It's cookie time.

Matt didn't start singing along when I starting singing the song from Troop Beverly Hills. I even tried twice. Weak sauce.

I made three kinds of cookies for my neighbor gifts. Most of them were wrapped up on small thanksgiving plates with cellophane but here is a picture of the last four I did today and I just wrapped up the cookies.

Ginger Spice Cookies - Our Best Bites (recipe from Paula Dean)

3/4 C Butter flavored Crisco

1 C sugar, plus more for rolling

1 large egg

1/4 C molasses

2 C flour

2 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground ginger

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray pan lightly with cooking spray. With an electric mixer, combine shortening and sugar and cream until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and the molasses and beat until completely incorporated. Sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt and then add to the mixture. Stir until combined. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set around the edges and you start to see "crackling" on the top. They'll puff up while they're baking and as they cool they'll flatten.
Don't over bake! You want to keep them nice and chewy-soft in the middle

Notes:

1. I used a tablespoon to measure my balls.

2. I cooked them for about 9 minutes. They won't look done but they are.

3. I didn't have cloves so I used allspice.

Shortbread Cookies - Little Birdie Secrets

4 cups flour
1 lb. butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1 bag Wilton Candy Melts or similar melting chocolate (we like "light cocoa" flavor)

Cream the butter and sugar, then add flour and mix well. Roll out on a lightly floured
surface and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
(Start checking after about 20 minutes. You want them to be just barely browning
around the edges.) Yields about 3 dozen cookies, depending on size of your cookie cutter.

Allow cookies to cool. Melt chocolate according to package directions. Dip half of each cookie in chocolate and place on wax paper to cool. When you start running low on chocolate, use a spoon to pour chocolate over cookies. Use the back of the spoon to smooth chocolate around until well-covered.

Notes:

1. I over baked mine a little but they still tasted good. Mine never turned brown but I left them in a couple minutes longer waiting for them to get brown.

2. I used the wilton chocolate but liked the ones I did with milk chocolate melting chocolate a little better.

3. My friend told me she sometimes like to add a little lemon flavor and then dip them in powdered sugar (no chocolate dipping). If I were to do that I would do balls or smaller cookies. That would be a tasty variation if you like lemon.

Peanut Butter Cookies - Allrecipes

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
4. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Notes:

1. These are amazing. I put my butter cups unwrapped in the freezer while I baked my cookies so they would press down easily.

2. I used a table spoon to make my balls and it was the perfect size for a mini muffin tin.

3. The cookies won't look done at all but only cook for 9 minutes. They will be puffed up but when you press the cup in it works out fine.

4. I tried some with a large butter cup in a regular muffin tin and used 2 tablespoons of dough. They were really good but a little over the top. I cooked that pan for 12 minutes.