Friends Food Family

Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies Are Still The Best Oatmeal Cookies

One of the first recipes I shared almost 11 years ago was my grandmother's oatmeal cookies. It was a recipe she allowed us to make as children squishing the butter, brown sugar and eggs with our hands. Probably not something we would see bakers do today. 

What I have always loved about this cookies is it's simplicity as well as it's golden brown sugar base, making for a crunchy, yet chewy oatmeal cookie. My mother always remembered her mother adding ingredients that were in the house. If you were out of oatmeal, you added a handful of Wheaties; out of raisins, you added some chocolate chips. The final cookie was a little bit of everything from oatmeal and Wheaties to raisins and chocolate chips.

As I begin redoing many aspects of this blog, I'm hoping you will find this recipe and try this incredibly delicious, almost 100 year old recipe.

Happy Baking!

Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup of softened butter
2 cups of light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of oatmeal (not instant)
1 cup of crushed Wheaties (I pour them into my hands and crush them lightly)
2 cups of Ghiradelli Bittersweet 60% Cacao chocolate chips 
1 cup of raisins (If you want to try something delicious, substitute dried cherries or craisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cream together the butter and brown sugar.

2. Add eggs and vanilla until well blended.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until blended.

4. Add the oatmeal, crushed Wheaties, chocolate chips and raisins.

The batter will be slightly sticky. Use a rounded tablespoon portion for each cookie. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until dry and slightly golden. Cool on cookie racks. 

Double Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Every year, I look for a new cookie to add to my many holiday cookies. This year, out of the 5 or 6 new cookies I baked, this Double Chocolate Sugar Cookie recipe ended up being the big family favorite. This cookie has wonderful chocolate chewiness with the perfect sugary crunch. I made the recipe a little different from the original and it still came out perfect. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.

"These Double Chocolate Sugar Cookies are the perfect blend of chewy and crunch." ~ Danielle B.

Double Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Adapted from The Cafe Sucre Farine

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups of flour, +2 tablespoons
• 3/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 14 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature
• 1-3/4 cups of dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup of mini semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of demera or turbinado sugar

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking soda, set aside.
3. Using a hand-held beater or mixer with the paddle attachment, place butter, dark brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl and beat on medium high for 1 minute until blended.
4. Add egg and egg yolk one at a time, beating each until well incorporated. 
5. On low speed, add the flour mixture. Mix until just blended.
6. Add mini chocolate chips and mix until incorporated.
7. Place demera or turbinado sugar is a shallow bowl.
8. Using a well rounded tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball and then roll in sugar. 
9. Place on cookie sheet and using the bottom of a glass, press the cookie slightly and then sprinkle with additional sugar.
10. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies puff and are slightly cracked. They will be dry on top.
11. Watch cookies carefully as you do not want to over bake them. 
12. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie racks.

This recipe makes 36-40 cookies. They freeze well, too. Eat some now and freeze some for later. 

  

Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles

This past month I have been involved in the Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange.  #fblcookieexchange

I happened to be looking for some holiday cookie ideas on Pinterest and landed on Sarah's website, Fantastical Sharing of Recipes. Since I was going through a job transition and was trying to get back into food blogging, I thought this was a great idea. Plus, who doesn't love baking cookies. As part of the cookie exchange, I was asked to make a donation to either Climates Animal Rescue or No Kid Hungry, which I happily did. Then, I would be sent three names and would be responsible to send each a dozen cookies. Finally, I am to write about the exchange with the cookie recipe and Sarah will put together a list with all the recipes. (Link is at the bottom of the story.)

I decided that I wanted to make some new varieties of cookies this holiday season so the hunt for a new recipe was on. I went through many of my cookbooks to see if I could find cookies that were unique but not too challenging. I have learned from many years of making cookies, sometimes the simplest of cookies are the ones everyone enjoys. So, I found three I was going to try: 1. Chocolate Biscotti with Dried Cherries and Pistachios 2. Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies and 3. Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles. 

Fast forward - I made all three types of cookies. I figured once I tasted them, and had my husband and mother-in-law taste them, I would pick a winner. Into the box and out in the mail they would go. Issue - I liked the Chocolate Biscotti, Jeff liked the Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles and Althea LOVE, LOVE, LOVED the Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Now that I didn't know which cookies to send and a box that was just too big, I had to make some decisions. So, I packed all three types in the box and sent them off with a tasting of our favorite Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

My cookie recipients were:

1. Kaylin of Keep It Simple Sweetie
2. Sarah of Sarah Cooks the Books
3. Linda of The Orange Bee

 In the meantime, I received

1. Bittersweet Chocolate Espresso Chip Shortbread Cookies from Faye of Live Bake Love (Espresso and chocolate! YUM!)
2. Almond Biscotti from Pavani of Cook's Hideout (Perfect with a cup of coffee, delicate crunch!)
3. Opa's Gingerbread from Kate of Kate's Recipe Box (Reminded me of the amazing gingerbread we ate in Germany)

These cookies were all amazing. It was so nice to sample them through the week as I normally had biscotti for breakfast with coffee, gingerbread as a mid-afternoon snack with hot chocolate and shortbread for dessert with a little red wine. I guess this is what cookie heaven is like.

If you are interested in any of the recipes, follow the link to the all the amazing recipes: Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange Recipe.

So, just a little bit about the Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles. They are amazing, light and buttery with a holiday spice flavor. I love adding cardamom to recipes with apples and oranges so this was perfect. The uniqueness to this recipe is it has the feel of cinnamon and nutmeg, yet none are included. It's definitely a different flavor, pleasing and festive. I am going to add this to my cookie list this year. I'm actually going to try to add a bit of orange rind the next time I make them. I thing it would balance the flavor of the cardamom with the raisins. 

Give them a try and tell me what you think. It could be the best cookie you make this season.

Thank you Sarah for putting this together. It's a lot of work but I am truly grateful!

Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles 

(Adapted from Food 52 - Baking)

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour

1 cup of white sugar 

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of ground cardamom

1 cup of butter, melted and cooled

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of raisins

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, add the flour, sugars, tartar, baking soda, salt and cardamom. Mix until blended. Put aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk eggs into the melted butter. Once blended, add vanilla and mix until blended.
4. Using a spatula, mix the egg and butter mixture into the large bowl of dry ingredients.
5. As the mixture begins to come together, add the raisins. Stir until the dough comes together.
6. In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of cardamom. Mix together. You will be using this mixture to roll the cookies before you bake them.
7. Start making cookie balls approximately 1-1/2 inches in size and roll in the sugar and cardamom mixture. Place on cookie sheet.
8. Bake 6-8 minutes or until slightly golden and the tops look dry.
9. Remove from oven and place on cookie rack.
10. Cool and enjoy!

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 

 

Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every holiday season, I have a set group of cookies that I make every year. I especially love my traditional cookies because they disappear the fastest. My belief is to create a solid list of traditional cookies and then throw in a few sugary surprises.

My perfect cookie tray dozen is:

1. A chocolate chip cookie - Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies - bittersweet chocolate and Heath Bar bits make them perfect!
2. An oatmeal cookie - Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies - brown sugar oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips and raisins.
3. A macadamia nut cookie - White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies - men love these, more than women!
4. A gingersnap cookie - Dipped Gingersnaps - a great twist on a traditional cookie.
5. A chocolate cookie - Chocolate Snowcap Cookies - soft and fudgy with nonpareils.
6. A jelly filled cookie - Jelly Filled Thumbprints - brown sugar shortbread cookie with a fruity jam.
7. A peanut butter cookie - Peanut Butter Blossoms - who doesn't love these!
8. A shortbread cookie - Danielle B's Special Thumbprints - mini chocolate chips and a Hershey kiss.
9. An easy bar cookie - 7 Layer Bars - This is as good as a candy bar.
10. A soft cookie - Angie's Ricotta Cookies - tastes like a little moist cake with lemon icing.
11. A biscotti - Dried Cherry Pistachio Biscotti - perfect with a cup of coffee.
12. A new addition - Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookie - a new cookie that people go crazy for!

I like this choice of cookies because they all get eaten. There is nothing worse than arriving with a platter of cookies, only to be leaving and seeing many of them still on the plate. Believe me, that used to happen. I would spend hours on specialty cookies only to find all the traditional cookies would be eaten. The specialty cookies would be sitting very pretty on the plate and later, they would be in the trash. 

This year, I was looking for some new cookies to add to my list and decided to try these Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies. I bought a bag of Butterfinger Bits and thought the taste would be good. I love crushed candy bars in cookies. It gives them a unique flavor. That's why I add Heath Bar Bits to my chocolate chip cookies. 

The original recipe didn't have mini chocolate chips but I love a bit more chocolate with my cookie. I figured the mini chips wouldn't overwhelm the flavor of the candy. The recipe was easy and the cookies were delicious. They were crunchy on the outside and slightly chewy with flavors of peanut butter and chocolate. My mother-in-law, who lives next door, is my official taste tester. She's not a big candy bar fan but all she talked about was how much she liked the cookies.

I just bought another bag of Butterfinger Bits so I'm off to make another batch. I'm going to add them to my perfect dozen list and let's see how well these cookies do this season.

Happy Holidays! 

Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Adapted from Nestle recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter

1-1/2 cups of white sugar

2 eggs

3-1/2 cups of flour

1-1/2 teaspoons for baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 bag of Butterfinger Bits or 8 Butterfinger candy bars, break into chunks

1 cup of mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium high, until light and creamy (2 minutes).
3. Add eggs and beat until blended, about 1 minute.
4. On low speed, add flour, salt and baking soda.
5. Before the mixture comes together, add the Butterfinger pieces and the chocolate chips.
6. Mix until combined. 
7. Using a well-rounded teaspoon, drop dough onto cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden and the tops look dry.
9. Cool on cookie rack. 

Makes 48-60 cookies.

Happy New Year - Have Some Lemon Shortbread Cookies!

Adding Lemon Shortbread Cookies to some of my favorite holiday cookie recipes.

My, my...it's been a while. As I start to write this article, Adele's song "Hello" keeps running through my head. "Hello from the other side!" That's the way I feel. The past few years have been busy and I have put my food blog on the back burner. Jeff and I have been cooking up a storm, but we haven't been documenting what we have been doing. I "instagram" it, I "facebook" it, but it never gets to the blog.

I decided that I am going to make 2016 my turnaround year. Why? Well, I started Friends Food Family 6 years ago. I did it to keep track of all my recipes and also teach small businesses how to create better SEO (search engine optimization) through blogging. It was part of my job with the MA Small Business Development Center. Today, I want to continue because Jeff and I are doing so many exciting things with cooking and baking and gardening and canning and the list goes on and on. I want you to be part of our process.

I thought I would start the New Year with a cookie I made at Christmas. I wanted to find some new cookies to add to my traditional 12 Cookies of Christmas. Over the past 5 years, I have always written about new cookies I was trying during the Christmas season. What I realized was my family and friends really like the original group of cookies I have been making for over 30 years, with a few new ones sprinkled in. There is nothing festive about them, they are just "really good cookies" and sometimes, it's these cookies they are looking to consume. I will give you all the links to our favorites and the one thing I can guarantee...there won't be any left over. And, just because the holidays are over, it doesn't mean you can't make them during the year!

1. Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies - This is a staple. Now matter how many different cookie recipes I try, this is the response from my kids, "Mom, these new cookies are great, but I really LOVE your regular chocolate chip cookies." Can't get anything better than that. Also, they are the cookies I bring to most events and people can't get enough of them.
2. Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies - A good old-fashioned oatmeal cookie made with brown sugar, lots of oatmeal, some Wheaties (yes, the cereal Wheaties), chocolate chips and raisins. My parents love these cookies, probably because my mother's mother (Alice) made them all the time.
3. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies - I call these my "guys cookies". Men tend to eat them faster than women and the minute I say "white chocolate macadamia nut" everyone jumps to grab one, or three, before they are gone.
4. Dipped Ginger Snaps - These are fairly new (4-5 years) but have become a delicious favorite. I dip these crunchy ginger snaps in a vanilla bark which adds a twist to a traditional holiday cookie.
5. Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies - I started making them a few years ago and a number of people requested them at Christmas. They are an interesting cookie that is rolled in sugar. They have a combination of espresso, cinnamon and bittersweet chocolate. Perfect with coffee or hot chocolate.
6. Peanut Butter Blossoms - Delicious peanut butter cookies with a Hershey Kiss on the top. Enough said.
7. Danielle B's Special Thumbprints - This is a chocolate chip shortbread cookie that has a Hershey Kiss on top. You may not recognize it as a kiss because we push it down as it melts.
8. Jelly Thumbprints - An old recipe from my 8th grade home economics class. Made with a brown sugar base, this recipe has made people smile for 30+ years. 
9. Cranberry Almond Biscotti - One of the first biscotti recipes I ever made. People love these. They are crispy and chewy, a perfect combination.
10. Angie's Ricotta Cookies - This cake-like cookie is made with ricotta cheese and covered with a lemony icing and colorful nonpareils. A festive cookie for the holidays.
11. 7 Layer Bars - Butter, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, condensed milk and walnuts. They are very sweet but when you cut them into bite-sized squares they are just enough...to disappear.
12. Chocolate and Vanilla Dipped Pizzelles - I didn't get to make them this year, but I am making them next week for a party. Always a wonderful treat at the holidays.

So, back to my Lemon Shortbread Cookies. The reason I chose these cookies was because I was trying to think back on some great cookies I had eaten through 2015. All I could remember was these amazing lemon shortbread squares my cousin, Andria, made for a graduation party we attended. They were delicious. They were soft and melted in your mouth. I had a tough time finding a recipe similar to it when I came across these Lemon Shortbread Cookies from Ann Drake at On Sutton Place. They looked easy with 7 simple ingredients and sometimes simple is better. The recipe came together quickly and I could roll the dough immediately. The cookies were light and buttery with a sweet lemon icing. They were not my cousin's cookies, but they were delicious just the same. 

As I added these new cookies to the Christmas cookie platters, people really enjoyed them. At one point, I was hiding a large portion of them because Jeff, along with a few others wanted their own private batch. It always make me happy when I have fans of certain cookies. It guarantees that the recipe will make it to the blog!

Ta-DA! Here it is!

There are some great recipes coming in the next few weeks. After counting all the recipe books we own, we decided to start cooking a number of recipes each week from one cookbook. With almost 200 cookbooks, we have quite a few recipes to make!

Looking forward to an AMAZING 2016. Enjoy!

Lemon Shortbread Cookies from On Sutton Way

Ingredients

Cookie Recipe

• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 1 cup of confectioner's sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons of freshly grated lemon peel
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 -2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Lemon Icing

• 2 cups of confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon peel with a hand mixer on medium speed. Beat for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until the mixture becomes grainy.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and the mixture should begin to come together. Add the second tablespoon if the mixture is still dry. (I ended up using 2 tablespoons.)
5. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead into a ball. 
6. Cut the dough in half and roll out to a 1/4 inch thickness. If hey get sticky, add a bit of flour. Use a cookie cutter to create designs. I used a 2-1/2 inch circle.
7. Place on a cookie sheet and cook for 6 - 8 minutes. The cookies will look dry but try not to brown them. They do not get any larger than the shape you cut.
8. Roll out second half of the dough and repeat.
9. Let the cookies cool on racks.
10. Using a small bowl, mix together the lemon icing. 
11. Ice the cookies with a spoon. You can drizzle the icing or dip the cookies.
12. Once the icing has dried, they can be served or they can be frozen for up to 3 months.

This recipe makes (about) 4 dozen cookies.

 

 

Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Back about a month ago, Jeff and I were getting ready to host a Super Bowl Party with a few close friends. We were making beef short rib sandwiches on french baguettes with melted smoked gouda along with a big tossed salad as our half-time meal. 

I knew that we would be eating a number of tidbits (guacamole and chips plus chicken wings) during the first half. By the time we had "dinner" at half-time, people were probably going to be stuffed. Would anyone want dessert after everything we would be eating?

Yes. Know why? There are people like me that no matter how stuffed we are, we still need a little something sweet to end the meal. I knew that something small, that you could hold in your hand, would be perfect. Ultimately, that meant a cookie, brownie or bar dessert.

I was looking on my Pinterest "I want to make that" board when I came across this chocolate cookie with butterscotch chips on my home feed. They looked really good, a crinkled dark chocolate cookie with butterscotch chips. I love the taste of butterscotch but I don't make many desserts using butterscotch chips. I would say, the most I use them for is 7 Layer Bars. 

As I read the ingredients, these Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies looked like a dense brownie. I figured they would be chewy, possibly gooey but definitely sweet. They were fairly easy to make and at the end of 30 minutes, I was putting a batch into the oven. With the house smelling like fudgy brownies, I couldn't wait to give them a try. 

As I thought, they were chewy and reminded me of a warm brownie and the butterscotch chips made them really sweet. I'm glad I used the bittersweet chocolate because I think it takes some of the sweetness out of the cookie and lets the flavor of the chips come through.

I wasn't sure how my guests would like them but they were a big hit. People were grabbing two and three cookies as they asked for a glass of milk to go with it. (I think that is the Oreo Cookie Syndrome - when cookies are really sweet, milk is the perfect complement!) The night I made the cookies, I doubled the recipe and froze two dozen for another occasion. I de-frosted them a week ago and brought them to a friend's house. I must admit, I stole a cookie from the top and it was so good! It reminded me that I definitely have to make these cookies again.

Ingredients for Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies (from Diethood)

• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chips)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 cup of butterscotch chips

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a microwavable bowl, place chocolate chips and butter. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir chocolate and butter and repeat. If the mixture isn't melted, microwave in 15 second intervals until smooth. Allow to come to room temperature.

3. Using a mixer, place eggs, sugar and vanilla into bowl and beat until the mixture begins to turn a pale or light yellow. About 10 minutes on medium speed.

4. Add the flour and baking powder and mix on slow until well incorporated. 

5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chocolate mixture. Once the two are combined, add the butterscotch chips.

6. Allow the cookie dough to sit for 10 minutes.

7. Place parchment paper on the cookie tray (you will need three trays) and put a rounded tablespoonful of cookie dough 2 inches apart. I placed 8 cookies per tray. 

8. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes or until they are dry and the tops begin to crack.

9. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool on the trays. Peel from the parchment paper.

10. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. Place in air-tight container.

  

Almond Crumble Cookie - A Modern Twist on Sbrisolona

Back about a month ago, Jeff and I spent an entire Sunday in the kitchen cooking. We like to make a few meals ahead of time since we tend to work late during the week. It is so much easier reheating a meal in 15-20 minutes VS creating a meal from scratch which can take at least an hour. If we can cook one additional meal on a Sunday then we get to relax when we come home rather than start in the frenzy of meal cooking.

Being almost empty nesters, we have the urge to go out to dinner but I do like a home cooked meal and that was one thing we did when our kids were living at home. If Jeff starts cooking, I normally take out a pound of butter and look for some quick desserts to have during the week. Most times I like cookies because they are easy to eat and very easy to freeze. There are times I wonder whether a cookie blog would be better than a cooking and baking blog. I guess I don't want to think I can only discuss cookies. As much as they are a favorite for most, some people would get bored with just cookies.

Jeff recently bought a number of cookbooks and one of them was Martha Stewart's One Pot. We have made a few recipes from the book and there were a few (like 10 out of 120 recipes) dessert recipes at the back. This recipe is an american version of an Italian dessert called Sbrisolona. Sbrisolona is a crunchy cookie made with cornmeal, almonds and a slight touch of lemon. As I read more about the sbrisolona, I realized the two were totally different. This almond crumble cookie tastes more like a real good butter cookie. There is definitely a nutty flavor to it, but I kept thinking it might taste good with a hint of lemon, orange or raspberry. There is no cornmeal or lemon in this recipe, which I think could change the flavor to the entire cookie. The sbrisolona also has coarsely chopped almonds vs finely ground almonds. Needless to say, you may see me making the sbrisolona.

This almond crumble cookie was very easy to make and was perfect as our dessert for the week. It had that buttery, melt in your mouth, texture with a slightly nutty flavor, very similar to a shortbread cookie. I want to make this recipe again and add a hint of flavor. I was thinking maybe adding some raspberry jam and orange rind. I kept thinking that you could probably use any type of nut, too, for a different flavor.

As I broke the cookie into pieces, the crumbs were perfect on a dish of ice cream. Jeff would tell you vanilla ice cream, I would say chocolate or coffee. Oh, the battle of the ice cream flavors.

If you are looking for a buttery cookie that would pair well with coffee, tea or just an afternoon dessert, this is perfect. Almond Crumble Cookie - YUM!

Ingredients for Almond Crumble Cookie (adapted from Martha Stewart)

• 1-3/4 sticks of butter (14 tablespoons total), softened
• 1-1/4 cups of flour
• 1-1/2 cups of almonds, finely ground (measure almonds, then grind)
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 10 inch springform pan. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, sugar, salt and vanilla.

3. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry mix until incorporated and you have pea size clumps.

4. Gently press 3/4 of the mixture into the springfoam pan. Then sprinkle the remaining crumbs on the top.

5. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until it begins to look slightly golden. 

6. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and cook for an additional 10 minutes until it is golden brown.

7. Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack in the pan for 10 minutes. 

8. Remove from the pan and slice or break into pieces.

Serves 10-12 people. 

 

Pumpkin Blossom Cookies with Milk Chocolate Kisses

Pumpkin Blossom Cookies with Milk Chocolate Kisses

I love pumpkin. Whether in coffee, a soup, bread or dessert, I will eat or drink almost anything that has pumpkin flavor. Sometimes I wonder...do I like the pumpkin? Or do I like the pumpkin spice? With most of the pumpkin recipes I have there is as much pumpkin flavor as there is spice.

I have been especially fond of pumpkin with a hint of chocolate. A friend of mine makes a great pumpkin cake and she puts mini-chocolate chips in it. But it not only has a delicious pumpkin flavor but a wonderful balance of spice and chocolate. So, with that in mind, I was looking to make a pumpkin cookie with a milk chocolate kiss. I was looking to capture that Peanut Butter Blossom feel. A nice moist cookie, rolled in sugar with a chocolate kiss on top. 

I found this recipe for a Pumpkin Snickerdoodle from Center Cut Cook. It was a unique recipe, but it didn't have any spices in the cookie recipe. Granted, you do roll the cookies in cinnamon and sugar but there wasn't any pumpkin spice. For those who don't know the combination - pumpkin spice is made with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. I decided I would add a small amount of pumpkin spice to both the cookie and the rolling sugar. I wanted to add a little kick to the cookie. Then I would add the chocolate kiss so I could put my creation, or should I call it, my craving together.

The recipe was fairly easy but the dough needs to be refrigerated for at least 90 minutes. My suggestion would be to make the dough and while it is freezing make a batch of Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Because they are so good.)

I made these pumpkin blossoms on a Sunday afternoon and had friends over to watch the football game later that evening. I had eaten a cookie piping hot out of the oven and it was delicious but sometimes it's hard to get a read on the true flavor of the cookie. Later that evening people were going crazy over the cookies. They were light and chewy and had great flavor. Pumpkin + Pumpkin Spice + Chocolate = Amazing Cookies. The best comments I got were:

"These are the BEST cookies I've ever tasted." (I love that one!)

"These are amazing!" 

"Can I have the recipe?" (Here you go!)

So, I'm over due with the recipe, but here it is. Try out a batch before the holidays because you may find that these will be your new holiday cookies. I know I will be adding these to my 12 Cookies of Christmas for 2014. If you make a batch, leave a comment and tell me how you liked them!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Blossom Cookies with Milk Chocolate Kisses:

• 1/2 cup of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of shortening
• 1-1/2 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 2-3/4 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 small bag of milk chocolate kisses

Rolling mix:

• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients of flour, salt, cream of tartar, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

2. In a mixer, using the paddle, cream together the shortening and butter. Once blended (about 1-2 minutes), add the sugar and cream until fluffy, about 2 minutes. 

3. Add the 2 eggs and once incorporated, add the pumkin puree.

4. When all wet ingredients are together, add the flour mixture in two parts. When the mixture is fully mixed, it will be wet and sticky.

5. Place the dough in the freezer for 90 minutes or until firm to the touch.

6. In a small bowl, mix the rolling ingredients of sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.

7. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in the sugar mixture. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden and the tops are dry and slightly cracked.

9. Remove from oven and place a milk chocolate kiss on the top. Press slightly into place and as it begins to melt you can push it down until you create a flattened, swirled appearance.

10. Cool on cookie racks.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

 

Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

You know me...looking for the best chocolate chip cookies. I think I may have found them. But, it is not your traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe. I would call it an amazing "adult" chocolate chip cookie called a Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Recently, I have been looking for cookies that would stand up well as a cookie for an ice cream sandwich. The reason was a project at work. I work for a company called FUN Enterprises, Inc. We provide interactive novelty entertainment to educational, corporate and private events. We bring an experience to the PARTY! As a part of the project, I was investigating costs for a food truck. We decided to go with a very niche food truck and were going back and forth between specialty ice cream sandwiches and clam chowder. We have an opportunity to use a food truck as part of our entertainment services.

When we were investigating the specialty ice cream sandwiches, we were going to offer 6 different types of cookies with 6 different types of flavors. We were looking at it from the perspective of a mix and match ice cream sandwich. As we looked at the different types of cookies we would offer, they had to be somewhat crunchy, freeze well and be strong enough to be pushed together with ice cream. 

With this is mind, I was looking at a few different types of cookies. As I was thumbing through my FINE Cooking Cookies Cookbook, I came across this recipe for Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies. The ingredients looked good - chocolate, coffee and cinnamon - and you rolled them in sugar before baking them, which would give them an added crunch. As I looked at the final ingredients, I noticed there were no eggs. First thing I did was look up the recipe online to see if there was a mistake or comments. The reason I did this is because there are a few recipes I have started and half way through, I have noticed a major ingredient is missing. Eggs in cookies, for me, would be a major ingredient.  But, as the recipe was written, there were no eggs and the reviews were great. I took out the butter and began baking. These cookies were very easy to make and within 30 minutes I had them baked and on cookie racks. The house smelled so GOOD! 

The cookies have a nice balance of coffee and chocolate with just a hint of cinnamon. They were crunchy and sweet; for me, they were perfect. As much as I am always searching for "the best chocolate chip cookie", these were one of the best I've tasted.

Now, onto my next project - Cinnamon Ice Cream. I think that would be a great combination for an ice cream sandwich cookie. How does this sound - Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cinnamon Ice Cream? Heavenly? Follow the next blog article, the Cinnamon Ice Cream will be there!

If you are looking for a cookie that's crunchy and has a really nice mocha blend, you will love these. Perfect to dip in coffee or hot chocolate and of course, there are no eggs in the recipe. 

Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from FINE Cooking)

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cups of butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons of instant express (or 4 tablespoons of instant coffee)
• 1 cup of confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1-1/2 cups of chocolate chips
• 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar for dipping cookies

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and kosher salt. Set aside.

3. In a large mixer, beat the butter and espresso powder until blended 1-2 minutes.

4. Add the confectioner's and light brown sugar, mix until blended.

5. Add the dry ingredients and once blended add the chocolate chips.

6. Place 1/2 cup of sugar in a shallow dish.

7. Roll dough into tablespoon sized balls and slightly flatten. Then, roll in sugar,

8. Place on cookie sheets two inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden and the tops are dry.

9. Remove from oven and allow them to sit on the tray for 5 minutes before putting them on a cookie rack.

Makes about 36-40 cookies. They freeze very well.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oatmeal and Two Kinds of Chocolate

We love cookies at our house, especially a good chocolate chip cookie. Coming from New England, our idea of a chocolate chip cookie is based on the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. We don't add anything to our cookie outside of chocolate chips and for those who like nuts, walnuts. Because we make an oatmeal cookie that my grandmother always made, Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies, we don't have as big a library of oatmeal cookies. As I was looking over the two recipes, outside of Nannie's using 2 cups of brown sugar vs 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of white sugar, the base cookie ingredients are identical.

My mother in law cut this recipe out of her Southern Living magazine and thought it looked like a good recipe, it was called Jana's Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was a fairly simple recipe and it had otameal and a grated bar of milk chocolate in it. With Easter around the corner, I always like trying new recipes.

As I picked up the ingredients at the supermarket, instead of a plain milk chocolate bar, I grabbed a Symphony bar with toffee bits and almonds. I love the creamy caramel taste and thought it might go well with the oatmeal. I started laughing, "Do I ever follow the directions correctly?" Probably not!

The recipe was basic with brown and white sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, salt, baking soda and powder and lots of chocolate chips. The only difference was the grating of the Symphony bar. The cookies were easy to make and before all the cookies came out of the oven, I was cleaned up and ready to taste these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. The house smelled wonderful as I bit into the hot cookie. I thought they were very good. With the oatmeal, pecans and the milk chocolate, there was a nutty caramel taste to the cookies. They were crunchy to start and chewy to finish. My family absolutely loved them...then there was my mother. She loves her mother's oatmeal cookies. She thought they were good, but still loves Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies better. I guess it could be like me...I am always in search of the BEST chocolate chip cookie. To date, I have tried so many, but outside of my traditional - Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies - only one chocolate chip cookies stands out - Jacques Torres's Chocolate Chip Cookie. I apologize to all the chocolate chip cookie recipes to date, Jacques is the best one.

As for Jana Kramer's Chocolate Chip Cookies - I would rather call them Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's the oatmeal that makes the cookie - plus, it wouldn't compete in my search for th BEST chocolate chip cookie. Next to Nannie's, I would give it a strong second. It was a great cookie with a grated milk chocolate bar twist - I'll defnitely make these again.

Jana's Chocolate Chip Cookies (Adapted from Southern Living)

Ingredients

• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 2-1/4 cups of oatmeal, I use old fashioned oats
• 1- 4 ounce bar of milk chocolate, grated - I used a Symphony Bar with Almonds and Toffee Bits
• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1-1/2 cups of chopped pecans

 Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

2. In a large mixer, place butter and sugars and mix until creamy and blended 1-2 minutes.

3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated, then add vanilla.

4. On low speed, begin to add the flour mixture. Then add the grated chocolate.

5. Once blended, add the oatmeal, chocolate chips and pecans.

6. Place a well rounded tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto a cookie sheet. (Two inches apart) Slightly flatten the cookie mound.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden and the dough is dry.

8. Allow the cookies to rest for 2 minutes before placing them on a cookie rack.

Makes 48-60 cookies. These cookies freeze well, too!

Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Hint of Cinnamon

Just before Easter, I was playing on Pinterest, when I came across another good looking chocolate chip cookie. For some reason, I can't resist. If they look appetizing then I want to make them. I looked at the recipe and realized it was a chewy cookie (because it had lots of brown sugar) and it had an interesting ingredient...cinnamon. The recipe came from Amy Johnson of She Wears Many Hats

I love making chocolate chip cookies, for three simple reasons:

1. For the most part, they are so easy to make, it's really hard to kill a chocolate chip cookie.

2. Everyone loves a chocolate chip cookie. People will eat these quicker than any other cookie I make. And believe me, I have probably made over 100,000 cookies in my life time and chocolate chip is always a favorite.

3. They make me smile. The complements and comments I get from a batch of chocolate chip cookies just make my day!

I made the cookies and sent a dozen off with my daughter as she was babysitting for a doctor she works for. She wanted to bring a treat to the house, since it was her first time babysitting. The kids, who were 2, 3 and 6, loved the cookies and she left the remainder of the bag at the house. On Monday, when she was at work, the doctor came in and asked where she got the cookies. She said, "My mom made them." He said they were some of the best he had ever had, "Just the right amount of cinnamon." When she told me the story I started laughing, "another great batch of chocolate chip cookies."

On this blog you will find many different combinations of chocolate chip cookies. Each will differ on whether you like yours crispy or chewy. The more brown sugar, the chewier the cookie. So, with a majority of this recipe going to brown sugar, this is a chewy cookie.

The batter was delicious, as I nibbled on pieces of cookie dough. This usually means the cookies are amazing! I really liked this cookie, especially hot. They were sweet, slightly crunch with a great chewiness. The hint of cinnamon was just enough to wake up your taste buds, it definitely enhanced the flavor of the cookie. 

Try making a batch of these chocolate chip delights and see if people notice the cinnamon. If you aren't a cinnamon fan, take the cinnamon out and I'm sure you will enjoy the cookies just as much. Whether these or your own favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, make a batch today. They'll put a smile on everyone's face, including your own - from all the wonderful complements connected to making a simple batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Hint of Cinnamon

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) of butter, softened
• 2 cups of brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 4 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2-1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Using a mixer, cream the butter with the brown and white sugars until well blended, about 2 minutes. 

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

4. Add 2 cups of the flour with the cinnamon, salt and baking soda. 

5. Once blended add the remaining 2 cups of flour until combined.

6. Add the chocolate chips.

7. Using well rounded tablespoons of dough, place on cookie sheets 2 inches apart. I made them the size of golf balls and pressed them down slightly when they were on the sheet. I got about 8 cookies to a tray.

8. Bake for 12-14 minutes until slightly golden and crackly.

9. Remove from oven and allow them to cool on a cookie rack.

10. This recipe makes about 48 cookies.

Just think - atleast 24 happy people will enjoy these cookies because no one can eat just one!

Chocolate and Vanilla Dipped Pizzelles

For many years, I have been surrounded by pizzelles. Whether growing up in a predominately Italian neighborhood or having married into an Italian family, pizzelles were a dessert staple. Mostly found around the holidays, if you enjoyed pizzelles, someone would always make them for a family gathering or special occasion. 

Back a few weeks ago, my mother-in-law gave my step-daughter, Kate, an old recipe for her grandmother's pizzelles. We started talking about growing up with people making pizzelles and discussed getting a pizzelle maker. My mother-in-law had a pizzelle maker but had lost the cord to the machine. I don't know how old it is but I am going to guess 30+ years. Jeff went online and found the cord to the Rival Pizzelle Maker on eBay and before I knew it, we were making pizzelles.

As much as I have used a waffle iron, I hadn't worked with pizzelles. I found a recipe in the box, yes, Rival's own Italian Pizzelle - "extra thin...extra crisp...extra special". I figured I would start with this recipe and then try some other flavors, maybe anise, lemon or pineapple citrus...YUM! I was amazed at how easy they were to make. The first pizzelles got stuck to the iron, but after that, it worked fine. Not bad for an old iron.

The cookies were light and crispy (I couldn't stop tasting them!) and I had a pretty good system going, place dough on iron, wait 3 minutes, take out of iron, place on cutting board, cut in half and cool on the rack. Within 30 minutes, I had all the pizzelles made and decided to make a batch of chocolate pizzelles. At the end of the hour, I had 80 half pizzelles ready to go.

I got the chocolate and vanilla bits melted and dipped one side of the pizzelles. I sprinkled them with either chopped pistachios or Heath Bar Toffee Bits. You can dip them in jimmies, nonpareils, nuts or chocolate. Be creative!

The pizzelles were perfect, very light and crispy. They were like potato chips, you couldn't eat just one. The chocolate and vanilla dip gave them a little bit of sweetness. PERFECT! The cookies went back to Emerson College with my son, Stephen, to Philadelphia with my son, Michael and South Boston with my daughter, Danielle. So far, they have been a big hit, with my son, Michael, texting "They were awesome, my whole house loved em".

YES - just what every MOM loves to hear.

If you have been considering getting a pizzelle maker, go for it! They were easy to make and a perfect dessert whether plain or dipped. I can't wait to make another batch!

Italian Pizzelle: (Rival Products)

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of butter, melted
• 1-1/2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

Icing:

• 1/2 cup of pistachios, chopped
• 1 cup of vanilla chips
• 2 teaspoons of shortening

Preparation:

1. Preheat pizzelle iron, slightly greater than light. 

2. In a medium bowl, add three eggs and beat with a whisk until blended. Add the sugar and whisk again.

3. Drizzle the butter into the mixture, whisking as it blends. Add the vanilla.

4. Using a spatula, add the flour and baking powder. Mix until incorporated.

5. Place a rounded tablespoon of dough on the pizzelle iron and cook according to directions. 

6. Remove pizzelle for the iron, place on a cutting board and cut in half. Cool the pizzelle on a cookie rack.

7. Melt the vanilla chips and shortening in the microwave. Microwave in 30 second increments.

8. Dip the pizzelle halves in vanilla mixture and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Place the pizzelle on aluminum foil or parchment paper until they dry.

9. If you don't want to dip the pizzelles, you can sprinkle them with confectioner's sugar.

For Chocolate Pizzelle:

1. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa to the above mixture.

2. Chocolate Icing - 1 cup of semisweet chips and 2 teaspoons of shortening.

3. 1/2 cup of Heath Bar Toffee Bits

Chocolate Mint Blossoms with Hershey's Mint Kisses

During Christmas, I made a number of cookies that made it into the mouths of friends and family but not to the pages of the Friends Food Family blog. As I was going through photos from last year, I came upon these cookies and decided to tell you a little bit about them. 

I love mint. Pair that with chocolate and I am in heaven. One of my favorite mint candies is Junior Mints, but not just the regular Junior Mints but the Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints which you can only find around the Christmas holiday season. I love purchasing a number of boxes and hiding them. Periodically, I will find a hidden box, like I did today, and enjoy the extra minty taste of these seasonal treats.

The reason I write about these Chocolate Mint Blossoms is because I didn't realize how much people liked them during the holiday. I had given my boys a few dozen to take back to Philadelphia and Missouri and then gave the rest to my parents for platters I put together for their groups of friends. Last weekend I was at their house for a Hermit Bar request as my mother was having her Ladies Card Group for lunch on Monday. She had shared a few of the hermits with her friends and they asked if I would make a batch for the group. As I was talking to my parents about the different cookies I made at Christmas, my father was saying that people were fighting over the Chocolate Mint Blossoms. I was shocked. I knew the cookies were good but didn't realize how much people liked them. When I called my boys to ask how their friends liked the cookies the response was the same. People really liked them and started taking 2-3 cookies each. The ugliness comes when the cookies are gone and people aren't willing to share. For me, I have accomplished what I set out to do...make really good cookies!

So, now I would like to share them with you with a few hints:

1. Use Candy Cane Kisses or Chocolate Mint Kisses for the best result. If you can't find the mint kisses - Dove makes a mint chocolate candy which you can use.

2. The chocolate cookie base is very good so consider using the base minus the mint flavoring if you would like to create something different. Think almond flavoring with Chocolate Almond Kisses.

3. Double the recipe - 3-4 dozen disappear fast!

Try these cookies and think about different variations. I can't wait to make them again. With my son coming home from Philadelphia next week, I should send him back with some of these Chocolate Mint Blossoms. They may cause a cookie war when he returns as his roommates know a good cookie when they taste one!

Chocolate Mint Blossoms with Mint Hershey Kisses

(Adapted from Better Homes and Garden's Chocomint Blossoms recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of shortening
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• 1-1/2 cups of flour
• 1 bags of Candy Cane Hershey Kisses, we used Mint Hershey Kisses

Preparation:

1. In a large mixer on medium high, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar, 1-2 minutes until well blended.

2. Add the cocoa and baking powder, once incorporated, add the egg, milk and peppermint. 

3. Add half the flour and then remove the beater and mix in the last of the flour by hand. The dough will be slightly stiff. Chill dough for an hour.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll one inch balls and place on cookie sheet one inch apart. 

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are firm.

6. Remove from oven and press a chocolate mint kiss into the top of the cookie. Remove cookies from the tray and cool on a cookie rack. Let rest until chocolate is set. 

Makes between 3-4 dozen cookies. Great to freeze.

 

Here we go again! Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

As most of you know, I am constantly looking for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. As it stands I think we have done over 10 chocolate chip cookie recipes looking for the perfect cookie that is both chewy and crunchy. It also has to have the right balance of cookie and chocolate.

Last year, my favorite cookie was the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie. It had a combination of bread flour, cake flour, brown sugar, white sugar and lots of bittersweet chocolate. I made this recipe several times and it was a hit at many parties and gatherings. The best part of this chocolate chip cookie is the sprinkle of coarse salt on the top. It gives you that perfect salty sweet dessert. I liked these cookies so much, they became the banner for the new design of the website and logo (look up above!).

I researched the story behind this cookie (Karrie on Happy Money Saver) and I found that it was very similar to the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. The differences were: 

1. Karrie replaced the light brown sugar with dark brown sugar
2. Instead of using different types of flour, she used regular flour
3. She eliminated the kosher salt on the top

Some of the things I found great with this cookie:

1. No weighing of ingredients
2. No refrigerator time to chill the dough
3. Perfect balance of crunchy and chewy

Finding the perfect balance of crunchy and chewy is what I am always looking for in a cookie. Karrie achieved that with the dark brown sugar. When I make chocolate chip cookies, I will sometimes mix the brown sugars. If it calls for a cup of light brown sugar, I will use 1/2 cup of light brown and 1/2 cup dark brown. Dark brown sugar gives you that chewy, almost sticky feel to the cookie. It also gives more of a toffee flavor. When I make Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies, which is our signature cookie, I add Heath Bar bits, which will add the same type of chewiness and flavor.

As Jeff enjoyed these cookies with his favorite vanilla ice cream, he thought these were the best chocolate chip cookies I have made. He likes a chewy cookie but he liked that the cookie had some crunch, too. Brian and his friends loved the cookies, but truthfully, they love anything homemade.

I thought they were very good, but I still like the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies. For me, it might just be that "sweet and salty" thing. I'm going to try these cookies again, with a bit of kosher salt on the top. That could be the finishing touch to possibly finding the BEST chocolate chip cookie!

Ingredients for the PERFECT Chocolate Chip Cookie

1-1/4 cups of butter, softened (2-1/2 sticks of butter)

1 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar

1-1/4 cups of dark brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla

3-1/2 cups of flour

1-1/4 teaspoons of baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1-1/4 pounds (20 ounces) of bittersweet chocolate chips (we use Ghiradelli)

Preparation:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Put aside.

2. Using a mixer or electric beaters, cream the butter with the two sugars until blended 1-2 minutes.

3. Blend the eggs in one at a time, then add the vanilla.

4. Beat until well incorporated (one minute), add the dry ingredients. 

5. As the dough finally begins to come together, add the bittersweet chocolate chips.

6. Mix until the dough comes together.

7. Using a 1/4 cup scoop (or your hands), roll balls slightly larger than a golf ball. 

8. Place on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Put 8 cookies per tray.

9. Bake cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown and the tops are dry.

10. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, remove and cool on racks.

11. Makes about 30-36 cookies. They freeze well, too!

Post By Tricia White 

Post by Friends Food Family.

Orange Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

My favorite cookie this holiday season was the Orange Pistachio Shortbread Cookies.

I will admit, I was not good about getting all my new cookies up for the Christmas holiday season. One thing I wanted to do was have some posts about ingredients. One of the ingredients was supposed to be pistachios. I made quite a few cookies with pistachios, each better than the next. I promise that my next post will be about the BEST cookies made with pistachios.

I always try and look for different cookies around the holidays and what I liked the most is that pistachios have such a great flavor and you don't normally find them in cookies. When you do, it's a delightful taste. Secondly, they are such a beautiful green color, perfect for the holiday season.

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Angela Carbonetti. She posted it on my Facebook account thinking I would enjoy the Pistachio Shortbread recipe from Chow.com. I was sending her a message at Thanksgiving and came across the recipe again. I love Angela and her family. Her mom, Angie, was an amazing baker. Angela and I were laughing about how her mother would turn her bedroom into a bakery. She would store all of her holiday cookies in the room and when people would stop by, she would go into the bedroom and magically appear with a box of cookies...and her cookies were the BEST. Two of my favorite cookies on the blog are from Angie (Angie's Ricotta Cookies and Angie's Almond Slices). GAWD, I miss her.

This recipe was very easy to make, after toasting the pistachios, the entire recipe is made in the food processor. The original recipe called for lemon zest, but I only had orange zest. If you decide to use lemon, the original recipe called for 1 teaspoon of lemon zest.

A few observations: 1. After pressing down the shortbread (step 6), they suggested you use a fork and score the dough. Mine kept getting stuck and pulling the dough apart, so I skipped that step. 2. Make sure you cut the shortbread when it is still warm, mine was cold and it was more difficult, it cracked into pieces more easily.

After it was baked and I got to sample the pieces, I realized how delicious these cookies were. They had a little bit of a sweet and salty taste. I loved the orange and pistachio combination. I would call them addictive. You taste a piece, then you want another, then another...especially if you have tea or coffee. As I finished off the holiday season, more and more people requested the recipe. I was excited because it became one of my favorite recipes of Christmas.

Bake a batch, share and enjoy!

Ingredients for the Orange Pistachio Shortbread Cookies: 

3/4 cup of pistachio kernels - slightly salted (if unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt to the recipe)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of butter (one stick), cut into 8 tablespoons

1 tablespoon of finely grated orange zest

2 teaspoons of sugar (to be used at the end of the recipe)

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Using an 8x8 baking pan, line the pan with aluminum foil with overhangs or fold a piece of parchment paper to fit into the pan leaving paper hanging over the edges. (Explanation - you have to create a way to lift the shortbread from the pan. It is too delicate to turn out onto a cutting board.) Make sure you generously grease the pan so to easily remove the foil or parchment.

2. In a small frying pan over medium heat, stirring regularly, toast the pistachios until they begin to smell fragrant and are slightly golden, 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

3. Place 1/2 cup of pistachios and 1/2 cup of sugar into a food processor and process until the mixture looks like coarse sand, about 30 seconds.

4. Add the flour and pulsate to mix. Add the butter and orange zest. Pulsate until the dough begins to come together. 

5. Add the last of the pistachios and pulsate 3-4 times allowing the pistachios to become chopped not ground. This will give the shortbread some texture.

6. Turn the mixture into the pan and shake the pan to evenly distribute and then press the dough with your hands or you can use the bottom of a glass.

7. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar.

8. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the shortbread is slightly golden and firm to the touch.

9. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Grab the corners of the foil or parchment and remove the shortbread from the pan. Remove the foil or parchment from the shortbread and cut the shortbread while it is still warm. The colder it gets the more brittle it becomes to cut. 

10. This will make 16 shortbread squares or you can cut each square in half, which I did. I find people love to take a nibble. They will eventually take more, but 1/2 is great to start.

Written by Tricia White

Roasted Almond Thumbprint Cookies

OMG! Who doesn't like thumbprint cookies? They are one of the easiest cookies to make and at our house, they disappear faster than I can make them. And these Roasted Almond Thumbprints are no exception.

I decided that as I was looking for cookies for my 12 Cookies of Christmas that I was going to highlight combinations of cookies. I have 4 or 5 thumbprint recipes, so I am going to put them all together to give you a choice of the thumbprints you might like to make. Please bear with me as I will be highlighting quite a few bars and cookies over the next two weeks as I start to put together the lists. 

These Roasted Almond Thumprint Cookies were featured in Bon Appetit's November "Make Ahead Holiday Cookies". They have a great selection of cookies which are fairly easy to make and are right in line with what people are looking for in holiday cookies. I learned a long time ago that fancy cookies are nice, but I find they are the last cookies left on the plate at the end of most events. When you make a combination of thumbprint cookies, chocolate chip cookies, ginger snaps and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, I can guarantee, there won't be any left.

These thumbprints were easy to make as most of the ingredients ended up in the food processor, so outside of roasting almonds, these cookies were together in 10 minutes. The only thing I do differently is to put the jam in the cookie before I cook it rather than after. Many people put the jam in after, but I find the jam doesn't set and the cookies are always sticky.

These cookies have a wonderfully nutty taste and would pair well with strawberry jam, orange marmalade or our favorite, seedless raspberry. After I made them, I froze them for a function later in the week. As I opened the container to make a cookie platter that night, I noticed half of them were gone. My son, Stephen, confessed, "Mom, those are the best cookies." Even frozen, they disappeared.

Watch for the 12 Cookies of Christmas this year as I will highlight all types of cookies and our favorites as well as those that people wait for every year. As we head into the holidays - Be happy and enjoy!

Roasted Almond Thumbprint Cookies - Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups of flour

1-1/2 cups of unsalted, roasted almonds

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 cup of butter (2 sticks), softened

1/2 cup of sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 cup of raw/course sugar or demerara sugar

Seedless raspberry jam (or your favorite jam or jelly)

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

2. Place flour and roasted almonds into a food processor and pulse until the almonds and flour are well blended. The almonds will be finely ground.

3. Add baking powder and salt, pulse once or twice to blend. Set aside.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until pale and fluffy. 

5. Reduce speed to low and blend the flour mixture with the sugar/butter mixture.

6. Place the demerara sugar into a shallow bowl. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and roll in the sugar. Place on cookie sheets and place a thumbprint in the center. Fill with a 1/2 teaspoon of jam or jelly.

7. Cookies can be placed 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies is slightly golden and firm. The bottoms will be beginning to brown. 

8. Remove from oven and cool on cookie racks. This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies and they freeze well. 

Written by Tricia White

Cornmeal Craisin Biscotti with Toasted Walnuts and Orange Zest

Biscotti has always been a favorite of mine, probably because I love crunchy cookies. I also like cookies that have a number of flavors involved and biscotti always seem to have that. Whether nuts, flavorings, chocolate or fruits, you can always enjoy a burst of flavors from these treats.

Every Thursday, I get to enjoy lunch with the United Regional Chamber of Commerce staff. I look forward to these lunches as I actually will take time to enjoy lunch and wonderful conversation. Some Thursdays we will order lunch out, other times, we walk to a cute little sandwich shop called Jonathan's Coffee Cafe. Just recently, Jonathan's began selling little bags of biscotti. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the bakery who makes them, but they are quite good. I was drawn to the Mocha Walnuts and then the Cornmeal Craisin. The cornmeal craisin are delicious...with a hint of orange and crunchy demerara sugar on top.

Last week, my mother had some surgery and I went to her house to make some meals for the week. While I was getting my supplies at the supermarket, I kept thinking about those biscotti. I grabbed a bag of cornmeal and figured my mother should have the other baking ingredients. Once I arrived, I went on a search for some online recipes for cornmeal craisin biscotti. I came across a David Lebovitz recipe called Cormeal Biscotti. It was perfect. My mother had all the ingredients, plus a bag of craisins. I figured I would start with this recipe and then add and subtract a few ingredients after that. The biscotti was very easy to make, all the dry ingredients in one bowl, melt the butter in another bowl, mix the eggs, vanilla and zest - basically done. Place logs on the cookie sheets and we were ready to go. The house smelled wonderful and after the second baking, we were scrambling to taste these biscotti. They were crunchy, the toasted walnuts and crasins brought great flavor with the subtle hint of lemon. As my mother enjoyed a cup of tea, I couldn't tell if she was actually drinking the tea or eating it with the tea soaked biscotti.

The next day when I got home, I knew I would change the recipe a bit. First, I doubled the recipe...I like to save some extra cookies to freeze. Then I swapped out the lemon zest for the orange zest and finished with demerara sugar sprinkled on the top. I think I found my Cornmeal Craisin Biscotti.

I brought a batch to work this past week and everyone loved them. The best comment was my co-worker, Manassah. "I hate you, these are so good!" The best complement I can receive. I also brought a few into the United Regional Chamber. "OK, I need you to try these, I think I recreated our biscotti from Jonathan's", I said to Lisa and Kim. "WOW, I think these taste better", said Lisa. More music to my ears. These are a keeper!

Now, grab some cornmeal, toast some walnuts and make a batch of these biscotti. They will be a perfect holiday treat to enjoy as a quick breakfast or a wonderful dessert with coffee or tea. 

Ingredients for the Cornmeal Craisin Biscotti with Toasted Walnuts and Orange Rind

(We doubles this recipe to make about 60 cookies)

• 3 cups of flour

• 1 cup of cornmeal, preferably stone ground

• 2 cups of sugar

• 2 teaspoons of baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 4 eggs

• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

• Zest of one orange

• 1/2 cup of butter, melted and cooled

• 1-1/2 cups of craisins

• 2 cups of walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

• 3-4 tablespoons of demerara sugar 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place parchment paper on 3 cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, place the dry ingredients of flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together and then put aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix eggs, vanilla and orange zest with a small hand whisk.

4. Make a well in the dry ingredients bowl. Pour in the egg mixture, stir, then add the melted butter. Mix until the batter becomes wet and crumbly. Add the craisins and walnuts and mix to incorporate all ingredients.

5. Place the mixture on a slightly floured counter or board and knead a few times. Divide the dough into three pieces. Roll two logs 2 inches by 13 inches from each piece. Place 2 logs per cookie sheet. 

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden and they feel set. Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes.

7. Reduce the oven to 250 degrees. Remove the biscotti from the parchment paper and using a serrated knife, cut the biscotti on a diagonal about 1 inch apart. 

8. Place the cookies on the cookie sheet (no parchment paper needed) and bake for 20 minutes. remove from oven and cool.

9. Enjoy and then freeze a few. Always great to have something special when guests stop by.

Written by Tricia White

Tozzetti - Like Biscotti, but BETTER

- Tozzetti, similar to Biscotti, buttery and nutty, twice baked cookies -

There is nothing better than making a biscotti style cookie with minimal ingredients and big taste.

I went on a baking kick the other night and decided I wanted to make some biscotti. I came across this recipe in the newest edition of Bon Appetit Magazine (June 2013) called Tozzetti and decided this was going to be my baking project. 

As I did my research, tozzetti are Italian cookies which are in the biscotti family and are usually made with nuts. This recipe calls for almonds, but a few of the others differed from using hazelnuts to adding lemon rind or anise. This recipe was very plain, to the point that I was thinking of adding orange rind or maybe dipping them in chocolate. Then I stopped, sometimes we need to leave well enough alone. What if these cookies were amazing as is. Let's make them and then add addition ingredients the next time.

There are only seven ingredients for the tozzetti - butter, sugar, eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and almonds. Desserts like this don't get any easier. I no more had the batter together when they were in the oven for their first baking. Like everything I do, when the ingredients are simple or the amounts seem small, I double the recipe. So, I had five tozzetti logs on three baking sheets.

After the first round of baking, I took them out of the oven and let them cool. I started cutting the logs to put back into the oven and was enjoying the ends. The cookies were wonderful. They were nice and buttery, not too sweet and had a delicious nutty flavor. Leaving the recipe alone was just what it needed. These were delightful. I yelled into Jeff, "I have the perfect cookie for your ice cream."

Twenty minutes later, the tozzetti were out of the oven and cooling. I scooped Jeff his favorite vanilla ice cream and added two tozzetti cookies. I delivered his dessert to the living room and ran next door to drop a few off with Jeff's mother. As I was getting the last of the cookies out of the oven, Jeff asked if I might be able to bring him another cookie so he could finish his ice cream. I knew I had a great cookie. 

So far, Jeff and his mother enjoyed them, my son, Stephen took a half dozen to work and I treated my clients to some afternoon goodies. Sweet success, this is definitely a keeper. As much as I would love to add lemon or orange zest or maybe dip the bottoms in chocolate, I know this recipe is perfect the way it is. Sometimes recipes should be left alone...no additions and no subtraction...because it allows you to savour the simplicity and ease of making a delicious product.

Enjoy them with wine, coffee, tea, hot chocolate or Jeff's favorite, vanilla ice cream! This is a perfect after dinner dessert.

Ingredients for the Tozzetti

3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, at room temp
2 large eggs
1-3/4 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1-1/4 cups of almonds (I used sliced almonds)

Preparation for the Tozzetti

1. Preheat oven to 325° 
2. Using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions, until combined.
4. On low speed, add dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder), and mix until blended.
5. Add the almonds.
6. Place dough on lightly floured work surface and knead just to bring together, about 2-3 times.
7. Form into 14" long, 2" wide, and 1 inch thick logs. Place logs (2 per sheet) on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. Bake until puffed, slightly cracked, and starting to brown, 25–30 minutes. It should be firm.
9. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and let logs cool.
10. Using a serrated knife, slice log diagonally 1/2-inch thick.
11. Place slices back on baking sheet and return to the oven for about 15–20 minutes on until golden brown.
12. Remove from oven, cool and enjoy!

They will keep for about a week in a tightly covered container.

Jacques Torres' Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week, as I was going through my "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie" board on Pinterest, I kept finding myself looking at Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies. They looked delicious but they use two different types of flour, cake flour and bread flour. I knew I didn't have any in the house so I kept thinking that I wanted to find something easy, you know, I already have all the ingredients. 

Then last Thursday, I received a tweet from Force 4 Photography that said, 

Force 4 Photography ‏@Force4Photos

@FriendsFoodFam So far, the best chocolate chip cookie I've sampled (and there have been many) is the NYTimes recipe: http://tinyurl.com/6ley7h 

I met Russ Jennings and Kevin Ham, of Force 4 Photography, at a presentation they gave for the MA Small Business Development Center called Maximizing your Company's Presence using Google products and Tools. It was funny, when I opened the cookie link (@Force4Photos) it was the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. OK, this is the second time this recipe had been placed in front of me, someone was telling me to make the cookies. I knew last weekend (Memorial Day) was a perfect time, my kids were home, from Missouri and Philadelphia, and we were having a cookout on Sunday night. Off to the supermarket to get cake and bread flour.

As I was getting the ingredients together, I came across a large chunk of callebaut chocolate and thought this would be perfect for the cookies. I decided to chop to dark chocolate into chunks...and splinters. This would give a nice blended taste. I followed the cookie directions exactly as stated. I decided to use the measured weights as my guide. I did this for two reasons: 1. I wanted to make sure the amounts were exact 2. I very rarely weigh my ingredients and thought this was be a good practice for baking. And, to my surprise, weighing the ingredients was so easy.

After refrigerating the dough for 3 hours I started rolling chocolate chip cookie balls slightly larger than a golf ball. You can make them bigger (with an ice cream scoop) but I wanted to have more than 12 cookies as I had quite a few guests coming and any extras would go back to Missouri and Philadelphia. By making them the size I did, I ended up with almost 30 cookies. I probably would have had more if I wasn't enjoying the cookie dough so much.

The cookies were absolutely delicious and PERFECT. They were crunchy, yet chewy, the flavor was balanced with chocolate chunks and cookie. The best part was the salty sweet flavor. That little bit of salt on the top was heaven! Everybody was raving about them. Our friends didn't just take seconds...they took thirds and I was sending people home with some. Now, that is a cookie worth making.

Buy some cake and bread flour and try this Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. My only regret - my son Brian said, "Could you make me a batch of these rather than your regular chocolate chip cookies?" Andria's cookies are my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe, these are the family favorite. I was (cookie) crushed...move over Andria, Jacques is in the house. 

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies: (Adapted from the New York Times)

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons of cake flour (8.5 ounces)
1-2/3 cups of bread flour (8.5 ounces)
1-1/4 teaspoons of baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons of coarse salt
2-1/2 sticks of unsalted butter (1 1/4 cups)
1-1/4 cups of light brown sugar (10 ounces)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (8 ounces)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1-1/4 pounds of bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60% cacao content
Sea salt

Preparation:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda together. Put aside.

NOTE: We actually weighted the flours and sugars. With a recipe that was coming so highly regarded, we wanted to follow the exact directions.

2. In a large bowl, using a mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time incorporating each egg into the mixture. Add the vanilla.
4. On low speed, add the dry ingredients. Once blended, add the chocolate.

NOTE: We used a block of bittersweet chocolate and chopped it into pieces. You can chop the chocolate discs in a coarse fashion if you would like to have size variations in your cookie. It makes for a chocolate swirl effect.

5. Place plastic wrap over the mixture and refrigerate for 3-24 hours.
6. Remove dough from the refrigerator.
7. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Using a cookie (or ice cream) scoop, create balls of dough a bit larger than a golf ball. Place 6 cookies per sheet.
9. Sprinkle cookie balls with a bit of sea salt.
10. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until the cookies begin to look slightly golden.
11. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then move to a cookie rack.
12. With the size of cookie we made, we ended up with 24-30 cookies.

Enjoy!

 

Sugar Dipped Butter Cookies

Sometimes dessert doesn't need to be anything more than a simple butter cookie. During the Easter holiday, I found myself baking a number of cookies to freeze for both the holiday and what I consider a rainy day. I like to have a few dozen cookies in my freezer in case I need to bring a quick dessert to a friend's house or one of the kids are visiting and want to take some homemade goodies back home. 

I opened a box of Land O Lakes Butter and noticed a recipe inside the box that read: Sugar Dipped Butter Cookies. Sometimes, I'm interested in making a dessert that is unexpected and the recipe is right in front of me. I grabbed the butter and set out to make the cookies. The recipe was basic and with 6 ingredients I was ready in less than five minutes. With the batter made, I was ready to roll butter cookies. 

The fascinating part of making these cookies was rolling them in water. For the hundreds of thousands of cookies I have made over the years, I have never rolled cookies in water before coating them with sugar. After I got the first batch in the oven, I couldn't wait to see what they looked like when they were finished baking. The sugar was hardened and crackly and the cookies smelled wonderful.

My mother-in-law loves traditional style cookies. She loves desserts she can enjoy with her tea. I let her sample the first cookie and she wanted to take a few next door with her to keep for her daily tea. OK, Fan #1 of the butter cookies, let's keep going. Jeff was coming through the kitchen, looking for his evening scoop of ice cream. As he left with a dish of rainbow sherbet, I sat a cookie on the top of his scoop. Five minutes later I got the request, "Trish, can you bring me another one of those cookies?" Fan #2...let's keep going. As I got the last tray of cookies out of the oven, I grabbed a cookie to taste myself. PERFECT! It was buttery and melted in your mouth. The sugar coating was crunchy and added just enough sweetness to the cookie. 

The next morning I decided I would have sugar-dipped butter cookies for breakfast, as Jeff would say, just because I can. They were still amazing. They tasted like little sugary muffins and dipping them in my coffee was HEAVEN! For as much as I am the ultimate chocolate freak, I truly enjoyed these buttery delights.

If you are looking for something a little different, yet traditional, these sugar dipped butter cookies are perfect.

Ingredients for Sugar-Dipped Butter Cookies: (adapted from Land O Lakes)

1 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of butter, softened

1 egg

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 bowl of water and 3/4 cup of sugar for dipping and rolling cookies

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter with the sugar (by hand or mixer), until creamy, about 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the egg and mix well.

4. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, mix by hand until incorporated.

5. With a tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball, dip in water and then roll in the sugar. Place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. 

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned.

Makes 4-5 dozen cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookies Rolled in Chocolate Oreo Cookie Crumbs

A few weeks ago, while I was pinning on Pinterest, I kept coming across cookies rolled in oreo cookie crumbs. Most of the cookies were Snickerdoodles and as much as I like Snickerdoodles, rolling them in oreo cookie crumbs wasn't doing it for me.

I kept thinking...well, I do like Oreos...what about a peanut butter cookie rolled in oreo cookie crumbs? I went to my pantry and sitting (all by itself) in the back corner was a box of Oreo Cookie Crumbs. Ah, here was a cookie worth eating. I made my favorite peanut butter cookies from my Peanut Butter Blossom recipe. I like this recipe because the cookies have a wonderful nutty flavor and they aren't too sweet. 

Instead of rolling them in sugar, I rolled them in the Oreo Cookie crumbs. If you can't find the crumbs, use a sleeve of oreo cookies and grind them into crumbs using a food processor. The crumbs will be sweeter but that is ok, these cookies aren't overly sweet. 

The house smelled amazing as they cooked, there is nothing better than the smell of sweet peanut butter! As they came out of the oven I couldn't wait to taste them. When they were warm they tasted like a peanut butter pillow with a hint of chocolate. As they cooled they reminded me of a soft peanut butter oreo, but not as sweet. 

I shared these cookies with both friends and family over the next week. Sometimes, I'm not sure how good these cookies are. The response was amazing, everyone was gobbling them up and the part that I found surprising was that people loved the flavor...not too sweet.

It was fun taking a favorite cookie and giving it a twist. If you'd like, you can make the peanut butter blossoms and roll them in oreo cookies (rather than sugar) and finish them with a Hershey Kiss. I'm sure that would be delicious, too! 

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Cookies Rolled in Chocolate Oreo Cookie Crumbs

1 cup of peanut butter 

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of butter, softened

2 eggs

1/4 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla

3 1/2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup of finely chopped dark chocolate (or milk chocolate if you prefer)

2 cups of oreo cookie crumbs

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cream together peanut butter, brown and white sugars and butter.

2. Blend in the eggs, vanilla and milk. The consistency will get very loose and smooth.

3. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until thoroughly blended.

4. Stir in the finely chopped chocolate. If the dough is sticky, refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

5. Roll to the size of well rounded tablespoon and then roll in the oreo cookie crumbs.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will be puffy and slightly dry. 

7. Remove from oven and cool on a cookie rack. The cookies will flatten as they cool.

Oatmeal Cookie Brittle with Craisins and Almonds or Coconut and Chocolate Chips

(Oatmeal Cookie Brittle with Craisins, Almonds and Cinnamon)

In my last post, Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle, I spoke about finding a number of different cookie brittle which I made for this year's Super Bowl Party. At the time, I was looking for a fun dessert that people could enjoy while watching the game; dessert finger food.

For me, the best brittle was this Oatmeal Cookie Brittle. I found the recipe on Cookie Madness. What I loved was that there was no flour in the recipe. So, for all those who are looking for a gluten free cookie recipe, this is a great treat. When I made it the first time, it called for coconut and I decided to put mini chocolate chips with the coconut as I love the flavor of oats, coconut and chocolate. The finished cookie brittle tasted like a granola bar, but a bit sweeter. The butter and brown sugar made for a caramel, melt in your mouth taste that most granola bars are missing. It was sweet and crunchy and addictive. I will warn you, breaking off a few little pieces will cause you to succumb to a big piece. I've seen it happen. And, of all the cookie brittle I made for the party, the oatmeal cookie brittle went the fastest. It's definitely not as heavy as the others.

I was lucky, on the Friday night before the Super Bowl, we had friends over who sampled all the brittle. When I got ready to make the second batch for Sunday, I decided to change the recipe a bit. Instead of coconut and chocolate chips, I would substitute craisins, almonds and a little bit of cinnamon. What a hit! It wasn't as sweet and had a nuttier taste between the oats and the almonds. I actually would like to try a trail mix style with mini chips, almonds, walnuts and craisins. Sound good?

So brainstorm with me...think of a few different combinations:

1. Mini peanut butter cups (chopped) and peanuts

2. Walnuts, almonds, pecans and peanuts (I bet I could substitute maple syrup for corn syrup)

3. White chocolate with coconut and macadamia nuts

4. Health bar bits and almond slices

5. Coconut and craisins with orange rind

6. Dried apples, raisins, walnuts and cinnamon

The list could go on and on. This is a great base recipe for oatmeal cookie brittle, just use your imagination for the endless possibilities.

Make a batch and tell me about your oatmeal cookie brittle creation!

Ingredients for Oatmeal Brittle:

1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 tablespoon of light corn syrup
1/2 cup of light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1 3/4 cups of oatmeal

Chocolate Chips with Coconut
1/3 cup of sweetened flake coconut
1/2 cup of mini semi sweet chocolate chips
or

Craisins with Almonds
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/3 cup of craisins
1/2 cup of slivered almonds

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 13×18 inch cookie sheet with foil.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, corn syrup, sugar, salt, vanilla and baking powder.Make sure all ingredients are incorporated. It make take a minute or two to get the butter to mix with the brown sugar.
3. Add the oats and mix thoroughly.
4. Choose the flavors and add the ingredients from the chocolate chip and coconut or craisin and almonds.
5. Spread the mixture, as thinly as possible, on the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are browned.
7. Cool on a rack. Lift the foil from the pan and break into pieces.

Written by Tricia White

(Oatmeal Cookie Brittle with Mini Chocolate Chips and Coconut)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle with Heath Bar Toffee Bits

At the beginning of Super Bowl Weekend, I decided I was going to bring some easy and fun desserts to my friend Maria's house for the Super Bowl. I'm not sure what triggered the search for cookie bark or brittle, but I found myself looking for all sorts of recipes from brownie brittle to oatmeal brittle and even chocolate cookie brittle. By the time I was done, I had a list of different recipes.

I started with Nestle's Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle since most bloggers were using this recipe. I decided to make it as directed and see how it tasted. The first batch was delicious. The brittle was crispy, with tones of caramel, chocolate and nuts. Being a chocolate chip cookie fiend, these definitely made my list of (really) good chocolate chip cookies. I served them to some friends that Friday night during game night...yes, we had a game night, our very first and we had a ball! They got devoured to rave reviews ending in, "Please take these away from me, I think I've eaten the entire tray!" OK, very addicting.

On Sunday, I decided to change up the recipe a bit, I wanted to use mini-chips, rather than regular chips since these cookies were thin and instead of nuts, I would use Heath Bar Toffee Bits. This recipe tasted even better than the first batch with a stronger chocolate caramel flavor. What's nice about this recipe is the ability to adapt the flavor through mix-ins. If you like raisins and nuts, I'm sure they would be delicious, the same with white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Take out the chocolate and heath bar bits and use your favorite chips, nuts or candy. Think of pairing different combinations.

Off to the Super Bowl Party we went, carrying a big tray of cookie brittle. The next few posts will highlight the other brittle we made: Oatmeal Brittle, Brownie Brittle and Saltine Toffee. The reviews to date were that everyone really liked the brittle...and for a few reasons:

1. It's fun and different. People don't normally make cookie brittle so a favorite chocolate chip cookie gets to be crispy and crunchy.

2. No matter how big or small the piece, people can break the brittle and enjoy the amount of dessert they want. My girlfriend, Di, and I were breaking and sharing pieces all night. " Here, try another piece!"

Valentine's Day is next week, what a great treat to send to school, into the office or to your favorite valentine. Easy to make and easy to enjoy. Put Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle on your list of "Things to Make" this weekend. You won't be disappointed.

Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle with Heath Bar Bits
(Adapted from Nestle's Very Best Baking)
1 cup of butter or margarine, softened
1 cup of white sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 cups of flour
1 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of Heath Bar Toffee Bits

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet (approx. 12 x 18) with aluminum foil.

1. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended and creamy.
(I do this by hand, but you can use a mixer.)
2. Add salt and flour and mix until incorporated.
3. Mix in mini chocolate chips and toffee bits.
4. Break up pieces of dough and sprinkle on the cookie sheet.
5. Press dough to form a layer across the bottom of the pan.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Allow to cool, lift the cookie out of the pan, using the foil.
8. Peel back the foil and break the cookie into pieces.

Enjoy!

Written by Tricia White

It's 2013 and I'm still searching for the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Happy 2013! And as you can read, I am still in search of the BEST chocolate chip cookie. I'm just a plain dessert person at heart. You can serve up any of the fanciest desserts around and it will never pique my interest quicker than a chocolate chip cookie. Kind of like the dog in UP!...squirrel.

We were getting ready to make dinner for our New Year's Eve gathering when I needed a dessert. I'll admit, I was lazy, I knew Jeff would want a "fruit" dessert, like a pie or tart. I didn't want to make the dough...etc, etc. So, I made the executive decision to make, my favorite, chocolate chip cookies.

I couldn't make the ones we make all the time, Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are excellent but I needed to be a bit more creative. That was when I went into my Pinterest account and began the search. I found this new recipe on "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" board. Pictures speak louder than words and I went with "the best ever chocolate chip cookies" by Dishing the Divine.

I checked out the recipe and figured this would be so easy, melt butter, mix with sugar, eggs and vanilla, add dry ingredients, and chop some bittersweet chocolate. In 5 minutes, I had the chocolate chip cookie dough together and ready to measure.

The dough needed 30 minutes in the freezer which was perfect as I was finishing the last of the Lobster (lob-stah for you New Englanders) Cakes. At that point, my son, Brian, came in slightly frantic, "I need to bring a dessert to that New Year's Eve Party tonight", and it was 6 PM. Never fear, I doubled the recipe, plenty of cookies to be had. 

Once they were partially frozen, I placed them on cookie sheets and into a 400 dgree oven for 7 minutes, then 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes. They came out beautiful, golden brown and crackly. I had 10 for my guests and two dozen went out the door with Brian. After dinner we enjoyed coffee and chocolate chip cookies with coffee and vanilla ice cream, PERFECT. These cookies had a great crunch with a caramel chewiness. The bittersweet chocolate is such a great balance for a sweet cookie. I will say, these were probably one of the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have made in a while. Reports from Brian's party ended with, "and there were none left." I will add these to my "Giant Cookies" list, too, because no one can ever have enough giant cookies.

I look forward to this next year, delving into the next culinary adventure. My prediction is that you will see us incorporate even more of our garden produce into our recipes and trying to once again simplify the process and of, course, search for more chocolate chip cookie recipes.

Do you have a BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie? We'd love to hear about it! 

Ingredients for the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies (slightly altered)

2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt 
3/4 cup of butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 - 2 cups of chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chips and chopped them)

Preparation

1. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla and stir until creamy.
3. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Stir in the chocolate.
4. Drop the dough 1/4 cup at a time on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400.

5. Place approximately 6 cookies per cookie sheet as they will spread.
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350.
7. Bake an additional 7-9 minutes or until the edges look golden brown.
8. Let rest on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Written by Tricia White

The 12 Cookies of Christmas - Day 6 - Traditional Family Favorites

I was commenting in my last post that as I enter year 4 of writing the Friends Food Family blog, finding 12 new cookie recipes for the holiday can be a challenge. My parents called the other day to request some cookies for a few of their holiday gatherings. I went into a panic mode because I didn't have any of the traditional cookie favorites, everything I had baked was from a new recipe. 

As much as I love new cookies and new tasting experiences, I still fall back on my family favorites as we have been baking them for over 30 years. So on the 6th day of our 12 Cookies of Christmas, I'm going to share our family favorites.

To begin:

1. Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies - The BEST oatmeal cookie you will ever taste. Brown sugar based with oatmeal, wheaties, raisins and chocolate chips. When we were young, my grandmother had us mix the butter and brown sugar with our hands. Amazing what will keep kids busy...and baking.

2. Danielle's Special Thumbprint Cookies - A white sugar shortbread with mini semi-sweet chips. We add a Hershey's Kiss and push it down while it is melting. Everyone goes CRAZY over these!

3. Seven Layer Bars - Who doesn't love a homemade dessert that tastes like a candy bar. Extremely sweet, but who cares, you can't beat the taste of chocolate, butterscotch, coconut and nuts!

4. Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies - These are a staple at our hose, whether it's the holiday or just a party. These cookies are a true baking for success. I've never left a party with any left on the plate.

5. Jelly Thumbprints - A brown sugar based shortbread cookie recipe that I received in 8th grade. This is the only jelly thumbprint recipe I use. Raspberry and Strawberry jam are our favorites.

6. Cranberry Almond Biscotti - We always make a batch of these when we make jelly thumbprint cookies. The thumbprints call for two egg yolks, the biscotti calls for two egg white. Perfect cookie combination with no waste.

If you are anything like me and love to try new cookies and treats, but not sure you want to bring them to a big gathering, skip all the hassles and make one of these cookies. I have been making them for years and these are the cookies I have stayed with through the holidays for two main reasons:

1. They are easy to make - no special ingredients. Mix, Bake, Clean, Done!

2. They are the cookies people eat - For years I made all different fancy holiday cookies. What tended to happen was they looked pretty but were normally the last cookies left on the plate. We know that at the end of the party, those cookies end up in the trash. With these cookies, they are gone usually before any of the other desserts.

Keep these recipes close to your heart because you know the old saying, "A way to a person's heart is through their stomach!" 

GIVE THEM COOKIES, and they'll love you forever!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Written by Tricia White

The 12 Cookies of Christmas - Day 4 - Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

Welcome to Day 4 of The 12 Cookies of Christmas. Today's cookie is the Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookie. I came across this cookie because of it's name. I love to make Mexican Hot Chocolate. I love to take my favorite chocolate mix from Hilliard's Chocolate, which is ground semi-sweet chocolate, add a bit of bittersweet chocolate, some cinnamon, a touch of all spice and pinch of chili pepper. Drop a marshmallow on the top and it is amazing. Even better with a shot of kahlua.

Now, if I could just couple that with a great dunking cookie, I would be all set. I was searching for a chocolate cookie recipe and this Martha Stewart Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookie recipe kept coming up. Someone wants me to make this cookie. I grabbed all my ingredients and made a batch last week. I couldn't tell something was wrong because the cookies puffed up but never crackled. They looked like slightly mounded snowballs. I couldn't remember the last time I used my cream of tartar, maybe it was old. The other problem was the 400 degree oven. I'm pretty good with timing with my cookies and very (and I mean very) rarely will I burn a cookie...YUP, burned a tray of them. A second tray was OK but I felt like they were questionable if I was going to give them out to friends and family. The taste was good out of the oven, but as the days went on, they became chewy. Nothing to get excited about.

So, I bought a new jar of cream of tartar and back to the mixer I went. This batch of cookies came out much better and I did lower the temperature of the oven by a few degrees. The cookies were crunchy and chewy and the slight heat from the chili powder was perfect. Sometimes you have to try a recipe a few times to see whether it is the actual recipe or the ingredients. Had I not questioned the cream of tartar, I would have walked away from the recipe saying, "These Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies are better in liquid form..." 

Bake a batch and serve them up with your favorite cup of hot beverage, it kicks the heat up a notch. Chewy, chocolaty, crunchy and slightly heated. What better on a cold winter day!

Happy Holidays!

Ingredients for the Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies:
2 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 large eggs

Rolling sugar:
1/4 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of chile powder (optional)

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 385 (400) degrees. 
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down side of bowl.
4. Add eggs and beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
5. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and chile powder (if using).
6. Using heaping tablespoons, form balls of dough and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place, about 3 inches apart, on parchment-lined baking sheets.
7. Bake until cookies are set in center and begin to crack, about 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.
8. Let cookies cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container, up to 1 week. Makes about 48 cookies.

Written by Tricia White

The 12 Cookies of Christmas - Day 3 - Pecan Sandies

Welcome to Day 3 of our 12 Cookies of Christmas. Today's cookies are Pecan Sandies. I love Pecan Sandies, probably because they are buttery little cookies, loaded with nuts and sprinkled with a bit of confectioner's sugar. They melt in your mouth and are the most amazing treat with a cup of tea. The other reason why I (especially) like them is because they came from one of my newest cookbook's Bouchon Bakery from Chef Thomas Keller. Jeff and I are a big fan of his ad hoc at home cookbook and when I saw he had a pastry/dessert cookbook coming out I pre-ordered it. What I find interesting about his cookbooks is that there is a story, a cooking lesson and a recipe. You truly learn to cook with him.

When I came across his Pecan Sandies for My Mom, it struck a cord with me. Keller's tells about his mother's struggles to raise 6 children and her baking Pecan Sandies. It was about realizing what our parents do for us that molds us into who we are today.

" So much of who I am today is tied to who my mom was, the choices she made, the way she worked, and how she lived her life. What success I have today, I owe to her." Thomas Keller

Our passions, many times, evolve from our past. My passion for baking and cooking came from that of my grandmother and my mother. They weren't chefs or master cooks, but they evoked a passion in me to continue doing what they did for us. Jeff and I both try to make sure there is a meal served when our kids are home and whenever I have the opportunity to make desserts from scratch I do. There is nothing better than something as simple as a homemade cookie.

So, during the holidays, think back to tradition, to those times when cooking and baking was part of the family structure. Bake some Pecan Sandies for My Mom and sit down to enjoy the simple pleasures.

Ingredients for Pecan Sandies for My Mom:
1 3/4 cups + 1 1/2 teaspoons of flour
3/4 cup of coarsely chopped pecans
4 ounces of unsalted butter, at room temperature - (we used salted butter)
3/4 cup + 1 3/4 teaspoons of confectioner's sugar

Additional confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preparation:
1. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (convection) or 350°F (standard).
Line two sheet pans with Silpats or parchment paper.
2. Toss the flour and pecans together in a medium bowl.
3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-low speed until smooth.
4. Add the 3/4 cup plus 1 3/4 teaspoons of confectioner's sugar and mix for about 2 minutes, until fluffy.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
5. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, until just combined.
Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any dry ingredients that have settled there.
(NOTE: I found the dough a bit dry but worked it into two large balls before I begin rolling individual balls.)
6. Divide the dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon portions, roll into balls, and arrange on the sheet pans, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between them.
Press the cookies into 2-inch disks.
7. Bake until pale golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes if using a convection oven, 20 to 23 minutes if using a standard oven, reversing the positions of the pans halfway through.
(NOTE: Sandies baked in a convection oven will not spread as much as those baked in a standard oven and will have a more even color.)
8. Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.
If desired, dust with confectioner's sugar.
The cookies can be stored in a covered container for up to 3 days.

Written by Tricia White

The 12 Cookies of Christmas - Day 1 - Speculoos Buttons

I love this time of year! Houses are decorated, people are shopping and our house always smells wonderful. We are normally baking cookies every weekend as well as finding a few spare moments during the week to bake at least a batch or two. Since this blog began in 2009, we have featured The 12 Cookies of Christmas. (Click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the article, the list with links is available.)

The 12 Cookies of Christmas 2009

The 12 Cookies of Christmas 2010

The 12 Cookies of Christmas 2011

This tradition began because I used to bake anywhere from 5000-7000 cookies every holiday season. We would deliver cookies to neighbors as well as local businesses we interacted with during the year. There were years when we would create many different holiday cookies to watch them later be tossed into the trash at the end of a function. I learned to figure out "what cookies got eaten and what cookies got left behind." Instead of making "pretty holiday cookies" I made tradition, comfort cookies...chocolate chip cookie, oatmeal, white chocolate macadamia nut, thumbprint cookies...people loved them and they ate them.

Every year we try 12 new cookies. I love the aspect of experimentation, but there are certain family favorites which I make every year because people LOVE them. I will highlight them during the month of December on our Friends Food Family Facebook Fan Page, Pinterest and Google+ pages.

So,

a few week's ago, Bon Appetit featured some beautiful holiday cookies by Dorie Greenspan. She is one of my favorite chefs and I felt that this would be a great place to start The 12 Cookies of Christmas 2012. These cookies remind me of a shortbread cookie with holiday spices. When I bake cookies like this, I love showcasing them with coffee, tea or hot chocolate. The spices warm your palette and complement the beverage. These are delicious for dipping with a mild (cinnamon, ginger, cloves) flavor and perfect sweetness, with the decorative sugars and dab of glaze. If you would like to make these cookies ahead, you can freeze the batter then slice and bake them the day you want to use them.

We have started our journey of The 12 Cookies of Christmas 2012. If you have a favorite cookie you would like to share with us, please contact us and we can highlight it as one of our 12 cookies.

Speculoos Buttons by Dorie Greenspan, featured in Bon Appetit, December 2012

Ingredients
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, (freshly grated is even better)
1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup of light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of molasses, preferably light
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 large egg white

Sanding or other decorative sugar

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Sprinkles, colored sanding sugar, or dragées (optional)

Preparation
1. Whisk first 6 ingredients, (flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt) in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter in a medium bowl until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add both sugars and molasses; continue to beat until mixture is smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla; mix for 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add dry ingredients and mix to blend well.
4. Scrape dough from bowl and divide into thirds. Using your palms, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch log. Wrap logs tightly in plastic or parchment paper and freeze for at least 3 hours.
(For neater edges, remove logs from freezer after 1 hour and roll on counter.)
5. Preheat to 375°. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
6. Whisk egg white in a small bowl to loosen; lightly brush all over 1 log. Sprinkle with (or roll in) sanding sugar. Using a long, slender knife, slice off a sliver of dough from each end of log to make ends flat.
7. Cut log into 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Transfer to 1 baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart.
8. Bake cookies until tops are golden brown and centers are almost firm, 8-10 minutes.
Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool.

Glaze
1. Mix powdered sugar and 7 teaspoons cold water in a large mixing bowl (glaze will be very thick).
2. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoons glaze onto each button.
3. Decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, or dragées, if desired.
Let stand on rack at room temperature for at least 30 minutes for glaze to set.

Written by Tricia White

Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies

I LOVE Pinterest.

Why? You ask...

Because I get great ideas from holiday decorating, home decor, fashion, art and FOOD! The next two cookie recipes I will be covering came from my "I want to make that" board. I love finding recipes, with great pictures, to help me in my quest for another recipe to add to the Friends Food Family blog.

Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies immediately caught my attention when I saw the post. I remember growing up and eating these cookies all the time. Sadly, they weren't homemade, but I loved the crunchy oatmeal cookie with a sweet icing. So, as one of our A Year of Cookies, I made a batch for Stephen and he loved them...as did my daughter, Danielle, and numerous clients who become my testers whenever we make new cookie recipes.

A little side note: Because I have been making cookies for many years, there is nothing better than the expression on someone's face when you offer them a homemade cookie. Then the smile on their face when they bite into it. You want to make someone smile? Bring them some homemade cookies.

The recipe had some unique techniques (say that three times fast) as you partially process the oatmeal to get small bits of oatmeal flavor. The combination of brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg make for that caramel spice flavor. The icing pulls it all together. Jeff thought the cookie was sweet with the icing and questioned whether this cookie would taste better without it. If you like a good old fashioned oatmeal cookie, you could stop at the frosting. If you enjoy that little bit of sweetness, add the frosting. Either way, you can satisfy a number of tastes with one recipe.

Think about old fashioned iced oatmeal cookies for Christmas and the holidays. They are wonderful with a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or big glass of ice cold milk. Kick it up a notch with chopped raisins or craisins (process like the oatmeal) and some orange rind in the icing or keep it traditional...the way I always remembered it.

Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookie Recipe (Adapted from The Novice Chef, thank you!)

Ingredients:

2 cups of old fashioned oats
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, melted
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup (packed) of light brown sugar
2 large eggs

Icing:
2 cups of confectioner's (powdered) sugar
5 tablespoons milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter two cookie sheets. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse oats quickly until partially ground - you want "bits of oatmeal" not oatmeal flour. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the melted butter, sugar and brown sugar together. Add eggs, and mix well. Add the dry oat mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.

Drop dough by (heaping) rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating halfway through, until slightly golden brown. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.

Once cookies are cooled, whisk together the confectioner's sugar and milk until smooth. Frost each cookie and allow the glaze to harden completely before storing.

Makes about 36-40 cookies.

Written by Tricia White

Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies - Think Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies

As I was wandering through the aisles of Hannaford's Supermarket, doing my weekly grocery shopping, I ran into a display of baking chips and no, I didn't knock anything over. There in the display were bags of Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips. I love Andes chocolate mints and thought there must be a great recipe out there for these baking chips. I wanted to make some cookies since my son Michael was coming home from Philadelphia and requested some cookies to take back with him. One thing about my kids, no one is fussy about which cookies they get, they just want homemade cookies. Plus, I could add this recipe to A Year of Cookies.

When I got home, I started on the back of the creme de menthe chip package figuring if there was a good recipe I would use that. Low and behold, a great recipe on the back, Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies. Look no further, it's time to make the cookies.

The recipe came together quickly and remember, put the Creme de Menthe pieces in before the flour. I used a small cookie scoop and had the cookie dough on the trays and in the oven within minutes. They smelled sweet (and minty) coming out of the oven. I had a tough time waiting for them to cool slightly so I could have a taste. I knew using the dark brown sugar would make them crispy as well as chewy...and they were, chocolaty, minty, OH...so good. If you closed your eyes and ate one, you would think it was a Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie.

As I packed Michael's "goodie" bag to head back to Philadelphia, I included Jordan Marsh's Blueberry Muffins, Peanut Butter Blossoms and Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies, I told him how the mint cookies tasted like Girl Scout Cookies. When he saw the cookies, he couldn't remember what they were because he was expecting a chocolate cookie that looked like a Girl Scout Thin Mint. He said he opened the bag and tasted them and realized what they were. He was with some friends, offered them a few and then hid the rest. "Those were amazing and I didn't want to share them all!"

I guess I've taught my children well, share with your friends and then HOARD the rest :)

Make some Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies, put a smile on someone's face and then hide a few so you can enjoy them later!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of salted butter - softened
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
2 teaspoon of vanilla
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2-2/3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 package (10 oz.) Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips or 2 packages 4.67 oz Andes Crème de Menthe, chopped.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Cream butter and sugars together, then add baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs blend until well incorporated.

Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then add the flour. Chill approximately one hour in the refrigerator.

Measure out approximately 1 oz. of dough. Form a ball and slightly flatten. We used a small cookie scoop (about 1 teaspoon full).

Bake at 350° F for approximately 6-8 minutes. Cookies will be slightly golden and firm.

Cool on wire racks.

This recipe makes 48 cookies

Coconut Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Kisses

Did you know that Hershey's makes Milk Chocolate Macadamia Nut Kisses? I didn't either until I was coming back from my vacation in Hawaii. There they were...calling my name. I knew that there was a dessert to be enjoyed from this amazing little treat. I love macadamia nuts and this combination is delicious. When I showed my friend, Sharon, the bag of Hershey Kisses and my desire to bake some cookies with them, she said, "what about coconut?"

So, the entire plane ride home (6 hours then 5 hours) I kept thinking about a coconut cookie or something that would complement these macadamia nut kisses. I thought about a recipe I use for thumbprints called Danielle B's Goodies - Special Thumbprints. I thought this might be the best recipe to start with. I could add a bit of coconut without changing the texture or the overall taste of the cookie.

Last night my daughter, Danielle, was home as was Stephen, (my "A Year of Cookies" child) so they unwrapped the macadamia nut kisses while I grabbed the food processor and a bag of coconut. I knew I didn't want the coconut sticking out on the cookie and I also didn't want it to be a fine powder. A few quick pulses and it was perfect. I added the coconut to the basic shortbread dough and proceeded to make the new coconut shortbread cookies. 

They smelled delicious coming from the oven. The cookie was sweet with a hint of coconut crunch. The chocolate kiss was loaded with a macadamia nut...PERFECT...chocolate, coconut and macadamia nuts, that island feel! And for my White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie fans, you will like these, too!

At the bottom is a picture of the Milk Chocolate Macadamia Nut Kisses (blue bag!) along with a link to a site where you can purchase them if they are not available locally.

Enjoy and GO NUTS! GO COCONUTS!

Basic Dough:

1 cup of white sugar

2 cups of butter

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2 eggs

4 1/2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup of sweetened coconut, place in a food processor and chop into small pieces.

2 bags of Hershey's Chocolate Kisses with Macadamia Nuts

Preparation:

Blend sugar and butter with a mixer until smooth, add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in flour and baking soda by hand until it forms a smooth dough. Add coconut and stir until incorporated.

Roll into balls (a rounded tablespoon) and indent with your thumb. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until dry and slightly golden on the bottom. The minute they come out of the oven, press a Hershey Kiss into the top of each cookie. I go back and push the slightly melted kiss into the cookie, that way I know it is secure.

Place on a cookie rack to cool and to allow the chocolate to set again. This recipe makes about 60 cookies and of course, we freeze a number of them to share with friends and family.

To purchase Hershey Milk Chocolate Macadamia Nut Kisses, try ABC Stores.

Jingle Jumble Cookies - Ginger Spice Snaps with Raisins

This blog is going to be brief as it is Sunday night and truthfully, I am wiped out. Part of the reason...we are going away on vacation. Work is busy and our fiscal year ends September 30th. I need to get things done before we leave for Hawaii. Yes, 8 amazing days in Honolulu and Kauai. I promise to give some food updates!

Over the next year, you will hear me speak about making cookies for my youngest son's lunch as both he (and I) graduates from high school this year, it is bittersweet. So far, I have been baking at least once a week. I freeze cookies and it becomes easy to take homemade cookies to school every day. Plus, my staff as well as friends, family and acquaintances get to try both new and family favorites.

This week I made a batch of Jingle Jumble Cookies. I found the recipe in the Cookie Bible, a cookbook I was given for Christmas last year. I was craving a spice cookie the other day as I was waking to 50 degree weather and a cup of Pumpkin Spice Coffee. Molasses or spice cookies always remind me of Christmas and the holidays. This cookie gives you the best of a molasses cookie with raisins crossed with a ginger snap. It's a different combination but absolutely delicious.

Whenever I am highlighting a new cookie, I love to share it with as many people as possible. You can always tell how good a cookie is when people go back for seconds and thirds. The night I made them, Stephen, had two warm cookies and finished with two cooled ones. The Jingle Jumbles seemed to have enormous success, most reactions were similar to Stephen's..."oh, these are delicious, and yes, I'll have another one."

If you would like to join my little challenge of homemade cookies in your loved ones lunch, check out the tab called "A Year of Cookies". Everybody deserves a little bit of love with lunch!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of butter, softened

1 cups of brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup of molasses

1 egg

2-1/2 cups of flour

2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of ginger

1/2 teaspoon of cloves

1-1/4 cup of raisins

Additional sugar for rolling - we used Demara sugar

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix dry ingredients of flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Put aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until blended, by hand or mixer.

4. Add the molasses and egg to the mixture and continue to incorporate.

5. Once blended, add the dry ingredients, mix together.

6. Add raisins.

7. Roll into 1-1/2 inch balls and dip in Demara sugar. If you don't have Demara, white sugar is fine.

8. Place on cookie sheet. (We get 15 cookies per sheet)

9. Bake for 8-10 minutes until set.

10. Cool on racks.

Enjoy one, two, three...

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut and Heath Bar Bits

Last week I had a bittersweet moment, sadly unrelated to chocolate. My youngest son, Stephen, entered his final year of high school. As I stood in the house, making him pose for his first day of school picture, I realized, this is my last year of high school. I will go through the final process of helping him apply and visit colleges for the Fall of 2013.

Stephen loves homemade cookies. I had some Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies in the freezer and he has been enjoying them in his lunch every day. When my daughter, Danielle, came home for a visit, she left with the last of the frozen cookies. I told Stephen I would make more and made a deal with him. Since he was the last one at home, I would try and make homemade cookies every week or two so he could have a year of homemade cookies in his lunch.

The next batch of cookies he requested was Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies. One important ingredient in the cookies is Wheaties. I had run out of Wheaties and decided to look for a new oatmeal cookie. I wanted something that had chocolate chips and cinnamon in it. It probably sounds odd, but traditional oatmeal cookies have cinnamon and non-traditional oatmeal cookies have chocolate chips, two great flavors together.

So, off to my Best Chocolate Chip Cookie board on Pinterest. Every time I see an interesting or delicious looking chocolate chip cookie, I pin it to my board. By clicking on the picture, it takes me to the recipe page of the cookie. I found this cookie on Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice called Chocolate Chip Toffee Oatmeal Cookies. They looked good, had cinnamon and chocolate chips in the ingredients, had some coconut, too...I think I'll try these.

A quick and easy recipe, which means, I had these mixed, baking in the oven and dishes washed in 45 minutes. I love any type of drop and bake cookie. They smelled wonderful, nothing better than the smell of homemade cookies in the oven, and baked beautifully. The cookies were sweet, crunchy and chewy. I wouldn't say I'm a coconut fan, but when it is baked in cookies, you forget how good it tastes, especially with oatmeal. As they were cooling on the rack, Stephen came through the kitchen. He had his first one, then his second, third and ended with a fourth cookie. I think he liked them. I brought a few into work and they seemed to like them, too...taking one, two and three at a time.

Over the next year, I will be posting Stephen's cookie favorites as well as new cookie recipes which I will make for his lunch. I have to remember that Stephen isn't an only child, so some cookie packages will be sent to his brothers and sister in Philadelphia, PA as well as Columbia, MO and South Boston, MA. They get a little disappointed when we don't share our cookies!

If you have any favorite cookie recipes you would like to share, please send them to [email protected] and we will highlight your cookie recipe on Friends Food Family.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut and Heath Bar Bits

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter, softened

2 cups of light brown sugar, slightly packed

2 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

3 cups of oatmeal

1-10 ounce package of Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

1 cup of Heath Bar Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits

1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut

 

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, blend the butter and brown sugar together until smooth (by hand or mixer).

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.

4. Add the dry ingredients of flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix until blended.

5. Add the oatmeal, chocolate bits, coconut and toffee bits. Mix until all ingredients are covered evenly with the batter. The Batter may be a little stiff.

6. Drop by the teaspoon onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden and the centers are no longer wet.

7. Remove from oven, allow to rest for 5 minutes and cool on cookie racks.

Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

The Urban Legend of the $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

This is a story that every woman will appreciate. 

I am a multi-tasker, Jeff would say I have attention deficit disorder. I start mini projects all through the day. I may not completely finish them in one given time frame, but by the end of the day, I have completed everything I started. 

So, I started last Saturday afternoon checking the statistics of this blog, Friends Food Family. It was the end of 4th of July weekend and there had been quite a bit of activity with fans searching for cook-out and dessert recipes. One of my busiest blog posts is the Chocolate Oreo Cookie Trifle. As I was looking at the search page (for where my article shows up), I noticed a chocolate chip cookie trifle. I clicked on the link and landed on a blog article of a woman who made a chocolate chip cookie trifle with vanilla pudding along with blueberries and raspberries. She had made these delicious looking chocolate chip cookies and I figured I would get the recipe. She said it was her favorite Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but when I clicked on the link, it took me to the Neiman Marcus website...no cookie recipe.

I googled "Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe" and a number of recipes came up, along with "these are the $250 Chocolate Chip Cookies". I started laughing. Do you remember the story that traveled around the internet? It was about a woman who asked for the chocolate chip cookie recipe from a major department store. They tell her it is two fifty, she thinks it's $2.50 and the store charges her credit card $250.00. She gets mad, can't get her money back and vows she will share the recipe with everyone. If you would like, you can read the e-mail, The Cookie that cost a Bundle.

For some reason, I always thought it was Mrs. Field's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. So, I had to look up the real story. It takes on all different versions and people involved but Mrs. Field's does end up being one of the people connected with the $250.00 recipe scam.

Well, I had made these cookies years ago when I got the e-mail and thought I would make them again. I adapted it slightly from the original using light brown and dark brown sugars, Symphony Bars with Almonds and Toffee Bits and a few less nuts.

These cookies were delicious. They were chewy with a slight crunch, they had that oatmeal nutty flavor and the bittersweet and milk chocolate gave it that wonderful chocolaty richness.

After I was done making the cookies, packaging them up and cleaning the kitchen, Jeff asked how I happen to find the recipe. I told him the story of how I was looking up some statistics to the blog...yada, yada, yada...and he said, I bet you don't even know what the numbers were. Ah, he thinks I became distracted, "6200 this month", I rattled off without missing a beat. Well, I'll admit, it probably wasn't the exact number, but it was close. (wink, wink)

The exact number was 6340. Who says I can't multi-task! Get distracted and make a batch.

Adapted from Cooks.com, Neiman-Marcus $250 Cookie Recipe.

Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups of butter
2 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of dark brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
4 cups of flour
5 cups of oatmeal
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of baking soda
24 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips (4 cups)
2 (4 ounce) Symphony Bars (we used the toffee bits and almonds type), grated
2 cups of chopped pecans

Preparation:

1. Measure oatmeal and process in blender to a fine powder.
2. Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla.
3. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Add the bittersweet chocolate chips, grated chocolate and nuts.
5. Spoon tablespoon sized balls onto cookie sheet. You can also use an ice cream scoop for larger cookies. Make sure you flatten them slightly.
6. Bake for 6-8 minutes at 375°F.

Makes 9 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge Cookies

I laugh about my choice of peanut butter in foods. Most times they occur with a dessert but it always seems to be enhanced with some form of chocolate. From Peanut Butter Blossoms and Chocolate Peanut Butterscotch Crispies to Giant Peanut Butter Cookies with Dark and Milk Chocolate Chips, peanut butter always seems to be in my chocolate. As I was searching the Friends Food Family blog, I did find a Grilled Peanut Butter Sandwich, so I do have something that isn't a dessert. This is hardly something to brag about. 

I can't take credit for finding these amazing chocolate chunk peanut butter swirl fudge cookies. Jeff's daughter, Kate, found the recipe on a Pinterest board from CD Kitchen. I wasn't paying attention to the recipe when Kate was asking me about freezing the peanut butter. I had to pick up the directions and read them. I had not heard of freezing peanut butter and swirling it into a batter. Neat concept!

Once Kate mixed the batter, she added the frozen peanut butter and swirled. The batter was delicious...chunky chocolate with peanut butter mixed in. After they were baked it was twice as incredible. Imagine eating hot gooey, fudgy cookies with warm melted peanut butter mixed in...say after me...TO DIE FOR!

We made these cookies a few weeks ago and I am making a double batch tomorrow for three good reasons -

1. They are the BEST chocolate and peanut butter cookies I have ever eaten.

2. It's Memorial Day Weekend and we are having a cook-out. I'm thinking of making some chocolate chunk peanut butter swirl fudge cookie ice cream sandwiches. (That was a mouthful.) Any suggestions for an ice cream flavor? I was thinking Browned Butter Ice Cream.

3. Lastly, my two sons are home for a week before they had back to Missouri and Philadelphia. They both love Peanut Butter Blossoms and I bet I can convince them that these are better...and I can pack a few bags for their travels.

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend. Enjoy the people you are with and serve them the BEST Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge Cookies (they will ever eat)!

Ingredients:

1 cup of chunky style peanut butter
1 cup of butter. softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chunks (we use Ghiradelli 60% Cacao bittersweet)
1 cup of cocoa powder

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the peanut butter in teaspoonful dollops on a small cookie sheet lined with alumnium foil. Place in freezer for 30 minutes, until firm.

In a stand or electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined.

Place flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add to wet ingredients along with cocoa powder, and chocolate chunks, slowly mixing until just combined.

Drop dollops of frozen peanut butter into dough and turn mixer on for just a few turns of the mixer to get swirls of peanut butter through the dough.

Scoop dough by the tablespoonful onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through.

Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

 

Valentine's Day Shortbread Cookies

 

Over the past few nights, we have been making shortbread cookies. I will admit, I am a drop cookie baker, the easier the cookie the better. Last year, Jeff and I took some baking classes and I can honestly say, I have come to master the rolling pin. I am no longer fearful of rolling out dough as I have learned the tricks of the trade from making the dough, proper refrigeration and rolling of the dough.

Kate, Jeff's daughter, and I started with Jen's Shortbread Cookie recipe (see below) from the holidays. Everyone enjoyed the sweet buttery cookie that held up as a great shortbread cut-out. After we were done making the shortbread hearts (we used store bought icing), I decided we needed some chocolate shortbread cookies, too. I played around with a few recipes and came up with the chocolate shortbread version below. When they first came out of the oven, I tasted a hot cookie and thought, not sure if I'm going to talk about these cookies, maybe they can be the pretty cookies you don't eat. 

After the cookies were cooled, I started dipping them in the dark/bittersweet chocolate combination. WOW, it's amazing what melted chocolate can do for a cookie. They were delicious! The chocolate covering melted along with the cookie. These would be perfect for coffee, tea or maybe some Triple Hot Chocolate. My son, Stephen, came home and ate three of them before he warmed up his dinner. He thought they were the best cookies he has ever eaten. (I love him!)

Today, we all took cookies into work to share with co-workers. I really would love to know what the others thought and I will ask (grill) people when they come home from work...

How did they like them?

Did they like the chocolate shortbread cookies?

Which one did they like best?

I know...I'm a pain, but I like to know if they tasted good so I can make them again or go in search of another recipe. 

So, enjoy our treats and have a wonderful Valentine's Day. Hopefully, we have made some people happy.

 

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 1/4 cups of confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Icing:

1 - 12 ounce bag of semi sweet chocolate (I used a combination of bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate)

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Decorative sugars

Preparation:

1. Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a medium-size bowl; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat together sugar and butter until smooth and creamy. Beat in egg, then add vanilla.

3. Beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Shape dough into a large ball and cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate 3 to 4 hours.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the ball into quarters and shape each into a slightly flattened oval.

5. Using a lightly floured board and rolling pin, roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut into shapes. Scraps can be re-rolled for more cookies.

6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost firm. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.

For icing, mix chocolate and oil in a double boiler and melt over simmering water. Dip cookies and use sugars to decorate.