Crafting A Sweet Treat

This Saturday, we are hosting a “Crafternoon” with some of our girlfriends. Of course, there has to be wine and and there must be CHOCOLATE! We decided to get our craft on early and create Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups that resemble cute little mugs filled hot cocoa. Our cookie mugs are filled with either chocolate butter cream or cookie butter and topped with mini marshmallow bits. Wine, chocolate, and an afternoon with friends. Holy Craft! What a perfect Saturday!

• 1 batch of Sister Sweetly’s favorite cookie dough

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 12 mini pretzels
• 1 cup Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Make 1 batch of cookie dough.

• Roll cookie dough balls in granulated sugar before putting them into the mini muffin tins to help prevent
• Put 1 tablespoon of the cookie dough into 24 greased mini muffin tins

• Bake for 12-14 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow the cookies to cool completely in the pan before gently removing them.
• Make the chocolate buttercream.
• Break off the loops on some mini pretzels to use as handles.
• Melt the white chocolate and use it to attach the pretzel handles to the cookie cups.
• Spoon the chocolate buttercream into the half of the cookie cups and top with mini marshmallows.

• Spoon cookie butter into the other half of the cookie cups and top with mini marshmallows.
• For best results, store the hot chocolate cookie cups in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Buttercream

• 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup Butter flavored Crisco
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder, sifted
• 8 oz dark chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4-6 Tablespoons almond milk

INSTRUCTIONS

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the butter, shortening and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5-6 minutes). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Turn the mixer to low, and gradually add half of the sugar and the cocoa and beat on low speed until just combined. Pour in the cooled melted chocolate and vanilla and mix on medium-low speed until combined.

Gradually add remaining powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add almond milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach a smooth and creamy consistency.

Increase mixer speed to medium-high and whip until light and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.

*recipe inspired by The Gunny Sack

Sweet Snowfall Snack

Happy Snow Day! It’s January after all, so we might as well embrace it. If you haven’t played in the snow for awhile then you may have forgotten the toll it takes on the bod. Not on the kids, by any means, but they will get it in 30 years! However, everyone can attest to the hunger one feels after an afternoon spent frolicking in the white stuff. Better have something on hand to feed all of the ravenous vultures! How about giving our Loaded Oatmeal Cookie Butter Dump Cake a try? It only takes a few ingredients (extra chocolate candies can be added to change it up :)) and can be made ahead too! It’s the perfect way to refuel before heading back outside!

Ingredients

1 container (14 oz) cookie butter 

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

3 egg whites

1 pouch (17.5 oz) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

3/4 cup salted butter, melted

1 cup Rolos, unwrapped

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray 9 x 13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
• Add cookie butter, sweetened condensed milk, and egg whites to mixing bowl. Stir well to combine. Spread mixture into prepared baking dish.
• Sprinkle dry cookie mix evenly over cookie butter batter. Drizzle the top evenly with melted butter.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and set.
• Sprinkle Rolos over the top.
• 1 cup mini M&Ms
• Cool for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Sweets Galore

We hope your holidays have been super sweet and sugar filled. Ours sure have been. As we approach the end of our winter break we’ve decided to ride our sugar high to the very end. For Christmas, we were graciously gifted Trader Joe’s Toffee Oat, Cinnadoodle, and Triple Chocolate Cookie Mixes…the perfect things to make this final Saturday before reality sits in and life goes back to a somewhat normal yet typically hectic routine. Might as well embrace the sweetness of the season while it’s still here. Thanks Trader Joe’s for making baking so easy. And yummy, of course!

Trader Joe’s Cookie Mix Trio

A Sweet Slice Is Nice

In our opinion, it takes two ingredients to make a Friendsgiving feel really special – wonderful friends, of course, and tasty treats. This year we whipped up our favorite pumpkin poke cake substituting caramel sauce for sweetened condensed milk and a new fave – a semi-homemade Brownie Pie with Cookie Butter Glaze. It doesn’t get any simpler. It’s as easy as PIE! Happy Thanksgiving!

• 1 (9-inch) pie shell (store-bought)
• 1 (23-ounce) box dark chocolate brownie mix, plus ingredients on the back of the box
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Combine brownie mix, oil, water, and egg white and beat until smooth.

3. Pour mixture into shell. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is puffed and brown. Cool.

7. Frost with cookie butter drizzle. Easy as PIE!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup smooth cookie butter
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted, divided
• 3 tablespoons almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, beat peanut butter with electric mixture until fluffy
2. Gradually beat in 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, almond milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth and incorporated. You want the glaze to be drizzling consistency so add a bit more confectioners’ sugar and almond milk if it is too thick. A little at a time.
3. Pour immediately on brownie pie.

Regifting Sweetly

When our friend gifted us a bag of Temple Coffee beans we knew just what to do. First, say thank you (always). Second, drink massive amounts savoring every sip (yum). Third, grind the beans to a fine powder and bake up the best ever Coffee Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies (double yum)! Fourth, bake extras to share with our coffee gifting friend (coming your way soon @richard_breininger)! Do yourself a flavor 😉 and order a bag of Temple Coffee Beans today!

Ingredients

3/4 cup Crisco Butter Sticks

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons almond milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 large egg white

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup dark chocolate chips

2 teaspoons of Temple Coffee beans ground to a fine powder

Directions

HEAT oven to 350.

COMBINE shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg white. Combine flour, salt, coffee, and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in dark chocolate chips.

DROP by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

Sweet Sweep

Leftover Halloween candy getting the best of you? Try this tip: eliminate it in one sweet sweep. Our Halloween Candy Cookie Butter Scotcheroos will alleviate the NEED to constantly dip your hand in the Halloween bucket! Bonus tip: share them with others and the candy will vanish before your eyes! Guaranteed!

ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup creamy cookie butter
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 cups rice krispies cereal
• 11.5 ounces butterscotch chips 1 bag
• 11.5 ounces dark chocolate chips 1 bag
• 2 cups Leftover Halloween candy, unwrapped

instructions

1. Before cooking, cover a 9 in pan with parchment paper (leaving a overhang so you can remove easily later).
2. In a large saucepan, cook sugar, cookie butter, and corn syrup on medium heat until mixture begins to boil (stirring constantly). Once it begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Quickly add in rice krispies cereal and stir until evenly coated.
3. Pour mixture into prepared pan and use the back of a spatula to firmly press down the mixture along all sides of the pan until smooth. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile in a glass bowl, melt dark chocolate chips and butterscotch chips together in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Once melted, pour over rice krispy bars and use a spatula to cover all the edges.
5. Top with leftover Halloween candy and refrigerate entire pan to allow the chocolate to set.
6. Once set, carefully lift the bars out of the pan using the foil overhang and gently peel back parchment from the sides. Cut bars with a sharp knife and store in airtight container.

*recipe inspired by Design Eat Repeat

Home Sweet Home

Company coming? We have the perfect breakfast/snack to greet your guests and make them feel right at home. We can’t totally take all of the credit for it because Trader Joe’s is at it again. The Trader Joe’s Maple Pecan Baking Mix is yet another item to stock up on this fall. Go ahead and take some of the praise for it – you took the time and care to bake it!