Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
Hot cocoa cookies! Thanks for joining me today on Ranch Raised.
Baking is as normal as breathing in my house. All my girls know their way around the kitchen and I let them have free rein to create. Sometimes, they are inspired to try something new and sometimes we don’t have all the ingredients so they have to problem solve. That’s what happened last week when my youngest daughter was found a chocolate cookie recipe but we didn’t have the big marshmallows, we only had the little dehydrated ones that the kids like in their hot cocoa. Suddenly this cookie adventure turned into the cutest “Hot Cocoa Cookies”! They literally looked like a cup of hot cocoa on the baking sheet and let me tell you they were delightful!
Here we go!
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with a non stick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, cream the 1 cup softened butter with both 3/4 cup granulated and 3/4 cup brown sugars, add 2 eggs one at a time. Then mix in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Gradually add the dry ingredients of 2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the wet ingredients. Then fold in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Scoop cookie dough into balls and flatten slightly in your palm, sprinkle with the little dehydrated marshmallows. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are set but centers still appear slightly soft and underbaked.
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Merriman, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her former role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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