I know I literally say this every month, but good grief does time fly! I can hardly believe it is August already! Summer is always so jam-packed with things going on, it almost makes me crave the fall months, when things start to finally slow down a bit. Phew!
This month’s “Friends First” post is brought to you by Kailley of Kailley’s Kitchen! Kailley and I met in college, when we took this horrendous anthropology class together {perhaps Kailley didn’t think it was as horrendous as I did, but the crazy professor made me sleep in a tent in the name of ethnology, so I really wasn’t a fan}. At any rate, I wish that in college we had known of each other’s passion for food and cooking – we could have done some real damage together! Kailley is a lover of all things bacon, the English language {particularly the Oxford comma}, sprinkles, her horse Uno, and is one of the most talented writers that I know. Oh, and her cupcakes? Always make me swoon. Today she is bringing you one of her family recipes, and I couldn’t be more excited for you to check it out!
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Hey, Eat Your Heart Out readers! My name is Kailley, and I am the creative (and yes, very very gluttonous) vision behind the blog, Kailley’s Kitchen (which is fast approaching it’s first birthday!). I was thrilled when Stephie approached me about writing a guest post for EYHO; it’s an honor to be a part of such a wonderful blog, and to introduce myself to all of you!
Stephie was one of my biggest supporters when I first started Kailley’s Kitchen. We hail from the same alma mater (love ya’, IWU!) and even took a class together, but it wasn’t until after we’d left college behind that I got to know her as a food blogger and talented cook! I became a loyal EYHO reader early on, and have always admired her writing style and knack for coming up with really wholesome, delicious recipes—with beautiful photos, to boot.
When I struck out on my own in the food blogging world, I took inventory of how Stephie and others constructed their blogging identities. Every great blog has a well-developed sense of self, and an acute awareness of what it aims to be and the audience it hopes to draw. Stephie’s “food from the heart” perfectly fits my perception of what Eat Your Heart Out is all about. In fact, one of the things I love most about Stephie’s recipes is that so many of them have sentimental or familial significance.
Thus, I decided to share a cookie recipe with you today that also holds sentimental value, and has been a mainstay in my life since I was a little girl. This is my mother’s Mint Surprise Cookie recipe, a longtime family favorite. Back in the day, my mom used to make these with Frango Mints from Marshall Field’s. Due to limited availability, I swapped the Frango’s out for Fanny May Mint Meltaways, but the rest of the recipe is unchanged—just as it should be.
Mint Surprise Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 18 Fanny May Mint Meltaways halved vertically
Instructions
- Cream butter, vanilla extract, and confectioner’s sugar in a stand mixer until smooth.
- In a small bowl, sift together salt and flour.
- Add pecans to wet ingredients and mix until no clumps remain.
- Slowly add flour mixture to mixer, blend until fully incorporated.
- Wrap up dough in plastic wrap and let chill in refrigerator for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- While dough is chilling, slice Mint Meltaway candies in half lengthwise.
- Remove dough from refrigerator, enclose one half of a Mint Meltaway candy inside each 1-inch ball of cookie dough (make sure candies are completely covered by cookie dough.
- Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 17-19 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool, then roll in confectioner’s sugar.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Thanks, Kailley! Be sure to follow Kailley’s Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest so that you never miss a single delicious post.
Yay! Friends First day! I didn’t realize that Kailley was an IWU friend and suffered with you during the tent days. Was that the same class as the teepee/shoes in the rain class? So many good memories. These look yummy. I’ll have to try them for Daddy and me.
Yea, teepees, powwows, shoes in the rain, burning sage, murderous thoughts…you got it.
HOW cool that you 2 food bloggers met in like a real world setting, that involved food in no way! These cookies look nummalicious!
This turned out so well! Thank you so much, Stephie!! And ughhhhhhh the misery of the teepee outing was almost unquantifiable. And the talking circle at like, 11:30pm after a torturous day of pow-wowing?! Seriously, if I never do that again, it would still be too soon haha. Thank you again for asking me to be a part of the FF series– this was a blast, and I can’t wait to see what other bloggers will be bringing to the table in the coming months! xoxo
Can you believe that after that nonsense I ended up having to take ANOTHER class with her?? I stopped referring to her by name and just started referring to her as “crazy” when I spoke of her classes. Haha. Thanks again for participating, so happy you did 🙂
These cookies sound like the perfect treat!!
I need a cookie surprise to start my day! these sound yummy!!!
I mean really…who DOESN’T need a cookie surprise on a daily basis? 😉
I am loving these cookies, they look delicious!
I remember your mother telling me about the teepee and the shoes. So have you had the opportunity to utilize the countless life lessons you learned during that unique experience? These cookies would be perfect to serve at a bridal shower or a Sip & See. Nice to “meet” you, Kailley.
These cookies look fabulous! And I love that they are a family recipe. That just makes them super special. 🙂