The absolute best way to impress friends, family, co-workers, your boyfriend’s family, or anyone really, is to bake. There is something about the idea of home-made baking that makes people think you are the sweetest, most put together women in the world. Nothing shouts "Susie-Homemaker" like a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.

The problem however is that while we want to be a great little housewife, we also have to be working, cooking dinner, cleaning the house, running errands, etc. So is it even possible for a modern day woman to bake a fresh batch of home-made cookies? Yes it's possible, but unless you have an hour or two of your day to spare, I suggest my "semi-homemade" cookies. Besides, we can keep it our little secret.

I'll start by sharing my Peanut Butter Kiss Cookie Recipe.

You will need:

1. A Pillsbury Tube of Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

2. A bag of Hershey Kisses

3. Cinnamon

Bake the cookies according to the directions on the package

I suggest that you only bake them for 9 minutes - This way they remain soft.

Place a Hershey Kiss in the middle of each cookie (unwrapped of course)

Lightly sprinkle each cookie with some cinnamon (very light, too much and your cookies are ruined)

Place the cookies on a nice serving tray and let the praises begin.No one needs to know that you didn’t spend an hour making the dough.

Another great dough to work with is sugar cookie dough. Again, Pillsbury makes a great dough that comes in a tube. It makes up to 25 cookies. Which is great if you want to impress the mom’s in your child’s class. Just whip up this batch of fun sugar cookies and you’ll be room mom in no time.

You will need:

1. Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough

2. Fine sugar crystals (any color you choose)

3. Stencil (any pattern you choose)

Just like before, bake the cookies according to the directions on the package

Once your cookies are baked place them on wax paper

While still hot, use your stencil and place it on the cookie, dust the area you want colored with the fine colored sugar crystals

This will create unique sugar cookies that the kids love to eat and the moms think you spent all night baking.

Lastly, here is a list of great cookie add-ins that make pre-made cookie dough taste delisciously home-made.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Add-Ins

· Finely chopped walnuts

· White Chocolate Chips

· Peanut Butter Chips

· Mashed Banana (you have to start with the Betty Crocker cookie dough powder mix for this, not the Pillsbury tube – mix the banana at the very end)

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

· PB Icing -Using 2 cups Peanut Butter, 1 Tbs of butter, 1 cup of chocolate chips – melt in pan and spread on cookies. So good!

· Add Reese’s to the middle of each cookie

· Place a little bit of jelly in the middle of the cookie and cover it with a thin piece of cookie dough – bake for 9 minutes -the kids love this one

Enjoy Baking!! xoxo