Magic Cookie Bars

These bars scream Christmas to me, because I've been eating them since I was a little girl. My mother made these every year as part of our holiday preparations and I continue the tradition today. For me, it's just not Christmastime with out them!


They are very sweet, gooey and rich... but incredibly addictive. I love them with a hot cup of coffee. And, you can change them to fit your preference. Nuts, no nuts. Don't like butterscotch? Use all chocolate chips... or vanilla, or white chocolate or peanut butter chips. M & M's are good in these too. I've even tried this using a chocolate cookie layer instead of graham cracker. Just crush chocolate cookies and follow the recipe as if they were grahams. Good stuff!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts (optional, I don't use the nuts usually)

Method:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees for glass dish). Coat 13x9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with a fork.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature.

Makes 36 servings (small, as these are very rich)

Caramel Chocolate Macchiato Cookies

These are some of the best cookies I think I've ever had. They remind me of one of my favorite coffee drinks from Starbucks. They were simple to make and I think they are rather pretty. I didn't expect the kids to like them, since they are coffee flavored... but so far all of the children who've tried them liked them very much. While these do contain some coffee, there isn't enough in the recipe to concern me about giving them to children. In 3 dozen cookies there is only about as much instant coffee as it would take to make between 1 and 2 cups of coffee. I've liked these so well that I plan to make a couple more batches before Christmas to give as gifts to some of my coffee loving friends and family.


Caramel Chocolate Macchiato Cookies
From Betty Crocker Holiday Cookies Magazine

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 Tablespoon hot water
1 Pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
18 caramels (from a 14 oz bag), unwrapped
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon butter

Method:
1: Heat oven to 375* F. In large bowl, dissolve coffee granules in hot water. Sir in cookie mix, flour, butter, vanilla and egg until very soft dough forms.

2: Shape dough into 1.5 inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheet place balls 2 inches apart. Using thumb, make indentation in the center of each cookie.

3: Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes, remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

4: In small microwavable bowl, microwave caramels and milk uncovered on high for 1 minute to 1 minute and 30 seconds, stirring once, until caramels are melted. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon caramel into indentation in each cookie. Cool 15 minutes.

5: In another small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butter uncovered on high for 1 minute to 1 minute and 30 seconds or until chips can be stirred smooth. Drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let stand about 30 minutes until set.

Once completely cooled store in an airtight container. Makes 3 dozen cookies.