Chewy Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies

These yummy cookies are really easy to make, freeze well and can be altered to include what goodies you have in your baking pantry.

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 T milk
2 t vanilla
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old-fashioned)
2 cups chocolate chips (any combination of candy chips will do - milk, white or semi-sweet chocolate)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or craisins (optional - if adding these, reduce chips to 1 cup, or omit nuts).

Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat well.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix well.  Stir in oats, morsels and nuts.  Drop by rounded tablespoons on greased baking sheet.

Bake for 9-10 minutes for a chewy cookie (12-13 for a crispier version).  Cool and enjoy!

Viennese Brownies

These sinfully delicious brownies, were a favorite of my late aunt, who made them each year during the Christmas season.  Not a big fan of chocolate, I especially like them because they have a cheese-cake-like layer sandwiched between the layers of fudgie, brownie.  These will stay moist for days in the fridge, or you can freeze to serve at a later date.

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 and 1/3 cup sugar, divided
3 eggs
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 8 x 8 glass dish.  In small bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1 egg.  Beat until smooth, and set aside.

Beat two additional eggs, until fluffy. Add remaining cup of sugar, melted chocolate, and butter.  Add sifted dry ingredients, and stir to blend.

Pour half the chocolate batter into the pan.  Spread cream cheese mixture over all.  Top with remaining chocolate batter.

Bake at 350 for 40 - 50 minutes.  Cool and dust with powdered sugar, or chocolate frosting.

Shortbread Cookies

These delicate cookies are wonderful with a hot cup of tea.  Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter for Valentine's Day, a Shamrock for St. Patty's Day, or just a plain round or fluted cutter for everyday.  They're easy to make.  Just be careful not to pick up too much flour while rolling them out so they're not too dry.

3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup confectioners' sugar
decorative sugar

Mix together the butter and granulated sugar in large bowl.  Add vanilla.  In small bowl, sift together the flour and salt; add it to the butter and sugar.  Mix until the dough starts to come together.  Dump the mixture on a floured board and shape into a flat disk.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Roll the dough 1/2 inch thick and cut with a floured 3 inch cookie cutter.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet (I line with parchment paper) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.  Let cool to room temp.

Combine the confectioners' sugar with about 2 tablespoons of water to make a very thin glaze.  Spoon onto the cookies and sprinkle with decorative sugar before glaze dries.

BOO! Cookies

As a young mom, I was always looking for fun, fast holiday treats that I could make in bulk to take to the girls' school and club parties.  There was no internet to surf for ideas in the mid-eighties, so we relied heavily upon manufacturers' suggestions in women's magazines.

I found this cute and easy idea from the folks that make Nutter Butter peanut butter sandwich cookies, and they became an instant family and school favorite.  Of course, those were the days before the dreaded nut-allergy epidemic.

What's really nice about these treats, is that the children can actually help.  So many kid-friendly recipes turn out to be just the opposite.  We made these yesterday with my two-year- old grandson, and while he was a tad too young to dip the cookies himself, he had a blast watching and didn't have to wait long to sample and enjoy!

All you need to get started, is a bag of Nutter Butter cookies, a bag of white chocolate chips (I used a block of white chocolate) and some gum drops or gummy fruit rings.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double-boiler or in a glass dish in the microwave.  I prefer the double-boiler method because it's easier to keep the temperature constant so the chocolate doesn't burn.

Dip half a cookie (kids can help with this because the chocolate never gets hot enough to burn the skin) in the melted chocolate, and place on a parchment covered cookie sheet.  Continue until all the cookies have been coated.

Cut the ghosts' eyes from the gum drops and press into the still soft chocolate.   I put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for fifteen minutes to speed-set the chocolate, then let the kids enjoy.  Richard loved them as much as my girls did!

It's just so darn hard to choose which one to eat first!

That little guy with the red eyes looks tasty.

Here goes!

I put the ghosts that survived Richard, in a plastic container.  They'll keep for quite a while in a cool, dry place.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

For years I'd been using the Nestle Toll House Cookie recipe, with increasing dissatisfaction.  They tasted great, but were often flat and greasy.  Then, my daughter introduced me to this recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  The cookies are wonderfully tender and chewy, and with no hint of grease.

To get a really chewy cookie, use a 1/4 cup of dough per cookie.  If you like smaller bite-sized cookies, no worries.  You'll still get a soft chewy center - just less of it!

3 1/3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (one cup), butter, melted and cooled (note)
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 (12 ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips or 2 cups of your favorite flavored chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, beat melted, cooled butter, and sugars until well combined.  Beat in eggs, egg yolks and vanilla.  Add flour mixture on low speed.  Finally, add the chips.

Roll up to 1/4 cup of dough at a time, into balls and lay on cookie sheets (for larger cookies, about 2 1/2 inches apart).  Bake until golden brown, about 17 to 20 minutes, less for smaller cookies.  Cool cookies on baking sheets for 10 minutes, before serving or transferring to another surface.

To make ahead and freeze:  once dough-balls are formed, place on cookie sheets and flash freeze for two hours.  Transfer dough-balls to ziplock bags.

Chocolate-Covered-Cherry Cookies

Rich and gooey, chocolate goodness

I found this recipe while looking through my Aunt Lynn's recipe boxes, and was instantly intrigued.  My kids and younger cousins remembered them well as a staple at Christmas-time.  They're fun, and easy to make.  I was a bit daunted at the idea of putting frosting on an unbaked cookie, but the frosting seeps into the cookie during baking, giving the final product a fudge-like center.

2 (10 ounce) jars of maraschino cherries

1 cup butter, softened

2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Drain cherries, reserving 3 teaspoons of juice.  Cut cherries in half, and set aside on paper towel lined plate.

In saucepan, melt chocolate chips in milk, over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Stir in 1 teaspoon cherry juice.  Remove from burner, but keep mixture warm. 

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy; add egg, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons of cherry juice, beating until well blended.  Combine remaining dry ingredients; gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating after each addition, until well blended.  Dough will be heavy, but sticky. 

Using a 1 teaspoon measure, scoop dough and roll into a ball, using your hands.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets, about an inch apart.  Press center of each ball with thumb, and place one cherry half in indentation.  They look so cute!

Spoon one teaspoonful of chocolate mixture, over each cherry half.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  

Thumbprint Cookies

Everyone loves a thumbprint cookie!  My mother's recipe calls for putting a dollop of buttercream in the center of a tender little butter cookie, rolled in pecans.  The size of the frosting dollop is dependent upon the baker and her sweet-tooth.


The best thing about thumbprints, is that the kids can help make them, as well as eat them!  Another 'quick and easy' baking project for kids.

Cookie Dough:
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups butter, softened
4 eggs, separated
4 cups flour
3 cups finely chopped pecans

Buttercream Frosting:
powdered sugar
butter, softened
few drops milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

Cream together sugar, butter and egg yolks.  Add flour.  If dough is too soft to handle, chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Using a rounded teaspoonful of dough, form balls by rolling between the palms of your hands.  Dip each dough-ball into beaten egg-white.  Roll in pecans, and place on cookie sheet.

Make a thumbprint in the center of each dough-ball, being careful not to press too hard.  Bake for 8 minutes.  Remove from oven, and carefully reset the thumbprint if needed.  Bake 8 minutes longer, or until the pecans just begin to toast.  Don't let them cook too long, or the cookie will be dry.

When completely cool, fill centers with buttercream frosting.  I always tint the frosting with food color or the holiday.  These can be frozen, but flash freeze on a cookie sheet first to protect frosting.

Christmas Stars - Pinwheels

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without these tender little fruit-filled pastries.

Traditionally, these Austrian pastries were made without any sugar at all.  Our family recipe was altered years ago, and today, each cookie is encased in a coating of crispy caramelized sugar.  Cut into the shape of pinwheels, my children always referred to them as Christmas-stars, as they made an appearance in our house only once a year, to celebrate the birth of Christ.


7 cups flour
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup Crisco shortening
1 package dry yeast
1 cup very warm (not hot) milk
4 eggs
3 cans Solo (or Bakers brand) apricot, plum, raspberry or strawberry pastry filling
lots and lots and lots of sugar
ground pecans

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.  Cut in the butter and shortening with a pastry blender (see Gadgets page) until mixture resembles meal (if you have a heavy-duty Kitchen-Aid Stand-Mixer, use it).

Heat milk until very warm "to the touch" but, not hot (liquid must be hot enough to activate the yeast, but not too hot, or it will kill it).   Add yeast, and stir until it is dissolved.

Pour yeast mixture into a small bowl, and add eggs, one at a time, beating after each.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour the yeast-egg mixture into the center of the well.  Using a wooden spoon, or dough hook on a stand mixer, beat thoroughly until a heavy dough forms.

Coat a 13 x 9 glass dish with butter or shortening.  Pack the pastry dough into the dish and smooth over the top, so all is even.  Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  When ready to use, cut the dough into even slices about two inches wide.  Remove a single slice for each batch of pastries, and return remaining dough to the refrigerator.

Line several large cookie trays with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cover a large pastry cloth with about 2 cups of sugar (dough will stick if you don't use enough).  Place a slice of dough in center and pat it into a rough rectangle.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough (start from the center and roll outward, toward the ends) into a very thin sheet of pastry, maintaining the rectangular shape.

With a sharp knife or pastry cutter, cut away the jagged ends (throw these back into the casserole and refrigerate for later use) so you have a full rectangle. Carefully cut dough into 1 or 1 1/2 inch squares, by scoring in one direction, and then the other (forming a grid).

Put one dollop of pastry filling in the center of each little dough square.  Pull a fruit filled square from the rectangle, toward yourself, into a small mound of additional sugar (replenish sugar-mound as needed).  From the corners, cut into each square, towards the center of the filling - but not through the center.  Fold alternating corners into the center, pressing with the tip of the knife to seal (if you don't do this correctly, the points will pop up from the center while baking).

Place each little pinwheel on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 1/2 inch apart (cookies will rise slightly when baking).  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes (depending upon size).  These burn easily, so watch and adjust time as needed.  Carefully remove individual cookies from parchment, to a cooling station, or carefully slide the parchment off of the cookie sheet (best accomplished with an extra set of hands) to the cooling station.

These delicate little pastries can be frozen.  Its best to place waxed paper between pastry layers.

From the scraps:  combine the scraps into one big sugary ball.  Roll out in more sugar (to prevent sticking), to form a rectangle.  Do not cut into squares.

Mix pecans, a little sugar and enough milk to form a paste.  Spread the pecan mixture over the rectangle.  Carefully roll the rectangle into a cylinder (from the long side).  Pinch open seam to seal.  Cut the cylinder into very thin slices (1/8 to 1/4 inch wide).  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  Watch carefully so they don't burn.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Just looking at these blissful little bar cookies puts a smile on my face.  

I was feeling a bit blue, one warm December day in San Diego, when I stumbled upon these lightly spiced bar cookies in a Starbucks.  Their red-and-white color scheme caught my eye, and reminded me of Christmas.  I thought they were so festive and pretty, and was surprised that they tasted as good as they looked.  Apparently, I wasn't the only one that liked them.  I found this mock-recipe in the San Diego Union Tribune, a few years later.  I make them every year now, and they never fail to lift my spirits. 

Bars:
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsps orange extract
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Frosting:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
4 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp orange extract

Garnish:
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a jelly-roll pan (15 x10) with parchment paper.  Coat with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine butter, sugars, eggs, and orange extract.  Cream well.  Add the dry ingredients, and stir to combine (don't over-mix).  Fold in the cranberries and white chocolate chips.  Spoon batter evenly, into the prepared pan.  Bake for 15- 17 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and orange oil for frosting.  If needed, add a few drops of milk to thin.  Spread completely over the cooled bars.

Sprinkle garnish evenly over the frosted cookie, and cut into squares (about 40).  These freeze well.

Dream Bars

These slightly gooey, coconut bar cookies were one of my mother's favorites when I was a kid.  Like most bar cookies, they're fast and easy.

1 1/2 cups flour, plus 2 T
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, shortening and 1/2 cup brown sugar.  Pat into the bottom of an 11 x 16 baking dish.  Bake 10 minutes.

In medium bowl, combine 2 eggs and 1 cup brown sugar.  Beat well.  Pour over the baked cookie crust.

In a sifter, combine 2 T flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Sift evenly over the top of the egg mixture.

Sprinkle 1 1/2 cup coconut over the dry ingredients, and top with chopped nuts.  Bake until golden brown and set.  Cool completely, and cut into squares.

Aunt Lynn's Lemon Bars

These tart little mouthfuls of sunshine are the best lemon cookies I've ever tried.  Though delicate and a little hard to cut, they're worth the trouble.

2 1/4 cups flour, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix together 2 cups of flour (reserving 1/4 cup for later) and the powdered sugar.  Cut in the butter and mix until it resembles meal.  Press into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

While crust bakes, beat eggs, sugar, lemon juice and peel, until thick and foamy.  Sprinkle in remaining 1/4 cup flour and baking powder.  Beat.

Remove crust from oven and pour the lemon mixture over to cover.  Bake 350 for another 25 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into squares.  May sprinkle with powdered sugar.

For an extra pretty touch, cut the cookies into pieces small enough to fit into mini-muffin cups.  These freeze well once cut.

Hermits

These old-fashioned, lightly spiced cookies have a cake-like texture.  The raisins add little bursts of sweet, chewy goodness.  Another of Mom's favorites.

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cups raisins (or craisins)
1 cup chopped nuts

In small bowl, toss the raisins and chopped nuts in a teaspoon of flour.  The flour will keep the raisins from sticking together.  Set aside.

Mix remaining ingredients together until well blended.  Add the raisin and nut mixture.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 until golden brown and slightly puffed, 8-10 minutes.  Enjoy.

Mom's Layer Cookies

I'm surprised you don't see more of this cookie since its so easy and has something for everyone.  My Mom has been making these for years.  They rank right up there with the chocolate chip cookie as a family favorite.

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) melted butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 pkg butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in 13 x 9 baking dish.  Turn to evenly coat bottom of dish. Evenly sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the butter.  Layer the remaining ingredients, spreading each evenly.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Do not overbake!  The chips will retain their shape, so don't expect them to melt.

When completely cool, cut into squares.  Delicious!