Double Almond Cookies

This recipe from my friend Tiffany Denison.

She made it at a ward function where I first tasted them, and I just had to have the recipe!

They're different from the normal cookie, but a tasty treat all the same.

2 cups flour (I usually end up using a little more--just until the dough isn't sticky)

1/2 cup finely chopped or slivered almonds

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. pure almond extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, almonds, salt; set aside.  Beat butter and sugar until creamy.  Blend in egg and extract; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Gently press a few slivered almonds on top if desired, it makes it look pretty when baked.  Bake 10 minutes.  Yield 2 dozen.

Rolled Ginger Cookies

Made by Jennifer Johnson

The girls LOVED these.  It may have to do with just how cute they are, don't ya think?

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 T vinegar
4 cups flour 
1 1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
2-3 t ground ginger (I only used 1 t for my taste...)
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground cloves (I only put in 1/4 t)

Cream shortening and sugar.  Beat in egg, molasses, and vinegar.  Sift together dry ingredients;  blend in.  Chill 3 hours.

Roll dough 1/8" thick on lightly floured surface.  Cut in shapes.  Place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.  


Bake at 375 for 5-6 minutes.  Makes about 5 dozen.

Oreo Truffles

By Jamie Lott & Leah Tobey

Anyone who is an Oreo lover will want to make these!

Trevor devoured them.

8 oz. cream cheese

1 pound Oreos
1 pound milk or dark chocolate
1/2 pound white chocolate

Grind Oreos to find powder in food processor. With a mixer, blend cookie powder and cream cheese until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese). Roll into small or large balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. Chill 45 minutes.

Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. In double-boiler, melt milk or dark chocolate. Dip balls and coat thoroughly. With slotted spoon or fork, lift balls out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off. Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.

In separate double boiler, melt white chocolate. Using a fork, drizzle white chocolate over balls. Let cool.
Store in airtight container, in refrigerator.

Pumpkin Pie Cookies

Made by Jennie (me),

original recipe from my friend Charmaine Figgins.

this recipe is pretty much the same as this one here, 

The main difference is the impact that the cinnamon chips has.  AMAZING!
(I've stocked up on the cinnamon chips sold at my Kroger/Fry's store)

1 box Spice Cake Mix

1 can pumpkin puree (14oz) not pumpkin pie

1 bag Hershey's cinnamon chips (I've only found these sold seasonally at Christmas)

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Empty dry cake mix into a bowl. Add canned pumpkin puree. That's it! Do NOT add the other ingredients on the box to make a cake. Mix well with a mixer. With a spoon/spatula, stir in cinnamon chips and pecans. Using a ice cream/cookie scooper, drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes at 350 F.

Chocolate Snowballs

Made by Jennie (me)

Recipe from Hershey's.

These are delicious and different from any other cookie I've had before.

I've found a new favorite cookie!!

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 2/3 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1 bag Hershey's Kisses

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy.  Stir together flour and cocoa; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended.  Add pecans; beat until well blended.  Refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 375 F.  Remove wrappers from chocolates.  Mold scant tablespoon of dough around each chocolate, covering completely.  Shape into balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until set.  Cool about 1 minute; remove from pan to wire rack.  Cool completely.  Roll in powdered sugar.  Roll in powdered sugar again just before serving, if desired.

The shortcut version:

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2	cup butter or margarine, melted
1	egg
1/4	cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/4	cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2	cup finely chopped almonds
1	teaspoon almond extract
60	Hershey's® Kisses® Brand milkchocolates, unwrapped
3/4	cup powdered sugar Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg, flour, cocoa, almonds and extract until soft dough forms. Shape dough into sixty 3/4-inch balls; wrap each around 1 milk chocolate candy. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Roll cookies in powered sugar. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Re-roll cookies in powdered sugar. Store tightly covered.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

I LOVE these. They are pretty much my favorite cookie. Why didn't I ever make them from scratch before?!! I used the same dough from the chocolate chip recipe here, adding the white chocolate chips and the macademia nuts instead. Delicious!

2 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 2/3 c. white wheat flour (actually, remove about 2 tbsp from the 2 cups, because wheat flour absorbs more and you need to lessen the amount so the batter won't be too dry)
2 c. white flour
2 T. corn starch
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt

White chocolate chips, I used Trader Joe's brand

Macademia nuts (unsalted) got mine at Trader Joe's

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a small bowl, add dry ingredients and combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Hand stir in chocolate chips and nuts. The dough is kinda stiff, so I actually just used my hands to mix them in. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough before baking. You can do this while oven is preheating or refrigerate longer for an even better taste.

Using a 1.5" scoop, or a spoon, place cookie balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until dough looks cooked, but in between the cracks of dough, it still looks a little gooey. That's good for making the cookie chewy when completely cooled.

Yield: A ton. Enough to eat and give away to 2 more families as well. At least, that's what I do!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe from Stephanie's blog. These are my new favorite recipe. I especially love that I can use 2 cups of white wheat flour and can't even taste it! Plus, just look at them! Thick and so perfect.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
2 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/4 c. dark brown sugar (you can use reg. brown sugar too)
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. white wheat flour (actually, remove about 2 tbsp from the 2 cups, because wheat flour absorbs more and you need to lessen the amount so the batter won't be too dry)

1 2/3 white flour
2 T. corn starch
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sea salt to sprinkle, if using milk chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a small bowl, add dry ingredients and combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Hand stir in chocolate chips. The dough is kinda stiff, so I actually just used my hands to mix the chocolate chips in. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough before baking. You can do this while oven is preheating or refrigerate longer for an even better taste.

Using a 1.5" scoop, or a spoon, place cookie balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. If using milk chocolate chips, sprinkle cookie balls with sea salt prior to baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until dough looks cooked, but in between the cracks of dough, it still looks a little gooey. That's good for making the cookie chewy when completely cooled.

Yield: 5 dozen cookies

*Tip! Use several baking sheets so that you can rotate and only place cookie dough on cooled sheets before baking. Placing dough on warm/hot sheets will make your dough spread too thin too fast and give you a flat and very crispy cookie.

Shortbread Jelly Cookies

This recipe comes from my friend Evelyn. She brought us a plate of them and I selfishly ate not only my share, but the girls' too. Trevor doesn't like sugar cookies, but he loved these because they're shortbread. They're so good!

Cookies:
1 lb. butter, slightly softened
1 C sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
4 C unsifted flour

Filling:
seedless jam or jelly (or you can strain regular jam/jelly. No seeds--pretty color) I used raspberry because I had that on hand, but the strawberry filled ones from Evelyn tasted even better

1 C powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add yolks one at a time. Add lemon rind, vanilla and salt. Blend in 4 C flour, one at a time until to thick to mix with mixer. Put on floured board and knead in remaining flour. Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill one hour in the refridgerator.

Preheat oven to 375°. Roll dough 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutter shape of choice. Cut tops with the same cutter and a smaller inside shape cutter (star, bell, etc.) to leave an opening for jam to show through. Bake all pieces (bottoms, hearts with cut-outs, small cut-outs) until lightly browned, about 10 minutes for big cookies. Let cool.

Generously spread jam on bottom cookie pieces, covering entire cookie to 1/8 inch from the edge. Dust powdered sugar (using a sifter or a fine mesh sieve) over the top pieces BEFORE placing on top of the jam. When dusted, sandwich top and bottom pieces together. Enjoy!

Number Of Servings: 24 sandwiched cookies (about the size of your palm)
Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe from Williams Sonoma Essentials of Baking

Photo by me

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 TB cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT instant)

2 cups raisins

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well blended.

Add dry ingredients and rolled oats, beat until incorporated. Mix in raisins by hand using a large spoon.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake at 350 F degree for 12 minutes and then keep checking until cookies look almost done but not quite golden brown. To ensure a chewy oatmeal cookie, make sure to remove the pan when the cookies are still a tiny bit doughy looking on top. (When they cool, they will firm up and be fully cooked, but still chewy.)

Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are SUPER EASY!

1 box Spice Cake Mix

1 can pumpkin puree (14oz) not pumpkin pie

1 bag milk chocolate chips

* Walnut/Pecans optional, chopped

Empty dry cake mix into a bowl. Add canned pumpkin puree. That's it! Do NOT add the other ingredients on the box to make a cake. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes at 350 F.

YUMMO!

**This is a vegan recipe too Becks, especially if you make it with cinnamon chips that you can special order at Hershey's website (they're not available in stores.) I got this recipe from my friend Charmaine and have made it several times!