Peppermint Cookie Puppy Chow

It's that time of year again where people scramble around the grocery stores trying to figure out just what it is that they want to make for the holidays. I, thankfully, am not one of those people. My list of appetizers, desserts, and side dish options is endless. What to make for which family however, is a tough choice for me. I celebrate Christmas with three different families and this year I decided that I would bring something different to each celebration. The first and easiest dish: puppy chow, a much loved crowd pleaser kicked up a notch.

The original puppy chow is loved by most but it's the holidays people! Time to spice things up and do something different. While walking around the grocery store one day, I saw mini candy cane Oreo's. Now I don't really care for Oreo's but it did give me an idea. I grabbed a big box and a few other ingredients that I thought go well with the Oreo's and headed home. The recipe turned out so well that I knew I needed to post it right away for those of you who are still pondering your options.

• 1 box Chex cereal
• 1 family sized box candy cane mini Oreo's
• 1 10oz. bag Special Dark Hershey's Kisses
• 1 10oz. bag Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Evenly separate cereal into two large bowls; set aside. Unwrap Hershey's Kisses and place in microwave safe bowls (keeping flavors separate). 

Add 1 cup of Oreo's to food processor and pulse until cookies have turned to small crumbs. Set aside.

Melt dark chocolate in the microwave; heating for 30 second increments until smooth. Pour over one bowl of cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Add 1/2 of the crushed Oreo's and stir again until coated.

Pour into large reclosable plastic bag or paper bag and add all of the powdered sugar. Shake until well coated; there will be a lot of excess powdered sugar, this is okay, you still have another batch of cereal to add.

Repeat with candy cane kisses. Once second bowl of cereal is evenly coated with melted chocolate, add the remaining crushed Oreo's. Add to bag with powdered sugar and shake to coat. Once combined, add what's left of the box of Oreo's and shake to combine. Allow to cool and enjoy!

* Puppy chow can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. 

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles with Cinnamon Chips

Remember that cookie swap I mentioned before? Well, yesterday I woke up bright and early to start baking cookies for the cookie swap today. I had 7 dozen to make and wanted to make sure I had time to get them done, packaged, and taste tested of course. My alarm went off at 7:30 and I hopped out of bed and got to work. Last year I brought chocolate snickerdoodle cookies to the swap so this year I wanted to step up my snickerdoodle game and make something a little more unique.

After searching through cookie recipes for what seemed like days, I finally found one that I wanted to try. I tweaked the recipe a bit, headed to the store, got some rest, then got to work. I know most of you are probably thinking "a brown butter cookie? I don't know about that" but trust me, it works. It works SO well actually. The brown butter gives these cookies a slight caramel flavor while the cinnamon chips give them the perfect bite of spice.

I baked cookies for 4 hours...that's right, FOUR hours people. Why? Because this recipe makes a TON of cookies. It's perfect for cookies swaps but not so perfect if you've got a cookie craving and want to whip up a small batch for yourself, so cut it in half or even quarters if you need to.

Yield: 8 dozen

• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)
• 2 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp pure vanilla
• 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
• 1 bag Hershey's cinnamon chips (about 1 2/3 cups)

For the rolling mixture:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tsp cinnamon

In a medium pan, add butter and melt over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Once the butter starts to foam at the top, increase the heat slightly; the color of the butter will change to a dark yellow then brown. As soon as the butter has browned, remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Slowly mix in the brown butter until incorporated then add the Greek yogurt. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt. Once mixed, stir in the cinnamon chips.* 

Working in batches, add the flour to the wet mixture and mix on low. I found it easiest to mix most of the flour and wet ingredients in a mixer then when the dough got too tough for the mixer, I mixed it by hand in the large bowl that had the remaining flour. 

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. When the dough is almost done resting, preheat the oven to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (do not spray with cooking spray). Roll the dough into teaspoon sized balls and then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets; do not flatten the dough, it will flatten on its own as it cooks. Bake for 9 minutes or until the edges start to brown slightly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool then start on the next batch.**

*It is important to add the cinnamon chips to the flour mixture first; when the flour coats the cinnamon chips, it helps them to stick to the wet mixture instead of all settling at the bottom of the bowl. 

**Make sure to keep the dough wrapped in the plastic when not using to prevent it from drying out. 

Recipe adapted from: What Megan's Making

Hearty Turkey Chili

I know I say this every time I get around to finally posting on here but I'm back...I swear. It's been such a hectic December already and we're only a week in. I feel like my entire December is already packed full of plans thanks to cookie swaps, work potlucks, gift making, and Christmas shopping. Before I know it, it'll be Christmas Eve then Christmas Day then 2015. By then I'll have aged 20 more years thanks to all the cooking, baking, gift wrapping, errand running and anything else I can think of except for relaxing and sleeping.

Let me just take a moment to point out that it's soup season. While perusing my favorite TJMaxx, I stumbled upon this little gem: Soup of the Day Cookbook. You read that right, soup of the day, aka 365 soup recipes for every, single, day of the year. Nothing quite beats a warm bowl of soup during the winter months, which in our case here in Wisconsin, lasts from October to March.

Adam wasn't feeling the greatest this weekend so I decided to whip up a big batch of turkey chili to make him feel better. Let's just say, we were more than pleasantly surprised at just how amazing it turned out. Thankfully I made a big enough batch to feed us for dinner tonight and me for dinner at work for the next week...yes, the entire week.

Yield: 8 generous servings

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 3 lbs. 93% lean ground turkey
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 - 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes, no salt added
• 2 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce
• 1 - 4 oz can diced green chiles
• Chili toppings: reduced fat cheddar cheese, light sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, green onions, crackers, etc. 

In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat and add white onions. Saute until slightly transparent (I usually throw the onions in and let them cook until I'm done dicing the red and green peppers). Add the peppers and saute another 2 minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. 

While the turkey cooks, add the stewed tomatoes to a food processor or blender and pulse until coarsely chopped (or in my case, nearly pureed) . Once the turkey has browned, add the chili powder, salt, black pepper, cumin, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and green chiles. Stir until mixed through. Bring to a low boil then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Top with your favorite chili toppings.

* If you like beans in your chili, you can sub one pound of meat for two cans of your favorite beans