White Chocolate Chip Valentine Sprinkle Cookies + A Winner!

We love making treats & cookies around here...especially holiday themed ones!
My kids love sprinkles, so I try and incorporate them into our baking.

Sprinkles are such an easy way to make an ordinary treat/cookie more festive & fun!

As you may also know, I am self proclaimed a cookie snob.

To me, the perfect cookie is soft & only slightly crisp on the edges....this cookie is just like that!

I am so excited to share my White Chocolate Chip Valentine Sprinkle Cookies with you!

Here is what you need:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter (which is 1 1/2 sticks of butter), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg 

2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoon almond extract (this is optional. I LOVE almond extract, but if you don't like it, you can omit it)
1 bag of white chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli brand, they
Valentine Sprinkles

Directions:

Beat the butter, brown sugar and white sugar and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Mix in your egg, vanilla extract & almond extract and beat until well combined.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
Slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients on low speed until just mixed.
Fold in the bag white chocolate chips and a handful sprinkles

Cover your dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Take the cookie dough out of the fridge  & use a cookie scoop (THIS is the one I have) and roll into balls

Roll the dough in the sprinkles. I did half of the cookies with nonpareils sprinkles:

 And, the other half in the heart sprinkles:

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes

Aren't they so festive? My kids love sprinkles...on everything & anything. Luke did all the sprinkle rolling for these cookies. He loves helping me bake cookies.

Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

 This recipe makes 2 dozen cookies.

After they are cooled, you can keep them in an air tight container or ziplock & they will stay nice and soft for several days!

I hope you love these cookies as much as we do.
Enjoy!

If you want to check out my other cookie recipes (there are A LOT!!!)
You can click HERE & it will take you to the cookie section of my blog Recipe Box :)

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The winner of the Pizza Maker AND a $50 Williams Sonoma Gift Card is:
Cara G.

Congratulations!
Leave a comment or send me an email to claim your prize!

Friday Favorites {Happy February Edition!}

Happy Friday!

Today I'm linking up with Friday Favorites!

Hosted by: Andrea, Erika & Narci

Happy Friday! I am so excited it's Friday!

We have a fun weekend planned, but first...here are some favorites!

{ONE}
Throwing Parties is my favorite!
As my kids get older, throwing their parties is even more fun because they have ideas of what they want and they help me plan them.
Kate had tons of ideas for her 10th Ice Skating Party

 You can see Kate's Ice Skating Party & details HERE.
Now that Kate's party is done, it's time to start planning Luke's party...in August. LOL!

{TWO}
Zicam. You need this in your life.
Last week, all 3 kids and Kevin came down with a cough/cold/fever.
I did not want to get sick, so I was using some Essentials Oils (I like to avoid taking medicine unless it's necessary) But, this week I started getting feverish and a scratchy throat, so Kevin told me to get Zicam. One of his coworkers swears by it & told him about it.

They are homeopathic, which I love. I have been taking them all week, and so far it is helping me stay healthy. They are my new favorite! Full of Zinc!
I got this bottle at CVS earlier this week, but I just ordered more HERE because they are cheaper & I want to make sure we have them on hand! 


{THREE}
The Superbowl is my favorite....and so is all the yummy food!
Here are some of my favorite appetizers that are perfect for the Super Bowl this Sunday!

 7 Layer Dip   //  Perfect Potato Skins

Jalapeno Poppers with Bacon //  7 Layer Greek Hummus


 Corn Dip  //  Cowboy Salad/Dip

Baked Chicken Nachos //  Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs

I LOVE appetizers! :)

{FOUR}

Friday in our house means Friday Night Pizza Night!

On Friday nights, we usually order pizza or bake a frozen pizza.

But, ever since I got THIS amazing pizza maker, we have been making pizzas! 

This pizza maker is one of my favorite kitchen appliances!

You can get it HERE or HERE.

I am giving away a pizza maker and a $50 Williams Sonoma Gift Card on THIS post.
The giveaway ends tonight! Make sure to here HERE!

{FIVE}
I love the pizza maker, but my very favorite kitchen appliance is my Instant Pot.
I can't stop and won't stop talking about it. LOL!

 It is way better than a crock pot because it can slow cook food, but it is also a pressure cooker. I can cook some of my slow cooker meals in the Instant Pot in under an hour! You need one in your life.

I have posted 3 Instant Pot recipes so far...stay tuned for A LOT more!

The 3 recipes I have posted (along with the slow cooker directions) are:

Korean Beef

Split Pea Soup

Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs

 The 5qt, 6 qt the 8qt are available & on sale! I have the 6 qt size.

{SIX}
Switched at Birth.

Have you seen this show?
My sister in law told me about it & I am almost done with Season 1
 It is my new favorite show on Netflix (it used to be on ABC Family)



{SEVEN}
It's Girl Scout Cookies time!
This is Kate's 5th year being a Girl Scout & the cookie sales are her favorite.
She asked to go door to door to our neighbors this year...all by herself.

 What is your favorite Girl Scout cookie?
Mine are the Samoas, followed by Thin Mints.
I keep my Thin Mints in the freezer and then make a mini ice cream sandwich out of them with a spoonful of vanilla bean ice cream in between 2 Thin Mints....SO GOOD!


{EIGHT}
Rodan + Fields is my favorite skin care line...obviously ;)
One of my favorite things about this amazing company is that they are always offering amazing deals!
They just announced the February special & it is awesome!
You get 20% off when you buy one of our Regimens along with Lash Boost!
But, wait! It gets better....if you become a preferred customer, you will save an additional 10% and get $20 cash back!!!!

SUCH an AMAZING DEAL!!!!
Here are my 6 week lash boost results (I have been using it for 10 weeks, I just need to take another photo & update!)

Here is my friend  & team member Tasha's 12 week Lash Boost results:

 What did you notice first? Her skin or her lashes?!?!
Look at these amazing results with Reverse (and lash boost!)

Ready to get the best skin and lashes of your life?
60-day empty bottle, 100% of your money back guarantee!

What is your biggest skin concern? I'm here to help!

Take THIS quick 5 question survey to find out what is best for your skin! 

Send me an email to place your order or if you have questions.
melissa_larson17@yahoo.com


{NINE}

Making Valentine's Treats is my Favorite.

Ritzies // M&M cookies // Chocolate Peanut Butter Heart Cookies

Nutella Brownies // Valentine Popcorn // Valentine Hugs & Kisses

Every year, we make a variety of goodies & deliver them to neighbors & friends.

 For the White Chocolate Valentine popcorn, we use THIS printable:

Valentine Cookies in a Jar {HERE}
I give these to my girls teachers & the School office staff, custodian, crossing guard, etc.
 

Rice Krispy Valentine Pops {HERE} 

My kids love making these and having them as a fun afternoon treat!

 As you can tell...I like A LOT of Valentine's treats....and I have a new Valentine cookie recipe that I will blog next week. I made them with my kids this week and it's one of our favorites. Stay tuned!

{TEN}
 Making Valentine Printable is my favorite...I seriously have a problem...I am obsessed with making them! Ha!

Here are some that I have made over the years....I can't pick a favorite :)

Ring Pop Valentine {HERE} // Goldfish Valentines {HERE}

Smores Valentine {HERE} // Valentine you are just Write!" & "You've got the Write stuff, Valentine" {HERE}

Valentine, You are Fun! {HERE} // Starburst {HERE}

I'm stuck on You & Let's Stick Together {HERE}  //  You make my heart Pop {HERE}

Sunglasses printables {HERE}

 Sour Patch Kids {HERE} //   You make my heart flip printable {HERE}

  All of the free printables can be found on my Printables tab {HERE}
And, all of the items for the Valentines were found at Target in the Valentine section.
Yesterday we went to pick out what my kids wanted to give this year.
Kate chose Sour Patch Kids/Sour Watermelon, Claire chose Fun Dip & Luke chose the heart glasses again :)

So, there you have it...10 Favorites on this lovely February Friday!

Savory Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs

One of my go-to appetizers when we have parties are Savory Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs.
 This is a family recipe that we have been making for probably over 15 years.
I make them all the time....I can't believe I haven't blogged them before!
I knew I needed to post them because the Super Bowl is this weekend and these are the perfect Super Bowl food.
They are so easy to make & they are great for parties because you make them in a crock pot (or Instant Pot) and they stay warm in there as well.
I used to make these in my Crock Pot, but as you know I got an Instant Pot last Fall, so I am on a mission to convert all my crock pot/slow cooker recipes to Instant Pot recipes!
To say I am obsessed with it is an understatement :)
I made these meatballs in the Instant Pot and it took under 20 minutes....normally in my slow cooker they take hours!
On this post, I will tell you the Instant Pot directions as well as Slow Cooker/Crock Pot directions for these meatballs.

Here is what you need:

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1 can cranberry sauce
1 cup Ketchup
1 jar of Hoisin sauce (found in the ethnic/Asian isle of your grocery store)
2 bags of Frozen Turkey Meatballs

Directions:
In a bowl, mix the teriyaki sauce, cranberry sauce, ketchup & hoisin sauce until combined 
(You could also mix in the crock pot liner or Instant Pot liner)

Place the 2 bags of frozen turkey meatballs in your Slow Cooker or Instant Pot
Pour the sauce mixture over the meatballs.

Give it a stir.
Close the lid on your Instant Pot and turn the valve to sealing, like this:

Cook on Manual high pressure for 6 minutes:

Do a Natural release for 10-12 minutes
(Natural release means you let the pressure on your Instant Post release without touching anything)
When you open the lid, the meatballs will look like this: 

Perfectly cooked through & warm.

Once again, I am amazed at how quick these cooked in the Instant Pot!

When I make these in the slow cooker, I cook them on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2-3 and I stir them every hour. So, if you don't have an Instant Pot, that is how you make them in a Crock Pot...still very easy! I am just amazed that it took under 20 minutes to make these in the Instant Pot....you can see why I am obsessed! It's still on sale for under $100 if you haven't gotten one yet. 

I serve the meatballs with toothpicks......

And, sometimes I make these meatballs for us to have as dinner & serve them over rice or cauliflower rice.....My kids are picky eaters and they LOVED it when I served these over cauliflower rice! Yeah!

It does make a lot of sauce, so I think you could even use 2.5 or 3 bags of frozen turkey meatballs.

Of course, you can use frozen beef meatballs instead of turkey, but the turkey ones are healthier and the sauce has so much flavor that you can't tell they are turkey rather than beef.

Hope you love these as much as we do, I make them every year for our Halloween party & the Super Bowl and for other block parties. They are a definite go-to appetizer for us and great for a crowd!

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 In case you missed it.... I have giveaway going on for a Pizza Maker and a $50 Williams Sonoma Gift Card.

Giveaway ends on Friday... Enter HERE

ALSO.....If you need other appetizer ideas to have for the Superbowl this weekend, here are some of my other favorites:

Baked Chicken Nachos {Recipe HERE} 

7 layer Greek Humus {Recipe HERE}

7 layer Dip {Recipe HERE}

Corn Dip {Recipe HERE}

Perfect Potato Skins {Recipe HERE}

Jalapeno Poppers with Bacon {Recipe HERE}

Who are you rooting for in the Superbowl?
I am rooting for the Atlanta Falcons...sorry all you Patriots fans, you have won too many Superbowls lately....it's time for a new team to win :)

Plus, I have to root for Atlanta since rumor has it that their Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan is going to be the 49ers new head coach. We need serious help!

If you don't care who wins,  do you just watch for the commercials & eat the food?