Festive Cream Cheese Cookies

I made the festive cream cheese cookies for the Junior League Holiday party.  They require a bit of prep work, but otherwise are easy to make.  The dough needs to be refrigerated or frozen prior to baking, so I made and rolled the dough the night before.  All that was left to do the day of was roll the dough in red and green sugar, slice, and bake.

I found the recommended baking time of 15-18 minutes to be a few minutes too long, so keep an eye on them.  My cookies were ready to take out of the oven after 12-13 minutes.

These cookies taste great with a cup of tea or coffee.  I'm sure Santa would love them! 

Thanks Martha!

Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Icing

These cupcakes were made to bring to the Junior League Christmas Party, and they were such a hit! They are such a great alternative to your average store-bought cupcakes because they definitely have that homemade taste. The ingredients in these cupcakes, like fresh shredded carrots and crushed pineapple, make them taste delicious and fresh! And I like to say that they're extra-healthy because they have carrots and fruit in them.

The icing is the perfect compliment to the cupcakes because white chocolate makes everything taste a little better. Next time I may add a little color to the icing, or maybe sprinkle some crushed peppermint on top!

Thanks Shannon!

Almond Cookies

The new members hosted a Holiday Party this past weekend and I made a batch of Almond Cookies to bring along! This cookie recipe is pretty traditional and includes many ingredients you probably already have (baking soda, flour, sugar, etc.). I loved mixing up this recipe and my husband loved the spoonful of dough I saved for him (hooray for no raw eggs in this one!).

It includes a recipe for icing, too, which you can make any color. I chose red and green for obvious reasons. :) Happy holidays!

Thank you Shannon!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Both Joanna and Martha made this recipe and I wanted to share both of their thoughts about this delicious recipe:

From Joanna:

Last week I made the delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to bring in as a treat for my office.  I stuck pretty close to the recipe, though I did omit the oats and added in a pinch of nutmeg for some extra fall flavor.  The recipe was very easy to follow and the results were fantastic!  I recommend eating your cookie with a big cold glass of milk!

From Martha:

I made the chocolate chip pumpkin cookies for a surprise baby shower for one of my coworkers last week.  Mom-to-be has been enjoying all things pumpkin during her pregnancy, so these were perfect! 

One thing to note is that this recipe makes a lot of cookies.  The recipe notes that the yield is 8 1/2 dozen and I found that to be the case, even though I tend to end up with fewer (but bigger) cookies than called for in recipes when I bake.  Use the biggest bowl you have to mix the dough if you are going to make a full batch.  I could have make a half batch for the shower (we had about 20 people) with plenty of cookies to spare.  I actually ended up taking the rest of the cookies to a Christmas cookie exchange party the next night, so it all worked out. 

 The pumpkin makes these cookies very moist and the chocolate chips add just the right amount of sweetness.  A lot of people at the shower complimented me on the cookies and the cookies were a favorite at the cookie exchange. Another good recipe from A Thyme to Celebrate!