christmas cookies, round 1

This year I decided to switch a few things up in the Christmas cookie department. For starters, I decided to make them earlier, thinking I would get ahead of things (I think I made these 3 weeks ago now). That was a mistake, which I will not repeat again. The cookies have since all been eaten and now I am forced making them again just a few days before Christmas. The second change was to switch up the variety this year, and that was a good decision. I still made the usual Monster Cookies and Frosted Sugar Cookies, but I added a Salty Chocolate Caramel Butter Cookie, and an unnamed cookie, which for now I will deem the Gerbs Cluster (but that is subject to change).

For the Salty Chocolate Caramel Butter Cookie Recipe, go here (and to see a pic, because hers looked infinitely better than mine). I will say that they were an incredible amount of work, and I'm not entirely sure they were worth it. Although if you are looking to eat some raw chocolate cookie dough, then you should definitely make this, it was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. on it's own, it's when you started the tedious task of spreading the caramel, combined with the rolling, that this cookie might not be worth it for some.

Now, on to my own creation, the Gerbs Cluster©. 

My favorite Christmas cookie is the peanut cluster. And while I absolutely love it- the simple salty and sweet combo- I admit it can be a little boring. So I decided to rev it up a little bit this year and made chocolate dipped peanut-caramel-krispie clusters. They are soooo good. David even agrees, and he is not easy to please when it comes to Christmas cookies. If you want to make them here is what you need:

-1 (14oz) package of caramels
-3 tablespoons water
-1 bag of chocolate chips
-1.5 cups of cocktail or dry roasted peanuts (cocktail is preferable, just make sure under NO circumstances that you use spanish)
-1.5-2 cups of Rice Krispies
-1.5 teaspoons shortening/ butter (optional)

Simply melt the caramels in the microwave (or in a double boiler if you are fancy) combined with the water. Once smooth stir in the peanuts and krispies. Then place tablespoon sized dollops on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Allow to harden. Meanwhile melt the chocolate chips with the butter/ shortening if so desired. I found the dipping process to take longer than expected so I would not melt all the chocolate at once. Then dunk each caramel cluster in the chocolate until completely covered and return to the parchment lined tray. Once again, allow to harden then enjoy!

Above is how I made them the first time, I think with this next round I will try doing a chocolate chip/ almond bark combo to coat the clusters instead of straight up chocolate so they are more reminiscent of my beloved peanut clusters. Of course, I will let  you know which variety I/ David likes better.

**After trying both ways, the verdict on the cluster is that they are better dipped in plain, melted semi-sweet chocolate chips**

And for good measure here is a picture of SOME of the 170+ monster cookies Syd and I made.... and fyi we 3/4ed the recipe!

Time to get going on round 2 if we want to have cookies for Christmas, along with the 1,372 other things on the to-do list before the celebrating begins.