Rolo Chip Christmas Cookies

I love Christmas time. It is full of everything I hold close to my heart! The Lord Jesus, my family and friends, giving, and lots of Christmas treats! Its round about this time of year that all the baking bloggers are hard work, measuring, baking, photographing, editing and blogging - all in the name of Christmas Cheer - and I love it! Take a deeeeeep breath - can't you just smell all the goodies in the air! Ah! To make it all the more sweeter, Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Shelly from Cookies and Cups are hosting a fabulous Holiday Recipe giveaway! I mean, isn't that the very best excuse to get your holiday baking on! So, I am entering these Rolo Chip Cookies in the Creative Holiday Recipe Contest hosted by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups!

They were inspired by my addiction to rolos - and they are probably the best cookies I have made to date (not that I am blowing my own trumpet or anything TOOT TOOT!) And they were pretty easy to make!

They started off like this. Anything that starts off like this has to be good!

Then, after a couple of ingredients like butter and sugar and flour and eggs and ROLOS, it looks like this!

Need a closer look?...

There you go! Feeling the holiday vibe yet?

How about now?

Or now?

Ok, ok, I will stop that now! After you have dropped spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking mat or VERY well greased baking tray (the rolos are quite sticky when baked), they will take 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown and you can munch on them while you pop the next batch into the oven.

A Silpat is one of the best baking "things" I have invested in. They are pricey, but I have found that even the stickiest stuff just slides off them. If you don't have one yet - and you have been good this year - I suggest you add it to your Christmas Wish List! And perhaps, if you make Santa some of these Rolo Chip Cookies, he may just surprise you with a Silpat :)

 If, by any chance, you have any cookies left after baking these moist, chewy, chocolatey cookies, I think they would make a really sweet gift for any cookie / chocolate lover! I know a couple people who would LOVE these, my only problem is that this whole batch seemed to have vanished already! I guess I will be making more soon to the tunes of Micheal Buble Christmas! Yey!

 So - are you planning on giving baked gifts this festive season? If so - what? Feel free to leave a link to your Christmas baking in the comments so I can check it out!

And if all of that didn't rev up your Christmas Cheer - I am sure this sweet little dog will!

Here is the recipe [Printable]

Rolo Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour      200g / 2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar                   2 packets mini rolos (or large ones)
3/4 cup white sugar                 1 teaspoon  baking powder
250g softened butter                1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs                                      1 teaspoon salt

•     Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius.
•     In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
•     In a large bowl combine butter, brown and white sugar and vanilla extract and mix well.
•     Add eggs and mix well.
•     Gradually add flour mix and mix well
•     Stir in chocolate chips and rolos
•     Drop spoonfuls onto a VERY well greased cookie sheet - the rolos are quite sticky once     baked
•     Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. DON'T over bake - or they will lose their chewy-ness
•     Let them cool for a few minutes before removing from the baking sheet. Once completely cooled, wrap them up and give them away as a sweet gift to someone special :)

www.bitsofsunshine.com  (c) Heidi Hawyes 2012