Yummm, these were great!

They were and I emphasize "Were" delicious. I made them and others as my annual cookie gifts (Our edible Christmas card) for the Mr.s customers. They are so going to love these. Of course they must go through great scrutiny, mine and the Mr.s taste tests first. They'll be lucky if they make it to the customer I seen the "man these are great cookies" in the Mr.s face when he tried them.
They are tender yet crispy, and chocolatey but with great finish. They'll make you crave a glass of milk to dunk them in. I'm scandinavian, we dunk everything :)

Double Chocolate Sable Cookies (France)
From Food Network Kitchens 12 days of cookies

Sable in French means "sandy" — these are a classic French cookie, made out of crumbly chocolate shortbread. To keep them nice and sandy, be extra careful not to overmix the dough. The hint of salt brightens the flavor and underlines the chocolate.



For a special holiday treat, sandwich two of these together with a small scoop of peppermint ice cream.


3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, frozen for 10 minutes
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
5 1/4 ounces (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk

Grate the chilled chocolate with a fine grater or rasp and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and sea salt.

Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until just combined. Mix in the yolk. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and beat lightly together until just combined but still crumbly. Fold in grated chocolate with a spatula. Bring the dough together by lightly squeezing in your hands; but don't knead or overwork, as the secret to these cookies is their delicate, sandy texture.

*(I eliminated this step below and just used a mini cookie scoop the kind similar to an ice cream scoop but smaller and it worked great) YaY, less work and great result.

**Divide the dough in half. Lay half the dough on a long sheet of waxed paper and shape into a log along the width of the waxed paper, leaving some space at each end. Pull the paper over the top of the log. Grip the edge of the top piece of paper, and use a straight, firm edge, like a ruler or the edge of a pan, to press gently against the edge of the dough where the papers come together to create a solid, firm round log. Repeat with remaining dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (To keep logs round store inside an empty paper towel roll.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice logs into 1/2-inch thick rounds with a sharp, thin knife. Divide rounds onto the prepared sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Bake until cookies smell fragrant with a full cocoa aroma and set on the outside, about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pans, about 5 minutes.

Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely. Serve.

Almost Homemade Applesauce Steusel cakes

oven 400 degrees
Bake 18-20 min or until toothpick is clean. Remove from pan after a couple min. and Cool on rack for 15 min.
Makes 12 muffins
1 Pkg. a cinnamon swirl muffin mix or Streusel muffin mix right around 20 oz. or so. (Disregard instruction on box)
1-1/4 cup un-sweetened applesauce
1 lg. egg
1 T. real vanilla extract

Mix together with mixer until mixed and it will be slightly lumpy. Spray with Pam well and fill muffin tins with equal amounts in each holder, Mix topping (Below) to a crumble and hand sprinkle it over each cup of batter

Streusel Topping
the cinnamon sugar packet from box of mix (disregard Instructions on box)
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1-2 T. flour (white or wheat no matter)
2 T. Butter at room temp or slightly melted

Finish with a
Drizzled garnish
1/8 almond flavoring
1 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
Heavy cream or milk enough to make a loose paste
Pop in microwave until thinned down 10-25 seconds watch and check often. Cool a little and put in a baggy and cut the corner for a small spout and drizzle.

they will last 5 days at room temp, ***Not at my house***or freeze up to 6 mo. drizzle when ready to serve if you plan to freeze.

Luscious Low-Fat Chocolate Cheesecake

Luscious Low-Fat Chocolate Cheesecake
Yield: 12 Servings

Ingredients

nonstick cooking spray
16 oz fat-free cottage cheese
3/4 c frozen egg substitute;
-thawed
2/3 c granulated sugar; plus
2 tb granulated sugar; divided
4 oz fat-free cream cheese;
-softened
1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 ts vanilla extract
2/3 c nonfat plain yogurt
*optional
sliced strawberries or
mandarin orange segments for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

2. In food processor, combine cottage cheese, egg substitute, 2/3 cup
sugar, cream cheese, cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth.

3. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 35 minutes, until edges are set.

4. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together yogurt and the remaining 2
tablespoons sugar until well blended. Carefully spread topping over top of
warm cake. Return cake to oven; bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven to cooling
rack. Cool completely. Remove side of pan; refrigerate. Serve with
strawberries or oranges.

Makes 12 servings. Preparation time: 20 minutes. Baking time: 40 minutes.
Chilling time: 3 hours.

Per serving: About 109 cal, 9 g pro, 18 g car, 1 g fat, 8% cal from fat, 2
mg chol, 221 mg sodium, 0 g fiber.

This is my favorite cake, Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

This brings back many good memories for me. My Mom used to make this for me and my Dad for birthdays and special occasions. Yummmmm!
It has that deep chocolate taste and not to sweet. Mom always made homemade butter cream frosting. Either vanilla or chocolate was good.

CHOCOLATE MAYO CAKE

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Lightly grease
two 9 inch layer pans.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, and sugar
into a large bowl. Stir in mayonnaise. Gradually add water
and vanilla and blend until smooth. Pour batter into pre-
pared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Cool,
remove from pans.

Andes mints in cookies

I cannot even begin to tell you how heavenly this smells coming from the oven, Your whole house becomes minty fresh.
I took my favorite cookie recipe for Chocolate chip Cookies and added flair. First let me tell you the peeling of Andes mints can be tedious but worth it. Oh, and I know they make Andes chips(Not the same).
They were a refreshing change from the same old cookie.

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 egg whites
4 eggs
4 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tsp orange extract
1-1/2 cups sliced almonds
2 cups sweetened-dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Whisk together eggs, egg whites, and vanilla or almond extract in a separate mixing bowl.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, mixing just until moist, using an electric mixer on medium speed. Add dried cranberries and almonds; mix thoroughly. If Dough is to soft & sticky to add a little flour.

On floured surface, divide batter in 4 sections and pat each half into a log approximately 12 inches long and 2 inches thick. Place on a cookie sheet and bake 30 minutes or until firm. Cool on a wire rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Cut biscotti into 1/2 inch slices. I use an Electric knife for perfect slices. Place cut biscottis on a cookie sheet and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Let cool and store in a loosely covered container.