Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

1 cup butter flavored crisco

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Additional sugar for rolling

Cream crisco, peanut butter and sugars until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs beating after each. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Add gradually to egg mixture. Scoop dough into small balls (I used a medium sized cookie scoop and cut the ball in half) and roll into sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake in 375 degree oven for 6-8 minutes. Do not over bake, you want them to be soft. Let cool on cookie sheet 2-3 minutes. Remove to cooling rack and cool completely. Place generous amount of frosting on half of the cookies and top with the other half to make a sandwich. Store in air tight container.

Frosting:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup real butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons milk

Beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, alternating with milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Use to fill peanut butter cookies.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Recipe source: adapted from Our Best Bites

Gingerbread Rice Krispies

This recipe is really a no-brainer. A normal rice krispie treat that used gingerbread marshmallows instead of regular. My husband is a rice krispie purist and hates it when I add things to his treats. He did like this version though, I think because it really didn't have anything added. A fun way to do rice krispies for the holidays.

Gingerbread Rice Krispies

1 bag gingerbread marshmallows, divided

1/4 cup butter

5 cups rice krispies

Cinnamon chips

White chocolate chips

Melt butter in large pan. Add marshmallows, reserving about 10. When melted and smooth, remove from heat and add rice krispies. When combined well, pour into 9x13 pan. Combine some white chocolate chips and some cinnamon chips in microwavable bowl. Heat until melted. Drizzle over treats and top with some gingerbread marshmallow men.

Recipe Source: adapted from Our Best Bites

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Wow. Really. Wow. These are amazingly rich and decadent. I needed a big glass of milk after eating one. And one was plenty to fill my chocolate craving! If you make these, which you should, make them when you are planning to give a bunch away or you have company. Otherwise they will tempt you until you eat the whole batch! 1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature*
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
about 1/3 cup cocoa (or rolling)
about 2/3 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butter and slowly add in powdered sugar until well combined. Sift cocoa and salt together and add to cream mixture. Add in vanilla and sour cream. Slowly add in flour and mix until no streaks are left. Stir in chocolate chips. If dough is soft, chill for 30 min.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in cocoa powder. Place on baking sheets. You can put them pretty close together as they won't spread much. Bake for 10 min. They will be just barely set but don't cook too long or they will be dry. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 3-5 min. Remove to wire rack to cool for 30-45 min. Then roll in powdered sugar and store in airtight container.
Recipe source: Mels Kitchen Cafe
My notes:
*Melanie from Kitchen Cafe had a great note about butter. She says that butter is perfect for creaming when you can press your finger on the butter and it gives just a little but isn't easy to go all the way through. That is important for this recipe because you don't want the dough to be to sof to handle. Chilling the dough is a good option if your kitchen is warm or your butter got too soft. I used just 1 bag of chips, which isn't quite 2 cups and I also used regular cocoa powder and they were still great!