....is Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last month, when I flew to Boston, I was so excited to see the Spirit Magazine article: 'Hello Cookie'. An entire inflight article on cookies?! They must have known I was flying. When I got home, I found the compiled recipes online, and wanted to make them all, immediately. (I've managed to hold out so far and only made the one but I plan to make more soon.) MMcK & I had another baking day and CPB helped decide which one we made first. He loves Chocolate and the Bacon & Chocolate combination sounded intriguing to all of us. They turned out to be a nice salty versus sweet treat to add to my cookie recipe collection. (Two cookies in one week, 'tis the season for baking!)

....is Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cookie

I must have St. Louis on the brain this week. Gooey Butter Cake was a standard coffee shop dessert while I was in school. It came in a range of flavors, vanilla, chocolate, spiced chai (my favorite!), etc. A few years ago I found a recipe to make this treat into a cookie. It has since become one of my favorite cookies to make for Christmas. But a little pumpkin and spices make the typical Gooey Butter Cookie perfect for Fall!

....is Chocolate Dipped Caramel Rice Crispy Treats

Everyone loves rice crispy treats! (Right? I think so.) For me, they bring back memories of after soccer game snacks and class parties. This is the grown-up version of the delicious childhood dessert. Caramel is mixed with the cereal and the chocolate topping is a wonderful addition to this sweet treat. Baking buddy, MMcK, made these to bring to work and they disappeared, luckily I snagged a few before they were all gone!

....is The Fat Chewy, M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

MMcK & I had a Beer and Baking night! However, no beer was used in the making of these cookies. :) We baked 13 dozen cookies that night. Half of the cookies were the ones in this post, the Fat Chewy. They are chewy and full of chocolate, two ways. This is MMcK's recipe, and I only have the one image, they were eaten before I could get any more pictures. I think these are one of CPB's favorite and will definitely be made again (and again)!

....is Pumpkinhead Doodles

It's here! It's here! I love Autumn, even though my city doesn't quite get a full Fall season it's probably still my favorite time of year. I love the colors on the trees, pumpkin spiced everything  and the chance to wear boots without melting. Today feels like Fall but it's supposed to be 80 here again on Monday. So, quickly before Summer comes back, let's pretend like it's really Fall and bake some deliciousness!

The Spiked Recipe Challenge was the perfect opportunity to use the Beeroness' Beer Brown Sugar Cookies with a Fall Beer twist. I upped the Cinnamon, used the Shipyard Pumpkinhead & rolled it in sugar & sprinkles to make it the Snickerdoodle I've been craving recently. (If you look close the sprinkles are leaf shaped! I love Fall.)

The cookies get tastier the longer they last! Just like the Ginger & Molasses Doodles, I think the flavor of the Beer and Cinnamon gets a little richer the second and third day (if they last that long). MMcK & I made a double batch to share and they went quickly!Happy Autumn & I hope you enjoy the Pumpkinhead Doodle.

....is Ginger & Mollasses Doodle

I made these cookies for a Birthday BBQ at work, they are the second installment of the Furlough Bakery. MMcK came up with the idea and after a little searching we decided the perfect recipe was a combination of Good Things Grow and Smitten Kitchen's Molasses Spice Cookies. They were heavenly fresh out of the oven but as they rested they got chewier and more delicious. I recommend making a double batch, trust me, they'll go fast. (Even our slightly burnt ones were eaten!)

....is Banana Oat Nutella Cookies

The first Furlough Bakery treat. 

Until the end of September I am on Furlough every Friday, because of federal budget cuts all DOD employees have to take one non-paid day off a week for 11 weeks. It sounds like a great summer plan until that first paycheck comes in 20% shy of normal. It's unfortunate really but I've found a good way to fill the time....baking, lots of baking. (I've been talking about a Furlough Bake Sale too, maybe make back a little of my missing income.)

But onto the recipe, I have a lovely partner in crime, MMcK has become my new baking buddy and brought this recipe (and a few aging Banana's) over to make cookies on our first Furlough Friday. They're a bread-like cookie and super moist, but the Nutella is the best part, a chocolatey swirl of goodness. And we had a little extra batter, maybe only enough for 2-3 cookies, so I put it in a ramekin and into the oven with the last batch of cookies. It came out like a Pizzookie & Banana Bread Hybrid.