Latest Cookie Recipes & Tree Pics

Today's cookies were Christmas Sandies. They turned out pretty good. I sent them with James to his test tonight, and they were all eaten, so I guess that's a good sign. Another good sign is there are no eggs, so if you're pregnant, you can taste the dough without any fear!

1 c butter, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1 c finely chopped dried cranberries (use a food processor, and I would cut this down to 3/4 or 1/2 cup)
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
white, red, and green nonpareils

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Beat butter with a mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar. Beat until combined, scraping bowl. Beat in vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in berries, lemon peel, and any remaining flour.

Shape mixture into 1/2-, 3/4-, or 1-inch balls. Roll dough in non pareils. Arrange balls 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 10 minutes for 1/2" balls, 13 for 3/4" balls, and 15 for 1" balls (although mine were 1" and I only baked them for 13 minutes, but my oven runs hot), until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Ooey, Gooey, Chewy S'more Bars - these were delicious! I think they would have been a little softer at the end if I would have used the 9x13 pan as suggested, but it was in the dishwasher, so I improvised with 2 smaller pans, so my crust was a little thinner that it would have been.

3/4 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c quick oats
1 c graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 c mini marshmallows
1 1/4 c semisweet or milk chocolate chunks (I used both types of chips)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 13x9 pan with foil that extends over the edges of the pan. In a large bowl, beat butter on med speed for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour. Stir in oats and cracker crumbs.

Reserve 1 c of the oat mixture. Spread remaining oat into pan (use back of large wet spoon). Bake about 15 minutes until lightly browned. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over warm crust. Top with chocolate chunks. Dot remaning oat mixture over chocolate and mallows.

Bake about 20 mins more until top is lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Using edges of foil, lift uncut bars out of hte pan. Cut into bars. Here's the finished product before cutting:

And just for good measure, here is Maiby and James putting her special ornament on the tree.