Andes Mint Cookies

Last year at a cookie exchange, someone brought these cookies & I thought they were just great! If you enjoy chocolate & mint I think you'll agree. They're something I'll be making for my family this Christmas but I wouldn't mind them any time of the year!

I found this recipe on the internet. To see the original recipe, please click here. Ingredients

- 3/4 cup butter - 1 1/2 cups brown sugar - 2 tablespoons water - 12 ounces chocolate chips - 2 eggs - 2 3/4 cups flour - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda - 24 Andes mints Directions In a medium-sized saucepan, melt together the butter, brown sugar, and water, stirring occasionally. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Let stand 10 minutes to cool. Add the remaining ingredients and combine to form a dough. Chill the dough at least 1 hour. Roll the dough into balls and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, leaving ample space between the dough balls. Bake at 350°F for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven, and on top of each cookie, place half of an Andes mint. Allow the mint to melt and then swirl the mint over the cookie with the back of a spoon or a knife. I found that putting the cookies back in the oven for a minute to help the mints melt was easiest.

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

I went looking for a recipe using craisins (dried cranberries) since I had some left over from making my cran-apple crisp & I needed to make some cookies for church. These were really easy to make but make sure not to cook them for too long to avoid them getting too crisp.

I found this recipe on the internet. To see the original recipe, click here.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)

Directions

Preheat Oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer combine, sugar, brown sugar and butter and mix well.

Add in egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add in cinnamon, baking soda, salt and flour and mix well.

Fold in by hand the oatmeal, walnuts, and dried cranberries making sure that all ingredients are uniformly distributed.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 3-inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, just until the edges are lightly golden.

Remove from oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet.

Gingerbread Cookies

This recipe comes from Betty Crocker's Best of Baking cookbook. This is a soft gingerbread recipe that is quite delicious. You can leave them plain or ice them with the frosting recipe below.

Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups dark molasses

2/3 cup cold water

7 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix brown sugar, shortening, molasses, and water in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours until firm.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Roll 1/4th inch thick on floured surface. Cut with floured gingerbread cookie cutter or other favorite shaped cutter. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched in center.

Remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely.

Prepare Creamy Frosting and spread on cookies.

Creamy Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar

5 tablespoons half-and-half (I just used the milk I use every day)

1 teaspoon vanilla

food coloring, if desired

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

This recipe comes from my co-worker & good friend Shari. I was rebellious & made this for dessert rather than the traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Everyone really liked it, including my husband that doesn't usually care for cranberries.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

Topping:

2 1/2 cups quick oats

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter

Mix ingredients together, set aside.

8 apples (Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Roma) peeled and sliced (I keep the peels on for added fiber)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoon orange zest (I used fresh zest from an orange & then squeezed it's juice over the apples)

1 can of whole cranberries

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Mix all apple ingredients together and place in lightly greased 9x13 baking pan. Add topping mixture to apples, moving apples aside so topping gets into apples as well as on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes that my grandma used to make every year. This time, it's my pleasure to make it for my family as I hosted Thanksgiving.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (fresh or canned)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup butter (might want to consider cutting it down to 6 tablespoons max)

(May use 1/8 teaspoon allspice, nutmeg, and/or cloves)

Mix ingredients together & pour into lightly greased 9x13 pan. (It will look like the picture below.)

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons flour

(I added 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

Mix ingredients together with 2 forks until blended. Sprinkle topping over potato mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

I found this recipe when looking for a quick & easy beef stroganoff recipe. For the origninal recipe, click here.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

2 pounds cubed stew meat

2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup

1 larg onion diced

2 tablespoons of Worcestershire

1/2 water

8 oz of cream cheese

1 teaspoon Garlic Salt

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the Cream Cheese. Once combined add the meat and mix together. Cook on Low for 8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes

I found this recipe at the Rachael Ray website and thought it looked intriguing. For the original recipe, click here. I ended up doubling the batter and using a small amount of cream cheese for the middle of each cupcake to make 3 dozen cupcakes. Also, I never have any luck with cooking egg whites so I ended up using a large can of cream cheese frosting rather than the recipe here.
Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes
12 Servings Prep 45 min Bake 25 min

Ingredients:
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 large eggs, plus 5 large egg whites
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I used 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon all spice, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar (I omitted these next few ingredients and used cream cheese frosting instead)
Simmering water
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces and chilled

Directions:
Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking liners. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar for 3 minutes. Beat in 1 egg white and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In another bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, 2 eggs, granulated sugar, oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture.
Layer each muffin cup with some of the pumpkin batter, then the cream cheese mixture, then more of the batter. Bake until springy to the touch, 25 minutes. Let cool.

Frosting
Using the electric mixer, beat the brown sugar, remaining 4 egg whites and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Fill a medium saucepan with enough simmering water to reach a depth of 1 inch; place the mixing bowl on top. Whisk the mixture until it registers 160° on an instant-read thermometer.
Transfer the bowl back to the mixer and beat at high speed until fluffy; lower the speed and beat to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, then beat at high speed for 5 minutes. Beat in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag; pipe large rosettes on top of the cupcakes. (No pastry bag? Fill a resealable plastic bag with the frosting, snip off a corner and pipe away!)