Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Owen loves raisins and Caroline loves cookies.  So I mixed the two of them together and recently made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies.  There is just something about a cookie and cup of coffee that makes my heart happy!  And luckily I have two little cookie monsters that agree.
I used my aunt's trusted recipe for this classic cookie.  And as always they turned out great!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
by Carol Jones

1 cup raisins
1 cup sugar
1 cup crisco
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp all spice
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
5 Tablespoons raisin water
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour

Put raisins in a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
Cream the crisco and sugar.  Add eggs, soda, cinnamon, all spice, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla.  Add the raisin water, oats and flour.  Stir in the drained raisins, oats, and flour.  Shape into balls and put on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cookie is firm when you touch it.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

I thought I would surprise the kids this afternoon with some homemade peanut butter cookies.  I had this recipe pinned on Pinterest from Fitsugar.com.  I had all of the ingredients on hand and whipped them up.  Well, they certainly were easy to make.  Are they great?  Not really.  But I'm sure the kids will gobble them up.  

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup organic chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a small bowl, use an electric mixer to cream peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg.
3. Add rolled oats and baking soda to creamed mixture, and mix well.
4. Line two baking sheets with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.
5. Roll dough into two-inch balls, and press to flatten on the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for eight minutes or until the cookies turn slightly brown.
7. Cool cookies on a rack, and store leftovers in an airtight container.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Another recipe, from another day of baking due to the ice storm.  We were starting to run low on baking supplies, but I had all of the ingredients for this recipe.  In fact, we were able to use some of our left over Easter M & M's.  These were super good with a cup of coffee!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
by Emily Richter

1 cup margarine, melted
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal
12 oz chocolate chips
1/2 cups chopped nuts, I omitted

Add melted margarine to sugars.  Mix well.  Add water, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat well.  Add dry ingredients, and fold in oatmeal, chocolate chips, and nuts.  Chill for 30 minutes.  Drop onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Anise Icebox Cookies

Nate has adapted since marrying into my Scandinavian family.  He eats lefse, and has tried kumla and oostkaka.  He's practically a Swede, but he did ask for a German Christmas cookie this year.  He's been taking about how spicy and yummy the cookies he grew up eating were.  So, my mom found this recipe for me to try.

They were a cinch to put together.  I liked how one night I could make the dough and the next morning I could bake them up. 

The taste is not my style of cookie (I prefer sweet and soft), but they are Nate's.  He said it's just how he remembers the 'cookies of his youth' tasted like.  So, I'm taking that as a compliment!

Anise Icebox Cookies
found in December/January 2005 Taste of Home

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon aniseed

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Beat in egg.  Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves; gradually add to the creamed mixture.  Stir in pecans and aniseed.  Shape into two 10" rolls; wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for four hours.
Unwrap; cut 1/4" off the ends of each roll.  Cut dough into 1/4" slices.  Place 2" apart on baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Pilgrim Hats

Caroline helped make some little dessert cookies for Thanksgiving this year.  They were similar to the ones she made for Halloween.  But these are little pilgrim hats.  She put a little bit of tinted yellow frosting on the bottom of a minature peanut butter cup and placed it on top of an Oreo creme cookie.  I put a little frosting on the front to make a little buckle.  Voila!  A great craft activity and a tasty little treat!

Halloween Snack

Since Caroline and I like a good theme, I thought it would be fun to make some Halloween treats to go to Pre-K.  I saw these on Pinterest and thought they might also be easy for a very helpful four year old.  Was I right!  It was just the right number of steps for my kitchen helper. 

First we counted the number of cookies that came in the package.  You could use fudge-striped cookies upside down, but I couldn't find them at Target, so opted for Oreo Fudge Creme cookies instead.  Then we counted out the same number of Hershey Kisses.  And then unwrapped them. 

Then after a reminder of what not to do with frosting, lick our fingers, we put a dab of frosting on the bottom of the kiss and then pressed it in the middle of the cookie. 

 And voila Witch Hat cookies!

Chai Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I love, love, love all things pumpkin this time of year.  My heart skips a beat when I first spot the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte signage each year.  A little pumpkin spice creamer in my morning coffee really makes my day a little brighter too.  So a cookie that uses pumpkin spice kisses?!  Yes, please!

Make these Chai Pumpkin Spice cookies and have a great autumn afternoon!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

As you know, I love to bake.  The great news is that Caroline also love to help out in the kitchen.  Once every couple of weeks I have her help bake a treat for us.  I get all of the ingredients ready, Food Network style, and let Caroline dump and mix.  The latest creation was chocolate chip pudding cookies.

Pudding Cookies
by Izzy Eilts- found in the St. Paul's Lutheran Church cookbook

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 (3.3 oz) instant vanilla (or chocolate) pudding mix
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl.  Mix in flour, soda and pudding mix.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on wire rack.

Soft and Cakelike Chocolate Chip Cookies

After finding a bag of leftover Christmas M&M's we've been on a mission to use them (before we eat them all). And since my brother is a chocolate cookie snob (seriously I've never met a more picky cookie eater) I thought I would try these which promised to be booth soft and cake-like. The cookies don't disappoint. Although I prefer a more classic cookie (crisp and a little chewy), Daniel and Caroline give these a thumbs up.

Soft and Cakelike Chocolate Chip Cookies
found in 2011 Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookie magazine
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used M&M's)

Preheat oven to 375. In a mixing bowl, beat shortening for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, soda, salt, and baking powder. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Beat in sour cream and flour. Stir in chocolate pieces. Drop dough (it's soft) by rounded teaspoon (I used a tablespoon) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Happy Halloween!

I can't believe that it's already the end of October. Seriously, where did the month go? Here's one more fun activity that Caroline and I did to celebrate Halloween. Caroline was almost to young to do this snack/dessert. She lasted a couple of Nutterbutter cookie dips. She enjoyed putting the slivered almond "toenails" on the cookies. I bet you can't tell the ones that she took creative liberties with!

Witch Feet/Goblin Feet

found in the latest Disney's Family Fun magazine

1 package Nutterbutters

1 package green candy melts

1/2 package slivered almonds

Melt candy melts. Dip cookies in and lay on waxed paper. Put almonds on cookies to resemble finger/toe nails. Let dry and enjoy!

Cookie Time

Caroline recently had a playdate to decorate cookies for Halloween. Both Maria and Caroline did quite well frosting and decorating their pumpkins.

Caroline was a bit more abstract in her colors... What a fun and delicious way to celebrate the season!

Creepy Chocolate Waffle Cookies

I recently made a batch of cookies for Caroline to take to school for her last day of daycare. Since it's getting close to Halloween, I thought I'd get in the theme of things.

Growing up my mom would make chocolate waffle cookies for special occasions (mostly Christmas) and they were always a kid favorite. I guess some things never change!

I didn't realize how easy they are to make. Seriously, in no time I had cookies cooling on my counter waiting to be frosted!

Chocolate Waffle Cookies

by Gertrude Schuller (found in the Claremont UMC cookbook)

1 cup butter or margarine

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 cups flour

3 squares chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Melt chocolate and butter. Beat eggs and sugar together and mix with the melted chocolate and butter. Add flour, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Bake in a waffle iron for one minute (or until done). I used my small cookie scoop and got four cookies on the iron at the same time. Cool completely. Frost.

To make frosting:

Mix well together the butter, sugar, and milk. Bring to a boil and add the 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and frost cookies immediately.

Engagement Cookies

I'm helping my mom plan my sister's upcoming engagement party. We're all very excited about the party, meeting her fiance's family, and of course wedding planning. These cookies will be on the dessert table. Nothing too fancy, but I am using a new butter cream frosting recipe instead of the usual royal icing. I like the taste of this better, plus it's fun to use. For half of the cookies, I frosted very plain and later added Beckie and Aaron's wedding date. (my handwriting is atrocious!)

The other half I piped big free-form roses. You might remember seeing these roses on my mom's birthday cake. They are simple to make and I think the cookies look darling!

The butter cream frosting recipe I used is found on Karen's Cakes. I used the quick-crusting butter cream recipe.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

I need to make a lot of cookies (20+ dozen) for an upcoming fundraiser. Luckily, I found this recipe. It's easy, makes quite a few, and uses up leftover Halloween candy. I suppose you could make the cookie dough from scratch, but the mix makes it so simple!
I taste-tested one for research purposes, and it's delicious! Great peanut flavor with chocolate and caramel!

Chocolate Candy Cookie Cups
from Betty Crocker

1 pouch Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
water, oil, egg (as called for in mix)
18 miniature Snickers candy bars (you could use any type of chocolate candy)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water, and egg until soft dough forms.
Form dough into 36 1-inch balls; press into ungreased mini muffin cups. Cut each candy bar in half; press one candy bar into center of dough in each cup.
Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are a light golden brown. Cool completely in pan. Remove from pan and serve.
(Note: the recipe does say to top each cookie with chocolate frosting. I omitted this since it was already sweet enough).

Chocolate and Cookies - what's not to like?!

I chose the recipe for these cookies simply based on the lack of ingredients. I couldn't believe that a cookie could be made without eggs, baking powder, sugar, etc.
These moist, fudgy and rich cookies are so good! To mix things up, you could roll the balls in shredded coconut or finely ground nuts. Try these - they're so good and so easy!

Chocolate Butter Cookies
by Laurie Darling
1/4 cup butter
1 (12 oz) package milk chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup flour

Melt butter and chips together until smooth. Pour in milk and stir. Add the flour and stir well. Form into 1 inch balls (I used my small cookie scoop). Bake at 350 for 5-6 minutes.

(Make 3 1/2 dozen)

Sweet Treat!

I made this cookies for a bake sale this weekend. Just a simple sugar cookie kicked up a notch with royal icing and sprinkles. Caroline calls them "beautiful".

The Delay

Sorry for the delay in posting lately...

Our family has been pretty busy with moving. We love our new house and are still in the process of making it a home. It was completely move in ready - which is a welcomed change for us.

Today I made some cookies as a thank you for our realtor. She was so patient during our search! I was hoping for a friendly blue front door, but it got a little bright. I found my inspiration for these cookies at Bake at 350. Bridget's cookies have a lot more detail, but not bad for my first house cookies!

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

This is another recipe I made over the weekend. They are slightly chewy with great peanut butter flavor. Plus the oatmeal in the cookies add just enough texture. Fantastic! A great classic cookie!

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie

found on Cookie Madness

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream both sugars and butter. Beat in peanut butter, vanilla and egg. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to batter and stir until incorporated. Stir in oats and chips. Drop by tablespoon on a lightly greased (or lined) cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 4 dozen. (I made mine a little bigger and it made just over 2 dozen).

Hippity Hoppity Cookies

We kept the dessert on Easter really low key. Most people are too full to have a big dessert. So sugar cookies and sherbet fit the bill. I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe from Good Things Catered. The egg, flower and bunny cookies were a hit!

Hoppy Easter

I thought it would be fun for Caroline to bring some cookies to daycare this week.

Bunny sugar cookies were the perfect choice!