Birthday Alien Cupcakes

I'm going to keep today's post short and sweet, because to be honest, I didn't actually make these cupcakes. But I had to share them with you, because they're amazing.

On a side note....I'm pretty sure that's Lisa Frank confetti that I found. Which is awesome.

Yes, that is a Toy Story alien cupcake. My awesome baby sister made them for my birthday today!! I'm so stoked! Yeah, I'm an adult another year older....but my sister knows the way to my heart is through Disney treats (well, Disney anything, really).

I can't wait to share these with my friends and family tonight!! Wait....do I HAVE to share?? ;)

Crockpot Pear and Cherry Cobbler

I hate cooking. There, I said it. Baking is one thing, but cooking? Cooking has the potential to send my OCD into overdrive. Here's the dealio: baking is sort of like a formula. If you don't do certain steps in a certain order, or if you don't put the right amount of certain ingredients in, you can completely ruin your baking. With cooking, you can just throw whatever you want together, and as long as it's cooked and it tastes good, you can call it a meal. No recipe or order required. It drives me BONKERS. I don't do well just wingin' it.

One thing cooking DOES have going for it is the crockpot. Coming from someone who is ALWAYS hungry, there is nothing worse than having to take the time to prepare dinner when you're already STARVING. That's why I looove using our crockpot- just throw everything in the pot in the morning and it'll be ready by dinner time! And who would guess that it also makes some mean desserts!

I know it's not much to look at (it's scooped out of a crock pot, whaddaya expect?), however it more than makes up for that in taste. This is something our lovely next door neighbor Yolanda brought over to a Christmas party one year, and it was a HUGE hit. I HAD to get the recipe from her, stat! So here it is for you guys:

Crockpot Pear and Cherry Cobbler

1 large can cherry pie filling
2 cans diced pears in juice
1 cap of almond extract
1 box yellow cake mix
1 pkg brown sugar instant oatmeal
1 stick butter- sliced

Spray crockpot with butter cooking spray. Add ingredients in order listed, placing butter slices over the dry mix. Place paper towels on top, close lid. 
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Um, YEAH. It's THAT easy! Easy and delicious?? SOLD. GAWD...I love my crockpot and the easy-peasy goodness it produces. =)

Malted Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I'm a chocolate girl through-and-through. When I'm craving something sweet, it's one of two things: peach ring candies or something chocolate. The chocolate cravings I get from my mom without a doubt. Or perhaps it's simply a girl thing? Either way, if you're a chocolate lover, making these cupcakes is a must. I bring you, the delicious malted chocolate chip cupcakes:

And if you're thinking, "YUM" you are absolutely right. They are most certainly yum. I've gotta say, while the chocolate chip cupcake is pretty tasty, it's honestly the frosting that really makes it. Whole lotta yum going on right there. I found the recipe in a book titled "cupcakes". I crap you not. Straight and to the point- I like it. Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski. I should add: this recipe makes 6 jumbo cupcakes....yikes. I instead got 12 regular cupcakes out of this recipe.


Jumbo Malted Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

1 2/3 C. All-purpose flour
2/3 C. malted milk powder
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 whole milk
6 tsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (although honestly....regular chocolate chips will be fine.)

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, malted milk powder, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the chopped chocolate. 


Chocolate Malt Buttercream

3 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 C. Sugar
Pinch of salt
1 C unsalted butter, room temp
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder 
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/4 C malted milk powder
1/4 C milk

In a large heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch, about 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks, about 6 minutes.
With the mixture on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes more. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa powder into the melted and slightly cooled semisweet chocolate. Whisk the malted milk powder into the milk until dissolved. Add chocolate mixture and milk mixture to the base and beat until combined. Use right away.


Chocolate lovers BEWARE: these are QUITE addicting. You have been warned. ;)

Easter Tulips

Happy Easter everyone!!

I've gotta be honest, Easter is just an ok holiday for me. I mean, I'm all down for the egg hunts, the big dinner, and don't even get me started on the chocolate bunnies (like the whopping two-pounder my sis and I were eyeballing at Target the other day). But let's be honest- Easter is no Christmas. Or Thanksgiving. At least to me. I think my favorite part of Easter is the spring-y goodies I have the excuse to make. Like my chick cake pops last year. Or these tulip cookies.

Yep, nothin' too fancy. ALTHOUGH, can we agree that 20-second icing is like the best icing ever?? I'm in freakin' LOVE. Yes, I know, I'm lazy. But seriously, if you decorate cookies and you HAVEN'T tried using 20-second icing, go over to Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. You'll be glad you did. For something simple like these, it made decorating so much easier and faster. Nothing against the outline-flood method, but I imagine I'll be using this a lot more often now.

So these beauties are what will be gracing my table for Easter tonight. What beautiful dessert will be on YOUR table tonight?

Happy chocolate bunny day Easter! 

I DID tell you...I'm in it for the chocolate bunnies. ;)

Happy Birthday Mom!

I'll keep this short and sweet, because while all you normal people are getting up to greet the morning, I just got off work and am totally ready to hit the sack. Every year, I ask my family members what treats they want for their birthday. Usually it's the run of the mill cupcakes, cake, or cookies. But this year when I asked my mom, she requested a Boston Cream Pie, something totally new. She's been wanting one FOREVER, so without further ado, I present to you: Mom's Birthday Boston Cream Pie!!!

Boston Cream Pie

3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C. granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 C. cake flour

Filling
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C. milk
6 large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Glaze 
1/2 C. granulated sugar
3 Tbl light corn syrup
2 Tbl water
4 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Beat together egg yolks and vanilla at medium speed until blended. Beat in half of sugar until very thick and pale. Using clean, dry beaters, beat together egg whites and salt at medium speed until very soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining sugar until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold yolk mixture into egg whites. Sift flour over mixture; fold in gently. Pour batter into greased 9-inch cake pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. 

While cake cools, prepare filling. In a saucepan, mix together sugar and flour. Gradually whisk in milk, then egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Press plastic wrap on surface and chill for 30 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut cake in half. Spread evenly with filling. Top with remaining cake layer. 

To prepare glaze, in a saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup, and water to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand for 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Gradually pour glaze over cake, allowing it to drip down sides and let stand until the glaze sets. 

I found this simple recipe in our Great American Home Baking cookbook. As you might be able to tell from the picture, my chocolate "glaze" wasn't quite "glaze"-y. It still tasted good though. All that matters right? I can't wait to dig into this tonight, because today  is my mom's birthday! Woo! Let us eat pie!...er....cake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Brush Embroidery Butterflies

*Sigh*...Ok...I'm back. I've been having SERIOUS issues adjusting from vacation mode to reality mode. I know, it's been a month, but I have had SERIOUS vacation brain, where I don't want to do ANYTHING. But I'm back. And it's about time, because I've got a pile of goodies that I have to share with you guys. 

So I've been DYING to use this brush embroidery technique that I've been seeing everywhere. I mean, talk about fancy, those brush embroidery flowers are just straight up elegant. So I wanted to test the technique on some butterflies. I mean, I've only seen it on flowers, but why not? It's just brushing the icing with a paint brush. Sounds easy enough. And one of our awesome daycare moms, Krista, had a birthday coming up. Two birds, one stone. 

This was the end result. They didn't turn out bad, but they didn't turn out how I expected them to. And I'm not sure what I was doing wrong...Hmm... I'll have to give this technique another try sometime to get it down. Along with these cookies, Krista got this awesome card my mom made to match it. Check it out- see the resemblance? Coordinated card-goodie gifts are the coolest!

Stay tuned- I have lots more to share with you! In the less-than-a-month near future. =)

These are a Few of my Favorite Things- Disneyland!

Hey Guys!

For my first installment of TFFT, I feel it's appropriate to talk about my favorite place, and the Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland!! And why is it appropriate, you ask? Because as you're reading this post, I just so happen to be on my way down to Disneyland! Huzzah!

My taller-than-me baby sister and I our last trip.

Growing up, I was one of those Disney kids: always watching a Disney movie, always a Disney princess for Halloween, Disney EVERYTHING. I was like this until... well, come to think of it, I guess I never really grew out of being a Disney kid. :) So considering we were one of "those" Disney families, we've been to Disneyland er, a few times. It helps that it's only a short 8 hour drive. Happiest place on earth is TOTALLY worth it.

My dad and I tried on aviator caps in DCA. Adventure is out there!

We've also been to Disney WORLD in Orlando. That was way back when, when I was like...12. I think another trip there is in order. And Harry Potter Land. OBV.

So, I'll spare you guys a gruelingly long post and keep it short instead. Because believe me, if I don't keep it short, we'll be here for days.  So, how about it? Any other die-hard Disneyland fans out there? Bakers with a secondary Disney obsession? Or perhaps the other way around?

Valentine's Day Treats!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!! I'll keep this post short and sweet, because I know you all are spending time with your sweeties right now. I made a couple treats for this Hallmark holiday (If you couldn't tell...I honestly think Valentine's Day is stupid). The first treats were for everyone, and...they weren't exactly what I had planned. Actually, my final product wasn't even Plan B, it was more like Plan C or D. Looks like Plan A is going to have to wait til next year. BUT. I did like how they turned out. I made mini cookies, iced them white, then used my favorite food color spray technique. All I gotta say is...thank god my mom is a scrapbooker and has random heart punches lying around. 

As my mom so kindly pointed out (AFTER I had finished spraying all of my cookies, mind you)...the ones that have the two hearts on them as opposed to three....look like...bras. Oops. What started out as innocent lacy heart cookies turned out to be Rated R  boobie cookies. Look at the red one in the back. I apologize if they offend...Bwahaha!

Next up are my Golden Oreo truffles I made for the daycare kids. Every year my mom throws them a little Valentine's party, where they get special treats and they give each other little Valentine's cards that they picked out themselves. The whole thing is actually really cute. Anyway, these were super simple. Take a box of Golden Oreos, mix with 3/4 brick of cream cheese, add some red food coloring, dip in chocolate and BOOM! Easy Valentine's treats.

That's all for now- told you I'd keep it short and sweet!!

Everybody have a fantastic Valentine's Day/Singles Awareness Day!! ;)

Lemon-palooza Trilogy Episode III

The time has come, my friends. The end is upon us. For my lemony desserts, that is. This is the final installment of lemon-palooza. I'm not gonna lie, I more or less heaved a sigh of relief when I finished off the lemons with this recipe. I loved every one of these recipes I tried, but man...I could really use some chocolate. Although this last recipe hit the spot because it had another one of my favorite foods: cream cheese. Mmm...I love just about anything with cream cheese. And with that, I bring you: Lemon cream cheese pie!!

I found the recipe here at a site called Midwest Living, and it was the perfect one to finish off the last of my lemons. I tried making my pie shells with butter instead of the shortening that the recipe calls for, but I'm not sure it turned out right. It's been so long since I've made a pie shell from scratch, so as we were eating it, we all asked, "Is this right? Is it SUPPOSED to be sort of...chewy?" Yeah, I think I did something wrong. It was hard to cut into, but then took on a different consistency when we were eating it. Next time I'll try a different pie shell recipe from the one given with the pie recipe.

The recipe makes TWO pies, so you can make one for yourself and share one! I made one for us, and brought the other to Jill, so she could try something made from her lemons (The other lemon goodies didn't last long enough to make it to her house. Heh heh) .

Or, you know....you can just eat both pies. I wouldn't judge you. :)

These are a Few of my Favorite Things- An Intro

AKA: The blog post I've been meaning to do for a few months. What a loser.

I've gotta say, I love my blog. I love sharing the goodies I make both literally and virtually. I love that people actually get to see my stuff from all over. And I love you, the readers. But I have to admit, sometimes I do kick myself over the fact that I made a blog for such a limited topic. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE baking. As I write this, I'm itching to bake something, as it's been about a week. However, sometimes I wish I made a more generalized blog. Unless I'm mistaken, those of you who follow me are here for the treats. It's not like I can just hop on my blog and talk about the Disneyland trip I'm counting down to (13 Days!!), share my dismay about how much Glee is starting to suck, or share my 10-year work in progress craft project (There's a good explanation for this, I swear). This is Lovin' from the Oven. It seems inappropriate to talk about Dance Moms.

So, after a long time coming and a long internal battle on the subject, I decided to make this new feature. These are a Few of my Favorite Things. You know, just so you guys can get to know me better, and I can get to know you guys better. Just every once in a while, nothing excessive.

What do you guys think? I'll be launching my first edition of TFFT soon- leave me some feedback on what you think!

New additions to my addiction

So, I've mentioned that my baking stuff is taking over my house. Total exaggeration, but seriously? I have TONS of it. And every year it gets a little bit worse. It's freaking Christmas's fault, man. Every year, when I get asked that dreaded question ("What do you want for Christmas??") I totally freeze up. I usually just shrug and giggle and turn to the person next to me and start talking about something else. Don't put me on the spot like this! I can't handle the pressure! *Ahem* Even though I HAVE had all year to think about it... I just don't want for anything. My old standby has turned into baking stuff these past few years. Uh, HELLO! Cupcake wrappers are the PERFECT stocking stuffer!! That being said, I wanted to share with you guys some of the awesome baking stuff I got Christmas of 2012. AKA, more crap that's taking up space in my room/closet/baking cupboard. Jeez.

1. You don't even know how hard it was for me to wait for this book! This is the lovely Bridget of Bake at 350's book, and it's certainly a must-have for any cookie decorator out there! This book came out in October of last year, and it was so annoying forcing myself to wait until Christmas. Bridget was my inspiration to start decorating cookies (and still is my inspiration), so one way or another I was GETTING. THIS. BOOK. 

2. Mickey Mouse cookie cutters! We're huge Disney fans at our house, so these are a perfect addition to my cutter addition! I may have to make these for our trip in a couple weeks!

3. This rainbow whisk is the coolest whisk. EVER. I mean, it's just rainbow silicon, but I love rainbow colors! Actually, any bright colors in general...I'm easily amused. Broc got me this whisk for Christmas as a bit of an inside joke. We like to watch Feast of Fiction on YouTube. Anyone seen it? If you're a fiction fan (I think it appeals to my nerdy side, honestly), then you'll love this YouTube channel. I mean, they make mushroom stew from Minecraft. So. Much. Awesome. Anyway, they usually use this rainbow whisk, and I've always loved that. Now I've got my own!

4. These nesting dolls are absolutely freaking adorable!! What you see here aren't just your run of the mill nesting dolls...although I wouldn't complain if they were. I heart nesting dolls. These are in fact measuring cups!! Gaaahhh, so cute! My friend Shannon got them for me (along with numbers 1 and 2), and I LOVE using them!! 

Look at all this! So much cuteness for one kitchen. I'm on cuteness overload here. :D

Super Mega Delicious Ginormous MONSTER Lemon Cookies

Well, technically, the recipe calls them "Lemon sugar cookies with lemon buttercream frosting." Well, I mean, it's to the point, but I like my name for them better. Because let me tell you two things about these cookies:

1) As I said in my title, they are delicious. And not just plain ol' delicious, but SUPER MEGA DELICIOUS.

2) These cookies are ginormous MONSTERS. I'm not even exaggerating on this one. You wanna know how many cookies this recipe yields? Twelve. Freakin' twelve. These suckers are HUGE. I think if I made these again, I'd make them slightly smaller. That way I can also get more out of them. I mean, I love me some giant frisbee-sized cookies, but come on. These are like a freakin' small meal apiece. I need limits.

So needless to say, this is part 2 of my lemon-palooza trilogy (If you missed part 1, you can find it here) that my neighbor Jill made possible by bringing over 3 bags of lemons. Uh, what are we going to do with three whole bags of lemons? Damn right, we're making goodies with them. What else? This is a recipe that my dad actually got from a co-worker who brought these to work. My dad raved about them until I agreed to make them. His idea of subtle hinting is printing out the recipe a few days after we got the lemons. Real subtle, dad... =) You can find the recipe here. I have to admit, although the recipe calls for cake flour, I used AP flour and it turned out just fine. I know there's a difference between the two, but... *shrug* I don't own cake flour, and I'm lazy, what can I say.

I just realized that looks like an orange back there. It's a lemon I promise.

All I can say about these are YUM. Just...YUM. Seriously though, these come out super soft, like the cookies you buy at the store (which we LOVE at my house). If you love those and you love lemon, you'll just absolutely DIE when you try these. 

Stay tuned folks! I've got new stuff coming up soon, along with the final part of my lemon-palooza trilogy!! :D 

Strike that, reverse it.

Stop. Halt. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. REWIND.

Do you ever have those *facepalm* moments? When you all of a sudden realize, "Holy crap. I forgot to do _______. I should've done this months ago!!" Well, this happened to me recently. Actually...this happens to me all the time. Not even exaggerating. All. The. Time. I am SO forgetful, and often scatterbrained. And it's getting worse as time goes by. Lost my phone? Better check the pantry. Keys? Check the bathroom. And you can just FORGET about asking me to do ANYTHING. I mean, unless you physically see me write it down to remember later, you can pretty much assume I won't remember it down the road. Something as simple as, "Go outside and get a loaf of bread out of the freezer." One step into the garage, and I have no clue what the heck I'm doing out there. I AM good at remembering birthdays though. That counts for something, right? Right?

Anyway, while going through some old daycare pictures from last summer, I came across some pictures of a tea party we held for our girls. That was when it happened. *FACEPALM* "I made cookies for this!!" And lo and behold, there it was. A picture of the teapot cookies I made. So without even FURTHER delay, here's my teapot cookies!!

I promise you, I'm usually pretty good at remembering blog-related stuff. This is a first. I have NO idea how that happened. I'm just a ditz, I guess. I swear, if I weren't twenty-something years old, I would think I'm going senile.

The next post will be current, I promise! Well....I hope so.  =/

When life hands you lemons...

You make lemonade. Or so they say. And I say when your bonus grandma, or the sweetest long-time neighbor you could ever ask for, hands you three GIANT bags of lemons, you say eff the lemonade, I'm makin' something friggin' delicious with these bad boys. So I present to you: friggin' delicious lemon bars. OH YEAH. I found the recipe here.

I must admit, these are a lot of effort. I mean...I hadn't made a lemon curd since my baking/cooking classes. We're talking 2009 here, people! And while these are a lot of work, compared to what I usually make (easy peasy is my mantra, after all), they were TOTALLY worth it. I mean...GAWD. I've never really been a huge lemon fan, but these may just have converted me into a HUGE fan. And my favorite part? Besides the lemony, curdy goodness? THE CRUST. It tastes like a shortbread cookie, and I could nom on it all. Day. Long. 

I'm asking you, no, I'm begging you: if you're a lemon dessert fan, hell, even if you're not a lemon dessert fan, make these. Please? And make sure you send me some? ;)

Birthday Pandas!!

I'm what most people would call easily amused. How so, you ask? I'm that person. You know the one. The one who is the first to laugh at jokes. I laugh at little things that others don't find funny. Facial expressions that I find amusing, certain tones, awkward moments... I just like to laugh and have such a dry sense of humor. Which is why I love goodies that have cute faces. When I make goodies like my Cookie Monster cupcakes, chick cake pops, or even my jack-o-lantern cookies, I can't help but giggle because well....they just look like adorable little armies of cuteness!!! Gah, so cute! So it comes as so surprise that when I saw Bakerella's panda mini cupcakes, I knew I'd have to recreate these little guys. I mean, come on. They just REEK of cuteness. REEK of it. So of course I had to recreate them for my little sister's 16th birthday. I used a box of cake mix for the cupcakes (end of the semester=laziness), but I did use Bakerella's recipe for easy buttercream frosting, which you can find here. Ok seriously guys, who knew simple buttercream could TOTALLY hit the spot?? Buttercream I've made in the past was purely for decorating class purposes...and we were required to use Crisco/lard instead of butter for some reason. And that didn't even compare in taste to butter. I don't...I can't...Seriously?? HOW did I not even put together that butter=better buttercream. BUTTER IS KING. Ok, maybe it's queen. We all know BACON is the real ruler in foodie land. Anyway! Cupcakes! Here's mine!

Bwahaha! I can't even help myself, they're just funny to look at. And they tasted GOOD (Butter in buttercream. My new mantra). And that poor panda with the candle...doesn't even know what hit him. Just look at his face, poor guy.

And finally, I just have to show off my little spokesmodels!! They're just perfect! These are my daycare girls and they just LOVED these cupcakes! Look at them working those cupcakes! Thanks for being the cutest advertisement I've ever had, girls!!

It's that time of year again...

You know, the time of the year which is second best to Christmas. You know what time that is? No, not Valentine's Day, that's towards the bottom of the list. It's....GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME!! Woo hoo!! In honor of cookie season fast approaching, I made something I've been meaning to make since last cookie season. Serious slacker status over here. I've literally had a box of cookies that I bought last year just hanging out in my freezer waiting to be used for this very purpose. Whoops. Anyway, I finally got around to making these Thin Mint Truffles I found over at Cookin' Cowgirl, here are the instructions. They are SUPER easy.

I mean, come on guys. These have THREE ingredients: Thin Mint cookies, cream cheese, and melting chocolates. If you're a Thin Mint lover, or lover of the chocolate/mint combination like I am (I'd be pretty much addicted to my favorite candy, Junior Mints if I could), this is a MUST TRY. Needless to say, you know what Girl Scout cookies I'll be ordering this year!! Well, I mean, in addition to Samoas. Those are my absolute favorite! How about you? What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

On a small, unrelated side note- today is my 6 year anniversary with my awesome boyfriend, Broc! Time to celebrate with yummy food- here's to 6 wonderful years and many, many more to come! =D

My favorite Christmas tradition

Generally speaking, I hate winter time. I'm a California girl at heart- I love the sunshine and absolutely HATE the cold. The only good thing about winter is that it contains my favorite holiday. That's right folks, I'm talking about Christmas...still. You know the best thing about Christmas for me? The family traditions. I love them. From getting Starbucks before walking this HUGE court to look at the lights, to my parents giving my sister and I pajamas every Christmas Eve, and making my grandma's cheeseball recipe and sharing it with our loved ones (HUGE hit. You all would love it). Even getting up at ridiculous times to open presents with my parents (this year my sister and I got up at the ungodly hour of 3 am). I love them all. But you know my favorite tradition? Every Christmas Eve, my sister and I bake Christmas cookies with my dad. It's a tradition my dad started several years ago, and it's one of the things I look forward to most when December rolls around. And we don't just make a single batch of sugar cookies. Oh no. We make a day of it, and bake loads and LOADS of cookies. That being said, better prepare yourself now for a loaded post. You've been warned.

This year we made chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, and my favorite, oatmeal scotches!! So let's get started with the recipes already. First up, Chocolate chip!

These are seriously so good. Nice and chewy, not too soft, and not too crunchy. We use the same recipe every year, it's from...well it's from a cookie cook book. I honestly couldn't tell you what cookbook it is because it is OLD and ratty, and the cover is missing. Seriously people, this cookie cookbook is VERY well loved. We usually double the recipe, but I'll give you the original recipe. Y'all may not want crap-tons of cookies like we do.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C margarine or butter, softened
1/2 C shortening
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375° F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, sugar, margarine and shortening until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° F for 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

Next up is my dad's personal favorite: snickerdoodles!

These are great; soft with just the right amount of spice. We use my mom's recipe, which usually makes about 5 dozen.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 C soft shortening
1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 C flour
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 400° F. Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs together. Blend all dry ingredients together and stir into egg mixture. Roll dough into small balls. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon together; roll dough balls into mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

And finally, my favorite. Seriously, I hate oatmeal. Hate it. Like...it's the devil. But these oatmeal scotchies?? Delish.  Maybe its the butterscotch chips. Butterscotch is one of those amazing things that is sort of underrated, am I right?

So here's the recipe we used, from the back of the butterscotch chips. I suggest you go out now to get some so you can make these!

Oatmeal Scotchies

1 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 C butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 C oats, uncooked
1 12oz. package (2 Cups) butterscotch flavored morsels

Preheat oven to 375° F. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract until creamy. gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and butterscotch pieces. Spread the mixture into a greased cookie sheet and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown. 

The recipe says it's supposed to yield 4 dozen bars...but as you can see, we made ours ginormous, so....needless to say, we didn't get that many out of it. I love making all of these cookies every year; you should give some of these a try sometime! You can probably see why this is my favorite holiday tradition. =)

That wraps up my holiday catch-up posts, lets move on to normal treats!!!