Cookie Exchange

Last night I hosted my Book Club, The Literary Mamas, for a cookie exchange.  Everyone brought cookies to share and we ate and had coffee while we talked about our book selection, 11/22/63 by Stephen King.  The book was about time travel and the JFK assassination.  While looking for discussion questions, I found this link with ideas for a 60's themed discussion.  Something to keep in mind for all you book clubbers out there.  I gave out prizes for the top 3 cookies at the end of the evening.  We all voted and these Lime Shortbread cookies came out on top.  They had a wonderful citrus flavor.  Linzi said she got the recipe from the December issue of Southern Living magazine.

I made Chewy Drizzled Cinnamon Chip Cookies from Hersheys.com.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 egg
1 2/3 cup Hershey's Cinnamon Chips, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup finely ground pecans or walnuts (I used my food processor to grind walnuts)
1 1/2 tsp shortening

Directions
Beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Add corn syrup and egg and mix well.  Place 1 cup cinnamon chips in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute at 50%.  Stir and microwave in 15 second increments if necessary until chips are just melted when stirred.  Stir melted chips into butter mixture.  Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to cinnamon mixture, beating until just blended.  Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour.  Heat oven to 350.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls, roll in nuts and lightly press nuts into dough.  Place on ungreased or silpat lined cookie sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes.  Cool slightly and remove to cooling rack.  Cool completely then drizzle with Cinnamon Chips Drizzle.

Cinnamon Chips Drizzle:  Place remaining 2/3 cup chips and 1 1/2 tsp shortening in small microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute at 50%; stir until chips are melted and smooth.