You would have thought spending an entire day at the Mall of America would have squashed the urge to shop in both my Mom and me for quite some time. Well my friends, you’d be wrong.

Mumsie picked me up promptly at 9am to scour the mall, DSW, Nike factory store, Costo and the grocery store for all the last minute Christmas gifts we needed to get. We didn’t get home ’til 2pm, but can both officially say that we are DONE Christmas shopping.

Whee!

Now I just have to wrap all the gifts. Blerg!

After I got home, I headed right back out to the gym. I seriously dropped the ball on the 20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge this week, missing 3 out of 5 workouts, but tried to make up for it with a nice & schweaty 50 minute treadmill routine this afternoon:

Time:	Speed:	Incline:
0-3	4.0	0%
3-6	6.5	0%
6-8	7.5	0%
8-9	8.5	0%
9-27	Repeat minutes 3-9, three more times	0%
27-35	6.0	2%
35-37	6.0	6%
37-40	4.0	0%
Total:	4.25 miles

Followed by 10 minutes at 4.0 mph on Level 15 Hills.

This workout felt SO good! Hoping to get back to the gym tomorrow to try and catch up with my challenge!

Ben and I have a Christmas party to attend tonight, so I showered up I made an epic batch of cookies to take with.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Butter Cookies!

Say that five times fast!

These insanely decadent cookies are made with my newest favorite Trader Joe’s find, Cookie Butter.

I thought I’d use the cookie butter to replace the peanut butter in my second all-time favorite Christmas cookie – Peanut Butter Cup Cookies!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are one of my family’s favorites, and my Mom used to make dozens and dozens of them each year for our family’s annual Christmas party.

I used her recipe, which combines butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla with peanut cookie butter.

The ingredients are whipped up before adding flour, baking soda and salt.

(This is some dang good cookie dough, BTW!)

The dough is spooned into a heavily greased mini muffin tin and baked for exactly 8 minutes.

While the cookies are baking, unwrap the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that are destined to be dropped into the middle of the hot cookie dough.

Once the cookies come out, a peanut butter cup is plopped right in the middle of each one. Now you see it…

Now you don’t!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Butter Cookies

Print this recipe!

Makes 35 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (I used Earth Balance)

1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter (could use peanut butter)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

35 Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups (1 regular sized bag)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter, cookie butter, sugars, egg and vanilla until light and creamy. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3 batches, mixing until just incorporated before adding the next batch.

2. Spray a mini muffin tin very well with non-stick spray. Add 1 Tablespoon cookie dough into each cup. Bake for 8 minutes exactly. Unwrap peanut butter cups while the cookies bake.

3. Once the cookies have been removed from the oven, immediately push one peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. Cool in mini muffin tin completely before removing.

These cookies are mind-melting. Over the top decadent. You only need one…or two!

The cookie butter gives the dough a buttery (gee, really?) taste, and dark, mysterious appearance. It is so great.

Hope everyone at the party likes ‘em!

Aaaand, we’re off. Have a great, Saturday night!