Am I the only person who finds the thought of making batches and batches of Christmas cookies intimidating?  There is so much rolling of dough, cutting of intricate shapes, hoping those shapes don’t spread into unrecognizable blobs while in the oven, whipping up batches of different colored icing that will likely be the wrong consistency and run all over the place like a bad finger painting experiment.  Plus, everyone has a “sure fire” “perfect” sugar cookie recipe, which inevitably ends up being less-than-perfect and far from sure-fire when tested in your own kitchen.

Let me introduce you to your new best friend in a sea of holiday craziness.  They are delicious, they sport the traditional red and green holiday colors and they look terribly fancy.  The brown sugar base blends with orange zest, tangy cranberries and salty pistachios for a flavor explosion that just gets better with time.  The best news, they are beyond simple to make.  The whole batch will be finished in less than an hour, which should leave you plenty of time for the requisite shopping/present wrapping/partying/celebrating.

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Ok, I’ll admit it … I’ve been on a bit of a chocolate/peanut butter binge lately. Unlike the heavenly, yet potentially sugar-coma inducing, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, these cookies produce the same dynamic flavor combo yet are lighter and decidedly more snackable.  Consider these cookies the slightly less mature, more rough-around-the-edges younger sibling of the (arguably) elegant cupcakes.

With a crisp outer shell and a chewy center, these can become rather addicting.  Made with oatmeal, whole wheat flour and all-natural peanut butter, the recipe was right up my alley.  The salted peanuts smash right up against semi-sweet chocolate chunks for a true flavor explosion in your mouth.  Get thee to a kitchen, pronto!

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I was fortunate enough to grow up within driving distance of the Happiest Place on Earth.  I was even more fortunate to have the chance to work during my teen years.  One of the best perks of the job was the fantastic discount on all things bought within the Park … including the homemade candy and fudge!!  Along with my dear friend Josh, I would trek down Main Street to the Candy Palace and buy a tray of freshly made Rocky Road.  Oh, chocolate!  Oh, marshmallows!  Oh, walnuts!  This was heaven in a plastic wrapper and, as we all know, there are no calories in anything consumed at the Happiest Place on Earth (wink!) so we happily indulged.  Frequently.

It has been years since I had the benefit of that discount, but when I had an opportunity to celebrate Josh’s birthday with him, I couldn’t resist a dessert that would bring back those Oh-So-Magical memories of Main Street.  Hello, Rocky Road Brownies!!  Come to mamma!

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