Bears Cookies

It's football season once again!! It's also the perfect time make roll out cookies and use your football helmet cookie cutters.
I made these for the bears first game of the season using royal frosting and the Spiced Brown Sugar cookies I've made previously. I get so sick of sugar cookies being the cut out cookie of choice so  i really like the spiced brown sugar cookies, which offer just the right amount of spices on a very soft cookie. They're perfect for fall, football season, Halloween, and Thanksgiving so keep them in mind next time you're having a get together this time of year.
Royal frosting is very time consuming. My Mother decided to make helmet cookies for my cousins birthday after i made these and used royal frosting as well and i warned her! Your cookies will turn out beautiful but I wouldn't make these without a whole day to spare with when you're making dough, rolling out, baking, waiting or them to cool, doing outlines, flooding, and putting piping on the top. they're well worth all the time and effort though and everyone loves the end results.

Like last time I used royal frosting, last Halloween with my Chocolate Halloween Cutout Cookies, I used the recipe and tutorial by Annie's Eats

Also, I got my helmet cookie cutter at Sur-La-Table (my favorite store period.)
What cut out cookies are you making this fall?

On the first day of Christmas, Kristen gave to thee...

Okay, so the first post of my 12 days of Christmas Cookies series is actually the first three days.
I know, I know, I should do 12 different posts, but I have a few cookies that are my Christmas staples that were already on my blog and I defiantly won't have the time or the funds for 14 cookies. So I apologize.
So I have a question for all those who are reading my blog, (thank you for doing so), which picture do you like better, the mint chocolate chip cookies or the other two, based on quality that is? Comment on the bottom of this post!
Now for the cookies:
Day 1: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

               These cookies are possibly my favorite cookie for this season. I've been looking forward to making them for a while so that is why I made them first. They're easy to make and oh so delicious. I always eat one fresh out of the oven and then eat one a day in a very specific way: microwave them 8-10 seconds and then dip them in hot chocolate. Uh-may-zing!
Day 2: White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

               Everyone's favorite. I'm serious. If you want something that will impress everyone, make these. The more raspberry the better too. They're so soft and the combination of the raspberry and white chocolate are pretty addictive.
Day 3: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

               I made these last year and I was on the fence about them, however, after giving out my cookies everyone was telling me how much they loved them! There's a hint of chocolate and after a few bites you taste the spicy flavor of the chipotle chile in them. It's a great change of flavor from the usual Christmas cookie. I like the extra details that these cookies have with rolling them in extra sugar, cinnamon, and chipotle. I promise that this will be a cookie that everyone will remember and will ask you about.
I got the recipe from the Busty Baker.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
makes 3 dozen cookies


2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon, (divided)
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile, (divided)
2 sticks unsalted butter, (softened)
1 3/4 cups sugar, (divided)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add vanilla and beat to combine.
Reduce speed and add the flour mixture, beat to combine.
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle.
Form tablespoons of dough into balls and roll in the mixture.
Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.
Bake about ten minutes, or until the cookies begin to crack.
Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to the wire racks to cool completely.

Spiced Halloween Cut Out Cookies

I love Halloween.
There's a good chance it's because my mom refused to decorate or let me dress up as anything scary as a kid. So now I have a love for all things creepy and scary.
My other favorite holiday is valentines day, but you can only truly celebrate it if you're with a relationship and lets face it, there's a good chance that isn't going to happen this year for me so I need to appreciate Halloween while I can.
Don't you love my skull cookie jar? So  cute.
In honor of my favorite holiday, I'm making two posts with two different kinds of cookies, (yay!).
I found these super cute Halloween stencils and I had not ever used them before. I definitely recommend them they are so cute. However. I didn't use frosting and if you do the same don't use the colored spray, use powdered sugar or dark cocoa powder. Or frost it and use the color spray because it is pretty cool!
The cookies were delish also besides just cute. They were soft and had just the right amount of spices, which I was worried about because no one wants an overly spiced cookie. They're a perfect fall cookie, I definatley recommend trying them out. I found the recipe on Annie's Eats. I made almost 30 cookies with this recipe, but it will very on how thick you roll the dough out and what cookie cutters you use.

Spiced Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon all spice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, (packed)
2 sticks of butter, (softened)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl.
In the brown of an electric mixer, combine sugars and butter.
Beat in medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Blend in the egg and vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated.
Form the dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
Chill until firm, at least an hour.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out the dough with your cookie cutters and transfer to the baking sheets.
Bake 10-12 minutes.
Let cool in the baking sheets before allowing to completely cool on the cooking racks.
Decorate and enjoy!