Snickerdoodles

Here's one of my dad's favorite cookies.  Maybe I'll make him up a batch and send them to him in Iraq for Father's Day next month! 

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 3/4 cups flour
2 Tbs. sguar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs.  Blend in cream of tartar, salt, and baking soda.  Gradually add flour and mix until smooth.
3. Shape dough by rounded teaspoons into balls.
4. Mix 2 Tbs. sugar and cinnamon, roll balls in mixture and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove and place on racks to cool.

Vanilla Wafers

So I am still in the process of talking about my dad.  We talked to him on Skype the other night and as always it was hard to click off.  I miss him so much.  We sent him a package a few weeks ago with a few of his favorites in it, one of those being a box of vanilla wafers.  These are his favorite cookie.  When I asked him if he had enjoyed his goodies, he told me that everything was gone already and that he did not share those with the members of his unit.  :)  How I love my dad.  So here is my recipe for vanilla wafers. 

Vanilla Wafers

Ingredients:
½ cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F).
2. Cream together sugars, shortening, egg, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add the flour and baking powder. Add 1 tablespoon of water and continue mixing until dough forms a ball.
4. Roll dough into 3/4” balls and flatten slightly onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Sugar Cookie Icing

Something that is a tradition in our house is taking cookies around to our friends and neighbors.  (Not sure how that is going to happen this year with a 3 week old baby, but I'll THINK about it!)  Here is a great recipe for icing for sugar cookies - it makes it look like those fancy cookies that are sold in little mom and pop bakeries. 

Sugar Cookie Icing

Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tsp. milk
2 tsp. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. almond extract
assorted food coloring

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Red Velvet Cookies

I saw this recipe on Better Homes and Gardens and instantly fell in love with it.  I love the idea of a red cookie during Christmas - it's so festive!  Plus red velvet, oh you cannot go wrong!  Mmmmm....

Red Velvet Creme Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1-oz. bottle red food coloring (2 Tbsp.)
1 recipe Whoopie Pie Filling, recipe below

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined. Stir in food coloring.
3. Spoon batter in 1- or 2-inch diameter rounds, about 1/2-inch high on prepared baking sheets, allowing 1 inch between each round.
4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes for 1-inch cookies or 9 to 11 minutes for 2-inch cookies, or until tops are set. Cool completely on baking sheets on rack. Remove cooled cookies from baking sheets.
5. To fill, dollop Whoopie Pie Filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Makes 60 one-inch or 42 two-inch cookies.
6. Whoopie Pie Filling: In medium mixing bowl beat 1/4 cup softened butter and half an 8-ounce package softened cream cheese until smooth. Fold in one 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme.
7. To store: Refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Chocolate Chunk Biscotti

Does anyone else love dunking cookies into milk?  How about into hot chocolate?  Oh my goodness, I cannot resist a good piece of biscotti and some hot chocolate or Pero.  Mmmmmmm.... Call it breakfast and I am happy.  Make it chocolate biscotti and I am in heaven. 

Chocolate Chunk Biscotti

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 oz. white baking bar, coarsely chopped
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 Tbs. shortening (optional)
2 oz. semisweet chocolate or white baking bar, coarsely chopped (optional)

Directions:
1. Grease a large cookie sheet; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder; beat until combined. Beat in eggs. Beat in as much flour as you can. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in the 4 ounces white baking bar and the 3 ounces semisweet chocolate.

2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a 9-inch-long roll. Place rolls 4 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet; flatten rolls slightly to 2 inches wide.
3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheet on a wire rack for 1 hour. Using a serrated knife, cut each roll diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Lay slice, one cut side down, on an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake slices in a 325 degree F oven for 8 minutes. Turn slices over and bake 7 to 9 minutes more or until slices are dry and crisp. (Do not overbake.) Transfer to a wire rack; cool.
5. If desired, in a heavy small saucepan combine the shortening and the 2 ounces semisweet chocolate or white baking bar. Cook and stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Drizzle over tops of biscotti. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week. Makes 32 biscotti.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Pecan Crescent Cookies

Okay, back to cookie recipes. This is a tradition that has been in my family for as long as I can remember. I love to eat these with egg nog or hot chocolate because they are a little drier. But this is a cookie that always went on our gift plates that we took around to friends and family.

Pecan Crescent Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Cream butter; gradually beat in 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, the flour, pecans, and salt. Blend well. Chill.
2. Shape dough into crescents, using about 1/2 tablespoons for each cookie. Place cookies on baking sheets and bake at 300° for 18 to 20 minutes.
3. Combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Roll warm cookies in confectioners' sugar mixture. Makes about 5 to 6 dozen pecan crescent cookies.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Cookie Dough Log

Here's a recipe I use to give out to friends and family. It's a nice twist on taking already baked cookies around. I don't know about you, but we always get tons of cookies all at once, so they usually go stale or hard by the time we get to eating them all. When you make a cookie dough log though, people can bake them whenever they want.

Cookie Dough Log

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:
1. In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Using mixer, beat butter until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat on low just until combined.
3. Divide dough in half. Form 1/2 of dough into 4x4-inch square, wrap in plastic wrap, and set aside.
4. Return other half to mixer. In metal bowl set over pan of barely simmering water, melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Add melted chocolate to dough in mixer and beat just until combined. Form chocolate dough into 4x4-inch square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate both squares of dough 30 minutes.
5. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut each dough square into 4 strips. Place 3 strips of chocolate dough and 4 strips of vanilla dough on baking sheet and refrigerate. Between 2 sheets of parchment paper, roll out 4th strip of chocolate dough into 6x7-inch rectangle (use ruler to make sure dimensions are exact). Remove 1 strip of vanilla dough from refrigerator and, between 2 sheets of parchment paper, roll out into 6x6-inch square. Peel off top sheet of parchment from each dough and flip vanilla dough over onto chocolate, aligning top and bottom edges and allowing 1/2 inch of chocolate dough to stick out on each side. Run rolling pin lightly over doughs to adhere, then peel off top sheet of parchment. Fold extra 1/2 inch of chocolate dough over vanilla on 1 side. Starting on folded-over side and using parchment as aid, tightly roll up dough into log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Repeat with remaining strips of dough to form 4 logs.
6. Refrigerate logs 1 hour, then remove from refrigerator and roll each log on counter several times to prevent bottom from flattening. Refrigerate 3 hours more, then transfer to freezer. When frozen, wrap in parchment paper, twist ends, and tie with decorative ribbon. Attach card with baking instructions for each log:

Keep dough frozen until ready to slice and bake. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 large baking sheets. Using sharp knife, slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices and place 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake until vanilla dough is slightly golden, 9 to 11 minutes. Makes 20 cookies.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Peanut Butter Cookies

On the sixth day of Christmas... a tradition in my family is take plates of cookies around to the neighbors and friends on Christmas Eve and sing Christmas carols on their doorsteps. Here's one of my favorite cookie recipes of all time - my Grandmother Cook's Peanut Butter cookies. SOOOOOO YUMMY!

Grandmother Cook's Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Cream together shortening, peanut butter, and sugars. Once smooth, add egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to peanut butter mixture. Mix together until smooth.
3. Drop a tablespoon size of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Press a fork flat onto the top of each ball to make small indentations (do not press too far or your cookie will be too flat).
4. Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Ginger Snap Cookies

Something I am going to do this year is post one recipe that I use during the holidays for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Here's your first one: Ginger Snap Cookies. I love how the house smells when I make these, very Christmas-sy-ish.

Ginger Snap Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup shortening
1 Tbs. butter
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cup flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
¼ cup water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together sugars, molasses, shortening, butter, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
3. In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and beat while adding the water. Continue to mix until ingredients are incorporated.
4. Measure a heaping tablespoon of dough at a time. Roll the dough into a ball between your hands and then press the dough onto the cookie sheet. Flatten to about 1/8” thick.
5. Bake cookies for 10-14 minutes or until edges begin to brown and cookies are crispy when cool.

Makes 10 dozen cookies.

Sugar Cookies

Well, yesterday I tried two new recipes, both of which were FABULOUS!


The first recipe is for sugar cookies. Yesterday, the Mommie and Me group went to Little Pastry Chefs. It's a little pricey for our taste, so I decided to do our own version. I tried Betty Crocker's sugar cookie recipe, and after I took it out of the freezer, the dough was rock hard and dry. So, I did a search on my favorite recipe site, allrecipes.com, and found this one. I wanted Jocey to be able to decorate them, so in order to preserve some cleanliness I made colored egg yolks so she could "paint" the cookie dough. All you have to do is mix 1 large egg yolk with 1/4 tsp. water, then divide it into custard cups (we did 3 colors) and add enough food coloring to make bright colors. Then you just take a paint brush and paint the cookies BEFORE they go into the oven. Jocey loved this! The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.


The second recipe is for grilled portabella mushroom burgers. They had portabellas on sale this week, so I thought I'd give it a try. They were delicious and a nice alternative to the meat version. Because everything was on sale, this meal ended up costing $3 per person.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt


Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour. (I found that here in Vegas, I should only chill it for 30 minutes to keep it from drying out too much)


2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Roll out cookie dough onto floured surface 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6-8 minutes. Cool completely on racks.