Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup candy cane powder*
1/4 cup whole milk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375* F.

Line dark baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper, set aside.

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

With the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cream the butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, then vanilla until thoroughly combined. Then add in candy cane powder.
Add in approximately 1/3 of flour mixture to cream mixture, and slowly combine. Add in 1/2 of the milk, and slowly combine. Repeat. Then add the last 1/3 of flour, and mix until just barely incorporated.

Scoop dough into one inch balls, I used a tablespoon-sized scoop, and place onto cookie sheet, approximately 2 inches apart. The cookies will spread.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until edges are slightly golden brown. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet. Then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

*It took approximately 14 mini-candy canes.. I just threw them into a food processor and pulsed them until it was mostly powder, there were still some slightly larger chunks of candy cane-those are good!

M&M Cookie Bars

adapted from Fantastic Family Favorites

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 12oz bag M&M's, divided

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position.
Spray a 9X13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk one at a time. Next, add in vanilla and mix until combined.

Gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined; do not overmix. Remove from mixer.

Fold in 1 cup of M&M's and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Sprinkle remaining M&M's on top and press in slightly.

Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Once cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Spiced Frosting

INGREDIENTS

1 box spice cake mix
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
1 can vanilla frosting
Pumpkin Pie Spice

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Combine the cake mix and pumpkin purée.

Evenly fill cupcake tins. The batter was definitely on the thick side, so I used a cookie scoop.

Bake until cake springs back when touched.
Remove from oven, and cupcake tin.
Allow to cool on a wire rack before frosting.

For these mini-cupcakes it took approximately 10-11 minutes,

For larger cupcakes increase cooking time to about 20 minutes.

While cupcakes are in the oven, take out the can of vanilla frosting, and mix in pumpkin pie spice until frosting is spiced to your liking. I think we added about a tablespoon.

These are SO easy, and my niece and nephew LOVED helping me do this. It was definitely a really kid friendly recipe. It's also batter that I can let them eat without worrying about them getting sick!

Rocky Road Cookies

adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup Mallow Bits
3/4 cup chopped almonds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.

With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Next, add in vanilla extract. Mix until blended.

Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix until flour disappears. Stir in chocolate chips, Mallow Bits, and chopped almonds. Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies for 8 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges, but still soft in the center. Don't over bake. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Éclair Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
1-8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
3 cups milk
1-8 ounce container Cool Whip
Chocolate Syrup

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400*F.
Lightly grease a baker's half sheet pan. Set aside.
Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom evenly.
Bake for 18-23 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool.
Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl to smooth out any lumps. Slowly add milk to cream cheese until smooth. Add pudding mix and beat until smooth. The mixture will thicken right up.
Pour onto crust, refrigerate until pudding is set.
Top with Cool Whip and drizzle with chocolate syrup. Then serve to family and friends.

Rolo Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1 1/4 cups mini-chocolate chips

Bag of Rolo Candy, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt.

Cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. Add vanilla.

Slowly add in dry ingredients, then mix in pecans and mini-chocolate chips.

Take one tablespoon of cookie dough, and wrap around one Rolo candy.

Make sure that the entire Rolo is covered with dough.

Place on cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from cookie sheet, and place on cooling rack.

Serve warm, so that the caramel will still be hot and gooey.

Coffee Cake Muffins

adapted from Alexandra's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup pecans

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened (+ 1 tbsp)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup sour cream

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.

Process nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon in food processor until nuts are size of sesame seeds, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl.

Return bowl and metal blade to food processor, add flour, granulated sugar, and salt and process until combined. Sprinkle the 1 stick of butter evenly over flour mixture and process until butter is oat-sized, about eight 1-second pulses.

Remove 1 cup of flour-butter mixture and stir with fork into reserved pecan/brown sugar mixture until combined to make streusel.

Set aside 3/4 cup of the streusel for muffin batter and save the remaining portion for topping muffins.

Note: At this point I added an additional tablespoon of butter to the streusel for topping the muffins.

Transfer remaining flour mixture, and 3/4 cup streusel to a large bowl. Mix until combined, then make a well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, and gently stir until combined.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with streusel, pressing lightly so that streusel sinks slightly into batter.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with several crumbs clinging to it, about 22 minutes.

Cool muffin tin on wire rack for 2 minutes. Using tip of paring knife, loosen muffins and gently transfer from tin to wire rack; cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.