Chocolate Chip Roll-Out Cookies

After experimenting with those fun Cookie Pops, I decided to experiment with different cookie flavors.  I needed to find some recipes that would be fairly easy to prepare without too many different ingredients (my four Peas don't let me linger too long in the kitchen these days). 

I started out by visiting one of my favorite bloggers, Sweet Sugarbelle, to see if she had any recipe ideas.  I was really excited to see a few fun flavors!  The question would be, are they easy and quick to prepare??

The first flavor I tried...Chocolate Chip:

These were good!!  The dough was fairly quick to whip up, but the "chill for 30 minutes" threw me off a bit.  I'm used to rolling out and stamping my dough immediately.  I also think this dough will work best with medium shape cutters that don't have small angles...for example, I would probably stick with basic shapes (circle, square, oval, etc), instead of intricate cutters (some animals, leaves, etc).  This is because of the chocolate chips.  You need to press the cutters down pretty hard to cut through the dough, and small areas will probably break off easily from the chocolate chips.  Also, I will cook them for a bit longer next time...they were just shy of being undercooked, and I think another minute or two would have helped.  I will definitely be making these again!!!

Cookie Pops

From the beginning, I always told myself that I would never try cookie pops.  I was terrified of them!  How would the sticks be strong enough to hold up an icing covered cookie?!  When I saw Sweet Sugarbelle's post about making cookie pops, she made it look so easy that I went against my fears.

 

 

Sugarbelle suggested making the cookie a bit thicker, which I did.  My cookies are normally 1/4" thick, but for these made them 3/8" thick.  I was lazy, and really didn't feel like going to the craft store to hunt for the cute swirly sticks...but then I remembered that I had a bunch left over from my oldest Pea's birthday party a couple of years ago!  I found them and shoved those suckers in the unbaked cookies (about half way).

 

They came out of the oven perfectly...the stick didn't show on the back and nothing happened to the stick (I was a little nervous about putting the stick in the oven).  I let them cool and sit for 8 hours before I even touched them!

 

I decorated them and followed Sugarbelle's last step, which was inserting one of those white lollipop sticks (I used them when I made chocolate lollipops) into the decorative swirly stick and adding a bead of white icing at the bottom to prevent it from slipping out.  Worked like a charm!

 

 

I was really surprised how sturdy they turned out.  I think I've finally gotten over my fears of making the pops...now my next concern is presentation.  What are some ways these cookie pops can be displayed?  I would love to hear your ideas!!

Happy 2014!

Happy New Year everyone!  Boy, what a roller coaster 2013 was.  In one month I went from "Three Peas and a Dog", to "Four Peas and no Dog"...  In October, we were blessed with our fourth "Pea"...

and were devastated by the passing of our Bullie...

 

 

Our Bulldog, Ozzie, was diagnosed with Hermangiosarcoma back in September.  We found out after she had emergency surgery on her abdomen.  The tumor had been sent out to the lab and came back positive for the aggressive cancer.  There is currently no cure for this disease, and we were fortunate enough to enjoy another month and a half with her.  I was just so thankful she didn't pass away while I was delivering Pea #4...she waited until I came home.

 

 

Little Miss Sloane, our 4th and final Pea, was born on October 4th.  She's really been a wonderful baby, and the other Peas are completely in love with her.  I was so nervous about adding another Pea to our family, since we were already outnumbered...but she fits right in! 

 

So, now that the New Year has started, I have also started getting back into the swing of things.  Cookie baking has commenced, and I have also made a promise to myself to keep up with my blogging.  Over the winter break, I started experimenting with some new cookie flavors and ideas.  My next post will cover those yummy cookies!

 

On a side note, I will be keeping my "Three Peas and a Dog" name for a bit (we plan on adding a furry friend to our family later on in the year), but I will eventually change it to add in that fourth addition.