Mocha Pecan Cookies and an award

These are a favorite in my family and when my mom makes them she has to hide them from my dad so there's some leftover for everyone else. I'm excited about my new toy I got for Christmas since I was a good girl Santa brought me a "studio". I'm still playing with the lighting and I'm on the hunt for some new backgrounds but so far it's been my favorite thing to play around with.

Mocha Pecan Cookies

1 (12 ounce) semisweet chocolate morsels (1/2 cup melted, 1 ½ cups regular)
2 tablespoons instant coffee
2 teaspoons boiling water
1 ¼ cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt ½ cup chocolate chips. Stir until smooth, cool to room temperature. Dissolve coffee in water, set aside. Combine flour, baking soda and salt, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and coffee; beat until creamy. Add egg and melted morsels, mix well. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in remaining 1 ½ cups morsels and pecans. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow 2 to 3 minutes standing time before removing from cookie sheets. Cool completely. Yields 2 dozen 3 inch cookies.

I love this picture it reminds of something Pillsbury would do.

Now on to the award. There's so many great blogs out there and I've been lucky to receive this award from Priscilla back in December, but with all the craziness settling down I thought it was time to pass it along.

I have quite a few blogs I follow now so it's hard to pick a handful of them and I'm sorry if I didn't pass the award on to you this time, but I haven't forgotten about you all....

Maria and Josh at Two Peas & Their Pod. They are the ultimate couple who crank out some yummy dishes. She's full of clever ideas that are so easy they have you wondering why you didn't think of the same thing. Check out the brownies they just posted they have me craving a sweet treat now.

Prudy at Prudence Pennywise. With the way the economy is now many of us are turning into penny pincher's and Prudy has the site for you. No need to loose the flavor and wow factor in your dishes when you can use her money saving tips.

Love At First Bite is a blog done by Melissa and everything on her site looks delicious! My mouth waters every time I look at her site. She also does a kitchen tip every Sunday which I love and my favorite is a recipe for homemade sweetened condensed milk. I hate when you think you have something go to the store come home to bake and realize you didn't have it.

Peanut Butter and Julie is a blog I've followed and she actually introduced me into the cooking contest site I'm a memeber of now. She has the perfect light after dinner treat posted right now which I'm excited to try out.