Hershey’s Kisses

White Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies

/ Jodi / 47 Comments

White Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies.

Last weekend we went to a Hawaiian Lua Party and Pig Roast.

Hubby “signed me up” to bring a dessert.

I had fun searching for a new cookie creation that could tie into the theme.

I found a recipe at Delightfulemade that included coconut and macadamia nuts that I slightly adapted.

Not only did they suit the theme, they were DELISH!

Not wanting to go to the grocery store, I needed to improvise on white chocolate chips.  I happened to have some White Chocolate Cupcake Hershey’s Kisses left over from something, so I chopped them up for the white chocolate chips.  YUM!!!

Next time I make these, I might try toasting the coconut first to step it up even one more notch.  (Let me know if you make and try toasting the coconut first!)

I know coconut is one of those things people typically LOVE or HATE.

Haters can hate, but lovers…. you’re gonna wanna make!

Here is the recipe:

White Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
  • 2 8-oz. blocks cream cheese, softened
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp coconut extract
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 5 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 – 3 cups chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
  • 2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut
  • 1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:

Cream butter and cream cheese with electric mixer.  Add sugars, and beat until fluffy.  Add eggs, vanilla, and coconut extract mixing until combined.

Add salt and baking soda, followed by flour, mixing until combined.  Add white chocolate, coconut and macadamia nuts to the batter, and mix until incorporated.

Chill dough for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make golfball-sized balls of cookie dough.  Place on baking stone or cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven when beginning to turn golden brown.  Press down on each cookie lightly to flatten.  Cool for 10 minutes on baking stone before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Aloha!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

P.S.  I am nuts about this adorable kitchen sign my DIL made for our McKinneyX2designs shop!  Such a sweet gift for the bakers in your life!

The Ultimate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie & That Something about Baking

/ Jodi / 61 Comments
reeses-peanut-butter-cup-cookies-stack

The Ultimate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie

The Ultimate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie

A few months ago, I recall my youngest son, watching me mix together a batch of cookie dough, asking, “Do you actually enjoy doing that?  Seems like a lot of work!”

I thought about it.

It is a bit tedious.

It makes a mess in the kitchen.

I could be binge-watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix or painting or exercising or reading or so many other things.

But…

There’s something about baking…

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There’s something about using Grandma’s old tin measuring cup and reminiscing about childhood summers.

There’s something about the way the house smells like home when you bake.

There’s something about the smiles you know will emerge when hubby sees stacks of cookies cooling on racks when he comes home or comes in from out of the cold.

There’s something about making goody packages to send home with your kids (even though they are grown and on their own and perfectly capable of making themselves).

There’s something about taking a special treat into the office for a long day of meetings and seeing your co-workers’ faces light up.

There’s something about taking a plate of cookies to the Thursday night gang at John’s Bar and watching your buddy eat one cookie before his dinner and two after.

There’s something about trading a cookie or piece of cake with Cliff the mailman when he delivers a package and handful of mail right to the kitchen door (with a treat always in hand for your furry kid).

There’s something about your kids’ friends saying “You make the BEST cookies Mom M!”

reeses-peanut-butter-cookies-with-coffee-and-book

So you see – baking is more than the chore of mixing butter and sugar and flour.  It’s about creating happiness.

When I read a recent blog post by one of my very favorite blog writers, Pam at Catching My Drift, I knew I HAD to try her cookie recipe.  Pam is not a food blogger, but a storyteller – a GREAT storyteller I might add.  And the story she wove about her persistent and passionate quest to recreate her ultimate cookie painted a picture of the most heavenly bite on earth.  Pam tells the story of  how she loves sitting in the Starbucks snack bar of her local Barnes & Noble noshing on the most amazing Reese’s peanut butter cookie while sipping dark Italian roast and paging through glossy magazines.  You must read about her 35-year quest to recreate this cookie and the surprising place she found the recipe.

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Well, dear Pam, we were certainly not disappointed in this Ultimate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie!  It is indeed the ultimate.  It is a new favorite of hubby’s.  And it will now be a staple in my cookie recipe collection!  They are super crispy on the outside edges and tender and  soft on the inside.  The perfect combination of texture and flavor.

Here is the recipe as shared by Pam (which of course I doubled – because I knew I had to share)!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup margarine (I used butter)
  • 1 cup peanut butter (I used Jiff Creamy)
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Candy or chocolate of your choice to mix in (I used 4-6 Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped, and 1/2 cup chopped Hershey’s Kisses.)
  • Sugar for dipping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat first six ingredients until fluffy.  Add next four ingredients.  Blend well.  Fold in chopped candy.  Shape into 1 1/2 – 2 inch balls.  Roll in sugar.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten with sugared bottom of glass.  Bake 12-15 minutes or until browned on the edges and beginning to crinkle.  Remove from oven, and cool completely on wire cooling rack.  

Enjoy immensely!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Chocolate Sprinkle Cherry Kiss Cookies

/ Jodi / 18 Comments

chocolate sprinkle cherry kiss cookie 5

Chocolate Cookies…  Sprinkles…. Hershey’s Kisses…. How can you go wrong?!?!

chocolate sprinkle cherry kiss cookie 1

Before heading away for a week, I had to make a special sweet treat for the guys.

chocolate sprinkle cherry kiss cookie 2

I had some Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses in the pantry and thought it was time I used them.  PLUS I was dying to eat one or two or ten or twenty.

chocolate sprinkle cherry kiss cookie 4

I found a recipe for a Chocolate Valentine Kiss Cookies on The Kitchen is My Playground that sounded good, but since I didn’t have “Valentine” sprinkles, I just used some fun colorful ones and some chocolate ones.  Tracey’s are really cute with Valentine sprinkles though, so check the out here if you want to see.

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They are really chocolatey fudgy inside, a little crispy on the outside with the sprinkles and just the right amount of creamy chocolate cherry cordial in the center for a bite or two!

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Enjoy!

Chocolate Sprinkle Cherry Kiss Cookies

  • Servings: 25-30 cookies
  • Print

Ingredients chocolate sprinkle cherry kiss cookie 4

  • 1 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 c. cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 8 T. (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 2/3 c. sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 T. milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3/4 to 1 c. assorted  sprinkles
  • 25 to 30 Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses (or your own favorite flavor)

Directions

  1. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside.
  2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla; mix until incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture until just combined.
  3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
  4. Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in sprinkles completely covering the dough ball with sprinkles. Place balls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Gently press down into the center of each ball slightly to make a very small indentation.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes.
  6. After removing cookies from the oven, immediately place a Hershey’s Kiss in the center of each cookie. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, remove to a cooling rack to cool.
Original recipe found at The Kitchen is My Playground – please check out Tracey’s yummy blog.
Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Chocolate Peanut Butter Acorn Cookies

/ Jodi / 15 Comments

I couldn’t resist trying this cute idea for a fun little Thanksgiving treat.

chocolate peanut butter acorns 2Aren’t they so stinking cute?!

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So easy to make…

chocolate peanut butter acornsand even more sweet to eat!

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I simply used chocolate icing in a tube to “glue” Nutter Butter Bites to Hershey’s Kisses and topped with a Nestle Mini Morsel Chocolate Chip.

(I’ve also seen these done with mini Nilla Wafers if you’re not a big peanut butter fan, but I think these are way yummier! 🙂 )

Voila! A fun, easy, and sweet treat!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi