Children's Christmas Cookies

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you have been enjoying your holidays. We sure have.

We actually still are. Have you taken down your Christmas Tree and put away your decorations? We haven't. In my world, the first day of Christmas is Christmas Eve (not the day after Thanksgiving). And the 12th day of Christmas is January 5th. Today is Epiphany and marks the day the wise men met the Christ child and bestowed Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. After today, my Christmas season will be over.

I finally got my camera back from the shop and what is the first thing I photographed? Christmas Cookies. My camera had to have its aperture control unit replaced (for the second time) and I have only had it for two years. Meanwhile, it went on quite an adventure--two local places, then on to Arizona, then Connecticut, and finally back home. It now seems perky, clean, and ready to go.

(Phone photo)

Once our favorite girl was out of school for the holidays, she came and spent a few days with us so we could bake cookies. The first one was a basic sugar cookie. She did all the measuring and mixing, I just supervised. While the dough was mixing, we made a mixture of sugar and red sprinkles to roll them in.. I scooped out the dough, then she rolled it into balls and then into the sugar. Perfect job for little hands.

We made more cookies and goodies than what is shown here, but they have been eaten/given away by now.
























She kept telling me she wanted to make shape cookies, so shape cookies it was. Once again, she measured and mixed and I supervised. We made a cookie dough which can be rolled out right away without needing to be chilled. We rolled it out on sheets of parchment (she is also getting quite accomplished with the rolling pin) and slipped the sheets onto the baking pan.

Easier cutting is achieved if the dough is chilled after it is rolled out. We just sat a pan of dough outside for a few minutes while we rolled out the next batch. Once the dough is chilled, it cuts beautifully, with sharp edges.

Shape Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg, vanilla, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing until combined after each addition.

Divide dough into thirds and roll onto a piece of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick. No need to flour the parchment, but you may need to lightly flour the rolling pin to avoid sticking. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and chill 20 to 30 minutes for easier cutting.

Cut into desired shapes right on the sheet pan, then peel away the excess dough, which can be re-rolled. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. The cookies will remain blonde but be set. Let cool completely before removing from the trays and decorate as desired.

Peanut butter cookies are my personal favorite. Once again, I scooped and she rolled into balls and then into sugar for a little extra sweetness and sparkle. She had a little trouble with the crisscross fork marks and asked me to finish. I suspect she was over it and wanted to get back to her Barbies.

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In mixing bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar. Beat well until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed.

Add flour and stir until combined.

Roll dough, by tablespoons, into balls, then roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten balls with a fork using a crisscross pattern.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes.

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

WE WERE SKIPPING ALONG WITH OUR GOLDILOCKS SPRING, not too hot and not too cold, just enough rain to encourage plants to grow but not too much. In other words, just right. Then a week before the official start of summer, a heat wave oozed into town and put down its tentacles.

How about a cookie? Yes, a cookie you can make and enjoy even in summer. There is no baking involved and only a very few minutes of stove top cooking. Plus there are many healthful ingredients here.

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine milk, sugar, cocoa, butter, and peanut butter. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat. let boil, without stirring, for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in oats, coconut, vanilla, and salt. Stir until oats are evenly distributed.

Drop by spoonful onto parchment paper. Cool.

Saltine Cracker Toffee Bark

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, A WOMAN AT MY OFFICE brought in a plate of these tasty treats to share. She called them "Mock Heath Bars". I loved them and was amazed when she told me how she made them. . .with saltine crackers.

Mention the words, Heath Bars, and I am transported to happy memories from childhood. My Mother and her best friend loved those things. So many summer afternoons were spent swimming at the lake with Mama and her friend with her two daughters. On the way home, we would stop by the country store for ice cream--fudgcycles, drumsticks, sherbert push-ups, little cups of ice cream eaten with a wooden spoons, eskimo pie, whatever we chose. Mama and her friend would get Heath ice cream bars and practically swoon while savoring them.

And isn't that part of what Christmas Baking is about? Recreating joyous memories while making new ones for the children?

Saltine Cracker Toffee Bark
35 saltine crackers (about 2 sleeves)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. (about 1 1/3 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a 15x10x1-inch rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray with cooking spray.

Place crackers, salty side up, in prepared pan. In a saucepan, boil butter and sugar for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over crackers and bake for 4 - 6 minutes.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle chocolate chips all over the top. Spread evenly as chocolate begins to melt. Cool slightly and transfer to wax paper. Allow to cool completely before cutting or breaking into smaller pieces.

Sugar Plums

I AM TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO MY CHRISTMAS BAKING this year. Rather than baking one batch of cookies from start to finish one by one, I have had a few days of mixing doughs. Some are refrigerated, some frozen.

I have rolls of dough to use as slice and bake cookies. I have balls of dough which would traditionally be drop cookies. Some will be pressed into sheet pans for bar cookies. Also, my husband gave me a beautiful shortbread pan last month for my birthday, so I will be baking those too.

I feel much more productive this year and I don't have to worry if my cookies will be fresh when the time comes for sharing. We will see how this approach works when it comes to baking days.

Meanwhile, here is a no-bake goody that is actually pretty healthy.

Sugar Plums
4 cups rice krispies cereal
2 cups toasted pecans
15 oz. golden raisins
10 oz. pitted dates
3/4 cup honey
2 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Pour cereal into a large mixing bowl.

Finely chop the pecans, raisins, and dates. (Or grind in food processor if you have one).

In a small bowl, combine the honey, orange zest, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.

Pour the fruit mixture and the honey mixture into the bowl with the cereal. Mix all together with a wooden spoon. Roll into 1 1/2" balls with greased hands.

Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

WHEN YOU NEED A QUICK AND EASY (easy!) homemade dessert, look no further than this chocolate chip cookie baked in your black iron skillet.

No need to use (or clean up) the mixer. Don't bother getting out those cookie sheets and parchment. No standing over the oven to make sure your delicate cookies won't burn (as all cookie bakers know can happen in seconds). Nope; just one bowl, one wooden spoon, one skillet. And feel free to walk away from the kitchen for a few minutes while it bakes.

This cookie recipe is also accommodating--any baking chips will do, as well as add-ins such as coconut, pecans, M&M's. And because you have one large surface, there is plenty of room for piping messages and decorating.

Delicious as a base for a Sundae with a scoop of your favorite ice cream, syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit.

Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
6 Tbsp. softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugars with a wooden spoon. Stir in egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Transfer to a 10-inch cast iron skillet and smooth top. Bake until cookie is golden brown and just set in the center, 18 - 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.

“sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love

(all the merry little birds are
flying in the floating in the
very spirits singing in
are winging in the blossoming)

lovers go and lovers come
awandering awondering
but any two are perfectly
alone there's nobody else alive

(such a sky and such a sun
i never knew and neither did you
and everybody never breathed
quite so many kinds of yes)

not a tree can count his leaves
each herself by opening
but shining who by thousands mean
only one amazing thing

(secretly adoring shyly
tiny winging darting floating
merry in the blossoming
always joyful selves are singing)

sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love” 
― E.E. Cummings

Joyful Macaroons

I SHALL CONCLUDE 2013, MY FIFTH YEAR of blogging with one last cookie. I made this one especially for my husband, Pritchard Parker, who also happens to be my best friend, lover, caretaker, accountant, landscaper, handy-man, bed warmer, chauffeur, entertainer, mechanic, singer, protector, shopper extraordinaire, recipe taster, and all around great guy.  And he's good looking too.

Joyful Macaroons
5 1/2 cups flaked coconut
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla
whole almonds
melted chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut, flour, and salt. Add the condensed milk and vanilla. Mix well (using your hands is messiest and easiest). Drop by heaping tablespoonful onto parchment. Top each macaroon with a whole almond.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans and pressing down the almonds half way through baking. Let the macaroons cool on pans for a couple of minutes, then place on cooling racks.

When completely cooled, dip into melted chocolate.

Chocolate Dipped Ribbons and Wands

TURNS OUT, THIS WAS my favorite Christmas cookie. Especially the ones dipped in crushed peppermint. I used the same recipe as the Chocolate Pillows I made, but finished them differently

 

For the wands, I fitted the cookie press with the star tip and extruded the dough slowly making a fat, wiggly line. I then scored the lines and baked as usual. After the cookies cooled, I dipped them into melted chocolate and sprinkled with chopped, salted, roasted peanuts. So pretty and so tasty. 

   

 

 

The Ribbons were made by fitting the cookie press with the stencil that makes a continuous ridged line of dough. Score the cookies before baking. After cooling, I dipped them into the same melted chocolate as the wands but this time I sprinkled them with crushed peppermint candy.

The taste is reminiscent of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies!

Toffee Bars

There is no telling how many batches of these cookies I have made over the years. It is one that I bake at times other than Christmas and it is always a crowd pleaser.

A bar cookie, consisting of brown sugar shortbread covered with chocolate and nuts, this recipe is very flexible and simple to bake.  I have made them thicker and thinner, softer and crunchier. I have used milk chocolate and pecans (my personal favorite), white chocolate and sliced almonds, semi-sweet chocolate and walnuts, dark chocolate and pistachios. All combinations seem to work swimmingly.

Toffee Bars
(From Betty Crocker)
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 oz. chocolate chips or bars broken into pieces
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9 inch baking pan.

Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Blend in flour and salt. Press evenly in bottom of prepared pan.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until very light brown. Crust will be soft. Remove from oven; immediately place chocolate chips or pieces on crust. Ass soon as the chocolate is soft, spread evenly. Sprinkle with nuts. While warm, cut into bars.

Chocolate Pillows

 These buttery vanilla cookies have a secret center. They were made with a cookie press and I loved making them!

A continuous line of cookie dough is extruded then a piece of chocolate candy is placed along the line of dough. That line of dough is topped with another and the pieces are sealed together and scored to make individual cookies.

The recipe was new to me and since I made them I have thought of all the variations that could be made using this method. Peanut butter dough could be used and filled with jam. Chocolate dough filled with a cherry. Spice dough filled with dried fruit. Cheddar dough filled with a pecan to make cheese straws.

They could also be decorated with sprinkles, jimmies, or icing. I'll be baking more of these.

Chocolate Pillows
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Hershey bars, broken along score lines

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Stir in flour and salt until combined.

Fill cookie press and fit with the ribbon stencil. Press a continuous line of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet with the ridged side down.  Place a piece of the candy along the strip of dough spacing them about 1/4 apart. Press another strip of cookie dough on top of the candies, this time with the ridges up.

Press the two strips together gently.  Score the dough between the chocolate pieces and trim the ends to make them straight. (The trimmed off piece of dough can be used again).

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Cut into pieces along each scored line. Let them cool on the pans for a couple of minutes them remove to racks to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Spritz Cookies

If you want to make large quantities of shaped cookies for your cookie trays, the cookie press can be your friend. I received one as a gift and have really been enjoying using it. So much faster than rolling and cutting out and the cookies are really pretty.

This recipe makes a lot of cookies--16 dozen! And they are quite good; everything you want your homemade peanut butter cookies to be.

I decorated them a few different ways. On some I placed an M & M in the center, others a dark chocolate chip, and on some I dabbed a small spoonful of raspberry jam. Also, as an experiment, I attached a star tip to the press and made rosettes and ribbons.

Peanut Butter Spritz Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Place butter and peanut butter in large mixing bowl and cream thoroughly on medium-high speed. Add sugars gradually. Beat until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla; mix well using medium speed.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to peanut butter mixture in 3 additions, mixing well after each.

Assemble and fill cookie press with dough following the directions for your press. Select desired disc and press cookies onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 12 minutes or until golden around the edges.

 

 

Have one of each, I'll be right back. I am off to the kitchen to bake Gingerbread Spritz. 

 

 

Big Crispy Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Cookies

I like to start my Christmas cookie baking each year with a big, sturdy, bold cookie for my husband. I don't want him to feel trepidation about digging into as many freshly baked cookies as he wants to eat.

Knowing him as I do, I know he would hesitate about seeing some prissy and fragile looking little dainties that appeared like they were difficult to make. I'm not saying he doesn't enjoy and savor those cookies--oh he does. I just like to start the season with a no holds barred eat with enthusiasm and vigor model.

I am not one to bake cookies and forbid anyone from eating them--saving them for gifts, planning to serve them another day. I plan for those things and plenty to "sample" all along the way. Can you imagine coming into someones home, seeing cookies and smelling cookies, and not being able to EAT any cookies? Or someone grudgingly saying, "Well OK, but just one". 

Nope, not happening in Rocquie's kitchen. When I bake cookies, we eat cookies.

This is a very flexible oatmeal cookie recipe. I added dried cranberries and chopped roasted walnuts, then dipped them in melted dark chocolate. And I made them big. You can make them smaller and thinner if desired. You can add any nuts, fruit, or chocolate chips you wish, or you can leave them plain. Bake them a little longer if you like them more crisp. Add spices if you like. I've done all those things very successfully with this basic recipe.

Crisp Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup milk
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup dried fruit

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter, shortening, and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs, then beat until the mixture is light.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in the oats until combined well.

Add one third of the oat mixture to the butter mixture, then add the milk. Blend well then stir in the remaining dry ingredients. Fold in nuts and fruit.

Drop dough by teaspoon for smaller cookies or tablespoons for larger cookies. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on size, until the edges and tops are beginning to brown.

Let cool for a couple of minutes on the pan, then place on racks to cool completely.

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Continuing on the path of feeding oats to Pritchard Parker, I made him these no bake oatmeal cookies.  As much as he likes these, I don't know why I've never made them for him. Actually, I do; these were always his mother's cookies. She always called them "boiled cookies" and when I started searching for a recipe, I saw the same basic cookie called by a number of different names.

My Mother-in-Law is one of the loveliest people I have ever known. I have always told my husband I want to be like her when I become an older lady.  She has a great sense of humor and she is always kind and smiling. She is an amazing gardener. A cook she is not. She never wanted to be in the kitchen when she could be outside. She did cook for her family but my husband has always joked about things such as the fact that he awoke in the morning to the smell of burnt toast and the sound of a table knife scraping on toast.

This was her go-to cookie because she could get in and out of the kitchen very quickly.

She is now a widow and lives in an assisted living facility. She seems very content and I'm sure she doesn't miss the kitchen at all. The nurses say, however, that she is a great eater. She may miss the garden.

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine milk, sugar, cocoa, butter, and peanut butter. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil, without stirring, for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in oats, coconut, vanilla and salt. Stir until oats are evenly distributed.

Drop by spoonful onto parchment paper. Cool.

I didn't ask if these were as good as Mama's. I'm sure they were not. Nothing ever is. 

Benne Wafers

Like a good Southerner, I cooked and ate black eyed peas and greens for New Year's Day. It is a tradition in my family and also a superstition for luck. These also happen to be two of my favorite foods and we enjoy them many times throughout the year.

For extra luck this year, I also made Benne Wafers. Benne (sesame seeds) was brought to the Low Country of South Carolina in the 17th century, from Africa, during the slave trade era, and the versatile annual herb was planted extensively throughout the South.  In addition to the delicious, nutty flavor and nutritional benefits, legend has it that eating sesame seeds brings good luck.

These brown and buttery cookies with their nutty taste are solid and crisp on bottom and crunchy-light on top. This recipe makes a lot of cookies, but you will need them. They are so delicious and hard to stop eating. However, you don't need to bake all the cookies at once; the dough stores very well in the refrigerator until needed.

 

 

Benne Wafers

1 1/2 cups sesame seeds

1 (1-pound) box light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

 

Toast the sesame seeds on a baking sheet, at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes until just starting to brown and become fragrant. Set aside to cool completely.

 

Lower oven to 300 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

 

Cream together the sugar, butter, and eggs until very light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into the butter mixture until combined. Stir in the vanilla and the cooled sesame seeds.

 

Drop the batter by teaspoonful about 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake about 12 to 14 minutes until very brown around the edges.

 

Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheets. They will peel easily away from the parchment paper. Store in layers between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container.

 

 

 

 

 

If I were going to make a New Year's Resolution, it would be:

 

BAKE MORE COOKIES

 



Rosemary Shortbread

"There's rosemary, that's for rememberance."

----Shakespeare's Hamlet to Ophelia

This was my most popular cookie last Christmas. Shortbread is traditional for Christmas and always a crowd pleaser. The idea of adding rosemary to a cookie seemed odd to me, but at the same time I was so intrigued I couldn't resist trying it. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs and we have a nice shrub of it growing in our border garden.

Tradition says that rosemary will grow for 33 years, until it reaches the height of Christ when he was crucified, then it will die. Sprigs of rosemary were placed under pillows at night to ward off evil spirits and bad dreams. The wood was used to make lutes and musical instruments.

Scientists are now saying that the scent of rosemary is an effective memory stimulant.

All I know is I loved the beautiful aroma I experienced as I cut a few stems, brought them in, rinsed and placed them upon my cutting board, and proceeded to mince them very finely.

Rosemary Shortbread

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
2/3 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. chopped, fresh, rosemary
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar for topping

Cream the butter and the 2/3 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour, salt, and rosemary until well blended. The dough will be soft. Bring together into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 13x9 inch baking pan. Press the dough into the pan evenly, smoothing as you go. (This part is very fun so take your time.) Once you are satisfied with the eveness, prick holes all about the dough.

Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until the edges are just becoming golden. Cool the shortbread completely before cutting into squares or rectangles, or triangles as I did.
I am sending this to Food Blogga for Susan's 3rd Annual Christmas Cookie Event

Ginger Oatmeal Lace Cookies

These Oatmeal Lace Cookies are very delicate, tender, and crisp. The batter is a cinch to make on the stove top rather than the mixer, and they keep well for several days in an airtight container.  The crystallized ginger gives an unexpected, pleasant bite. 

If you love oatmeal cookies and are a fan of ginger, this is a cookie for you!

Ginger Oatmeal Lace Cookies

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

3 cups uncooked old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. finely minced crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Let cool a bit and add oats, flour, salt, sugar, and vanilla. Stir well to combine, then add the eggs. Mix thoroughly and stir in the minced ginger.

Drop 1 Tbsp. of batter at a time on the parchment, leaving at least 3 inches between cookies. Flatten batter into a circle with the back of a spoon.  Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating pans half way through baking, until just golden brown. Cool on pans for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove cookies from pan with a thin spatula and let cool completely on wire racks. 

Peanut Butter Cookie Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

I'm not sure which came into my head first, the peanut butter cookies or the chocolate ice cream. But the two ideas met there and became this dessert I made for Pritchard Parker.  I took the sandwiches a step further by rolling the edges in chopped, toasted peanuts.

One of my favorite peanut butter cookie recipes is from the blog, Simply Recipes. Elise's blog was the first food blog I ever encountered. In fact Elise's blog first introduced me to the concept of blogging.  That was several years ago, and I still visit her blog often. She has hundreds of recipes, very well organized with a fantastic index, and every one I have tried was delicious. I like her blog because it doesn't overwhelm with photographs or gimmicks.   I sound like a paid sponsor, but trust me, Elise doesn't know me from Adam's house cat. 

This recipe calls for half granulated sugar and half brown sugar, which is what I always use. I discovered I was out of brown sugar and I'm not sure how that happened. I'm usually careful to keep my pantry supplies replenished. But while I was digging around, I rediscovered a box of turbinado sugar and decided to use it.  The cookies turned out great! We loved the texture of them and I'm already planning to bake another batch.

Peanut Butter Cookies

(adapted from Simply Recipes)

1 cup turbinado sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Cream the butter for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and cream for 2 more minutes.  Mix in the peanut butter and egg.  Mix together the dry ingredients; stir into the peanut butter mixture.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough intoo 1 1/4 inch balls.  Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork.  Bake until light brown, 9 to 10 minutes.  Cool on baking sheets for a minute, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Toasted Walnut and Raisinette Cookie Bars

As a Christmas gift, my brother gave me subscriptions to a few food magazines. What a great gift for someone like me and a gift I will enjoy all year.  One of the magazines is Food and Wine, which I had not read before. Great choice on Brother's part! The March issue has several recipes I thought sounded great and are on my current menu plan.

These cookie bars are (sort of) one of them. I loved the idea of  making chocolate chip cookies as bar cookies. So much easier to make.  I did deviate from the recipe quite a bit, but that's what we do, right? Use a recipe as a map, but take side roads to the final destination? 

Toasted Walnut and Raisinette Cookie Bars

(adapted from Food and Wine Magazine)

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. canola oil

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup toasted and chopped walnuts

1 cup Raisinettes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment.

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Beat together the butter, canola oil, and both sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in the toasted walnuts and Raisinettes until evenly distributed.

Press into the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cook completely, then remove from the pan and cut into bars.

Linked with Sweets for a Saturday #8 at the blog, Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Delicious Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

These delicious cookie bars were my Valentine dessert.  They are so simple to make and so tasty, I decided to make another batch to share at work. I like making treats like this, they are not too sweet and the oats add nutritional value. They are also quite satisfying  for breakfast.

Delicious Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars
(compliments allrecipes.com)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan, then line the pan with greased foil.

Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats.  Rub in the butter using your hands to form a crumbly mixture.  Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge.  Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

I am joining Lisa at her blog, Sweet as Sugar Cookies, for her 5th Sweets for a Saturday event. 

Lime Meltaways

I love citrus at Christmas time.  When I was a girl, I always got tangerines in my Christmas stocking. The aroma of an orange being peeled can really brighten spirits on a cold and dreary winter day. Did you ever cut a hole in an orange, then insert a soft peppermint stick to suck the juice through?

I have already made a couple of orange cookies and decided to use lime for an additional citrus note. This is a dainty cookie which really does melt in your mouth. It is quite tangy and was a new recipe for me this year.

Lime Meltaways

(A Martha Stewart recipe)

1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp.) butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

Grated zest of 2 limes

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cups plus 2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

Cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar, with an electric mixer, until fluffy. Add lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and roll each half, in plastic wrap, into 1 1/4 inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a plastic bag. Remove plastic from logs and slice into 1/8 inch rounds. Place on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to  a wire rack to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar filled bag and toss to coat. Return to wire racks to let the cookies cool completely.



Snickerdoodles

This is the first time I've ever made Snickerdoodles. In fact, it is the first time I have ever eaten one.  Although I've always thought the name very cute, I really didn't know what they were.

Some years ago, there was a local grocery store which gave out samples of Snickerdoodle coffee. Apparently, it was wildly popular, but it smelled horrible.  I always thought, if that's what a Snickerdoodle cookie smells like, I'll pass.

I recently discovered that Snickerdoodles are simply sugar cookies, which have been rolled in cinnamon sugar.  I imagined the buttery cookies tasting like cinnamon toast, which I love.  One thing that distinguishes them from a regular sugar cookie is that they are leavened (traditionally with cream of tartar), which makes a cookie crisp on the outside and soft and chewy inside.

I saw this recipe in the December 2010 issue of Southern Living. A choice is given for using the bottom of a glass to flatten the dough balls, or to bake without flattening for a "snowball look".  I made some of each and Pritchard Parker and I both liked the pillowy look and texture of the unflattened cookies best.

Snickerdoodles

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Beat butter at medium speed with and electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add 2 cups sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, milk, and vanilla, beating well.

Combine flour, baking powder, and 2 tsp. cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended.

Combine 3 Tbsp. sugar and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.  Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls, roll in sugar mixture, and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.