This year I decided that I needed to spend the better part of a week up to my elbows in sugar, sprinkles and flour as a way to shower our family with Christmas cookies. Needless to say, I’m hoping everyone will love their trays of assorted sweet treats that were painstakingly made with love which included three different kinds of cookies, truffles AND fudge. Most of the baking was me by myself (hence no cute pictures of children with aprons and floured noses), but it was really nice to home make some tasty new recipes and some trusty old ones. I’ve been on a crazy paleo kick for the last few months, for those of you who follow me on Instagram, so it was fun to bust out some paleo no-no’s! I’m really excited to have all this crazy sugar temptation out of the house, though!

I thought it would be nice to share the recipes I used,

so here you go! 

Ashley’s Chocolate Chip Cookies 

I’ll admit, I originally found this on the back of a brown sugar box about 12 years ago – but I swear, it’s the best homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world. In fact, it’s so requested in our house that I’ve got it memorized! 

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup softened butter (I like to use unsalted)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I like to use dark)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (or dark chocolate if you’re the dangerous type, bahaha!)
• 2 eggs (I add this last because I like to eat raw cookie dough … so take a bite pre-eggs to avoid getting sick, then add the eggs!)

Directions:

Mix all together, drop by spoonful and bake for 8-ish minutes at 350*.

Homemade Oreos

So the first time I ever had these, my friend Nat made them for Wish Retreat back in 2012. And yeah, they were pretty much devoured within 4 minutes by the ladies and they’ve become a favorite around our house. I used to bake them for clients when I did in-person ordering sessions in Colorado, and everyone always asked for the recipe. Here you go, guys! 

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Devil’s Food Cake mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 can of vanilla cake mix

Directions:

Mix everything but the frosting together in a bowl. It’s going to be super thick! Roll into 1/2″ balls and bake for 8-9 minutes at 350*. Allow to cool completely. Then slather on some of the frosting between two cookies, and make a happiness sandwich. You can be extra festive and add some food coloring to make the middle part a fun color, or have it plain white. 🙂

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These were something that Randy’s mom introduced to me our first Christmas together. Now that Randy’s mom has passed on, I like to make sure I have these available every year for Randy. I like to use THIS RECIPE from Betty Crocker. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar (plus a little extra for rolling the balls in)
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter 
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Bag of Hershey’s kisses (Randy’s mom used milk chocolate, but I prefer dark chocolate)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375*. In a large bowl, mix the sugars and butters and eggs. Slowly add in the flour and the baking powder and baking soda. Shape the dough into 1″ balls, and then roll in the extra bit of white sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are brown, and immediately after taking them out of the oven, press a kiss into the center. Don’t burn them because burnt peanut butter cookies are gross (and you the smell is even worse).

Salted Caramel Mocha Fudge

When I was a kid, I remember one Christmas that one of my grandma’s friends gave my brother and I this tin of homemade fudge. The tin was in the shape of a San Francisco trolly car, and I remember it just tasting like heaven (in a trolly tin). I had completely forgotten about that delicious gift until I was perusing Pinterest and came across this recipe from Shugary Sweets. Randy helped out with this recipe – I think he was as excited to try it as I was (I mean hell-ooo, chocolate AND coffee mixed together? Yes, please!). Copied this recipe over here for y’all, it’s soooo good!! Beware though: they’re addicting.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tbs espresso powder (I couldn’t find any, so I substituted with 2 tbs of instant coffee and it still tasted like happiness)
• 25 marshmallows, regular size
• 11-1/2 ounces milk chocolate chips, 1 package
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 package
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 11 oz bag caramel bits, or about 2 cups caramels
• 2 tbs heavy cream
• 1 tbs kosher salt

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, vanilla, butter and espresso powder.
• Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly.
• Once boiling, keep at a rolling boil for two full minutes (still stirring).
• In a large bowl, combine marshmallows and chocolate.
• Pour hot mixture over these ingredients and blend until smooth. Beat with your hand or with a nifty mixer for about 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.
• While this is mixing, place your caramel and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Set aside.
• Pour the creamy fudge mixture into a parchment paper lined 15inch x 10inch x 1inch baking sheet. Drizzle with hot caramel, using a knife to swirl it into the fudge.
• Sprinkle immediately with kosher salt (or coarse sea salt).
• Refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight.

Oreo Truffles

I’ll admit – I saved the best for last. These are my closet addiction – there’s a reason I only make these once every other blue moon: they are ridiculously tasty and end up disappearing like magic. We first tasted these a few years ago while we were living in Japan, my friend Kari made them for our Christmas party and I’ve been slightly obsessed ever since. In fact, I’m snack on one right this minute. 

Ingredients:

• 1 package regular Oreos
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 2 big white chocolate baking bars (I use Ghiradelli)
• Sprinkles or extra cookie crumbles, whatever your heart fancies

Directions:

Use a food processor to blend up the Oreo’s into a find powder. Mix in the cream cheese. Roll into bite sized balls and set on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets and put into the fridge for an hour or two to harden. Melt the white chocolate and dip the balls into them and set them back on the parchment papers. Sprinkle with your topping of choice (or leave them plain). Allow to harden in the fridge for a couple of hours.

And finally …

And for those of you who missed this morning’s preview on Instagram, our Elf on the Shelf Skippy brought everyone matching Christmas elf pajamas this year. And they’re totally awesome!

We hope everyone has an absolutely magical and joyful Christmas with their loved ones. Love, peace and cookies to all!

xoxo,

Ashley