Tag: cookies

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A Different Type of Christmas Carol

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It’s the dream of every (well almost every) grandmother to have a houseful of family over Christmas, and I am no exception. When our kids from Phoenix decided to come here for Christmas week, we were elated. Oh I could just imagine the sights and sounds we would get to have all around us. The grandkids are now 14, 6 and 3. Our 2 adult kids that live here have one child each, one 18 months, the other family 11 years. We have a granddaughter, 5 which lives in Orlando but was not blessed to see them this Christmas so one less to bake for.  So we have quite a span in ages. About a week ago, I began making cookie dough to put in the freezer so that all I had to do was unthaw and bake.  I made sure that I knew how to find the Christmas music stations on the TV so the house would be filled with “Ring The Bells, Joy to the World and Silent Night while we snacked on homemade cookies, made just for the precious angels that would be running in and out all week. Making sure to have just everyone’s favorite cookie made, I had my checklist all checked twice and made sure that everyone’s favorite was made and on the platter the minute they walked in the house. Isn’t it amazing how we conjure up what we feel like would be the perfect way to begin Christmas. Visions of a pretty platter of peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip and sugar cookies sitting out, while listening to It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas playing in the background. The little ones would bring us the book,  Twas The Night Before Christmas while wiping sleepies from their eyes the first morning here. We would have the fireplace going with Frosty The Snowman movie on the TV while they cuddled on our laps. IS THERE A FAMILY THAT GETS TO ACTUALLY PLAY THIS SCENE OUT? If there is, please send me to them so I can see what that is really like!

So far, the visit has gone like this:

The 14 year old arrives, gives us a hug, disappeared to the bedroom and worked on his hair for 30 minutes. Then left to go spend the night with his cousin. Haven’t seen or heard from him since. But we still have the 6 and 3 year old right?

Well, after having the 6 year old in our bedroom on a makeshift bed, he awoke this morning asking every 10 minutes, “can I open a present”! Literally, when we finally had to tell him that every time he ask that, we would take one of the presents out from under the tree and give it to someone else. So he rephrased the question to, “can I NOT open a present” telling us that he wasn’t asking “can I open a present now”, so it didin’t count so we couldn’t take any of his presents away since he wasn’t asking that question. After we got that settled and thought, “ok, we won that battle” he begins to stomp around the house singing,  “What do you do with a drunken sailor, what do you do with a drunken sailor, what do you do with a drunken sailor, so early in the morning?”

I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know what I would like to do with a little 6 year old that sings that song over and over 15 times.

Maybe if I offer them some homemade goodies, they will be more in the Christmas spirit. So I bring out all the homemade cookies, that are sure to put a sparkle in their eye. They look at them and say, “Nana, do you have any of those Little Debbie Christmas trees you gave us when you came to visit us?” What? They are choosing Little Debbie over Nana?

Everyone is gone for a couple of hours, even Frosty left (probably is sitting in the car at a park someplace to get some peace and quiet) so I am sitting here, listening to Christmas Bells Are Ringing. At least I can have visions in my head of what some magical family out there is experiencing with family. And I wonder why our kids gave us a CD of Christmas Vacation with Clark Griswald. Maybe because our family much more resembles that family that the families inside the pages of Southern Living.

Do we really think it was an accident that Grandma stepped in front of the reindeer? Hum….maybe she just couldn’t take listening to “what do you do with a drunken sailor” one more time!

Merry Christmas to one and all! May you and your family make some precious memories this year as you celebrate the birth of our Savior and Lord! Because of Him, we can have life eternal, peace on Earth and Joy….we give Him thanks for the laughter and joy that fills our home this Christmas!

Cookies · Desserts · Pies · Uncategorized

Pecan Pie Cookies

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

Perfect for the cookie exchanges which we all love to attend.

*Am using a mini cupcake pan for these

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 tables light corn syrup

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

2 cups flour

1 teas baking powder

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

3/4  cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 teas vanilla

Melt 1/4 cup of butter in saucepan, and stir in powdered sugar and corn syrup until sugar isi dissolved.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often and stir in the peans utill well combined. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 min to chill.

Preheat oven to 350. Sift flour and baking powder togetehr in a bowl and set aside.

Beat brown sugar, 3/4 cup butter, egg and vanilla in large bowl with mixer. until creamy, about 2 min.

Gradually beat in the flour mixture until well mixed. Pinch off about 1 tables of dough and roll it into a ball. Press the dough into the bottom of an ungreased cupcake pan cup and use your thumb (or Thumbie if youhave one) to cuper the bottom and up the sides about 1/4 inch. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Fill each little crust with about 1 teas of the prepared pecan filling.

Bake in preheated oven untilthe cookie shells are lightly browned about 10 to 13 minutes. Let the cookie cool in the cupcake pan for 5 min and then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

 

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The Very Best Oatmeal Cookies

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It never dawned on me that I had put this recipe in the cookbook but never the blog. Thank you Joni for the best oatmeal cookie  recipe EVER…the soaking of the raisins make all the difference in the world.

3 eggs, beaten well

1 cup golden raisins

1 teas vanilla

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teas salt

3 teas cinnamon

2 teas baking soda

2 cups regular oatmeal

1 cup pecans

Combine eggs, vanilla and stir. Add raisins and stir. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Do not skip this step.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, salt and soda. After stirring the flour mixture to combine add it to the creamed mixture and mix well. Add he egg-raisin mixture and combine until it is well mixed. Add the oatmeal and nuts. Dough will be stiff. Drop by teaspoon or roll into small balls and flatten slightly on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cook on paper towel spread out on counter. Makes about 4 dz.

Cookies · Desserts

Honest To Goodness Awesome Oatmeal Cookies (and gluten free no less)

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

A friend of mine brought us some of these cookies to the luncheon where I took the shrimp salad. I was starving when I got there so before the blessing was said and we began to fill our plates with fruit and shrimp, I saw these little gems and had to have one. After the first bite, I was stuffing the rest of it in my mouth, when Cricket said, “aren’t they delicious? and they are even gluten free?” WHAT???I couldn’t believe it. Seriously, they were some of the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten and to think that there is no flour in them, well you don’t have to ask me twice to eat 10 of them…and to think they are healthy! Is life good or what? This precious friend who made them brought me my own bag of Trader Joe’s Rolled Oats this morning. I never knew that some oats had gluten in them, did you? So as soon as I post the recipe, I am headed to the kitchen to mix up a batch of the “best little gluten free oatmeal cookies in Texas”

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 teas baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

3 cups Trader Joe’s Rolled Oats

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3 to 4 oz mini chocolate chips (the recipe calls for 6 oz, but Cricket said that she halved that as the 6 oz were to many)

2 eggs, room temp

1/2 cup nuts, such as walnuts or pecans

1 teas vanilla

1 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla and baking soda and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and nuts. Place teaspoon full of dough on a lightly greased baking sheet about 2″ apart. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly brown around the edges.

Thanks Cricket for sharing this with us. Just another fabulous cookie for me to get addicted to!

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts

Chocolate Chip Cookies Ah La TKbakesalot

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Because we are still stuck at home because of the weather and I wanted to get in the kitchen and bake. What perfect weather to keep the fireplace going and get the chocolate chips out and get some cookies in the oven.
Because I have had so many friends tell me that they love my chocolate chip cookies. I thought I would post the changes I make to the recipe which is on the back of Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. I follow the recipe except for two things.
I use half butter and half Crisco shortening.
I only use 1 large egg instead of 2.
Today I used 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and ground up with a food processor, Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate truffle bars. The cookies are amazing.
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teas vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup of grated dark chocolate
1 cup chopped pecans (if desired)
Cream the softened butter and Crisco with both sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Mix flour, baking soda and salt together. Beat in the flour mixture with the creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and pecans (if you are using pecans)
Bake on ungreased cookie sheets in a preheated 375 oven for 9-12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.
I cool them on paper towels. Then I wrap in waxed paper and freeze while still just a little warm. They freeze beautifully and stay very moist. Or just keep them out and watch them disappear.

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts

Nutella Crinkle Cookies

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I got a little obsessed this Christmas with cookies. I’m usually more of a candy and pie person, but for some reason, I kept finding these different recipes that just yelled out for me to make them. When we were in Italy, I came to love Nutella anything. I would have eaten liver or seaweed if it was dipped in Nutella. This was the first recipe that I had seen for Nutella cookies, so here it is; my new favorite cookie.

1 jar (13 oz) Nutella

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teas vanilla

3 cups flour

2 teas baking powder

1/2 teas salt

1/3 cup milk

2 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted, divided

1/2 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, cream the Nutella, shortening and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. About 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, mixing well after each addition. Fold in 1/2 cup hazelnuts. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 min or until firm.

Finely chop remaining hazelnuts. Place hazelnuts and powdered sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. Roll dough into 1″ balls and roll ion powdered sugar-nut mixture. Place 1″ apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 10-12 min or until set and surface is cracked. Cool for 1 min before removing from pan.

Yield: 6-7 dozen

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Red Velvet Cookies (Thank you Duncan Hines)

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This is an infomercial! I thought since most of us are in a time crunch, but are still desiring to bake Christmas cookies, this would come in handy. I have heard of the cookies made from cake mixes, but until two nights ago, I had never really liked the ones that I had tasted. A friend came by with snickerdoodles which were awesome. When I told Peggy how good they were, she said, “glad you liked them, I made them from a cake mix”. I was shocked. So today, I stopped and bought a Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix and am making the cookie recipe on the side of their box. Am making one little change. I am making them into thumbprint cookies and filling the indention with my cream cheese frosting. Am so excited that I can whip up a batch of cookies that taste like homemade, in less than 5 min…I thought it would be fun to color the cream cheese frosting green so, wa-la, Christmas cookies that taste like red velvet and it was really so easy. The picture below is a plate of the original directions on Duncan Hines, each ball dipped in Powdered sugar, the ones on the outside are the ones I ended up just baking as balls and then added colored cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. Merry Christmas from my heart to yours…tkbakesalot2014-12-21 14.04.58

If you happen to have a box of red velvet cake mix that doesn’t have the recipe on the side, here it is:

1 box red velvet cake mix

6 tables softened butter

2 eggs

Mix until well blended with mixer on low to medium speed. Drop 1″ balls into powdered sugar and onto lightly greased cookie sheet if you are not using Parchment paper or coated cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for about 9-10 min. If you use the cream cheese frosting, do not roll the balls in the powdered sugar. Just drop the balls onto the cookie sheet and using a Thumbie or your thumb, make an indention in the center of each cookie. The indention will almost disappear when cookies are baked, but don’t worry about that. Fill in with frosting of your choice.

Cookies · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Cherry Thumbprints with White chocolate Frosting

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This is the second year I have participated in the Food Blogger’s Cookie Swap where you send a dozen cookies to 3 different food bloggers. This was the recipe I sent this year. I love anything with cherries and these cookies will now be made each Christmas season at our house. You can experiment with different toppings, such as using chocolate kisses or m&m’, but I love to fill the thumbprint with white chocolate frosting.

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter,

1/2 teas salt

1 tables maraschino cherry juice, (I use a little more)

1/2 teas almond extract

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries (I dry them on a paper towel to absorb some of the juice first)

In a medium size bowl, blend together the sugar, butter, salt, cherry liquid and almond extract. Beat for 3 min until the butter is fluffy.

Add flour to mixture until just mixed well. DO not over mix the flour.

Add chopped cherries and blend in well with wooden spoon. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or over night in covered bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 and remove dough from fridge. All the dough to sit for 30 min. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and scoop out dough with a scoop or teaspoon. You will have between 24 and 30 cookies.

Roll dough in a ball and place about 2″ apart on cookie sheet. Using Thumbie or your thumb, make an indention in the center or each ball. Bake for about 9-10 min or until edges are slightly golden brown. Remove and allow to cool on racks. While cookies are cooling, make the frosting.

Frosting

6 oz white chocolate chips

2 cups powdered sugar

5 oz softened butter

1 teas almond extract

3 tables heavy cream or milk ( do not add all at once, but 1 tables at a time) Remember you are going to be adding the cherry juice also, so you want to leave “room” for adding the juice, so frosting won’t be too runny.

Enough cherry juice from maraschino cherries to get frosting to consistency that you can use in a frosting press, or bag with star tip.

Melt the white chocolate chips with 1 oz of the butter in microwave. On 50% power. Stir until all chips are melted and add to the powdered sugar, rest of the butter, milk (or cream) and cherry juice and extract. Beat until frosting is consistency of placing in

pastry bag and using star tip, press about 1/2 teas frosting in center indention of each cookie. 2014-12-10 17.05.35 2014-12-01 08.57.58

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Raspberry Thumbprints Cookies

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This Friday I am giving an open house for my neighborhood ladies for a Cookie Gingerbread Open House. We are new to the neighborhood and I thought it would be a great way to meet some of the neighbors. This recipe goes with me where ever I go…it is our favorite little thumbprint cookie and reeks of butter with the delicious flavor of the raspberry jam in the center. So easy to make (especially using the Thumbie to make the indentions).

2014-12-10 13.49.59

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teas salt

2 teas vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup of raspberry jam or preserves (love Trader Jo’s brand)

Combine butter and sugar and beat until well combined about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and salt and beat on medium for about a min. Add the flour and mix in until all is incorporated with butter mixture. Form 1″ balls and place on baking sheet.

Make indention with thumb or the Thumbie (which can be purchased from Etsy shop, “Chocolate Castles for $3.00). Put about 1/4 teas of raspberry jam in center of indention. I also sprinkled red colored sugar over the top of the cookies before baking.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 10-12 min. Let cool and keep in air tight container. Makes 4 dozen

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Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

2014-11-04 09.14.37

Taken from our Frisco Style Magazine I tore this recipe out and can’t wait to make these cookies. Our daughter from Phoenix is coming in for a few days on Thurs. I told her that in celebration of her sticking to a new exercise program and following a healthy diet plan, I will have cookies and pies ready to celebrate her weight loss. She didn’t sound very excited when I shared that with her on the phone just now…but maybe she just wasn’t fully awake yet.

Cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed solid

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 cup pumpkin

2 cups flour

1 teas baking soda

1/2 teas nutmeg

1/4 teas round cloves

1/2 teas ground ginger

1/2 teas salt

1 tables ground cinnamon

Frosting:

3 table butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teas vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. With a mixer, mix butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined. Add egg and vanilla to the mixture and continue to mix until well blended. Next stir in the pumpkin until mixture is an even orange color. Set aside.

Now, mix flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, salt and cinnamon until well combined. Pour the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture and mix well until dough is nice and smooth.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Using a spoon, make dough balls (I will use my medium sized dough scoop) and place them on the cookie sheet about 2″ apart. Bake in preheated oven for about 10 min. *(I made them into bite size yesterday and baking time was reduced to 7 min 30 seconds)

While cookies are baking, start on the frosting. Add butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. After the frosting mixture begins to boil, remove it from the heat and let cool completely. Add the powdered sugar into the butter mixture and beat until no lumps remain. After cookies are cooled completely, frost with the finished frosting and use orange sprinkles or Autumn sprinkles. Keep in covered container