Caramel Stuffed Pumpkin Cookies

You know how I love to make tiny little two bite cookies? Well, these suckers are big.  Huge, even. A big ol' soft pumpkin cookie, stuffed with caramel and then rolled in cinnamon sugar because, well, why not?  The cookies are a wonderful way to tuck in the caramel--perfectly pumpkin flavored with a little spice and sweetness.  The caramel is a nice surprise, offering a creamy center wonderfully matched to the pumpkin and spice.  You might want to keep all these to yourself, but wouldn't it be better to share?  I mean, this is the season of giving.  So I decide the best way to share these cookies would be through the 3rd Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Exchange. Like last year (with these) and the year before (with these), I shared a dozen of these cookies with each of three different food bloggers and in return, I received three lovely packages, each containing a dozen cookies from three other food bloggers

Bloggers Bake for Hope--Bidding Open!

Don't forget!  The Bloggers Bake for Hope bake sale opens today!  Be sure to bid on some of these tasty treats to raise money for breast cancer research!

Happy Bidding,
The Cookie Princess

Bloggers Bake for Hope

It's that time again!  For the second year, I'll be participating in the Bloggers Bake for Hope fundraiser.  Last year the group raised $3000 for breast cancer research.  This year we'll be raising money for the Avon Foundation since Jen (of Beantown Baker) and Fiona (of A Boston Food Diary) will be participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  Both Jen and Fiona are committed to raising $2000 each, so please help me help them reach their goal by bidding on some of the delicious goodies in this year's bake sale.  This is a great fundraiser since there are no costs and all the proceeds will go to the Avon Foundation.  Each blogger volunteers to donate a recipe to the cause mail it to the winner directly.

The online bake sale auction will be live on Monday, April 30th and run until Wednesday, May 2nd, so be sure to pop on over to the bake sale site on Monday and bid on all the yummy deliciousness.  I'll be sharing Trail Mix Jumble Cookies and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars this year. 

Please join us in making this another successful year!

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

Baking for a(nother) Cause

Recently I was perusing Beantown Baker's blog and found a link to Operation Baking GALS (Give a Little Support), a volunteer organization that sends cookies and care packages in bulk to a member of our military.  A serviceman/servicewoman may receive as many as a dozen or more packages over about a weeks time, all containing homemade baked goods and usually from complete strangers.  I was touched by the concept of showering these heroes with love and support and immediately knew I needed to be a Baking Gal.

So I joined and read through the teams that were shipping out in August. Many of the stories of these soldiers were touching and it really didn't matter who I was baking for.  But ultimately I signed up for Team East Coast Love (despite having only 3 days to bake and get my package in the mail).  I was touched because this Marine grew up not far from where I went to college and only a few hours from my hometown.  He's serving in Afghanistan and is missing his girlfriend and his golden retriever (in addition to his family). 

Since I was on a tight deadline and had to work with ingredients on hand, I baked up some M&M Cookies and packaged them up with some extra goodies like cereal bars, nuts, candy and gum.  These grateful recipients usually get so many packages once they are nominated to Baking GALS that they often end up sharing with their roommates, coworkers, or even the entire unit.

So here lies another category of baking.  I plan to join at least a few rounds a year and I encourage you to join Baking GALS as well.  Or if you know someone serving in our military and would like to nominate them, please leave a comment with your email address (so I can contact you for more details) and I will lead a team to send them goodies.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Bloggers Bake for Hope Bake Sale a success.  The sale raised $2981 for the Komen Foundation.  A special thanks to Dina and Chris who bid and won my cookies.  Looks like I'll be baking some Banana Split and Kid's Candy Cookies soon!

I'm looking forward to participating in more fun events like this and will keep you posted as they come up.

In return for your support, I've got a few fun recipes to share this week.  And for the bake sale goodies that I didn't win, I pulled the recipes, so I can test and share what I thought were some of the highlights from the wonderful bloggers who participated.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

Bloggers Bake for Hope

I hope you'll join me in supporting this cause.

During the first week of May, a nation-wide, all volunteer virtual bake sale will take place to raise money for breast cancer research.  I am donating a batch of Banana Split Cookies.  Already there are a lot of yummy treats to bid on so I'm sure you'll find something that catches your eye and teases your taste buds. 

Beginning May 4th you'll be able to bid on the treat (or treats) of your choosing.  If you win, your treats will be shipped directly to you.  For more information, visit Bloggers Bake for Hope.

Happy Bidding,
The Cookie Princess