Grasshopper Cake Mix Cookies

Oh My Lanta were these goooood. Mint and chocolate were just made for each other. As much as I've tried to be good in the treat department, I could not say no to these addicting little bites. A chewy cake mix cookie base (oh the ease!), followed by fluffy refreshingly minty frosting, and topped off with milk chocolate ganache and I'm sold. Be sure to check your will power at the door and give yourself permission to enjoy every single bite down to the last crumb. A true winner and keeper of a recipe.

Grasshopper Cake Mix Cookies

{Recipe from Six Sisters Stuff . com}

Cookie Base:

1 devil's food cake mix

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

Mix all ingredients in mixer. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 6-9 minutes (I found mine to be right around the 7 1/2 min. range). Do not overcook, you want them to be chewy once cooled, so take them out when you still think they're underdone. They will continue to cook on the cookie sheet and firm up as they cool.

Peppermint Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 T milk

2+ cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 t peppermint extract

Green food coloring

Whip together butter, sugar, milk, and peppermint extract. Add more sugar or milk depending on desired consistency. Mix in about 8 drops of green food coloring and generously frost tops of each cooled cookie.

Chocolate Ganache: (My version)

Milk chocolate chips (about a cup?)

Couple tablespoons of heavy cream

Melt chips and cream together in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time until chocolate is fully melted and blended with cream. Spread a spoonful of ganache on top of each mint frosted cookie and ideally (read: if you can actually make yourself wait that long) let chocolate set-up before eating.

OR Chocolate Topping: (from Original Recipe)

2 1/4 cups semi sweet chips

3/4 cups butter

Melt together chips and butter in microwave, stir until smooth. Top each frosted cookie with some of the melted chocolate.

Yields: 2 dozen more or less

Caramel Iced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh fall, how we love the food you bring into our lives! Pumpkin, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and caramel icing=fall in wonderful cookie form. These are less cake-y then other pumpkin cookies I've made and I find I like both ways. If your pumpkin cookie recipe is the thick, cake-y kind, give these a try just to mix it up a bit. And then go and pair them with your favorite autumnal soup and you're set in both the fall meal department and the happy family at dinnertime department.

Caramel Iced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

{The icing adds a nice fancy touch, but is not necessary. The cookies were fabulous plain too. Recipe source: The Sisters Cafe}

Cream together:

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

Then add:

1 cup pumpkin

1 t vanilla

1 egg

Sift together dry ingredients then add to above wet mixture:

2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1 t pumpkin pie spice (i just added a little nutmeg to the already called for cinnamon)

1/4 t salt

Add 1 cup milk chocolate chips and chopped walnuts to taste if desired.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Allow to cool then ice:

Icing:

In saucepan, heat 3 T butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar over medium heat until bubbling. Stir in 1/4 cup milk and 2 cups powdered sugar until smooth. While still warm drizzle over cooled cookies. If it gets too thick to easily drizzle just re-warm over low heat and try again.

Chocolate Chip Magic Cookies

Everyone has their most favorite chocolate chip cookie and I have several favorites that change often depending on my mood. Sometimes I'm in a ground oatmeal, refrigerated dough thick cookie mood, other times it's a toasted nut thinner cookie mood, and still other times I want a good old back of the nestle toll house package recipe special.

Right now my favorite are these "magic" cookies. I don't know why they're called magic, other than the fact that when I take a bite it's magic! Somehow these seem like a good every day chocolate chip cookie, like they're easier and quicker to throw together and bake off or something. I don't know if they really take any less time than my other recipes, but I do know that they are chewy and chocolate-y and some of the best cookie-dough eating yumminess I've had in a while. Just be sure than you actually bake some, it's gonna be hard though-believe me. Oh and don't forget the milk!

Chocolate Chip Magic Cookies

{Feel free to mix it up some with your add-ins, this is a great basic dough recipe. We like a combination of milk and semi-sweet chips with chopped walnuts. I've also thrown in some peanut butter chips with the regular chocolate chips and left out the nuts and hoo-boy that was a treat. M&M's would be delicious, I'm always sad when I never have any on hand. And of course the ever popular white chocolate chips with macadamia nut combo would work really well too. As they say "whatever floats your boat".}

2 cups + 2 T flour

1/2 t baking soda

1 1/2 sticks (12 T) melted and slightly cooled salted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg + 1 yolk, at room temp

2 t vanilla

1 1/2 cups add-ins i.e. chocolate chips, nuts, m&m's...

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour melted butter and sugars in bowl of mixer and beat until well-combined (2 minutes-ish). Add the egg, yolk, vanilla, and salt and stir until mixed. Gradually add the flour and baking soda. It may look crumbly, but just keep mixing. Stir in chocolate chips, etc.

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place on sil-pat lined cookie sheet a good 2 inches apart. Bake for about anywhere between 12-15 minutes. The centers should be soft and puffy. You want them seem a little underdone when removed from oven. They'll continue cooking on the cookie sheet. Let stay cool on sheets for 2-3 minutes before removing to wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 18-20 largish cookies.