October 29, 2011: Molasses Cookies

Winter decided to give us a sneak peak this past week! With 8 inches of heavy and wet snow that peak was more like a smack upside the head!  Now, I love when it snows and the ground is covered with pretty, sparkling snow but Fall is still my favorite season and I would like a bit more before I truly have to bust out the coat!  With this pseudo fall/winter transition I thought the perfect cookie would be Molasses.  I have never used Molasses in anything and I was happy surprised how well these turned out!  Enjoy!

Molasses Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup shortening

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (non-elevation locations - 2 1/4 c of flour)

1 ¾ teaspoons baking soda (non-elevation locations - 2 tsps of baking soda)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar.

Shape dough by rounded tablespoonfuls into 1 1/2-inch balls. Dip tops into granulated sugar. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls, sugared sides up, about 2 inches apart.

Bake 13 to 16 minutes or just until set and cookies appear dry. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Makes About 2 dozen cookies

Apple Pie Cookies

Fall is here!  The leaves are finally changing colors, the temperatures are cooling off (even though we have had a few days in the 80s yet). Fall is by far my favorite season of all, yet we don't seem to get much of it before the snow flies!  We are suppose to get snow on Wed with a high of only 33, don't get me wrong I love when it snows too - it's so pretty!

I'm not much of a pie fan, nor am i all that good at making pie - no idea why!  Yet I decided for fall i would make apple pie cookies!  They turned out really yummy!

Here's the recipe!

Apple Pie Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Dough:

1/3 cup sour cream

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup butter (or margarine)

Stir together to blend sour cream, egg yolk and vanilla extract. In a separate large bowl stir together flour and sugar. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in sour cream mixture until well blended.

Divide dough in half and chill until easy to handle (1-2 hours or so).

Filling:

1 tablespoon butter (or margarine)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon apple pie spice *

2 medium cooking (I used honeycrisp for about everything) apples, peeled and chopped

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add apples, brown sugar and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are fork tender. Remove excess liquid and cool.

*Instead of apple pie spice you could substitute 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t ground nutmeg, 1/8 t all spice, and a dash of ground ginger or cloves.

Assembly:

Roll each piece of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut with a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter (I used a glass). Fill rounds with a skimpy teaspoon of filling. Fold in half and seal edges with a fork. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet (or parchment paper).

Bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes or until light brown. Remove and cool.

Lemon Sugar Icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1-3 teaspoons water

Mix ingredients until drizzling consistency. If too thick, add a little more water, if too thin, add more powdered sugar. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Cookie Challenge 2011: Pina Colada Cookies

It's definitely summer now, today was 90 degrees and it looks like we will be staying in the 80s for a while.  I am thankful for living here with little to no humidity, after living in arid places for the past 7 years I think it would be very difficult to move somewhere that is humid again!  Regardless, this cookie reminded me of the song "Do You Like Pina Coladas" it's been running through my head throughout this afternoon as I baked!  I am contemplating doing drink related cookies for a few in honor of long summer days and fun nights!

Enjoy!

Piña Colada Cookies

 Ingredients:

 1 (8-oz.) cans crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice)

1/2 c shortening

1 c packed brown sugar

1 egg (room temp)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp coconut extract (I didn’t use this and it was okay, but if I made them again I would definitely put this in!)

1 tsp rum extract

2 1/3 c all-purpose flour (2 c. flour for below 5000 ft)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder (1½ tsp baking powder for below 5000 ft)

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 ½ c toasted coconut

For icing (optional):

1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 Tablespoons reserved pineapple juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Drain pineapple, reserving 3 tablespoons juice. Set pineapple aside; set juice aside. Toast flaked coconut either in the oven or on stove top, be careful not to burn it. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add pineapple, and extracts; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the coconut.

Drop by teaspoon full of dough 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 – 11 minutes or until slightly golden. Immediately remove to wire racks to cool.

If icing is desired, combine confectioners’ sugar with enough of the reserved pineapple juice to achieve spreading consistency. Spread over cooled cookies.

(Below 5000 ft: Heat oven to 325 degrees and increase baking time by a couple of minutes. Watch them closely and remove at desired doneness.)

Cookie Challenge 2011: Ginger Spice Cookies

Ginger Spice Cookies

Ingredients

4 c all-purpose flour (add 1/3c for over 5000 ft altitude)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

2 tsp baking soda (1 ¾ tsp for over 5000 ft altitude)

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

1 c granulated sugar

1 c packed brown sugar

1 c butter (or margarine) at room temperature, cut into cubes

2 large eggs

1 TBS vanilla extract

4 TBS chopped crystallized ginger

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, and ground ginger. In a different mixing bowl, add the sugar, brown sugar and butter. With an electric mixer, beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time until well incorporated. Scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula, add the vanilla extract and the crystallized ginger and mix well. Once the wet ingredients are incorporated, add the flour mixture in batches. Mix until the dough begins to form into a ball. Using an ice cream scoop, place the dough onto 2 parchment-lined sheet pans about 2 inches apart. Press the dough with the back of a spoon. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes. When the cookies are done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

High Altitude Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

So I will start of this entry with stating the fact that I don't like bacon... so then why on earth would i make a cookie that I wouldn't eat??  Because I take requests and like challenges! :)  So when my neighbors, Wendy and J said how about bacon in a cookie... with chocolate... I thought that sounds like a great challenge!  Knowing that there has been a trend of chocolate and bacon things recently I thought okay why not!  Should be simple enough... take my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and add some bacon!  Please note, I used actual, real bacon... not turkey bacon, not bacon bits but the real stuff!  So bacon aficionados.... ENJOY!!!

 ** if you are not at an altitude of 4000 ft or higher just use a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe as a base**

Ingredients

1 c butter or margarine

1 c white sugar

1 c packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 c all-purpose flour

16 oz (1 bag) semisweet chocolate chips

2 ½ lbs of bacon, cooked/baked crispy and then crumbled

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, stir together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, and then stir in the vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until blended, then mix in the chocolate chips so they are evenly distributed. Finally mix in bacon (cooled and crumbled).

Drop cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake in the preheated oven until the edges begin to turn golden, 11 to 14 minutes.

Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

2011 Cookie Challenge: Soft Lemonade Cookies

Spring time in the rockies can be quite a roller coaster.  It was only a few weeks that it was 80 degrees and sunny!  This morning it was snowing and gloomy. I have been loving the rain we have been getting recently, as it is much needed - it's been a really dry winter. I'm hoping my lawn can get ahead start before it gets hot and I have to water regularly. So to brighten the day I made lemonade cookies - in remembering that soon enough it'll be warm and sunny and able to enjoy the outdoors!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup thawed lemonade concentrate, divided
• Additional sugar

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture alternately with 1/3 cup lemonade concentrate, beating well after each addition.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes. Remove to wire racks. Brush with remaining lemonade concentrate; sprinkle with sugar. Cool. Yield: 6 dozen.

2011 Cookie Challenge: Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

These cookies are really rich, you don't need many to really get a good taste and the flavor is wonderful! They are much like those chocolate covered cherries you can find during the holidays only in cookie form! Enjoy and Share! :)

Ingredients

                      1/2 c. butter

                      1 c. sugar

                      1 egg

                      1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

                      1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

                      1/2 c. baking cocoa

                      1/4 tsp salt

                      1/4 tsp baking powder

                      1/4 tsp baking soda

                      maraschino cherries, blotted dry (enough for each cookie)

           


FROSTING:

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk

1 to 3 tsp maraschino cherry juice

Directions

In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture (batter will be very firm). Shape into 48 balls, about 1 in. round, and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Push one cherry halfway into each ball, immediately after removing from the oven.

For frosting, melt chocolate chips in milk in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; add cherry juice and stir until smooth. Spoon 1 teaspoon of frosting over each cherry to cover completely (this also helps keep the cherry on the cookie!

Cool on wire racks.