Peanut Butter Blossoms

The spirt of Christmas is in the air!
Gina and I have decided to make our christmas gifts this year instead of buy them. Were very frugal... or at least Gina is. We made peanut butter blossoms for our neighbors and they were a hit. If you haven't made them yet this season then you should.

Ingredients: (makes about 50 cookies)

-1 3/4 cup flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 cup butter
-1/2 cup peanut butter
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1 egg
-2 tablespoons milk
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-Hershey's kisses

Directions:

1. In a bowl beat softened butter and peanut butter. Then add the sugars and beat until fluffy.
2. Add egg, milk, and vanilla.
3.Add in the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda.
4. Shade dough into one inch balls and coat in sugar.
5. Bake at 350 for 10-11 minutes or until the edges are set
6. Remove from oven and immediately place a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie
( it helps to place the kisses in the freezer for a minute or two before placing them in the cookie, it helps them keep their shape. Once you place the kisses in the cookie don't touch them until they set! Otherwise they will turn into a puddle.)

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The athlete

Gina has become a avid runner. She told me the other day that she "accidentally ran 7.5 miles."
She has started doing half marathons with my mom and she recently completed her second one. She finished in less then 2 hours!! Go Gina!

She recently got her rock and roll marathon pass, so she has many more half marathons (or maybe even full!) marathons to look forward to!

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Great sister

One of the joys of being a diver is having to go to pasadena to practice. 

Since Gina is the best sister ever, she decided to plan a lunch date with her friend in pasadena.

Since she was just going to be in the area she came and watched! Now what other sister would spend her saturday watching someone dive into the water for two hours?? Since she made the effort to come, I of course had to learn a new dive that day... just for her!

Afterwards i got to go out to lunch with them. We went to probably the sketchiest chinese place but it was sooo good.

This past weekend I had a meet in Bakersfield so she had made the cookies the day before and sent them with my mom for me since she couldn't come watch. Now thats love. They happened to be vanilla pudding cookies and they were amazing! Of course I had one.. and then two more. 

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Chai Pumpkin Spice Cookies

This is definitely a seasonal cookie...

It was inspired by the pumpkin spice kisses that are on sale during the fall and they are oh so good. They're delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room tempreture)
-1/4 cup sugar
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-1/4 cup liquid chair concentrate
-1 large egg
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 3/4 tsp baking soda
-1/8 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp of chai spice mix
-a bag of pumpkin spice hershey's kisses

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325. Place the kisses in the freezer, this will make them easier to place on the cookies. Combine the butter and sugar and cream until combined. Then add the egg, chai concentrate, and vanilla extract. Once combined add the flour, baking soda, salt, and chai mix. Once combined cover and refrigerate for one hour.

Roll the dough into 1 inch round balls. Place the dough on a prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle chai mix over the dough balls. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the over and immediately place the pumpkin kisses in the center. Once you have placed the kisses be careful not to touch them, otherwise they will turn into a puddle! Let them cool completely before you indulge. If you cannot wait then I would recommend placing them in the fridge to firm up the kisses.

After I had one cookie, I couldnt help myself and ate three more. Once I took them out of the oven it was hard to keep my mom and Gina away from them long enough for them to cool!

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Oreo Truffles

This is of course another creation based off of the oh so popular oreos....

Its so easy to make and definitely one of Gina's favorites.

All you need is

-1 package of Oreos

-8oz. Cream Cheese

-16oz. Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Smash the oreos, this can be done in a variety of ways including using a food processor or my favorites way... putting them in a gallon sized bag and stomping on them. Both ways are equally effective one may relieve stress more then the other

2.Mix the oreo crumbs with softened cream cheese

3. Roll the mixture into balls and refrigerate for 30min

4.When the balls are firm melt the chocolate according to the package

5. Dip the balls in the melted chocolate 

6. Wait until the chocolate has hardened and enjoy! 

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Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was probably one of the first creations Gina and I made...

After oreo celebrated there 100th birthday I began to browse there online recipes. After finding this one i had to try it. Its a relatively simple concept all you will need is 

Ingredients: 

-Oreos (number varies depending on how many you want to make)

-Chocolate chip cookie dough

The chocolate chip cookie dough can either be made from scratch or a prepackaged dough. I prefer to make the dough from scratch. To do this you will need

Dough Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, and salt. Mix well with wire whisk. Set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until just blended. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until just mixed. 

Once you have your dough now you just have to assemble the cookies. 

Take one oreo cookie and add a scope of cookie dough to the top and bottom of the oreo. Then press the edges together to seal the cookie. The cookie dough should completely cover the oreo, this cookie will be HUGE. 

Then place the cookies in the oven and bake for 10-15min or until golden brown. 

My sister prefers her cookies a little dough-ier so we always take them out early. 

Then you just have to let them cool and enjoy!

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