Brown Sugar Shortbreads

This year I'm trying to get in the holiday spirit early and take full advantage of Christmas. It's the first time in 8 years that I'm going to be around to enjoy it!

This morning I felt like baking something "Christmas-y". Dan suggested Shortbread cookies, so I searched for a good recipe and settled on this super easy one from Midnight Baker. There were only THREE ingredients —all of which I had on hand.

What you'll need:
1 cup of salted butter, softened
1/2 golden brown sugar
2 1/4 cups AP flour

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

To soften the butter, pop it in the microwave for 35 seconds, then beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl for ~3 minutes until it looks creamy. Gradually mix in the flour. I did this by adding 1/2 cup at a time and beating on low after each addition. After all of the flour was added, I continued to beat the mixture for 5 minutes until a soft ball of dough had formed.

Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper and roll into a 11 x 8 inch rectangle. The dough should be about 1/3" thick. Cut the dough into 1 x 2" pieces and prick each piece 2-3 times with a fork. Place the parchment paper onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms begin to get lightly brown. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack until completely cool. Enjoy :)

Raw Almond Butter

There is one thing that I love more than peanut butter and it is almond butter. Unfortunately, it's super expensive. I paid nearly 10 dollars for a tiny jar over the weekend!! I decided that it was time to start making my own, so I went out to the store and bought 4 cups of almonds (only 8 dollars).

What you'll need:

2 cups of almonds (or as many as you like)

Gradually add almonds to a food processor or blender. Process for 8-12 minutes, scrapping down the sides as you go. At first, the almonds will be a powder-like texture, but over time, they will turn into a smooth butter-like texture. Be patient. If you need to, add a little bit of oil to loosen the almonds up. I've also read a few blogs that suggest various add ins, such as honey, sea salt, cocoa powder, vanilla, etc. 

Two cups of almonds makes approximately one mason jar of almond butter. Enjoy!

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

After supper, Dan and I were craving something sweet and our left-over Halloween candy wasn't quite "hitting the spot", so I decided to whip up a batch of peanut butter cookies. I hadn't tried this recipe before, but I was very pleased with it. I adapted it from Everyday Home Cook. We only had natural peanut butter and I added in some milk chocolate chips :)


What you'll need:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup crunchy natural peanut butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and peanut butter, then add the two sugars and beat until fluffy. Add the egg, milk, vanilla, and mix together until the mixture is nice and smooth. Now, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until everything is well blended. If you're using chocolate chips or any other add in, stir them in now. I did half of my cookies with chocolate chips and half without. Other great add-ins would be reese pieces candy or chopped reese pieces cups. Yum.

Form dough into ~1-inch balls, roll in white sugar, and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies may not look done, but they are; this is how you make sure they stay soft and chewy. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.