Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Yay! It’s almost Christmas! It’s starting to really feel like the holidays as Matt and I geared up yesterday for the 10 hour jaunt across country from Philly to Indiana. I was a very spoiled passenger and was able to take a few naps and watch a few movies along the way. I used to hate car trips but thanks to technology it isn’t nearly as bad. We broke up our trip with some of our favorite high school jams and I impressed my husband with my endless knowledge of lyrics. It was a great trip and it feels great to be home for a few days between the madness of constant studying.

Anyhow, we were invited to our neighbors for dinner and I was asked to bring some dessert. Since preparing for finals was consuming all of my life and braincells, it had been a while since we had a proper grocery trip. Our fridge was pretty bare, but fortunately I had all of the common staples in my fridge and pantry. These peanut butter cookies are probably the easiest cookie recipe I have ever made. All you need is 5 ingredients and NO flour and you have a perfect, delicious cookie in less than 20 minutes from start to finish. I highly recommend that you add it to your cookie repertoire. No worries if you feel you are baking challenged, these are so simple that I know you’ll have great results. It’s a very easy starter dough and you can feel free to add chocolate chips or press Hershey kisses into the cookies.

I made regular peanut butter cookies with the classic fork hashmarks and also some with Hershey hugs pressed in to the top. Both are equally delicious!

The Ingredients:

Makes 26-30 cookies 

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp of salt

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ah. So sorry for the hiatus! It’s not that I haven’t been cooking but I have been so busy that today is the first day I’ve had a chance to upload any photos to our computer. This past week with the holiday and celebrating Matt’s birthday hasn’t left me with much free time at all. The good news though is that for the holiday and Matt’s birthday I came up with some delicious treats and meals that I can’t wait to share. Tonight we are packing up to spend the weekend in Maine with my family–so hopefully I’ll have a little time to update you all on all things delicious from Maine that we eat.

Anyway, enough with the catchup and onto one of my favorite cookie recipes. Matt isn’t a big fan of birthday cake so I spoiled him with two non-cake desserts for his birthday. One being white chocolate macadamia nut cookies–also known as crack cookies in our house because they are so addictive and another treat that you’ll have to wait and see. I will tell you though that the other dessert is a fall favorite and is as equally as addictive as these cookies. Beware!

The Ingredients: 

Recipe adapted from: Joy of Cooking

• *2 1/2 cups all purpose flour—I substituted in 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• *1 tsp. baking soda
• * 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup–2 sticks–room temperature unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate–if you’re going to use white chocolate chips I’d recommend Ghirardelli

*Mix 3 bolded dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk together before starting the recipe

Light As Air Raspberry Meringue Cookies (with a hint of chocolate)

I usually only bake Meringues around the Holidays, but for whatever reason I was having a severe craving for the sweet yet crispy combination. I know a lot of people find meringues daunting and are afraid to give them a shot–but don’t be! They really are easy to make and not to mention much fewer in calories compared to other cookies. This particular recipe precooks the egg whites and sugar (something I had never heard of!) for fool proof cookies. So if you were afraid in the past, fear no more! These will turn out great. These cookies only take a few ingredients and need a couple of hours to  bake in the oven. I tried a new recipe because I wanted to incorporate raspberry extract into the cookie creation and found these to be my favorite meringue recipe yet. A piping bag makes these cookies super easy to make but if you don’t have a piping bag you can always cut a corner off a freezer bag (I’ve done this in the past & it works just as great!).

If you’ve never tried meringue cookies you are in for a treat! They are super light and crunchy. My husband can’t get enough of them today because he thinks they taste like cotton candy! Plus they have a sweet chocolate surprise in them. Enjoy!

The Ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Bakingdom

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon raspberry extract (or another flavor, if preferred)
• Food coloring, optional
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Never Fail No Bake Cookies

No bake cookies may be one of my favorite easy treats to whip up in the summer. My husband, Matt, also adores them. He fondly reflects on them because they were also a go to treat his Mom made throughout his childhood. Something about no bake cookies must be nostalgic because I remember the first time I ever made and tasted them. I was about 11 years old and was spending the night at my friend Katie’s house. Ours definitely didn’t turn out all the same shapes and sizes but I do remember them tasting really, really good. I used to sleep over her house all of the time and between jumping on the trampoline or swimming in the pool we somehow found ourselves in her Mother’s kitchen. It is fun to reminisce on learning my way around the kitchen. I know a lot of people stay away from no bake cookies because they have had experiences with the cookies not setting up properly. Have no fear with this recipe! I’ve been using the same recipe for about 5 years and I have worked out all the kinks. So I encourage you to give them another try. Your satisfied stomaches will thank you!

The Ingredients:

• Butter
• Granulated sugar
• Milk
• Cocoa powder
• Peanut butter
• Vanilla
• Quick cooking oats
• Cinnamon