LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF BREATHS WE TAKE, BUT BY THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Scrappy Jesse's Cookie Exchange Party !

Hi !! Welcome to Scrappy Jesse's 3rd Annual Cookie exchange !! I haven't made our cookies yet for Christmas, but I have to share the BEST cookie recipe EVER !!! This recipe was on Emeril's annual best recipe contest one year and I had to try these as we are Almond Roca-holics in this house. WOW, these are SO good, Hubby sat and ate a whole dozen of them in a half an hour the first time I made them ( Naughty boy !! :) ) And these are a musta gotta each year since :)


Blue Ribbon Almond Roca Cookies
by Lynn Scully, Rancho Santa Fe, California

Ingredients :

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 package toffee bits
1 cup coarsely ground almonds
4 ounces milk chocolate ( I use a Hershey bar )
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Instructions :

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend sugars together on medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste. Add eggs and vanilla and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. At low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and then the toffee bits. Mix until blended, do not over mix.

Place ground nuts in a small bowl. Using hands, roll dough into 1 to 1 1/2" balls, then roll into the ground nuts. Place on cookie sheet, several inches apart. Bake approximately 22 minutes and then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

Melt the chocolate with the vegetable oil in a double boiler ( I melt the chocolate and oil in a zip lock bag in the microwave for a few seconds, then cut off a small corner of the bag for drizzling, Much easier !! Just be careful to watch the chocolate so that it doesn't overcook ) or in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle melted chocolate over cooled cookies with a spoon. Place cookies onto a cookie sheet and place into refrigerator till chocolate is firmly set.

Please Dash over to Miss Jesse's blog to get the links for other great Christmas Cookie Recipes. :)

Enjoy !!

Hugs,

Rhea

14 comments:

Valerie said...

Those sound fantastic - what a better combination of candy and cookies in one!

Love your cooking supplies on your counter - gorgeous.

Lori said...

mmm mmm mmm!!! those sound SO scrumptious!!! thanks for sharing!!!

Joanna {sweet finds} said...

Hi! I am participating in Jessi's cookie exchange too. But no list is up yet. Eeek! :)

Anyhoo, I love your pic. Your kitchen bowls & sugar/flour containers are darling.

Have a great day!
Joanna

GwendolynKay said...

The cookies sound yummo! Look at that old cook book, I bet it has the best recipes in it.
Blessings!
Gwen

Connie said...

I am sooooo glad you're feeling up to cooking/baking, sweetpea! I've been meaning to call you but things have been a bit hectic around here. I'll explain when we talk later. Love having you back on the blogs, sugar.
xoxo,
Connie

Jessi Nagy said...

hey cutie,
eeekkk these sound delish.
oohh im going to have to make these this weekend.
oxoxo,
Jessi

Anonymous said...

Hey chickadee! Beautiful picture and yummy cookies! so glad you posted a recipe! big hugs

toodles-
sarah

mendytexas said...

Well those do look really delicious!! Candy and cookies are the perfect combo! Have fun at the cookie swap! :)mendy

Lib said...

Sounds good!I'm not a Baker !
Hope you're doing great!
Hope you're having a Great wk.
Blessins',Lib

Stephanie O. said...

These look heavenly! Thanks for sharing the recipe. This good party is great fun, isn't it?

Jane said...

Those sound delicious! Must try them.
Jane - Jacksonville

KayEllen said...

Looks great Rhea!!!

Can't wait to try this one :)

Blessing to you sweet lady~~~

Happy Baking!!

KayEllen

Scrap It Swanky Sister said...

Yum, those sound so good! I love those almond rocha candies so this will be fun to try! Thanks for sharing!!

Jeanne said...

Yummy cookies! I've got to start my baking soon!!!
xo
jeanne