Foodie Friday: Cookies Plus Book Giveaway

Welcome to the November 18th Foodie Friday.

Today, I've got cookies on my mind.

When I need a dessert but I'm in a rush, I'm fond of gilding store-bought cookies.

What You Need:

• Store bought cookies (or homemade, of course!)
• Microwave dipping chocolate
• peanut butter chips
• squeeze bottle (a clean mustard bottle will work--or a fork, if you have a steady hand).
• waxed paper

Melt the chocolate according to directions on the container. Melt the peanut butter chips in the microwave (I add a bit of milk after microwaving until the mixture reaches a "spreadable" consistency.

Dip each cookie, just the edge. Alternate chocolate and peanut butter. Place remaining chocolate into a squeeze bottle. Set on waxed paper and drizzle.

Today, I've got a great cookie recipe from New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde. If you've read her novel The First Love Cookie Club (Avon), then you know about her delicious Kismet Cookies.

“On Christmas Eve, if you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your one true love, he will be your destiny.”

The townsfolk of Twilight, Texas, believe the legend, but not Sarah Collier—not since she was a pudgy teenager, running down the church aisle on Christmas Day in a jingle bell sweater and reindeer antlers, trying to stop Travis Walker from marrying someone else. She may be grown up, slimmed down, bestselling children’s book author “Sadie Cool” now, but Sarah will never forget that day. And she’ll never fall foolishly in love again!

But when a letter from a sick fan brings Sarah back to Twilight, she’s shocked to discover that Travis is the little girl’s father—unattached and hotter than ever. His movie-star smile still makes her melt, but Sarah knows that ship has sailed. Travis, however, might have different ideas.

And just because you don’t believe in fairy tales doesn’t mean they won’t come true…

Kismet Cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon table salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

¾ cup shredded coconut

1 ½ cups dried cranberries

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts toasted (optional)

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1-3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whish for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. *

*Yes, it’s painstaking but don’t skip this step!

Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in rolled oats, coconut, dried cranberries and macadamia nuts, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Sleep with them under your pillow on Christmas Eve and dream of your one true love.

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of The First Love Cookie Club, just leave a comment and mention your favorite cookie recipe.

The winner will be announced Tuesday, November 22nd, along with the winner of Piper Maitland's Kindle contest.

You can visit Lori at her blog, Wilde Life, and she often posts recipes (and don't miss her on-going series The Clone, which is hilarious!). I'm delighted to tell you that Lori has written three new books in this fabulous bestselling series. The first is Carrie: The Christmas Cookie Chronicles (ebook, $1.99).

About the book:

Come join a meeting of the First Love Cookie Club!

“On Christmas Eve, if you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your own true love, he will be your destiny.”

Carrie MacGregor doesn’t believe this—not one bit. She might be a “paid up” member of the Cookie Club and the local Sweethearts Knitting Club, but she’s not about to give in to the forced ho-ho-ho of the season. And why? Mark Leland. When he left town he broke Carrie’s heart. Now, the local-guy-made good is back, hosting the reality show “Fact or Fantasy.”


Fact: Mark broke her heart. Fantasy: her friends think they’ll be getting back together. But could the magic of a Twilight, Texas Christmas make Carrie’s secret dreams come true?

Coming on November 29 is The Christmas Cookie Chronicles: Raylene, available at Amazon, B&N, and other retailers.
(Avon Impulse, $1.99.)

The third book, Christine's story, will be published December 20th! If I could live anywhere, I'd pick Twilight, Texas. I can't wait to return to this fictional place and catch up with Carrie, Raylene, and Christine (and speaking of new places to live, I have some upcoming news about that so stay tuned). You can read more about these books at Lori's website.

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