Who loves snickerdoodles? Me!!! And when I’m in a pinch, breakfast becomes cookies. I’ve been adding as many nutritional factors as possible so I feel less guilty when those days do happen. Ahem.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

• 1 cup butter, room temperature soft
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin (or butternut squash) puree
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

There are some people who don’t think that oatmeal belongs in cookies. I on the other hand, think they make the cookies. This recipe makes almost 4 dozen GIANT cookies, so consider yourself warned. I used dark chocolate chips and mini m&ms because that’s what I had in the cupboard, but you could use any combination of mix-ins you like. Nuts. Chocolate: white, dark, semi-sweet. Heck, you could even make a mixture of dried fruit and chocolate.

I love this recipe because I added Nutella and used both smooth and creamy peanut butters. So the cookie is crispy around the edges, but the center is chewy. They pack well and the batter stores very nicely until you’re ready to use it.

Nutella Monster Cookies

• 1 stick soft butter
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
•  3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups mix-ins: chocolate, candy, dried fruit, nuts

I have a beautiful cookie jar, but I don’t usually keep anything in it until Christmas comes along. Actually, I have a different cookie jar for Christmas cookies so… I guess I don’t use it. But then, I don’t often make cookies these days. They’re too easy to eat mindlessly.  At least if I bake a cake I have to put forth effort to go get a plate and a fork and hide while I eat it. Yes. I have to hide while I eat cake.  If I don’t, I won’t get any of the cake due to my children’s sudden and intense interest in anything sweet I eat. Occupational hazard, I suppose.

All that said, I may just have to keep this cookie on hand. I never tried butterscotch chips before and they were on sale one day while I was wandering the bulk food store so I bought a bag. Why not, right?  I love how filling this cookie is and the kids gobble them right down, so at least they get plenty of fiber from it too. You can always swap the wheat germ for flour if you don’t have it: the texture and taste of the cookie isn’t impacted at all. I leave it in because in the event that this cookie is a hasty breakfast, I have much less regret.

Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup. butterscotch chips

Which I wasn’t, but these cookies make me think of Elf, The Santa Claus, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer… all those fun Christmas movies that are playing every 3 hours on tv these days. We got rid of our cable so I bought Elf because I found that I missed seeing it all the time.  There’s just something about a fun Christmas movie while it snows!  (Of course, we only had snow for a few hours yesterday, but I was hopeful while it lasted.)  We only get a few channels over the airwaves and I found myself watching The Santa Claus 3 last night while I folded laundry.  Matt was drinking a homemade mocha so I tell you, I was feeling very Christmas-y.   This is the last of my Christmas cookie baking for the year.  I’ll be baking a maple cream tart for Christmas with my family and probably call the dessert making done for the year.

Chocolate Chunkers, Peppermint Mocha Swirl Cookies, & Choco-Mint Crunch Cookies

I finished up wrapping the gifts today and finally have room cleared on my craft table to work on the gifts for each of the kids.  Flannel sheets for Liam and shoes for Sylvia.  Thankfully, I have them already cut out and ready to be put together.  I hope to be done before Christmas Eve.  Otherwise, I might actually turn into my mother!  She made us flannel pjs every year for Christmas and there were many Christmas Eve days when she was finishing hems or sewing on buttons.  Next year, I’ll start my projects in September!

Choco-Mint Crunch Cookies

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. white sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 c. chocolate chips
• 3/4 c. Andes Peppermint Baking chips

This year, I tried my hand at rolled icebox cookies.  It was not the success I had hoped for, but it wasn’t so awful that I won’t try again.  This recipe and the 1940s slice and bakes were the best experience with this type of a cookie.   I liked that this recipe yielded dough that was easy to work with and held up well in the fridge.  I made the dough one day, 2 days later sliced and baked half of it and still another 3 or so more days later finished the cookies.   The flavors are subtle and perfect to accompany a cup of coffee.

Peppermint Mocha Swirls, snuggled in my neighborhood cookie boxes.

Peppermint Mocha Swirl Cookies

• 3 cups purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
• 2 oz. Dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

He doesn’t ask much of me when I start baking in December.  Mainly for chocolate.  And lots of it.  But in the last few years, he’s taken to requesting Rum with that chocolate.  Once, when we were first married and I baked an easy 10 dozen cookies in a weekend, I made Rum Balls.  It was funny sounding and he loves the flavor of rum, so I tried it.  He loved it.  Now, I use it as leverage to get things accomplished.  Him designing the site and a new header and helping me set things up?  Oh yes, the cost was Rum Balls.  

They are not unlike a truffle, being that they are rich and chocolatey, but he claims they are manlier since they have rum and not champagne or wine.  Whatever makes him happy, right?  This is a simple recipe and makes 2 dozen large balls.  Be warned, however, that this not a recipe to make prior to a visit with a teetotaler.  Your hands and your house are going to smell like Jack Sparrow’s breath for a few hours.  

Rum Balls

• 8 oz. dark chocolate
• 1 stick of butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Dark Rum
• 1 tsp. vanilla

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup AP flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda.
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Cream together the butter, sugar and egg.  When they are fully incorporated, mix in the remaining ingredients.  Dump the dough out onto a piece of wax paper and form into a roll about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap in the wax paper and chill in the fridge until firm.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Slice the cookie log into 1/8-1/4th inch rounds.  Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet (they don’t spread, so you can place them fairly close together) and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.