Easy and Spooky Spider Cookies

I love holiday baking!  And, if you ask me holiday baking starts in October.  Yep, Halloween is a very bakeable holiday in my opinion.  There are so many fun and ghoulish things that you can bake up.  The other day I was cruising my blogging buddies page and saw these creepy crawly spider cookies.

I decided to give it a whirl with my older kids and we had a blast making (and eating) these scary spiders.  I found that my chocolate chips weren't melty enough to draw on the legs so I just melted a few left over chips and used that to create the spooky legs.

Halloweeny and perfect!  Whip them up and creep out all your friends.

peanut Butter & Chocolate No Bake Cookies Recipe

When I was a kid there was nothing better than a no bake cookie.  My Mom never made them to my chagrin.  But lucky for me my friend's older sisters made them all the time!  Wahoo!  As an adult I've only made them twice..which is funny to me considering how much I liked them.  It turns out that even though you don't have to bake them you do still have a bit of stove top time and some cooling/hardening time.  This recipe turned out so yummy.  I made them for my daughter's tea party with her cousins.  We didn't even let them cool before we indulged in them.  Give them a try when you have a bunch of kids wanting a tea party.  Or any time for that matter.

You will need Milk, Butter, Cocoa, Sugar, Peanut Butter, and Oats.  Also Vanilla..poor vanilla missed the shot.

Add the Butter, Sugar, and cocoa to a sauce pan and warm over Medium heat.  Add in the Milk & Vanilla and bring the whole mixture to a boil.

Once you are Boiling add in the Oats and Peanut Butter.  Mix together well.

Grab a bit of parchment paper and place dollops of the mixture out to dry.  You can make them as big or small as you want.  Wait until the cool and become hardened...if you can!  Bwahaha!  Ha...ha.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate No Bake Cookies Recipe
Source:  Food Network

2 C Sugar
4 TBSP Cocoa
1 Stick Butter
1/2 C Milk
1 C Peanut Butter
1 TBSP Vanilla
3 C Oats

Combine the Sugar, Cocoa, Butter, and Milk in a saucepan over Medium heat.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  After about a minute or so add in the Peanut Butter, Vanilla, and Oats.  Mix together well.  Spread out a bit of Parchment Paper on your counter and drop the mixture by the spoonful to cool/harden.  Enjoy!

Nutter Butter Cookie Balls Recipe

Cookies!  Oh yeah..I said cookies!  Every year my sister and I put together a Christmas Cookie Exchange party.  It is so much fun and we get to sample all kinds of yummy cookies.  I like to try something new and exciting every year.  Some of my treats have been awesome..while others have been less than awesome.  But it's all in good fun so I don't mind the flops.  This year I was cruising the web and saw this little beauty and just had to give it a try.  Crumbled up cookies in a cookie!?  What could be tastier?

You will need Mini Nutter Butter Bites, Nutter Butter Cookies, Peanut Butter (I used creamy), Softened Cream Cheese (I used the diet stuff), and Almond Bark.

Put the regular Nutter Butter Cookies in a zip top bag and using your meat club crush those babies up.  I did this shortly after putting my children to bed and my crushing woke up my 2 year old.  Perhaps next time I'll crush more gently.

Mix together the soft Cream Cheese and crushed Nutter Butters.

It will come together in a kind of dry and slightly crumbly mixture.

Roll into little balls.  I got just over 2 dozen of them.  Refrigerate at least one hour.  I let them sit overnight.

Grab a handful or two of the Nutter Butter Bites and cut them in half.

In a microwave safe dish (I find a measuring cup works best) place the Almond Bark and Peanut Butter in the microwave.  At 50% power microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until everything is melted and combined.

Prepare your station.  Rolled balls on one sheet.  Melted PB goodness in the middle.  Clean sheet covered with parchment on the other side.  Cut up Mini Nutters close by.

Drop one ball at a time in the melted PB mixture.  Using a fork lightly tap on the dish to remove excess chocolatey goo.

Place the coated ball on the clean cookie sheet.

Top wit a mini Nutter.  Repeat until they are all coated and topped.  Allow plenty of time for coating to harden.  You can also place them in the fridge to hurry this process along.

Enjoy!

Nutter Butter Cookie Balls Recipe
Source:  Kraft Recipes

1 8oz package Softened Cream Cheese
24 Nutter Butter Cookies, crushed
3-6 Squares Almond Bark 
1/4 C Creamy Peanut Butter
Mini Nutter Butter Cookies cut in half
 
Mix together the crushed Nutter Butter Cookies and soft Cream Cheese to make a slightly crumbly dough.  Roll the dough into 1 inch balls.  I ended up with just over 2 dozen.  Place on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.  

In a microwave safe dish mix, add the Peanut Butter and Almond bard.  Microwave in 30 second increments at 50% power until everything is melted and combined.  Make sure to stir after every 30 seconds.  Drop the Balls, one at a time, into the Melted PB mixture.  Using a fork, tap lightly on the dish to remove excess coating.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and top with one of the mini Nutter Butter halves.  Once all the balls are coated allow the coating to set.

Enjoy!  

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

My next few posts are going to be Christmas in January posts.  Who doesn't love celebrating the holidays in the New Year?  Each Year my sister and I throw a Christmas cookie exchange party.  We always have so much fun planning which cookie recipe to try that year.  For me it is against the rules to make the same recipe more than once and it's also against the rules to make something boring.  I pretty much start looking for a cookie recipe the day after the party is over.  This year I found this little gem and knew I had found a winner.  These cookies were very yummy but they did have one little problem.  After baking and cooling the Caramels get VERY hard.  If you aren't going to eat them fresh out of the oven you will want to warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds so you don't break a tooth.

You will need Caramels, Flour, cinnamon, Unsalted Butter, Salt, Alpine Spiced Apple Cider, Baking Powder, Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla, and Baking Soda.

Mix together the Cinnamon, Flour, Baking Powder, and Baking Soda.

Cream together the Softened Unsalted Butter, Sugar, Salt, and all ten of the Apple Cider Packets.

Looks perfect.

Beat in the Eggs..

One at a time.

Add the Vanilla and mix well.

Gradually add the Flour into the mix.

At this point my hand mixer decided to wimp out on me so I moved the mixture to my sturdy stand mixer.

When everything is mixed together grab a bit of dough, about 2 TBSP and flatten it with a spoon

Place the unwrapped Caramel on top.  I considered using the little Caramel bits so I didn't have to unwrap but chickened out.  After unwrapping all those Caramels I wish I had used them.

Roll the Caramel and dough up into a ball.

*You will want to use Parchment to avoid a giant caramel mess* Bake 350 degrees 11-14 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned. 

Place a couple of sheets of parchment on the counter top.

When the cookies are done baking turn them upside down to allow the Caramel to set up. 

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

2 Sticks softened Unsalted Butter
1 C Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 7.4 oz box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix (10 Packets)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
3 C Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 bag of Caramels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the Flour, Bakin Soda, Baking Powder and Cinnamon.

In a separate bowl cream together the softened unsalted Butter, Sugar, Salt, and all ten of the Cider Packets.

Beat the eggs into the creamed Butter mixture one at a time.  Add the vanilla and mix together well.  Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Grab about 2 TBSP of dough and flatten on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place the unwrapped caramel on the dough and roll up into a ball fully enclosing the Caramel.  Place dough balls about 3 inches apart.  Bake 11-14 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Do not overbake.

When the cookies are done baking Allow the cookies to cool for a minute or two.  Place two sheets of parchment on your counter and turn the cookies upside down on the parchment to cool completely.

Enjoy fresh out of the oven or if the caramel gets too hard after cooling warm them up in the microwave for about 5 seconds.

Enjoy!