White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies

My boyfriend loves these white chocolate chip cookies. He's been requesting I make them for a while, but I wanted to make other things. Well, I finally made him some...and he ate all of it....all 4 dozen cookies. =]

I got this recipe from the back of the Ghirardelli white chocolate chip bag. I think that's the best recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white chocolate chips (11 oz)

1 1/2 cups Macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º.

Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy (scrape down the sides). Add vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly (add about a cup at a time) the dry ingredients to the mixer and mix well.

Last, once batter is completely combined, fold in the white chocolate chips and the macadamia nuts. Scoop out onto heaping 1 tablespoon scoops onto a baking sheet. I used a cookie dough scoop to help keep the sizes uniform.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just beginning to brown.

Cake Pops

My boyfriend's company has a monthly BBQ party on Fridays. I decided to make cake pops, since nobody really likes dealing with cake cutting and plating. Most of the people at the party are guys. =]

So I decided to make bite size cake pops. Easy to eat, and you don't have to deal with cutting cake!

This is an extremely easy recipe. A tad time consuming, but is very worth it!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 box cake mix (bake as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
• 1 16 oz can of readymade frosting
• Wax paper
• Baking sheets
• Paper lollipop sticks
• Styrofoam block
• Candy melts, or chocolate
• Assorted color sprinkles

Directions:

1. Bake the cake as directed. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl.

2. With a large spoon, mix thoroughly with about 3/4 of the can of frosting. You won't need the rest.

3. Roll mixture into quarter-size cake balls and place on a wax paper-covered baking sheet. (I used a cookie scoop to get uniform ball sizes.)

4. Place cake balls in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm up. Transfer them to the refrigerator to keep chilled and to avoid freezing.

5. Melt candy/chocolate over a double boiler, or microwave if desired. Using enough candy melts to fill a deep bowl.

6. Remove a couple of cake balls from the refrigerator at a time to work with.

7. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted coating and insert into the bottom of cake ball.

8. Then dip in the bowl of candy/chocolate coating and remove in one motion without stirring. Make sure the entire cake ball is covered. Using a deep bowl is helpful here. If your coating is too thick, you can add a few drops of vegetable oil or shortening to help thin it and make it easier to work with.

9. Remove and allow any excess coating to fall off the pop and back into the bowl.

10. Work quickly with one cake pop at a time and before the coating sets, sprinkle color sprinkles on cake pop.

11. Place in a styrofoam block to dry. Enjoy.