Still Alive and Dulce de Leche Thumbprint Cookies!

I can’t believe how long it has been since I’ve been on here. Once I started my fall quarter I just didnt have a moment to stop and think about the blog. I’ve been juggling school and travel. I spend Monday through Thursday with my nose in a book, and then I jump on a train to San Diego for the weekend where I forget about school, books, emails and other technology of that sort. Having a long distance relationship is tough but we are lucky enough to be only be 2 hours away. That’s why I’ve been traveling every weekend, and blogging fell by the wayside in the process. But now I’m back! At least kind of… I’ll be back more fully on Dec. 8th, once I’m done with my first quarter at UCLA!

Now to the important stuff: COOKIES!!! I signed up for a cookie swap with other bloggers about a month ago, and I’ve been meaning to blog about it, and about how excited I am. I’m sending a dozen cookies to three different people, and getting a dozen cookies from three people. Sounds confusing when I put it that way…Bake 3 dozen cookies, get three dozen cookies….So I spent black friday shopping at Trader Joe’s, Henry’s (aka Sprouts) and Food 4 Less to pick up ingredients for 4 dozen cookies I had make (had to bake a batch for the family too!). Not your typical black friday stores but hey, at least I didn’t get pepper sprayed.

Here’s the cookie swap that I joined, hosted by Love and Olive Oil and by The Little Kitchen. Stay tuned for all the recipes! I’ll be posting the cookie recipe I made for the swap soon. In the meantime I might share some of the other amazing cookie recipes I came across while testing for the swap. My freezer is full with cookie dough, and that is what will get me through finals week. This recipe for the Dulce de Leche thumbprint cookies is a good one. Delicious cookies, and beautiful too! They would make a great addition to some of the more traditional holiday cookies!

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

Chocolate and Dulce de Leche Thumbprint Cookies

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

1 egg
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can Dulce De Leche (or make your own from a can of sweet condensed milk)
1 1/4 cups finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Directions

Separate egg; place yolk and white in separate bowls. Cover and chill egg white until needed. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat well. Beat in egg yolk, milk, and vanilla. In another bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until well combined. Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Slightly beat reserved egg white in a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in egg white, then roll in pecans to coat. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.

Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are firm. If cookie centers puff during baking, repress with your thumb. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the dulce de leche into the indentations of the cookies. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. In a saucepan heat and stir chocolate pieces and oil over low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Drizzle chocolate mixture over tops of cookies. Let stand until chocolate is set.

Makes 36 cookies.



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