Black cocoa snowball cookies

I got a new container of black cocoa today and wanted to put some of it to use, so I made some black cocoa snowballs with mini chocolate chips.  Always good to heat up the oven on a very chilly day!

You can also use regular unsweetened baking cocoa or special dark cocoa if you want.

Remember to scoop your flour and cocoa from their containers into your measuring cups so you get the right amount.  Also, make sure your oven is preheated before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1/4 cup black cocoa
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs water
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients (this may take a while.  Dough will be crumbly).  Add water.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Scoop out 2 tbs of dough.  Chill.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.   Stagger doughs on sheet, like this.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.  Sprinkle hot cookies with powdered sugar.  the powdered sugar melts into the cookie and makes them even sweeter!

Cool completely.   Sprinkle with more powdered sugar.  Store in covered container.

Football friday # 16 – Fudge stuffed snowball cookies

I made some fudge last night and thought I would use some of it to stuff in  snowball cookies (still plenty of fudge left over. ).  The cookies spread a little more than I prefer, but I was in a bit of a hurry and didn’t have time to chill or freeze the dough. 🙂

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I recommend freezing or chilling the dough in the fridge for a few hours to try to keep the cookies puffy.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 4 tbs sugar
  • 6 tbs powdered sugar
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
  • Fudge, cut into small cubes
  • Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, shortening, sugar and powdered sugar.  Blend in flour.  Scoop out 2 tbs dough and divide in half.  Flatten each half.  Put a cube of fudge in between 2 halves and seal cookie.  Chill or freeze a few hours.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners or parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.  I popped mine in the fridge to firm them up.  Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping  by today! Go Bills!

Cookie dough brownies

Coolie dough brownies

Cookie dough brownies – super simple and super sweet to help get you through a busy holiday season.  I used a brownie mix, but you can certainly use your favorite recipe for a 9×13 pan (or browse my blog for one).

  • Ingredients
  • 1 brownie mix, prepared and baked in a 9×13 pan, completely cooled
  • 3/4 cups butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbs milk or water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 tbs crisco, butter or vegetable oil

In a  bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add milk and vanilla.  Fold in flour.  Spread evenly over cooled brownies.  In a microwave safe bowl, melted chocolate chips and crisco in 45 second increments until you can stir smooth.  Spread over cookie dough layer.  I actually cut the brownies before the chocolate layer hardened because it was easier.  Store in covered container.

Anginette/Italian wedding cookies

We went to a Christmas party at our friends’ house last weekend and one of the desserts was Anginetti cookies.  They go by a bunch of names – Anginetti, Italian wedding cookies, Italian christmas cookies.    One of my grandmothers called them biscotti.    They are simple to make, not super sweet.  They bring back nice memories at my grandparents’ house when I was young.  My grandma would always whip up some sort of Italian cookie when we visited.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I  recommend chilling the dough for a bit before baking to keep them from spreading too much.  I made them on the larger side than a traditional recipe would (2 tbs as opposed to 1 tbs).

  • Ingredients
  • 4 tbs butter softened
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tbs baking powder (keeps the cookies puffy)
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, oil and sugar.  Add eggs and beat a couple of minutes.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Scoop out 2 tbs dough and roll into balls.  Chill an hour or so.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger on sheet.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes, no longer.  Bottoms will be light brown.   Cool completely.  

  • Frosting
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs corn syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbs heavy cream

Combine these in a bowl.  Dip tops of cookies in frosting.  Let set before storing in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 🇮🇹

Mini m&m/ mini chip cutout cookies for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Bills are on a bye this week, so I am busy baking on a stress free Sunday (for Bills Mafia) with Cowboys/Commanders on in the background.  We had been watching Patriots/Dolphins, but I got frustrated watching Miami do what it wanted, so NFC East game, it is

This is a different cutout recipe.   I used a mix of mini chocolate chips and mini M&Ms.  You can do all chips or all M&Ms, but do not use regular size versions… Too hard to use cookie cutters with those!  And speaking of cookie cutters, I used these today for Thanksgiving!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I also cut out the cookies then chilled them before baking them, to help them keep their shape better.  Also, remember to preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbs water or milk
  • 4 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup mini m&ms
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, milk/water and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Mix in chips and m&ms.   On a floured surface, roll out dough to desired thickness, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.  Cut out cookies.  Chill a few hours.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger on sheet.  Bake 9 to 10 minutes (no longer).  Cool completely. 

You can frost these or make them into sandwich cookies (either chocolate or vanilla would work).  I am making these into sandwiches because the turkey necks are on the thin side.   Store in covered container.

XL Snickerdoodles

Shouldn’t snickerdoodles be made with Snickers? 😉

For NFL week 12’s football Friday, I present XL Snickerdoodles with a cinnamon frosting.  These smell amazing as they bake!

The Bills are on a bye this week, so I get a stress free football weekend.  Woo hoo!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I recommend chilling the individual doughs for a few hours, or freezing them for 30 minutes to try and keep the cookies from spreading too much.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup crisco
  • 3 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 1/2 cups flour (scooped from flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Cinnamon sugar

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar, crisco and cream cheese.  Add eggs and cinnamon.  Blend in flour, baking powder and salt.  Divide into 11 equal mounds.  Roll in cinnamon sugar.   Chill a few hours or freeze 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 15 to 18 minutes (no longer). Cool completely.   Place in fridge to firm up.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 2 tbs butter, soft
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 to 3 tbs milk

Directions – in a bowl, combine ingredients and mix well.  Frost cookies.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Place in fridge to firm up.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.   Please remember to be kind.  We are all fighting some sort of battle and a little kindness can make a big difference

Football friday # 11 – XXXL Frosted M&M Sugar Cookies

For Chiefs week, I am going big, well, it is a huge game.  We are 8-2, KC is 9-0.  And let’s face it, all games between my guys and those guys are massive.  Waiting until 4:25 Sunday isn’t great, but I am glad it is not a night game.

Something cool happened today at work.  I got to interview Bills receiver Khalil Shakir for our ESPN Radio pregame show before KC-BUF Sunday.  Shout out to my friend and producer, Ryan, for letting me do the interview.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also, I recommend chilling the individual doughs to keep them as puffy as possible.  You don’t have to frost them, but I opted to.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup crisco
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup M&Ms

Directions – cream butter, shortening cream cheese and sugar.  Blend in eggs and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Stir in M&Ms.    Divide dough into 11 equal pieces.  Chill a few hours.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on prepared sheet.  Bake 15 to 17 minutes (no longer).  Cool completely.  Pop in fridge to firm up.  Frost. If desired.  Store in fridge overnight.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Wishing you a wonderful day filled with joy, love and hope!

Go Bills.

Victory Monday treats – brownie cookies with crushed Butterfinger and topped with melted hershey kisses

To celebrate the Bills win over the Colts today, I made brownie cookies with crushed butterfingers.  And I topped them with melted hershey kisses.   Of course, you can use any candy you want.  I did smash the butterfingers with a rolling pin, which was a fun way to get out any frustrations.

Remember to scoop your flour and baking cocoa from their respective containers into the measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I  recommend chilling the individual doughs mounds for a bit to prevent too much spreading. 

  • Ingredients list
  • 1/2 cup oil (I used olive)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 tbs water
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 5 fun size butterfingers, crushed
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • Hershey kisses
  • Additional crushed butterfingers

Directions – in a bowl, combine oil and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.   Blend in flour and baking cocoa.  Stir in baking soda and water.  Add crushed butterfingers and chips.  Scoop out 2 tbs dough.  Form tall mounds.  Chill in fridge at least an hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheets.  Bake 10 to 12 min, no longer.  Cool completely.  

Top with melted chocolate and crushed butterfingers.  Store in covered container

Thanks so much for stopping by today!   Huuuuge game next Sunday- The Chiefs at home.  💙❤️💙❤️🦬🦬

Football friday # 10 Bakery size frosted gingerbread cookies

I love these cookies.  The cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger made them smell so good while baking.  Perfect for fall and perfect for a football friday.  By the way, I can’t believe we are in week 10.  It goes so fast!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also chill the mounds of dough for an hour.  And preheat your oven before baking. 

I was lazy and made 6 huge cookies and will cut them into thirds for work.  You can make smaller ones, but the baking times will be shorter.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup crisco
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar (packed firmly into measuring cup)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground gloves

Directions – in a bowl, cream crisco, brown sugar and sugar.  Add eggs.  Blend in dry ingredients.  You may need to use your hands to mix the dough to get it to come together.  Divide dough evenly into 6 mounds.  Roll into balls.  Chill 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Bake 15 minutes (bottoms will be browned.  Tops may be a little gushy).  Cool completely.   put in fridge to firm them up.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 2 tbs melted, butter
  • Powdered sugar
  • Heavy cream or milk

In a bowl mix butter and enough powdered sugar and heavy cream to get the consistency you want. Frost cookies.  Store in covered container in fridge.  

XXXL peanut butter cookies with peanut butter chips and peanut m&ms

To celebrate a week 9 Bills heart stopping win over the Dolphins (thank you, Tyler Bass),  I present XXXL peanut butter cookies with peanut butter chips and peanut m&ms.  It was a wonderful win and I felt these cookies were the appropriate victory treat. 

I was so happy for our kicker, Tyler Bass.  He’s had some rough times this season and he nailed a 61 yard field goal for the win.  After the game, I was really touched to see how emotional he was, his coaches and teammates were for him to hit such a big kick.

 

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup peanut butter chips
  • 1/2 cup peanut m&ms

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, sugar and peanut butter.  Mix in eggs.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Blend in chips and m&ms.  Divide evenly into 8 mounds of dough.  Chill at least an hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.   Stagger 4 cookie mounds on each sheet.  Bake 12 to 14 min (no longer).  Cool completely.   Place in fridge for an hour or so to firm up.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Go Bills!