White Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Cookies

These are by far my favorite cookies of all time! As soon as cranberry season begins I can't wait to make these cookies. The recipe asks for dried cranberries but like I have stated in earlier posts, I love cranberry, so I refuse to use the dried and go for the fresh. You could also substitute vanilla for the brandy but come on who doesn't like a little alcohol?!

White Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Cookies


Ingredients


1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon brandy
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease cookie sheets.

2. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and brandy. Combine the flour and baking soda; stir into sugar mixture. Mix in the white chocolate chips and cranberries. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Take them out while they are still doughy. Allow to cool for 1 minute on the cookies sheets before transferring.

Peppermint Truffles

As every holiday season, I start to notice a trend in my baking. Two years ago it was cranberries, last year peppermint, this year it's goodies in the shape of a ball. It's quick and easy when I don't have a bunch of extra time (which is all the time). I love that I can roll the dough into a ball and then put it in the freezer until I have time to finish. And that is exactly what I did. I made the dough for the Peppermint Truffle several days ago and just finished them up tonight.

This recipe took a little experimenting. I found a basic recipe for "Easy Decadent Truffles" but I wasn't satisfied with the "easy" part and in normal Kaiti-fashion, I had to turn something easy into something more difficult. Nevertheless, the end result is delicious! I was also bored with vanilla extract so I knew I wanted to replace it with peppermint. And what better pair then peppermint and white chocolate?! Enjoy!!

Here is the "easy" recipe first:


Easy Decadent Truffles


Ingredients

8 oz of softened cream cheese
3 cups confectioner's sugar
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

In large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate chips and vanilla until no streaks remain. Refrigerate and shape into 1 inch balls. Coat in your favorite flavor!


Kaiti's Peppermint Truffles (still amazingly easy)




8 oz softened cream cheese
3 cups confectioners' sugar
3 cups white chocolate, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Directions


In large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate chips and vanilla until no streaks remain. Refrigerate and shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in red sprinkles or coat in melted white chocolate and then roll in sprinkles. 

Oreo Truffles

These are so easy anyone can do it! I found many recipes for Oreo Truffles but the one I decided to go with was from www.bakerella.com (can you tell I love her website?) They are extremely easy to make and extremely hard to put down once you start eating. They are officially a staple in our household for everyday and the holidays.

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients
1 package of Oreo Cookies
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
8 oz melted white chocolate

Directions

1. Place all but 5 Oreo's in a food processor and grind to crumbs. Save the 5 Oreo's for garnish (although I can never wait for the garnish)

2. Combine the Oreo crumbs and the softened cream cheese and mix. I used my KitchenAid mixer instead of my own muscle.

3. Once combined evenly, roll into 1 inch size balls and let cool. I stuck mine in the freezer for about 10 minutes to speed up the process.

4. Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in 15 second increments. Once melted, cover each Oreo ball in the melted chocolate.

5. Let cool and eat!