White Chocolate, and Macadamia Nut Cookies

You see how thin these are? Okay so yes I am baking alot this month. This is the perfect time to try new recipes. My pants I slipped on this morning are fitting a little tighter but it is cause I washed them in warm with hubby's work clothes last night. You see he had been playing in the mud all day. Digging a trench, fixing a broken water main or something at work.

REALLY!! I am not gaining or anything. Really I am not. Oh you don't believe me? Hmmmppphhh. Well let us get to the cookies then. :)

Okay so making these the night after making those awesome peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, was well, disappointing. They were okay. I think they came out a bit too crispy or something. Most of my cookies seem to do that. No matter what recipe I use, no matter what butter or flour I use. They always seem to come out thin and crispy. I am talking in all my years of baking cookies. It is only recently I started using whole wheat and only real butter. I used half all purpose/half ww flour wise with these.

Most the times in the past when I make the kids choc. chip cookies I eat some of the cookie dough and have maybe one cookie. Yeah I know raw eggs and all that. But what about eggnog? Isn't that raw eggs? Or do they pasteurize the snot out of that too? haha

You know what I want? A Nice chocolate chip cookie that looks thick. That doesn't taste crispy. I didn't even take a picture of them in the pan, I was too embarrassed. So I am by no means a cookie expert. This is why I was soooo happy with the peanut butter cookies. Finally a cookie I could make correctly that were truly awesome. They were nice and thick. They were chunky. A little crispy but when they are thick like that who cares? lol

Oh by the way dh called me at break time yesterday and everyone LOVED these cookies! They kept coming back for more.peanut butter chocolate chip cookies His boss even stopped by and had one and asked for the recipe so his wife could make them. Who knows? Maybe he will get a promotion! They are THAT good!! Absolutely excellent cookies folks. You MUST try them!

Okay so I got the Macadamia recipe from Epicurious. Do you like macadamian nut cookies? I skipped on the cranberry's. I think it needed some chocolate and to be thicker.

I went back and re read about the peanut butter cookies, even though this is an awesome recipe and those cookies were excellent I am just going over what could be wrong with my other cookies. I noticed something she mentioned was to not overbake. 10-12 minutes and that is it. I do know that is something I have been guilty of in the past is thinking the cookies don't "look done" and waiting. I think that is a problem. Another thing I noticed is she said un greased baking pan. I greased it anyways. lol I wonder if that is why my cookies are too crispy?

Any suggestions or hints let me know.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies

Who ever heard of peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips in them? Not me. Not until I found a new blog yesterday. I just love finding new blogs full of yummy recipes.

Smitten Kitchen

She got this recipe from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery

Now if that wasn't interesting enough, the New York Times has even written an article about this bakery and several other offshoots and I guess they are all battling it out in court. It was a pretty interesting read if you have the time.

An excerpt from Adam Sternbergh at New York Magazine:

Together, [Jennifer] Appel and a high-school friend, Allysa Torey, begat Magnolia Bakery in 1996. When their partnership, and friendship, dissolved in 1999, Magnolia begat Buttercup. In 2003, Magnolia begat Billy’s, a bakery in Chelsea, opened by a former Magnolia manager, and Buttercup begat Sugar Sweet Sunshine, started by two former Buttercup employees. Now there are at least a half-dozen similar bakeries throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, with such jolly names as Baked, Happy Happy Happy, Polka Dot Cake Studio, and Cupcake Caboose (an all-cupcake catering company), each serving up cupcakes topped with dollops of sugary frosting swirled artfully like beehive hairdos.

So much fuss over cupcakes and cookies. Bake these and taste for yourself what all the fuss is about. ;)

Anyhow here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

The brilliance of these cookies is that they have include two different formats for peanuts–three if you use chunky peanut butter. They’re crisp on the outside, and almost cakey on the inside. Bake a batch and then hide the results in the furthest and most forgettable reaches of your kitchen. You’ll thank me later.

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (for sprinkling) sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup peanut butter chips
½ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crissscross pattern (I used the back of a palette knife to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.
Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely

Now I am normally not a peanut butter cookie lover. But WOW! I fell head over heels for these! I seen the recipe, we have plenty of peanut butter, so I just had to try it. Joey loved them too and he is normally not big on peanut butter cookies either but he said he HAS to have these cookies now. haha They are THAT good. Of course the kids loved them and Chris pitched a fit when he seen Joe take a bowl of them to work to share with co workers. lol

Here is the link to Smitten Kitchen, the blog I got it from. I am definately going to have to go over there more often. I did use half whole wheat and half all purpose flour in this recipe. Do you like peanut butter cookies?

$65.00 Christmas Cookies

Well that IS for 18 of them. But seriously,for $3.61 each they had better have nuggets of gold in them. lol Well now that I am feeling better I can get get back to what I love doing, baking, cooking! I am going to start gathering up a bunch of yummy recipes.

dd # 3's birthday is also coming up on Saturday so I need to do that cake soon too.

This recipe looks really good.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

SO does this one:

Rudolph's Christmas Sugar Cookies

What is your favorite cookie recipe?