Well, it's here - the last day of my 2016 cookie tour! I decided to make my last cookie be one with my favorite flavor - mocha! Since I'm avoiding coffee right now, I've talked myself into being allowed to eat mocha-flavored goodies ;)

These cute little cookies don't have any pretzel in them, but they are formed into the shape of a pretzel! You really can't go wrong with these!

I hope you've enjoyed my cookie tour and I am always up for suggestions on new recipes!

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes (includes chill time)
Chilling Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 dozen

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white chocolate melting bits (for drizzling)

Mocha Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons hot coffee or espresso
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, chocolate and vanilla; mix well.
2. Combine flour and salt and gradually add to cream mixture. Mix until just combined. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place parchment paper on 2 baking sheets.
4. Split dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long log and cut into 12 pieces. Then, roll each of these pieces into a 9-inch rope. Form dough into pretzel shapes and place pretzels on prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for 7 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheets for 1 minute before moving to wire cooling racks.
6. Once cookies are completely cooled, combine all mocha glaze ingredients and whisk until smooth. Dip the front side of cookies in the glaze and place on waxed paper. Allow the glaze to set. Then, melt white chocolate and drizzle over cookies with pastry bag or spoon. Enjoy!!

Source:  Taste of Home

Ever since I was a baby, my family spent our Christmases in Lancaster visiting my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was always such a joyful time playing games, opening presents, and eating a TON of candy and cookies. Even though my grandpa was a dentist, he had the biggest sweet tooth of them all! 

My mom was telling me about how my grandma would make dozens upon dozens of her delicious cookies, and grandpa would always be there to help take the trays out of the oven and be grandma's helper :) I am so blessed to have married a guy just like that - I came home last night to find Mike making the batter for pizzelles and sugar cookies without telling me! I just love how he can do so many things inside and outside of the house!

Some of my favorite foods of Christmas include grandma's sugar cookies and ham sandwiches in the evening, Wilbur chocolates, and my Aunt Leslie's M&M cookies!
My sister doesn't usually like too many sweets, but these M&M cookies are eaten by the handful when she sees them! I'm so glad my Aunt Leslie shared the recipe, because we will be home for Christmas again this year, as we prepare our own holiday traditions in our house!

You really can't go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie that uses M&Ms instead of chocolate chips!

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: About 5 dozen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 11-ounce package M&Ms Minis Baking Bits (or use can use regular M&Ms - see below)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla and mix until creamy.
4. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Fold in the M&Ms (don't use a mixer, as they will break).
5. Roll 1-inch balls of dough and place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 8-11 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Store in a tightly covered container. Enjoy!!

Source: Aunt Leslie Staskel!

I love every opportunity that I have to spend with my mom and dad! Last Friday after school was over, I met my parents for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - which just so happened to cater our wedding! - before checking out the Irwin Christmas cookie tour. The Colonial Grille is our favorite Sunday breakfast hang out with a delicious breakfast buffet, and the best coffee you can get! It just kills me to not be able to drink the coffee right now! Chocolate milk will have to do :-)

Irwin is a great little town that is really being spruced up to bring in a new crowd! There are lots of cute shops, bakeries, and a renovated theater called The Lamp that was really big in its time. Now, I may be a bit partial, but the best part of Irwin is our amazing Catholic church, Immaculate Conception! Just look how beautiful it is during the Christmas season!

During our cookie tour, my mom and I stopped in The Cheesecake Café. We decided to purchase a few pieces of cheesecake, which were delicious! On the way out, we sampled the Oreo cheesecake cookies and loved them right away! Thankfully we got the recipe and had to try it this week! For only having five ingredients, these cookies are amazing and simple! As silly as it may sound, they remind me a lot of one of my favorite blizzards at Dairy Queen - Oreo Cheesequake!

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (includes chilling time)
Chilling Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
• 10 Oreo cookies, crushed into small pieces

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat well.
2. On low speed, add in flour until just incorporated. Fold in Oreos until evenly distributed.
3. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, and up to 2 hours.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
   
5. Scoop out a Tablespoon of dough and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until just golden at the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving cookies to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Source: The Cheesecake Cafe in Irwin

Pittsburgh is such a cool place to live! There are so many things to do around the city including a lot of holiday events. Pittsburgh also recently become a restaurant hotspot with lots of craft breweries. It's a great little city to visit if you are not from around here and ever get the chance to check it out! We have one of the best orchestras in the world, and Mike and I get to spend one of our last date nights attending the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Highmark Holiday Pops concert! Hopefully, baby will like the concert too :)

​Last year, my mom and sister went to the cookie tour in Lawrenceville, which is a neighboring community of Pittsburgh. Sadly, by the time they got there, most of the cookies were gone. However, they managed to grab quite a few recipes from the local businesses! This is one recipe they definitely had to try! If you like ginger snaps or gingerbread cookies, you will definitely like this modern twist!

Now, I have to be honest… I have been so busy with school and trying to manage some relaxation time, that my mom helped out by making these cookies for me! While I did take this picture, she surprised me by bringing these cookies one day! After all, isn't that what moms are for??

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (includes chilling time)
Inactive Time: 30 minutes
Baking Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 15 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Granulated sugar, for rolling

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat well to combine oil, butter, sugar, eggs, molasses and cocoa powder.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. On low speed, incorporate into the wet ingredients, until just combined. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Use a mini cookie scooper or roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place sugar in a small bowl or plate with sides. Roll dough balls in sugar and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Since these are smaller cookies, you can fit 20 cookies on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 7 minutes or until cookies are set. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

​
Source:  Recipe from A Bountiful Kitchen and presented at Lawrenceville's Joy of Cookies Cookie Tour 2015