71/365: Let the Baking Begin

I love to bake.  It's one of the things I like to do best.  Typically my urge to bake starts in early October when the weather starts getting cooler and lasts until right after Valentine's Day.  I don't necessarily have a favorite thing to bake, but I do tend to have things I think I bake better than others.  Cookies are one of those things.  I have played with recipes for years, trying to design the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  I've modified the amount of brown sugar versus white sugar.  I've exchanged food processed oats for some of the flour in the recipe.  Each time I make a change, I make a mental note of what it does it to the flavor and texture of the cookie.
 
This year I don't have chocolate chip cookies on my Christmas baking menu.  Instead, everything I'm going to bake is something new to my repertoire.  I plan on making a batch of cookies per day until Christmas Eve.  (Although today I'll make two because I didn't bake yesterday).  These are Buckeye Delights.  The bottom is actually a sugar cookie base with cocoa powder.  The dollop of sweetened peanut butter is next.  They're finished off with chocolate chips mixed with heated whipping cream.  My final product didn't turn out as pretty as I would have liked for these.  I took a short cut and heated my cream in the microwave.  I assume I got it too hot because my melted chocolate wasn't creamy and had to have more chocolate added to actually set.  I'll have to work on the presentation skills . . . the flavor was good though.