Tag Archives: Christmas

The Weekender: Christmas Edition!

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Hello, hungry readers! I hope your holiday was fantastic and that your New Year will be even better! I’m planning a big, gut-busting menu for New Year’s Eve complete with dip, onion rings, and finger foods galore. Get ready; there will be some good recipes coming your way as a result.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before we worry about new recipes, we’ve got to review all the delicious ones from this week. And since I didn’t have a Weekender last weekend, I’ll be including last week’s recipes as well. Your welcome.

Let’s review, shall we?

Gingerbread Golden Oreo Blondies: Sweet, tender, and studded w/ Gingerbread Golden Oreos.
Ma’s Sweet Potato Casserole: A must-have at the holiday table.
Fudge Brownie Thumbprints w/ Caramel Drizzle: Everyone who tries one of these decadent cookies loses their marbles in delight.
3-Ingredient White Chocolate Walnut Truffles: Easiest, most heavenly no-cook candy ever!
Snow-Covered No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls: Just throw ingredients in a bowl & mix for this surprisingly healthy treat.
Fudgy Chocolate Crinkles: A brownie-like cookie dusted with powdered sugar.
Peanut Butter-Filled Crinkles: Your favorite fudgy crinkles crammed with peanut butter.
Hello Dollies: A family favorite, 1-pan treat.
White Chocolate-Filled Snickerdoodles: Soft, tender snickerdoodles stuffed with smooth chocolate.
Chewy M&M Cookies: Thick and chewy.
Smart Cookie’s Christmas Recipe Collection 2012: Christmas may be over, but these recipes are still awesome.
Homemade Pesto Croutons: 2 ingredients; way better than store-bought.
Roasted Tomato & Garlic White Pizza: Super easy but delicious thin & crispy w/ three kinds of cheese & roasted tomatoes.
Chocolate Pecan Tassles: a cross between sweet, gooey pecan pie and tender chocolate cookies.

Whew! That’s a lot of mouth-watering food right there. I apologize to all of you who now have a grumbling tummy; I’m right there with you. Hold on to your hats, because it’s about to get worse; we’re going to talk about my Christmas eats.

This year, we changed the menu up a bit. I made a scrumptious Xmas Eve appetizer involving tortellini (recipe to come), and of course we had my favorite, cheesetastic Pull-Apart Party Bread.

Party Bread

There were also Christmas cookies abound. Unfortunately, thanks to college, I didn’t have time to bake as far ahead as I normally do, and wound up making every single kind of cookie in one day. I literally spent an entire day in the kitchen. Afterwards, I was sore, tired, and had cookie dough in places that cookie dough should not be. But we wound up with mounds of marvelous cookies, so it was worth it! _DSC7835

Mr. Poe joined me in the kitchen. _DSC7863

…And of course, he photobombed. _DSC7866

Reese helped out too. _DSC7887

And my cats entertained me during my full day in the kitchen by showing me how good they are at camouflage. _DSC7899

This year’s cookie collection including my Grandma’s Hello Dollies, which you can catch my how-to video for here.

We also had my absolute favorite Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Fudgy Chocolate Crinkles, Peanut Butter Filled Crinkles, Babci’s Tassles, Chocolate Pecan Tassles, Chewy M&M Cookies, and my go-to Soft Sugar Cookies, which I decorated festively as I do every year. _DSC8167 _DSC8211

I also like to make a personalized sugar cookie for everyone. This year, I made hats. _DSC8207

For Christmas dinner, instead of doing our usual multi-course feast complete with half a dozen side dishes, Mother Cookie and I decided we didn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, and opted for a one-pan dish: our all-time favorite Eggplant Parmigiana.

This is truly my favorite meal ever. It’s a special dish, the ultimate bubbling, cheese-loaded, flavor-packed dish to which all other casseroles pale in comparison. It was the perfect dish for our Christmas dinner.

And for dessert? More cookies!

What did you eat during the holidays?

You’ll be happy to know Santa brought me several Smart Cookie themed gifts. I finally got the food processor I’ve been praying for, a new tripod for my camera, this awesome cake plate cover that turns any plate into an air-tight container, and an adorable charm for my bracelet shaped like a mixer.

courtesy of preciousaccents.com

What did Santa bring you?

That’s all for now, but I’d love for you to tell me all about your holiday! Until tomorrow, I leave you with your daily dose of cuteness:

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If you want to keep up with every last drop of deliciousness on Smart Cookie, be sure to like Smart Cookie on Facebook, follow me on Twitter & Pinterest, and subscribe to my Youtube Channel.

Smart Cookie’s Christmas Recipe Collection 2012

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Let’s be honest; it ain’t just the holiday spirit that brings us together around this time of year; it’s the promise of a plethora of the year’s best foods. Eating Christmas dinner is just as joyful as opening presents Christmas morning. It’s the meal we remember, when the family’s together and the food is good enough to shut everyone up.

Now, just in case you’re scrambling last minute to compose your Christmas Eve/Day menu(s), I’ve got the ultimate list of recipes to get you all ready for the big feast. Have a Very Delicious Christmas!

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Cookiepalooza

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No-Bake Magic

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Christmas Dessert

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Christmas Feast

Caramelized Onion & Butternut Squash Lasagna Pie
Roasted Garlic Alfredo & Penne
Chickpea, Feta, & Spinach Penne Marinara
Classic Polish Potato Pancakes
Easy Blush Chicken & Penne Bake
Pierogi Casserole
Favorite Eggplant Parmigiana <- This is my Christmas dinner! Such a special dish; just heavenly.

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Seasonal Sides

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Soups & Starters

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And for your Holiday Reading:

I hope your holidays are filled with delicious eats and good spirits. Smart Cookie will be on vacation Tuesday Dec. 25, but will resume on Wednesday Dec. 26. See you then!

Chewy M&M Cookies

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I have an intense infatuation with Christmas cookies. Maybe it’s my love for baking them, maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe it’s just that they’re so darn delicious. Regardless of the reason, I lose all sense of self-control around Christmas cookies and become an elated 5 year-old, void of shame and self-restraint.

Actually, this is me when Christmas cookie season rolls around:

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You might’ve picked up on my holiday cookie enthusiasm given that almost every post for the past two weeks has included cookies. But can you really complain? With Christmas right around the corner, it’s time to start wrapping up the old Christmas cookie collection, but not without first sharing my new addition to the usual cast of characters I have every year: Chewy M&M Cookies.

I’m not crazy about M&M’s on their own, but toss ‘em in a cookie, and I’m game. These cookies are so extraordinarily thick & chewy, I’m talking mile-high with super chewy-soft centers. Plus, they are packed to full-capacity with those crunchy, chocolatey mini M&M’s, adorned in festive green and red, of course. _DSC8057

I love, love, loved everything about these babies from their ideal texture to their delicious flavor. And of course, the pretty M&M’s make them so fun. I’ve heard it said that you should never describe food as delicious, because that word is overused and blah blah blah. But sometimes, food IS delicious, and that’s the best way to describe it. These cookies are delicious, and I ain’t afraid to say so.

Chewy M&M Cookies are a crowd-pleaser. Their ain’t a kid or adult who won’t go crazy for ‘em. Even the dough is delectable, not that I’m condoning eating uncooked dough (but I DO eat cookie dough like it’s nobody’s business). If you can wait until these tasty babies with their sweet, buttery brown sugar flavor and cute M&M freckles come out of the oven to eat them, then God bless you.

Happy cookie baking to all, and to all a good cookie!

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

DO. NOT. OVERBAKE. This is why you wind up with a too-crunchy cookie lacking that wonderful soft, chewiness you long for. The key is to actually take the cookies out just before you really think they’re done. Nine times out of 10, that’s when they’re actually perfect.
Mini M&Ms are ideal, but if you can’t find them, then of course regular-sized is fine.
These aren’t just for Christmas; you can use regular colored M&M’s in these any time of year!
Since we don’t chill the dough, having super cold butter KEY to making nice, thick cookies. Warm or room temperature butter makes for warmer dough that spreads thin when baking.
Make the dough ahead of time then freeze up to a month until you’re ready to bake.
Or, freeze the finished cookies in an airtight container until you’re ready to eat.

Chewy M&M Cookies
Adapted from Cooking Classy

Yield – about 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced into cubes
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1-11 oz. bag mini red & green M&M’s

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, blend together butter and sugar on low speed until it starts to come together then increase mixer to medium speed and whip until creamy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and egg yolk on lowest speed. Stir in vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in M&M’s with a wooden spoon.
Scoop out 2-tablespoons of dough at a time and shape into balls. Place 6-8 cookies on parchment paper-lined sheet. Bake10 – 12 minutes until puffed and set and just beginning to turn golden around the edges. Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

White Chocolate Filled Snickerdoodles

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This Christmas, I was faced with a very unfamiliar problem: I actually wanted to give gifts to my co-workers. I’ve never had a job before where I’ve felt close enough to my co-workers to get anything for them. It’s not that I’ve always hated my co-workers in the past; I’ve just never bonded with them. However, since acquiring my public relations intern position, I met a group of really great people who have been warm and welcoming. We probably do as much chatting as we do working, but that’s got to be better than stuffing your head in a cubicle and avoiding everyone else in the office like the plague for the rest of the day.

I knew I wanted to bake some delicious goodies for my co-workers this Christmas, but the hard part was deciding which ones to make. I wanted to customize the collection so that there would be something for everyone. After much consideration, I decided on my Snow-Covered No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls, Fudge Brownie Thumbprints with Caramel Drizzle, and these White Chocolate Filled Snickerdoodles.

Being the Smart Cookie Cook, I’m always thinking up ways to put a Smart Cookie twist on classic recipes. Snickerdoodles are a traditional cookie and rather underrated, as my co-worker pointed out. They just needed a little Smart Cookie touch to take them to the next level, like stuffing ‘em with white chocolate ganache. _DSC7715

These, my friends, are perfect cookies in every single way. They are so super soft and buttery, dusted with sweet and spicy cinnamon-sugar then filled with rich white chocolate. Never was their a snickerdoodle with such a tender texture; it’s truly heavenly.

In fact, the only fault you’ll find with them is how addicting they are; one snickerdoodle ain’t enough. Once you experience that chewy cookie coated in comforting cinnamon and laced with silky smooth white chocolate, there’s no going back. You better buckle in and prepare to eat the whole batch! _DSC7713

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

You can easily leave out the filling for a traditional but incredible Snickerdoodle.
I adapted my favorite ever Soft Sugar Cookie recipe to make these. They are my go-to, never-fail sugar cookies.
You might have extra white chocolate ganache, and I’ve got the perfect solution: my White Chocolate Walnut Truffles.
Most recipes tell you to bake cookies until golden brown around the edges but that is NOT the case here; you just want them to be set. It you let them brown, they’ll be overcooked.
If you don’t want to stuff the cookies, you can just drizzle on the ganache after they cool.

White Chocolate Filled Snickerdoodles

Yield – About 4 dozen

Adapted from Foodbeast

Ingredients:

4 ½ cups all purpose flour
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 sticks butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup cinnamon-sugar, for rolling
2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat in vanilla until blended. Gradually add flour mixture and beat on low just until incorporated. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
Pour the white chocolate and heavy cream into a medium sauce pan over low heat. Stir continuously as it melts (don’t stop mixing; chocolate burns easy). When chocolate is almost completely melted, remove from heat and keep whisking until totally smooth. You don’t have to get the chocolate hot to melt it completely.
Pour melted chocolate into a heat proof container and let cool to room temperature. Cover and chill until completely firm, about 1 hour.
When ganache is firm and you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and pour cinnamon-sugar into a shallow bowl.
Scoop into 1-ounce balls (about 1 tablespoon) and flatten out with your hand. Take about 1 teaspoon of ganache, roll into a ball, and set it in the middle of the dough. Wrap the dough around chocolate so it’s completely covered. Gently roll in cinnamon-sugar so dough is completely covered.
Bake cookies 8 – 10 minutes until set, they should not be browned at all. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. You may have several exploding cookies; this is totally fine!

Hello Dollies + Video

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The recipes we pass down are the ones that mean the most. And no matter how many other recipes we try, they’re never quite as delicious as the old tried and trues. What I love about most of my handed down recipes is their simplicity. In my grandmother’s time, cooking and baking were all about the basics and keeping things simple. Some people make the mistake of assuming that basic is bland, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth; In fact, I marvel at how amazing some of the simplest recipes are in comparison to complex, intricate recipes I’ve tried.

Perfect example: My Grandma’s Hello Dollies. These are so much simpler than any other cookie recipe I’ve made, and yet they’re some of the best. You literally just dump everything in a pan and bake; no mixing or beating required. In the oven is where the magic happens. The key ingredient, sweetened condensed milk, caramelizes and brings all of the six ingredients together, melting and binding them to create a chewy, ooey, gooey bar packed with chocolate, nuts, and coconut upon a buttery graham cracker crust. _DSC7919

The thing about these cookies is that you can’t possibly understand how good they are until you try one. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts in this case. Just trust me when I say the oven does something supernatural, baking up sweet, chewy golden brown beauties that are so addicting, you’ll eat the whole pan itself.

Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

See just how easy and delicious these bars are in my video below! Plus, Mina Mr. Poe, and Reese make an appearance.

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

I HIGHLY recommend using disposable pans when making these. If you use a good pan, there’s a chance the caramelized sweetened condensed milk will bake on to it and ruin it.
Don’t like nuts? Leave ‘em off.
These freeze great, so you can make a ton and save some for another time.
Use dark chocolate or semi sweet chips instead of milk if you prefer.
If you really wanna indulge, serve these warm with ice cream.

Hello Dollies
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups shredded coconut
2 cups chopped walnuts
2-3 cups milk chocolate chips
2 14-oz. cans sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour melted butter into a 9×13 baking pan. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over top in an even layer.
Sprinkle coconut over top in an even layer, followed by the walnuts, and finishing with the chocolate chips. You may add more or less chips depending on how chocolatey you like things. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over top in an even layer and gently spread out.
Bake for 15 minutes then turn oven temperature down to 325 degrees F and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.
Let cool for at least an hour before cutting into squares. They’ll cut cleaner if you chill them in the fridge for a while first.

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2-For-1: Peanut Butter Filled Crinkles & Classic Chocolate Crinkles

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The crinkle cookie is a Christmas staple for a Smart Cookie Christmas, as well as for many other families’ Christmases. It’s a classic cookie with a pretty snow-covered crackled surface that just looks so wonderfully seasonal. But the problem with pretty cookies is that they’re often lacking in the delicious department. Take for example those beautifully decorated but bland-tasting sugar cookies from the store. Luckily, that ain’t the case with crinkles. They’re deeply chocolatey cookies with a super soft texture, and they taste even better than they look.

This year, along with my traditional Chocolate Crinkles, I decided to shake things up a bit and make some Peanut Butter Filled Crinkles too. That may have been the best idea I had this season because these peanut butter-packed babies are bangin’.

The original crinkle itself is a beautiful cross between the texture of a cookie and the texture of a brownie. Its chewy edges and sturdy stance make it cookie-like, but its crazy fudgy, soft, and rich center is all brownie, baby. It is truly the best of both worlds, made better only by the pocket of creamy peanut butter stuffed inside. This takes you favorite classic Christmas cookie to a whole new level. It’s sweet and salty, chewy, creamy, and all-around amazing. You ain’t never had a crinkle like this. _DSC7238

I’m a big believer in tradition, but I also believe in shaking things up from time to time. Here, you get your classic cookie plus the added twist of a smooth PB filling. Think of it as tearing through a gift bag to pull out the gift, only to find there’s another gift buried below. Bonus!

But if you’re an all-traditional all-the-way kind of cookie monster, I’ve got you covered with classic recipe too!

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

The key to making these soft and fudgy is making sure you don’t overbake.
The extra powdered sugar on the outside is optional, but it sure is pretty!
You could switch out the PB in the recipe for Nutella…sweet Jesus.
These freeze great, so make ‘em ahead and chill ‘em until you’re ready for ‘em.
The bigger the cookie, the thicker the center. I like to use about 1 tbsp. of dough per cookie.
You must chill the dough well, or it will go flat.

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Peanut Butter Filled Crinkles
Recipe adapted from food.com

Yield: about 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 1-oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted & cooled to room temperature
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup powdered sugar

For filling:

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Combine sugar, oil, and melted chocolate in the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat at medium speed until blended. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add about 1/3 of dry mixture at a time to chocolate mixture, mixing on medium-low speed just until combined after each addition. Don’t overmix, or the cookies won’t be as fudgy. Cover and let chill at least 2 hours.
Meanwhile, mix together peanut butter, butter, and 1 cup powdered sugar in a medium bowl until well-combined. Refrigerate until cookie dough is chilled.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Shape dough into tablespoon-sized balls and flatten out with your hand. Roll a scant teaspoon of peanut butter in your hand and place on top of dough. Wrap dough around it so the peanut butter is completely covered and gently roll into a ball. Roll in powdered sugar and place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set.
Cool on wire racks.

Classic Chocolate Crinkles

Yield: about 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 1-oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted & cooled to room temperature
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Combine sugar, oil, and melted chocolate in the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat at medium speed until blended. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add about 1/3 of dry mixture at a time to chocolate mixture, mixing on medium-low speed just until combined after each addition. Don’t overmix, or the cookies won’t be as fudgy. Cover and let chill at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Shape dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Roll in powdered sugar and place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set.
Cool on wire racks.

Snow-Covered No-Bake Peanut Butter M&M Balls

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Ah, Christmas: a time for sparkling green trees, platefuls of food, joyous carols, and snow-covered…peanut butter balls?

Yes, my friends, these no-bake treats are as festive as festive gets during the holiday season. My Snow-Covered No-Bake Peanut Butter M&M Balls are studded with bright red & green M&Ms and dressed in pretty shredded coconut to resemble freshly fallen snow. They’re the cutest little treats to grace your holiday table, and the tastiest too.

Made with only 6 basic ingredients, these PB-packed confections are so delectable that you won’t believe your taste buds! Plus, they’re good for you too. They’ve got peanut butter, nuts, and oats to make them hearty, and they’re sweetened with honey, so there’s no added sugar. However, they taste just as indulgent and scrumptious as any cookie, perhaps more so.

Skip the same old cookies this holiday, and don’t waste energy firing up the oven; with these treats, just throw everything in a bowl and stir. You’ve got no excuse not to try something new, healthy, and delicious.

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A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

If you’re looking for a year-round version of these PB balls, check out my original recipe here.
Mini M&Ms would also work wonderfully.
These make great gifts or party treats.
You can use powdered sugar instead of coconut if you want to live on the indulgent side.

Snow-Covered No-Bake Peanut Butter M&M Balls
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Ingredients:

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup roasted peanuts
1 cup toasted shredded coconut,* plus 2 cups raw shredded coconut for rolling
1 12.6-oz. bag red & green M&Ms
1/3 cup honey

*To toast coconut, spread out in an even layer on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 5-10 minutes, STIRRING EVERY 2 MIN. or it will burn, until golden brown.

Directions:

Place the roasted nuts in a food processor and pulse until they resemble a fine crumb.
In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir together peanut butter, oats, ground nuts, toasted coconut, M&Ms, and honey until well-combined and all ingredients are evenly distributed.
Cover and refrigerate until chilled and firm, about 1 hour.
Line a baking sheet (or whatever you want to store the balls in) with waxed paper. Pour raw coconut into a shallow bowl or dish. Take tablespoons of peanut butter mixture and use your hands to roll into balls. Roll balls in coconut to completely coat the outside. Place on waxed paper and either serve immediately or return to fridge until you plan to serve. Keep in fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

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3-Ingredient White Chocolate Walnut Truffles

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Truffles seem so fancy, not to mention they taste like they were crafted in Heaven’s chocolate shop. But I’m going to share a little secret with you: truffles are not quite as hoity toity as they seem. In fact, I can show you how to make luscious, dreamy truffles in your own kitchen with only three ingredients.

My 3-Ingredient White Chocolate Walnut Truffles require only heavy cream, white chocolate, and walnuts. Plus, they’re extremely easy to make; it’s a matter of melt, mix, chill, and roll. But when you bite in, you won’t believe something so simple could taste so good; I’m talking slap-Santa-upside-the-head good!

These truffles are so beautifully smooth, creamy, and rich. After you bite through the initial crunchy layer of salty walnuts, the luscious truffle center instantly begins to melt in you mouth like a snowflake does when it hits your tongue. You get that buttery, sweet white chocolate combined with the salty, robust walnuts for the perfect balance of flavors.

These heavenly little truffles are exactly what you’d get if you could fuse freshly fallen snow into a sweet confection. They’re a little bit of naughty and nice for this holiday season, giving you sinful indulgence along with pure sweet divinity. They make a perfect gift that’s sure to impress the receiver with their elegance, but you’ll be the only one who knows how easy they were to make. Or you could always skip gifting them and make them as a sweet treat for yourself. _DSC7746

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

Melting chocolate is a precise process, but easy if you follow these rules: Firstly, use a low heat. As long as you’re gentle in heating the chocolate, it won’t burn. Also be sure to stir constantly. Not only does this prevent burning, but it makes it melt quicker. Finally, you don’t have to keep the chocolate over the heat until it’s completely smooth. Once the chocolate is about 75% melted, you can take it off the heat and whisk it, and its own heat will melt it.
Don’t like walnuts? Roll these babies in pretty colored sprinkles or shredded coconut instead.
Easily adapt this with dark or milk chocolate instead; just switch out with whatever kind you want and keep the proportions the same.
If you don’t chill the melted chocolate-cream mixture, you’ll have one hell of a chocolate sauce!

White Chocolate Walnut Truffles
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups finely chopped walnuts

Directions:

Pour the white chocolate and heavy cream into a medium sauce pan over low heat. Stir continuously as it melts (don’t stop mixing; chocolate burns easy). When chocolate is almost completely melted, remove from heat and keep whisking until totally smooth. You don’t have to get the chocolate hot to melt it completely.
Pour melted chocolate into a heat proof container and let cool to room temperature. Cover and chill until completely firm, about 2 hours.
Put chopped walnuts into a shallow bowl. Use a mini ice cream scoop or spoon to scoop out balls of white chocolate. Or you can do what I did and just just roll chunks of chocolate into balls with your hands like you would clay. Roll the truffles in the walnuts to coat the outsides and gently pack so it sticks. Set in an airtight container lined with waxed paper or parchment paper and store in fridge.

Fudge Brownie Thumbprint Cookies w/ Caramel Drizzle

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Dear Chocolate Lovers of the World,

I’m about to give you the best Christmas present you’ve ever gotten.

These Fudge Brownie Thumbprint Cookies w/ Caramel Drizzle are what your chocolate-covered Christmas dreams are made of. We Chocoholics don’t fantasize about falling snow, mistletoe, or sparkling Christmas trees; we dream about chocolate, piles of chocolate in every form: truffles, bars, cakes, frosting, pudding, and of course, cookies. At Christmastime, you better give us chocolate lovers some seriously chocolaty cookies, or it isn’t really Christmas.

Being a chocoholic myself, I would never deprive my fellow addicts of the supremely chocolatey cookie that’s on the top of their wishlist. These Fudge Brownie Thumbprint Cookies have two intense levels of chocolate, so if the first dose doesn’t send you into a chocolate-enduced euphoria, then the second one surely will. We’ve got super fudgy, chewy brownie cookies that truly are the love child of a moist brownie and handheld cookie. Then, we imprint a little crater in the center and fill it up with rich, velvety fudge. Finally, we finish with a drizzle of sweet caramel, because why? Because we can, and it’s to die for. _DSC7527

These heavenly cookies are the total package because, besides being scrumptious, they’re good-looking too. I gave them as gifts to my co-workers, along with several others treats that shall appear next week, and the first thing one of them did upon opening the box was exclaim how pretty they are. But guess what? That elegant presentation is merely a matter of punching a crater in the center of the cookies, filling with fudge, and slopping some caramel on top. It’s the prime example of a perfect holiday cookie: gorgeous, easy to make, and so gosh darn good.

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

The key to a perfectly fudgy cookie is not to over-bake them.
Any fudge sauce will do for filling these, but the best EVER is Wegman’s Chocolate Sauce. It’s thick and rich, more like ganache. You could also make homemade ganache to fill them.
The same goes for the caramel; I used Wegman’s caramel sauce. I also recommend Mrs. Richardson’s.
Both the Wegmans sauces can be found in the aisle with the other ice cream toppings.
Also try topping these with a sprinkle of nuts.
This dough freezes great, so make it ahead and freeze then thaw and bake when you’re ready for chocolate heaven.
Mix/beat as little as possible! Over-mixing ruins the fudgy texture.

Fudge Brownie Cookie Thumbprints w/ Caramel Drizzle
Cookie base adapted from food.com

Yield – about 3 dozen

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 1-oz. unsweetened chocolate squares , melted & cooled to room temperature
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 10-oz. jar fudge, chocolate sauce, or ganche – should be thick (Recommended: Wegmans Triple Chocolate Sauce)
1 10-oz. jar caramel sauce (Recommended: Wegmans or Mrs. Richardson’s)

Directions:

Combine sugar, oil, and melted chocolate in a large mixing bowl; beat at medium-low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well on low speed.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Add about one-1/3 of dry mixture at a time to chocolate mixture, mixing on medium-low speed after each addition. Cover and let chill at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Shape dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Immediately after removing from the oven, use a flat circle-shaped surface (I used the bottom of a pizza cutter; you could also use a small shot glass or end of a thick spoon handle) to press a crater into the center of each cookie. If you don’t have anything that works for making the imprint, just use your fingers.
Cool on wire racks.
Fill craters with fudge/chocolate sauce/ganache. You might want to microwave the fudge for less than 10 seconds just to get it fluid. Let set in freezer for a few minutes then drizzle with caramel. You can do this with a fork or use a plastic condiment dispenser. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Keep in fridge if it’s warm out.

Holiday Sides: Ma’s Sweet Potato Casserole

_DSC6310

Do you ever wish you could pop back in time and give your childhood-self a good smack on the head? There were a lot of moments in my childhood that make me wish I could do just that.

Take for example the slow-motion memory of my kindergarten school project, made of 100 rainbow beads painstakingly glued to a board to write out “100,” slipping out of my hands and cascading to the floor, resulting in the scattering of a hundred individual beads and my crushed hopes and dreams. Little Colleen, you deserve a clunk on the head for that one. And let us not forget the time I went charging across slick wood flooring with socks on my feet, only to go sailing to the ground and cracking my chin open. Another brilliant move, little Colleen.

But one of the biggest blunder I deserve to be whacked upside the head for is not appreciating my Ma’s Sweet Potato Casserole. This coveted casserole is served only during the holidays in our house, but as a kid, I couldn’t have cared less. Sweet potatoes were “eh,” so Sweet Potato Casserole sure as sugar didn’t excite me. _DSC6337

What the heck was I thinking? Sweet potatoes are the super produce from God’s garden, and my Ma’s Sweet Potato Casserole is the side dish of choice on God’s dinner table. I’m not even that religious, but I have faith in food. Glory, hallelujah, praise them sweet potaters!

Anyway…This is a simple casserole that can be put together ahead of time. Then bake it in the oven and watch the magic take place. The indulgent, crispy brown sugar pecan topping is sweet and crunchy bliss, like having dessert at dinner. Plus, I tweaked the topping quantity so that every bit of this casserole’s surface is covered with a substantial blanket of nutty, caramelized goodness. The filling is comprised of smooth, creamy, fluffy sweet potatoes kissed with brown sugar and vanilla. Oh lord, it is heaven. Never was there a better way to eat sweet potatoes!

The question is not whether you need this on your holiday dinner table or not; It’s why are you even debating it? _DSC6478

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

If you don’t like pecans, walnuts are a great substitution.
Dress the filling up with a kiss of maple. Yum!
Assemble ahead of time; bake later.
Serve with my Homemade Cheddar Green Bean Casserole for the perfect pairing of holiday side dishes.

Ma’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

6 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs

For topping

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:

Line a microwave-safe dish with paper towels. Place potatoes on dish and poke holes in the tops with a fork. Cook in microwave on high for about 13 minutes, or until fork-tender, flipping halfway through. Let cool.
Slice potatoes in half and squeeze out of their skins. Discard skins, or munch on for a snack.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine potatoes, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, and 1/2 cup butter. With a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until smooth. Pour into greased 3-quart baking dish.
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together nuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, flour, and butter until well-combined. Sprinkle over casserole and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and hot in the center.

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