Happy Veterans Day...Baking GALS, part 2

Happy Veterans Day to the soldiers (past & present) in our life...Dad, Bob, Jane, Nana :) and Mike. Thank you all for your service and sacrifice! These cookies are for Jason, our soldier through Operation Baking Gals. Coconut Snowballs from Everyday Food.... the recipe is posted on Martha's website, here.

If you like coconut, you'll love these. They remind me a little bit of Mexican Wedding Cookies. I think they would be a perfect addition to a cookie tray for the holidays!

I had to send a little chocolate! :) These are Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies. I was a little frustrated by the recipe, but they came out really yummy! They are topped with sparkling sugar, although it's hard to see in the picture, so they are pretty and sparkly! :)

Crisp Chocolate Chip Shortbread

(adapted from holiday cookies by Land O' Lakes)

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
3 tablespoons sparkling or large grain sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, cornstarch and salt. Beat until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pat dough into an ungreased 15 x 10 x 1" cookie sheet. (This is where I had a problem. There was NO way I could get the dough to cover the entire sheet. Next time I make these, I will press the dough onto the bottom of a 13 x 9" pan and see if that works better.) Sprinkle with sparkling sugar and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Immediately cut into squares or triangles (I used a bench scraper). Remove from pan when cool.