Super-Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

I tend to avoid making cookies for several reasons.  First, although they seem simple enough for a child to put together, they rely pretty heavily on exact measurements (something I tend to be a bit impatient for) to turn out.  Second, bite-sized desserts can be a bit of a pitfall around these parts.  Finally, if I'm going to eat a cookie, it needs to be soft.

I can maintain strong willpower against Oreos and Chips Ahoy, Nutter Butters and Nilla Wafers, but if you put a chewy cookie in front of me, I'm hard pressed to resist.  I am one to purposely underbake any cookie I make, but oftentimes, those don't even turn out very well.  Intentionally chewy cookie recipes are a bit of a holy grail for me. 

This snickerdoodle recipe not only turned out soft and delicious, but the cookies remained irresistibly chewy for days afterward.  With the faint hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, they hint of the holidays to come but feel very appropriate for Fall.  I'm thankful that half the batch went to a neighbor who just had a baby and another portion of the dough was frozen for later.  Otherwise, there would have been little willpower to keep me in check.

Super Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies
makes about 3 dozen cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3-4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the oven to 425°F. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and let it cool while you mix the dry ingredients. Stir together the flour, spices, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Whisk the sugar into the cooled butter until smooth.  Stir in the eggs into the butter-sugar mixture and add the vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just until it comes together, adding more flour as necessary until dough is able to be shaped into balls.
In a shallow bowl, mix together the white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Form small 1 1/2-inch balls of dough and roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Place them on an unlined, ungreased baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 7 minutes then remove and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack.
The dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, well-wrapped. It can also be frozen in logs.

Recipe Source: The Kitchn.com's Super Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

P.S. After all this sugar, I am looking forward to posting soon about some really delicious and HEALTHY vegetarian burritos...this dessert thing has gotten a bit out of hand lately.  Thinking I need to rekindle my relationship with Jillian Michaels stat!

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

This is a nostalgic recipe.  My mom would make this cookie a lot while we were growing up.  It's one of those recipes that we were always bound to have the ingredients on hand.  She'd throw a batch together by memory as we were getting ready for school and the first tray would be out of the oven and into our lunch boxes before we ran out the door to catch the bus.  On those days, we'd come home to rows of the chewy, chocolatey oatmeal cookies cooling on the counter.  How she didn't eat them all while we were away and they were sitting out like that, I'll never know, but they were always a welcome sight!


Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks or 16 tablespoons) butter softened or margarine
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add egg, water and vanilla and mix thoroughly until fully combined.  In another bowl or on a piece of waxed paper, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Stir into wet ingredients and mix just until a soft dough is formed.  Stir in oats and chocolate chips.   Drop cookie dough by tablespoonfuls about 1" apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes or until cookies are set, but centers are still soft (not wet).  Remove from oven, allow to cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove with a spatula and transfer onto a cooling rack or layers of paper towels to finish cooling.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Maple Almond Butter Cookies

This was a recipe I wasn't completely sold on.  Sure, I was intrigued by the idea, something like a peanut butter cookie but made with almond butter (not to be confused with a "butter cookie" with almonds...although now that I mention it, that sounds interesting too, I now have visions of little Dutch windmill cookies dancing through my head). 

The vegan batter tasted pretty good (no raw eggs to contend with so the dough was fair game!) and I don't think I could make a much healthier cookie if I tried.  But when they came out of the oven, I was disappointed.  They just weren't as good as I was hoping and I figured that it would just go in the "misses" pile. 

That was last night. 

This morning, I thought I should give them one last try.  Wow.  The cookies were soft, nutty and just slightly maple-y sweet.  I had to make myself stop after one knowing I'd already eaten breakfast (although these are so healthy, they could actually pass as a "breakfast cookie").  I'm starting to think of new variations I could play around with--adding some chopped dates or orange zest, dried cranberries or some cinnamon, substituting honey (not vegan) or agave for the maple syrup...there's a lot of potential in these power-packed bites!


Maple Almond Butter Cookies
makes 18-20 cookies
1/2 cup creamy natural style almond butter (could also try it with peanut butter)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used the oil on the top of the jar of the almond butter that I couldn't stir back in and that worked well!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or just just double the amount of one or the other)
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (you could try white flour, it would just be less nutritious or regular whole wheat flour for an even more rustic cookie)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped almonds (I used some "Almond Accents" brand sliced toasted almonds)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium mixing bowl, stir together almond butter, syrup, oil and extracts.  In a separate bowl (or let's be honest, I hate to make extra dirty dishes so I just threw the dry ingredients on top of the wet and mixed them together carefully before stirring the whole mess together--there's a reason why I can be a bit hit and miss in my baking), stir together dry ingredients and then stir into almond butter mixture, stirring just until combined.  Roll heaping teaspoons into balls, place about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Flatten slightly.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until firm on the edges, but still soft.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Taste even better the next day! 

Recipe source: Sweet+Natural

Sweets for the Sweet Part II: Samoas Bars

See?  A heart, for Valentine's Day.  Precious, huh?

Growing up, I never got to be a girl scout.  My dad got me started in 4-H (the more rural, science-y, co-ed youth development organization that displays all kinds of things at fairs--someday, I'll have to tell you the tragic story of the rhubarb cake that never made it to judging at the Hennepin County Fair...) because he had very fond memories of showing calves at fairs through his 4-H club.  I digress... I don't know if Scouts do fairs...I think they might be too busy earning badges. 

Sadly, being in 4-H meant not getting to wear cute berets and sashes and have darling names like "Brownies" (makes me hungry every time...). Despite any competition between Scouts and Clovers (I think that's what 4-H kids are called, and no, I don't think there's any animosity), whenever our neighbors who were Girl Scouts came around with those cookie orders, I loved the Samoas (or Caramel DeLites, depending on where you are, right?) so much, that I would raid my own piggy bank just to make sure I got a box to myself.  Then, I would hide the box in some remote place just to ensure that no little sibling (or chocolate and coconut-loving dad) would get a hold of my twelve precious caramel-coconutty treasures.  No wonder I was a pudgy kid, I had some serious gluttony issues...

Well, I do still love Samoas cookies and since it will be a couple weeks still before our order will be delivered (along with the requisite box of Thin Mints), I thought I would give this recipe a try.  Variations of Samoas bars are all over the blogosphere and not wanting to be outdone, I came up with my own take on them.  Many of the recipes call for melting chocolate to replicate the chocolate-coated bottom and drizzle on the top.  Please feel free to do that.  I am lazy so I just sprinkled mini chocolate chips and that worked great for me! 

Samoas Bars
Crust layer:
1/2 cup (an 8 oz stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Caramel Coconut layer:
3 cups grated sweetened coconut
1 14 oz. bag caramel candies (like Kraft brand)
3 tablespoons milk
pinch of salt

miniature chocolate chips

To assemble: Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  On a baking sheet (easier if it has sides) covered with parchment paper, spread coconut in a single layer.  Toast in 300 degree oven, checking on it and stirring it every 3-5 minutes to prevent from burning until golden brown (about 20 minutes total and I'm sorry, you can not go far during this part because it can go from golden to burned too quickly!).  Remove from oven and allow to fully cool. This step can also be done in advance and then just store the cooled coconut in an airtight container until ready to use.

To prepare the cookie base,  grease a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, mix together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix to thoroughly combine.  Stir in salt and flour until the mass comes together in a dough.  Spread dough in a thin, even layer in the bottom of the baking pan (it might be a bit sticky, just do your best).  Bake for about 25 minutes or until cookie base is light golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to fully cool.

Unwrap caramels and place in a medium, microwave-safe bowl.  Add milk and salt.  Microwave on high power, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds until caramels are melted and almost smooth (it should take between 3-4 minutes).  Once caramels are melted, stir in toasted coconut.  Immediately spread melted caramel-coconut mixture over cookie base.  While the caramel is still warm, sprinkle miniature chocolate chips over top in an even layer, pressing gently into the caramel so they stick.

Allow bars to fully cool before cutting (a pizza cutter works nicely) into bars.  I do not recommend using cookie cutters to cut into heart shapes for photographs, it's just plain wasteful for all those edges.  These were even better the second day!

Little Lemon Meringue "Cookies"

I admit, I have a bit of a hard time calling meringues cookies.  But, especially when you're dealing with lemon meringues, you have to call them something (otherwise, someone might be fooled into thinking this was a recipe for pie, right?).  Anyway, whatever you call these, I thought they would make a lovely (and surprisingly simple!) addition to a cookie exchange.  It's nice to have something that's light and guilt-free (about five calories a pop!) but still a little sweet in the midst of so many holiday treats.

Little Lemon Meringue "Cookies"
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon peel, finely grated

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper (silicone baking mats would be lovely as well--maybe someday I'll have some of those! sigh).
In a medium bowl with mixer on high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form.  With mixer still running, sprinkle in sugar gradually (about 2 tablespoons at a time) beating until peaks are stiff and glossy when beaters are lifted.  Gently fold in lemon peel.
Spoon egg white mixture into a decorating bag (or a quart sized ziploc bag with a tiny corner snipped off) fitted with a star shaped decorating bag.  Pipe meringue into small stars about a 1/2 inch apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake meringues about 1 1/2 hours until crisp but not browned.  Turn off oven and allow meringues to stand in hour 1 hour longer to dry.  Cool completely.
Peel from sheets and store in an air tight container.

Shortcut Dessert: Jam Thumbprint Cookies

It's that time of year again.  Time for the annual cookie exchanges.  Now, as much as I'd love to say that I slave over baking treats, it's not exactly true.  I don't remember if I've said this before on here, but I am definitely not a baker first.  Baking requires precision and measuring, two things I'm not especially fond of because I lack patience (and am always looking for ways to cut down on dirty dishes).  Thank heaven for boxed mixes.  This cookie recipe (and another I'm sure I'll share soon!) starts with a boxed mix and can be put together in single bowl but feels special enough for the holidays.  As long as you keep them on the under baked side, they're soft and squishy (my ideal cookie is always soft and squishy), almond-flavored sugar cookies with a little jam jewel in each center.  Bake up and exchange away (or keep them all to yourself)!

Short Cut Jam Thumbprint Cookies
1 box sugar cookie mix (suggested brand, Krusteaz)
1 egg
1 stick of butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract (or can substitute vanilla extract)
1/2 cup favorite flavor of jam or preserves (the classics would be raspberry or apricot)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl, combine egg, butter and extract.  Stir in cookie mix to form a soft dough.  Drop by small spoonfuls (about 2 teaspoons) onto a cookie sheet placing dough about 2 inches apart.  Using a (clean) thumb, press down on the middle of the dough ball to form a little indentation.  Put a small spoonful (1-2 teaspoons) of jam in the middle of each indentation.  Bake at 375 just until cookies are set, 8-10 minutes.