Chocolate Wedding Cookies

Wedding cookies, usually made with pecans, are one of my favorites that you see around the holidays. I have made a couple of variations with different holiday flavors, but there are so many more flavors to explore. Tim’s sister Maria and I are both big baking fans and we have gotten together to bake things, and we sometimes send recipes to each other. She is the one who discovered this chocolate version, and I knew they would be good!

These “Mexican” wedding cookies are so called because of the combination of chocolate and cinnamon. These call for so little cinnamon that you can’t really taste it, so I would think you are safe calling them chocolate cookies. The original cookies called for chopped pecans, but I followed Maria’s advice and made them all chocolate, adding mini chocolate chips to the dough.

These cookies are quick to assemble, but you do need to make sure that the dough comes together completely and there are no dry areas. If there is dryness, it will be impossible to shape them into balls. This recipe made about 30 cookies, which I was able to bake in two batches. Since they don’t spread, you don’t have to worry so much about spacing. Yes, powdered sugar-coated cookies are always messy, but you are rewarded with a super chocolatey cookies, lovely with chunks of mini chips!

Chocolate Wedding Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Additional powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until the ingredients are creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until a dough forms with no dry patches. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. As these cookies don’t rise or spread, there is no need for extra space between the cookies.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are set. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes, and then roll them in a bowl of powdered sugar, coating the cookies evenly.

Recipe from Marie Saba

Chocolate Mint Truffle Snowball Cookies

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I try to make something that looks very festive for the Christmas holiday. By the time I get to Christmas, I have done a lot of baking, and then cooking for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We also celebrate Boxing Day, so I will be making something for that as well, but I plan that to be easy. This year I also remade a couple of recipes that were in great demand. I’m tired!

These cookies look fancy, but they really were easy to make. The dough is simple and doesn’t have any leavening, which means the cookies end up being the same size as when you start. I did add an extra egg yolk, as the dough seemed a little dry, and that was perfect. Shaping the dough around the Kisses was easy, as there was plenty of dough.

My only issue is melting the white chocolate, as I have discovered some brands melt well, and others don’t seem to melt at all. I need to remember this for the future! My first batch of melted chocolate didn’t work at all, so I tried again with different chips, and while there weren’t a lot of those chips, they were fine. I bought some fancy sprinkles so these would be extra nice, and I think they are a fun cookie for a holiday selection. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Truffle Snowball Cookies
24 mint truffle Hershey kisses
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cocoa powder
3-4 ounces white chocolate
1 teaspoon vegetable shortening
 Sprinkles

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Unwrap the Hershey Kisses and place in the freeze while you make the cookie dough. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium until combined. Stir in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, salt, and cocoa powder; mix just until a thick dough forms.

Roll the dough into 24 balls. Flatten each dough ball slightly and place a frozen Hershey Kiss in the center of each. Wrap the dough around the Kiss and seal it in completely. Reroll the cookies and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until set. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.     

Once the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate and vegetable shortening in a small microwave bowl. Dip the tops of the cookies in the melted chocolate and finish with sprinkles.

Recipe from Inside Bru Crew Life

Berlinerkranser

When I make cookies for the holidays, they are often new recipes that I have never tried before. I think about the main categories of flavors (like mint, eggnog, spiced) but then I give myself the flexibility to find recipes that look interesting to me that still fall into holiday flavor categories. This cookie is one that I actually have made before, but it was a different recipe and many, many years ago.

When I started baking, I didn’t have as many recipe choices as I do now. I had some cookie cookbook that included these Norwegian Christmas Cookies, and they looked interesting. I made them, and when I served them, my uncle said that they were a cookie he’d had growing up but hadn’t had them in years. The recipe has changed over time, as the accessibility of ingredients differs. When I first made these, the only topping I could come up with was to crush sugar cubes. Now I am able to find pearl sugar at the store.

This dough is simple but does require the super unusual ingredient of hard boiled egg yolks. I have the worst luck peeling hard boiled eggs, so I did buy ones that were cooked (and I needed some others for a different recipe). I made the dough, let it chill and I ended up dividing the dough into 15 pieces. In shaping the dough, this made for big, hefty cookies, which cracked a little when shaping. Thankfully that is easy to fix, and next time I may make them smaller, but still shape them into a 7” log. They bake nicely, and there are a very different choice for a holiday cookie plate!

Berlinerkranser (Norwegian Wreath Cookies)
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
2 (raw) egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter, room temperature

2 egg whites, lightly beaten
Pearl sugar    

In a medium mixer bowl, mash the hard-boiled egg yolks with a fork. Add the raw egg yolks and sugar and mix on medium until light. Alternate adding the flour and butter, starting and ending with the flour. The dough will be soft; be careful not to overwork the dough.

Chill the dough for one hour.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into balls, then into a rope about 6-7” long. Twist the dough into a wreath shape, crossing the ends of the dough. Brush each cookie with beaten egg white and then sprinkle with pearl sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes, until slightly browned on the bottom and set on top. Cool completely.

Recipe from Adamant Kitchen

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cranberry Jam

While I tend to plan my holiday baking a bit in advance, it seems that I never quite bake according to the list I develop. This can be for many reasons; sometimes I find a recipe that I just have to make, or something ends up taking more time than I have, and sometimes recipes don’t quite turn out and I need to take the time to tweak the recipe before I try it again. I hadn’t planned on making these cookies, but I saw them and was convinced. Oh, and that other recipe needs some tweaking as well.

I saw this recipe and the only thing I needed to see if we had on hand was cranberry jam. We buy different jams all the time, so I was fairly confident! We did have a jar of Christmas jam, which was cranberry with some orange flavor added in, which sounded perfect for these cookies! The only difficult was the original recipe called for “walnut-sized balls” and I honestly don’t have a good reference for that. I just made each cookie weigh 25 grams. 

These cookies were fun to make, but they do take a little time and patience to get them shaped right. I found that shaping the cookies and then flattening slightly on the baking sheet helped maintain their shape when I make the indentation in the cookies. I also don’t list a quantity for the jam. I made about 30 cookies, and each cookie uses about 1/4 teaspoon, so you don’t use a lot. These are the most beautiful ginger cookies with a perfect, and perhaps unexpected, flavor or cranberries. This recipe is not one to miss.

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cranberry Jam
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
100 grams sugar
1 egg
160 grams molasses
420 grams flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cranberry/Christmas jam

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until well combined. Add the egg and molasses and mix until incorporated. It may look slightly lumpy, but it will work once all of the ingredients have been added. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture and stir until the dough comes together.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4 inch dough balls. Round them in your hands and then flatten them slightly. With your thumb or other tool, make an indentation in each cookie, pressing the edges back together if the cookies split slightly. Fill each indentation with a small amount of jam.

Bake for 12 minutes, until set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Polabaker

Almond Frangipane Cookies

I was meeting a friend recently and wanted to bring cookies to share. This isn’t uncommon, but I am still having to balance the heat of our home and my desire to bake. It’s always quite a dilemma! I looked at a couple of recipes, which all required a trip to the grocery store. I kept looking and found these, and since I have a well-stocked pantry, I had all of the ingredients I needed! The original recipe called for sliced almonds, and I had slivered almonds, which are close enough! You use them to top the cookies so that’s flexible.

To save slaving away in a house that was too warm, I made the frangipane one evening and then made and baked the cookies the next morning. Since I wasn’t using the frangipane right away, I stored it in the refrigerator. It made it easier to shape, which was helpful. The cookies are not complex to make, but they are certainly a large cookie, dividing the dough to make twenty cookies. I flattened the cookies slightly and then made the indentation/thumbprint and that was easier to work with. Once I shaped the frangipane, it fit right into the indentations in the cookie.

I have seen these cookies with a couple of different names, some of which don’t seem right, but these cookies are the ultimate almond cookie. They are a crunchy almond cookie with a soft almond frangipane filling, topped with crunchy slivered almonds. These contain a beautiful amount of almond flavor, and I have to say that these have become a favorite!

Almond Frangipane Cookies
42 grams butter, melted
66 grams sugar
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
40 grams ground almonds
42 grams flour
Pinch of salt

219 grams flour
54 grams ground almonds
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
168 grams butter, room temperature
165 grams brown sugar
50 grams sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
Slivered/sliced almonds, for topping
Powdered sugar, for topping

Make the frangipane: in a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and almond extract. Add the ground almonds, flour, and salt, stirring to combine. Set aside (or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed).

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Beat on medium until light. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and almond extract and stir on medium to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Divide the dough into 20 portions. Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten the dough slightly with the palm of your hand. Place 6-8 cookies per baking sheet and using a teaspoon or similar implement, make an indentation in the top of each cookie.

Shape about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of the frangipane into a ball and then flatten it slightly. Place the frangipane into the indentation in top of the dough. Top with a couple of slivered/sliced almonds.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until light golden brown. If needed, once the cookies are removed from the oven, use a small metal spatula to reshape the cookies into neat circles. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Before serving, dust the cookies with powdered sugar.

Recipe from In Bloom Bakery

Leena’s Finnish Slice Cookies

It’s been an emotional time for me at work, as my close friend and colleague is retiring. We have worked together almost since I started at the college, so we have known each other for a long time. I understand that it’s time to retire, and she talks of all the things that she hopes to do now that she’ll have time, but I will still miss her!

Part of her heritage is a connection to Finland, and when I saw these Finnish Slice Cookies, I knew that they would be perfect. It’s not often that you find a Finnish recipe, and this one described Leena making these cookies, which was lovely. Leena would make these and serve them with afternoon coffee, which sounded fantastic.

These are a form of butter cookie but have two uncommon ingredients. The first is vanilla sugar, which isn’t hard to find if you keep your eyes open. You could also use vanilla extract. The other the Tumma Siirappi, which translates to “dark syrup.” It isn’t dark corn syrup, and I couldn’t find this in a store. The recipe said it tasted like a combination of honey, molasses, and Golden Syrup, and I had all of those so that is what I used. You bake these in a log like biscotti and then slice them, but they remain soft since they are only baked once. These cookies are very buttery, and the flavors mingle from day to day. I will miss you Paula, but I hope you have some great adventures!

Leena’s Finnish Slice Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla sugar (or extract)
1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons Tumma Siirappi*
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar on medium until light. Add the egg yolk and Tumma Siirappi and stir to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill about 20 minutes, until easy to handle.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Roll each part into a log about 9” long and 2” wide. Place the logs in the prepared baking sheets, placing three logs per sheet. The cookies spread so make sure they have room.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and reshape if needed. I used a small metal spatula to separate the logs after baking. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Once the cookies are slightly cooled, cut into diagonal slices with a sharp knife. Transfer the cookies slices to a wire rack to cool completely.

*Tumma Siirappi is a dark syrup from Finland. It can also be called Mörk Sirap or Mørk Syrap. You can find this online or in a specialty store. It tastes like a combination of honey, molasses, and Golden Syrup, which is what I used.

Recipe from The Culinary Cellar

Pistachio Cookies

I wanted to do something for St. Patrick’s Day, although having the holiday on the weekend is a little bit different. I’m not one to go to a bar all that much anyway unless they also have great food. My husband and I went out on St. Patrick’s Day to an Irish place once and it was absolutely insane, and we’re not interested in doing that again.

These cookies get their green color (somewhat) from the pistachios, which are tinged green. If you don’t care about the color of the cookies, you can keep them as is, but I did add some green food color to enhance the green. The icing is a parchment color, so I decided to add some green sprinkles to gild the lily even more. Those aren’t necessary but they added some fun.

These cookies are simple to put together, and just need to chill for the shortest amount of time. They are very similar to a Russian teacake/Mexican wedding cookie except for the inclusion of pistachios. The icing is quite different, a browned butter powdered sugar icing that is very flavorful. I liked the icing thinner, so I added more cream than the recipe specifies. These are tasty little cookies, not surprising as Russian teacakes are one of my favorites! I don’t think these are going to last very long!

Pistachio Cookies
130 grams pistachios
1 cup butter, room temperature
90 grams powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
281 grams flour
1-2 drops green food coloring

4 tablespoons butter, cut in pieces
120 grams powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk/cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Place the (shelled) pistachios in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped and you have about 3/4 cup finely chopped pistachios. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract on medium until creamy. Gradually stir in the flour, mixing on low and the stir in the chopped pistachios and food coloring. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill 30-60 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 14 minutes, until just beginning to brown. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, make the icing: in a small saucepan, place the butter. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. The butter will melt and then foam and then will begin to brown and smell nutty. This will take about 5 minutes. Once browned, immediately remove from the heat. Cool 5 minutes and then add the remaining icing ingredients: powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. If too thick, add additional milk, or if too thin add additional powdered sugar.

Dip the cookies in the icing or drizzle onto the cookies. Allow the icing to set before serving the cookies.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes

Candied Ginger Shortbread

I love the ease of slice and bake cookies, and you can do almost anything with this type of cookie. My only limitation is that I don’t like these cookies to have large chunks or nuts or similar things as that can make them impossible to cut. I figured that candied ginger wouldn’t be too difficult to cut, so I made the dough for these to have it ready to go.

I have used many different types of candied or crystallized ginger. Most commonly, I buy it in pieces and then I have to dice it up. Dicing up candied ginger is very difficult, and your knife gets sticky, and it’s just a mess. I took a ginger baking class through King Arthur Flour and they used mini diced ginger and it is just perfect. It’s already chopped, and it is the perfect size for baking. I can’t recommend this enough if you like to bake with ginger.

This dough is so simple and it can be assembled in minutes. Shaping the dough isn’t bad, as I don’t worry too much about the length of the cylinders and just the diameter. It all works out in the end. I was able to slice these cookies and fit them all on two baking sheets. They baked fine, but hardly browned at all. I have not baked items at 275 before, and I wonder if a somewhat warmer oven for less time would be better. I know I don’t want a shortbread to bake at too hot of temperature, but these took a long time!

Candied Ginger Shortbread
1 cup butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1.5 cups flour
½ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup finely chopped candied/crystallized ginger

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Stir in the egg yolk, then gradually add the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the candied ginger with a spatula.

Davide the dough into two halves and shape each half into a cylinder about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the cylinders in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Heat the oven to 275 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough cylinders from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Slice the dough into disks about 13” thick and place on the prepared baking sheets. Reshape the cookies into a round shape if necessary.

Bake for about 30-32 minutes, until barely browned on the bottom. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles

Strawberry Chocolate Thumbprints

I know that it is a little late for Valentine’s Day, but these were the cookies that I wanted to bake. I actually didn’t make them in time for the actual day, but that’s ok. For Valentine’s Day I made sugar cookies and decorated them with colored royal icing. That was a fun activity for my husband and I to do on Valentine’s Day, nice and quiet, and then we got to eat the cookies!

These strawberry and chocolate thumbprints have a beautiful strawberry filling. I had used freeze-dried strawberries for another recipe, so I had those available. You make a ganache with white chocolate, which I had not done before, and it turned out well. The original recipe had you make the cookies first, then make the ganache while the cookies bake. My ganache was easy to make but took several hours to thicken, so I would suggest making that first.

The cookies are quick and simple to make. The biggest challenge is that they crack a bit when you make the thumbprint, but you can simply press the cookie back together. If you flatten the cookies slightly first, the thumbprint is easier to make. After the cookies bake, make the thumbprint indentation again, widening it a bit, so you have more room for filling! These cookies taste great and look just perfect for the holiday.

Strawberry Chocolate Thumbprints
1/2 cup white chocolate
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream, separated
1/3 cup freeze-dried strawberries, ground into 1 tablespoon
Red food coloring

3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Additional sugar
Additional crushed freeze-dried strawberries

Make the strawberry ganache: in a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of powdered freeze-dried strawberries and 1 tablespoon heavy cream to make a paste. Add the paste and the ½ cup heavy cream to a saucepan. Heat over medium heat and whisk until the mixture is hot and it starts to bubble around the edges. Place the white chocolate chips in a medium bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave and pour the hot cream mixture onto the white chips. Allow to stand for a few minutes and then stir with a small spatula until the mixture is smooth. If desired, add a few drops of red food coloring to enhance the color. Allow the ganache to cool and thicken slightly; this may take 1-2 hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the egg yolks and salt and mix on medium. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour and cocoa powder, mixing until the dough comes together.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets. Use your thumb or other implement to make an indentation in the top of each cookie, then enlarge the indent. Seal any cracks that have formed in the dough as the indentation is made.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, reform the indentation as needed when the cookies come out of the oven. Cool completely.

To assemble the cookies: place the ganache in a piping bag and fill the indentation in each cookie with the strawberry ganache. Sprinkle with additional crushed freeze-dried strawberries, if desired. Allow the ganache to set before serving.

Recipe from The Cozy Plum

Cinnamon Divinity Cookies

When I have time, I look through Pinterest to find new recipes to try. I do have many recipes pinned, but then I start thinking about an upcoming season, or some other sort of theme and I end up finding more recipes that I want to try. I suppose it is good to have a wide variety of recipes on hand, as I never know what I’ll be in the mood to bake, or if I will need to find a recipe that calls for ingredients I have on hand. I love pretty much anything with cinnamon, so these grabbed my attention immediately.

I’ll be honest, I am a little confused with how these cookies got their name. There really isn’t anything “divinity” about them. Divinity can be very fussy, and I recall it uses a lot of egg whites. While I can make fudge successfully, divinity is a lot harder. You don’t make sugar syrup for these cookies, and it only uses a single egg. So…I don’t know. The original blogger said she couldn’t have nuts, so she used cinnamon chips instead, and that’s what grabbed me.

For these cookies, you chop the cinnamon chips, which I hadn’t done before. I used my mini food processor, and it worked really well. I was glad I processed half of the chips at a time, as the first chips were almost ground to a powder, but I left the second half in larger pieces. The cookies looked great, and I flattened them with a fork- lust like you would with peanut butter cookies. These cookies spread a little more than I expected, but nothing that 30 minutes in the refrigerator couldn’t handle. I love these cookies with cinnamon chips- no matter how chopped/pulverized they are! These are quick to make and taste divine!

Cinnamon Divinity Cookies
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup cinnamon chips, chopped
Additional sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the vegetable shortening and sugar. Beat on medium until light. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to incorporate. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in the chopped cinnamon chips.

Using a cookie scoop, form about 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball. Roll the dough balls in sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets. Using a fork, press down each cookie in a crisscross pattern.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from The Monday Box

Chocolate Swirl Thumbprints

It was so nice getting back into the swing of things with baking. I found a great cookie that I couldn’t wait to try, they weren’t too tricky to make, they turned out well, and they are super tasty! I edited the recipe ever so slightly, where I used chocolate sprinkles rather than ground coffee. I didn’t want a strong coffee flavor, and I had the chocolate sprinkles already. I used what they called dark chocolate crunch for these cookies.

I had planned to make the dough one night and then bake them the next day, but I wasn’t quite that organized. As a result, I ended up making the dough early one morning, and then baked the cookies when I got home that evening. The dough is fairly soft, even after being in the refrigerator all day, so it likely wouldn’t make much of a difference how long you chill the dough.

My version made just under three dozen cookies, and I honestly have no idea how this recipe would make 48 cookies. They must have been tiny! I will say that the dark chocolate crunch didn’t stick to the dough, but that’s ok. Swirling the half-melted chocolate is a skill, and some cookies looked better than others. These cookies are so good, with a slight hint of coffee from the Kahlua and the lovely sweetness of the Hershey’s hug!

Chocolate Swirl Thumbprints
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon Kahlua (or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles
½ cup sugar
Hershey's hugs (chocolate kisses with stripes)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening and sugar on medium until light. Add the baking powder and salt and stir to combine. Add the egg and Kahlua and mix to incorporate. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, mixing just until the flour is blended into the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a small bowl, stir together the chocolate sprinkles and sugar. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll the dough in the sugar mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set and just barely browned. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven press a Hershey’s hug into the center of each cookie. Allow the cookies to set for 5-10 minutes and then carefully swirl the Hershey’s hug with a knife or the back of a spoon. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Happy Life Blogspot

Italian Cream Cake Cookies

I have been digging through some recipes that I have pinned, and it seems like if I don’t make a recipe soon after I pin it, I forget that it exists and sometimes by the time I go back to check the recipes the links don’t work anymore. This recipe isn’t all that old, but I did pin it a bit ago. I have wanted to make these for a long time, and this week was the right time.

This is a version of a thumbprint cookie, but quite a bit different. This cookie is simple and crumbly, mainly butter, powdered sugar, and flour. You do need to mix them a bit to have the dough come together, but they are affable to shaping. You roll the cookies in chopped pecans and coconut. The dough isn’t super sticky, so you have to work to get that to stick. You’ll have more pecans and coconut than you need, but it’s like frosting: I’d rather have too much than too little.

These are small cookies, but they bake low and slow. They don’t turn golden brown, so you just need to check and see if they are set. You do need to cool the cookies before filling, but that only takes 15 minutes for that to happen. The filling is, again, simple just cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar. I whipped the filling a lot, so it was the consistency I wanted. Piping the filling is the easiest way to finish these cookies, and they are so petite that to spoon in the filling would be nearly impossible. I love these cookies, so crumbly, but simple and beautiful with the cream cheese filling.

Italian Cream Cake Cookies
1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup flaked coconut

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium until light. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour and cornstarch, stirring until the dough comes together. You may need to do the last bit of shaping with your hands.

Place the pecans and coconut in a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and then roll in the pecan/coconut mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Flatten the cookies slightly with the palm of your hand and then make an indentation in each cookie with your thumb or similar tool. Reshape the balls as needed.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until set and barely browned. Allow to cool before making the filling

In a large mixer bowl, bear the cream cheese and butter on medium until combined. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla. If the filling is too stiff, add 1-2 teaspoons of milk to thin. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and pipe the filling into the indentations of the cooled cookies.

Recipe from Something Swanky

Peanut Butter Pinwheel Cookies

I had all of my peanut butter recipes figured out for the month, and then I realized that there are five Fridays in September. Dang! My husband said I was not to worry and found some recipes that I could make. They were all a combination of peanut butter and chocolate, either as a pinwheel or as a marbled cookie. I chose this recipe for peanut butter pinwheels, as it looked really interesting.

The dough for these cookies is super soft, and I was worried how it would work to roll it out into a rectangle. Normally, when I see a recipe that says to roll out dough to a certain dimension, I run the other way, but I wanted to try it. In a way, with the dough being so soft, I did a combination of rolling and shaping with my hands to get the dough into the proper shape.

It’s sticky, so rolling up the dough was not a perfect thing. The original recipe said to refrigerate the dough for 30-45 minutes, but that wasn’t nearly enough time. I kept checking the dough, but I didn’t proceed until the dough was firm, 3-4 hours at least. Some of my cookies were small, and some were quite a bit larger. It doesn’t really matter, as they seemed to bake evenly. I wasn’t sure how the plain semi-sweet chocolate would do as the filling, but it was perfect! These cookies are crisp around the edges and the slight bitterness of the chocolate is perfect paired with peanut butter!

Peanut Butter Pinwheel Cookies
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1-3/4 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the peanut butter, milk, vanilla, and egg and stir on medium to combine. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix on low until the dough comes together. The dough will be soft.

Transfer the dough in between two pieces of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a rectangle, 10” x 17”.
Peel away the top piece of waxed paper.

In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Spread the melted chocolate on the peanut butter dough, spreading almost to the edges. Starting on the long side, roll up the dough into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Slice the dough into ½” slices. Place about 8 cookies on each baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes, until lightly browned along the bottom. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Salad in a Jar

Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies

The Seattle area and the Eastside, where I live, keeps growing and growing. Older complexes are torn down and rebuilt as mixed retail and apartments. While I think it brings a lot of unneeded density, the new complexes often have interesting restaurants and bakeries to explore. My husband and I recently visited one of these rebuilt places and found a very interesting bakery.

One of the items that they had for sell was a peanut butter shortbread cookie. I will admit that it looked like a regular peanut butter cookie, but I was curious how it would be different. We purchased one and when we ate it later it was a peanut butter cookie, but crumbly like shortbread. My husband found a couple of recipes online, and I decided I would give it a try.

The recipe I chose was super simple, and you bake the cookies in a muffin pan. The original recipe contained chocolate chunks, but also gave the option to use something else or leave the mix-ins out completely. My first thought was to use peanut butter chips, to keep it all peanut butter, but I was out of those. I ended up using toffee bits, which is mainly toffee with a tiny bit of chocolate. These cookies bake beautifully, perfectly round, with a slight crumbliness due to the nature of shortbread. These do taste like peanut butter, but it isn’t the strongest flavor. But there is always the option to add more peanut butter!

Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies
¾ cup butter, room temperature
⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
⅔ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
4 ounces mix-ins (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, toffee bits)
Sanding sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 12-cup muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir on medium-low until the mixture is smooth. With the mixer running on low, stir in the flour.  Add whatever mix-ins you are using, folding in with a spatula.  

Divide the dough into the 24 pieces and press in the bottom of the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the cookies with sanding sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden. Allow the cookies to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Run a thin, flat knife around the edges of the cookies to help remove them from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from The Café Sucre Farine

Nanaimo Thumbprint Cookies

A couple of years ago, my husband and I visited the town of Nanaimo, British Columbia, the home of the Nanaimo Bar. It was a lovely little city to visit, and you could get a Nanaimo cheesecake, a Nanaimo martini, Nanaimo fudge, and any number of other tasty treats. I came across this recipe for Nanaimo thumbprint and it is exactly the type of cookie I enjoy making. I get to bake wonderful cookies and I am reminded of places we have visited.

This version is a baked cookie, which is atypical for a Nanaimo Bar, but many items fair better when they are baked. The filling is a little different, and I think I would likely tweak that in the future. The original recipe had you dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, but only covering half the cookie. While my father has excellent candy-making skills, I don’t and that sounded messy. I ended up drizzling melted chocolate over one side of the cookies and that looked perfect.

For me, the quintessential part of a Nanaimo Bar is the use of custard powder in the filling. I’ve seen recipes where it suggests substituting cook and serve pudding for the custard powder, but I always have this on hand and use it frequently. This filling uses just powdered sugar, but next time I would reduce the amount of powdered sugar and add a few tablespoons of custard powder. That would provide that extra flavor that I am looking for. Don’t get me wrong, these are super tasty, but they’d be just a touch more authentic with custard powder!

Nanaimo Thumbprint Cookies
1 cup flour
½ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup shredded coconut
½ cup finely chopped pecans

⅓ cup butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar

1 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing on medium to fully combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the coconut and chopped pecans with a spatula.

Shape the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the balls slightly with the palm of your hand and then make a thumbprint/indentation in the center of each cookie using the end of a wooden spoon or similar implement.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet half way through the baking time. Once the cookies come out of the oven, reshape the thumbprint, ensuring that there is room for the filling.

Make the filling: In a mixer bowl beat the butter, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt on low to combine. Add the powdered sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the filling into a piping bag and pipe the filling into the indentation in each cookie.

Make the chocolate drizzle: in a medium bowl combine the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening. Microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle the chocolate over the left half of each cookie. Allow the chocolate to set before serving.  

Recipe from Redpath Sugar

Irish Cream Thumbprints

I came across this recipe and I was intrigued. I like thumbprint cookies, but I can’t recall how many chocolate ones I have made, and I’m quite certain I haven’t made them with a boozy filling. In reading the original recipe, it didn’t use Irish Cream liqueur, but instead used Irish Cream coffee creamer. I don’t like sweet and coffee, so I certainly never use flavored coffee creamer. It called for such a small amount, so I figured I would just use regular Irish Cream liqueur. Call me a daredevil!

The recipe also called for 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, which is such an unusual amount! I decided to use 1 cup as that was much easier. The dough was slightly dry, so I added an extra egg yolk, and it came together nicely. I shaped the dough and refrigerated it, which is supposed to help the cookies keep their shape. This can be an issue with thumbprint cookies, so I was happy to try that.

These baked up well, and you do need to be careful with chocolate cookies. It’s very easy to over bake the cookies, so I took them out of the oven when they looked almost finished. The still have a little shine to them, but I knew that even if they were under baked, it would be better than a try cookie. The filling comes together quickly, and the Irish Cream liqueur works just as well as coffee creamer!

Irish Cream Thumbprints
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces white chocolate
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Irish Cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again on medium to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso, and salt.

Shape the dough into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or large plate. With your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon, press a well into the center of each ball of dough. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place the chilled cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. When the cookies have been -removed from the oven, reshape the well in the center of each cookie. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

Make the filling: in a small bowl combine the white chocolate and butter. Place the heavy cream in a measuring cup and heat until just at the boiling point. Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate mixture and allow to set for 5 minutes. Once the mixture has sat for 5 minutes, whisk until smooth. Add the Irish Cream and powdered sugar and stir until smooth and creamy.

Fill the well in each cookie with the white chocolate/Irish Cream mixture. Allow to set for an hour before serving.

Recipe from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice

Pink Lemonade Thumbprint Cookies

 

I have come across a couple of different pink lemonade cookies in my searches, but I have to be really careful when I look at the ingredients. So many recipes use a couple of tablespoons of pink lemonade concentrate, which isn’t something that I have on hand, nor do I want to buy it and only use a small portion. This recipe was different, as it used lemon juice, lemon zest, and raspberries. However, these cookies have its own oddity.

The filling for these cookies uses 2 raspberries. How on earth are you supposed to get two raspberries? It’s such a weird quantity, and stores certainly don’t sell anything less than a pint or so. I ended up making this recipe sooner than expected because I bought some prepared mixed fruit, and it had a few raspberries mixed in. It was a nice surprise and I set those aside for these cookies. What else are you going to do?

These cookies, as they are a lemon shortbread, bake for quite a long time. You partially bake them, make and indentation, then finish baking. That’s a different process for me but isn’t difficult unless you accidentally hit the hot baking sheet! I wasn’t too sure that the mashed raspberry would become a nice filling for these thumbprints, but the filling came together beautifully, with a lovely pink color. The cookies have a great lemon flavor, not too sweet. The filling adds a burst of sweetness that can’t be beat.

Pink Lemonade Thumbprint Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 raspberries, crushed
Additional powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ cup powdered sugar, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, ¼ cup powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice on medium until light. With the mixer running on low, add the flour mixture and stir until the dough comes together.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Freeze the dough for 15 minutes.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and make an indentation in the top of each cookie using the end of a wooden spoon or similar tool.

Return the cookies to the oven and bake for an additional 16-18 minutes, until barely browned on the bottom. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack.

While the cookies cool, make the filling. In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and raspberries. Dust the cookies with powdered sugar and then pipe the filling into the center of each cookie. Allow the cookies to set before serving.

Recipe from Inspired by Charm

Simple Jammy Biscuits

We sure have had all sorts of weather here in the Pacific Northwest: rain, snow, some sun, even hail! I think everything keeps adding up: the weather, staying home, not seeing people, etc. I went to a meeting and there was an interesting conversation about what our work would look like after the pandemic, and that’s an interesting question. Some of my work involves people directly, but some of it doesn’t. One thing is for sure: I can’t wait to bake for people again!

There are lots of recipes out there that make small batches, and I have found that British cookbooks/recipes are a good source as most folks in the UK have a smaller oven, which leads to smaller batches. This recipe was in one of the British food magazines that we get, and it was beautifully simply. The cookie is for Red Nose Day, which is in today March 19! Red Nose Day is a fundraiser, primarily in the UK, uses the power of laughter as they base of their fundraising. For information, you can visit https://comicrelief.com.

For these cookies, and jam would work, but I used some tasty huckleberry jam that I got for Christmas. I made the dough in the food processor and it was too crumbly to form into a log, so I mixed in an additional egg yolk, shaped the dough, and then refrigerated it for a bit. The dough is a touch stickier, but it worked. I cut just 12 cookies, and they were quite thick! They spread a lot so next time I will not make them so thick. Like many British recipes, these cookies aren’t too sweet, but the jam adds that extra touch of sweet. They are on the big side, but very tasty none the less!

Simple Jammy Biscuits
200 grams self-rising flour*
100 grams sugar
100 grams butter
1 egg, beaten
4 tablespoons jam

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add the egg and pulse until a stiff dough comes together. Shape the dough into a log, about 2 inches in diameter. Cut into ½ inch slices and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Make a small indentation in the top of each cookie and fill with about a teaspoon of jam. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

*I make my own self-rising flour by combining 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt

Recipe from BBC Easy Cook

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Peanut butter and jelly are such a classic combination! Working from home, I have to say I have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch with some regularity! I bake a lot with peanut butter, and I have made a couple of peanut butter and jelly creations, such as thumbprint cookies and cookie cups. This was my first try in the traditional cookie form, and I was intrigued to make a cookie with a filling of frozen bits of peanut butter.

I didn’t change too much about these cookies, but the original recipe called for peanut butter chips for the dough and additional chips to top the cookies. I thought I had some, but I used them in another recipe, so they are missing here. I don’t really think you need them anyway. In order to make these stuffed cookies, the cookies end up being very large. You could try to make them smaller, but it is hard enough to shape the dough around the fillings as it is. I did halve the recipe and made 7 (really big) cookies.

These cookies are a bit fussy to get formed. Since the jelly is so liquid, it spread a little and it was about impossible to encase it fully. I was worried that the cookies would open up during baking, but they didn’t. They all cracked on the top in different ways, but that was fine. The original recipe said to bake the cookies for 12 minutes, but mine need a lot longer to bake, likely 20 minutes since the cookies are large. I do love peanut butter cookies, but these with the peanut butter and jelly filling are just the best. They are so tasty that I don’t mind that the cookies are enormous!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
1 cup + ¼ cup peanut butter, divided
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup jam or jelly

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

With the ¼ cup peanut butter, make 15 small dollops and place them on a parchment-covered plate. Freeze the peanut butter dollops while you make the dough.

In a mixer bowl, beat the 1 cup peanut butter and the butter on medium until combined. Add the sugar and brown sugar and mix again on medium until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and mix to combine. With the mixer running on low, add gradually add the flour and stir until the dough comes together.
    
Separate the dough into 15 mounds, each about 3 tablespoons. Make a well in each cookie and add a dollop of jelly and a frozen dollop of peanut butter. Form the dough around the peanut butter and jelly, sealing in the fillings as much as possible. Place on the prepared baking sheets. A+s these are large cookies, place a maximum of 8 cookies on each baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cookies are golden around the edges, the tops start to crack, and the cookies are set. If you bake both sheets at the same time, rotate the baking sheets half-way through the baking time. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Cookies and Cups

Chocolate Fluffernutter Cookies

I browse online for cookie recipes fairly often, which is silly as I pretty much ignore the cookbooks that are sitting on the bookshelf! When I am looking, I look for recipes that are classic, but are somehow new or different. If a recipe uses an ingredient that I already have on hand, that’s even better. That is the case with these cookies. A chocolate marshmallow cookie isn’t super innovative but add peanut butter and that is much more interesting. The recipe also called for a small amount of marshmallow fluff, which I had already.

I will say that for a “fluffernutter” cookie, the original recipe for this cookie contained very little peanut butter. I wanted the chocolate and peanut butter flavors to be clear, so I made some changes. Instead of using 12 ounces of chocolate chips, I used half chocolate, and half peanut butter chips. As this didn’t bring out a pronounced peanut butter flavor, I changed the chocolate glaze with a small amount of peanut butter into a purely peanut butter glaze. I figured that this would be obvious.

I did make a full recipe of these cookies, which in the end was about 30 cookies. I refrigerated the dough overnight and I was rock hard the next day. I left it on the counter for a long time and it was still quite cold when I shaped the cookies. I used up the marshmallow fluff I had, and I am glad as that’s the stickiest, most obstinate substance in the world. I found using a hot, clean spoon worked best. And it was still messy. Some of the marshmallow fluff went wild while baking, but these things happen! With the peanut butter glaze, these cookies are the perfect combination of chocolate, marshmallow, and peanut butter.

Chocolate Fluffernutter Cookies
1/2 cup butter
6 ounces chocolate chips
6 ounces peanut butter chips
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ - 2/3 cup marshmallow fluff

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2-3 tablespoons milk

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Stir frequently and remove from the heat once smooth. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

In a large mixer bowl, mix the brown sugar, eggs and vanilla on medium until combined. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture and stir on low to incorporate. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape 1-1/2 tablespoons dough into balls and place on the baking sheet. Flatten the cookies with the palm of your hand. Make an indentation in the top of each cookie and fill the indentation with a small amount of marshmallow fluff, keeping the fluff in the center indentation of the cookie as much as possible.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the cookies are set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, make the glaze: In a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and about 2 tablespoons of milk. Add additional milk if the glaze is too thick to drizzle, or more powdered sugar if it is too thin. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies. 

Recipe from Julie Blanner