Victory Monday treats for week 14 – gingerbread men/reindeer cookie sandwiches

To celebrate our win over the Bengals (which was pretty stressful), I present gingerbread men/reindeer cookie sandwiches.   One way they are gingerbread men,

flip them upside down and they are reindeer. 

I colored the filling green for a little holiday pop.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.   After you cut out the cookies, i recommend chilling them in for a few hours.  And preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 6 tbs butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed into cup
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • Water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves

Directions – in a bowl, combine butter and brown sugar.   Add molasses, egg and vanilla.   Blend in dry ingredients.   Dough will be crumbly.  You may need to add a few tbs of water to make dough easier to use with.  Roll ans cut.  Chill doughs a few hours.   Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 8 to 18 minutes, no longer.   Cool completely. 

  • Filling
  • 1 stick butter, partially melted
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Green food color (optional)

Combine butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.  Add food color, if using.  Spread between 2 cookies.  Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Week nine victory Monday treats – chocolate football sandwich cookies

Chiefs- Bills, Mahomes-Allen round 10!   Stressful as always, josh played great and Mahomes worked his impossible magic, as usual.  I stood the last 5 minutes of the game and am pretty sure I did not breathe.   Anyways, to celebrate i made football theme chocolate cutout cookie sandwiches – a football, a helmet and a jersey.  And i used a vanilla buttercream for the filling.

Remember to scoop your flour and cocoa from their containers into your measuring  up so you get the correct amount. Also, preheat your oven to 350 before baking.

  • Cookie ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.  In a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.   Sprinkle some flour on a clean, flat surface.  Roll dough to desired thickness and cut (i prefer mine on the thick side).   Place on prepared cookie sheet.  They don’t spread a ton, but don’t crowd them on the sheet.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

  • Filling ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Milk

In a bowl, combine butter and vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar.  Add milk, a tbs at a time, until you get the consistency you want.   Place a spoonfuls between two cookies. 

Store in covered container.

Go Bills!

Halloween brown sugar cut out cookies

One last cutout cookies recipe, using my Halloween cookies cutters.  This is a brown sugar cookie recipe, no granulated sugar required.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  And preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed into measuring cup
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.   in a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.   Form dough into large ball and divide in half.   Sprinkle flour on a clean flat surface.   Roll out dough to desired thickness.  Cut out your cookies.  Place on prepared cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar (scooped from your container into your measuring cup)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Milk

Directions – in a bowl, combine butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Add milk, 1 tbs at a time, until you get the consistency you want.  Frost cookies.  I sprinkled the frosting tops with Halloween sprinkles. 

Store in covered container.

Halloween Cutout Sugar cookies

This is the sugar cookierecipe I use for all my holiday cutout cookies – halloween, Thanksgiving,  Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, football ( i know football is not a holiday but if i have cookie cutters for something, it is a holiday for me)   This recipe  is from a friend of my family.  They bring back a lot of wonderful memories of baking with my mom when I was younger.  And these were my dad’s favorite cookies and he loved the dough too!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees before baking. 

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 1/2 cups crisco
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
A plethora of pumpkins!

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  in a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Slowly blend in dry ingredients.    Sprinkle flour on your countertop and roll out dough to desired thickness.   Cut out cookies.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 8 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

A gaggle of ghosts
  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 to 3 tbs heavy cream (depending on consistency you want)
  • Food coloring or sprinkles

In a bowl, combine ingredients. Frost cookies and sprinkle with sprinkles.  Store in covered container.

Puck cookies for the Frozen Four and to welcome the Stanley Cup to campus

The Frozen Four begins tomorrow on ESPN2 (5 pm and 8 pm eastern), and the Stanley Cup will be on campus at ESPN Friday.   So to celebrate, I made puck cookies – soft chocolate sugar cutout cookies shaped like pucks.  Some are frosted with chocolate frosting and since I didn’t make enough of it, I topped the rest with melted Hershey kisses.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount (same goes for the baking cocoa).  Also preheat your oven before baking for the best cookies.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour (scooped from flour bag into measuring cup so you get the correct amount)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (scooped from the container into measuring cup)
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  in a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Blend in egg and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.   Flour a flattened surface and rolling pin.  Roll and cut.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on it.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes.  Cool completely

  • Frosting list
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tbs water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp cornstarch syrup
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, melted

Directions – in a bowl, mix powdered sugar, water, vanilla and corn syrup.  Blend in melted chips.  Frost cookies.  Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Chocolate chip cutout cookies

Wrapping up my Christmas cookie cutouts with a chocolate chip version. These are awesome and a fun variation of cutouts. Use mini chocolate chips to make it easier to use your cookie cutters!

Honestly, I make sandwich cookies with cutouts because my decorating skills are a disaster!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tbs water
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chip

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add eggs, water and vanilla. Slowly blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Sprinkle your countertop with flour. Roll out the dough and cut. Place cutouts on prepared sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes, depending on thickness of cookies. Do not bake longer. Cool and frost or use frosting between 2 cookies for sandwich cookies.

Santa!

Thanks for stopping by today!

What the Puck? It’s NHL Opening Night! Happy Hockey!

In honor of NHL opening night tomorrow (Tuesday), I made flourless brownie “pucks” covered in melted chocolate. I baked flourless brownies in a 9×13 pan. Let them cool, used the top of a glass to cut out pucks, then used scraps of the remaining dough to form mini pucks and topped them with melted chocolate. Happy hockey!

Remember to preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients list
  • 10 tbs butter
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 tbs baking cocoa
  • 6 tbs cornstarch

Directions- line a 9×13 baking pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chips and butter and microwave in 45 second increments until you can stir smooth. Add sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Fold in cocoa and cornstarch. Spread evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes – toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely. Spray the rim of a round glass with Pam and cut out pucks.

Top with melted chocolate. Let set. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by! Go Sabres!

Mini Chocolate Chip Football sandwich cookies

For the final football Friday of this NFL season, I made mini chocolate chip football sandwich cookies, with vanilla frosting as a filling. I thought of also using my football helmet cookie cutter too, but the last time I brought those in, my coworkers thought they were whales. So, just football this time. And some of the finished product don’t even look like footballs.

Remember to spoon your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup. Use mini chips for these. It will be too hard to use cookie cutters with full size chips in the dough. I did chill the dough for a half hour. I also preheated the oven for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

Not sure these look like footballs!
  • Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
A very good girl has a sweet tooth

Directions – in a bowl, blend butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Chill dough for at 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. While oven preheats, sprinkle flour on your countertop. Roll out dough to desired thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on prepared sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Cool completley.

  • Filling ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • Milk (2-3 tbs)

In a bowl, cream butter and vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar gradually. Beat in 2 tbs milk. Add enough milk to get the consistency you want. Frost between 2 cookies.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Mini chocolate chip cutouts

I hope you can tell this is a Christmas tree

For my first cutout cookies of the season, I opted for a mini chocolate chip recipe and tossed in a few mini m&ms. I like my cookies thick, so these spread out a little more than I prefer. I will try to tweak the recipe to see if I can remedy that. I do recommend mini chocolate chips because the dough is easier to cut with cookie cutters.

These are very old, yet I can’t part with them!

I made my cutouts into cookie sandwiches because I am a terrible decorator. I use a simple vanilla and /or chocolate frosting.

A gingerbread man
Flip the gingerbread man upside down and you have a reindeer

Notes – remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup. If you chill the dough, take it out a few hours before so it is easier to roll. And preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so your oven cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup crisco
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini m&ms (or you can use another cup of mini chips)

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper. In a bowl, cream butter, crisco, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla and salt. Blend in yolks. Fold in flour. Dough may take a while to come together. Add a tbs or 2 or water if you want to help blend dough. Mix in chips and m&ms. On a floured surface, roll and cut. Place on your prepared cookie sheet. Bake one sheet at a time, for ten minutes. Cool completley.

Frosting – combine 2 tbs butter (melted), with 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbs milk, 1 tsp vanilla. You can add more milk or powdered sugar to get the texture you want. I added green food coloring

These are a Christmas tree, Santa’s ans stockings
A stocking sandwich cookie.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Appreciate you!

Football Friday #8 and Happy Halloween!

Go Bills and Happy Halloween!

These sugar cookies are awesome.. so easy to make and so soft. And no chilling of the dough is necessary. These cookies are my all-time favorite to make, bringing back memories of making cutouts with my mom. I am terrible with decorating, so these jack o lanterns are one of the few things people can decipher. I started out frosting some and decorating with mini yellow and green m&ms. That was too time-consuming, so I sprinkled a handful on top of some other cookies instead. Then, to speed up the process, I made sandwich cookies.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. And, preheat your oven for 20 minutes before baking so the oven cycles to the right temp.

A handful of m&ms
  • Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups crisco
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick baking liners. In a large mixing bowl, cream crisco and sugar 3 to 4 minutes. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Slowly blend in dry ingredients. Lightly flour your countertop. Roll out dough to desired thickness (I like mine thick), and cut. Place on prepared cookie sheer. Bake 8 or 9 minutes. (Cookies will be light, but no doughy. Do not overcook). Cool completley.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 3 tbs melted butter
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • Milk (enough to get the consistency of frosting you want)
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Blend together. Frost or fill cookies. Store in covered container.

And the sandwich cookie!

Thanks for stopping by today!!! Wishing you love, happiness, and joy