Salted Avocado Lime Cookies

The avocado is a tricky fruit.  It's never ripe when you need it and then it's too ripe when you don't.  What is a girl to do?  Now, I love avocados.  Who doesn't??  They are creamy and luscious and earthy.  They tone down even the spiciest of tacos and heighten the most plain of salads.  

Joe and I were planning on serving walking tacos at our Super Bowl party this past weekend.  However with the abundance of other snacks we pulled the taco plug leaving a bag of perfectly ripened avocados with no purpose.  A few are destined for a fruity, citrusy salad (which I will be posting about later) but I wanted to expand my avocado horizons.  What to make?  COOKIES!! 

This recipe combines some of my favorite flavors: lime and salt with a hint of creamy avocado.  I also played around with the piping shapes making stars AND roses.  If you are not a master piper - not to worry - these cookies are very forgiving. 

SALTED AVOCADO LIME COOKIES

Adapted from Created By Diane

Ingredients

• 1/2 large avocado
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• zest of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, cream together avocado, butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until smooth.  Mix in lime juice, lime zest and vanilla.  Then slowly add in flour mixture until everything is completely incorporated.
4. Place cookie dough into pastry piping bag fitted with a star tip (1M or 2M).  Pipe cookies onto sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Then top with a nice sprinkling of kosher salt.  (See how to pipe rose shaped cookies below!)
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until cookies are golden around the edges.  Enjoy!

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Buckeye Balls and a Guest Post from Follow the Wife

We are in for two treats today here at Wendy See Wendy Do: the wonderfully talented Libby from Follow the Wife is guest blogging AND she is sharing a tasty recipe straight from her mom’s kitchen!

Follow the Wife is a great resource for all soon-to-be and wish-they-still-were brides!!  Libby has great tips on how to change your last name, fun ideas for bridesmaid gifts, DIY wedding projects and much more.  Including some delicious recipes!  So without further ado… Take it away Libby!!

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Hello Wendy’s wonderful readers. I could not be more excited to be guest posting today. Wendy has been dazzling me with such amazing and delicious recipes and I’m honored she thought of me. Since I got married in May, I’ve been getting more creative in the kitchen thanks to the supply of new cooking tools I received at my shower. I’m also cooking a lot more now because I have someone to cook for. Pre-wedding it was grilled cheese and salads every night. But now I go to work on hearty beef stews, creamy risottos and, my favorite, mac and cheese. 

I’m a pretty good cook, but for this task I needed a little help. So I turned to the one person who could really help me hit this blog post out of the park: my mom. Wendy asked me to share a family recipe and my mom’s famous Buckeye Balls were the first thing that came to mind. She’s been making them for as long as I can remember—in fact, she got this recipe from a friend before I was even born and they have been a staple at every holiday gathering since then. 

You probably recognize the Buckeye as the Ohio State University mascot. The Ohio Buckeye is the state’s tree and on it bloom these nut-like capsules that have inspired today’s tasty treat. My family has no connection to Ohio or its famed university, but we do love peanut butter, which is the main ingredient in Buckeye Balls. 

Susan's Famous Buckeye Balls

Recipe from Follow the Wife

Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter, room temperature
• 12 oz of creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 lb of confectioners sugar 
• 12 oz of semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 tbs of Crisco

Directions

1. In a food processor or stand mixer blend the peanut butter and butter till creamy. Add the vanilla and sugar and gradually pulse. If the mixture is too thick slowly add a few teaspoons of water. Once combined, roll into teaspoon-sized balls and set them in the refrigerator for about an hour to chill.
2. Melt the chocolate and Crisco in the microwave on high for one minute, stirring every 10 to 15 seconds. Using a spoon, dip the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Drizzle remaining chocolate over the Buckeye Balls and refrigerate again to allow the chocolate to harden. Enjoy! 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am sooo cold.... sooo cold!  My hands are freezing.  My feet are freezing.  My nose is freezing.  CHICAGO IS FREEZING!!  My solution... Mexican Hot Chocolate Chip Cookies.  These bad boys are amazing right out of the oven.  Gooey centers... crispy edges... and a spicy bite that is sure to warm you up!!

BUT of course I have forgotten to bring my butter to room temperature!  WAIT? NO!!! I WANT THE COOKIES NOW.  Don't you hate it when this happens?

Cold butter.... what to do??

FORTUNATELY... I picked up a trick from someone a few years ago (for the life of me I can't remember who) on how to get your butter to room temperature in a minute... not an hour!

Love my new rolling pin!

Place your cold stick of butter between two sheets of wax paper/parchment paper.  

Getting warmer...

Take a rolling pin and start pounding.  Once you flatten the butter out quite a bit you can start rolling until the butter is about 1/4 inch thick.  

Room temperature butter in a minute!

VIOLA.... you have room temperature butter.  Move quickly though and peel off the butter before it gets too soft! (If it does... no worries... just use a spatula to get it off.)

Chocolatey goodness.....

Now, where were we??  OHHHH... the freezing cold and Mexican Hot Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Chipotle Cinnamon Sugar -- Spicy Savory Sweet

I used chipotle chili powder which can be really spicy.  So if you are concerned about the heat level then you can use regular chili powder or a combination of the two to get the spice just right!

I eat them straight out of the oven!!

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart/Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (or regular chili powder if you want it less spicy)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, whip together butter and 1 1/2 cup sugar until creamy with an electric mixer.  Scrape down sides of the bowl and then beat in eggs.  Once combined slowly beat in flour mixture.   When dough is completely incorporated add in chocolate morsels and beat until combined.
• In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and chili powder.  Using a tablespoon, form 1 inch balls of dough.  Roll dough balls in sugar mixture.  Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets about 3 inches apart.  Bake cookies in batches for about 10 minutes, until cookies puff up and begin to crack.  Let cookies cool on wire racks.  Serve warm or completely cooled.  Enjoy!

Check me out on Follow the Wife!!

My first guest blog post!

Wendy See Wendy Do is going global folks!  Well more like national... or whatever.... you know what I mean.  One of my best friends and fellow blogger Libby invited me to guest post on her blog Follow the Wife!  How cool is that?  Her blog is fabulous and has tons of information, inspiration and advice for brides-to-be (like me!).  Check it out!!

AND HOLY MOLE! Do I have a recipe for you tomorrow!  Here is a sneak peak:

Can you say, Tacos??

Happy Monday Folks!!!

Mini Candy Cane Cookie Pies

Peppermint packed recipe below

This weekend Joe and I had the fun task of taking down and putting away all of our Christmas decorations.  It's one of my least favorite things to do!  Miles of garland, tangled lights, millions of ornaments are all stowed away until next year and all we have left are candy canes.  LOTS of candy canes!

MMMmmm... Perfectly Peppermint

PLUS a box of the mind-blowing, culinary invention: Candy Cane Joe-Joe's from Trader Joe's.  They are sublimely delicious candy cane flavored Oreo-type cookies. 

Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's

Every year I struggle with what to do with the red and white candy treats and always wonder where did they come from anyways.  This year I decided to do a little peppermint research.  According to the Wiki-wizards, candy canes came on the scene in Germany in 1670.  A choir master asked a local candy maker to whip up a treat to keep kids quiet during his Christmas Eve performance.  The "staff" shape is meant to help the children remember the shepherds who cared for baby Jesus.  After that the cane shaped treats took off and became widely associated with the holiday season.

Early image of candy canes (via Wikipedia)

Like egg-nog... there is a point when I cannot handle anymore holiday inspired treats.  So I wanted to have one last peppermint horrah this weekend and use up all of my candy cane flavored goodies in the process. But what to do?

Nutella and peppermint.... awesome combo!

Thanks to one of my favorite blogs Picky-Palate and their devishly delicious looking Oreo and Peanut Butter Layered Baby Lattice Pies recipe -- I came up with a peppermint plan!  MINI CANDY CANE COOKIE PIES!

Look at those layers of chocolate cookie, peppermint cream and Nutella!

Talk about a winning combination: chocolate cookies, peppermint cream and Nutella cradled in flaky pie crust and topped with crunchy peppermint candy!    

First ice the tops of the Candy Cane Cookies with Nutella and make a stack of two cookies

Place cookies in muffin tins lined with 4-inch circles of pie crust

Top with more pie crust and use a fork to seal it together

Brush pies with melted butter and top with crushed candy canes

Peppermint Pie Perfection!

MINI CANDY CANE COOKIE PIES

Adapted from Picky-Palate

Ingredients 

• 2 refrigerated 9-inch pie crusts
• 16 Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe Cookies
• 1 cup Nutella
• Candy canes, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Veggie Ham Crescent Wreath ReciDirections

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Unroll pie crusts and cut out eight 4-inch rounds and carefully press into muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
• Spread Nutella onto each cookie and then stack two on top of each other.  Place cookie stacks into each pie crust. 
• With remaining dough, cut out 3-inch rounds and place on top of each pie.  Using your fingers or a fork crimp the edges.  Make a small slit on the top of each pie.  
• Brush melted butter on top of each crust and then top with crushed candy canes.
• Bake until pie crust is golden, about 25-30 minutes.  ENJOY!

 
Yield: 8 pies


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY CANE INSPIRED DESSERT??