A wonderful Christmas time.

Sage and her best buddy, Aurora, getting ready to make molasses cookies

This Christmas is definitely going to be a lot more fun than last Christmas. Last year we were friendless (we'd only lived here 4 weeks), homeless (still living in a vacation condo) and jobless (still hashing out contract details). Oy....glad that time is past.

This year is off to a good start. Christmas tunes playing, tree decorated, lights hung outside and presents wrapped and under the tree.

Sage and I made a different kind of cookie every day this week. We used our cookie scoop to make little dough balls, placed them on a cookie sheet, froze them for an hour and popped them into ziploc baggies. Now our freezer is full and ready for baking and cookie deliveries this coming week.

We're serious about our treat making. This was the line-up:

Monday: Gingerbread men (for our tree)
Tuesday: Chocolate Chip Cookies
Wednesday: Peanut Butter Cookies
Thursday: Em's Sugar Cookies (divine!)
Friday: Molasses Cookies
Saturday: Buckeyes


CCC and Buckeyes for a neighborhood cookie exchange today.

The Buckeyes are kind of like a Reese's Cup for grown-ups (hence the sea salt sprinkled on top). Delicious and addictive.

{buckeyes}

via smitten kitchen

Yield: 36 to 42 tablespoon-sized candies (we got about 52)

1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 7 graham crackers)
1/2 teaspoon salt ( if you use natural pb this is a must!)
2 3/4 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks or 5 ounces) butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons coarse sea salt

Make the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat for 10 seconds. Add the sugar and butter, and mix on the lowest speed until it stops floating off everywhere, then increase the speed until the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the whole bowl well, then mix again. The mixture will be quite sturdy and a little dry — perfect for shaping. Set it aside while you prepare the coating.

Make the coating: Melt the chocolate either over a double boiler, stirring until it is completely smooth or in a microwave in 30 then 10 second increments, stirring before you start it again until it is completely smooth. Let it cool to tepid (about 100 degrees) while you shape the peanut butter centers.

Assemble the candies: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out slightly more than one tablespoon’s worth of filling (I used a scoop that made them a little smaller) and use your hands to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet and repeat the process until all of the candies have been shaped. They can sit close to each other but make sure they are not touching.

Using a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate and roll it about so that the entire candy is coated. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Chill the buckeyes until they are set, about 30 minutes. Buckeyes will keep in the fridge for about a week.