As I whined about in my last post, I really had to make up for lost time with all of my kitchen disasters.  These easy treats: Gingerbread Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle, Salted Butter Caramels, and Peach Thumbprint Cookies got me back on track.  I was able to prepare the cookie doughs and the caramels in the same evening. The next day, I baked the cookies, cut and wrapped the caramels, and got it all ready for giving.

Gingerbread Cookies(click for the recipe) with White Chocolate Drizzle
Makes about 4 dozen
The gingerbread cookie is a recipe that I found about 2 years ago Alison’s Lunch. I love that they’re buttery and chewy with the right amount of spice.  I made the dough according to her instructions.  After chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees and divide the dough into quarters.  Roll each quarter into 12 inch balls, using about 1 tablespoon of flour per quarter to keep them from sticking.  Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet and flatten to 1/4 inch thickness(they will spread about 1/2 inch during baking).  Bake for 7 minutes.  Cool slightly before transferring to wire rack for complete cooling and decorating.
Hint: Put the white chocolate chips in a disposable bag, and submerge it in a glass of hot tap water until the chips melted.  Wipe away any water, make a small snip in the end of the bag and drizzle away!

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Salted Butter Caramels(click here for the recipe)
These are the same caramels that I made last year(Thanks to SinfulSundays).  This time, I used a buttered 9×13″ pan that I lined with parchment paper.  Allowing the caramel to cool over night, I made 10 cuts lengthwise and 13 cuts crosswise for a total of 130 pieces. They were then wrapped in 2×3″ pieces of cello.  Believe it or not, it only took about 1 1/2 hours to complete.  Funny thing…I ended up

with less than 130 pieces!

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Peach Thumbprint Cookies(click for the recipe)
Makes about 2 dozen
I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to my toasted coconut shortbread recipe to create these.  Preheat oven to 350 and simply roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls and make and indention in the center of each, flattening slightly.  Spoon a 1/4 teaspoon of the jam/preserves/jelly of your choice.  Bake 16 minutes, rotating backing sheet halfway through.