Easy Coconut Pecan Pralines

Go ahead and add these Coconut Pecan Pralines to your holiday baking list!!! They are sinfully delicious!

My husband and I recently had a dinner meeting with some of our friends. When I asked our hostess what I could bring, she said dessert. Then her daughter chimed in and begged for No-Bake Cookies. Fine by me! I LOVE NO-BAKE COOKIES!

I had seen a new “No-Bake Cookie” recipe on Pinterest a while back. I thought I would try this new recipe along with the old faithful No-Bake Cookies and see what folks thought about them.

I had a little trouble with these new “cookies”…well, at least I thought I had.

They didn’t set up in time for me to take them to the meeting. UGH! I was a little frustrated. So, what else could I do but start eating the gooey cookies right off the waxed paper with a spoon! Oooohhhh! They were so yummy! Still a little warm…WOW!

I looked back at the recipe. I had not let the mixture boil quite long enough. I probably didn’t stir long enough either. The name of these “No-Bake Cookies” was actually Coconut Pecan PRALINES! I have made pralines in the past, successfully and unsuccessfully. The unsuccessful time, the mixture set up way too quickly. Maybe I cooked them too long. I was unable to set out the batch as individual pralines! It did make a fine topping for ice cream though.

As the afternoon went on, and I fixed a second batch of No-Bakes to take with me, I noticed my pralines starting to set. There was still no time for them to be ready for the meeting. So, I took a double batch of regular chocolate peanut butter No-Bakes to my friends’ house. Their daughter was excited that I left a bunch for their kitchen!

Back at home, however, I had a whole batch of Coconut Pecan Pralines! Oh, poor me! Well, it would be “Oh, my poor pants!” if I didn’t get rid of some of them~and fast!

It was just a couple of days later when we learned of my death of my husband’s 92 year old grandmother. You may remember Mamaw and her Lemon Jello Cake  being featured here as a “guest chef”.

Perhaps you remember some of her handiwork…

We have so many special memories of time spent with Mamaw.

I took the Coconut Pecan Pralines to share with family after the funeral. Everyone loved them. I have to think Mamaw would have loved them too.

No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

1 stick of butter

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups oats

Bring first four ingredients to a boil. Stirring to avoid scorching. Boil one minute.

Remove from heat. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until peanut butter melts.

Add oats. Stir.

Spoon onto waxed paper in bite-sized mounds. Work quickly! They set up pretty fast.

Coconut Pecan Pralines

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 stick of butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups chopped pecans

2 cups coconut

Combine the chopped pecans and coconut in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Bring the first four ingredients to a boil, stirring to avoid scorching. Boil for 3 minutes!

Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and coconut-pecan mixture. Stir until mixture starts to thicken~about 4 minutes!

Spoon onto waxed paper in bite-sized mounds.

A couple of these in a cellophane baggie with a ribbon and you may as well move to the North Pole!

 

 

 

 

Cranberry Walnut Swirl Cookies

Well, hello there! Long time no see! Last fall I tried to jump back in to blogging. I was finally getting back in the swing of things. I had seven posts in three months! That was news! Then, as I was ready to post about some delicious Christmas cookies, I ran out of storage on my free WordPress account.  At the time, I just was not ready to commit to paying money for my blog. Today I bit the bullet and signed up for the premium plan. I’m sure there will be new things to learn, but I now have extra storage for my blog. Hooray!!!

You’ll have to excuse my Christmas decorations. Maybe you’ll have a Christmas in July party?! Actually, these cookies are so yummy, you will want to keep them in the freezer year round.

Now that I’m seeing my pictures again, I’m excited. I love Christmas decorations~and Christmas cookies!

Can you even find cranberries this time of year?

I used my food processor to chop up the cranberries and walnuts.

Do NOT leave out the orange zest! It makes the recipe!

I got a little technical with my parchment paper. I did use edible markers! (If you want to mark up your parchment paper, you can also just turn it over if you use regular pens.) The recipe says to roll the dough into a 10 inch square. When adding the filling, you are to leave a 1/2 inch border on two sides. I left a little too much.

The filling smells so good! It must be the orange zest.

I do feel I should warn you about these cookies. You will need to plan your baking time. Chilling and freezing time are a factor.

Cranberry Walnut Swirl Cookies

• ½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup finely chopped fresh cranberries, packed full
• ⅔ cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon grated orange rind

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream, egg and vanilla, combining well between each addition.

Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until well combined. (Do not overbeat)

Cover the cookie dough and chill for one hour.

Combine cranberries, walnuts and orange rind.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface or parchment paper and roll into a 10-inch square. (About ¼ inch thick.)

Sprinkle with the cranberry mixture, leaving a ½-inch border on 2 opposite sides.

Roll up dough, jelly roll fashion, beginning at a bordered side. Cover and freeze 6 hours or up to 1 month. (Do not skip the freezing part! The cookies are too soft to cut otherwise!)

Cut roll into ¼-inch thick slices. Place slices on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake on top oven rack at 375˚F for 14 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden browned at the edges.

Cool completely on wire racks.

 

Merry Christmas!  I mean…Happy, uh, School’s Out!? I’m glad to actually have a new post on my blog. Hopefully there will be more soon!

 

German Cookies with Claudia

If you have followed this blog for a while, you may have discovered a pattern. I tend to have good ideas that take a while to get accomplished! Well, this post is one of those I’ve-been-planning-to-do-it posts.

Meet Claudia…

Claudia and I have been friends for several years. We sang together in Top of the Rock Chorus. Our kids are close in age, so we always had plenty of chatting material.

I love just listening to Claudia speak. Claudia is from Germany. I don’t know if it is a German thing or a Claudia thing, but she seems to use words so eloquently. There are not a lot of “you knows” or “ums” in Claudia’s conversation. It’s not that she over-uses big words or anything like that. She just chooses much more descriptive words. I’m sure I’m not explaining this well–not like Claudia would!

For years Claudia and I have talked about getting together for her to teach me how to make some German cookies. Well, life got busy, as it always does, and we never got together–until now!

We finally got together last weekend! Claudia taught me how to make Moklaplätzchen and Weihnachtsschikoli.

We started with the Weihnachtsschokoli since it needed some time in the fridge.

This is a recipe Claudia found when she was a teenager and has been making it since then!

Claudia asked that I bring a pound of butter for our cookie baking. Oh! You know it is going to be something yummy when you need a pound of butter!

As you can see above, all the measurements are in metric proportions. Many cooking show hosts suggest measuring your ingredients by weight. Most recipes, however, only give you the standard measurement. Luckily, Claudia weighed the ingredients then figured out the approximate measurement for me!

Weihnachtsschokoli

made 46 cookies

250 grams unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks + 2 Tablespoons)

100 grams powdered sugar (a scant cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or 1 German packet of vanilla sugar [approx. 1 Tablespoon]

250 grams cornstarch (2 cups loose)

25 grams flour (1/4 cup)

30 grams dark cocoa powder (1/2 cup)

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon cinnamon

I don’t know that I had ever had cardamom before having it in these cookies. I suppose a little goes a long way. I could definitely taste it in the cookies. They were amazing!

•Cream the softened butter

•Blend the rest of the ingredients together. Add to the butter. The mixture will be very dry and crumbly!

•Add 50 grams more of flour (1/2 cup). I know! It seems crazy! It is so dry and you want me to add MORE flour? Yes.

•Use a dough hook or knead by hand until the dough comes together. Claudia turned the dough out on a kitchen towel. She used the towel to smash the dough together.

If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I don’t think I would have believed the ingredients would actually come together to form a dough!

•Roll the dough into logs that are approximately 1 1/4 inch in diameter. Seems like Claudia had three logs.

•Place the logs on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. This will give the butter plenty of time to chill.

At this point, Claudia and I switched to the other cookie recipe. Makes sense-huh? No need to sit around watching the first batch chill in the refrigerator! To avoid confusion, I will continue with the Weihnachtsschokoli recipe.

•Remove the dough logs from the refrigerator. Slice into 3/4 inch slices.

•Place a whole hazelnut on top of each slice.

•Work the dough around each hazelnut.

Claudia said that Trader Joe’s has the best price on hazelnuts. If only Trader Joe’s would put a store in central Arkansas!!!

•Once you have all your dough and hazelnuts rolled up, bake at 375˚ for 20 minutes. Cool completely–Claudia recommended cooling on a paper sack or cardboard box.

•While you are waiting for the cookies to cool, melt some chocolate bark–about 4 squares–in the microwave according to the package directions.

•Once cooled, use a pastry brush or BBQ brush to paint the chocolate on top of the cookie. I asked Claudia if she had ever tried dipping the tops in the chocolate bowl. The cookies are quite fragile. Remember how crumbly the dough was? Painting was the way to go!

•Let the chocolate cool–if you can stand it!

Click here for cookie pronunciation.

Next up…Mokkaplätzchen! You can tell by the paper that this is a well-loved recipe by Claudia’s family.

 

Mokkaplätzchen

made 56 cookies

120 grams (1 cup) unsalted hazelnuts-measured whole then ground finely. You can roast the hazelnuts for a bit for more flavor. [1 1/2 cups ground]

2 sticks + 2 Tablespoons  softened, unsalted butter

180 grams (1 heaped cup) sugar

2 eggs

220 grams flour (approx. 2 1/4 cups)

2 Tablespoons instant coffee dissolved in approximately 1/2 Tablespoon hot water

•Beat the butter

•Blend in sugar

•Add eggs one at a time-blending after each addition

•Add flour and dissolved coffee–blend

•Add the ground nuts. Mix well.

•Scoop onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake in a preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. The recipe says 200˚C. That translates to 392˚F.

We decided after the first batch got a little dark around the edges that parchment might help.

•Cool the cookies completely. Top with Coffee Icing

Coffee Icing

2 Tablespoons instant coffee dissolved in approximately 1/2 Tablespoon hot water

1 cup powdered sugar

•Mix together. Should look like tempered chocolate.

•Paint the icing on the cookies using a pastry brush.

•Immediately top with a Mocha Bean

or dark chocolate chips.

Click here for pronunciation

Thank you, Claudia! I had a fabulous time catching up on chit-chat and baking cookies with you! I’m so glad it finally happened!

 

Back to School Cookie Exchange

I finally had a cookie exchange!!!

I have wanted to go to one or have one for a long time now. Read this.

Since this summer and back-to-school was so carefree–haahahahahahaha!–I decided this was the year to have a cookie exchange.

Had I lost my mind? Possibly.

I invited all the ladies from church because I knew they would love me even if there was dust on my end-tables.

Not everyone could come, but we had a pretty good turn-out. Some of them had never been to a cookie exchange either!

I had fun getting ready for the party.

I even wore my “teacher” vest I made when I was an elementary school teacher in the ’90s.

Old school books and a pencil “vase”

Don’t you love these vintage flip cards?! More below.

I found these adorable notebook paper napkins in the $1 bin at Target several years ago with the intent of having a back-to-school cookie exchange! Can you believe it?!

I provided some recycled Sister Shubert aluminum pans for the ladies to haul their cookies home.

Gab–we did LOTS of this!

We filled up this giant chalkboard with our kids’ names and schools. Some shared verses of encouragement. At the end of the night we spent time praying for the students as they were starting school.

For some reason my colored chalk only showed up white. I guess it was the cheap kind.

I asked the ladies to bring an appetizer as well as cookies.

I made these spinach balls. It was a recipe from  library cookbook. Sorry, I don’t remember the name of the book. Really, I’m not sorry. These looked cute but didn’t taste all that good. And the cute part was MY idea.  The spinach balls had Stove Top stuffing in them. Guess they just tasted a little too processed.  I thought the pretzels were a cute idea and made the spinach balls finger-friendly. As time went on, however, the pretzels got soggy. Points for cuteness. Negative points for flavor and sogginess. I’m not making THAT recipe again!

Thank goodness Nicole brought her yummy Spinach Dip!

Jami made yummy guacamole. She brought it in a Tupperware bowl, so she tried to fancy it up with the napkins. We all laughed pretty hard at her!

Tammy brought these amazing ham and cheese sliders. I’ve made these sliders before but not like Tammy’s. She put soy sauce and brown sugar on the top. OH MY WORD! So yummy!

Now for the cookies…

Someone already had labels on these cookies.

The little cookie name plates were left-over materials from a project similar to this one.

Some of the cookies were store-bought, which was just fine. All of the cookies were delicious!

I’ll have to check back with the ladies about the recipes. I’ll be sharing the recipe for my cookies, the Flu Fighter Cookies, soon.

What a fun time! We may have to do it again sometime.

 

 

 

Yoda Cookies

What do you do on May 4th when your kids are super into things like super heroes and Star Wars?

Make Yoda cookies!!!  (Of course I had NO time to do something like this! What was I thinking?!) “May the fourth be with you!”

I am amazed by some of the fancy cookies I see out there on the Internet. I dream about being able to make fancy cookies like that some day.

I wanted to start out this post by saying, I tried to make some Yoda cookies for “Star Wars” day. 

Then I remembered the words of Master Yoda…  It’s a learning process, I suppose. You only get better if you practice.

So, I made some Yoda cookies for my kids.   I just cut a circle and kinda squished it into an ovalish shape. Little triangles were stuck to the sides for ears.

Here is the pattern I followed for decorating.  I LOVE Sugarbelle’s cookies-all of them!!!

 

The Lazy Gardener

I love fall. I love that fall appeals to all my senses–beautiful trees, cooler temperatures, rustling leaves, burning fields, apple and pumpkin treats!

Ahhhh!

I enjoy getting out my fall decorations, too.

We usually go to a pumpkin patch for our pumpkins. The summer rains were not friendly to the pumpkin farmers. This year we ended up getting our pumpkins at the Open Arms Pumpkin Fun Run fundraiser.

Typically, I grab some mums at Walmart or Lowe’s to set around with the pumpkins.

After the blooms have died and the cold sets in, I dump the pots in the trash. Yes, I know you can plant them. I never seem to have the time.

Well, last year, the pots never even made it to the curb! Shame!

They have sprouted lovely weeds courtesy of the wind and the birds.

There is another pot, however, that is different.

It decided to root itself through the bottom of the pot!

I have mums and I didn’t even have to leave home to get them!

They aren’t the perfectly shaped kind from the store–that’s okay.

I have not bought any fancy mums from the store yet.  I may let my “survivor mum” have a chance in the spotlight this year!

I have, however,  added a few decorations to the porch. I’ll get around to the inside of the house eventually.

Don’t you love that you get to use your fall decorations for a long time?!

Now, go make some fall cookies or something. Here is an idea–Applesauce Cookies.

 

Tea Time Cookies-Chocolate Shortbread

Shortbread cookies are no stranger to a tea party. Add a little cocoa powder and this simple, unassuming cookie goes from wallflower to star!

Okay, that may have been a little dramatic. We are, after all, talking about a cookie.

I did amp up these chocolate shortbread cookies a little by making my own cookie stamp just for the occasion!

I experimented with stamped cookies about a year and a half ago. Click HERE to see that experiment.

Can you tell what I used to make the stamp?

Alphabet Pasta!

I just glued the letters onto a piece of cardboard–in reverse order and backward! I even made a little handle with stacked pieces of cardboard.

For some reason the “M” was a little thicker than the other letters. It did the best after baking. Perhaps because it smushed into the dough deeper. Some of the thinner letters were a little tricky to read. I think people got the point though.

The recipe is very easy.

I used Martha’s recipe from her Cookies Cookbook. Well, I didn’t follow her recipe exactly. She calls for drizzling the shortbread with melted white chocolate. That obviously wouldn’t work with my fancy stamped cookies. It sure sounds yummy though. I may have to try that next time.

 

 

Chocolate Shortbread

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (DO NOT leave out the salt. I used Kosher salt. That little bit of saltiness with the sweet was delicious.)

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 300˚
2. Pulse all the dry ingredients together in a food processor. Add butter and vanilla, and process until it all starts to stick together.
3. Shape into a ball. Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut however you like. I used a garnisher that had a wavy edge to cut my cookies into small sticks. I did a bit of experimenting to get the size just right for my stamp. I even trimmed some off after I stamped because I just thought they looked too wide. Go with what you like!
4. Bake on parchment paper. I’m terribly sorry, but since my cookies were so small, I just guessed at how long to bake them. I crammed a bunch on my baking stone because I was lazy and didn’t want to make 800 batches! Martha’s recipe says for  3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch cookies to bake for 20-25 minutes-until firm to the touch. I’m thinking I checked mine at 10 minutes. Sorry, I just don’t remember how long they took. I had just baked so much! I had flour for brains!

They turned out great–however long I baked them! They were very yummy!

I neglected to get a good picture of the cookies after they had baked. You can barely see the corner of one on the picture below.

 

Nutella Cookies

There was a BOGO coupon for Nutella in the paper not too long ago. I never buy Nutella, but a buy-one-get one-free coupon seemed too good to not clip.

Shortly after making my sinful purchase of TWO JARS, I was asked to make a dessert for a youth gathering at church. Now I had the perfect opportunity to try Nutella Cookies!

(Not familiar with Nutella? Click here.)

Nutella Cookies

1 cup Nutella

1 cup flour

1 egg

Bake at 350˚ for 6-8 minutes.

I thought they would spread in the oven, but they didn’t. When I took them out, I just gave them a quick cross-hatch with the fork like you do with peanut butter cookies.

These were so rich and yummy straight from the oven!

They were good later on, too.

I was trying out different photography approaches. So, lots of pictures that look very similar. : )

…oh, and a fancy vintage napkin.

How do you feel about Nutella? Love it? If yes, you must try these cookies!

 

Elf Cookies

I just had to share these adorable elf cookies my Mom made.

Aren’t they cute!
I love the almond ears.
Guess what kind of cookie cutter she used. Here’s a little hint.

 

Cookie Exchange

I have never been to a cookie exchange. I have never been invited or had one myself–sad, I know. I have always wanted to have one. Christmas seems to be the optimum time for such an event. Fitting one more thing into our hectic schedule seems a bit insane, however! To tell you the truth, I have not even done much baking this season. The kids have done more baking than I have. They have made  Oreo Balls, Rolo Turtles, and Gingerbread cookies.

I thought I would share some cookies that I have made in the past. You might get to go to one of those fancy cookie parties!

Just click the photo to get to the link.

Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

These Chocolate Pistachio Cookies are so yummy! They would be super fancy to take to a cookie exchange!

Chocolate Mocha Chewies

Not the fanciest but delish!

Pink Lemonade Cookies

Pink Lemonade Cookies would be a hit as a non-chocolate selection.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Garbanzo Beans

In the category of “different”, cookies with beans would definitely win, hands down!

Cake Mix Cookies

You might not want to use red, white and blue sprinkles if you are going to a cookie exchange at Christmas time. I bet you can come up with some different colors though.

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

The frosting on these cookies is AMAZING! Just take the frosting and a spoon!

Coconut Lime Cookies

I love citrus!

Oatmeal Scotchies

Oatmeal Scotchies-a classic!

Swirly Cookies

Red, white and green or aqua would be a nice alternative for Christmas Swirly Cookies.

Big Cookie

Make it easy on yourself. Make one giant cookie! It would make a nice hostess gift.

Stamped Cookies

I’m sure you could find a Christmas stamp out there somewhere.

Chocolate-Dipped Tea Bag Cookies

Tea Bag Cookies-perfect for the tea enthusiast!

Falling Leaves Cookies

These would be cute with the same tree on a blue background. Then use snowflakes rather than leaves! Or use green candy melts to pipe a Christmas tree. Little dot sprinkles would look like lights or ornaments.

Pumpkin Spiced Cookies

Pumpkin Spice-hello? YUM!

Cornflake Christmas Trees

Okay, I don’t know if these Cornflake goodies qualify as a “cookie” or not. I doubt anyone would turn them away at a cookie exchange!

Have you ever been to a Cookie Exchange? Was it fun? Tell me all about it!

What kind of cookies are you making this year?