Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies

Yup, you read that correctly: Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies. What's better than a salty-sweet chocolate chip cookie? One with bacon in it of course! And in summer to beat the heat? Slather it with maple ice cream and add cold and creamy to the heady mix of flavors and textures.

Now, I know some of you are cringing and gagging out, "why?!" but really, it's no weirder than chocolate chip pancakes with a side of bacon. Bacon lends itself beautifully to sweet foods and to maple in particular. So don't knock it til you try it and you should definitely try it!

Sugar Cookie and Gingerbread Snowflakes - The Foodie Days of Christmas

Like most kids I loved cutting out sugar cookies at Christmas time and decorating them with brightly colored sprinkles. As my love for cooking and baking grew I branched out into various flavorings, such as orange and almond, and started using melted chocolate as an accent. I always made the same recipe which was passed from one Mom in our neighborhood to another and finally on to my Mom. Each year I made dozens upon dozens of cookies; no matter how many we gave away as presents there was always a heaping tray of decorated sugar cookies on Christmas Day. Eventually we had all had too much of a good thing and I stopped making sugar cookies. This year however, inspired by some beautiful snowflake cookie cutters I purchased, I decided to make roll out cookies once more.

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies - The Foodie Days of Christmas

Chocolate and peppermint go hand-in-hand with the Christmas season like stockings hung by the fire and twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. Between peppermint bark, peppermint hot cocoa, and chocolate covered peppermint cremes this flavor combination is on everyone's list of favorite holiday treats. And I love it! Smooth, rich chocolate and cool, refreshing peppermint. The combination evokes both the comforting richness of holiday foods as well as the fresh, crisp winter air. These cookies offer a great balance of tantalizing flavor to platters of gingerbread men and sugar cookie stars.

Cookielove - Fleur de Sel Caramel Cookies

I have loved caramels since I was an itty-bitty child. Rich, luscious, sweet, creamy caramel. Heavenly! The first time I tasted sea salt caramels I knew the little girl in me was all grown up. I have been a salted caramel devotee ever since. It was only natural then, when this month's #lovebloghop theme of cookies was announced, that I began thinking about how to create a salted caramel cookie.

Fleur de sel literally translates as "flower of salt." It is a hand-harvested French sea salt with a high mineral content that is often slightly grey in color. If you do not have, or cannot find, fleur de sel you can substitute any fine sea salt instead. These cookies do have a lot of steps, but the end result is oh so worth it. Fortunately for my waistline these cookies can be frozen and baked off just a few at a time. If you've never made caramel before I suggest checking out this great tutorial by David Lebovitz before getting started.