Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies {Plus the Cookie Rule}

Hello friends! Many apologies for not posting much this Christmas season. It has been dreadfully busy. Christmas seems to be coming awfully quick this year. To quick for me at least. Anyhoo, I've been working long and hard in the kitchen these past few days to make cookies for friends and family (In fact I've got a batch in the oven right as I am writing this post!). I wanted to share the recipes I've been using.

Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/30173/choc-oat-chip-cookies/detail.aspx

Mint Chocolate Delights

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/143925/mint-chocolate-delights/detail.aspx

Hershey Peanut Butter Blossoms

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Cookie/PeanutButterChocKiss.htm

These recipes were very yummy and are also very good for giving away (mainly because they're pretty popular, pretty easy, and pretty delicious). I doubled the Choc-Oat-Chip and the Mint Delights. The Mint Delights were oh-so delightful, as the name implies. I had a little struggle with the Choc-Oat-Chip  cookies. Random problems here and there went wrong, and there was a lot of cookie dough. But that's only if you double the recipe. A special tip for those scrumptious yet annoying cookies is to take the cookies off the baking sheet within 3 minutes after being pulled out of the oven. Normally I wait and let cookies cool off for a few minutes before removing them from the baking sheet, but with these, (if you want them to come off clean) they need to be removed ASAP. The peanut butter cookies turned out perfectly.

The Cookie Rule: I've been working on getting healthy and fit these past few months. And the hardest part of getting fit is surviving the holidays. I did alright with Thanksgiving, but Christmas was what I was really concerned about. I've always struggled with limiting my cookies at Christmas. This year, I decided to put a stop to my cookie indulgence. I limit myself to one cookie a day, and if I workout, I get two cookies. I'm finding it to be a little hard, as I have "accidentally" let a half a cookie or so slide here and there. Overall, I've been even more pleased with my progress. I've never had this much self control with cookies, and hopefully with this new rule I'll gain even more. Its a great motivator to workout too! This morning, in fact, I wasn't going to workout because I ran yesterday. But I really, really wanted one of those Mint Delights and a warm Choc-Oat-Chip cookie. So, big thank you to Tony Horton for putting me through much pain this morning during Legs and Back. It was worth the cookie. 

Have a great day, lovelies!