White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Hi there! Did you miss me? I missed you!  Sorry I have been away for so long, life threw me a few curve balls so I had to take a hiatus.  Things are slowly getting back on track.  I still don't have a working computer though, so a special thank you to my love for letting me use his.  My camera is currently down for the count  so I also have to apologize for poor quality of the pictures, I had to use my camera phone. I still won't be able to post as frequently as I like right now, but my plan is to be back on a regular schedule in  September.  I hope you will stick around and be patient.

These cookies are the reason I could not stay away any longer, they turned out so perfectly I just knew I had to share.  This recipe makes 3 dozen so I shared with my family.  My niece Alexa loved them so much that she declared that she wants to grow up to be a good baker like her LaLa! I can't think of any better praise.

I hope you and yours enjoy this recipe as much as my family did.


White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup margarine (room temperature)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter
4 oz chopped white chocolate (I use Ghiradelli)


 Directions

Cream butter and margarine in a large mixing bowl.

Add sugars and beat for two minutes.
 
Mix in egg and peanut butter.
 
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
 
Slowly mix the dry ingredients with the sugar butter mixture.
 Stir in chopped white chocolate.
 Refrigerate for at least three hours.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll the dough into 1 1/4 inch balls.
 Flatten the cookies slightly with the back of a spoon.
Bake until light brown, 8 - 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for a minute, transfer to to rack to finish cooling.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chip Cookies

Lindsey of Love and Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen were wonderful enough to host the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap this year. So of course due to my great love of cookies I immediately signed up.  The basic rules were that you were assigned three food bloggers to send a dozen cookies to and in turn three different food bloggers would send you cookies.  It was the perfect win/win scenario. Free Cookies in the mail and an excuse to bake up even more cookies.  Plus I was introduced to new blogs I would have missed out on before.

I was lucky enough to receive three very creative and original cookies. April of Sutch a Delight sent me Red Velvet Crackle Cookies.  Peanut Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies arrived from Josh and Ashley's World.  I also received Cinnamon and Caramel Cookies from My Sweet Zepol

When it came time for me to decide what type of cookie to make I knew I didn't want to do anything too complicated and I wanted cookies that would ship well.  Recently oatmeal cookies have crept into my list of favorite cookies.  I love oatmeal raisin cookies and oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies, but for the swap I wanted to do something a little bit different, so these Oatmeal Cranberry White Chip Cookies were born.  I love the contrast of the tartness of the cranberries with sweetness of the cookie.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cup craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth.





Stir in the egg and vanilla.



Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.



Stir into the creamed mixture.



Mix in the rolled oats, white chips and craisins.





Drop by tablespoon onto the prepared cookie sheets.



Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven.



Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Coconut Macaroons

I love this time of year even though it is the busiest time of year.  Today I spent the day volunteering preparing packages to ship to our soldiers overseas.  But I did find time to bake some cookies today, Coconut Macaroons.  I think these may be my mom's favorite cookies. Whenever I make them  for her I have to remind her to share them. This is the just the basic recipe you can find on the back of the bag of coconut, with a few embellishments.



Ingredients
7 oz flake coconut
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp amaretto or almond extract



Directions

Preheat oven to 325 F

Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl.



Stir in egg whites and amaretto (almond extract) until well blended.





Drop by tablespoon on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.



Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire racks.



For an extra special treat you can the macaroons in melted chocolate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm.



Makes between 15 - 18 cookies.

Nutella Shortbread Cookies

You really have to love technology. Right now I am writing this entry while sitting in a Chick-fil-A. Why am I sitting in a Chick-fil-A instead of the comfort of my own living room? Because I am in Orlando for a book signing by one of my favorite authors, Janet Evanovich,  Her newest book just came out and she is having a book signing today. Since Orlando is just a short 2 hour drive, my amazing husband drove me down here so I could meet her in person. We arrived at 1 and got our wristbands and now we have to wait until she arrives. She will start signing at 1 but we're not supposed to come back until 2:30. So long story long, that is why I am here.

So for my second day of cookies (lets just pretend that I didn't miss yesterday, I was spending quality time with my granny) I would like to present these Nutella Shortbread Cookies.



Ingredients
1 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
 2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup nutella



Directions

Preheat oven to 350 f

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.



Mix in flour until dough comes together.



Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.



Make a small hole in the center of each ball. I either use a the knuckle on of my fingers.



Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes.



Fill the center with Nutella.






Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack.

War Hero Cookies (Peanut Butter Cookies)

COOKIES! Imagine me saying that in my best Cookie Monster voice.  I love baking cookies, I don't know why I wait  until December to bake them.  I turn into a baking maniac in December, so Don't be surprised if I eat myself into a sugar coma before the month is up.  Don't worry I will feel very guilty in January and I will probably go on a health kick after the first of year.

Today I have a  simple peanut butter cookie. I call them War Hero Cookies because I ship them to my brother-in-law who is currently in Iraq.



Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt



Directions

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl.



Add sugars and beat for 2 minutes. Mix in the egg and peanut butter.





In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.



Slowly mix the dry ingredients with the sugar butter mixture.



Wrap dough is plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.



Preheat oven to 375 F.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4 inch balls.



I spray a spoon with cooking spray before flattening the cookies.



Use a fork to make the traditional crisscross pattern.

Bake until light brown, 8 - 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for a minute, transfer to to rack to finish cooling.







This recipes makes about 2 dozen cookies.