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Chocolate-Dipped Reese’s Oreos

Chocolate-Dipped Reese’s Oreos

Do you ever spend money on something you could do perfectly well yourself, if not for a certain lack of time and/or abundance of laziness?

Like scrubbing the toilet. I don’t like to do that. Not because I think I’m above it (I clean up my kids’ vomit, so I’m not above anything), but because I do a horrible job. It’s just not my area of expertise. Likewise, I avoid setting off bug bombs. Exterminators are my friends.

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Autumn Candy Pizza

Autumn Candy Pizza

I don’t eat much pizza. Not for want of loving it, believe me. I love pizza. Honestly, I know very few people who don’t. Like my kids. They eat a lot of pizza.

But pizza leads to heartburn, and tummyaches, and vast regret. I guess that means I have to pretend to be a grown-up and not eat much of it. Well, the traditional kind. Nobody ever said anything about cookie pizza!

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Peanut Butter Fudge Cookie Cups

Peanut Butter Fudge Cookie Cups

I have to take a break from all the fall stuff, everyone. I mean, pumpkin and apple and spice are all super nice, but my peanut butter and chocolate fiend self has been begging for satisfaction.

You know that I can only go so long without my fix. So this weekend, I thunked a jar of peanut butter and a package of milk chocolate chips on the counter. Then I stared at them for a while, just contemplating. After a few minutes, I knew what I had to do.

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Candy Corn Cake Mix Cookies

Candy Corn Cake Mix Cookies

My son just had his half-birthday. I don’t know how many of you do that, but kids seem to love it. Hey, any excuse to get a special treat one more day out of the year!

I may have mentioned before that my son doesn’t like chocolate. So whenever it comes time to bake for him, life gets complicated. Because you know, he’s picky. He’s not fond of caramel either, or certain textures really get to him. But candy? Candy is always okay. And candy corn is even better! And when baked into a cookie?

Yep. Happiness!

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Yo-Yo Honey Cookies

Yo-Yo Honey Cookies

My grandmothers were both bakers. Really amazing ones. But they would look at the stuff I bake and raise an eyebrow because treats have changed over time. I don’t think they were making peanut butter Oreo bars back in the day.

In fact, my eastern European grandmother (or Baba, as I called her) only made chocolate chip cookies for us as a concession to her grandchildren’s tastes. The rest of her baked goods were much more in line with her own upbringing.

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Samoa Cookie Cake

Samoa Cookie Cake

No, you didn’t read that wrong. I realize it’s not that time of year. You know, the magical days when little girls (or more likely, their parents) start collecting cookie orders for Girl Scouts. Nope, if it were that time of year, the weather would be getting warmer instead of colder and I’d be a lot happier.

So what do you do when your buddy has a birthday in September and her favorite cookies are Samoas? And there are no Samoas to be had?

Well, make one, of course. A giant one. In a cookie cake!

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Soft-Baked Caramel Cookies

Soft-Baked Caramel Cookies

This past week was Back to School Night. Not for my kids: for me. I’m a teacher, and once a year I do my best to impress the parents as they figure out who the crazy lady at the front is.

As much as I love meeting everyone, it’s an exhausting day. Most teachers go to work, teach all day, and then just stay for the event. We can be there for way too long, and it’s tiring. So this year, I brought these cookies in to boost morale among my colleagues!

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Teddy Bear Cookies

Teddy Bear Cookies

It’s hard to make kids happy sometimes. The more effort I put into cooking, the less they tend to appreciate it. If I make really good homemade crispy chicken tenders, for instance, they’ll leave them on their plates. But if I buy the frozen processed ones and throw them on a baking sheet, my son will very nicely thank me for such a delicious dinner.

No, I’m not a lousy cook. But I don’t speak kid palate. Their likes and dislikes remain elusive to me.

That’s why I had to try these cookies. They are just so adorable. And I needed to know if their looks would trump everything else. Does a teddy bear-shaped cookie get eaten no matter what it tastes like? There’s your philosophical question of the day.

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Butterscotch Cookie Cake

Butterscotch Cookie Cake

I need to stop complaining. Because even though it’s been an exhausting first week back at teaching, I do love my job enormously. My students are so nice! They thank me for teaching them when they leave the classroom, and honestly, that’s just cool. I have to tell their parents how amazing their kids are on Back to School Night!

To celebrate getting through week one, I had to make a cookie cake. A butterscotch one. Because I’ve been neglecting that particular flavor lately, and that just isn’t right. What isn’t awesome about butterscotch?

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One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Cookies

One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Dear Readers,

Today was a day of epic fails. I actually managed to destroy a pot. A cookie cake literally crumbled at my feet. And then I cried.

I’m writing you this quick letter to explain all of this because I rose out of the misery and decided to make an easy cookie recipe.

You are very welcome.

Love,

Mir

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