Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Haystack Cookies brought by PW

HAYSTACK NO BAKE COOKIES
Image borrowed from Hershey's Kitchens

1 c. butterscotch chips or chocolate or peanut butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. peanuts
2 c. chow mein noodles

Into 2 quart dish microwave at 50% power. Melt the chips and peanut butter (3-5 minutes). Stir in peanuts and chow mein noodles. Drop on wax paper. Put in refrigerator for faster set or let sit overnight on counter.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

SAND TART COOKIES brought by PW

Sand Tart Cookies

Image borrowed from Real Food Whole Health

1 c. butter
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 c. pecans (chopped)

Mix butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add flour and mix well. Stir in pecans. Roll into crescent shape and bake at 300 degrees until lightly brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while hot.

Chocolate Swirl Japanese Cookies brought by AV

Ingredients Plain Part: 100g Butter Pinch of Salt 80g Power Sugar 1 Egg yolk 150g Flour 1/3 TSP baking Powder TSP Vanilla Cocoa Part: 100g Butter Pinch of Salt 80g Power Sugar 130g Flour 1/3 TSP baking Powder 20g baking coco TSP Vanilla Directions (Do for plain and cocoa) 1) soften butter 2) add salt 3) gradually while mixing put in powder sugar 4) add egg yoke and vanilla 5) sift flour and baking powder into mixture 6) flatten dough with roller and then place coco dough on top of plane dough. 7) Now roll the plane and coco dough together into a swirl wrap in saran wrap and place in fridge for over 1 hr. 9) cut into cookies and cook at 170 Deg. C. for 17 minutes.

Japanese Cookies brought by AV

Ingredients 60g Butter 60g Powder Sugar 60g Flour 2- egg white TSP Vanilla extract Yield: 15 - 20 Cookies 1) Melt butter 2) Mix all ingredients adding vanilla last 3) let sit 30 min at room temp. 4) place on wax-paper in spoon fulls. 5) 170 degree Celsius oven for 12 min

Chinese Almond Cookies brought by LK

2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup shortening 3/4 cup white sugar (can add up to 2 more tablespoons, if desired) 1 egg 2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract 30 whole, blanched almonds (one for each cookie) 1 egg, lightly beaten Preparation: 1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162.5 degrees Celsius). 2.In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter or margarine, shortening, and sugar. Add the egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add to the flour mixture and mix well. Note: The dough will be crumbly at this point, but don't worry - that is what it's supposed to be like. 3. Use your fingers to form the mixture into a dough, and then form the dough into 2 rolls or logs that are 10 to 12 inches long. Wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours (this will make it easier to shape the dough into circles). 4. Take a log and lightly score the dough at 3/4 inch intervals so that you have 15 pieces and cut the dough. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie tray, approximately 1 1/2 inches apart. Place an almond in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Repeat with the remaining dough. 5. Brush each cookie lightly with beaten egg before baking. Bake for 15 minutes to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.

Candy Cane Pudding Cookies brought by NM

Candy Cane Pudding Cookies adapted from Mom's Crazy Cooking: Which Chocolate Candy Cane Pudding Cookies 2-1/2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 3/4 cup butter 3/4 cups brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1 (3.4 oz) package Candy Cane Pudding Mix 3/4 cup yellow, white or vanilla cake mix 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1 package (12 oz) peppermint chocolate chips 1/4 to 1/2 cup crushed candy canes, on top of cookies Preheat oven to 350. Stir together flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together. Add in pudding package and cake mix and beat until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add flour mixture slowly until well incorporated. Add in the entire bag of white chocolate chips and mix. Scoop out 1" balls onto a greased baking sheet. Flatten and sprinkle with candy canes before baking. Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes.

Gingerbread Cookies brought by NM

Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies adapted from No Special Effects 3 cups (425g) all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup (150g) firmly packed dark brown sugar 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1-1/2 sticks butter 3/4 cup molasses 2 tablespoons whole milk By stand mixer with a paddle attachment: In a small bowl, combine the molasses and milk and stir together; set aside. In the bowl of the mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix at low speed until combined (about 30 seconds). Scatter the butter pieces over the top and mix at medium-low speed until it resembles very fine meal (about 90 seconds). Reduce the speed to low and drizzle in the molasses mixture with the mixer running and mix until the dough is moistened thoroughly (about 20 seconds), then increase the speed to medium and mix for 10 seconds more to combine. Cut out at least 4 parchment rectangles to fit the bottom of your sheet pans. Scrape dough onto a work surface and divide into 2 (I used a scale to be accurate: I divided it into 2-502g masses). Place each dough half onto its own parchment rectangle and cover each with another parchment rectangle. Pat out each with your fingers through the parchment into a rough rectangle, then roll each into an even 1/4-inch thickness sandwiched in between the 2 parchment sheets (one way to get an even thickness is to use magazines of the appropriate thickness on both ends of your rolling pin as a guide-- Bon Appetit is one such magazine). Stack the dough sheets (still intact in their parchment sandwiches) onto a sheet pan and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes, or refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Place a rack in the upper and lower-middle positions of your oven and preheat to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper (I just used the ones on my dough sheets, to conserve paper, no problem). Remove a dough sheet from the fridge and peel off the top parchment sheet, gently lay it back on the dough and put another sheet pan on top. Flip the whole set-up over and peel off then discard the other parchment sheet. Using a 3- or 5-inch gingerbread person cutter or a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out shapes and transfer to the lined sheet pans, leaving 3/4 inch space in between. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes (for 3-inch people, which is what I used), or 8-11 minutes (for 5-inch people or 3-inch cookies), rotating the pans front to back and top to bottom halfway through. You're looking for set centers and for the dough to barely retain an imprint when touched gently with a fingertip. Don't overbake! They will set some more while cooling. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the pans then transfer with a wide metal spatula to a cooling rack. Gather the scraps and repeat the rolling and cutting, chilling the dough again if it's become too soft. I was able to juggle all my rolling and cutting in advance so I can bake them consecutively. The yield is 25 3-inch people, 20 5-inch people, or 30 3-inch cookies. Best if eaten within a week.

Cherry Cordial Chocolate Cookies brought by NM

1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup butter 1 cup light brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon of cherry extract (I didn't have any so I used 1 tb of cherry flavored Torani) 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 (10 ounce) package Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses, unwrapped Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter, shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, extract, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and combine. Fold in chocolate chips. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes to avoid cookies from flattening. After your dough has chilled, drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until set up but the centers are still soft. Let the cookies cool for 1-2 minutes. Top each cookie with an unwrapped Kiss. Allow to cool long enough for the Kisses to harden.

Santa Surprise Cookies brought by EW

2 sticks softened butter (aka 1 cup) 1 c. creamy peanut butter 1 c. brown sugar 1 c. sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 3 1/2 c. flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 pkg. Snickers (R) miniatures 1. Combine the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Use a mixer on low/medium if you want, but I use a spoon because it's good to burn as many calories as possible before these cookies are in your house. 2. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. 3. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda and add them to the butter batter. 4. Cover and chill dough for 2 - 3 hours. 5. Remove dough from fridge and pull off 1 Tbsp. sized piece. Roll up and squash the dough wad into a puffy disk. 6. Place a Snickers (R) miniature in the center of the disk, then smoosh the dough around the miniature. Roll that glob in your hands until it's smooth, then place it on a greased cookie sheet. 7. Repeat steps 5-6 about a bazillion times. 8. Bake cookies at 300 degrees for 10-11 minutes. 9. Let cookies cool on baking rack or wax paper (says the recipe -- I cool mine on brown paper like you use to wrap packages for mailing) 10. If desired, spruce up the cookies by sifting a little powdered sugar on them and drizzling them with melted chocolate. (The recipe says to use melted Dove (R) Brand chocolates, but this recipe is trying to sell you things. Any nice melted chocolate is fine.) My hints: A. I actually use the "fun size" Snickers and cut them in half, they seem to melt a little better that way. Otherwise your cookies sometimes look like flying saucers. (Tasty flying saucers, but still.) B. For chilling, I divide the dough in half, wrap each half in saran wrap, and take out one half at a time when assembling. That way not too much of the dough gets warm while you're smooshing, wrapping, etc. Overly warm dough also contributes to the flying saucer effect. C. To drizzle melted chocolate, dip a fork in the melted goo, then whip the fork back and forth, sideways, across 2 - 3 cookies at once. This is best done fast. Being slow and careful here makes the chocolate end up all globby on the cookies. Which isn't the end of the world, but doesn't look as fancy.

Santa’s Whiskers brought by EW

3/4 cup (6 ounces) flaked sweetened coconut 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons whole milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla or rum extract 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 ounces red candied cherries, coarsely chopped 3 ounces green candied cherries, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans 1. Arrange two approximately 12- by 12-inch square pieces of wax paper on a work surface and spread half the flaked coconut in the middle of each. 2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla or rum extract and beat until fully incorporated. With the mixer on low, add the flour in 3 batches, followed by the red and green cherries and the pecans, and stir until just combined, about 2 minutes. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a 10-inch-long log, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Transfer each log to a sheet of wax paper and roll to coat them in the coconut. Once the logs are completely covered in coconut, roll the wax paper around each log, cover in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours. 3. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and a second rack in the lower third then preheat to 375°F. 4. Slice each log crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick cookies and arrange on baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Bake, switching the baking sheets between the upper and lower racks about halfway through baking, until light golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Continue baking cookies on cooled baking sheets. DO AHEAD: The cookies can be baked ahead and stored, in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies brought by HK

1 c. sugar 1 c. peanut butter 1 egg Hershey's kisses 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Combine sugar, peanut butter, and egg together. 3. Form 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 to 3 inches apart. If it is too sticky to handle, put into refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 4. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and push a chocolate kiss into the warm cookies.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies brought by LM

Makes 24 cookies Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. of salt 1/4 tsp. of baking soda 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature 1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar 1/3 cup of granulated sugar 1 egg (beaten) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup milk chocolate chips 1/2 cup peanut butter chips 1/2 cup broken up pretzel pieces Preztel Salt or Sea Salt Directions: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and preztels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

Chocolate Mint Tree Cookies brought by MA

Chocolate Mint Tree Cookies 2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder 2 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 eggs 2 tsp instant coffee granules 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 16 ounces semisweet chocolate- melted and cooled 10 ounce bag Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses, unwrapped Mint Drizzle: 2 cups powdered sugar 2 Tbsp milk 2 Tbsp cream cheese 1/2 tsp mint extract Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and coffee granules In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in the egg mixture until incorporated. Beat in the melted chocolate. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly and the flour until fully combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit until a scoop-able, fudge-like consistency *about 30 min. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Centers should be soft and puffy. The cookie may look undercooked between the cracks. Let cool for 5 minutes before placing one Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie. Cool 15 minutes more. While cookies cool, make the mint drizzle by beating together the sugar, milk, cream cheese, and mint. Drizzle over cookies.

Bacon Oatmeal Cookies brought by AM

Bacon Oatmeal Cookies Original recipe makes 1 1/2 dozen 1/2 pound bacon 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats 7/8 cup confectioners' sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons water, or as needed 1 1/2 tablespoons real maple syrup Directions Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. When cool, chop the bacon, and set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until fluffy with an electric mixer on medium speed, then mix in egg, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl, and stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Gradually stir in the oats and bacon, about 1/3 cup of oats at a time, and cover the dough. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Thoroughly grease baking sheets. Scoop about 1/3 cup of dough per cookie, roll into balls, and place the balls at least 3 inches apart on the greased baking sheets. Use a fork dipped in water to flatten the balls slightly. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are golden brown with slightly browner edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheets 3 to 5 minutes before removing to finish cooling on racks. To make glaze, whisk confectioners' sugar, water, and maple syrup together in a bowl until smooth. Let the glaze stand about 5 minutes to slightly thicken; drizzle onto the tops of the cookies. Allow glazed cookies to stand about 20 minutes to set up before storing

Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies brought by KP

Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients --1/2 cup of Quinoa 
--1 3/4 cups flour 
--2 1/4 Teaspoons of baking soda 
 --1 1/2 teaspoons of salt 
 --8 oz butter 
--1 cup plus 2 Tbsp of sugar 
 --1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 
 --2 large eggs 
 --1 1/2 cups chocolate chips Directions 
 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees 2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. 3. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy then add eggs beat well. 4. Gradually add in flour and quinoa* to mixture then stir in chocolate chips. 5. Drop by rounded teaspoon or tablespoon depending on how big you want the cookies onto ungreased baking sheet. 6. Bake 7-10 minutes until golden brown 

*How to cook the quinoa: Soak the quinoa for 15 min - 1/2 hour in it's cooking pot (soaking helps quinoa to cook evenly, and loosens up the outer coating of saponin, which can give a bitter taste if not removed). If you don't have time for a longer soaking, use hot water and soak for five minutes. 

Stir the quinoa with your hand, and carefully pour off the rinsing water, using a fine mesh strainer. Drain quinoa well in the strainer, transfer to the cooking pot, add water in a ratio of 1.5:1 & salt if desired.

 Bring to a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid, and turn the heat down to simmer. Cook for 15 minutes.

 Remove quinoa from heat and allow to sit five minutes with the lid on. Fluff quinoa gently with a fork and serve.