Oatmeal Cookies

I LOVE making desserts. It is one of my favorite activities. I actually made these cookies when we already had half a pan of Caramel Brownies sitting on the counter, which may have been a mistake. Every day when my husband gets home from work, he eats a little snack - usually one of the baked goods that we have around. When I noticed that he hadn't been eating any of the brownies, I asked him if it was because he didn't like them (I am always a little paranoid that he doesn't like my cooking. I know it is silly). "No," he told me, "I just wanted to eat something healthy, so I had some oatmeal cookies instead." HA! Even though these cookies have oatmeal and raisins, I wouldn't exactly consider them to be "healthy." But if you choose to see it that way, they do provide an entire serving of whole grain and a serving of fruit (if you eat enough of them).

1 cup margarine or butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all of the ingredients (first cream the wet ingredients, then stir in the dry; finally, add the raisins.) Bake for 10-12 minutes. 10 is usually enough. Take them out when they still look a little doughy and they will be deliciously soft and chewy.

Lemon Cookies

I was recently visiting a friend for an afternoon and she suggested that we try a new cookie recipe. She had found an amazing recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe and had all of the ingredients on hand. I had never made lemon cookies before, but was excited to try something new; and I have to say that I am IN LOVE with these cookies. I brought some home to my husband, and he felt the same way. After we ate them all in a single day, he asked me to make more and I happily obliged. Interestingly, I have since found these same cookies on a few other websites, so I guess they are kind of a fad right now. 

Recipe Yield: about 2 dozen cookies (depending on how big you make them)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or cooking spray. (These cookies stick to the pan.) 

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice and mix well. Then stir in salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Roll balls of dough in powdered sugar before placing on baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Remove them from the oven before they begin to brown on the edges.

Toffee Cookie Bars

A few weeks ago, I saw these on my friend's blog, Desperate Chefwife, and I was so excited to make them. She is studying culinary arts in college, so she has good ideas and knows a lot of those "professional" tricks that I don't really know... or follow sometimes. Check out her blog for some really great recipes. 

Her recipe for these cookie bars specifically called for "unsalted butter." Actually, many recipes that I find say that and I usually just ignore it and use salted butter or margarine anyway. Because a few different recipes that I was planning to make (including this blueberry struesel muffin recipe) called for it, I decided to spring for a pound of unsalted butter and see how I liked it. I also did some research online and found a number of forums and websites where people tout the benefits of controlling the amount of salt in a recipe by using unsalted butter. After trying it out, I have decided to continue to use regular, salted butter in my recipes. I feel like the extra salt adds a good flavor and it just isn't worth it to me to worry about a half teaspoon of salt in my recipes. Still, these were still great, even without the extra salt that normally would have been added because of the butter.

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup toffee bits

Cream butter and sugar, then stir in vanilla, eggs and salt. Then add baking soda and flour, stirring until completely combined. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits. Spread dough in a jellyroll pan. Bake at 350° for about 12-18 minutes or until the crust begins to turn golden.

Snickerdoodles

So, I made these cookies for the first time last year. I had tasted them before, but never made them myself. I actually had some cream of tartar in my cabinet, although I don't know where it came from. Those cookies didn't turn out very well so I threw away the cream of tartar (who knew how old it was, anyway) and gave up on the idea of ever making them again. But just yesterday I got courageous and decided to try them again. I considered the possibility that it might be the recipe I used, so I looked up a new recipe on the internet. Since I didn't have cream of tartar, I substituted a little less than 4 tsp of baking powder for the cream of tartar and baking soda and WOW these cookies turned out great - crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. I also added red sprinkles to make them "Christmasy" Ironically, I compared the two recipes and they turned out to be exactly the same.


1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¾ cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar


4 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon


Cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Then mix in all dry ingredients. Roll into balls and cover in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. 

Chocolate Caramel Chews

I was searching the internet, looking for something to make for dinner, when I accidentally stumbled upon these amazing little treats. I knew I had to make them the moment that I saw them. They are practically like homemade candy bars. Actually, my husband thinks I should actually try to mass produce them and sell them, but instead I am just going to post them on my blog to share. Unfortunately I didn't write down the name of the blog where I originally found them, but just know that I didn't invent them myself.

36 caramels, unwrapped

3 Tbsp evaporated milk

1 cup crushed corn flakes

1 cup Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

6-8 oz chocolate, melted (I just used milk chocolate chips)

Melt the caramels and cream over the stove, stirring frequently until smooth. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Stir caramel into dry ingredients. Shape into 1" balls and set onto waxed paper. Melt the chocolate in 20 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each time. Coat chews completely in chocolate and allow chocolate to cool and harden before serving.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about my family Halloween traditions. One of my favorite parts of Halloween was decorating sugar cookies. My mom usually made a whole batch of cookies shaped like pumpkins. With orange icing, chocolate chips and candy corn, we all decorated jack-o-lantern cookies to our hearts content. I think I have probably only made sugar cookies one other time in my whole life, so I found a recipe in a cookbook that was compiled by ladies from my church about 10 years ago. I really like to use that one when I want to try a new recipe because I always figure that people wouldn't have shared a recipe unless they thought it was really good. I cut this recipe in half. It is also important to note that I made the dough and then left it in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap, until the next day when it was time to make the cookies. It worked just fine. These cookies turned out light and fluffy (for lack of a more descriptive phrase), kind of like those ones that they sell in the grocery store that are so popular. They were unique because of their almond flavor. Everyone said they really liked them.

2 cups sugar
2 cups margarine
6 eggs
4 tsp vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
7 cups flour
6 tsp baking powder

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each, and then add the remaining ingredients. When mixed, roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Coconut Chip Cookies

I was trying to come up with a new type of cookies to make for a church activity I had signed up to help with and I came up with the great idea to add coconut to my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was very excited about the new recipe I had "invented" when I realized that my friend, Rachel, had made chocolate chip coconut cookies for the activity too! How did she steal that idea right out of my brain? So apparently I wasn't the first person ever to come up with the recipe, but maybe I was the first to add peanut butter chips to it.... Probably not - with so many aspiring chefs out there, it is hard to create a recipe that is truly unique. Nevertheless, these cookies turned out AMAZING. I was actually kind of shocked that they turned out so well.

1 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp hot water
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup sweetened coconut
2 cups flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Cream shortening and sugars together. Dissolve baking soda in water and stir into the creamed mixture. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each. Stir in all other ingredients. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake 9 minutes at 375°

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

A few months ago I bought a huge jar of Nutella for crepes and because my husband told me that he loved it. He must have forgotten that it was in the cupboard, though, because I'm pretty sure he hasn't eaten it once. Since we were moving soon, I was looking for a way to use up some things that had been sitting for a while. I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies on barbarabakes.com so I decided to try it out. It was a big hit. My husband and siblings said it was even better than the peanut butter kiss cookies that we make every year around Christmas. I made the recipe almost exactly as she posted it.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter 
Sugar
Nutella

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the peanut butter and continue beating on low speed. Add the sifted dry ingredients and beat until just blended. 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar. Place each ball in a cup of a greased mini muffin tin. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until edges are browned and crackled, the centers will not be completely set. Remove the cookies from the oven and use the end of a thick-handled wooden spoon make a small, deep well in the center of each cookie and fill with your Nutella. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Homemade Oreos

When I had these cookies at my aunt's house I assumed that they must be incredibly difficult to make because they tasted so good. But one Sunday afternoon I decided that I would do whatever it took to make them and I called to get the recipe. I was so surprised that they were made with a cake mix! I don't know if all homemade Oreos are made like this, but these ones were extremely easy to make and were just wonderful.

Cookies:

chocolate cake mix

3/4 cup shortening

2 eggs

Mix ingredients well. Roll into walnut sized balls. Bake at 350° for 5-8 minutes.

Icing:

8 oz cream cheese

1 whole bag powdered sugar

1 cube margarine (not melted, just softened)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Strawberry Chocolate Cookie Bars

I was flipping through my M&M cookbook, looking for a dessert that we had everything to make and stumbled on one called "marvelous cookie bars." It had cherry preserves, which I didn't have, but I made a few subtle changes and substituted homemade strawberry freezer jam and came up with this tasty treat. It just amazes me that I have already made so many different types of desserts, yet there always seem to be more that I have never heard of or tried.

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup quick or old fashioned oats
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup M&M's

1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup M&M's

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9x9" pan. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Then add dry ingredients: flour, oats, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and blend into creamed mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup walnuts and 3/4 cup M&Ms.

Reserve 1 cup dough; spread remaining dough into prepared pan. Combine jam, walnuts, and coconut and spread evenly over dough to within 1/2" of edge. Drop reserved dough by rounded teaspoonfuls over strawberry mixture; sprinkle with 1/4 cup M&M's. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

Fudgy Oatmeal Bars

I took a big risk this past weekend and made a dessert that I have never heard of or sampled to bring to another couple's house to go with dinner. I thought that it would just be the four of us, but right around dessert time, two other people showed up. It made me pretty nervous to think that 5 people, two of which I had never met, were going to try this dessert with me for the first time. What if it didn't taste good? I was afraid they would all think that I was a bad cook. Thankfully, my fears were not realized and theses Fudgy Oatmeal Bars tasted delicious. They were exactly the combination of flavors I was searching for when I decided to find a new recipe (which, by the way, came from a cookbook compiled by my mother). Thank you Rallet Abram for contributing this lovely recipe to the Ponderosa Ward Cookbook of 2001.

Oatmeal layer:
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups regular or quick oats


Caramel layer:
20 Kraft or other brand soft caramels
1 tsp water

Chocolate layer:
2 Tbsp butter
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13x2" pan. In a large bowl combine brown sugar, 1 cup butter, 1 tsp vanilla, and eggs. Stir in flour, soda, 1/2 tsp salt. Stir in oats. Reserve 1/3 oat mixture and press remaining oats into pain.

Melt caramels over low heat with water. Spread over oat mixture

Over low heat, combine 2 Tbsp butter, condensed milk, and chocolate chips, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt. Spread or drizzle over caramel.

Drop remaining oat mixture by spoonfuls over top. Should not completely cover caramel and chocolate mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool at least 20 minutes before cutting into approx 2x2" squares.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Making these cookies around Christmas has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. They are some of the easiest and most delicious cookies that we make. It has been more recent that we started using Reese's in about half of the cookies, but they are quickly becoming the favorite. Actually, my mom usually makes the Reese's cookies in mini cupcake pans so that they surround the peanut butter cups more completely, but I found this way to be just as good.

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
granulated sugar
about 3 dozen milk chocolate kisses (or Reese's)

Preheat oven to 375°. Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, peanut butter, margarine, shortening and egg thoroughly. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder. Shape dough into 1" balls; roll in sugar. Place about 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until edges are light brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately press candy kiss firmly in each cookie; cool.

Gingersnaps

It's the time of year when all of the neighbors find out who is the best cook. That was always the judgment that we made as children when our doorbell was constantly ringing with friends bringing plates of cookies and holiday treats. Everyone has their own tradition of which types of cookies and desserts they make at Christmastime. And these cookies will certainly be part of our family tradition. They came out of the oven crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and stayed soft for days afterward.

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Cream together shortening, sugar, molasses and egg. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Roll dough balls in white sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375°.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my college roommates, Angie, used to always make this type of cookie. They were amazing! Once, I tried to replicate them by using a peanut butter cookie recipe that I already had and just added chocolate chips and they turned out terrible. I gave up on making them for about 6 years, when just tonight I saw this recipe on the bag of Target brand chocolate chips and decided to take the risk of making them again. This must have been the recipe that Angie used to use because it was great. I'll have to call her tomorrow to thank her for those cookies that she used to make.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375°
Beat butter, peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt on low speed until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll dough into balls and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 9-12 minutes.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

I make way too many desserts. They are one of the most enjoyable things to bake and inevitably get more compliments than anything else I cook. But since I make dessert so often, and have many specialties, I am very discriminating when it comes to trying new ones. I search and search through many recipes before I find one that looks like it will measure up to the tried and true classics. Here is one that I had never made or eaten. It tasted great.

2 cups quick oats
1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1 12-oz package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate pieces (I used milk chocolate chips)
1 beaten egg
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

For crumb mixture, in a large mixing bowl combine rolled oats, brown sugar, flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in butter while mixing until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

For topping, combine 1 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture and the chocolate chips. Set aside.

For crust, stir the egg into remaining crumb mixture. Press into bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1" pan (I just used a regular 13x9" pan). Bake at 350º for 15 minutes.

For filling, stir together sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter till well combined. Pour filling evenly over partially baked crust. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake for 12-15 minutes more or till lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely and cut into bars.

Peanut Butter Bars

I was sitting in church, starving because I didn't have time to eat breakfast, when I leaned over and told Chris that I was thinking about making these for dessert. I was very surprised about how excited he got when I told him. He said that this was one of the first desserts that I made for him when we were dating. On the way home he couldn't stop talking about how great these cookie bars were. Until that moment I really had no idea how much my cooking had influenced the progression of our relationship.

Of course I never considered these Peanut Butter Bars to be difficult to make; just throw all the ingredients together and bake them. What could possibly go wrong? Well, this time I pulled them out of the oven and they didn't look gooey at all on top, the way they are supposed to. They were golden brown, bordering on dark brown in places. So I looked at the dials on our oven and, uh-oh, the oven was set to broil.

Who's idea was it to make an oven like that anyway? You may not be able to read the picture, but on the left hand dial you have to tell the oven what to do: bake, broil, time bake, or clean. On the right hand dial you choose a temperature starting at warm and progressing from 200° all the way to broil. Apparently if you choose broil on the left hand dial but choose a temperature on the other, it still broils. Why do they put broil on the left hand dial rather than just on the right?

So I decided to cover the pan with foil and bake it again for another 6 minutes. The bars are still a little gooey on the bottom and completely cooked on top even though it should be the other way around, but they taste about the same as normal. My husband still likes them anyway....

3/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
2 cups oatmeal
peanut butter
chocolate frosting

Cream butter and sugar then add eggs and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix all dry ingredients into creamed mixture and spread on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375° (if it looks gooey but golden take it out). Spread peanut butter then chocolate frosting on top.

Chocolate Cookies

I have never tasted any chocolate cookies that even hold a candle to these. One of my best friends, Casey, gave me this recipe a few months back and I have already made it three or four times. I have used different types of chips: chocolate chips, white chocolate, peanut butter, mint, and they have been awesome every time. They come out of the oven soft and stay soft for longer than any other cookie.

Combine:
2 1/2 sticks margarine or butter
2 cups sugar
Once the mixture is creamy, add:
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
When all mixed together, add:
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
about 2 cups chips

In this batch I added white chocolate chips and M&M's in honor of my sweetheart, who doesn't like nuts in cookies. Bake at 350° for 8-9 minutes.

Hello Dolly Cookies

There are two types of bar cookies that I really considered to be "my mom's cookies." I didn't know anybody else who made anything like them and they were both amazing. One was called Chewy Snacks (which I will make sometime in the future); the other are these Hello Dolly Cookies. I loved it when she made them - but I never even helped! So you can imagine my surprise when I decided to make them myself and found out that this is one of the easiest recipes I have ever tried.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup margarine or butter
2 Tbsp powdered sugar

Topping:
1 bag chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Melt butter and mix with crumbs and powdered sugar. Press into 9x13 pan. Layer chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and coconut (in that order) on top of crumbs. Pour condensed milk over all. Be careful to pour evenly so that there is enough to cover the whole pan. Bake at 350° 20-25 minutes. The coconut should just be starting to turn golden brown. Cool and cut into the size of bars you like.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

This is the recipe that I always use for any variation of chocolate chip cookies and it always turns out perfectly! 

1 cup margarine or shortening

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp hot water

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1-2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

2 cups chocolate chips

 

Cream margarine and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients successively one by one (you can mix baking soda and water or just pour one on top of the other in the mixing bowl), beating well. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375º

You can add any type of chips or M&Ms to these cookies. The cookies shown here are half Reese's chips and half milk chocolate.

M&M Caramel Bars

1 cup all-purpose flour, also 6 Tbsp flour
1 cup oats
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 3/4 cups plain M&M's
1 cup chopped pecans
1 12 oz jar caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine 1 cup flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Blend in melted butter to form crumbly mixture. Press half of the crumb mixture onto bottom of 9x9 pan and bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 cup M&M's (I also think this recipe would be great with chocolate chips in this layer) and 3/4 cup nuts.

Blend remaining 6 Tbsp flour with caramel topping and pour over top. Combine remaining crumb mixture with the last 1/4 cup nuts and 3/4 cup M&M's and sprinkle over caramel layer. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before serving.