Chocolate Cookies.....

I am planning on going easy on the cookies this year. I tend to eat too many of them (don't we all) especially if they are chocolate cookies. I have started to get the e-mails for the "12 Days of Cookies" and one of the first cookies posted was the Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. These look really easy to make and would be a great recipe to use with kids. So what are your favorite cookie recipes to make with your kids during Christmas time???

Here is also another of my favorite Chocolate cookie recipes......

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chopped pecans, divided
• 6 (2-ounce) packages chocolate-caramel cookie bars, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 (2-ounce) vanilla bark coating squares

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla, beating until blended after each addition.

Combine flour, cocoa, and soda; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans. Shape 1 tablespoon dough around each candy piece, covering completely, to form balls.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar. Gently press the top of each ball into pecan mixture. Place balls, pecan sides up, 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

Bake at 375° for 7 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Remove from baking sheets; cool completely on wire racks.

Melt coating squares in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

*These chocolate cookies are my absolute favorite. If you don't want to go to as much work this cookie dough is also wonderful if you want to add just some white chocolate or peanut butter chips to the batter. Also you can just roll the balls in some red & green sugars and bake them. There are lots of variations that can be done with this batter. I have also cut up little bites of Snicker bars and wrapped the dough around them. Those are also yummy.