Is your oven temperature uneven (hot spots?)or not the right temp? Test the cake with a tester or toothpick near the center 5-10 minutes earlier than a recipe calls for. It should come out clean without crumbs sticking to it. You can use a regular chocolate frosting with this if you prefer as I do: DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE W/WHITE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING 2 cups flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 4 squares (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate 1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened 1 3/4 cups sugar 4 eggs 1 1/3 cups buttermilk 1 tsp vanilla Preheat oven to 325° with the shelf positioned in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Line two 9" lightly greased & floured cake pans w/circles of parchment. (You can dust the pans w/cocoa instead if you like.) Whisk together the flour, salt, nutmeg & baking soda & set aside. Melt the choclate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling water. Remove the chocolate from the heat & stir until smooth. Let cool. Cream the butter & sugar until light & fluffy, stopping the mixer to scrape the bowl & beaters several times. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add the flour mixture & buttermilk alternated to the batter, beginning & ending w/the flour mixture & mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla & cooled chocolate, blending just until the color is even. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Smooth the batter level, then spread it slightly from the center toward the edges of the pan so that the cake will rise evenly. Bake 35-45 minutes or until the top is lightly springy to the touch & a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the layers from the pan & cool completely on wire racks. Prepare the frosting. Center 1 of the cake layers on a serving plate & cover w/frosting. Place the 2nd later on top & frost the top & sides of the cake w/the remaining frosting. (Put the top of the layers upside down on the platter so the bottom is on top in case the cake "domes" a bit. You'll have a nice flat surface that way.)~~ WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM 6 TBL heavy cream 4 oz white chocolate, chopped fine 1/4 cup creme de cacao 1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened 1 lb confectioners' sugar (4 cups) Cream the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chopped white chocolate & stir until completely smooth. Stir creme de cacao into the white chocolate into the white chocolate mixture. Col, stirring occasionally. Cream the butter in a large bowl. Add the confectioners' sugar & beat 5 minutes until light & fluffy. Add the white chocolate mixture to the butter mixture gradually, beating at low speed until the desired ocnsistency is reached. Decorate with dark chocolate shavings.~~Save the Brandywine Valley

Here are some of my favorite snowball recipes. For the candy cane snowball recipe, I coated them with a white chocolate candy coating and the sprinkled with crushed candy canes. The other two are rolled or sprinkled in powdered sugar. I don't think I've ever used regular sugar to roll the cookies. I hope this helps. Chocolate Snowballs Cookie type: formed This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. Ingredients cup margarine ¾ cup packed brown sugar 3 squares unsweetened melted chocolate 1 egg 1 teas vanilla ¼ cup milk 2 cups flour 1 teas baking powder ¼ teas baking soda 1 cup chopped nuts confectioners sugar Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine margarine and brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate, egg, vanilla and milk. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients (except confectioners sugar). Blend well. Chill for 1 hour. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees. Remove, cool and roll in confectioners sugar. Candy Cane Snowballs Cookie type: molded or formed This recipe came out of Taste of HomeÂs December / January 2004 issue. This is a simple a festive holiday cookie. The recipe was submitted by Debbie Anderson. This makes about 5 dozen cookies. Ingredients: 2 cups butter, softened 1 cup confectionerÂs sugar 1 teas vanilla extract 3 ½ cups flour 1 cup chopped pecans 8 ounces white candy coating 1/3 to ½ cup crushed peppermint candy Directions: In a large bowl, cream butter and confectionerÂs sugar. Stir in vanilla. Gradually add flour. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until easy to handle. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 1Remove from baking sheets and cool. In a microwave safe bowl, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Dip the top of each cookie into the candy coating, then into the peppermint candy. Holiday Snowball Cookies Cookie type: drop This recipe came out of Nestle Very Best Baking, Holiday 2005. The holiday shapes and morsels are a fun twist. This makes about 4 dozen cookies. Ingredients: 1 ½ cups butter, softened ¾ cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon salt 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 ¾ cups Nestles Holiday Shapes & Morsels ½ cup finely chopped nuts Powdered sugar Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour; stir in shapes and morsels and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 ¼ inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight containers. Hints, tips, tricks and how to cheat: I donÂt recommend sprinkling the cookies with powdered sugar while the cookies are hot. The sugar will melt into the cookies.

shoot clair..it won't work... but you can c/p the cookie and it will come up, on search... for some reason they don't let you have the option in the post section, only in the link section, sigh...

Juellie, yes, the waffle cookies are made in the waffle iron. I've had the recipe forever (well 30 or 40 years) and hadn't made them for at least 6-8 years so decided it was time. I love them. We used to put ice cream between and just frost the top one to have homemade ice cream sandwiches! Mush, I had the oven at 300 degrees and left the Rolos in for 1 minute plus 10 to 20 additional seconds. I think you could have the oven a little lower and leave them in a little longer and that would soften the caramel a little more instead of just melting the chocolate. Casey, the pretzel ones are just round pretzels, laided out side by side on a foil covered cookie pan, then a Hershey's kiss placed in the middle. Heat for a couple of minutes in a 300 degree oven or until the kiss gets soft, then push a pretzel filled holiday M&M in the middle. Carla, this recipe didn't use cool whip in the lemon cookies, just cake mix, 2 eggs, and 1/3 cup of veggie oil. I'd love to try the recipe with the cool whip, though, if you ever come across it. Thanks everyone, for all the nice compliments. I just loved that White Gumdrop Fudge and the other quick candies. That's what turned my platters from kinda blah to something really pretty and festive!