Julie of Joy's Hope & Her Betty Crocker Fantabulousness

I met Julie at Blog Sugar last February and I asked her nonchalantly "What do you blog about?" Do you remember that Julie? She said in reply, very nonchalantly, "Oh, this and that." After Blog Sugar, I went home and blog stalked all the people I had met that day, including, Joy's Hope. And I said "Dude! This girl's like, big-time. Like the biggest name in blogging I've met IRL." (We're from Southern California, so it is totally appropriate to still, at age 34, say words like Dude, Like, and Totally. Just so you know.) There is a reason Julie has such a following. She is real, funny, dang good in the kitchen and dang good at making a ginormous chalk board. But she is also amazingly encouraging and filled with faith. Need a pick me up ladies? Head on over to Joy's Hope. But I'm sure most of you already know that...so here is Julie in all her Betty Crocker loveliness.

Last month I was invited to bake in the Betty Crocker kitchens.  It was a dream come true.  A dream that I didn't even know was possible to have.  We spent the day going from station to station, with everything set up for us, then someone to clean up after us.  Pretty much baking bliss.

A highlight of all of the recipes were a simple, yet elegant version of sugar cookies.  They were called Citrus Kissed Fig Thumbprints.  Beautiful, festive and incorporating figs, which are apparently all the rage in culinary circles.  Speaking of which, I would love a bowl of Andrea's Vanilla Fig ice cream right this very minute.

But so much of me wished I had smuggled my most favorite preserves through airport security.  Three ounces totally disguised as shampoo?  Not questionable at all.  I knew what I would make when I returned.  Citrus Kissed Thumbprints with a desert island twist.

A nice benefit of having a giant chalkboard in your kitchen, is that you can randomly write recipes upon it. Easy to refer to as you are baking, say if you lost your glasses...

This is difficult.  Very difficult.  This sad little bottle of vanilla is a cold harsh reminder of the one that has gone before it.  My precious, precious Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Vanilla.  My beloved friend that took a dive off of the pantry shelf to it's ultimate untimely demise.  I'm still not over it.  I may never be.  That is until he is replaced.  But my pantry does smell delightful.

I discovered and fell in love with Betty Crocker's easy pouch cookie mixes.  I don't know where they have been all of my life.  There are a million and one ways to doctor them up.  My favorite jams and jellies being one of them.

I am not a foodie.  I am not a snob.  Well not totally true.  I truly believe that life is too complicated to eat store bought frosting.  Or bad preserves.  I still remember the toast and marmalade I had in Australia nine years ago.  I even smuggled quite a bit home with me.  There is really no comparison to handmade, homemade, small batch jams and jelly.  The care, creativity and freshness that goes into each jar cannot be duplicated by store brands.  Last fall I fell absolutely in love with a jar of Blackberry Jalapeno Jelly from Edible Creations.  Honestly, I always thought jalapeno jelly was weird.  Maybe because the ones that I had seen previously have all been a strange glowing green.  But out of curiosity I tried it.  One taste.  My knees nearly buckled.  I was done for.  I originally bought it to pour over warm brie for girl's night out.  But then I came to my senses.  This was not to be shared.  This was mine.  All mine.  Not even with my best friends.   But today I am feeling crazy.  Generous even.  Mark it down.  Days like this are few and far between when it comes to my precious.

I always do my best baking while listening to good music.  My current love is Mumford & Sons, although they sort of make me want to put on a wool coat and drown my sorrows at the local pub.  I'll drown them in a bowl of sugar cookie dough instead.

So what do you do with the ingredients, you ask?
Preheat oven to 375º

Combine cookie mix, flour, melted butter, lemon peel, orange peel, vanilla and egg until a soft dough forms. (I used the zest of an entire lemon and an entire orange.  Trying to collect it and put it in a measuring spoon... who has the patience for that?  If you don't have yourself a microplane yet, do yourself a favor.  You will be zesting like it is your job!)

When the dough is good and combined roll it into 1 inch balls.  Then roll each one in sugar.  Feel free to use regular, super fine or course.  Sometimes I love the crunch of course sugar, but I don't always have it in my pantry.

I happened to have four flavors of Edible Creations in my fridge.  Two for me, two for the husband and kids.  I decided to make a myriad of flavors to please everyone, but I had to make a concerted effort not to grab a spoon and eat them straight out of the jars.

Can we chat for a minute about mason jars?  I love them.  Adore them.  Their timelessness.  Their usefulness. Old ones.  New ones.  Cupcakes in them.  Flowers in them.  Lemonade in them.  They are one of my favorite things.  There is no such thing as too many.  Don't get me started on this drink dispenser... sigh.  It is just too wonderful.

 But back to the cookies.  Place them two inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.  Using your thumb or for your OCD girls,  the handle of a wooden spoon, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.  Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of preserves into each indentation.

Bake at 375º for 7-9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool two minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  If by chance there are any left over, store tightly closed at room temperature.

And while I want to keep every single scrumptious morsel of my desert island jelly, I want to spread the good name of jalapeno in jellies.  I want the world to know the wonder that is Edible Creations.  This 16 oz. jar of awesome is looking for a new home.  A home that will love it as much as I do.

I also couldn't resist throwing in a copy of Betty Crocker's Fall Baking magazine.  I am not a big fall girl, mainly because in Cali we don't see much of the season, but I do love me some cozy fall food.  I could make one of every single recipe in this pretty magazine.  With Bakerella on the cover, no less!

Thanks for taking this rambling cookie making journey with me.  For letting me ramble on about my girl Betty Crocker, preserves and mason jars.  Happy baking.  Let me know how they turn out!

Alright friends, you know what to do! Leave a comment, get an entry. Tweet, Facebook, blog, become a follower, you name it, get even more entries! Just leave a separate comment for each shenanigan. And one of you lucky souls will walk away with some JAM and a dang cool COOKBOOK!