Cardamom Shortbread

After my disappointment with the Red Velvet cupcakes, I knew this one would be a hit. I had made this as actual shortbread wedges years ago and people liked it. My gamble this time was how to make them bit-sized. I decided to bake it in a round pan and then, while it was still a bit warm, use a round cookie cutter to cut mini shortbreads for the tea party. It paid off and they were just the right size. I will definitely keep this recipe to use both as a true shortbread wedge as well as a cookie option.

Cardamom Shortbread

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1 t. vanilla
2/3 c. flour
1 t. ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 350º. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in oats and vanilla. In a small bowl, sift together flour and cardamom. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms. Press into a greased 8-inch round shortbread mold or a 9-inch round cake pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife. Invert onto a cutting board. If necessary, tap edge of pan on cutting board. Cut warm shortbread into wedges. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes 6-8 servings.

Cry Babies

These cookies are chunky and spicy. I have to say, though, that I don't think I am a spicy cookie person. I suppose that means I can cull the spicy cookies from my recipe boxes now!! I do like the raisin oatmeal cookies, but the molasses was too much for me. For those who enjoy spice cookies, these might be right up your alley. I used chopped almonds instead of walnuts, rolled oats, and butter instead of the shortening. I don't know if that changed the texture or not. The batter was so smooth, probably from the sifted dry ingredients, that I expected them to melt down as they cooked. But as you can see from the picture, they stayed almost the same size as they started. I don't know why they are called "Cry Babies", I suppose it is because the little ones "cry" for more? They would have been better if they ended up softer, perhaps I cooked them a tad too long?

Note: I took these to a potluck, and there was only one left at the end, so people must like spicy cookies!!

Cry Babies

2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. shortening
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. molasses
1 t. vanilla
2 c. oats
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. walnuts
1 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Sift together first 5 ingredients and set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar.
4. Stir in egg, milk, molasses, and vanilla.
5. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 15 minutes and remove to wire rack. Store in airtight container. Makes about 3-4 dozen cookies.

Snickerdoodle Spritz

If you like Snickerdoodles, you will like this recipe. I made these for my family for Valentine's Day. On the first batch I followed the recipe and used parchment paper. But, ditched the paper for the rest of the cookies because the dough wouldn't "stick" to the parchment paper. I had to wait until the pans cooled off between batches, but the old-fashioned technique worked just fine, and I didn't need any cooking spray on the pan!! I also removed the cookies to cool on a wire rack instead of cooling them on the cookie sheet.

Snickerdoodle Spritz

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/8 t. nutmeg
1 T vanilla extract
2/3 c. powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
2 c. flour
1/4 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or coat it with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the butter, nutmeg, vanilla, and powdered sugar until creamy and light.
3. Add the egg yolks, and beat again until combined.
4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour, then the cream, beating until just combined. The mixture should be very soft.
5. Transfer the dough to a cookie press with a large star tip. Squeeze the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between them.
6. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture over the cookies.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges begin to color.
8. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to an airtight container. Makes 24 cookies.

George's Shortbread Cookies

This family recipe can be traced back to a family friend of my grandparents' named George Jones, she gave the recipe to my grandmother and we have been making them ever since. These shortbread cookies are quite versatile. My mother always colored half of the batter red and made little red & white worms to twist into candy cane cookies. People LOVE this recipe, the cookie melts in your mouth. I like them because they taste great, they store well, and you can make them into a log to cut into cookies. This is what I did this time around, it is nice an quick. This recipe made two long logs, but I could have made three smaller ones and gotten more cookies. Logs are great because you can roll them in the appropriate color sugar for the event. On Valentine's day you can use pink or red, Independence Day you can use red, white, and blue sprinkles, etc. I tried stirring in some mini chocolate chips the last time I baked these cookies and they turned out great. This is a large recipe, simply cut in half if you don't need so many cookies.

George's Shortbread Cookies

2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
4 c. flour
food coloring (optional)

1. Cream butter with sugar.
2. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, blending well. (If you are coloring the dough add the food coloring now)
3. Cover with plastic wrap (or make into logs) and refrigerate at least 10 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
5. Prepare cookies in desired manner (slice logs, make candy canes, etc.) and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.
6. Leave cookies on the pan for a little bit before transferring them to a wire rack. Be careful when removing from cookie sheet.
7. Store in airtight container.

Spritz Cookies

This recipe has been in my family since at least my grandmother, perhaps longer. We always do these at Christmas time, and I did my batch today. You will need a cookie gun for these, and some almond extract.

Spritz Cookies

1 c. butter, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
3 egg yolks
1 t. almond extract
dash salt
2 1/4 c. flour

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until creamy.
3. Add egg yolks, almond extract, and salt. Blend well.
4. Add flour in three installments, incorporating between each addition.
5. Using a cookie press, make desired shapes and sprinkle with colored sugar. For our Christmas shapes we use the small star to pipe out candy canes and wreaths. I did poinsettias (with a red-hot in the middle), a Christmas ornament, and the old stand-by, the long strip, which is cut with the spatula when still on the pan for smaller sized cookies.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown edges. Leave cookies on the pan for a little bit before transferring them to a wire rack. Be careful when removing from the cookie sheet.
7. Store in airtight container.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I have made these before, and I actually keep these in my "Candy" recipe box because they are more like candy than cookies. I will keep this recipe, even though it is sort of one of those recipes for kids. I can be a kid sometimes!!

Followup: I made these again and they failed. And worse, I didn't like them!! So, this recipe will not stay in my recipe file.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

2 c. sugar
3 T unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c. margarine
1/2 c. milk
dash of salt
3 c. quick-cooking oats
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 t. vanilla extract

1. Bring the first 5 ingredients to a rapid boil.
2. Boil for 1 minute, then add the remaining ingredients.
3. Mix well and drop quickly by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Tiger Cookies

While I was going through recipes for using up my corn flakes I found a recipe that uses Frosted Corn Flakes!! They happened to be on sale this week, so I purchased a box. I won't keep this recipe, as it didn't impress me enough. If you have kids they will have fun crunching up the frosted flakes, and they will like eating the crunchy cookies.

Tiger Cookies

1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
3 c. frosted corn flakes, crushed to measure 1 1/2 c.
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Stir together flour, soda, and salt and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add flour mixture, mixing until well combined.
4. Stir in crushed cereal. Drizzle melted chocolate over dough. With knife, swirl melted chocolate gently through dough to achieve marbled appearance.
5. Drop by rounded measuring tablespoon onto un-greased baking sheets. Bake about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove immediately from baking sheets and cook on wire racks. Makes about 5 dozen.

Corn Flake Cookies

I know, you are thinking "Another Corn Flake recipe!!" But, I had to use up the corn flakes I bought a couple of weeks ago and had so many disastrous recipes with. I am not doing so well with these cookie recipes. This one tastes pretty good, it sort of reminds me of a recipe I have called Crisp Cringles, basically a Rice Krispie cookie. What makes that cookie better than this is that the dough is nice and crispy, probably from the cream of tartar. I realized as I was typing the recipe up that I forgot the brown sugar and the baking powder (duh!!), perhaps that made a difference with the consistency. I won't be keeping this recipe, but other may like it.

Corn Flake Cookies

2/3 c. butter, room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 c. flaked coconut
2 c. crushed corn flakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Beat butter, sugars, egg and vanilla together until creamy.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in coconut and corn flakes.
4. Drop by teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto un-greased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool slightly, then remove from pan onto racks to finish cooling. Makes 4 dozen.

Crunchies

This recipe was a complete disaster. I don't know why it went wrong, except that perhaps the measurements were off. The final "dough" was not moist enough to hold together when I made the cookie. I baked them anyway, but only the portion of the cookie that had enough of the corn syrup mixture hardened up, the rest was still like a floury-sugary dough. I tasted the hard portions and it tasted good. I will include the recipe just in case someone can get the proportions better.

Since I hate wasting ingredients, I used the leftover flour-sugar-corn flake-coconut mixture and created a yummy bar cookie by adding more butter, brown sugar, an egg yolk, vanilla, flour and baking soda. I used a smaller pan, but wished I had used a larger pan because the middle didn't cook through. I will have to bake the middle again, but the edges were yummy!!

Crunchies

1 1/2 c. crushed corn flakes
3/4 c. sifted flour
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. shredded coconut
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 T light corn syrup
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Combine corn flakes, flour, sugar, coconut, and salt in bowl and set aside.
3. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add corn syrup and cook over meduym heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Add baking soda and stir rapidly to blend. When foam settles, remove from heat at once. Add vanilla and blend well.
4. Pour corn syrup mixture over flour mixture and mix thoroughly. The mixture will be dry and crumbly. Shape into rounds by pressing mixture by tablespoons against the side of mixing bowl. Arrange carefully on un-greased cookie sheet, placing cookies about 2 inches apart. Press with fork to flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cook on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove carefully.

Peanut Butter Candy Cookies

These cookies were a bit difficult to shape, but they tasted good. I don't think I will keep the recipe, though. Someone with kids would definitely like these, they are easy to put together and with all the hand-work the kids can help out (and get a bit messy)!! I used half-and-half instead of evaporated milk because I didn't want to open a whole can of milk when I was cutting the recipe down.

Peanut Butter Candy Cookies

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 c. evaporated milk
2 1/2 c. corn flakes

1. Mix peanut butter, sugar, and milk to a smooth cream.
2. Stir in corn flakes until thoroughly blended with peanut butter mixture.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an un-greased baking sheet.
4. Bake in a 375º oven for 6 minutes, or until evenly browned. Makes 32 cookies.

Carole's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My family is helping my sister move out-of-state this week, and I decided that for the 12-hour drive we would need some in-transit sustenance. I used a large ice cream scoop so that the cookies would be larger than usual.

I took the "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" recipe from the Quaker Oatmeal box and modified it a little bit.

Carole's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 c. butter, room temperature
1 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
3 c. oats
1 c. raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Beat butter and sugars and beat until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
4. Add combined flours, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and oats. Mix well.
5. Stir in raisins well.
6. Use an ice cream scoop and place cookies 1-inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 10 minutes. Switch oven shelves and bake another 5 minutes.
8. Cool on wire rack. Makes 16-24 cookies, depending on what size ice cream scoop used and how much dough was consumed!!

(NOTE: it is not safe to eat raw eggs, so I am not encouraging people to eat cookie dough)

Lemon Spritz

I always thought that a "spritz" was with almond extract. However, after reviewing my cookie press recipes I discovered that "spritz" just means to "squirt" out of the cookie press.

Since there was lemon in the main course dish recipe (although I ended up not even tasting the lemon once it was baked), I decided to bake a lemon-flavored desert. I grabbed the first recipe in the lemon section of the "Shaped Cookies" box of recipes. I only had to go out and buy a lemon for the rind.

These are yummy, I decided to sprinkle them with some yellow sugar and make them in the shape of a flower. They would go wonderfully with tea, perhaps even with coffee. Be careful not to over-cook these, they cook fast. In fact, the old term for a hot oven (e.g. 400 degrees) was a "fast" oven.

Lemon Spritz

1 c. butter, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg or 3 egg yolks
2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. lemon extract
1/8 t. salt
1 t. grated lemon rind

1. Cream butter, adding sugar gradually.
2. Add egg, unbeaten. Then add dry ingredients, lemon rind, and extract.
3. Force through a cookie press on an un-greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 7 minutes at 400ºF.