December | 2011 | What Meredith Makes

Today marked the start of my holiday baking. Trust me, I’m extremely ashamed…this is a VERY late start for me. To be honest, I didn’t want to make these. I have been DYING to make gingerbread truffles(recipe is soon to come!) but time was an issue tonight. So instead, I settled on this tasty treat. While they aren’t the fanciest of cookies, they certainly are delicious. And I know what you must be thinking…mint chocolate chip, cake, and cookies? Hey it’s Christmas…why not? Plus, these cookies are as good as they sound. They’re moist like a cake, chewy like a cookie, and chock-full of mint flavor.

The best part about these cookies is how easy they are to make. In less than 20 minutes, I had a batch of two dozen cookies. If you’re looking for a quick, tasty, inexpensive Christmas treat, it’s right here!

Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake Cookies
Ingredients:
1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped mint chocolate chips (I used Andes)
Powdered sugar for garnish (about 1/2 cup)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cookie sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
2) Combine cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until everything is combined. Then, pour in mint chips and stir.

dough + candies

3) Pour powdered sugar into a small bowl. Roll cookie dough into balls and roll around in bowl of powdered sugar until they are coated in a thin layer of the sugar.

: dough ball

rollingggg

4) Place dough balls on cookie sheet and bake for approximately 12 minutes.

dough balls

alllll baked!

5) Cool on cooling rack and enjoy.

christmas cookies!

After I taste-tested a few cookies (as every baker should) I packaged them up to give away to my co-workers in these cute little goody bags. If anything gets me excited for work, it’s this! Countdown to Christmas is on!

cookie bags!

Crockpot Chicken Noodle Veggie Soup

A simple Sunday calls for a simple soup…and it doesn’t get more simple than a crockpot soup. Today I was craving a classic: chicken noodle soup. This was super simple to make and it’s a perfect meal for lunch or dinner. To me, the best thing about preparing a crockpot meal is that you can wing it…as in throw anything into it and make it work…hence my desire to throw in all of my almost-spoiled vegetables. Plus, I improvised the recipe even more, tweaking it to involve certain ingredients I had on hand and needed to use. To be truthful, I didn’t feel well enough to leave my house today, so I had no choice but to use what I had! For instance, I didn’t have any celery on hand, so I substituted a sweet potato instead. Also, I used whole wheat linguine instead of egg noodles, because that’s what I had in my pantry.

I do believe I’ll be eating this soup for the next 5 days…join me!!　

Crockpot Chicken Noodle Veggie Soup
Ingredients

1/4 onion, finely chopped
15-20 mini carrots, thinly sliced
1 sweet potato, chopped (or a rib of celery)
1 cup cauliflower
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 thin chicken breasts
1 large container of low-sodium chicken broth
¾ cup water
Whole wheat noodles of your choice

1) Wash chicken breasts. Place in crockpot, and cover with chicken broth.
2) Cut carrots, onion, sweet potato, cauliflower, and mince garlic. Add to crockpot and cover with remaining broth. Add water and noodles.