Double Peanut Butter Cookies

sunspire.com (with alterations)

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time:10 min

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup unbleached white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 Stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup Natural Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup SunSpire™ Peanut Butter Baking Chips
• Opt. Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

Prepare 4 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven 350F.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the sugar and both butter’s together until smooth and light in color, beat in egg. Slowly add flour mixture, beating until smooth and just incorporated, Stir in morsels.
Drop dessert spoon full onto prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart and 6 per sheet. Bake for 9-10 mins or until lightly golden and remove from oven to cooling rack, leave cookies to cool slightly before removing cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Mint Buttercream Frosting

(AKA Brownie Cookies, as Rick calls them.)

8 ounces semisweet chocolate bars, chopped (Chocolate chips work great!)
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I always add 1/2 cup instead of 1/4)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mint Buttercream Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 or 2 drops green food coloring
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions:

Cookies: Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with wax paper. (This is important. If not done, the cookies are extremely difficult to remove after baking.)

Melt chopped semisweet chocolate bars in pan on low, stirring until melted and smooth. Set aside.

Stir together sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl. Add melted chocolate and mix well. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt till blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by level tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets about an inch apart. Bake 10 minutes until puffed and set. (The dough isn't as "thick" as traditional cookie dough. No worries, keep moving forward!)

Cool on baking sheets about 2 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. They will take on the appearance of brownies when you pull them out of the oven: a reflective top.

Frosting: Beat all ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Frost cookies.

Super tasty with out frosting. AMAZING with frosting!

Makes 24-30 cookies.

Candy Cane Cookies

Allrecipes.com

Ingredients 

1 cup margarine

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

1/2 cup peppermint candy canes, crushed

1/2 cup white sugar for decoration

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, white sugar and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extracts. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Cover or wrap dough and chill for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Divide dough into halves. Color one half red by mixing in the food color. Roll a small amount of each dough into a 2 inch long worm. Roll them together in a twisted rope and curve the end like a cane. Place onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. In a small bowl, mix together the crushed candy cane and remaining white sugar. Roll hot cookies in the sugar mixture.

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles
3 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 c butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
Plus 3 tbs cinnamon to roll dough in.

Mix all ingredients together well, will be sticky. Roll in to small balls and roll in cinnamon. Bake 350 10-12 minutes

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

1 cup mashed cooked carrots (about 4 medium)

¾ cup sugar

1 cup shortening (part margarine or butter, softened)

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup shredded or flaked coconut

½ recipe Orange Butter Frosting

Heat oven to 400°.  Mix carrots, sugar, shortening and eggs.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in coconut.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched, about 8 minutes.

Immediately remove from cookie sheet; cool.  Frost with Orange Butter Frosting.

About 5 dozen cookies

Orange Butter Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

About 2 tablespoons orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

Mix powdered sugar and margarine.  Stir in orange juice and peel; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.

Dinner Rolls

KitchenAid Sixty-Minute Dinner Rolls
Adapted from a recipe found on The Bumbling Baker
Erin’s Note: This recipe yields 24 large dinner rolls. If you don’t want 24 rolls kicking around your house I would definitely halve the recipe.
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter
3 packages of dry active yeast (Erin’s Note: This equals 6 3/4 teaspoons if you use yeast from a jar).
1 1/2 cups warm water (105F – 115F)
5 – 6 cups all-purpose flour
In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt and butter together. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool until lukewarm.
Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.
Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 24 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and place in a greased muffin pan. Using kitchen shears or a pizza cutter (a knife will also work), cut each ball in half, then in quarters, and replace in the muffin pan. (Erin’s Note: Alternatively you can simply shape the dough into 24 balls and set them into a greased 9 by 13 baking dish. If you make the full recipe you will only be able to fit around 12 rolls in the baking dish at a time). Cover the muffin pan with the dish towel, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.
Bake at 425ºF for 12 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks. (Erin’s Note: At this point, in my family, we always brush the tops with a little butter).

Single Serving Apple Pie

Peel, core and slice an apple into 8 pieces. Put each apple piece inside a triangle from a can of crescent rolls and cover into a ball. Brush on melted butter (2 to 4 T). Sprinkle on a cinnamon sugar mixture to your liking. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Make sure they are cooked through before removing. Serve with whip cream or ice cream.

Potatoes

Cook red potatoes in salty water. Shake in heavy cream, butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Funeral Potatoes

Ingredients:
32 oz bag of frozen shredded hash browns
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (I like to use sharp cheddar cheese)
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cups finely crushed corn flakes
2 Tbs butter or margarine melted

Directions:
-Grease 9x13 baking dish and preheat oven to 350
-In large bowl combine soups, sour cream, cheese, onions, and the 1/2 cup of melted butter.
-Gently fold hash browns into mixture.
-Pour mixture into pan.
-Combine crushed corn flakes and the 2 Tbs. of melted butter and sprinkle on top of potato mixture.
-Bake for 30 minutes.
*If wanting to, you can use cubed potatoes instead of hash browns but you will need to increase baking time to 55 minutes.

Candied Yams

Wash the yams, but don’t peel them.  Cut them into similarly sized chunks.  Cook by boiling or roasting in the oven.  Let cool.  Remove peelings.

Sauce:
½ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
3 tablespoons water
½ tsp. salt

Slice the yams and lay them in the pan.  Pour the sauce over the yams.  Bake long enough to warm the yams again–about 25-30 minutes–at 350̊.  Once they are warm, sprinkle marshmallows on top and brown