Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 I love cookies. My favorites are peanut butter, oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies. So when I found this recipe that contained all three ingredients in one cookie I was thrilled. I must say they taste amazing! Soft and chewy in the middle and crisp around the edges these are the perfect cookie in my opinion. The aroma while baking made it really difficult to resist when they were done. So I just gave in. They are just so delicious!  The dough freezes well too, making it easy to make ahead and thaw for later use. These Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are going to be on my cookie trays this holiday season. Here's the recipe.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Epicurious
This dough can keep in the refrigerator up to 1 week before baking. It also freezes very well. I baked about half the dough and froze the rest. I thawed it out about 2 weeks later and baked the rest. Perfect cookies!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2   cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract, (yes, that right!)
3/4 cup regular peanut butter- either plain or chunky works
2 large eggs
1 1/2 bags (about 18 ounces, or more if you wish), of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a food processor pulse 1 cup of the oats until fine. In a large bowl mix together the ground oats, the other 1/2 cup of rolled oats, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.

In another bowl with a mixer beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in vanilla and peanut butter and beat well. Add eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in the flour mixture, or mix it by hand if desired. Add the chocolate chips and mix until combined.. Chill cookie dough covered,  at least 2 hours, or up to 1 week.

To bake:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Form rounded tablespoons of dough and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten balls just slightly. Bake in the middle rack of the oven 15 minutes just until pale golden. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes an then remove cookies to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Scotchies with Pecans

 Like a delicious oatmeal cookie? Well these Oatmeal Scotchies with Pecans are so good, fantastic really, and also so rich. My husband loves anything butterscotch, so I made these just for him as they are one of his favorite cookies. I had intended to make Peanut Butter Cookies, but hubby had these goodies on his mind instead. This recipe makes too much for us, so anymore I just freeze half of the cookie dough for a later use. But they are also a great gift for any cookie lovers you may know! Here is the recipe.

Oatmeal Scotchies with Pecans
Adapted from Nestle - I increased the cinnamon and added pecans to the recipe. The cookie dough freezes well, if you don't want to bake the whole recipe.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups of quick cooking oats (or may use old fashioned oats)
11 ounce package of Nestle Butterscotch Morsels
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a small bowl combine the flour, soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a large bowl cream the softened butter with the sugars. Stir in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.
Gradually  beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the oatmeal, butterscotch morsels, and the pecans.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for about 7-9 minutes for chewy cookies. Cool cookies on baking sheets for about 2 minutes; then remove to cooling racks. Enjoy! Makes about 4 dozen.

Turtle Bars

 Decadent and addictive, these delicious Turtle Bars are perfect for your holiday cookie trays. With a crisp, pecan infused shortbread-style crust that is topped with a thin layer of caramel, then topped with chocolate chips and more pecans, your taste buds will be in heaven. Really, these are to die for, and I got the recipe from Grace at A Southern Grace. She has some of the sweetest, gooeyest confections on the web. Today is my birthday and I was wanting a sweet treat besides cake, and these Turtle Bars really hit the spot.

 This is a major birthday for me, I mean it's like the 'BIG' one. I am the big '60'! I can't believe it; I remember when my mother turned 60 and I thought she was ssooooo old. Now I know how young she felt! Anyway, these Turtle Bars were are so good. The crust is crisp, with the butter and the pecans that are also ground in. There is a thin layer of caramel; wish there was a bit more, but there is plenty of flavor. Chocolate chips are sprinkled on the confection right out of the oven so they will melt and you can swirl through the chocolate some. Then topped will pecans makes these bars a perfect treat. Give them a try for the holidays, OK!

Turtle Bars
Adapted only slightly from Grace

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup pecans, chopped

Filling:
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
pinch of salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips-I used Dark Chocolate chips that I had
3/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add crust ingredients to a food processor and process until fine crumbs. Pour into an ungreased 9x13 inch baking pan. Pack the crumbs firmly down evenly to form a crust.
Add  the 2/3 cup butter, the 1/2 cup brown sugar, and salt to a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until it begins to boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, and then pour evenly over the crust. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until all the caramel is bubbling. Don't over bake! Remove from the oven; sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips. Let set for 2-3 minutes and swirl melted chocolate chips with a knife. Leave some whole if desired. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans and press nuts gently into the chocolate. (I sprinkled a little coarse salt over the bar, but it sort of disappeared). Cool, cut into bars, and enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Russian Tea Cakes (Cookies)

 Crunchy, buttery, sugar-dusted, delicious cookies are the way to describe these Russian Tea Cakes. I have also seen these called Mexican Wedding Cookies, and also Swedish Wedding Cookies. There may be more names that I haven't heard, but whatever you call them, they are delish.
My Christmas baking is getting started finally. My granddaughters have both been sick, and since I watch them during the day, I haven't done any baking until now. I came down with the virus too, so cooking, or even eating wasn't too much of a priority for me for a few days.
My husband and I have always loved these crisp, buttery, pecan filled cookies, and they have gone over very well when I use them in gifts for our friends and family. They are also a perfect cookies to serve at a Christmas Tea, or to help fill a cookie tray that you may be taking to a gathering.

 The cookies are rolled into 1 inch balls and baked. Since there is no leavening, they won't spread out, so you can get quite a few on baking sheet.

 When done the cookies will be lightly golden and have a few cracks here and there. I really should have used parchment paper to line the baking sheets as the bottoms of the cookies almost got too brown. Hopefully I'll remember next time.

 After the cookies come out of the oven, they need to be rolled in sifted confectioners sugar, then set on a rack to cool. The sugar will melt slightly to the cookies. At this point they can be placed in air-tight containers and frozen, if desired. I've frozen them many times in order to save them until closer to Christmas.

 However, if you are using the cookies right away, roll the cooled cookies in confectioners sugar again and place on a tray, or in containers for gift-giving.

 These little Russian Tea Cakes almost melt in you mouth. The dough is not very sweet, but after they are baked and dusted with sugar, they become one of my favorite Christmas cookies to bake, and consume. This recipe came from an old church cookbook that I've had for over 35 years and has been a family favorite. If you need another cookie to add to your list you may want to give theses a try. Happy baking!

Russian Tea Cake (Cookie)
From Lynda's Recipe Box, via an old church cookbook

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
extra confectioners sugar for dusting the cookies

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter and the confectioners sugar. Add the flour, salt and vanilla. Stir until the dough all comes together. Then add in the nuts and combine.
Roll dough into about 1 inch balls and place on baking racks. Bake for 14-17 minutes until lightly golden. Add some sifted powdered sugar to a bowl and take turns rolling the hot cookies in the sugar to coat them. Place cookies on a baking rack to cool completely. Cookies may be frozen at this point, or placed in air-tight containers until ready to serve. Roll cookies in powdered sugar again before serving. Theses yummy cookies are sure to be a hit. Bet you can't eat just one!
For other cookie recipes, click here. You will find Brown Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Crinkles, and many other cookies and bars for your holiday baking.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

 Do you like chocolate and peanut butter together? Well, I do too, and so we love these easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars. Your kitchen will smell wonderful while these delicious morsels bake, which makes it really hard to let them cool before cutting. I must admit that I didn't wait; nope, I just had to have one, or two, before they cooled. I can say it didn't hurt a thing to cut these babies while warm, plus it made me very happy! These cookie bars are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, so I hope you'll give them a try.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
Adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened- I used unsalted
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips-I used dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour and soda together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, combine both sugars, butter, and peanut butter. Mix until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour mixture and stir in the chocolate chips. Press dough evenly into an ungreased 9x13 inch baking pan.
Bake for 18 - 22 minutes. Cool and cut into bars. I baked these bars for 21 minutes and that was too long. Next time I'll go for 18-19 minutes. They were not as gooey as I would have liked, but still soft and delicious. The middle may look too soft when you pull them out of the oven, but the dough firms up as it cools. Enjoy!

Fruit Pizza

 What's not to love about Fruit Pizza? There's a huge sugar cookie topped with creamy filling and fresh fruit and berries and a yummy glaze over all. I don't know when it first began showing up in kitchens in America, but it was given to me in the mid 1980's by a friends mother. She brought it to a church dinner and it was an instant hit. Most recipes call for purchased cookie dough, and mine did as well. But I soon decided to use one of my sugar cookie recipes instead, because it would work with a larger pan. This recipe is very popular around this area for family gatherings and pot luck dinners. It is usually the first dessert to go. I love that you can use just about any fruit or berry. My recipe has a cooked citrus glaze which not only adds a bit of sheen to the fruit, but it also keeps some fruits from turning brown. I almost always include bananas in my Fruit Pizza, and have not had a problem with them browning. But I don't think I've ever had this dessert longer than 2 days, so I don't know how much longer bananas would last. One of my favorite combinations is strawberry and Kiwis, along with bananas. This time I got a little patriotic with blueberries and strawberries. It was so yummy!

 I use my own cookie recipe and spread it evenly over the pan. I use a Baker's Half Sheet, about 17 inches by 13 inches. I just dot the pan with dough and smooth it out with my fingers. It doesn't have to look fancy, just get it to all the sides and corners. Bake for 12 minutes and cool. Then comes the cream cheese filling, then a layer of fruit, and lastly the glaze. The citrus glaze adds flavor, helps set the fruit, and helps prevent browning. I think the glaze also dresses this dessert up some. Think of Fruit Pizza as a large tart.

 I like adding lots of fruit and berries, placing them closely together. You  can do a design with the fruit or just place it randomly. It will taste fantastic either way! Use whatever fruit or berries are available. I've used strawberries, Kiwi, apples, bananas, blueberries, oranges, etc. Here's how I make Fruit Pizza. You can use your own sugar cookie recipe if preferred.

Fruit Pizza
Recipe from Lynda's Recipe Box and friend

Sugar Cookie Recipe
3/4 cup shortening, or you can use soft butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream shortening and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Combine dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Spread all the dough into a Half sheet baking sheet(about 17x13 in.). Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 12 minutes. Cookie dough may not look done, but it will set up as it cools; don't over bake or it will be too hard. Cool completely.

While cookie bakes, make the citrus glaze.
Glaze:
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Heat juices in a saucepan.. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to the hot juices. Stir continuously and cook until thick and clear, about 1-2 minutes. Cool. Glaze can be luke-warm when used, but if it thickens too much when you try to glaze the Fruit Pizza, just warm it a little and stir and it should be easy to brush.

Make filling while the cookie and glaze cool.
Filling:
1 1/2 bars, (12 ounces) 0f room temperature cream cheese
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until creamy.
(Note: If you want a thicker filling, use 16 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. )

To Assemble Fruit Pizza:
Spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the cooled cookie. Arrange fruit and berries over the filling, pressing in slightly just to set.
(I used about 1 quart of strawberries, halved, and almost 1 quart of blueberries, and 2-3 (I can't remember!), large bananas for this pizza.
Use a pastry brush to spread the citrus glaze. Topping the blueberries was a bit tricky, so I ended up dolloping the glaze on and spreading it gently.  The glaze needs to set before you cover the Fruit Pizza, so place in the refrigerator to chill, and cover in about an hour. Keep chilled until ready to serve. Enjoy!

NOTE: The cookie  layer can be baked a day ahead, if desired, and kept covered with foil until ready to assemble.

Brown Sugar Cookies

 Chewy, crisp, rich, sweet and addictive. That's how I describe these wonderful cookies from Cook's Illustrated. These humongous cookies really are crisp on the outside, but chewy in the middle. Made with dark brown sugar and BROWNED butter, they have an almost butterscotch flavor. The recipe makes 24 very large cookies, so next time I may make them a bit smaller as they are so rich. The recipe may be more detailed than some cookie recipes, but Cook's always strives for the best! I was concerned whether my husband would like them, but, "Wow these are good!", were the first words out of his mouth after his first bite. I tried making this recipe my own, but really could not improve on it at all. I tried adding caramel chips, but too sweet. The only adaption I ended up liking was adding cinnamon to the sugar that the cookies are rolled in. After all, cinnamon and brown sugar are made for each other, in my opinion. Even so, the cookies are perfect without it. Hope you'll give these a try!

Brown Sugar Cookies
Only slightly adapted from Cook's Illustrated
NOTES: The recipe says to place 12 cookies on cookie sheet and bake, but they really spread out. Nine worked best for me, even though I used large pans.
Do not use nonstick skillet for the browned butter. You won't be able to judge the color of the butter.
Use only soft, fresh dark brown sugar. Dry sugar will give you dry cookies.


14 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups packed, dark brown sugar, divided
2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla -yes, that's right
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional- my addition

1. Melt 10 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet over medium heat. When melted, swirl the butter around until it is golden, with brown bits in it, about 1-3 minutes. Pour the melted butter into a heat proof container. Add the remaining 4 tablespoon of butter to the melted butter to melt. Let cool about 15 minutes.
2. Place your oven rack in the middle position in oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the dark brown sugar in a bowl. Add the cinnamon, if using.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl.
3. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cup dark brown sugar and the salt, to the melted browned butter and mix well until there are no lumps. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and stir. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Divide the dough into 24 even portions (about 2 tablespoons). Roll into even sized balls. Roll each ball in the reserved sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
Bake each pan for 12-14 minutes until the edges of the cookies begin to look set. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. The middle should still look undercooked. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about4- 5 minutes. Then remove the cookies to cooking racks. Don't over bake if you want chewy cookies. Enjoy!

Pecan Sandies

 I grew up eating the Pecan Sandies that you buy from the store as my mother loved them and she always had them stashed in the kitchen somewhere. After I married , whenever I visited her, she always insisted we have coffee and a Pecan Sandie or two, so they grew on me also. I don't buy them because I'd probably eat the whole carton! So when I saw this recipe for Pecan Sandies on Martha Stewart's site, I had to try them. They taste fantastic, and I will make them again. The dough is very crumbly when the ingredients are mixed, so you have to gather the crumbs and roll the dough into balls. I may have handled the dough too much because I thought the cookies were a bit hard, but they did soften slightly on the second day. Next time I'll use parchment paper when I bake them as the cookie edges browned so much I was afraid they would burn. But the flavor is amazing! Loved the buttery, pecan flavors. I'm afraid they didn't last long at our house.

Pecan Sandies
from Martha Stewart
Recipe made about 1 1/2 dozen for me.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened- I used salted
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt- I omitted this because I used salted butter
1 cup all purpose flour, spooned into cup and leveled
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place rack on center of oven. In a bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter together with a mixer. Add in the vanilla. Add the flour and mix on low speed until flour is incorporated. Stir in chopped pecans by hand. Dough will be very sandy and crumbly.
Gather dough and form onto about 1 1/2 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees. for 15-17 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Molasses Sugar Cookies

I'm a bit late starting with my Christmas baking, but had to make these wonderful cookies. You will have the spicy aroma of cinnamon, ginger and cloves, with a touch of molasses wafting through your home if you make these Molasses Sugar Cookies. This was my dear Mother-in-Law's recipe and I loved it when she would bring us some of these tasty, spice laden cookies. These delicious cookies will be an addition to my cookie gifts this year, if my husband and I can stay out of them, that is!
My Mother-in-Law passed away about a month ago, but making her cookies made her seem very near and dear yesterday. I put on some Christmas music, turned on the lights on the tree and got busy with cookie making. If you haven't made Molasses Sugar Cookies yet, give them a try. I think you'll like them. Here's the recipe.

Molasses Sugar Cookies
a family recipe

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves- my MIL used 1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt the shortening in a sauce pan over low heat. Remove from heat and let cool some. Add the sugar, molasses and the egg to the melted shortening and beat well.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and the spices. Mix well. Add the shortening mixture to the flour mixture and mix until all incorporated. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or overnight.
To bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll each ball into granulated sugar. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cookies will look crackled. Cool on baking racks. I hope you enjoy our Molasses Sugar Cookies!

For more cookie recipes for your Christmas baking, click here.
NOTE: I have substituted butter for the shortening before, which does work, although the cookies were flatter. But of course the butter tasted good. :)

Apricot Almond Bars

 I love bar cookies. They normally require less preparation time than single cookies and that's a plus when you are busy. These Apricot Almond Bars were very rich, from the buttery sweet crust, the sweet but tart apricot jam filling, and the topping which contains not only almonds, but meringue and coconut too. My husband and I loved them, so they didn't last long. I have a weakness for chocolate, so these bars were a nice change, and they would be a good recipe for any Christmas cookie exchange. They are a keeper.
I lined the baking pan with foil and then sprayed it with cooking spray. That way you can lift out the whole pan of bars before cutting them. Using a long, sharp knife I cut them neatly into serving sizes that look great on a serving tray when serving to guests. These cookie bars will be a perfect addition to the upcoming Christmas festivities.
I've been wanting to blog these all week but we've had some computer issues, so I guess it's better late than never. I hope you'll give Apricot Almond Bars a try real soon.

Apricot Almond Bars
Adapted from Taste Of Home

3/4 cup butter, softened- I used salted butter
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup apricot preserves or jam- I needed about 1 more tablespoon
3 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 cup sliced almonds, divided
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the powdered sugar. Gradually mix in the flour and blend well. Press mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan. Or, line the pan with foil, grease it well and then press in the crust mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes until golden.
Spread the jam over the crust. In a large bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated and stiff peaks form. Fold in the coconut and 1/2 cup of the almonds. Gently spread this mixture over the apricot jam. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of almonds. Bake at 350 degree F. for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm back! My daughter is happily married and life has slowed down a bit now, so I am ready to to blog again.
Boy do I love this time of year! We have had the most beautiful fall; The trees are just now turning their brillant colors, the air is crisp and there are pumpkins decorating almost every porch. I love just about anything made with pumpkin, so I deciced to make pumpkin cookies for the first time. Why I haven't made them before now, I don't know. I usually make bars, bread or pie and stop there. But I've added these delicious cookies to my recipe box now. these Pumpkin Cookies are cake-like, soft and moist, and topped with addictive cream cheese frosting. I made these and took a platter full to a meeting I went to and they were devoured quickly. It's hard to eat just one of cookies. I dare you to make these and eat just one! Here's the recipe.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


Mix butter, sugar together until smooth. Then add the agg; mixwell and add the 1 cup pumpkin.
In another bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients with the pumpkin mixture in 2 parts. Mix well. Dough is going to be very soft. I used a tablespoon to measure the dough for cookies. You can refridgerate the dough to make it a bit easier to handle, if desired. Scoop dough evenly onto baking sheets and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake 9-10minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completly before frosting with the Cream Cheese Frosting.

CREAM Cheese FROSTING
 !/2 cup softened butter
1- 8 ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugat
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together with a mixer. Add the vanilla and then the powdered sugar, a little at a time. Mix until smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too stiff add a little milk or cream to loosen a bit.

NOTE: I only used about half of the frosting on these cookies. But since the cookies are not very sweet, you may want to use more than I did.
These are awesome cookies!

Cheesecake Bars - an oldie but Goodie

I love cheesecake, but don't always want to take the time to make one. That's where these delicious bars come in. They have all the flavor of cheesecake, but are quick and easy to make. We love the light lemon flavor, but if lemon is not your thing, just leave it out and double the vanilla. This retro recipe was given to me by a highschool friend way back during our senior year. I'm talking 1971 baby! I've taken the liberty of doubling the amount of filling that was in the original recipe because, in this instance, more is better. I don't want to be cheated on my cheesecake fix, do you? Give these groovy bars a try today! CHEESECAKE BARS

Ingredients for crust:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soft butter

1 cup flour

Cream the brown sugar and butter together. Then blend in the flour until crumbly. Separate 1 cup for topping. Place the rest in a 8x8 inch ungreased baking pan and press down to make crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven to cool.

Ingredients for filling:

2 - 8 ounce bars of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

4 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, milk, lemon juice and vanilla and beat well. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust and spread out evenly. Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture (topping), over the cream cheese filling. Bake at 350 degress for about 25 minutes. Cool and refrigerate. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Cowboy Cookies

I don't know if you've had Cowboy Cookies, but they are chock full of goodies! Made with butter, flour and oats, they also contain nuts, chocolate chips and coconut for a real delicious treat. Some people make them a smaller size, like the picture above, where I measured the dough with a tablespoon. But very often I've seen them as a large cookie, where a 1/4 cup is used to measure the dough.

Either way, they are wonderful treat and I've convinced myself that they are suitable for eating with my morning coffee! After all, they have lots of oats and nuts, which are healthy, right? Watch them closely as they bake as overbaking can cause them to be dry. They should be just turning golden around the edges and the center should be losing that shiny look. They will continue to set after coming out of the oven. Then you can eat them all; or not! Here's my recipe.

COWBOY COOKIES

from an old church cookbook

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 (6 ounce package of chocolate chips)

1/2 cup coconut

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup chopped nuts- I used pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the sugars with the butter. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Stir in the vanilla. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and soda in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. When combined, add the oatmeal, chocolate chips and coconut and stir with a large spoon until all is combined. Dough will be crumbly. If making large cooies, measure the dough in a 1/4 measuring cup. Place on a baking sheet, 6 cookies to a large baking sheet. Flatten dough with the palm of your hand, or use the bottom of a glass. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 11-15 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges and set in the middle. Remove cookies from oven; let set on cookie sheet for 1 minute and then remove to cooling rack.

If you prefer smaller cookies, use a tablespoon to measure the dough. Place cookie dough on cookie sheet, flatten slightly and bake for 8-10 minutes. Follow rest of directions above. Enjoy!

M & M Cookies

These M & M Cookies are almost a guaranteed favorite with kids of all ages. I made some of these cookies, and some Snickerdoodles, a week ago for our church Christmas program and they were a hit. I used the Christmas red and green colored M & M's so the cookies would be festive. I always keep a good handful of the candies out of the mix, and then poke them onto the cookies before they are popped into the oven. This insures that there will candies on the top. This recipe came out of an old church cookbook of mine, like some other of my favorite recipes. M & M cookies were always one of our kids favorite cookies, any time of year. I have other cookie recipes here. I hope you'll give them a try as they are crispy around the edges, but soft and chewy in the center. That's a winner!
Sorry for my blogging absence for the last couple of weeks. My husband and I went on a short trip to Branson, Missouri, and I've had trouble getting back into the swing of cooking regularly, with the trip and the lull after Thanksgiving. But I'm back now, just in time for Christmas. Only one week left! Are you all ready?

M & M COOKIES ( called Party Cookies in my cookbook)

1 cup butter- softened to room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 1/4 cup sifted all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3/4 pound) plain M & M candies- I use the whole bag

In a large bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together. Beat in the vanilla and the eggs. In another bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix together. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, about 1/3 at a time. Blend well after each addition. Stir in about half of the candies. Drop rounded tablespoons full of dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Place several candies on each round of cookie dough. Doing this makes sure that each cookie will have M & M's on top. (But you can just dump all the candies in the cookie batter if you prefer).

Bake cookies in a preheated 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on racks. Enjoy!

Neiman - Marcus Cookies

I have a sweet tooth, especially when it comes to cookies. If I made cookies as often as I actually want them, I'd be baking every few days! It's just too hard to work off those cookie calories these days. But during the last Christmas season, I followed Barbara's blog very closely as she was posting some wonderfully addictive looking cookie recipes. There are several I want to make, but I'm starting with the Neiman-Marcus $250 Cookie Recipe. With oatmeal and chocolate chips whats not to love? I really had to watch them as they bake. Once the edges start to get golden, they are done, if you like your cookies chewy that is. I really didn't change the recipe, other than I used only half of the nuts called for in the dough, and Barbara didn't use any nuts. But these cookies are winners for sure-we couldn't stay out of them! It's a good thing I gave some away, because we all turned into cookie monsters! Here's the recipe.

NEIMAN MARCUS $250 COOKIE RECIPE

from Barbara Bakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups blended oatmeal (pulse oatmeal in a blender to make it flour like)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 - 4 ounces Hershey bar, grated

3 cups chopped nuts ( I used 1 1/2 cups)

Cream the butter and sugars; add eggs and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl, mix the flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips, grated chocolate and nuts. I used a rounded tablespoon of dough for each cookie. Roll each cookie into a ball and place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. These cookies do spread out, so don't crowd them. Bake at 375 degrees for about 9-10 minutes. As soon as they began turning golden around the edges, I removed them from the oven and let them set on the cookie sheet about 30 seconds before removing to cooling racks. They stayed nice and chewy down to the last cookie! I will be making Neiman-Marcus Cookies again, and again! They are just so good. Give them a try!

Peanut Butter Bars

I made these Peanut Butter Bars a few days ago, not knowing what to expect exactly. Does that ever happen to you? This recipe uses a cake mix for the base, and I have only used a cake mix for a cake. I thought these cookie bars would be more like brownies, gooey and chewy. But they are like a soft cookie bar, with a chocolate chip and sweetened condensed milk filling. I somehow thought these two ingredients would kind of melt together, but they really don't. But the bars do taste great. They just aren't what I expected. You spread half the cake mixture in a

baking pan, top it with the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk, and the top the whole thing with the rest of the cake mixture, like the picture above. After baking, it will look like this.

Cool the bars completely before cutting into squares. They have a wonderful peanut butter flavor, which is perfect with the chocolate center, of course. Or, you can use peanut butter chips for an all the same flavor bar. So, these bars are delicious, but not what I was hoping for. But my whole family enjoyed them, even if they didn't turn out to be the chewy, gooey bars of our dreams!

PEANUT BUTTER BARS

from Mr. Food of "oooh it's so good!" fame

1 package (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix

2 large eggs

1 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 package, 12 ounces, semi-sweet chocolate chips, or a 10 ounce bag of peanut butter chips

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, eggs, butter and peanut butter together. Press half of the mixture evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes in the oven. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chocolate chips and drizzle with the sweetened condensed milk. Crumble the remaining peanut butter mixture over the top. Place pan back in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely before cutting into bars. Enjoy! A perfect snack for any occasion!

Note: To make all chocolate peanut butter bars, just use a chocolate cake mix with the chocolate chips.

Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Pecans and Dried Cranberries (slightly adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

Oh my, are these cookies ever good! I made them this past week end and my husband and I both couldn't stay out of them! I love oatmeal cookies any way, but these are the best I've ever eaten. Of course, coming from Cook's Illustrated, there were a lot of instructions to read through. They said to use chopped bittersweet chocolate, but when I went to the store, they were out. So I went with semi-sweet chocolate chips, which I had on hand. I used light brown sugar, instead of the recommenced dark brown, and dried cranberries instead of dried cherries. The toasted pecans really added wonderful flavor to these cookies. The original recipe is called "Chocolate-Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Pecans and Dried Cherries". I tried to follow their directions fairly close since this was the first time making these. I still managed to over bake the cookies a couple of minutes. I've checked my oven temp and it is correct, so I'm not sure why there was such a discrepancy in baking time. Maybe because I have an electric oven, but I really don't know. However, these cookies were still delicious, just a little more crisp than intended. Cook's has 2 pans of cookies baking at the same time on upper and lower-middle oven racks, and then rotating them and switching racks. That was a fair amount of door opening during baking. These are huge cookies, using 1/4 cup of dough for each yummy cookie. This recipe makes 16 humongous, delicious cookies, which, I have convinced myself, are really tasty for breakfast! Don't you agree? CHOCOLATE-CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES with PECANS and DRIED CRANBERRIES
(adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

1 1/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats (3 1/2 ounces)

1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (4 ounces)

1 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped (5 ounces) Cook's Calls for dried cherries

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (Cook's calls for 4 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened-12 tablespoons

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar (Cooks calls for dark brown)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower- middle positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large 18x12 inch baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, sod and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl,mix the chopped pecans, cranberries, chocolate chips and oatmeal together.

3. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together until creamy with a mixer. They used a stand mixer, but I had to use my hand mixer. Add egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until mixed well. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture and mix until just combined.Then gradually add oat/nut mixture; mix just until incorporated. give dough a final stir with a spoon to make sure it is mixed well.

4. Divide dough into 16 pieces, each about 1/4 cup. Roll each piece into balls and place 8 balls on each baking sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart, staggering them so they won't touch when baking. Using your hand, press each dough ball to 1 inch thickness. Bake both sheets, 12 minutes, rotating them front to back, and top to bottom. Then continue to bake cookies until they are medium brown and edges have begun to set but centers are soft and seem under done, and wet and shiny in cracks. This is supposed to be 8-10 minutes longer. Do not over bake. Enjoy these awesome cookies!

NOTE: To toast pecans, place on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 4-5 minutes. Watch closely!

Here is the link to the original directions, but Cook's may not keep this open for long.

Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

My family loves Chocolate Chip Cookies that are crisp around the edges yet soft in the middle. This recipe fits the bill perfectly. I found this awesome recipe in an old church cookbook that I bought more than 30 years ago from a friend. The poor book is falling apart and I have to be careful that I don't misplace any pages when I'm flipping through it. This wonderful cook book comes from a church in Grandview, Missouri, and it contains many treasured recipes that my family loves. I want to thank Geneva S. for this addictive cookie recipe.I have never met her, but my family has eaten her cookies for years now! When my kids were young, they used to steal

bits of dough from the bowl as I was trying to bake these chewy cookies. My kids always preferred these without nuts, even though my husband and I love them loaded with pecans. So, I used to add nuts to half of the cookie dough, so that we could indulge in them as we preferred. The things a mother has to do when she has picky kids! I am submitting this recipe

for our family's favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies to Laura of "The Spiced Life", and Shelby of "The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch", for this months "Family Recipes; Memories of Family, Food and Fun!" Here's the recipe for these super cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies- Our family's Favorite!

2/3 butter, softened to room temperature

2/3 shortening

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda (originally called for 1 tsp. soda)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup chopped nuts; I use pecans

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening, eggs, sugars and vanilla together until creamy. In another bow, mix the flour, soda and salt together. Add to the butter mixture and mix well. Add the nuts and chocolate chips and stir until well combined. I use a tablespoon to measure the dough so they will be similar in size. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until light brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool slightly before removing from the cookie sheet. Cool completely and store in air tight container. Makes about 5-6 dozen, depending on how big you make them. Best eaten straight out of the oven, of course! Enjoy these addictive cookies!

I know there are plenty of cookies on the Internet, especially chocolate chip, but these are wonderful. I've tried other recipes and I keep coming back to these so, I'm just sharing our favorite, so far. These cookies have made many wonderful memories in our family and we have shared them with friends and neighbors at Christmas time. Try them, you'll like them!

Ultimate Double Chocolate Brownies ( or How to Satisfy Your Chocolate Craving!)

Do you crave chocolate, or more precisely, brownies! Well, don't resort to a mix when you want those thick, gooey, chewy, decadent bars that we know as brownies! No! If you keep some basic ingredients in your pantry, you can have these yummy bars anytime you want. Many brownie recipes call for certain extra ingredients that you may have to purchase before you can make a recipe. But these are basic brownies that you can dress up or leave plain, and they will satisfy you every time! If you will keep cocoa and butter and some other basics on hand, you'll be ready to make these anytime the craving hits. The recipe does call for chocolate chunks, but I've made them without, or, I've subbed chocolate chips, or nuts or M&M's. When my kids were young, I always made them plain as that how they liked them. They are awesome anyway you make them! I use this recipe when I make brownie sundaes with my homemade Cocoa Fudge Sauce.

Ultimate Double Chocolate Brownie
Source: Not sure, possibly Taste of Home
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup melted butter, divided
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks, or chocolate chips (I usually use less)
In a large bowl combine the cocoa and soda; blend in 1/3 cup of the melted butter. Add the boiling water and stir til blended. It may get thick which is ok. Stir in the eggs, sugar and rest of butter. Add flour, salt and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chunks and pecans if using. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 inch pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting into bars. Yea, right! I don't think we've ever let them cool that long, unless I was taking them elsewhere to be eaten. I bake them for 40 minutes in an air bake pan, but it will depend on your oven and the pan you use as to how long it will take for the brownies to bake.

These brownies will have a light crust on top, a result of the cocoa, I think, but the center will be moist and chewy, as you can see from the photo. I have other brownie recipes, but this is my standby. This time, I used chocolate chips instead of the chunks, and sprinkled the nuts on top before they went into the oven. I added some more chocolate chips about 2 minutes before the brownies were done, but they didn't stick; they just fell off. So don't do as I did! But, make these yummy brownies; you'll be glad you did!

Peanut Butter Cookies

I absolutely love this Peanut Butter Cookie recipe! It came from my Mother's collection and I've been making these delicious cookies since I was a young girl. They have wonderful, crisp edges and centers that can be soft and chewy or firmer, depending on how long you bake them. My daughter has been baking them now since she was a younger and she made these the other day, and took some pictures! I'm rubbing off on her! Here's the recipe for you to try;

Peanut Butter Cookies (from my Mother)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup unsifted flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening, sugars and peanut butter; stir in egg. Sift flour and baking soda together and mix into peanut butter mixture. Roll 1 tsp. dough into a ball and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of dough. Press each cookie flat with a fork in a crisscross pattern. Bake until edges are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. This dough spreads out so don't crowd the dough on the cookie sheet. This is a smaller recipe so sometimes we double it, if we are wanting to share with friends or neighbors. These cookies are very additive so enjoy!

There is only one day left to enter my give-a-way. Leave a comment telling your favorite grilled food. Have a great weekend!