumb or else there won’t be a lot of room for the caramel and that, my friends, would be a catastrophe.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are set. If the indention has disappeared during baking, use a measuring spoon to re-create the indention. {I actually used a carrot – LOL!}
• Spoon caramel mixture into the center of the cookies and remove to a wire rack and let cool. {If the caramel has thickened too much, just reheat on low until it reaches a thinner consistency.}
• Be careful not to overfill the cookies…
• Once the cookies have cooled, melt chocolate chips and shortening in microwave by heating in 15 second intervals, stirring in between.
• Drizzle the chocolate over the tops of the cookies and get ready to enjoy!
• Aren’t these the prettiest cookies EVER???

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 pouch of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp mint extract
• 7 drops green food coloring
• 1 egg
• 1 c creme de menth baking chips
• 1 c semisweet or dark chocolate chips (I used a combination)

Directions:

• Mix the cookie mix, butter, mint extract, green food color and egg in a bowl until a soft dough forms.
• Make sure the food coloring is well incorporated. The dough should be a uniform green color.
• Add in the baking chips and chocolate chips and stir until well combined. Use a teaspoon to drop dough two inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. You want to catch the cookies before they turn brown so keep an eye on them after 8 minutes. Let the cookies cool for three minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.
• These cookies are so much fun because of their green color and refreshing flavors. My husband has already requested a batch for his office and I will definitely be bringing these to one of our holiday parties.

Giant, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Giant, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies {Recipe}

Ingredients:

• 2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbls vanilla
• 3/4 c unsalted butter
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c white sugar
• 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• 2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) and sift together. (I occasionally skip this step and they still turn out great.)
• Melt the butter (WHAT?!? I know it sounds crazy but trust me…) and let cool slightly. The butter should be opaque. Add the brown and white sugars. Cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in the vanilla and then add in the egg and egg yolk and continue beating until the mixture is light and creamy.
• Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
• Stir in the chocolate chips. Once you’ve added in the chocolate chips you’re going to have to do the hardest thing – wait! Put the dough in the refrigerator for a good hour until it is nicely chilled. Because the cookies are so big, if you put the dough in the oven at room temperature, it would just spread all over the place so make sure you take this extra step.
• Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Space cookies about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven. The cookies are done when the edges are golden. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire racks to finish cooling. Then…devour them! Enjoy!

Homemade Flour Tortilla Chips {#Recipe}

Homemade Flour Tortilla Chips {#Recipe}

 

Ingredients:

1. Flour Tortillas
2. Frying Oil {Vegetable, Canola, Peanut, etc}
3. Salt {Optional}

Directions:

• Preheat the oil to 375 degrees. Stack tortillas and cut into strips or wedges.  I use about 1 tortilla per person plus 1-2 extra.  These chips are seriously addicting so make more than you think you’ll need.
• 
• Add a handful of tortilla wedges at a time, turning over when golden brown.
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• Remove the chips with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels while you finish the remaining batches.  This is where you season with salt if you would like to.  I personally find the chips don’t need salt but that’s personal preference.
• 
• If you are making strips {perfect for Chicken Tortilla Soup!}, they cook very fast so keep an eye on them!
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• Depending on how many batches you are doing, you can keep the chips warm in a 200 degree oven while finishing up.
• To bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place tortilla strips or wedges on a baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes until crisp.

cookies butter sea salt chocolate chips cookies

cookies butter sea salt chocolate chips cookies