The snowstorm, abomination, or labamba,  or whatever they are calling it, is belting the northeast today.  I am lucky and do not have to brave the elements to work at the worldwide later today,  so I am breaking in our new oven with Nieman Marcus Cookies.

Our old stove died suddenly last weekend at 12 years old.  Second time the heating element in it died,so we opted not to get it fixed this time.  Not how I wanted to spend a freezing Sunday,but we found a good deal on a stove  in a short amount of time (so we get back in time to watch the Bills win and get into the playoffs courtesy of the Bengals). And the stove  got delivered on Tuesday.

This recipe is from a friend from work, Mike.  It is one of those urban legends that someone was told a recipe for a cookie from a department store (or Mrs Fields) would cost two fifty to purchase.  She thought two dollars and fifty cents,but was charged two hundred and fifty dollars.  So to get her revenge,she copied the recipe and gave it to everyone she knew (not sure if that would ease my pain).  Anyways, the cookies cane out pretty good and the oven passed the test!

Ingredients – 1 cup butter (softened), 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 1 /2 cups quick oats, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, 4 oz milk chocolate bar.

Directions –  finely drive oats in food processor.  Set aside.  Grate milk chocolate bar (you can use a gratee.  I used a food processor.  You could probably also use a blender.  In  a separate bowl, cream butter,sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix in ground oats.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Add grated milk chocolate.  Blend in chips.  Roll into 2-3 tbs of dough into mounds.  Chill for an hour or so.  Preheat oven to 375.    Line cookie sheets with nonstick baking liners. Stagger 8 cookies on a sheet.

bake 8-10 minutes.  Cool on sheet 5 minutes.  Remove and store in covered container.

Check out my latest baking video on YouTube! (Search – Christine Lisi on YouTube)

I got a request from a co-worker friend, Mike and his wife, Liz, for a gingerbread man cookie recipe.  I love requests and I love baking these cookies.  They smell soooooo good!  

Couple of notes –  I can’t decorate, so I made these into  sandwich cookies with a buttercream filling.   I added 3 tbs of water to the cookie dough to make it easier to work with.  You can leave it out if you want. And you can make these as gingerbread men..

Or reindeer, by turning the cookie cutter upside down (magic!!!)

Ingredients – 1/2 cup butter (softened to room temperature), 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg, 2/3 cup molasses, 3 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the correct amount)1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp baking soda,2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves,  3 tbs water.

Directions -preheat oven to 350.   cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and molasses.  Slowly blend in dry ingredients.  Add water, if you are using it. (This may take a few minutes of mixing to get it all to come together) . Sprinkle flour on a  table or countertop .  Roll dough out 1/4 inch thick.  

Cut with cookie cutters.  On a cookie sheet that has been lined with nonstick baking liners, stagger cookies.  

Bake 8-10 minutes.  Cool completely.  Decorate as desired.  

If you are making sandwich cookies.  The buttercream ingredients are -1/4 cup butter (softened) 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tbs milk, 1 tsp vanilla.

Blend together. 

And use for filling

Store cookies  in covered container.

Check out my latest baking video!

These cookies are perfect for this busy holiday time.. just a few ingredients and only 10 minutes to bake!  Very simple to make.  I think they would be a lot of fun to make with friends and kids.   I also decided to top them with toasted marshmallows.  You can leave them plain or sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

Ingredients – 1 sugar cookie mix, 1/4 cup instant hot cocoa mix, 10 tbs butter (softened), 6 tbs water,Hershey kisses, marshmallows (opt/

Directions – combine sugar cookie and cocoa mixes.  Using a hand or stand mixer, add butter and water.  This may take a few minutes of mixing until the dough comes together. 

 Scoop two tbs of dough..

Form around each Hershey kiss.  

Chill for 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 375.  Stagger cookies on a sheet lined with baking liners.  

Bake 9-12 minutes

Cool slightly.  

Broil marshmallows on high for 90 seconds.  

Use a fork sprayed with baking spray and place a toasted marshmallows on top of each cookie.  

Cool completely.  Store in covered container.

I made some brownies and when I cut them, they seemed more cakey than I prefer,so I made them into brownie pops.  And I stuffed them into cookies because that is who I am and what I do. (Ask anyone who knows me). 😋. These don’t take a lot of ingredients and are not complicated to make. ( Something easy to bake with the kids!)

Brownie pops ingredients  – 1 batch of your favorite brownies (homemade or box), your favorite frosting (homemade or canned)

Brownie pop directions – make and bake brownies as directed.  Cool completely.  Frost.  Cut into squares.  Mash up each square and roll into a ball.  Freeze brownie pops for an hour.

Cookies ingredients  – 1 box cake mix (any flavor), 1 eggs, 2 tbs water, 1/3 cup oil.

Directions – preheat oven to 350.  mix ingredients with a wooden spoon.  (If it seems a little dry, add another tablespoon or two of water).  Using a cookie scoop, scoop out some dough. 

 Divide in half.  Flatten one half.  

Top with Brownie pop.  

Flatten other half of cookie dough and place on top.  

Form around Brownie pop to cover (add more dough if needed to completely cover brownie pop). 

Place non stick baking liner on cookie sheet.   Stagger 8 cookies on each.  

Bake 10-11 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet.  Remove.  Cool completely.  Store in covered container.  

I supersized a brownie recipe… So instead of using an 8×8 pan, I used a 12×18 pan.  The more brownies, the better, right?  I used bittersweet chocolate because I feel it makes a more fudgy brownie, but you can use semisweet chips if you want to.  I also topped these with a ganache and some chopped up candy – the king sizes Reese’s with Reese’s pieces inside,courtesy of my coworker,Michelle Smallmon, Snickers and krackel bars.  I would have made a baking video of these but my allergies make me sound like a mix of Marge Simpson and Rudolph after his father covered his nose.  So just a blog today.

Ingredients – 3 sticks butter, 1 lb bittersweet chocolate, 1/2cup sugar, 1cup brown sugar (firmly packed into measuring cup), 5 eggs,2 tbs vanilla, 1 1/3 cups flour (scooped from flour container into measuring cup), 1/2tbs baking powder,1/2 tsp salt.

Directions – preheat oven to 350.  

Spray 12×18 baking sheet with Pam. 

  melt butter and chocolate in 45 second increments until you can stir it smooth. 

 Add sugar and brown sugar. 

Beat in eggs,one at a time.  

Add vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients, mixing just until blended.  Spread into prepared pan.

 Bake 15to 20 minutes.  Cool completely.

Icing ingredients -1 1/4 cups chocolate chips, 3 tbs corn syrup, 1 stick butter.

Directions – melt butter and chips. Add corn syrup.  Let sit 5 minutes. Pour on top of cooled brownies.  

Sprinkle with chopped up candy , or nuts if you want.  

Store in covered container 

For the first time ever, Rob and I ran out of candy on Halloween! 250 candy bars gone by 730!  I had to work until 7, so Rob was solo!  No leftover candy meant I needed to go buy candy today to bake with.  I chose an easy monster cookie stuffed with mini panut butter cups and mini peanut butter Snickers.  I actually stuffed 2 candies  in each cookie.  😋  The recipe is from Betty Crocker and uses 2 of her cookie mixes.

Ingredients – 17.5 oz peanut butter cookie mix, 17.5 oz chcolate chip cookie mix, 1/ 1/2 cups quick oats (uncooked), 3 eggs, 1 cup butter (softened), 2 cups m&Ms, candies

Directions – preheat oven to 375.  Line cookie sheets with nonstick baking liners.  Combine cookie mixes, oats, eggs and butter (I needed to use a mixer).  

Add m&Ms. 

Scoop out 1/4 cup cookie dough.  

Place half on the cookie sheet.

  Top with candy. 

 Place other half of dough on top and cover candy completely. 

 Stagger 8 or 9 cookies to a sheet.  

Bake 10-12 minutes.  

Cool completely.  Store in covered container.

We have a LOT of Halloween candy (over 200 bars) and a TON of brownie and cake mixes be(all the baking stuff is on sale everywhere now through  january.  Woo hoo!).  So I dipped into our stash to make stuffed Brownie cookies.   I added two unique ingredients as well  to the brownie batter – hot fudge topping and ice cream.  I bought the single serve cups from Friendly’s to use.  

I also used different colored m&Ms to show to indicate what candy is inside (orange for Reese’s cups, blue for Snickers.  I have issues, I know). 

Ingredients – 1 brownie mix, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup oil, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup ice cream (any flavor, straight out of the freezer), 1/4 cup hot fudge, Oreos or candy

Directions – combine brownie mix, oil, flour and eggs.  Blend in ice cream and hot fudge.  Take 3 tbs of dough and form around each piece of candy or Oreo. Chill  for an hour or so.  Preheat oven to 375.  Stagger 8 cookies on a cookie sheet lined with a non stick baking liner, like this.  

Bake 10 min.  Cool on sheet.  Store in covered container.

I love cutout cookies.  So many fun memories from when I was little, making them with my mom, grandmothera, aunts and friends.  I have a bunch of different recipes that I use throughout the fall and winter.  Of course,with me, it is hard to tell what they ate, once decorated.  These are for Halloween, so I used pumpkin, ghost and  bat cookie cutters.  I tweaked a and doubled a recipe from Nestle. As you can see, my decorating skills are not good, but the cookies are!  Remember to use mini chocolate chips or else it will be impossible to cut out the cookies!

Ingredients – 1 cup butter (softened), 1 cup shortening, 1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed),2/3 cup sugar, 4 tsp vanilla, 2 egg yolks, 4 tbs water,   1tsp salt, 4 cups flour (scooped from flour container into measuring cup), 1 12 oz bag mini chocolate chips.

Directions – preheat oven to 350.  cream butter, shortening, sugar, brown sugar and salt.  Add egg yolks and water.   Stir in flour.  Fold in chips.  On surface that has been dusted with flour, roll out dough as thick as you want your cookies to be.  Cut our your cookies with cookie cutters.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking liners.  Bake 10 minutes.  Cool completely. Frost as desired. Store in covered container.

I ran out of orange frosting,so I made a small amount of blue frosting for the Yankees!