Jamie’s Pistachio Cranberry Cookies with Orange Glaze

 

My good friend Jamie made these for our family and we were hooked! They are fun to make around Christmas time because of the red and green colors in the cookies, but they are really tasty all year round!

Jamie’s Pistachio Cranberry Cookies with Orange Glaze

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

¾ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 ¼ cups flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¾ cup pistachios, chopped

¾ cup craisins, chopped

 

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tablespoon butter, melted

4 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon orange zest

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl mix flour, baking soda, and salt together, then set aside. In mixer beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla together until well blended. Add flour mixture to wet mixture about 1/3 of a cup at a time until all the flour has been incorporated. Add pistachios and craisins to the dough and mix just until it is incorporated through the dough. Put dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Use a cookie scoop about the size of a tablespoon to put dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool. Make the glaze by whisking the glaze ingredients together until smooth. Put glaze in a Ziplock bag and cut one of the corners to form a piping bag and then pipe the glaze over the cookies.

Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 package lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon extract or 2 to 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar for decoration

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, and lemon extract or juice until well blended. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into a bowl of confectioner's sugar. Roll them around until they're lightly covered. Once sugared, put them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes. The bottoms will be light brown and the insides chewy.

Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

Recipe from Sweet Pea's Kitchen
Yield: 3 dozen  Prep Time: 15 minutes  Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (3.4 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and pudding; set aside. In a mixer beat butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla extract and honey and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, beat to combine. Add chocolate chips, Reese's Pieces and peanut butter chips and mix until incorporated.
Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a 1 1/2 inch ball between your palms and then place it on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the balls about 2 inches apart (you should be able to fit 12 cookies on each sheet). Using your palm, gently flatten the dough balls until they are about 3/4 inch thick. Bake 10 minutes.

Heather's Sugar Cookies

I got this recipe from my friend Heather Hales who is a very talented baker.  These cookies are soft and stay puffy after they are baked.

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2c butter
1c sugar
2 eggs + 1 yolk
1t vanilla
1/2t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
add 1/2t salt
3/4c sour cream
3c flour (add 1/2c more, or more to get consistency right)

Instructions:

Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and slowly add to wet mixture.  Adding more flour as needed.  Refrigerate if your dough is too soft to roll and shape.  Roll out to 1/4″-1/2" thick and usecookie cutters.  Bake for 8min at 425f.  Cool on wire rack before frosting.

For Frosting:
1/4c butter at room temperature.
1t vanilla
1/8c heavy whipping cream (more or less to right consistency)
3c  Powdered Sugar

Beat butter and vanilla until smooth.  Add 1cup of powdered sugar at a time- be sure to beat it really well.  After 2 cups of sugar add the whipping cream.  Continue adding powdered sugar/whipping cream until the desired texture is reached.

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is my go-to for cookies.  I have made it many times with different add-ins and they always turn out fantastic!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from http://picky-palate.com/2010/05/10/xxl-mm-chocolate-chip-cookies/

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup sugar

1 Cup packed light brown sugar

2 extra large eggs

2 Tablespoons pure vanilla

3 3/4 Cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

12 oz bag milk chocolate chips

6 ounces (half a bag) white chocolate chips

6 ounces (half a bag) semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

One third (1/3) of a bag of heath toffee bits (optional but a good substitute if you do not want the nuts)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until well beaten.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl; mix together lightly with a fork.  Slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips and nuts or toffee bits (if you are adding them).

2. Prepare baking sheet by putting some parchment paper on top of each sheet. Scoop dough with a half-tablespoon scoop (see picture below).  Put the scooped dough into your hands and roll into a neat ball, then flatten the ball a little and place on baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Bake for 9-12 minutes, until edges just start to turn golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.  

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen 2 inch cookies. *Note:  If you are making them in a muffin-top pan like the original recipe from Picky-Palate calls for use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the dough and then pack the dough into the muffin-top pan.  This makes about 18 muffin-top pan size cookies.*

picture credit here