Holiday Baking Extravaganza

A bit delayed (crazy week at work), but on Sunday my friend Alex and I had a baking extravaganza! Nothing like a solid 5 hours of baking to make you forget your recent break-up. Seamus who? We were machines! Not gonna lie, after Sunday even I was sick of baking. Hard to believe, I know. 

On the menu were Cherry Almond Ornament Cookies, Chocolaty Caramel Thumbprints, Christmas Tree Rice Krispie Treats, and more sugar cookies.

Doesn't she look just like Little Suzy Homemaker in her pearls and apron??  Too cute! Also,
notice the ENORMOUS plate of sugar cookies that we had to frost. Luckily, we enlisted
the help of Alex's amazing husband, Nathan so we weren't decorating well into the night!

Since I didn't help much with the cherry almond ornament cookies I will try to convince Alex to post a how-to on her blog over at Allie Inbetween. Seeing as I've already devoted an entire post to sugar cookies and royal frosting, and I'm pretty sure everyone can handle rice krispie treats, lets focus on the chocolaty caramel thumbprints. These things were divine. 

Chocolaty Caramel Thumbprints

1 egg
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
16 vanilla caramels, unwrapped
3 T whipping cream
1 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1 tsp shortening

Alex and I came across the recipe on Better Homes & Garden's All-Time Favorite Christmas Cookies list. The recipe looked a bit intimidating since there were several different steps, but it was actually relatively simple.

Making the dough was pretty self-explanatory. I would caution the recipe advised chilling the dough for at least two hours before rolling into balls, coating in egg whites, and covering with chopped pecans. You know how impatient I am so clearly I didn't follow the instructions. Hey I had a birthday dinner to get to!  If you decide to make these I highly suggest following the instructions and chilling for at least two hours because my hands were covered in gooey chocolate dough by the time I was done. The recipe said it would make 36 cookies, but I definitely only ended up with around 26. I'm not sure if this was due to me making abnormally large cookies (I swear they were 1 inch) or because half the dough ended up on my hands. Either way, if you actually need 36 cookies I suggest doubling the recipe.

Also, because the dough is coated in egg whites, even after baking, the dough will still appear glossy and may look a little gooey/raw. To avoid overcooking, gently tap the edges of the cookies when they come out of the oven, and if they feel firm they are probably done. My thumbprints puffed up slightly when they were baked so I used the back of a tablespoon to make deeper indentations before spooning the melted caramel into the center of the cookies.

Alex and I were a bit pressed for time so instead of heating the chocolate in a saucepan over low heat we cheated a little and used the microwave. I despise heating chocolate anyways because it seems like I always end up burning it.

I'm pretty sure I could have eaten all of these by myself. Yum!

I absolutely loved these cookies, and they look so fancy. I will most certainly be adding them to my holiday go-to recipes in future years. What are some of your favorite holiday cookie recipes?