Oatmeal Carrot Cookies

Oatmeal Carrot Cookies

In all honesty, I was not excited for these cookies.  I do not like carrots.  Any vegetables for that matter.  So making cookies, something that I love and look forward to, WITH veggies??!! Forget it.  Seems like a waste of time and good ingredients.  Let's just skip these!  Who will ever know?  Anyway, who is in charge of this blog anyway?  I did set out on a journey, though.  I do want to make ALL the cookies in this book.  Finish something I start. Persevere, you know.  Awww! So I caved. I made them.

They are a soft cookie.  My daughter says they taste like banana bread.  "You don't even taste the carrots in them."  So after letting the entire story of  "Green Eggs and Ham" go through my head.  I tried them.  I did. I did.  I cannot say that I will "eat them in a box with a fox", but I survived and they were ok.  Now, my older daughter thinks they are great and my younger daughter loves that I let her eat them for breakfast (they have veggies in them you know).  My son didn't even know what was in them and he took one look at them and said, "Yuck!"  (translated to No Thanks, of course).

All joking aside. These are healthy, low calorie cookies (80 per cookie). They use honey instead of sugar.  They have oatmeal which is a good source of iron and other nutrients.  And, of course, they have carrots! So as a breakfast item, they are not all that bad.  They were easy to mix up and easy to bake.  They taste very much like carrot cake to me - minus the cream cheese frosting :)  If I was to make them again, I would probably chop up the carrots into smaller pieces for my own texture issues, but most will like them just as they are.

If you are a veggie lover, I'd give them a 4 out of 5 rating.  If you are more like me, the rating will drop to more of a 3 out of 5 rating.

Oatmeal Carrot Cookies
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup shredded carrot

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets.  In large bowl, combine all ingredients except nuts and carrot; beat at low speed until well blended.  Stir in nuts and carrots.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets.

2. Bake at 350 for 8 to 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheets.  Cool and store between sheets of waxed paper in a tightly sealed container.

My Mom's Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

So I took a break from the book and made an old favorite.  I made my Mom's Peanut Butter Cookies.  They are so good and they remind me of my Mom.  She was a great lady and I miss her still.  She is with the Lord probably dancing, bowling and maybe even playing Bingo.  Who knows?  I do know that she is with Jesus.

Anyway, back to cookies.  This recipe calls for shortening and cream of tartar.  I'm sure you could substitute butter or margerine for the shortening.  I think shortening makes them more crunchy and I like them that way.  Butter would make them more of a softer cookie. Play around with it if you like.  I love the cream of tartar flavor in this cookie. I don't see it on all peanut butter cookie recipes.  Try adding it to your recipe and see if it adds a little more "hmm" to yours.

The dough came out a little dry this last time. I'm wondering if it's because I used crunchy instead of creamy peanut butter.  I have made a note to use less flour if using crunchy and see if that makes a difference next time.  They baked fine and they tasted wonderful so I'm not sure that it matters.  It was just kind of frustrating trying to roll them into balls.  You had to press them together a little more.  I guess it was my work out for the day.

Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
dash of salt

The extent of my Mom's instructions are roll in small balls and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.  Good Luck.  Just kidding.  Here is how I mix them up.

1. Cream together shortening, brown sugar and white sugar.  Add egg, vanilla and peanut butter.  Mix well.  Add flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt.  Mix together.
2. Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet.  Dip fork into small bowl of sugar and press down on cookie.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Coconut Macadamia Jumbos

Coconut Macadamia Jumbos

The more I eat these cookies, the more I like them.  At first, I was like,"These are good, but nothing special".  Then  I take another bite and I'm thinking, "These are really good!" These cookies were sampled by the neighbor kids who came to swim and they all said they were, "Great!"  The family review was also very favorable to these.  Andy, 8 yr old, has said several times that these are really good cookies.  My husband who hates coconut tried one and said they were good.  "There IS coconut, but not too much."

As for making these?  These were easy.  We don't eat a lot of coconut so I had to make sure I had that and macadamia nuts.  Otherwise, they mixed up like normal cookies.  Baked up nice.  The first batch did turn out doughy, but brown on the bottom so I did lower the temp to 325 and baked them for 12 minutes.  Here is the recipe:

Coconut Macadamia Jumbos
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup coconut
1 (3 1/2 oz) jar macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; mix well.  Stir in coconut and macadamia nuts.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

2. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Chocolate Macadamia Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks

Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Yum!

These were a great improvement over the last cookies.  Yum!  I've eaten store-bought macadamia cookies, but I have never baked with white chocolate or macadamia nuts.  Surprising, I know, but true.  I found they were a little expensive!  Wow!  Luckily, the cookies proved to be worth it.

They mixed up really easy.  Pretty much like most cookies.  I have learned that cocoa requires more mixing time.  It usually looks really dry and then all of sudden it mixes into a fudge like dough.  I'm always tempted to add another egg and then I tell myself, "Just wait!".  The baking bar and nuts were easy to chop up (Cutco knives may have something to do with that) making these a breeze to make.

The reviews on this cookie were much better the previous ones (Coconut Macaroons).  Jenn said they were "Super delicious!".  Rod said, "Very tasty."  Andy and Callie them 1000 and 500 stars respectively.  I give them a 4 out 5.  Very good, but seem to be missing something to make them super spectacular.  Waiting on our outside unbiased reviewer to weigh in on this....Mary?

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Macadamia Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks


3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz white chocolate baking bar, into 1/2 inch chunks
1 (3.5 oz) jar macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In large bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add almond extract and egg; blend well.  Add flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; mix well.  Stir in white chocolate chunks and nuts.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

2. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool for one minutes; remove from cookie sheets.

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

I was really excited to make these cookies!  They looked really easy AND I had bought them at the store and had really liked them.  Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed.  At least with this recipe.  Their texture was more like a bar than cookie (soft, squishy) and there was just plain too much coconut.  Maybe if I make them smaller it would help. Since the dough only makes 12 cookies, we didn't have a chance to test that theory out.

To their benefit, my husband, the coconut hater, tried one and said, "It's the best coconut cookie I've ever had." My daughter didn't like the almond extract in them.  Final say was that the recipe only made 12 cookies and they lasted quite a few days in this house.  They all got eaten, but barely.  I give them 2 out of 5.

Here's the recipe in case you do want to try them,

Coconut Macaroons

2 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tblsp all-purpose flour
dash of salt
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 cups coconut

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour cookie sheet.  In medium bowl, beat egg whites until frothy.  Add sugar, flour, salt and almond extract; blend well.  Stir in coconut.  Drop dough by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto greased and floured cookie sheet.

2. Bake at 325 degrees for 13 to 17 minutes or until set and light golden brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheet.

Chocolate Raisin Smile Cookies

First of all, I did not fall off the face of the earth.  I am still here and actually made a few cookies in my absence.  Did I say in the beginning that I didn't have anything to do?  I admit I was a little misleading with that comment.  Hopefully, you will forgive me for that.

Chocolate Raisin Smile Cookies?  Doesn't chocolate and raisins seem like a weird combination?  Well, I thought so, but since we are trying new things I made them as is.  We made the small and "giant" variations of this cookies.  The small ones were about the right amount for a nice snack, but they were more difficult to decorate with smiles and other expressions.  The Giant cookies spread out more and gave you, of course, more space to be creative.  See pictures below:

Decorations by Jenn

So many expressions!

Everyone loved these cookies.  Andy gave them a 1099 stars!  Callie just said they were "yummy".  I thought they were really good, especially since they had chocolate.  I have yet to find a cookie that is just "out of this world".  Thus, I'll give them a 4 out 5 in hopes of finding that one awesome cookie that I just can't live without.

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Raisin Smile Cookies

Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 cup raisins

Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar

1 drop red food coloring

2 drops yellow food coloring

2 to 4 tsp milk

1.Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and butter.  Beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well.  Add flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; mix well.  Stir in raisins.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  For "Giant" cookies, use 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie and place about 3 inches apart.

2. Bake at 350 for 10 to 14 minutes or until set.  Cool 1 minute and remove from cookie sheets.

3. In medium bowl, combine all frosting ingredients, adding enough milk for the desired consistency.  Using a decorating bag, make faces on cookies.

Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cookies

Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cookies

A healthy cookie?  Isn't that an oxymoron? The notes off to the side of this recipe say that this cookie has about 3 grams of fat compared to 8 grams found in a traditional cookie.  It eliminates the eggs and nuts and reduces the butter, shortening, chips and brown sugar.  The calories drop from 130 to 80 calories per cookie.


I noticed on the first batch that they browned nicely, but the inside was still a little doughy so I lowered the temp to 350 and baked them a couple minutes longer (mine took about 11 1/2 minutes at this temp).


How do they taste?  Really good!  They definitely are not as sweet as a traditional cookie and the mini chocolate chips make them less chocolaty, but they are light and tasty.  They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Warning:  Since they are lighter and not as sweet it is easy to keep eating these.  You can easily end up getting the same number of calories. 


My kid reviewers say these are their favorite next to the Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches.  Andy gave them 100 stars and Callie gave them a thumbs-up. Adults in the house have give them a surprisingly 4 out of 5.


Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cookies
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter and shortening; beat until light and fluffy. Add yogurt and vanilla; blend well.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt; mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

2. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches

Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches

I looked at the recipe for these and thought, "The kids are going to love these."  I didn't think I'd like them, though. Once again, I was wrong!  These were soooo gooood!  My daughter said they tasted like Oreo Cakesters.  I've never had those, but they tasted just like the Hostess Cupcakes. The cookie part was more like cake than cookie.  I thought the filling would taste like frosting, but it doesn't.  It is a light and creamy filling.

Although they taste great, these get my vote for the messiest cookie so far.  The cocoa powder went everywhere and so did the powdered sugar.  Let's just say the mixer got a nice thorough cleaning.  Besides being messy, the recipe was really easy.  When making the filling, I suggest stirring it up by hand a little before using the mixer.  This may cut down on the mess. The only ingredient I don't normally have on hand was the marshmallow creme.

The only thing we need to figure out for this recipe is how to store them.  I have a nice big container, but they got soggy after a day or so.  I ended up keeping the lid off slightly from the container and it dried them out a bit.  With cats and a dog around, this is probably not the best idea overall, though.  Any suggestions?

What to do with the extra filling?  My mom used to put frosting inside saltine crackers.  The sweet and salty flavor is great together.  It works great with this filling also.

Cracker-wich

These cookies got a warm response from all age groups.  The kids did love them, like I expected.  The adults did also.  The only one upset was the college student who didn't get one because they were all gone!  We give them 4 out of 5 rating.  I think the kids might give them a 5, though.

Here is the recipe:

Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches
Cookie
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Filling
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow creme
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
3 to 4 tsp milk

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease cookie sheets (I only did this prior to the first batch).
3. In large bowl, combine sugar and 1/2 cup butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and egg; blend well.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets.
2. Bake at 375 for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges appear set.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet.  Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.
3. Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine all filling ingredients; beat 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.  To make sandwich cookies, spread filling between 2 cooled cookies, placing flat sides together.  Repeat with remaining filling and cookies.  Store in tightly covered container.

Caramel Frosted Banana Drops

Caramel Frosted Banana Drops

This is a very difficult cookie to make in this house.  The reason? Because my kids love bananas and very rarely leave any to get ripe for baking!  I had to announce to the entire house that no one could eat the last 2 bananas.  Guards were posted and had to hold off angry mobs that wanted these treasured items.  Finally, they were ripe enough to bake (they could of used another day of ripening , but I couldn't take the chance).

Prior to Frosting.

Of course, cookies can not be allowed to be completely cooled in this house prior to taste testing so some were eaten before they were frosted.  Everyone agreed that they tasted like banana bread.  They are not super sweet so they are probably pretty healthy if you don't frost them.  We eventually did frost most of them.


Ingredients: You'll notice there is no egg in this cookie.  I thought maybe it was a miss print, but the banana must be the replacement for the egg.  My banana bread recipe has eggs, though, so it did surprise me.  There was also no baking powder or baking soda.  That explains why they did not rise or spread out much.  They taste good, though, even with these differences.  I'm not a 100% sure I made the frosting correctly.  It said to melt butter and brown sugar until the sugar dissolved.  It never really dissolved.  My burners are intermittent and I used a non-stick pan - both of which I have heard can affect the results of cooking.  It tastes fine, but I'm wondering if it is suppose to be creamier???


Rating within the family?  The 2 littlest ones love these.  Rod, Jenn and I are torn.  They are good, but compared to the other ones that we have had, we just can't give them as high a rating.  We decided to give them a 3 out of 5 (littlest ones give them, "YUM!!" rating).

Here is the recipe:

Banana Frosted Banana Drops

Cookie Ingredients
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup (1 large) mashed banana
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Frosting
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 to 3 Tblsp milk

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add banana and 2 tsp vanilla; blend well.  Add flour and salt; mix well.  Stir in walnuts.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  (I pressed them down a little so they would bake more evenly).

2. Bake at 350 for 9 to 14 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheets.  Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.

3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter.  Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly.  Cool slightly.  Stir in powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanill and enough milk for desired spreading consistency.  Frost cooled cookies.

Cherry Poppy Seed Twinks

Cherry Poppy Seed Twinks

These were a lot of fun to make.  Mostly, because my 4 year old helped me. First of all, you mix powdered sugar with butter together.  I suggest wearing a scarf over your face for the dust storm that develops.  Once the dust settles, you can mix up the rest of the cookies.  Callie looked at the poppy seeds and asked, "Why are you putting cat litter in the cookies?"  I looked at the jar and had to agree.  It did look just like cat litter.  I had her taste a few in her hand and she slowly spit them back into her hand.  I didn't think she would even try to lick the beaters after that, but she did and she said, "They are so YUMMY!"

Ready for the oven!

The "Twinks" were easy to make and required very few ingredients (see recipe below).  We decided that instead of vanilla, we will try lemon juice next time.  We tried cherry jam in some and raspberry jam in others.  Both were great!  These cookies cook at a lower temp than most cookies and thus require a longer baking time (mine took 18 minutes).  Be careful to bake them all the way thru.  Otherwise, the jelly falls through the cookie (see picture below).  They still taste good, but you loose most the jam.

Ooops!

So far these are my favorite cookie.  All the kids loved them which is quite an accomplishment.  I give a few cookies each week to a friend of mine to get a non-bias opinion.  They are delivered via her son in our car pool.  Ryan stated that his mom may not receive them this week because he may eat them all first.

These get my first 5 out 5 rating!  My outside cookie critic, Mary, gave them a 4.75 out of 5. She gave the shortbread cookies from a couple weeks ago a 5 out of 5 and they are " THE standard by which all other cookies will forever be judged!!!"

Cherry Poppy Seed Twinks

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla (or lemon juice?)

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tblspn poppy seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cherry preserves (other flavors are good too)

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees.  In large bowl, combine powdered sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla (or lemon juice) and egg; blend well.  Add flour, poppy seed and salt; mix well. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

2. With thumb, make imprint in center of each cookie.  Fill each with about 1/2 teaspoon preserves.

3. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

Fresh Orange Cookies

Fresh Orange Cookies

These cookies are more like bite size cakes than cookies.  When fresh out of the oven, they bounce back to the touch.  When cooled, they have a crusty top, but the center is still cake like.  Once frosted, it a nice soft, orangy cake.  Yum!

The dough is more like cake batter also.  It is sticky so be prepared to use a spoon and spatula to get them to the cookie sheet.  They baked up nicely and did not stick to the pan even though you do NOT grease the pan.  Initially, this texture worried me.  I thought they were going to come out flat as pancakes.  I was calculating how much flour I should add. Then, the first one came out of the oven and I didn't add a thing.

Ingredients:  Again, I am surprised to add sour cream to cookies. I had orange/peach/mango juice instead of plain orange juice.  I had never zested an orange before.  I know pretty weird, but I hadn't.  I only got 1 tablespoon of peel from a whole orange.  I stopped because I didn't know if anyone wanted oranges right then and didn't want to waste them.  The dough smelled plenty orangy so I didn't worry.  Now, I'm thinking I should do all 3 tablespoons.  They are still tasty, but a little more might be nice.

Critics weighed in prior to the first cookie coming out of the oven, though.  The beater lickers decided they did not like the flavor.  The little one, who always licks the beaters clean, did not even finish hers. I need my non-chocolate bias critic to weigh in on this one.  We shall wait for a rating on this one......

Next up?  Cherry Poppy Seed Twinks

Here is the recipe:
Cookies 
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons grated orange peel

Frosting
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add sour cream and eggs; blend well.  Add all remaining cookie ingredients; mix well.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
2. Bake at 375 for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Immediately, remove from cookie sheet.
3. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine all frosting ingredients, adding enough orange juice for desired spreading consistency.  Frost cool cookies.  If desire a more glazed look, frost while cookies are still warm.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Choc. Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are definitely hitting the target.  They have chocolate and lots of it! Instead of making just Chocolate Chip Cookies we decided on the Chocolate Chocolate Chip variation.  I also couldn't resist adding a few extra chocolate chips.  You can never have too many, can you? The recipe is at the bottom.

One thing I noticed with adding the cocoa.  The dough initially became kinda powdery.  I started to get a little nervous.  I thought maybe I forgot something!  The more I mixed it, though, the more it began to form together and was just fine.

I decided to compare this recipe with my choc chip cookie recipe (originally from my mom).  I usually make mine with margarine instead of butter.  My Mom's recipe also calls for 1 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs and thus 2 cups of flour.  I also add walnuts to mine.  Both are good.  I think my loyalty will keep me with my Mom's recipe, but these are tempting!

Everyone in the family has enjoyed them and I don't believe they will lasting a total of 24 hours in this house. We had a few extra critics this week - a friend of mine and her 2 kids (ages 6 and 4).  The 4 yr old said they were "Yummilicious".  I think she created a new word!  I'd have to agree with her.

Still waiting to see if my weekly critic has received her allotment.  They were delivered via her husband.  Will they make it?

Here is the recipe:
1 cup butter
3/4 cup packed br sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet choc chips (I used 2 cups)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In large bowl, combine br sugar, sugar and butter.  Beat until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and egg; blend well.  Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes (mine were 9 minutes).

NEXT Up?  Fresh Orange Cookies

Easy Brown Sugar Shortbread Puffs

"The Puffs"

"Flattened"

Drizzled

This may turn out to be the easiest cookie I ever make.  There are only 5 ingredients that the majority of people have on-hand (butter, brown sugar,vanilla, egg yolk and flour).  Now, if you add the drizzle on the top then you have to add 2 more ingredients (powdered sugar and milk), but that's pretty easy too.

I did end up changing it slightly.  It said to just "drop them by teaspoons onto the cookie sheet", but I found, at least for me, they did not cook all the way through before browning on the bottom.  My daughter said they tasted fine this way, but I decided to flatten them before I put them in the oven.  I guess that takes the "Puff" out of these, but not the flavor.

I tried something new with the drizzle.  I've heard to mix it up and then put it in a baggie and cut the tip off to drizzle.  I've done this in the past and it works great!  I decided why not mix the ingredients up in the bag - save a dish?  Well, initially I thought, "This is not working."  As I kept mixing and smudging, it all mixed together and turned out just fine.  You just have to watch the corners.

The puffed cookies were soft.  The flattened ones became crunchy when cooled.  The cookies by themselves were good, but the drizzle gave them that little added touch of sweet.  They will probably be really good with coffee...  Oh yeah, Yum!

The reviews so far have been good on these cookies.  I liked them much better than the last ones.  Drizzle is much better than frosting, in my opinion.  My daughter kept snitching them all night so I think she liked them a lot.  My 8 year old actually tried them which in itself is a compliment.  He said they were, "Very Good".  My husband said they were "good".  His mind seemed on other things last night so I'm not sure whether his review is real accurate this week.  The little 4 year old has been sick so we'll have to wait for her review.  Poor little one.

At this point (without the little ones vote) this cookie gets a 4.5 out of 5.

Next up?  Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Yeah, I know, I found this funny too.  We've already decided we'll be doing one of the variations listed.

Newsflash on Frosted Cashew Cookies

Okay.  So the rating on these cookies may have been a little premature.  My husband and kids took them for a sleepover at Grandma's this weekend and Grandma gave them a wonderful review!  I took the remaining cookies to my Monday night class and got several great comments on them.  One friend wants the recipe and another loved them and wants samples of ALL upcoming cookies.

I guess that means that we should upgrade the rating to at least a 4 out 5.  I guess I need a panel of reviewers for this.  Especially, because of my chocolate bias....Hmmm.

Frosted Cashew Cookies

Frosted Cashew Cookies

My trusty helper

So my first recipe had a few surprises.  I don't think I've ever made a cookie with sour cream in it.  I also don't think I have ever browned butter before.  I thought they would start from easiest to most complicated.  If this is the easiest, I'm in trouble.  Just kidding.  These were actually pretty easy to make and normal ingredients except the sour cream.  I did have to go buy some cashews because if they are in the house they usually don't last too long.

The critique of the cookie has not hit rave reviews from the younger ones.  The 4 yr old took one bite and handed back.  The 8 yr old looked and it and said, "No thanks."  Good news is my 16 yr old liked them. Actual response was, "YUM!"  My husband's response was raised eyebrows and "I like them.  I need coffee, but I like 'em."  He also added that he is not as addicted to chocolate as I am so that is why he likes them so much more than me.  My response is not as positive since I'm not a huge fan of frosted cookies and then there is that lack of chocolate content.  For frosted cookies they are pretty good.  The browned butter gave the frosting a nutty flavor to go with the cookie.  I guess that "nutty" flavor versus a "bitter" flavor means we did it correctly.

Overall, the star rating is about a 3.5 out of 5.  Bake again?  Not sure....

Next up?  "Brown Sugar Shortbread Puffs"

The Baking Adventure Begins

As I looked at the New Year, I decided it was time to do something new.  It's not like I do anything anyway.  Come on I'm a stay-at-home mom for goodness sake.  Sure I took on homeschooling 3 kids 3 years ago, but that's easy.  And co-coordinating a MOPs group is such a breeze.  And that college class that I added this Spring, that won't take up any of my time.  I need something to fill that void.  That endless space of time when my husband leaves on Monday to travel for work until Friday leaving me to care for his perfect children that are always so helpful and joyful.  But what could I do?  That was the question....  

Then it came to me.  I was grabbing down my recipe box in order to make chocolate chip cookies when I glanced over and saw the huge mound of recipe magazines and cookbooks sitting on my shelf.  I asked myself, "When was the last time I pulled one of those out and made something new?" The answer was at least months if not a year.  Maybe more?

I make the same cookies month after month.  They are the same chocolate chip cookies that won a Blue Ribbon at the State Fair when I was in 4-H in High School.  Okay, that was near 30 years ago.  But hey, I never hear anyone complain about them, and I have yet to throw any away.  Why change a good thing?

So I decided to focus on cookies and I decided that I would start at the front of a book and work my way thru. My first book that chose is Pillsbury's "Best Cookies Cookbook" copyright 1997.  Yes, I buy alot of books thinking I'm going to try something new and never get there.  That's why I'm creating this blog on top of it.  I mean just making cookies will not fill that entire void of time. My goal is to make one recipe a week and post my critic and probably more importantly my family's critic of the chosen cookie.  Since the family includes a 4 yr old up to 40 something, we'll get a view from every age group.

I know some of you are going to say I'm already behind by 4 weeks.  I planned to start, but then some major family happenings occurred and I pushed off the start time.  Remember all that free time I talked about?  It doesn't really exist, but we'll try to ignore that fact okay?

First cookie up "Frosted Cashew Cookies".  They've been made and review will follow shortly.  Hopefully, pictures too?