Hershey Kiss and Cookie Butter Blossoms

'Tis the season for baking. I received a bag of chocolate kisses from Hershey and Influenster last week. I was puzzled for something different to do with the Kisses besides the same old (and delicious) peanut butter blossoms. It would exclude my eldest who is allergist to peanuts, and I love to experiment. I went to my cupboard to rummage for ideas and pulled out a jar of Trader Joe's Speculos Cookie Butter. The stuff is divine, and I just knew it would compliment the sweet, creamy milk chocolate of a Hershey Kiss!

So here is the nitty gritty of the recipe:

3/4 cup of sugar, plus an additional 1/4 cup to roll cookies
1 stick of butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup of Trader Joe's Speculos Cookie Butter
3/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1 1/2 cups of flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking sheet.

Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl.

In a large separate bowl cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg until incorporated. Beat in Speculos Cookie Butter and vanilla until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined (don't over mix).

Roll dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet. Do not flatten like you usually do with peanut butter cookies.

Bake at 350 for 16 minutes. These cookies tend to be a bit crisper and they don't brown up as much as you'd expect. Do not over bake. When you pull them out of the oven, place an unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the middle. Let set (or don't if you love gooey chocolate) and enjoy!

Wow! Three Years!

I logged in today and noticed my last post was three years ago. So much has happened since then.

Shortly after I posted last, I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant for a third time. Our youngest, Tessa, joined our family in early December 2011. My husband graduated with his bachelor's degree in Youth Ministry two weeks later (well the official date was actually August, but he walked in December). In May of 2012, I lost my job as a resident director and we moved across the state.

My husband was offered a job at a small congregation and worked part time there and part time at Starbucks. After several months searching, I found a job working with a Girl Scouts council. Several months later, Jason accepted a full time job with a church in Texas. A dream come true! No more winters! Full time ministry! And the rest is history.

Caden is now eight and in second grade. Jonathan is five and in kindergarten. Tessa is now two. We've been down here for over a year now and love it. Our first winter was lovely!

I know work for another university in administration. I cannot seem to get away from higher education, but I love the students so much and the flow of university of life. Big or small, a college campus feels like home. I'm considering going back for a master's degree soon.

Whew! So that is the last three and half years in a nutshell. I hope to start posting more again. I've missed it so much. Smooches!