New! Orange Pistachio Butter Cookies! Orange Minis! Mint Candy Brownies!

Stressed out? Try a nice brisk walk in the morning light and then bake the rest of the day. I’m calling it early St. Patrick’s Day gift pack for Mother and a couple other cookie testers. I was already on an “orange kick” a couple days ago when the decision was made after a phone call with my mother to make a new mini teacake. She repeatedly expresses her interest in “those little balls you make.” For fun, I made them in two sizes today, poodle sizes, toy and mini. (She’s always has a poodle companion.)

Last week I froze half of my new Orange Butter Cookie dough* for an experiment and to send some in the gift pack. Today I baked them two ways, plain and a few with toasted pistachios. These would sell very well in the Levant! My personal new favorite.

There were also a few leftover Hershey’s Lava Cake Kisses so I decided to make a pan of the cute little mini-brownies** and an experiment with some dark chocolate mint slices.