Photo & Recipe Courtesy of FoodNetwork.com
One of my favorite things about this time of the year is baking cookies. I love baking cookies to give away to friends and family. There was one year when money was so tight that the only gift we gave to friends and family was cookie trays. (I made 18 different types of cookies that year!) To me, sometimes homemade gifts like this are treasured more than gifts you buy and wrap. Typically, what I do is bake lots of cookies over one or two days. I then freeze them until we get closer to Christmas. I then thaw all the cookies and make cookie trays to give away once the week of Christmas is upon us.
Every day between now and Christmas Eve, I will post 25 Days of Christmas Cookies. I would love your help! If you have a favorite cookie/bar to make this time of year, I would love for you to email me a picture of the finished product as well as a step by step recipe for it. I will then post your recipe and thousands of Addicted to Saving readers will get the chance to try out your recipe! Email me at addictedtosaving at hotmail dot com (all one word).
Day 3 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookes: Monster Cookies
I discovered this recipe about 3 years ago when I was watching Paula Deen on the Food Network. This is an awesome recipe that appeals to everyone’s different taste buds. The only difference I make is that I do not add raisins (my husband detests them) and instead I substitute white chocolate chips for them. This is a really easy recipe that I usually whip up with my Kitchenaid mixer.
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins, optional
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.
2) In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3) Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.
Christmas Cookies Recap:
Day 1 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookies Recipe: Peanut Butter Blossoms
Day 2 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipe: Rainbow Cookies
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
I bought the stuff to make this when saltines were bogo w/coupons, I can’t believe it’s not butter sticks were (not free for me) really cheap, and I got the bags of chips bogo w/coupons. This is a really easy recipe that has a sweet/salty and crunchy/creamy thing going on. My husband calls them crack crackers because they are so addicting, lol. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what they’re name is!
6 oz. peanut butter chips
6 oz. chocolate chips
2 sticks butter or margarine (butter will burn easier!)
1 c. sugar
Saltine crackers
Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil. (If you don’t do this you won’t get them out of the pan) Line foil with Saltine crackers. Melt butter; add sugar and boil for 3 minutes. (If you don’t boil it long enough the bottom layer will be sticky.) Pour mixture over Saltines and bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Mix the peanut butter and chocolate chips together and pour on Saltines after it comes out of the oven. (They will melt right on the crackers and you can spread the mixture.) Refrigerate until cooled and enjoy.
I also have a really simple recipe using a cookie press for a cookie that isn’t very sweet but we make them look like Christmas trees and sprinkle colored sugar sprinkles on as the “ornaments”. Everyone always loves these and it’s a recipe dating back from before my mom’s childhood…..to long ago to think about, lol.
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup of margarine
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of almond flavoring
Food coloring as needed (we only use green for our Christmas trees)
Combine all ingredients, dough will be fairly stiff/firm. We use a cookie press/gun to form Christmas tree shapes, http://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-Clear-Cookie-Press/dp/B00004T136. (I hope the web address works…I’m so technology challenged.) Load your dough in, do not grease the cookie sheet or the cookies won’t stick well and you’ll get frustrated, lol. Decorate your trees with sprinkles.
Bake at 400 degrees approximately 7 minutes or until ever so slightly browned around the edges.
P.S.
You can find a picture of the christmas tree cookies by typing in “pictures of christmas tree cookies using a cookie press” in googles search engine but I don’t have one myself and I don’t know about all that giving credit to people, etc. :/ Sorry!
For the other cookie you can find a variety of pictures by typing in Saltine cracker cookie pictures into google. The recipe I use doesn’t have anything on top, just nice yummy chocolate! But, I guess you could use anything you wanted!