Christmas Molasses A.K.A. Ginger Cookies

**These cookies were featured in The Daily Herald!

December 28, 2011
These cookies are part of a link-up on Secret Recipe Club Cookie Party!

Christmas is in the air! Christmas means snow, presents, pine, family, friends... and food!

I was thinking about Christmas cookies and I remembered a Molasses cookie that an old college friend used to make. The cookies were soft and full of flavor. I rushed to the kitchen, opened my college cookbook and searched for the cookies....

They weren't there!

I wasn't about to give up though! I started searching again by the friend's name, and I found them! The problem was that she called them Ginger Cookies, not Molasses cookies!

Here's my question. Why do we call Molasses cookies Ginger cookies? They only have 1 teas of ginger, but 1/2 cup of molasses! Shouldn't they be called Molasses cookies? I think so.

These cookies were everything I remembered and more. They were easy to make, and baked up beautifully. They are soft and thick, and the sugar sprinkled on top makes them perfect!

I did NOT eat at least 6 cookies within 30 minutes...

So, without further ado...

Molasses Cookies

1 1/2 cup shortening

2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

1 t. cloves

1/2 t. salt

4 t. baking soda

1 t. ginger

2 t. cinnamon

4 cups flour

Sugar to coat

Cream shortening and sugar together. Add molasses and eggs, mix well. Add in all dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Shape into small balls and roll in a bowl of sugar.

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

**The cookies will not appear to be done at 8 minutes. RESIST cooking them longer! Leave them on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a rack. Trust me, they will be perfect!

Spiced Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my house, when I mention "making cookies" I always get multiple responses. I'm usually thinking warm, soft chocolate chip cookies. My sons are thinking snickerdoodles. My daughter doesn't care, as long as she gets to help. She usually wants to make "something special for daddy" though! And then there is Dad. His request? It is Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies every time. With coconut, if you please.

Over the last few years, I've tried a few different recipes, but we think we've found perfection in this combination.  The addition of cinnamon and nutmeg adds a gentle flavor without overpowering the chocolate or oats. You can add raisins, chocolate chips, coconut, even cinnamon or butterscotch chips would be good.

The batter is a little crumbly, but don't worry, they bake just fine!  Another plus is that the dough doesn't spread very much, so you can fits a lot on the baking sheet, and even form them in fun shapes! I use a cookie scoop, and then press them down a little bit.Cook them until they are golden, and look a little gooey. They'll cool down into perfectly baked, soft, yummy cookies!

Spiced Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 
The Double Dipped Life

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teas vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teas baking soda

1 teas cinnamon

Freshly grated nutmeg-just a bit

1/2 teas salt

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Blend until combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate and any other add-ins.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  You can bake them right away, but I prefer to chill the dough.Chilling dough helps the cookies rise, and not be flat.

When you are ready to bake, spoon about a Tb of dough into a round ball, leaving space between each cookie. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes. Take them out when they are golden at the edges but still a little under baked in the middle. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to cooling rack.

Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk!

Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars

When we go out to a certain restaurant, we always get dessert. It's something quite similar to this. Chocolate chips, coconut, ooey gooey goodness topped with melting vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Mmmm... Now that I've figured out how to make it at home, we can save a little money!

A few notes on this recipe. I've made it before in a smaller pan (I think 13x9) so it was thicker.  Thinner is better here. I baked it this time on a cookie sheet. (You also get more that way!) Also, while the cookie bars are good at room temperature, they are heavenly warmed up with ice cream and caramel or chocolate sauce on top. If you want to get the absolute best experience, eat these this way!

Enjoy!



Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars

1 1/2 cups butter, melted
3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
6 eggs
3 teas vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teas baking powder
2 cups chopped walnuts
2 cups milk chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)
1 cup coconut (Because I have to add it to every recipe I make!)

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a sheet pan (I used a cookie sheet with a 1/2 inch lip). In a large bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar; beat with electric mixer until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each one. Add vanilla and mix. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add the flour to the sugar mixture; mix well. Stir in nuts, chips, and coconut.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, and the top is a nice, golden brown.  30 minutes left mine a little gooey, which we loved.

Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream, and a drizzle of caramel and/or chocolate syrup.

Find some neighbors to share this with because there will be a lot! 

Yum!

White Chocolate Lemon Bars

This is a treasured recipe from a very good friend.
One of those on-line, I've-never-met-in-real-life-friends.
One of those, I-don't-think-we-would've-been-friends-if-we-didn't-meet-online friends.
But she's one of the best women I know.

You know what I mean?

She was kind enough to share her secret recipe for her amazing lemon bars. You've gotta try these! I'm not a huge white chocolate fan, so I hesitated, but the white chocolate matches perfectly with the tart lemon.


White Chip Lemon Bars

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white chips

2 eggs slightly beaten

The zest and juice from one lemon

Powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Stir together 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press mixture onto the bottom of 9-inch baking pan.

3. Bake 7 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; sprinkle with chips.

4. Stir together eggs, lemon juice, lemon peel, remaining 1/4 cup flour and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in medium bowl; carefully pour over chips and crust.

5. Bake 10 minutes or until set (you can touch center and it's springy). Cool in pan on wire rack; sift with powdered sugar when completely cool. Cut into bars.

EAT!!

Trust me. These will be gone quickly!

Graham Cracker Snickerdoodles

 

My 7 yr old is the Snickerdoodle king. He's not a big fan of chocolate, so this cookie is perfect for him. He's such a fan, that he's taken bakery snickerdoodles to school for his birthday for the last 2 years. 

When I saw this recipe from Crepes of Wrath, I was intrigued. Graham Cracker? I expected a snickerdoodle with crunch. But that's not what I got! 

The result was a thick, moist, flavorful cookie. The graham crackers get crushed to crumbs, so there really isn't any crunch. 

So, the verdict? My son took one small bite and told me they were wonderful! He then politely asked if he could have the rest of the cookie! Well, of course, silly boy! 

The only problem is that the recipe only makes 15-20 cookies. I got 19. I will have to double it next time so there is enough goodness to last.

**Edited 1/12/11: I doubled this yesterday and they did NOT turn out! Do not double! **

Since this cookie is just divine, I'm entering it for the 4th week of The Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies! 

Graham Cracker Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teas vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 9 crackers, which is one sleeve)

1 teas baking powder

1/4 teas salt

Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

1/2 cup white sugar

2 teas cinnamon

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and/or line your baking sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined.

3. Crush your graham crackers in a blender or food processor, pulsing until they are just crumbs. (I put them in a bowl and my son pounded them!)   In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.  Add to the butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. 

4. Combine the Cinnamon Sugar Coating ingredients in a small bowl. Roll the dough into balls, then roll the balls in the Cinnamon Sugar Coating.  Place on baking sheet and flatten a bit with the palm of your hand. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until baked through but still soft, and just barely golden.

Makes 15-20 cookies.

Nanaimo Bars

Look at that. Chocolaty, coconuty, creamy goodness.  Nanaimo bars are native to Canada, and were all over the internet a few months ago. That's how long I've been drooling over them! I finally got into the kitchen this last weekend and whipped some up.  They were divine.

This is also my entry into the Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies! Check out all of the yumminess below! Thanks to Abby Sweets for hosting this great carnival!

I followed the recipe on Barbara Bakes. Hers look different then mine though- her middle layer is bigger. I found that I loved the 1st 2 layers, but the 3rd- all chocolate- was a little over the top. I think that when I make these again I will just drizzle a small amount of chocolate over the top, and double the middle layer.  I found it hard to spread the layers as well, so mine aren't as pretty, but I bet they tasted just as good! ;)

The really great thing about this recipe is that while you do melt some things on the stovetop, there is no baking involved!


Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 Tb unsweetened cocoa
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups Graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup Almonds, finely chpped
1 cup coconut, shredded

Middle Layer (I might double this next time!)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 Tb and 2 teas Heavy Cream
2 Tb Vanilla Custard Powder (or Vanilla pudding mix)
2 cups Powdered Sugar


Top Layer  (I doubled this layer, but will not next time!)
4 ounces Semi-sweet chocolate
2 TB Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. For bottom layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar, and cocoa in the top of a double broiler. Add beaten egg, and stir to cook and thicken (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat.  Stir in crumbs, nuts, and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8x8 inch pan.

2. For middle layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and powdered sugar together well. Beat until light in color. Spread over bottom layer.

3. For top layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer, and chill.  *I sprinkled fresh coconut on top!

These bars are super sweet, so cut small! They also freeze well!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies have been a family favorite for a few years now. I found the original recipe on Allrecipes, but have since changed them so much, that they don't match the original!

You can use any flavor pudding for these cookies. The original recipe called for vanilla- making regular chocolate chip cookies- but I was not impressed. The chocolate is MUCH better!

The cookies are thick and soft. One oddity; they are better the day after they are baked. So, plan ahead! It is fun to experiment with these, adding peppermint, coconut, nuts, etc.

Cookie dough with Peppermint pieces.

Chocolate Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes roughly 8 dozen cookies!

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas. salt
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 small packages of INSTANT chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1 teas vanilla
3-4 cups of your favorite chocolate chips
**Optional toppings or mix-in's: Peppermint chips, Mint, Coconut, Nuts! Press into the top of dough, right before baking.

Preheat oven to 350, or a convection oven to 325.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a very large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended.

Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
Blend in the flour mixture. (Dough will be very thick! I mix by hand... or my husband's hand...)

Finally, stir in chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. (I use a flexible scoop from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Makes great thick cookies!)

Bake for 10-12 minutes. If you are using a convection oven, bake for 10 minutes.

Leave cookies on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, and then transfer to cool on wire rack.

EAT! (Make sure you have milk!)

12 days of Christmas... in Food!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....

Cookies and

Pancakes,

Sweet Bread and

Party mix,

Cakes and

Popcorn...

and a secret treasured recipe!!

(hint... I used to sell it!)

Get your spatula ready! Yummy treats coming to count down to Christmas!

Scroll down to see all of the goodies!

*CLOSED* Kitchen Stories Giveaway! Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Just stop for a minute and look at all this wonderful food.
Drool a little. We'll wait.
...

...

...

Done? Good. Now on to the Giveaway!!
Deirdre from Kitchen Stories is one of my favorite ladies, and has one of the best Food shops on Etsy. Her Spice mixes are top notch, and her food mixes... Yum!

(this is NOT a paid endorsement! I have ordered many, many times from Deirdre and love all of it!)


Kitchen Stories is offering 1 free pack of their
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie mixes
to one of my readers!

Now, I really can not say enough about these cookies. They are FABULOUS! I just mention "Kitchen Stories" in my house, and hubby starts drooling...

Want to see how much I love them?
Check out my post on my old blog about these amazing treats!

See how yummy they look? Go ahead... click on the photo...

How to Enter:

Contest ends on Monday, Dec. 7th
The Winner of the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix is...

# 42 Jakiesmom who said... the mixed berry pancake mix sounds so good!

Have fun!

Scrumptulicious Cookies

There is nothing better than coming home to a mystery box sitting by the mailbox.

Opening it...

Moving aside the gorgeous tissue paper wrapping...

Pulling out a sturdy white box...

Opening the box...

COOKIES!!!

The box was full of sample cookies from Scrumptulicioius Cookies!

Shortbread of various flavors... chocolate chip cookies... cherry cookies... my mouth was watering!

The first bite of the shortbread blew me away. I'm not a big fan of shortbread- I don't go out and buy it, but this one sooo good!


Seriously, though. This shop is more than amazing cookies. It has an amazing, and heartbreaking story.

Kristen's family is facing major hardships.
She lost her job a year ago.
Her husband was diagnosed with Kidney Disease.
They are barely making enough money to put food on the table.

Kristen started baking to help raise money for her family.
It's helping... but it's a daily struggle.

I hope that you can help. Christmas is coming. How about cookies for friends and neighbors?
How about cookies on your Thanksgiving table?

You can find her lovely shop and WONDERFUL cookies at her Etsy Shop.


I know I'm getting some Coconut Shortbread!


Go visit her shop! You won't be sorry!

Chocolate Butterscotch Bars

These bars are easy to make, and easy to impress! I believe it was originally from a Pillsbury recipe, but it's been so long, that I've lost the source.

Chocolate Butterscotch Bars

1 pkg Yellow Cake Mix
1 pkg (3.4oz) Instant butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup (6oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup flake coconut
1 cup chopped nuts (reserve 1/2 cup for Glaze)

Glaze:
1 cup (6oz) butterscotch chips
3 TB milk
2 TB butter or margarine
Reserved nuts from dough

Heat oven to 350**. Lightly grease 13x9" baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, oil, and eggs. By hand, stir until well blended.
Stir in chocolate chips, coconut, and 1/2 cup nuts.
Press mixture in prepared pan.


Bake at 350 for 25-30 min until golden brown.
**Higher altitude (Utah): bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.
Let cool in pan.

In a small saucepan, combine glaze ingredients; melt over low heat, stirring until smooth.
Drizzle over warm bars. Sprinkle with reserved nuts.

Makes 36 bars...or so...

No Bake Cookies

Who doesn't like No Bake Cookies? They are the perfect cookie to make with kids!

No Bake Cookies
Or, for the yucky in us: "Gorilla Poop"!

2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
pinch of salt
1 teas vanilla
3 cups quick oats
1/2 cup coconut (if desired- but oh, you want it, believe me!)

Mix the sugar, cocoa, milk, and margarine in saucepan. Cook on medium heat on stove until it starts to boil. Stir continually while cooking.
Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add peanut butter, salt, vanilla. Mix well.

Add oats and coconut, mix well.

Drop by teaspoons on waxed paper. Place in fridge until hard, if desired.

**You can also make these into a brownie form by pressing the mixture in a large casserole dish.

Enjoy!

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

Nutella.

Just hearing that word makes my mouth water.

Because, seriously, how can you go wrong with Hazelnuts and Chocolate? You can't.

Mmmm....

So, when I saw the recipe for Nutella Pinwheel Cookes on Purplefoodie.com, I had to try them.

And I did. The very same day.

Now, mine didn't look as pretty as hers did, but the taste makes you forget about appearances. Who cares how it looks? It's nutella!

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 heaped cup sifter flour
1/4 cup Nutella to spread, a little more won't hurt, but don't overdo it because it will ooze everywhere!
2-3 TB chopped, toasted, hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla. The mixture should be light and well combined.
Stir in the flour and refrigerate the dough for 15min. for easy rolling.
Next, roll out the dough into a rectangle of 1/4 inch thickness.
Spread the Nutella, leaving a 1/4 inch space on all four sides. No oozing out please!
Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts over the Nutella.
Roll up the dough.
Refrigerate another 10 minutes before slicing.
Slice the roll into 1/2 inch slices.
Lay the slices on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden at the edges. Baking time depends on how thick they are cut.

Let cool, and EAT!

Make sure you have some milk handy!

In my Kitchen

I cleaned my kitchen today. Completely.

I did the dishes. Scrubbed the counters. I even handwashed all the big bowls and cookie sheets that had been sitting on top of my microwave for a week... uh... I mean day... ;)

Then I looked around. It was too clean. I can't have that, can I?

So, I started to bake.

It was the kids turn to pick the cookie flavor. They chose Snickerdoodles, so we got out our mix from MegsCreations and went to town.

MegsCreations.etsy.com

Then, as part of dinner, I made Parmesan Popovers. I found the recipe on a blog the other day, and unfortunately, forgot where I found them! They are made with eggs, milk, herbs, parsley, and Parmesan cheese in mini-muffin pans! So tiny! My 3 yr old helped and was so proud of her little "muffins"! I'll post the recipe soon!


We then started on our Honey Whole Wheat Bread which the whole family enjoys. This brought another moment of elation. I don't have a kitchen aid, so have to knead by hand for 10 minutes. BUT... I remembered that the new hand mixer my In-laws gave me came with dough hooks! I was so excited! The job was so much easier with them. The loaves are in the oven right now. Mmmm...

We then proceeded to dinner. I remembered that I had some whipping cream in the fridge that needed to be used. So, I whipped (ha ha) out my cookbook and found a recipe for Alfredo Sauce. I'm not going to post it. It was passable, but my own sauce, made with cream cheese, is SO much better!

For desert, we had a snickerdoodle in chocolate ice cream.

So, for now, I think I'm done! Well, at least until the bread is done...then I'll have a warm slice with strawberry jam... mmm...