Tip-sy Tuesday: Pumpkin Spice Cookies

This was such an easy change up to a pumpkin spice cookie mix that I figured it should be a 'tip' and not an 'actual' recipe!  Simply add some chopped dried cranberries and a handful of butterscotch chips along with the ingredients called for on the package. Using my small cookie scoop I got 43 cookies (they took 9 minutes to bake fyi). The plain mix is really good, but the additions made them even better and it made me feel a little better about whipping out cookies made from a mix hahahah. 

Cracked Sugar Cookies

Made these sugar cookies waaaaay back for the 4th of July to take to the lake and give to our camping neighbors (hence the red, white, and blue sprinkles!) but I've made twice since then without sprinkles because they are so good everyone wants more hahaha. Dave says they remind him of shortbread cookies, I'm assuming that's because of the lack of egg whites (?), and oddly enough the older the cookies get the more they taste like shortbread and the better he likes them. He wanted to give the neighbors another baggie of them last weekend and I said no way, they are like 3 weeks old at this point! He argued that they are still great but I'm not giving out old cookies...having said that - if you want a cookie that tastes great fresh or weeks old, you're going to love this one LOL. 

• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. cream of tartar
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 t. vanilla

Sift 1st 3 together and set aside. 

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in yolks and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in 4 parts, until well blended.

Shape into tablespoon sized balls (I use my small cookie scoop), put on greased cookies sheet (or line sheets with parchment paper) and do not flatten. Bake at 350' for approx 8-10 minutes.

makes 36 cookies (note: the recipe says it makes 36 but using my small scoop I get a lot more, more like 48)

                             

note: I added sprinkles to the batter to make them 'patriotic' - you could add other colors and shapes if you want, or just leave them as plain old white yummy sugar cookies. Mmmm, you could frost too! 

these are slightly puffy when you pull out of oven, they'll flatten as they cool

Obviously it took me a while to get around posting these, now it's almost time for black and orange sprinkles for Halloween, brown and yellow for Thanksgiving, red and green for Christmas! See, these cookies are perfect all year 'round ;) 

My Sis is Hungry: Zucchini Bread Cookies

My sister ripped this recipe out of a magazine, handed it to me and asked me to make them for her. Um, that's a little bossy but ok, whatever. So when Brooke came over yesterday and was bored I asked if she wanted to make these cookies for me - as in for me to give to her mom LOL, and she did. I would never have made these if it wasn't for B, they didn't sound good to me at all hahahah.  

While she was scooping out the batter onto the cookie sheets I said they look a little weird, maybe more of a breakfast thing - and she said they look weird and more like a salad. I laughed hard. 

I know my sis is going to review these and ask if they're healthy, she told me not to tell her because if they're healthy she'll give them a higher rating hahah. When she texted me 'thanks for the cookies and they taste better than they look', I may have yelled 'THEY LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE PHOTO YOU GAVE ME' like somehow I just randomly made these cookies for her and not based on the recipe she insisted I make? Like it's my fault they look like they do? LOL.

I wrote 'you realize these are the cookies you wanted me to make for you, right?' She said 'no, not until Brooke told me' 🤦‍♀️

I'm writing this before receiving her review just to prove I know what she's going to say hahahah.

• 2 ripe medium bananas
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 2 T. honey
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (I didn't have ww flour, used all white flour)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (note B used milk chocolate mini chips)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (we omitted the nuts)

1. Heat oven to 350'. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.
3. Add flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix to combine. Fold in oats, then zucchini, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
4. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto prepared sheet, spacing 2" apart. Bake until golden brown, 14-18 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.'

Jen's review in her words:

So first I have to start with that these were my “find”.  I got a mystery delivery of the food network magazine in the mail- I knew I absolutely wouldn’t subscribe to something like that and forget. I thought maybe my husband or teen had done it as a hint?  Turns out it was my mother.  Apparently she knows me well. 

Anyway- I then feel obligated to flip through this magazine (or I’m wasteful).  Anyway- stumbled across Zucchini cookies.  WHAT? A chance to eat cookies and pretend I’m still healthy? COUNT ME IN.  oh wait.. except I don’t actually bake.  Darn.  Then VOILA! My sister and teen produce these cookie’s!! I was SUPER thankful (wanna say that off the bat).. but they looked like garbage.  Green garbage with chocolate chips.  At first bite I was perplexed.  It didn’t taste like a cookie at all but did taste like a version of delicious moist zucchini bread.  The chocolate chips made me feel like I couldn’t put butter on it though so that was an issue.  They were VERY moist – and quite sticky.  Didn’t love that part.  And wasn’t as firm as bread. Didn’t love that part.  I guess my rating of these is average.  Flavor was good but I was perplexed by the not a cookie not bread status.

Hopefully our mother keeps sending this magazine so I can give my sister more things I would like her to try and make me.. what a giver I am. HAHAHA

Peanut Blossom Cookies

I haven't been baking many sweets lately because we don't want them in the house - I don't have much of a sweet tooth but I do love cookies! Dave annoyed me by flaking on his "man-day Monday" segment so I told him I'm making cookies with nuts in them on purpose so he can't eat them (allergies) as his "punishment" hahahah. Just kidding, that'd just be mean and he will do his video for next Monday so all good. Really I just felt like making peanut butter cookies and have this old recipe in my files that I cut out of an ad in some magazine...

8 oz. Hershey's Kisses
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar for rolling

1. Heat oven to 375'. Remove wrappers from Kisses.
2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a Kiss into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

my notes: I used almond kisses, smooth peanut butter., and coarse salt. The dough is a little crumbly but holds together when you shape it into balls. I used a small cookie scoop and experimented with (a) just releasing the dough from the scoop right into the sugar (it has a flat bottom that way) or (b) rolling the dough in my palms to form smooth balls. Both ways resulted in round cookies. The cookies are pretty crumbly when baked but the flavor is good, not dry. I liked the combination of the crunch from the almond Kiss and the smooth cookie texture - I don't think I'd like the nuts in the Kiss with chunky peanut butter in the cookies. My batch yielded 45 cookies.

left =  balls I rolled in my palms,
right=  dropped from the cookie scoop into the sugar...

outcome is the pretty much the same. 

3.20.18: Dottie F. Bunny (Mary knitted it for me!)
3.20.17: how to hinge mat your photos or artwork
3.20.16: boneless coq au vin

Happy moment ~ a heart shaped rock

Chocolate-Mint Crackles

This recipe has been in my folder for years, it's from a Martha Stewart magazine date unknown. I was home yesterday getting caught up on house work and thought I'd make a quick cookie for Monday Supper (Sunday supper postponed a day!), these looked easy - although I didn't read all the way thru the instructions and realized too late the dough needed to be chilled for 3 hours, so not exactly a "quick" cookie! I got around that issue by throwing the dough in the freezer for about a half hour until the dough was chilled (but not frozen). These got mixed reviews: if you like a soft brownie-like cookie and mint then I think you'll like them, if you like thin crunchy non-minty cookies they might not be your favorite! I think they taste like Andes Mints, yum.

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon mint extract (note: I only put in 1/2 teaspoon and they're quite minty)
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

• Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until melted. (Note: I melted mine in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, follow package directions).
• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and cocoa.
• In a larger bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, egg, and melted butter. Gradually whisk in melted chocolate and mint extract until smooth. Stir in flour mixture (note: I wasn't paying attention and tried to whisk in the flour but that was messy and sticky - switch to a spoon to incorporate the flour mixture). Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 325'. Roll tagl3espoons of dough into balls using your palms, then roll in confectioners' sugar to coat. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart. Bake until slightly firm in the center, about 15 minutes. (note: mine took between 13 and 14 minutes)
• Let cool slightly on sheets set on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely. 

Makes 30 cookies. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or rolled into balls and frozen for up to 2 weeks. Roll in confectioners' sugar just before baking. 

Store cookies at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

1.30.18: baked ham and cheese sliders
1.30.17: heart cork wreath and trivet
1.30.16: sweet sunrise mocktail


Happy moment ~ no brainer, the smell of cookies baking in the oven

Butterscotch Sugar Cookies

Here's another cookie recipe from that Joanne Fluke murder with recipes book I read that wasn't very good but this recipe is! In fact, I gave some to my sis and asked for their opinion - she said Brooke deemed them "money" ... 'nuf said.

The recipe says it makes 5-7 dozen but I did not want 5-7 dozen cookies so I cut the recipe in half...and it still made 4.5 dozen. Fortunately they are so good that everyone wants them and I don't "have" to eat them all myself ;)

The only other change I made is to stir whole butterscotch chips into the batter - I only did a big handful but it's a really good addition and next time I will had lots more! Here is the original recipe, cut all ingredients in half if you want less cookies - and add chips to the batter if you want (and you do!).

Oh, and by the way - I don't think I've ever made a batch of cookies that turned out so uniform in size and shape! These would be perfect to package in a rectangle carton or anything that makes them line up in a straight row.

• 2 cups salted butter (4 sticks)
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup white sugar in a bowl for coating the cookie dough balls before baking

Preheat oven to 325', rack in the middle of oven.

Melt the butter and butterscotch chips in a microwave-safe bowl by putting the chips on the bottom of the bowl and the butter on top of that. Heat for one minute on high, let the bowl sit in the microwave for one minute, and then try to stir it smooth. If you can, you're done. If not, continue to heat in 30-second intervals until you can stif the mixture smooth. Set in on the counter to cool.

When the mixture has cooled to slightly above room temperature, pour it into a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the powdered sugar and the white sugar. Beat until the mixture is smooth. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract until it's well combined. Add the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.

Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition. (The reason for this is adding it all at once will go all over the counter when you turn the mixer on! Add the flour slowly). Note: Stir in the butterscotch chips by hand if you are adding them.

Prepare you cookie sheets either by spraying them with non-stick baking spray, or line them with parchment paper.

Place a half-cup of white sugar in a bowl. Roll one-inch cookie dough balls with your fingers (I use a 2 teaspoon scooper to form the balls). Dip the dough balls in the sugar and roll around until they are coated. Place the balls on the cookie sheet, 12 dough balls to a standard size sheet.

Flatten the dough balls with a metal spatula (or your fingertips). This will make them bake evenly. If you leave them on the cookie sheet without flattening them, they will flatten out during baking, but the insides will be chewy instead of melt-in-your-mouth crispy.

Bake at 325' for 12 minutes until lightly golden around the edges. 

Makes 5-7 dozen cookies.

10.11.2017: German chocolate bread
10.11.2016: how to repair a toilet lever
10.11.2015: acorn squash stuffed with meatloaf

Molasses Oatmeal Cookies

True story - I made these cookies to give to the neighbors, and asked Dave to taste test and tell me what he thinks.

Dave: well they're not your normal chocolate chip cookie.
Me:    good thing,  since they are molasses oatmeal. (insert eye roll).
Dave: Can I be brutally honest? I wouldn't give them to the neighbors because they don't know how  good your cookies can be, and these are ok but not up to your usual level of delicious baking.
Me:    dang. ok, well then I don't know what I'm going to do with 5 dozen of them...

Later that day LeDonna stops by, I tell her the story and ask if she'll please take some cookies since they aren't 'good enough' to give to the neighbors. An hour later she texts me this:

LeDonna: Let me be brutally honest - the molasses oatmeal cookies are FABULOUS!!! I've had 4 cookies already and trying to save some for the others! My tastebuds are very happy!

Needless to say, I went ahead and gave some to the neighbors (who loved them for the record) and my friend Cassie (who also loved them and asked for the recipe)!! Just because they aren't Dave's favorite doesn't mean they aren't good - everyone else is very happy with them!

• 1 and 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tasoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons coffee (you can use leftover coffee from breakfast)
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup light Karo syrup
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 
• 3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• coarse, natural raw sugar (optional for the tops)

Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Pour the softened butter on top of the sugar and mix until smooth and creamy.

Mix in the eggs and beat until well incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Sprinkle in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt; mix in until they're incorporated. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla and coffee. Mix well.

Mix in the cranberries. Add the molasses and Karo syrup and beat until everything is combined. 

Add the oats, mix thoroughly.

Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition (the purpose of this is so the flour doesn't fly out of the bowl, adding it slowly will keep down the mess!).

Take the bowl out of the mixer, give it a final stir by hand to make sure that none of the cookie batter sticks to the sides, then stir in the chips by hand. 

Spray your cookie sheets with non-stick baking spray or line them with parchment paper (I use parchment paper, clean up is a breeze that way!). 

Drop the cookies by heaping large spoonfuls (I use a medium-size 2 Tablespoon scoop) onto your prepared cookie sheets, no more than 9 large cookies to a standard size sheet. Sprinkle with natural sugar if you want. Bake at 350' for 13-15 minutes or until set and lightly golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven, let them cool on the pans for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

yield: 5 dozen large, soft and chewy cookies

Notes and changes I made: the original recipe calls for salted butter (I use unsalted and add coarse salt), golden raisins (I don't like raisins so substituted dried cranberries), quick cooking oats (I used old-fashion), I added a sprinkle of coarse sugar to the tops, it says to bake for 15-18 minutes but mine took less time, and lastly the original recipe says it makes 2-3 dozen but I got 5. Oh, and the original title is "soft and chewy milk chocolate cookies' but it seems more like a 'molasses oatmeal' cookie to me!

I found this recipe in one of those murder/cooking books by Joanne Fluke

one year ago: my sister made creepy donut hole eyeballs
two years ago: make a tassel keychain or purse charm
three years ago: how I decorate our front porch

S'Mores Cookies

I have been busy all day in the kitchen and am just now sitting down to share with you! It was pouring rain and a little cooler (a little as in 80 instead of 90!) this morning so I was in the mood to bake cookies (and make some other goodies I'll share with you a diff day). Saw this on a site I follow (Mel's Kitchen Cafe) and they got rave reviews so I wanted to try them...we've been camping a lot this summer but so far we haven't made S'mores - these cookies seem like the next best thing to actually roasting marshmallows over the campfire.

I'm a little peeved at Dave because he came in as I was baking them and asked which one he could taste test (he knows to not just grab a cookie, he gets to eat the ones that don't look so great haha) - I gave him one and asked his opinion, he said "well it's such a small cookie I couldn't really get a good taste" so he had another. And said the same thing. Then I yelled at him to please at least slow down and tell me if they are good before popping another in his mouth! I mean seriously, most cookies are good - but is this a 'keeper' good recipe or a 'one time' good recipe? Then LeDonna came in the kitchen and tried one like a normal person and told me they are indeed a 'keeper' good recipe and she wouldn't change a thing - she did say they brought one word to mind..."s'more" (as in she wanted more haha!).

Here is Mel's recipe ~ my changes are that I used store-bought graham cracker crumbs because I happen to have a box on hand; I used coarse salt instead of regular; and I scooped the cookie dough using my small cookie scoop so I have small one- (if you're Dave) or two-bite cookies that only took 9 minutes to bake, and it made over 5 dozen instead of the 2-3 dozen her recipe says.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons, 6 ounces) butter, softened
• 1 cup (7.5 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (2.5 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups (8.75 ounces) all-purpose flour 
• 1 cup (4.5 ounces) graham cracker crumbs (about 9 rectangle crackers crushed)
• 2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips or chunks
• 1 cup (1.75 ounces) miniature marshmallow bits (see note)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
 
2. Using an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, add the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix together until very light and creamy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until evenly combined.
4. Add the flour and graham cracker crumbs and mix until just barely combined; a few dry streaks are ok.
5. Add the chocolate chips or chunks and marshmallow bits and mix until incorporated.
6. Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing at least 2-inches apart.. I like to roll the mounds of dough so they are smooth, but you don’t have to be obsessive like me.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until just golden on the edges and a little crackly on top. Let the cookies sit for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

note:

About those marshmallow bits, your average mini marshmallows will not work! They’ll melt into huge craters and become a puddly, burned mess ruining one of summer’s most perfect cookies. Trust me, I tried it. Instead, you need marshmallow bits. In other words, dehydrated marshmallows. They should be pretty easy to find. They are often located right by the other marshmallows in the grocery store or by the hot chocolate (another great way to use them, btw), and someone mentioned looking by the ice cream toppings. I’ve also ordered them on Amazon (this brand and this brand – aff. links) and found them in bulk at my local Cash and Carry.

Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies

You guys are gonna think I'm an un-organized forgetful mess (which I occasionally am!), but I'm going to point it out and share this anyway so you have the correct info. I posted last week about some cookies I made and gave you the recipe (click here for that post)...which is all good except that isn't the recipe I made! That's what I get for waiting too long to post something I've made - I had different recipes on my desk for these cookies but I shared one that wasn't the one I actually made. I just now realized my mistake because I'm cleaning up my messy desk and came across the recipe torn out of a magazine and covered with cookie dough - that's when I realized I gave you the wrong one (you'd think I would have remembered not making that other recipe!). Good grief - I cannot say for sure if last weeks recipe is any good!! Here is the version I DID make, and they are good - if you made them with the other recipe and they didn't turn out I'M SORRY!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking or old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (10 ounces), at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet or white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325'.Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour with the oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a mixer beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until creamy. Add the egg followed by the egg yolk and vanilla, beating well between additions and scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the dry ingredients, then add the chocolate chips and cranberries and beat until incorporated.
3. Spoon heaping teaspoons of the dough onto the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies begin to brown at the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days. 

I found this recipe in a Food and Wine magazine from November 2011

Oatmeal White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

 I made these a while back but forgot to give you the recipe - I shared the cookie sheet hack (click here for that post) but not the cookies! I don't know where I got this recipe so can't credit the original source, it's a pretty basic recipe tho so I don't think I'm gonna get in trouble for stealing it!


Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 
2. In another bowl beat the butter and sugars until smooth. Mix in the egg until incorporated and then add in the vanilla. 
3. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the oats, cranberries and chocolate chips until combined. 
4. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Spoon dough out in about 2 Tablespoon balls, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, flatten slightly with your hand.
6. Bake at 350' for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks. They'll look slightly underdone when you take them out of the oven, they'll cook a bit more while cooling. 

2 years ago: "Palentine"/Valentine dinner menu

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

My friend Teri went on a road trip with her husband and boys, and just before they left I decided to make a treat for them to take...but just like with my sister's road trip granola bites I thought about this at the last minute and only had like an hour to make a treat before she was leaving. So once again I didn't have time to go to the store and had to make something using what I have on hand...I'm down to cocoa powder and an a half-empty bag of marshmallows (it's time to grocery stock and get my supplies back up!) so googled ideas for something using those two ingredients and came up with this (click here for source) - and they turned out pretty good! They are a little gooey and messy but the flavor is really good so it's worth needing a wet wipe after eating them hahaha. Teri said her boys loved them :)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 34 large marshmallows (or if you cut each one in half you'll need 17. see below)
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) un-salted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar, plus additional for the outside of the cookies
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In another bowl, mix flour and other dry ingredients.

Add dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture. The dough should be thick enough that you can shape it into flattened disks. 

To assemble: make balls of dough using a 2 T. cookie scoop, then flatten into a disk big enough to cover a marshmallow (or half a marshmallow if you prefer). 

wrap the dough around the marshmallow

Put a marshmallow in the center and close the dough up around the marshmallow making sure you completely cover it, you shouldn't be able to see any white at this point. Roll each ball in granulated sugar, place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400' for 8-10 minutes.

completely cover the marshmallow

They are done when the cookies start to crack open and you can see melted marshmallow. Remove from oven and cool, leave on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack - letting them set up a bit makes it easier to remove the baking sheet. 

Makes about 33 big cookies.

the difference between a whole marshmallow (on the left) and half (on the right)

Note: when I did a whole marshmallow they worked good but lots of marshmallow runs out and it gets quite messy. So I switched to half a marshmallow and not so much ran out but also there wasn't as much marshmallow "filling" that way - I'd recommend making a couple each way before doing the whole batch so you can see which you prefer. The ones with more marshmallow probably taste better 'cuz they are gooier but they are also quite delicate because they crack so much, not as "pretty". The half marshmallow still tastes good and holds it shape better, but not as "marshmallowy"...so depends on what you're going for!

one year ago today: fix those uncomfortable (but cute) shoes! 

Chocolate Mint Cookies

This is from Redbook magazine 12/2000 - it's one of those recipes that is a basic dough then they change it up different ways. For some reason I've never tried any of the other versions but have made these chocolate mint ones a lot...since we love this one I should probably try the others too! Macadamia white chocolate chip, toffee pecan drops, and drizzled ginger-spice chews are the other versions - D can't eat 2 of those so I'm gonna make the ginger spice ones and let you know how it goes. Anyway - for now here is the chocolate mint recipe:

2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
9 oz. coarsely chopped creme de menthe thins (I use Andes mint chips)

Preheat oven to 375'. Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda and set aside. Beat butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, 1 minute. Add sugars and beat until smooth, 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, then beat to combine. Add flour mixture, and mix until moistened. Stir in chocolate mint pieces. Spoon onto an engrossed baking sheet in rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 in. apart, and bake 10 to 12 minutes.

I made some using my 2 Tablespoon scoop, and smaller ones with a
1 Tablespoon scoop. The larger ones only took 13 minutes to bake.

I baked half of the dough and froze the other half in 1 Tablespoon balls for later

gave some to my friend Teri who was worried she'd eat them all
before she got home to share with her family - she said that I should
make it so she couldn't get at them... so I duct taped the
opening to help her with self control LOL! 

Granola Cookies

I originally named these "oatmeal chocolate cherry coconut cookies" but whew, that's a mouthful -  and they actually are more like granola so I changed their name! These aren't an overly sweet cookie and I dare say they taste almost healthy haha... perfect with a big glass of milk!

I wore my "baking is cheaper than therapy" t-shirt that my sis got me to tap class the other day and one of the ladies asked if I like to bake....um, indeed I do ;). She wondered what my favorite thing to bake is and I had to think about it because I like to bake most everything - it usually ends up that I get in a phase though and make the same type of thing over and over and right now it's cookies. So I thought I'd make the tap ladies some cookies since Erica showed interest!

I love the show Fixer Upper and the host Joanna Gaines frequently has large thick cookies on her counter - for all I know they are a plastic prop haha but I've been wanting to make some really big ones like that. Normally I make them small - I think it's so having a couple makes me feel less guilty than eating one big one! I based this recipe on a few different ones I saw online, I think it's a fairly standard recipe but I wanted to add chocolate, cranberries, and coconut - and skip the raisins (I'm not a raisin lover).

Click here for where I got the base recipe. My changes: omit the raisins and walnuts, used coarse salt, added 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, and didn't chill the dough. I read that if you add cornstarch you don't have to refrigerate the dough, I've never heard that before so wanted to try it. I added 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, and 1/2 cup dried cranberries. Also used my big muffin scoop but had to flatten them down some to get them to bake through. This made 12 big cookies.

ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 oz, or 115 grams) butter, at room temp
2/3 cup (125 grams) light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup (95 grams) flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (120 grams) rolled oats
3/4 cup (120 grams) raisins
1/2 cup (65 grams) walnuts, chopped (optional)

directions:

Cream butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. 

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into butte/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins, and walnuts.

Chill the dough for an hour, up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degF. Using a large muffin scoop, portion dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Roll dough with your hand and flatten a little bit. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are golden, but the centers look a bit underdone. Overbaking them will result in less chewy cookies.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Andes Mint Cookies

I re-organized all the cupboards in my kitchen and made space to have all of my baking supplies in a deep drawer and couldn't wait to put it to the test to see if this new system will function as well as I hoped...while cleaning everything out I came across a full bag of Andes Mint Chips that I forgot I had, so decided to whip up a batch of cookies following the recipe on the bag. These are very simple to make, and after you chill the dough for an hour they bake up very quickly. I used my one tablespoon cookie scoop, baked them for 10 minutes, and got 66 small cookies out of this dough. Oh, and the drawer idea works great - I'm SO happy!

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened

• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar

• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 eggs

• 1 package (10 oz) Andes® Creme de Menthe Baking Chips or Andes® After Dinner Mints, coarsely chopped

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed.

Stir in baking chips or chopped candy and then flour.

Chill at least one hour in refrigerator.

Measure out approximately 1 ounce of dough.

Raise oven rack one level above middle and baking on non-stick cookie sheets.

Bake at 350-degrees for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Cool on pans for two minutes before removing.

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Kenny at the photo store (Pauls Photo) was super helpful to me the other day so I told him I'd bake him some cookies, what's his favorite? He said anything, to just surprise him...but I persisted and got him to pick macadamia. I've never made macadamia cookies so yay, in addition to thanking him with cookies I was also able to experiment with a new recipe. I'm very happy to report that I picked this Betty Crocker recipe I found online and it worked great - these are so good! They taste like a chocolate chip cookie with little crunchy bits of macadamia in them, yum. Great choice Kenny :)

Ingredients: 

1 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1/2 C. butter, softened

1/2 C. shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces white baking bars (white chocolate) cut into 1/4" to 1/2" chunks

3 1/2 ounces macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350'. Beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in white baking bar chunks and nuts. 

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto engrossed cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  

my notes: Dave went to the store for the white chocolate baking bar and nuts, it took a few phone calls for him to figure out what to get haha so we ended up with white chocolate chips instead of the bar which I think worked just fine! And I used my small cookie scoop instead of dropping by tablespoons. click here for the original Betty Crocker post. 

Glazed Lemon Cookies

I've been working on organizing the freezer and forgot I put a log of this dough in there a couple months ago - checked the blog and for some reason I don't think I ever posted this recipe (I've been doing this long enough now that I can't remember everything I've posted!) so figured I would be helpful and bake them up so I could show you...nope, I didn't do it so I would have cookies to eat ;) haha...and I love having baked goodies in my domed stand on the counter, makes me happy to look at them.

I've had this recipe in my book for a long time, it's ripped from a magazine but I don't know which one!  They are simple to make and super good, reminds me of a shortbread cookie in texture but the tart lemon glaze is what makes them so delish.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more if necessary
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

-With an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and salt and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.

-Divid the dough in half and shape into 1 1/3"-diameter logs. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

-Heat oven to 350'. Slice the logs into 3/8" thick pieces and space them 1 1/2" apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden, 16-20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

-In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and zest until it forms a thick but pourable glaze (add more lemon juice if necessary). Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, about 15 minutes.

makes 48 cookies. To freeze: instead of refrigerating the dough, freeze the logs for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, cutting and baking the dough from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist so when slicing dough in 3/8" thick pieces
I set out a ruler or tape measure to make sure I make them even...
you can just eyeball this for sure!

dip the tops of the cookies straight into the glaze

Melting Snowman Cookies

For the base I baked a batch of pumpkin spice cookie mix (the same kind I made the whoopie pies out of that are SO good, click here for that post) using a small one tablespoon cookie scoop. Cut regular sized marshmallows into thirds, lay one piece on top of a small cookie, spoon melted white chocolate over top and let it run over the marshmallow to cover. Then decorate with half a mini reeses peanut butter cup, an orange sprinkle, and 2 dark round sprinkles for the eyes. Easy!

Couple notes: had a hard time cutting the reeses without them crumbling, found if I left the paper on and cut thru it they held their shape better (obviously remove the paper after cutting haha). I used tweezers to put the sprinkles on, it was easier to place them that way on the melted chocolate. 

Cocoa Snowballs

The original name on this recipe is Red Velvet Snowballs but I'm changing it - they didn't turn out super red (like red velvet cake) and they taste like cocoa...so save yourself all that red food coloring and just make them "Cocoa Snowballs"! Don't know who to credit for this recipe, but I'm changing it a bit so it's mine now hahaha!

this is what the dough looks like before you
shape it into balls!

The dough is super crumbly, I'm talking seriously just a bowl of crumbs. I was surprised that I could get them to stick together and form balls - I measured the crumbs using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop and put in my palm, then really had to squeeze/press/and shape it to make a ball...but it'll do it, I promise! I'm assuming substituting 1 tablespoon of water for the food coloring won't change the dough, why would it? Let me know if it does!

• 2 1/2 level cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (note: I used coarse)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
• 3 cups confections' sugar, divided
• 1 Tablespoon red food coloring (see above, I'd use water instead)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350' with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking, powder, and salt in a bowl.

2. Beat butter and 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar on medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, beating just until incorporated 1-2 minutes. Add food coloring (or water), vanilla, and vinegar; increase mixer speed to medium, and beat just until dough forms large crumbs, 15-20 seconds.

3. Shape dough into balls (about 2 Tablespoons each). Place balls, 1" apart, on prepared baking sheets; freeze 10 minutes. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until dry around the edges, 15-18 minutes. Cool on baking sheets on wire racks 5 minutes.

4. Place remaining 1 1/2 cups confections' sugar in a bowl. Working one at a time, gently toss warm cookies in sugar to coat. Return cookies to baking sheets to cool completely; reserve remaining sugar. Once cool, toss again in batches in the remaining sugar. 

Makes about 24 cookies. Working time 20 minutes. Total time 1 hour, 40 minutes

but look - it can be done, just takes some
pressing and shaping to get them to hold
their shape. 

Notes: I made these using 1 Tablespoon of dough each so they were smaller cookies; I did not do the whole bake high and low rotating sheet thing because I could fit about 25 on a sheet so just baked them in the middle of the oven. Since I made smaller cookies they only needed to bake about 10-12 minutes. These are a dry cookie similar to shortbread, I thought I overbooked the first batch because they were so dry - baked the second batch a couple minutes less and they tasted the same. I think I got about 46 cookies, I forgot already. 

Dave took these to a Holiday party and said everyone loved them - only "negative" comment was a woman said they left powdered sugar on her shirt. He said "my wife does that on purpose so I can't sneak any cookies at home, it leaves evidence" LOL. 

2 ingredient Pumpkin Spice Cookies!

Mickey made these and wrote that they'd be a good post - I love that she is now remembering to share things with me and takes pictures, so I can share with you... I have the tendency to yell at people when they make good stuff and don't share it hahaha! I haven't made them yet but she said they are the number 1 selling cookie at the corn maze she works at, and apparently Kyle ate 2 which isn't a normal thing for him hahahah. So they must be good! And seriously, this seems like the easiest cookie recipe ever - and they taste great too? Winner winner...

Here's our conversation about what she did:

Mick: 1 can pumpkin. 1 can spice cake. Bake at 375. I'll let you know how long in a bit. 

me: did you use anything in them except cake and pumpkin? eggs, etc.? 

Mick: Nothing else. Bake 13 mins. if they're fat, 10 if they're the small baby ones

me:  are your cookies like little mini cakes? What's the texture?

Mick: the cookies were surprisingly moist. They're AMAZING.