Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

One of my all-time favorite cookies. Chewy with the crunch of the M&M's, makes it one great cookie!

• 2 cups flour (¼ cup flour added for higher altitude)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temp
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 cups M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter, mixing until smooth, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and milk and mix on low until completely combined. Slowly add the flour, salt and baking soda. Fold in the M&M's. Drop the cookie dough by rounded Tablespoons on cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden around the edges. Let cool on wire rack.
Makes about 3 dozen.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Tiramisu

This dessert is a lot like a tiramisu, but instead of layers of ladyfingers there are delicious chocolate chip cookies. And in between those layers of chocolate chip cookies? A creamy mascarpone mocha mousse. And it's perfect for these hot steamy days when you don't want to turn the oven on.

• 2 cups cold heavy cream
• 12oz container mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 24oz chocolate chip cookies

Using the whisk attachment of your mixer, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until the mixture forms firm peaks.  To assemble the dessert: arrange cookies in a 9x13 dish fitting as many as you can. Spread half of the mixture onto pan. Place another layer of cookies and then the remaining mousse. Top with sprinkles, cocoa powder or chocolate shavings. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight (the longer you refrigerate the better it will taste!).
Serves 12-16 people.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies

My little family and I recently relocated to Colorado.

Moving is the worst. Seriously. I never need to do it again. But the biggest thing that made it worth it? The kitchen.

Oh and the views. The views are amazing.

(That's 2 apples and a cherry tree in the backyard AND to the right we have some amazing views of Mesa Verde!)

And the little fox that comes to visit our backyard at the same time every night. Or the deer that make their way through our backyard. Or the fact that the cool crisp mountains are just a 10 minute drive away. I could go on and on.

The first thing I did (with the help of my MIL) when we moved in was put together the kitchen. Today I was itching to make (and eat!) some cookies. I'm calling these the "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" cookies since I just threw in a bunch of bags of leftovers I had in the pantry. You could easily sub or leave out whatever add-ins you like. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 ½ cups flour (¼ cup added for higher altitude)
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sweet add-ins (I used a mixture of dark chocolate, semi-sweet and butterscotch chips. Others you could try: milk chocolate chips, raisins, dried fruit, toffee bits, caramel bits, M&M's, etc...)
• 1 cup nuts (I used toasted pecans, again, you could use whatever nuts you prefer, or leave them out)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In your food processor, pulse the oats until semi-fine. Set aside. In your stand up mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until well blended. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, eggs and lemon juice. Mix well. Slowly add the oats, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Fold in the nuts and sweet add-ins. Scoop out onto cookie sheets and bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Yields: 50 cookies (using a medium cookie scoop).

Maple Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

It may sound gross, but trust me, it's not. I like the little sweet and salty along with the crunch the bacon brings to these delicious cinnamon rolls. And if you're just not that into bacon, then just leave it out, or sub out pecans. They'll still taste amazing. I baked these beauties in muffin cups to sell them at the farmer's market during the summer, more portable and easier to package. However, I do prefer to bake them all together in a dish when I bake them just for my family, I like them to be gooey and soft and when you bake them in cupcake liners, they aren't quite as chewy or soft. But still delicious! Enjoy! :o)

Ingredients:

• For the cinnamon rolls:
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 3 to 3 ½ cups flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast (I usually use active dry)
• 1 egg
• Bacon filling:
• ½ pound of bacon cooked and crumbled
• 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• Maple Icing:
• 2 lb bag of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons maple extract
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
• ¼ cup brewed coffee
• pinch of salt

To make the cinnamon rolls: add the 1 cup of milk to the melted butter and heat in a microwave safe container for 1 to 1 ½ minutes in the microwave. Stir and check temp. If it's lukewarm then add your yeast. If it's still piping hot then let cool until it feels lukewarm. After you stir in the yeast let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. In your stand up mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix 3 cups of flour, sugar and the salt, whisk with a fork and then slowly add your milk/butter/yeast mixture. Add the egg and beat with dough hook on medium speed, adding more flour as needed (¼ cup at a time). When the dough begins to pull away from the bowl and form a ball, turn the speed up and beat a little longer, about 5 more minutes. Remove from bowl to a greased bowl, turning dough once to get it greased on both sides. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

To make the filling: while the dough is rising, cut up your maple bacon and fry it until crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain off grease. Soften or melt your butter, set aside. Mix your ½ cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon (more or less to taste) together and set aside.

To make your icing: mix ALL of the icing ingredients together and blend well. If icing seems too runny, add more powdered sugar. If icing seems too thick, add more milk and/or coffee. It should be pourable and spreadable, but hold up to spreading on hot cinnamon rolls. This icing recipe makes a lot of icing, I usually freeze the extra icing for the next time I make these delicious rolls!

Assembling the rolls: once the cinnamon roll dough has doubled in size, punch down and lay out on a floured surface. Roll it out into a large rectangle (about 14x9). Spread out your butter evenly over the entire surface, then sprinkle your cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the butter, then the cooked and cooled maple bacon. Starting with the longer side begin tightly rolling up the dough, pinching in the ends to seal it up. Cut the rolls into about ¾ inch to 1 inch thick slices and place in a greased pan or cupcake liners. This recipe will make about 24 cinnamon rolls so you might need several pans. Cover with a dishtowel and let sit for about 20-25 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and back for 12-16 minutes, or until cinnamon rolls start to turn golden around the edges. Pour icing on hot cinnamon rolls and eat while warm.

Freezer Directions: After you have cut up the cinnamon rolls into slices, place them into a freezer container (I usually put them in a 9" round aluminum throw-away pan and then put the pan into a gallon size freezer bag and label the bag with instructions). Freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, remove pan from freezer, let come to room temperature, and have grown a little in size, about 1-2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Then bake as mentioned above.

Yields: 20-24 cinnamon rolls.