Crinkle Sugar Cookies | Blogger C.L.U.E. Society

Summer is in full force!  Tis the season for grilling, BBQ’s, vacations, flip flops, longer days and warm summer evenings. I love this time of year with all of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are full of flavor, especially the corn, tomatoes and stone fruits are among my favorites.  It is hard to believe that we over halfway done with 2015 and before you know it, the holiday season will be around the corner.

Before we start celebrating the holiday season, I want to fully embrace the summer season and all that it has to offer.  My grill has been busy with chicken and vegetables lately along with fresh salads.  Speaking of grilling, it is time for Blogger C.L.U.E. Society and our theme this month was “Summer Barbecue/Grilling – grilled vegetables or meats, main courses or side dishes or desserts or drinks that would be great at a barbecue”.  What a fun theme and the possibilities were endless.

I was paired this month with Rebekah who writes a blog called Making Miracles. After learning more about Rebekah I can certainly understand why she named her blog making miracles. She has been a surrogate for 4 little baby girls and made four families extremely happy and grateful.  She has lived all around the United States and oversees. She is happily married and has two kids of her own and believes that each day is a gift, and a miracle.  I could not agree more. 

She also loves to experiment with new recipes but her favorite thing to do is bake.  I took that clue when sifting through her blog for the right recipe to fit this month’s theme.  I thought if I am heading to a summer barbecue, the easiest thing to bring is cookies plus I love making cookies.  I chose her Crinkle Sugar Cookie recipe and added 2 more teaspoons of vanilla, since I love vanilla and topped with some pretty silver sprinkles to add that extra sparkle factor.  The end result was nothing short of pure deliciousness.

Crinkle Sugar Cookies

Makes 36 Cookies

1 ¼ Cup Sugar

1 Cup Butter, room temperature

3 Egg Yolks

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

2 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

½ teaspoon Cream of Tarter

Favorite candy sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease if not using a non-stick cookie sheet.

Use a stand mixer and cream together sugar and butter. Beat in eggs yolks and vanilla.  Add the baking soda and cream of tarter and mix well.  Slowly add the flour until all is incorporated.  Use a 1 inch ice cream scoop to form balls of dough. Roll in your favorite candy sprinkles and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.  Don’t flatten. Bake for 11 minutes, until tops are cracked and just turning color.  Remove from sheet and let cool on a wire rack.

Artichoke and Green Chile Stuffed Mushrooms by Jean from Lemons and Anchovies

Arugula Salad with Figs, Prosciutto, Walnuts, and Parmesan by Kathy from Bakeaway with Me

Bourbon Baked Beans by Stacy from Food Lust People Love

Classic Southern Potato Salad by Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen

Cornish Game Hens with Citrus, Herb and Whiskey Glaze by Kate from Kate's Kitchen

Crinkle Sugar Cookies by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Crockpot Chili Dog Sauce by Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen

Grilled Asian-Style Chicken by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva

Grilled Chicken Shish Tawookby Sue from A Palatable Pastime

Grilled Salmon with Mojo de Ajo by Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme

Grilled Southwestern Chicken Salad by Aly from Cooking in Stilettos

Grilled Zucchini with Sea Salt and Lemon Zest by Christiane from Taking on Magazines

Lemintini by Anna from annaDishes

Marinated Grilled Flank Steak by Debra from Eliot's Eats

Oklahoma Spicy Baked Beans by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch

Spatchcock BBQ Chicken by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Steak Kabobs by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers by Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook

White Bean Tomato and Basil Salad by Rebekah from Making Miracles

Zesty Grilled Ham Steaks by Heather from girlichef

Spicy and Salty Peanut Brittle | Secret Recipe Club

I know I say this all the time …… time just flies way too fast.  The weekends go by way too fast and then the work week, depending on my schedule seems to whisk on by.  I just said to my hubby the other day, we are going to be pulling out the Christmas decorations before you know it.  At the end of the day, I have learned to savor each and everyday and appreciate each day for what it is.  I have learned that life is a gift and you need to make the most of it.

It is time again for Secret Recipe Club where you are assigned another blog from the group and need to search to find that perfect recipe to make.  Then comes the big reveal day and you get to see who had your blog and what they chose.  Quite frankly, that is my favorite part.  Sometimes it is a recipe that I have long forgotten about and it simply puts a smile on my face.

This month I have the pleasure of being assigned Steak and Potatoes Kind a Gurl. Desiree is a girl who was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and is currently earning her Masters degree in community counseling from Xavier University.  You go girl!  She is engaged to her fiancée PJ and were high school sweethearts – that is just darling. They are home owners who love to cook and love to eat out at restaurants. She includes many tasty recipes along with restaurant reviews on her site.  She has a long list of “likes” and “dislikes” on her about page.  I have to say I too like – reality TV, books, cookbooks, blogging and bacon.  I can identify with several of her dislikes but I actually like my dentist, cleaning, being on time and don’t mind public speaking. As for the others, I agree 100%.

After clicking through her blog for a while I found myself craving something sweet and kept coming back to a simple candy – peanut brittle.  I thought I would kick it up by adding cayenne pepper, grey salt and vanilla to the mixture.  Oh and I added a touch of salt on top of the brittle before it completely cooled.  It was a sweet and salty delight.  Thank you Desiree!

Spicy and Salty Peanut Brittle

1 Cup Light Corn Starch

1 Cup Sugar

2 Cups Peanuts

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 large pinch Cayanne Pepper

1 teaspoon Grey Salt

Regular Salt for sprinkling

In a medium pan, add the corn starch and sugar and cook over medium high heat.  Stir to combine. Add vanilla, grey salt and cayanne pepper and stir.  Stir in the peanuts and increase to high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Once the candy thermometer reaches 295 degrees and the mixture is golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Quickly pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet with a silpat and spread evenly.  Set aside to cool and harden. Break apart into pieces and store in an airtight container.

To view all recipes, simply click HERE:

Almond Crescent Cookies | Secret Recipe Club

My weekend was filled with both hard labor and relaxation.  The hard labor part came first in the way of repairing our backyard fence to prevent our little fur babies, Marty and Stewart from escaping.  After 14 years, the fence has taken a beating with the sun, rain and sprinklers.  The bottom portion on some of the sections of fence had sustained damage which made the boards easy to move.  Our little havanese, as smart as they are figured out how to move them and explore in the neighbors backyards.

This was a bit scary for me, since they are not even a year old and what happens if the neighbor did not have a gate that locked and they ran onto the street.  Luckily, this was not the case – we caught them in time and did the repairs.  In addition, one section was on a slight hill and Marty dug enough to slip between and explore.  That was fence repair number two.  Needless to say, hubby and I did a lot of digging, board cutting, more digging and drilling to secure our traveling havanese.  I can now sleep better knowing they are finally secure inside our backyard and their days of going on exploratory excursions has come to a halt.

Now for the relaxation part, it was time for the Secret Recipe Club great reveal again.  This month I was matched with Margaret with her delightful blog called Tea and Scones.  Her blog is right up my alley with my love for scones and tasty tea.  She loves to bake, eat and bake some more.  She has been writing her blog since 2007 and has a plethora of recipes to choose from.  One of the ways I relax is to bake cookies and so I finally chose her Almond Crescent Cookies. 

My hubby loves these cookies and I have only purchased them.  I thought it would be perfect to make since it is a bit overcast and gloomy outside plus we were exhausted from our manual labor day yesterday.  In addition, I am hosting for my book club tomorrow night and they would be perfect with a bowl of ice cream for dessert.  I found that the dough was super dry, so I added some water and that seemed to do the trick without compromising the integrity of the cookie.  I also added a bit more powdered sugar plus I toasted and pulsed the almonds to represent more of a rough almond meal.  The end result was one super divine cookie.  Thank you Margaret!

Almond Crescent Cookies

Make 20 to 22 cookies

8 Tablespoon Butter, room temperature

½ Cup Powdered Sugar

1 ½ Cup Slivered Almonds, Toasted then pulsed in food processor

2 Cups Flour

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

4 Tablespoons Water

Powdered Sugar to Dust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add 1 ½ Cup of slivered almonds to a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool.  Add to a food processor and pulse until crumbly.

In a stand mixer, add the butter and with a paddle attachment, beat until fluffy.  Add the ½ cup of powdered sugar slowly and incorporate.  Next add the vanilla and mix.  Slowly add the flour to fully combine.  Add the prepared almonds and mix.  The mixture will be dry and crumbly.  Slowly add one tablespoon at a time the water until the dough forms together.  It will be a thick dough but not sticky.

Take 2 tablespoons of dough and form to a crescent shape.  I rolled into a log first then curved it to represent a crescent and shaped it from there.

Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown and firm to the touch.  Remove from the oven and let cool for 3 to 4 minutes.  In a bowl, roll in the powdered sugar to fully coat each one.  Let cool and repeat if you desire more powdered sugar.  Will keep up to 3 days in an airtight container.

To see all the other great recipes, click HERE:

Raspberry Oat Bars | Blogger C.L.U.E. Society

I am excited about three things at this exact moment.  First that it time again for Blogger C.L.U.E. Society.  Second is that the theme for May is berries. Third but the most exciting is that I was paired with Kim from Liv Life.  I belong to this secret society of sorts where each month we are paired with another food blogger, given a theme and set off to explore our assigned bloggers blog and hunt down a recipe that matches the theme and we are excited about making.

Although I have actually never met Kim, I feel like we have been friends for years.  We actually have been Facebook friends for years. She was originally from the Bay Area and now resides in the San Diego area with her Pilot hubby, talented daughter Liv, smart son and their two adorable Maltese doggies. I feel like we have a lot in common since our hubbies both fly airplanes.  My hubby flies small planes for fun and wishes he was an airline pilot, where her hubby is one.  We both have two doggies and they are a large part of our worlds.  We both have blogs and love to cook.  I have a open invitation for her to come to Friday Night Bites and enjoy wine and appetizers with my hubby and me.  I truly hope she will take me up on the offer one day soon. Smile.

I spent several hours combing Kim’s site to pick just the right recipe that sang to me and had the secret ingredient – berries.  After narrowing down my choices I finally settled on her Strawberry Oatmeal Jam Bars. I thought I would mix it up a bit and made it with raspberries since they are my absolute favorite berry on this planet.  I also added a teaspoon of orange liquor to the jam to kick it up just a tiny notch.  I like a tall bar cookie so I increased the quantities a bit. The end result was heaven in my mouth.  Hubby loved them.  Thank you Kim for such a wonderful recipe and I look forward to having you and your hubby over for Friday Night Bites one day soon!

Raspberry Oat Bars

Make 16 two inch squares

¾ Cup Brown Sugar

1 ½ Cup Flour

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

¼ teaspoon Salt

¾ Cup Rolled Oats

¾ Cup Butter, cut into small cubes

1 Cup Raspberry Jam

1/3 Cup Fresh Raspberries

1 teaspoon Orange Liquor

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray and set aside.  You can also line with parchment paper as an alternative to the cooking spray, which I did.  It makes it easy to remove and cut into even pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and rolled oats.  Drop the butter into the flour mixture and rub with your fingers or a pastry cutter to form a crumble.  Press 2 cups of the mixture into the prepared pan and spread the jam over the top and drizzle the orange liquor on top and gently spread over the jam.  Sprinkle the raspberries over the jam and then sprinkle with the remaining crumble mixture, gently pressing the crumble into the top of the jam.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the bars are lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.  Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Please check out all the recipes from May's Blogger C.L.U.E. Society posts:

Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva

Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen

Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch

Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen

Kim from Liv Life

Stacy from Food Lust People Love

Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch

Kathleen from Bakeaway with Me

Anna from Anna Dishes

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Jean from Lemons and Anchovies

Heather from girlichef

Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Christiane from Taking on Magazines

Debra from Eliot's Eats

Lora from Cake Duchess

Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme

Rebekah from Making Miracles

Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Chocolate, Coconut, Butterscotch and Oatmeal Cake Cookies | Blogger C.L.U.E. Society

Are you still sleepy from turning the clocks forward an hour?  Flipping the time forward is a love/hate thing for me.  I love that it stays lighter in the evenings but hate that it is dark in the morning – so much harder to giddy up in the AM.  After a few days, I am completely use to the change and when summer approaches, I absolutely love staying outside sipping wine with my husband in the warm evenings with the sounds of the fountain running in the background.

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It is time for Blogger C.L.U.E Society and this month’s theme is potatoes.  If we could not find a recipe that we liked, then we could select something with starch we find comforting.  Hey, vodka is actually made from potatoes.  I was paired with Ramonafrom Curry and Comfort this month.  She was born in Sri Lankabut spent the majority of her lifetime in America.  She loves comfort food and meshes her two cultures together to share an abundance of wonderful recipes.

I love cookies, so I went to her recipe index to peruse her choices and this was prior to reviewing the theme for the month.  She had a unique theme in place with her cookie recipes in the fact that she used a box of cake mix for the majority of her recipes.  I was intrigued.  I actually love a cake from a mix every once in a while, so I had to imagine that cookies would taste pretty darn good. I selected her Coconut Butterscotch Cake Cookies.  Then I remembered, I needed to check on the theme and it required potatoes or a starch. I adore oatmeal and it is a starch.  I decided I would add oatmeal to the cookies for texture and flavor along with meeting this month’s challenge.

I used a white cake mix instead of yellow and added chocolate chunks along with the butterscotch chips and coconut.  The end result was one DARN good cookie that was soft and super tasty.  My hubby was in cookie heaven and was simply amazed how you could make cookies out of a cake mix.  I will be making these again. Thank you Ramona for such inspiration!

Chocolate, Coconut, Butterscotch and Oatmeal Cake Cookies

Makes 32 cookies

1 box of White Cake Mix

1 Cup Butterscotch Chips

½ Cup Chocolate chunks or chips

½ Cup Sweetened Coconut

½ Cup Oats

2 Eggs

½ Cup Vegetable Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer, add the cake mix, eggs and vegetable oil. Slowly mix until combined.  Add the coconut and oats then mix again.  Finally add the butterscotch and chocolate chips to the mixture and mix well.

Use a small one inch ice cream scooper to form one in balls.  Place about 1 ½ inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Best to use a non-stick or spray sheet prior to placing cookie dough.  When the edges begin to turn brown, they are ready.  Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for a minute or two, and then remove cookies and place on a wire rack to cool.  Store in an airtight container.

Bacon Wrapped Potatoes w/ Sriracha Sauce by Debra from Eliot's Eats

Bacon-wrapped Smashed Redskin Puffs by Stacy from Food Lust People Love

Balsamic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Basil Lime Gin Gimlet by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva

Cheddar Scallion Potato Buns by Lora from Cake Duchess

Chicken Pot Pie by Heather from girlichef

Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup by Kim from Liv Life

Chocolate, Coconut, Butterscotch and Oatmeal Cake Cookies by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Daisy's Noisette Potatoes by Janet from Cupcakes to Caviar

Honey Dijon Roasted Potato Salad by Ramona from Curry and Comfort

Irish Brown Bread by Kathy from Bakeaway with Me

Irish Old Fashioned Cocktail by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva

Okie Peasant Potato Soup by Christiane from Taking on Magazines

Orange Scented Valentine Sugar Cookies

Love is in the air.  The images of heart shaped objects abound during this time of year.  Whether you walk into a department store or your local drug store, you can’t help but be bombarded with the iconic symbol of love – the heart.  My hubby always calls Valentines Day, the hallmark holiday.  It got me thinking, what is the actual origin of this multimillion dollar holiday for retailers. Okay after reading here, I learned that it is beyond an obsessive retail holiday but a real holiday.  I knew that deep down, but had to check myself.

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Hubby and I have been consumed this season with watching what I deem – “Love Movies” on the Hallmark Channel.  They are a collection of new movies created for 2015 that simply make you feel good.  In our world of negative news, it is quite refreshing to watch a happy movie that warms your heart and reveals the meaning of love.  Hubby and I are romantics to the core.  We met years ago on a blind date and by the third date, we knew we would be together forever.  This September we will celebrate our 17^th wedding anniversary and he proposed just after knowing each other for a little over five months.  Everyone would always say to me – “you will know when it is the right person, you just know”.  It is hard to put into words, the “you just know thing” – but I can vouch that it is true. I feel like the last 17 years simply flew by and I am excited about our continued journey - just want it to slow down just a bit. Each year gets better and better and I love him more each day.

I can’t believe that it will be seventeen years this year – it has gone by way too fast.  When most of the time, it is easy; that is the sign of a good marriage.  A few of the secrets to having a solid marriage is having straightforward communication, respect for one another, being supportive, trustworthy and keeping the romance alive.  In addition, doing nice things for one another and spending quality time together.  Hubby loves to be nurtured and loves that I bake for him.  Since the love holiday is around the corner, I thought I would make some Orange Scented Valentine Sugar Cookies for my darling hubby.  Our orange tree is pretty loaded with these sweet gems and when I used the micro plane for the zest, the scent permeated the kitchen.  The addition of the orange was the perfect compliment and these cookies simply delighted my hubby. 

Orange Scented Valentine Sugar Cookies

Makes 40 Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Zest of one Orange

Beat the butter until softened, add sugar, egg, flour, salt and vanilla extract, orange zest and mix until combined. Chill dough for 1-2 hours. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface until it is 1/4-inch thick. Use 2 inch heart shaped cookie cutters to cut out the dough and place the cookies 2-inches apart onto cookie sheets lined with parchment or silpats.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are light brown.

Icing

3 Cups Confectioners sugar

8 teaspoons Orange Juice

4 teaspoon Water

Red Paste Food Coloring

Use 3 medium size bowls.  Place one cup of confectioner’s sugar in each bowl.  Add 4 teaspoon of orange juice to the first bowl and 4 teaspoon of orange juice to the second bowl and 4 teaspoon of water to the third bowl.  Use three different spoons – one for each bowl.  Mix the sugar and liquid in each bowl until really smooth.  The bowl with the water will be your white icing.  Next add just a drop or two of the red food coloring to the second bowl and mix to make a pink frosting.  For the third bowl add 6 to 7 drops of the red food paste to make a dark red icing.  You may need to add a bit more water to any of them to make smooth.

Lightly dip the top of each cooled cookie in the desired color icing. Let the excess drip back into the bowl by gently shaking.  Lay on a cookie rack to dry.  Will take 3 to 4 hours to completely dry.  Repeat until all cookies are iced.

Sparkly Shortbread Cookies | Blogger C.L.U.E. Society

Hubby and I took down the last vestige of holiday decorations on Sunday.  Not sure about you, but I get to a point where I have enjoyed the holidays so much that when the New Year rolls around, it is time to pack these treasures away in anticipation of the day after Thanksgiving when the whole decorating process begins again.  The house looks sparse but that is how it is actually year round, just seems that way – a bit of holiday deception I guess. 

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Now with the holidays behind us, it is time to make those resolutions for 2015 and set those goals and hit the ground running again.  I am excited for a new year and feel positive for what lies ahead. With that a new group I joined Blogger C.L.U.E. Society is in its 3^rd month of existence.  Each month a theme is chosen and we are assigned a fellow blogger who does not know that we have them.  We peruse their site for a recipe that catches our eye and fits into the theme for the month.  For January, the theme is “something sparkly” – think champagne, sparkly sugar topped desserts, even sea salt garnished dishes.

I was absolutely THRILLED to have received Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch.  Azmina and I have known each other for several years and she is simply a doll.  She recently had her second baby which keeps her and hubby quite busy – they are DARLING little guys.  Azmina is smart, talented, funny, warm, kind hearted and simply a great person to hang out with.  I am fortunate enough to actually see her this coming Saturday since a group of Bay Area Bloggers are getting together for our annual cookie exchange – a bit overdue from the holidays but better late than never.  I simply can’t wait to spend the day with everyone. Here is a photo from last year's get together at my house:

Left to right:  Lisa from Ravishing Hunger, Jean from Lemon and Anchovies, Azmina from Lawyers Loves Lunch, Patty from Patty's Food, Me, Gina from SPCookieQueen and Liren from Kitchen Confidante

A little know fact that you may or may not know about Azmina is that she was a contestant on Master Chef, season one.  She made it to number 16 and then unfortunately was sent home.  I remember reading about it prior to meeting her in person and thought it was so cool that she took that leap of faith.

After cruising through all of her simply tasty recipes, I had the theme challenge in mind and selected her Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies.  They looked and sounded simply perfect.  Instead of chocolate, I made a simple icing and dipped in various sparkly sugars to fit the theme.  The outcome just made me smile.  Trust me – they are divine and you will have a hard time eating just one. 

Sparkly Shortbread Cookies

¾ pound Butter (3 sticks), room temperature

1 Cup Sugar

2 teaspoon pure vanilla

3 ½ Cup Flour

¼ teaspoon Salt

Vanilla Glaze

2 Cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 to 3 teaspoons of water

In a bowl add the sugar and vanilla.  Slowly add one teaspoon at a time of water and stir.  Continue to add until the consistency is slightly thick but the glaze will drip off the cookie when dipped.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the room temperature butter and beat with the paddle attachment until creamy.  Add the sugar, vanilla and salt and beat until well combined.  Slowly add the flour until all is incorporated.

Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into two flat disks.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes. 

Roll the dough ½ inch thick and cut into a 3 by 1 inch rectangle. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

When the cookies are cool dip into the vanilla glaze and let the excess drip off, then sprinkle with your choice of sparkly toppings.  Set on a rack to dry and then enjoy.

Sparkly Shortbread Cookies from Lisa of Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Cherry and Cream Pavlova from Ramona of Curry and Comfort

Pomegranate Champagne from Christy of Confessions of a Culinary Diva

Rosemary Peach Sparkling Cocktail from Alice of A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen

tba from Azmina of Lawyer Loves Lunch

Maple, Caramel, Golden Sugar  Blondies from Kelli of Kelli's Kitchen

Strawberry Champagne Cocktail from Stacy of Food Lust People Love

Milky Way Martini from Aly of Cooking in Stilettos

Cornish Game Hens with Whisky Herb Citrus Glaze Lea Ann of Cooking on the Ranch

Peach Buckle from Anna of Anna Dishes

Potato Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette from Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm

Lemon-Ginger Crinkle Cookies from Jean of Lemons and Anchovies

Soft Pretzel Sticks with Spicy Mustard Sauce from Heather of girlichef

Salted Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Blood Orange Margaritas from Liz  of That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Mini Cinnamon Rolls from Kate of Kate's Kitchen

Brown Butter, Brown Sugar Banana Bread from Christiane of Taking on Magazines

Cardamom White Chocolate Panna Cotta from Debra of Eliot's Eats