Surprise Chocolate Chip Cookies - total time 1 hour

I heard about the Food Blogger Cookie Swap a couple years ago and was so mad when I missed it last year! So I got on the reminder list and was probably one of the first to sign up for 2015. The premise is every blogger donates to Cookies for Kids Cancer then bakes three dozen cookies and sends a dozen to three random bloggers. It was fun coming home to cookies on our doorstep and connecting with bloggers from around the country!

I sent cookies to: Baking Bandit, Thyme & Passion, A Sprinkle of This and That
I received cookies from: Koko Likes, Bake Love Give, A Mama, Baby, & Shar-pei in the Kitchen



I have been baking these cookies for nearly 15 years now and everyone always loves them! It's easy to change it up a bit with different types of chocolates in the cookies... I started with Hershey Kisses back in high school because it was a cute shape inside when you bit it in half. But my favorites have been Reese cups and Dove dark chocolates. Mmmm...

There are no eggs in these cookies, so when you inevitably taste a little (or a lot) of the dough, it's okay! There is no baking powder either. So these are definitely not your normal everyday chocolate chip cookies. They actually remind me of biscotti. So while you can certainly go the traditional route of having milk with your cookies, hot cocoa and coffee are also perfect accoutrements. So bake a batch, make some hot cocoa, and snuggle up by the fireplace and enjoy these tasty cookies with a little candy surprise inside! :)

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Triple Almond Cookies - total time 1 hour

Happy Winter Solstice! It was actually sunny today, but it has already been dark for hours (it is making me so tired). The darkest day of the year means the more sunshine in every day after! :)

Hope you're wrapping up on your holiday related shopping, baking, and giving, we just celebrated Christmas with my husband's family over the weekend. I was planning on making my mom's famous "melting moments" cookies made with almond extract. It took so long for her to share her recipe with me since it is one of those family secrets you just can't share willy nilly. I looked through my old recipe box that holds tried and true recipes I wrote down before I started this blog and before I had my recipe binder... I could not find the recipe!

At that point I had it in my head that I needed to make these cookies, I could almost taste them. During our vacation in Europe, I realized I pretty much love any almond related pastry! So I had to make some kind of almond cookie... came up with this recipe... and it was a hit at our early Christmas... and since it isn't a family secret recipe, I can share it with you!

These cookies have three different almond layers to make sure to satisfy that almond craving! It starts with the crumbly, almondy, shortbread-like cookie. Inside is a pocket of almond paste (new discovery!) that gives the cookie that soft, almost gooey center I love in cookies. And to finish it off with an almond sugar glaze. If you like almond, you'll love these cookies! (Then try it with coffee!)

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Top 5 Cookies to Make for Christmas

I can't believe Christmas will be here next week!  The season has really flown by (as did much of the year) and now I'm rushing around to buy meaningful gifts for everyone on our list.  At least the tree is up and our house is modestly decorated (compared to my mom's house, where people take tours of the Christmas explosion).  And now it is time to bake...

Most people think of those hard press cookies or sugar cookies decorated like Christmas trees when they think of Christmas cookies.  I'm pretty selective about my desserts, might as well get the most enjoyment out of those sugary treats, and shortbread and sugar cookies don't make the cut for me.  Instead, I make the cookies I prefer, but a little holiday twist on them, and it turns out, other people like them too.  So here are five non-traditional Christmas cookies that you'll actually enjoy.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip
There is no question these are holiday cookies when you add some green M&Ms to the dough.  Red and green... check... delicious and soft... check!

Thick Mint Cookies
Ditch the dull candy canes and opt for these chocolate mint cookies instead.  Kind of inspired by the Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie, these pack even more flavor.

Buckeye Bark
Maybe it is an Ohio thing, but buckeye candies are expected every Christmas.  They aren't hard to make, but they are pretty tedious.  Try Buckeye Bark instead and save yourself time in the kitchen.

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip
Mmm... Nutella!  Just think of biting into the perfect chocolate chip cookies with an ooey gooey chocolate center.  These really don't have much to do with Christmas.  It is the fact that they are the best cookies ever that gets them on this list.

Cake Batter
Hold the fruit cake, we're talking buttery yellow cake.  These cookies stay so soft for days and days!  Which makes it the perfect cookie to pack in a tin and take it from this party to that gathering.  Add the red and green chips to make them festive.  :)

Have fun baking!

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