Toasted Sesame Seed Sugar Cookies

This recipe comes from McCormick. These cookies were quite tasty. The only problem is that I was too cheap to buy two bottles of sesame seeds, and even though I skipped adding seeds to the batter, I ran out before I could coat all of the cookies. So, I switched to toasted coconut and both versions were delicious.

Note: here is a great article on how to toast sesame seeds.
         here is a great article on how to toast coconut.

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 jars (1.62 ounces each) sesame seeds, toasted (about 1 cup), divided
   and, or toasted coconut
2 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate, melted

Directions

1. Mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add sugar; beat until well blended, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture and 1/4 cup of the toasted sesame seed on low speed until well mixed.

2. Refrigerate dough 2 hours or until firm. (I’m sure I didn’t wait for 2 hours).

3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in remaining 3/4 cup toasted sesame seed. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Drizzle cookies with melted chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is set.

The recipe says it makes 6 dozen, but I don’t know if I got that many. I may have made bigger cookies though.

THE Soft Ginger Cookies of my Dreams

I LOVE soft ginger cookies, but the "snap" variety...not so much.  I have been looking for the perfect soft ginger cookie recipe for almost ten years.  I would even call it a quest.  I have tried more recipes than I can count.  They have never been "just right"- you know, soft enough, gingery enough, thick enough, etc.,.  Then I stumbled upon this little number. They are just what I have been looking for all these years.  Dunk them in some cold milk and you're in heaven. 

Plus, this recipe makes about five dozen cookies!  We were able to share with neighbors and have a couple dozen left.  That is until Holly somehow got the container off the table and ate ALL of them.  Who knew a Basset Hound could do that?  I guess they really are THAT good.

From The Sisters' Cafe

2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. shortening

2 eggs

1/2 c. molasses

4 c. flour (I used half whole wheat and half white flour)

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 pkg. white chocolate chips (optional-I opted against them)

Mix first four ingredients well, then add the remaining ingredients.  Roll into balls and roll in sugar.  Crystal or raw sugar is the prettiest.  Bake at 350 degrees for 11 to 13 minutes.  I think they stay softer if you stay closer to 11 minutes.

The shortening is a drawback for me, but I think it may be the key to these cookies.  I'm going to try them with butter, but I fear the butter flavor might interfere with their greatness.  I think if you want to try butter, it would be best to chill the dough for awhile so they don't spread out too much.

Lemon Whoopie Pies

 

 

I thought I would save time and just direct you to this link.
http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2008/04/lemon-whoopie-pies/

I made these today. I followed the recipe exactly except that I made them smaller – about 1 Tablespoon of batter for each cookie. The plan was to give them away, but I couldn’t part with them. So much for the weekly exercise – now I’m going to have to start all over again.

Coconut Macaroons

 

This recipe comes from Alton Brown.

Click HERE to see him make them. I found this video to be helpful.

I made these for neighbor gifts last year. It’s a good thing I gave them away, or else I would have eaten every one of them myself. I didn’t top mine with chocolate – they were quite tasty with out it. These cookies do not taste like the macaroons you get from the store – they are so much better!

P.S. I converted some of Alton’s measurements to cups so that they are easier to measure. 

Ingredients:

2 (7 to 8-ounce) packages sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 C sweetened condensed milk
Pinch kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites at room temperature 
2/3 granulated sugar

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 ounce vegetable shortening
2 ounces finely chopped dry-roasted macadamia nuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325

Combine the coconut with the sweetened condensed milk, salt and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Alton used his hands, but I found a wooden spoon to be sufficient.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to whip the whites until medium peaks form, 6 to 7 minutes.

Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds onto a parchment-lined half sheet pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately transfer the parchment with the macaroons to a cooling rack. Cool completely before topping.

Combine the chocolate chips and shortening in a small bowl and microwave until melted.

Dip the cooled cookies in the chocolate mixture, sprinkle with the chopped macadamia nuts and place on parchment paper to set, about 30 minutes.

Sugar Cookies

This is a great sugar cookie recipe that I got from my sister-in-law, Dolly. Jessica, tell Taylor I'm sorry it took me so long to get this posted :)

Sugar Cookies:

Cream:
1 c. butter or shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar

Add:
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. sour cream

Add:
4 c. flour (more if needed)
1 1/2 tsp b. soda
1 tsp salt

If your dough is really sticky/tacky, then you may need to add a little more flour... just don't add too much. Chill dough for at least an hour. Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch (or a little thicker) on a floured surface (helps to make sure you rolling pin stays floured as well). Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes - DO NOT OVER BAKE! They will taste like any other dry sugar cookie, if you do. Error on the side of under cooked - they shouldn't really have any brown on them.

It's just as important to use a good frosting recipe as it is to use a good cookie recipe - so that you end up with a great sugar cookie. Here's the one I use, in case you don't have one:

Frosting:
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening (or use all butter if you don't care for shortening)
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbl milk
5 - 6 c powdered sugar (I'm not exactly sure how much I use - I just add a little at a time until it's at the consistency that I like)
A few dashes of salt

Beat butter and shortening together. Add powdered sugar about a half cup at a time until it's smooth and stiff. Add milk, vanilla, and salt, and mix well. Add a bit more p. sugar to get it back to the right consistency, if needed.

4-H Brownies

Its funny you should ask for a brownie recipe. I'm getting all my recipes in one place, and I just typed this one up today. I got this when we were doing 4-H at our house. This is our "go to" brownie recipe. They are not fancy, but really yummy, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. I'll post a picture next time we make them.

1 stick plus 2 Tbsp. butter softened, not melted
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing well. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter batter. Mix it well using an electric mixer. Spread batter in a greased pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool for at least 1 hour before serving. If you can last that long you have better will power than we do!

I like these better when you cream the butter and sugar really well, about 4 minutes. If I'm taking them somewhere I sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

These are my all time favorite cookies. These cookies make an appearance at my kids' lemonade/cookie stand every year. Last year I baked 3 batches of cookies and we still sold out in 45 minutes. Now you don't have to wait for the kids' lemonade stand (or pay 25 cents) to have one of these yummy cookies.

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 c. quick oats

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 c. chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine and blend flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 min.

**I really think one of the things that make these cookies so good is the length of time that you bake them. I always take them out before they look completly cooked all of the way through. As soon as the edges turn golden brown I take them out of the oven. Even if the center of the cookie does not look done, take them out anyway and leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for 5 min. After 5 min the cookies should be set up enough to transfer to a cooking rack.

Banana oatmeal choc chip cookies

Here's another way to use up your old bananas. I know the words "banana, oatmeal, and cookie" sound like an old person (no offense) cookie, but they are yummy and very soft (and easy).

Mix:
3/4 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c mashed bananas (about 2-3)

Stir in:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp b soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (a little extra never hurts)
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Add:
2 c instant oats
1 c choc chips

Cook at 400 for 8-10 min. Don't overcook!

Waffle Iron Cookies

This is a great recipe for summertime because you don't have to turn on the oven to make these delicious chocolate cookies. This is one of the first things I ever made for Steve - and one of the few sweet treats that he enjoys. (I know, maybe I should have held out for someone who could more appreciate the greatness of my baking!)

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

1/2 C butter

2 eggs

3/4 C sugar

1 C flour

1 tsp vanilla

1 C chopped nuts (optional)

In a small bowl, melt together unsweetened chocolate and butter - let cool. In a medium bowl, beat eggs - add chocolate mixture and combine. Add sugar, flour, vanilla and nuts - combine. Bake in waffle iron for about 2 minutes - do not over cook. You can make the cookies as big or as little as you like, because they should cook evenly no matter how big they are.

I used my medium scoop and got about 18 good sized cookies. You could easily get 2 dozen small cookies.

Note:

• Make sure your chocolate mixture is not too hot, or it will cook your eggs.


• I usually burn the first batch because I'm never sure how to work the waffle iron correctly.


• If these cookies are baked too long they get super crunchy. They should be crisp on the outside and cakelike in the middle.


• In the photo they are glazed, but they are also great with chocolate frosting (I Like), dusted with powdered sugar or just plain (Steve).

Blue Ribbon Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are the best ones I've had. They seem to have just the right amount of filling to crust ratio. This recipe was passed down to me from my mom, and has won it's fair share of awards. They are pretty easy to make, and have become my go to recipe for something a little more special than cookies.

CRUST:
1 C soft butter
dash of salt
1/2 C powdered sugar
2 C flour

FILLING:
4 eggs
2 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1/3 C lemon juice

CRUST: Combine butter, salt powdered suagar and 2 C flour. Press into a 9 X 13 pan. Bake @ 350 for 15 - 20 minutes until edges are slighty brown. Let Cool slightly.

FILLING: Beat eggs, add sugar, 1/4 C flour and lemon juice - whisk until combined and pour onto cooled crust. Bake @ 350 for 25 minutes or until set. Let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into bars.

Note: It seems like it takes forever for the crust to brown. Sometimes I just take it out even if the edges are not brown. The crust doesn't have to be completely cooled down, but if it's too hot the egg mixture kind of starts to cook in top of the crust.