chocolate- hazelnut drop cookies

wanted to make something yummy for our boat dinner with all the neighbors tonight on the lake. i thought these would be a hit because all kids love chocolate and cookies!

recipe
1c butter, room temperature
1/4c plus 1c powdered sugar
1tsp vanilla
2c flour
1/2c nutella

preheat oven to 35o degrees. grease to baking pans. in an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. then add the vanilla. gradually add in all the flour then the nutella. using a small cookie scoop, drop the batter onto the pans. bake for 10- 12minutes. cool completely then roll the cookies in the powdered sugar. store in an airtight container.

i've never made these before and they turned out really well -- light and buttery. the recipe comes from giada again (starting to really like her cookie recipes!). they are suppose to be relatively small cookies and i was able to get about 3dozen out of the batter. i took them out at 10minutes and made sure to cool completely before adding the sugar. great simple, chocolate cookies ... enjoy.

my last blog before i go down to school, so stay tuned until i'm back home for one of my fall breaks!

peanut butter blackberry jam cookies

i just saw giada making these on her show the other day and thought i'd try them, they looked so good! they stood out to me because they're not your usual combo of cookie ingredients -- peanut butter, chocolate and blackberry jam. but they end up complimenting each other very well ...

recipe
1c flour
1/3c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2tsp. baking soda
1/8tsp. salt
1stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4c peanut butter, room temperature
3/4c sugar, plus 1/4c
1/2c packed light brown sugar
1egg, room temperature
1tsp. vanilla
1/4c blackberry jam

preheat oven to 375degrees. grease to baking sheets. sift together the dry ingredients in one bowl. then in an electric mixer beat the butter, peanut butter and sugars together. add the egg and vanilla. mix until blended then pour in the dry ingredients. form the dough balls and roll in sugar. indent with finger and spoon 1tsp. of jam on each cookie. bake for 11-14minutes. cool and enjoy!

this is my first time making them and i loved how they turned out! giada makes some really good recipes. the only change i made was eliminate the 'rolling in sugar' all together (done it before with for the peanut butter blossoms and thought it was unnecessary and messy!). i baked them for exactly 11minutes and they were slightly undercooked, just the way i like mine. made two dozen cookies. next time i would add more jam ... they just tasted so good with the jam!

coconut macaroons

i've made these before and they are so delicious, that is if you like coconut! very easy to make and requires very little ingredients.

recipe
14oz. sweetened shredded coconut
14oz. sweetened condensed milk
1tsp. vanilla
2large egg whites, room temperature
1/4tsp. kosher salt

preheat oven to 325degrees. combine the coconut, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. whip the egg whites on high speed with a whisked paddle attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. drop the batter onto greased sheet pans with an ice cream scoop. bake fore 25-3o minutes or until golden brown.

this recipes from barefoot contessa, family style. today it was a little tricky for me to bake these. for some reason the batter was runny when i put it in the oven so i tried another batter and whipped the egg whites a little longer (firmer peaks!) and that seemed to help. so remember to make sure the egg whites form peaks. other than that i thought they turned out. baked them for about 15-2o minutes instead. so good!! --oh and you can dip the cooled cookies in melted chocolate which makes them all the more yummy

peach&blueberry crumble

i made this yesterday just for fun. it has finally felt like summer here with weather this week in the 80's, so i thought a nice fruit dessert was in order.

recipe
fruit filling
6-8 firm, ripe peaches
2tsp. grated lemon zest
2tbs. squeezed lemon juice
1/2c sugar
1/4c flour
1c (1/2pint) fresh blueberries

crumble topping
1c flour
1/3c sugar
1/4c brown sugar
1/2tsp. kosher salt
1/4tsp. cinnamon
1stick cold, unsalted butter, diced

preheat oven to 350degrees. to peel the peaches skin off easily you can boil the peaches for 30seconds in  boiling water then place them immediately in cold water. peel the peaches and slice them in wedges. add all the filling ingredients, blueberries last. let the mixture sit for 5minutes then pour into pan. for the topping combine all ingredients in an electric mixture until butter is the size of peas. sprinkle evenly over filling and bake for 40-45minutes. serve warm or room temperature.

this recipe comes from barefoot contessa at home (yet again!) her fruit crisps are the best. never made this one before and thought it turned out really well. nice and crunchy on top with a sweet, gooey filling for the bottom. i took the crumble out at 40minutes and served it with homemade whipped cream. contessa made this recipe as separate crumbles, in individual ramekins, but either way works. easy to make and a great summer dessert!