Most people who love cooking have their “signature recipes” that they get asked to make all the time. At the holidays my mom always makes a savory cream cheese ball with onion, green pepper, pineapple and walnuts. As good as that is, if you follow this blog you’ll know I’m much more into sweet than savory. What could really be better than sweet cream cheese?

Another thing that prompted me to make this was a bag of Food Should Taste Good chocolate tortillas and wondering what in the world you serve chocolate tortillas with. The crunchy and lightly-sweetened tortillas went perfectly with the smooth cream cheese and powdered sugar. I couldn’t imagine eating this any other way but I’m sure sliced apples or graham crackers would match well, too.

I used honey glazed roasted pecans from Oh Nuts for the coating. If you don’t have pecans you can use any number of things as a coating. Try sliced almonds or crushed green and red M&Ms, or even holiday-themed sprinkles.

Dessert Cream Cheese Ball

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 12 servings):

• 1 8oz block cream cheese
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon half & half
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup glazed pecans, crushed

Method:

1. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, half & half and salt.
2. Scrape the cream cheese mixture onto a sheet of clear plastic wrap. Form the cream cheese mixture into a ball using the wrap to cover your hands and keep it together. Stick the ball in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to set.
3. Unwrap the cream cheese ball and coat it with the pecans, pressing them in lightly to make sure they stay.
4. Transfer the cold cream cheese ball to a serving plate. Serve with chocolate nachos, graham crackers, or sliced fruit.

We can save worrying about eating healthy for after New Years.

I came home for the holiday weekend on Wednesday night last week. Normally I cook more for the holidays but by the time I arrived most of Thanksgiving dinner had already been planned. I decided to contribute some ad hoc cookies because, well, when are extra cookies ever a bad thing?

I’m usually a purist when it comes to peanut butter cookies using this recipe. However I wanted to try one with flour and butter for a different texture to mix things up. The added ingredients make a cookie that chewy rather than crispy and slightly richer. On top I added a chocolate drizzle for the chocolate lovers in my family(but mostly for myself).

Mixed some chopped peanuts or chocolate chips into the batter before baking these for an extra crunch.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies {Gluten-Free}

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 18 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 14 cookies):

• 3/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons creamy or chunky peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips(optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl mix together the sugar, flour, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, melt together the butter and peanut butter and mix.
4. Pour the melted butter and peanut butter into the flour mixture and mix it together.
5. Beat in the egg until all of the ingredients form a dough.
6. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them 2-3 inches apart on a greased cookie tray.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the outside is firm to the touch.
8. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before moving.
9. Melt down the chocolate chips and drizzle the melted chocolate on top of the cookies.

Sandwich Cookies are so much fun. They’re much better than any old cookie; you get two cookies plus a filling. What’s not to love?

My favorite sandwich cookies were always the ones shaped like a maple leaf with a maple crème filling. Sure, they probably were loaded with trans fat and gave people heart attacks but it was the 90s and no one knew about any of that yet. These remind me of those but very much grown up. The cinnamon and spice and salt enhance the sweetness of the maple syrup and the nuttiness of the almond butter and knock it out of the park.

If you want to skip making your own cookies, use a store-bought gingersnap cookie for the base to compliment the filling best.

Maple Almond Butter Sandwich Cookies

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 6 sandwich cookies):

• 12 spiced almond butter cookies
• 6 Tablespoons almond butter
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• Scant 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Lay half of the cookies out bottom-side-up.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the almond butter, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt until it’s smooth and homogenous.
3. Put about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of filling on top of each cookie.
4. Take another cookie and place it bottom-side-down on top of the filling.
5. Store at room temperature until ready to eat.

See? Much better than a cookie.