Cookie Progress: Weeks 31 - 35

And the journey continues - a whole blog full of BIRTHDAYS!  I'm getting closer.  I'm enjoying it, but I'm getting to the point where I will be ready for a break.  Thank you for your continued excitement and interest, as that is a major motivating factor for me.

Week 31:
Cookies - Homemade Oreos
Event - Mom's Birthday
Recipe - http://www.mykitchenaddiction.com/2012/02/homemade-oreos/
Review - Mom enjoys Oreos so I thought these would be fun to make for her birthday.  They were fun, I really enjoyed making these and eating them!  I wasn't convinced they would actually turn out as a hard crunchy cookie with a set filling inside.  I thought they surely would turn out more like whoopie pies.  They proved me wrong, they were a harder cookie with a perfect filling.  It was interesting to see these come together.  The cookie was a good cocoa flavor without being too rich and overpowering and the filling was a great balance without being too fluffy and sweet.  Although they weren't quite like Oreos, they were certainly closer to them than whoopie pies.  They were a little tedious to make since you had to roll out the dough and cut them out to bake, then make the filling and assemble.  I also gave a few to my friend Jessica's mom, Chris, who shares a birthday with my mom!


Week 32:
Cookies - Caramel Stuffed Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Event - Barbara's Birthday/my birthday
Recipe - http://thebellevieblog.com/caramel-stuffed-soft-gingerbread-cookies/
Review - A winter cookie as a gingerbread, but with the caramel they were a bit different.  They didn't turn out to look like the picture at all, that seems to be happening a lot lately.  They still tasted good, though.  I liked that these were soft and chewy instead of hard and crunchy like I normally think of gingerbread.  They weren't overpowering on the ginger, but had great spice flavors.  Again, I cheated and used caramel bits instead of unwrapping individual caramels.  They may have melted a little better but it was so much easier this way.  It still took plenty of effort to roll out two balls of dough and roll them around the caramel in the middle.  Since the caramel was in the middle, these tasted best right out of the oven or better in the microwave for a few seconds so it wasn't hard in the middle.  I think everyone really enjoyed these, which is really all that matters.


Week 33:
Cookies - Fairy Bites: Tiny Shortbread Cookies
Event - Cora's 5th Birthday
Recipe - http://pinkpiccadillypastries.blogspot.com/2014/02/fairy-bites.html

Review - These didn't turn out quite like I wanted them to or how they looked on the recipe, but still yummy and fun.  Tate was in town so he got to help me make these.  We both had fun.  The dough was still crumbly for me and never turned into real dough which I was worried about.  You pressed it into a pan and then cut it up to bake.  It was a challenge to get full pieces from the pan to the baking sheet without falling apart, so they were misshapen and a bit crumbly, but actually mostly stuck together.  They were a delicious light shortbread and the sprinkles made it fun.  Even though it was supposed to be crumbly, I think it was meant to stick a little better than mine did.  I triple checked the recipe so I'm not sure what went wrong.  Other than the fact that they didn't come together too well, they were super easy to make.  The best thing was that Cora really didn't care.  She still enjoyed them and was nice enough to share them.    


Week 34:
Cookies - Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
Event - Jessica's Birthday
Recipe - http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/02/24/dark-chocolate-almond-butter-cookies/
Review - Gluten free and delicious with the dark chocolate, these were more winners.  I get the special privilege of always trying a cookie straight from the oven.  In this case in particular it was a real treat to have this hot and fresh with the gooey dark chocolate.  I had never tried almond butter before so that was fun.  The recipe said you could substitute peanut butter but I wanted to try it as it was and try something new.  If I made them again I may use peanut butter just because the almond butter is so darn expensive.  These were easy to make and stayed together better than other gluten free cookies I have made in the past.  I got these mailed quickly so Jess could enjoy them as fresh as possible and she did!  Success!  She had several people offer to help eat them.  I also put up my new kitchen decor from Donald!


Week 35:
Cookies - Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Event - Regina's Birthday
Recipe - http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2013/05/flourless-peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Review - These were delicious and probably some of my favorites I've made.  Regina said it really made her day, so that's the best part of all!  These were the best gluten free cookies I think I've made.  They stuck together so well and were chewy and soft.  Although, if I were giving these to someone with a severe gluten allergy I may be in trouble with the potential for trace amounts of gluten in the oats since I didn't buy specifically gluten free oats.  Thankfully that wasn't the case with these.  They were so easy to make.  The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is always a win in my book.  These were another cookie I was extra lucky to test straight from the oven with the warm and melted chocolate chips.  They weren't quite as beautiful as the picture in the recipe, but still pretty good looking cookies.  They were bite size which is my favorite so you can have just one for a small treat, or a few for an indulgence.

Cookie Progress: Weeks 26 - 30

Week 26:
Cookies - Key Lime White Chocolate Cookies
Event - Lori's Birthday
Recipe - http://deliciousbydre.com/key-lime-white-chocolate-cookies/
Review - This week marked half way through the year!!  These were super easy cookies to make, using a key lime cake mix as a base.  I liked using the cut up white chocolate bar as opposed to white chocolate chips.  If I made these again I think I would try to add in some lime zest and or juice for an added punch of the lime flavor.  It was subtle but tasty in these cookies.  I might even add a couple drops of green food coloring to give it a nicer color.  These turned out a little more crumbly and rounded than the recipe showed, but they were still delicious.  I'm not sure what the difference was with that, but it didn't seem to be a problem with the flavors.  Lori enjoyed them and that's what matters.


Week 27:
Cookies - Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Filling
Event - Pumpkin season/fall
Recipe - http://dreamydesserts.blogspot.com/2008/10/pumpkin-whoopie-pies-with-creamy-cream.html
Review - Okay these are at the top of my list - some of my favorites!  Everyone else seemed to fall in love with these as well.  It made so many cookies so I shared with my neighbor and several friends besides my family.  Talk about some time consuming effort, though!  Not only was there a filling, but the cookies also required piping the dough out to bake them.  I was actually tired after finishing these.  They had such a wonderful balance of pumpkin spice flavors and the filling was the most delicious cream cheese frosting I've made.  I will certainly cut the recipe in half next time to save some time.  These were even gorgeous, which is always an added bonus in my opinion.  I will add these to my list of recipes to hold on to, but only for special occassions due to the effort; I like easy!


Week 28:
Cookies -Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
Event - Fall, for Godparents and co-workers
Recipe - http://www.houseofhepworths.com/2010/10/15/pumpkin-cookies-w-cream-cheese-icing/

Review - These were tasty and everyone enjoyed scarfing them down.  My coworkers were happy to get some of my cookies and my godparents were pleased to receive a special treat as well.  It made a LOT of cookies.  I even halved the recipe and it was still plenty.  I enjoyed the little bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top of these cookies.  With the pumpkin cookies the dough is fairly sticky, so although I did use a cookie scoop, they don't turn out quite as perfectly round.  I suppose adding the icing helps the pretty factor some.  It was probably a bad idea to make these the week after the amazing pumpkin cookies in week 27.  These almost felt like a let down when they were still soft and pillowy deliciousness.



Week 29:
Cookies - Soft Frosted Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Event - Thanksgiving
Recipe - http://www.thebakerchick.com/2015/10/soft-frosted-pumpkin-spice-cookies/
Review - By the time I made these I was a little tired of pumpkin, but since it was Thanksgiving it felt like it was right.  My cookies didn't turn out quite as flat and pretty as the recipe showed, but flattening that sticky dough didn't work too well for me so I just went with it.  I did like all the spices in this one, it was quite flavorful.  I was also tired of having to frost all these cookies.  That is an added step that I don't like having to do!  It does add to the overall cookie and is an important step with these pumpkin cookies.


Week 30:
Cookies - Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodles
Event - Carly's birthday
Recipe - http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/brown-butter-salted-caramel-snickerdoodles/#comment-234141
Review - These were heaven.  I was so excited about making these.  I snooped around Carly's Pinterest to find a type of cookie to make her when I saw that she had pinned one of the recipes in my list!!  So that was it.  Even better, the blog is two peas and their pod, which reminded that we used to say we were like two peas in a pod because we are such great friends.  :)  So, I cheated on the recipe a little.  I am a fan of simplifying things were possible.  The recipe called for caramels, unwrapped and cut up.  I bought a bag of caramel melts instead to save me the time and effort.  An unwrapped and cut caramel may melt a little gooier in the cookie, but this was just as tasty and much easier.  It was still a process to brown the butter and roll up the caramel in the cookies.  I thought you could really taste the browned butter and it might be my favorite new discovery in this process - so delicious.  The sea salt on top gave it a nice balance as well.