Peanut Butter Cookies

These really big peanut butter cookies are sure to be a crowd pleaser.  This recipe is an adaptation of the one my mother made for years.  I have no idea where it came from, but they are easy to make and delicious.  Enjoy!

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoons baking powder
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350°.  Line two cookies sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl and set aside
3. Beat the butter and sugars together in a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in the peanut butter until fully incorporated.  Beat in the vanilla and then the eggs one at a time.  Scrap the bowl as needed and continue to mix until all items are well incorporated. 
4. Reduce the speed on the mixer and slowly add in the flour mixture until well combined.  Again scrap the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed. 
5. Working with 3 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay on the prepared cookie sheets at least 2-inches apart.  Make a crisscross design on the cookies by first dipping a dinner fork into small bowl of water and then pressing the fork into the dough ball at perpendicular angles. 
6. Place both cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes rotating and switching the cookie sheets halfway through the cooking time. 
7. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for one minute and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.  Be prepared to beat your children, spouses, significant others, and various passers-by away from these cookies as they cool.  I used a large whisk for this.  Enjoy!

Peppermint Chocolate Blossoms

The base for these cookies is the Chocolate CrissCross Cookie, which is a Hersey's recipe and of course the kisses above are also a Hershey's product. I assure you that these two fact are purely coincidental. I am not blogging for Hershey, nor are they compensating me in any way. However, Hershey if you wish to compensate me don't hesitate to drop me a line. I also need to note that these particular kisses are seasonal and therefore will not be available all that long in the stores.

1 cups unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup Hershey's cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Hershey's' Peppermint Kisses, unwrapped

1. Heat the oven to 350° and cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, combine with a whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Gradually (and slowly if using an kind of motorized mixer) add the flour mixture into the butter mixture; beating until well combined.
3. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place on the parchment paper lined baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a measuring cup or a glass that has been dipped in water (to prevent sticking).
4. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set. Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, top them with the kiss. Cool slightly on the baking sheet and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Cookies

These are the cookies I used at the base for my Pumpkin Pie Cookies. I assure you that they are just as delicious without the kiss in the middle.

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust the oven rack the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk together the 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar together in a shallow bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside for later.
3. Melt 10 tablespoons of the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, swirling the pan constantly until the melted butter is a dark golden brown that gives of a nutty aroma, this should take about 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the butter to a heatproof bowl and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter stirring until they are also melted. Set aside for 15 minutes until cooled completely.
4. Stir the remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and the salt into the cooled butter until evenly combined. Stir in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
5. Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls with your hands wet and then roll them in the sugar mixture. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
6. Baking one sheet at a time bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for about 3 minutes on the cookie sheet until moving them to a wire rack.
   

Pumpkin Pie Kisses

I found these Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses at the store while looking for ideas for cookies for Kyle's soccer team. I immediately decided to make some sort of blossom kiss type cookie, but I knew that the traditional peanut butter cookie base would not cut it. While searching for something to use as the base to these cookies I found an amazing Brown Sugar Cookie recipe in the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking cookbook. The result was a cookie to rival any pumpkin pie!

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24 Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses, unwrapped

1. Adjust the oven rack the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk together the 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar together in a shallow bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside for later.
3. Melt 10 tablespoons of the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, swirling the pan constantly until the melted butter is a dark golden brown that gives of a nutty aroma, this should take about 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the butter to a heatproof bowl and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter stirring until they are also melted. Set aside for 15 minutes until cooled completely.
4. Stir the remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and the salt into the cooled butter until evenly combined. Stir in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
5. Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls with your hands wet and then roll them in the sugar mixture. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
6. Baking one sheet at a time bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove them from the oven and immediately press an unwrapped Pumpkin Spice Hershey kiss into the middle of each still soft cookie. Allow the cookies to cool for about 3 minutes on the cookie sheet until moving them to a wire rack. Be careful will begin to melt just a bit.
   

Chocolate Crisscross Cookies

I found this recipe on the Hershey website while trying to locate something I could make for my boys to have a treat after swim class. These cookies are delicious and they stand up well to life in the cookie jar. I like to make something that will last either a couple of weeks in the jar or will freeze well. These cookies did both. I am also please to let you all know that I now have a Kitchen Aid stand-mixer. Someone from my mother's club was getting rid of a brand new, never open mixer and the price was right. I snapped it up and was even lucky enough to have my mom offer reimburse me for it since they have planned to getting me one for Christmas. Christmas came earlier for me and boys because this mixer works like a dream! Of course this recipe can be made with a hand held mixer or by hand.

1 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup Hershey's cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the oven to 350° and cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, combine with a whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Gradually (and slowly if using an kind of motorized mixer) add the flour mixture into the butter mixture; beating until well combined.
3. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place on the parchment paper lined baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Flatten the balls with the tines of a fork. Flatten again in the opposite direction, forming a crisscross mark. You may want to dip your fork into some water to make this easier.
4. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set. Cool slightly on the baking sheet and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
   

No-Bake Chocolate-Scotch Drops

This Friday I bring you a cookie recipe, just in time for those up coming Holiday Cookie exchanges. This recipe came to us on a very hot day. I had promised the boys they could have a cookie from the local cookie store if they were good at swim class. Well, they were good, but we ran out of time before our next appointment. I promised we would make cookies only to be stymied by a 100° day. After some searching I found a recipe for the above no-bake cookie. It was a little sweet for me, but the boys loved it.

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup butterscotch morsels

1 1/2 cups old fashioned Quaker oats, uncooked

1 cup chopped peanuts

1. Place the chocolate and butterscotch morsels in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 30 second to 1 1/2 minutes or until mixture is melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
2. Add the oats and the peanuts, mix well
3. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Cover and refrigerate until firm. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Calories are according to The Quaker Oat Company. Serving size 2 cookies. Calories 160, Fat 9 grams, Fiber 1 gram.

Breakfast Cookies

I am always looking for some easy to feed my boys when we are on the run. Weekend mornings are particularly hectic and we often have to run out the door earlier then we really want to. We have in the past given the boys cereal bars to eat in the car on just suck occasions, but store bought cereal bars are high in sugar and leave a horrible mess in the car. So, I decided to make a healthy bar or cookie to take their place. This is my first product.

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup raisins

1. Move your oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat the oven to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside
2. Blend the apple sauce, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a stand mixer on medium (or use a hand held mixer or a whisk).
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Slowly add the flour mixture to the apple sauce mixture with the stand mixer on low. Turn up to medium and mix until all ingredients are well combined. To this add the oats and mix until well combine.
4. Remove from the stand mixer and fold in the raisins.
5. Using an ice cream scooper scoop a scooper full of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. I used just a plain ice cream scoop, but you can use a large spoon. I just wanted each cookie to be rather large.
6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until cookie are golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Enjoy!
   

Cheese Cookies

My mom used to make these cookies and I always loved that they were savory, but still cookie in shape and design. I recently decided to make them for my boys and while I was at it I entered them into a recipe contest over at Better Homes and Gardens Mixing Bowl. Here is the link where you can vote for me.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temp

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup Rice Krispies

1. Preheat your oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper


2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Then using a pasty cutter, blend in the butter until well distributed with the flour


3. Add in the cheese and Rice Krispies and mix with your hands until the mixture is well incorporated.


4. With wet hands roll the cheese cookie mixture into small balls and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Using a wet fork mash down each cookie in a crosshatch fashion.


5. Bake at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Shortbread

This recipe is from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. I made this recipe for a family night at my son's school. We were told to bring a dish that represented our cultural heritage. My husband is of Hungarian descent, but Hungarian dishes are mostly meaty. Not only are there main dishes mostly meaty, most of their dessert involve nuts and with so many children allergic to nuts I stay away from nut when making things for school functions. Ruling out my husband heritage left only mine which is mostly Scottish. I toyed with the idea of making a Haggis, but again with the meat. So, I settled on a nice shortbread.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium sized bowl. In a large bowl, heat the butter and confectioner's sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, making sure to scrap the side of the bowl and beaters once in a while. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Mix until combined, about 30 seconds.
2. Using your hands, press the dough into a ball in the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface ( I have granite counter tops and I did not need any flour...the dough did not stick) and knead the dough by hand until it is very smooth, about 3 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the dough to that baking sheet. Press the dough into a disk and roll out to a 9-inch diameter circle, about 1/2 inch thick.
3. Crimp the ends of the dough as you would a pie crust, then poke the dough with a fork in a circular pattern(make sure you poke all the was through the dough), and then score the dough (do not go all the way through this time) with a small sharp knife into 16 wedges.
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.
5. Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat the over to 300°. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle it evenly with the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bake the shortbread until a pale golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through the cooking time.
6. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and using a sharp knife cut the shortbread alone the previously made score marks to separate the wedges. Let cool on the baking dish for 10 minutes. Transfer the shortbread from the baking sheet directly onto the wire rack and cool for at least one hour before serving.

Holiday Cut Out Cookies

I always make these cookies for Halloween and for Christmas. As I have not done my holiday baking just yet, I only have the photo from Halloween. This recipe is from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and softened
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time, using and electric mixer on medium-low speed, then continue to beat until the mixture is crumbly and slightly wet. Beat in the cream cheese and the vanilla until the dough just comes begins to form large clumps.
2. Knead the dough in the large bowl by hand a few times until it forms a large, cohesive mass. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter, divide it in half, and pat into two 4-inch disks. Wrap disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until they begin to firm up, 20 to 30 minutes. (FYI: you can make you dough ahead and keep it in the frig for 3 days or you can freeze it for up to 2 weeks--if you freeze it allow the dough to defrost in the frig)
3. Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat the oven to 375°. Line the bottom of two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough to a 1/8 inch thickness on a clean surface. I have granite counter tops, but if you do not have a good smooth cool surface you might want to invest in a roll mat. Use cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes. Press the cookie cutters into the dough and remove the excess dough from around the cutters before removing the cutters. Then, using a spatula move the cut out cookies from the counter to your parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Place each cookie 1-inch apart.
4. Bake the cookies until a light golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet half way through the baking time.
5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes and then transfer them using a spatula to a wire rack. Cool cookies completely before icing them.
   
   

Glaze
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoons cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Whisk 2 tablespoons of the milk and the cream cheese together until smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth, adding the remaining milk as needed until the glaze is thin enough to spread easily. You can divide the glaze amoung separate bowls and add food coloring as desired. I use Wilton gel food color for dying cookie icing.
2. Decorate the cookies with the glaze and with sprinkles. Allow the glazed cookies to dry completely before touching them or they will be covered with finger prints

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

For the Cookie
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt

For the Coating
1/3 cup sugar

For the Garnish
48 kisses(unwrapped)

1. Cream the butter. Add the peanut butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until combined. Then add in the milk and beat until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the sugar mixture to the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Cover and chill the batter for about 1 hour.
3. Move the oven racks to the center of your oven and preheat you oven to 375°. Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper.
4. Roll the batter into 1 inch balls and coat with sugar. Place each ball of dough on your prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
6. Immediately upon removing from the oven, place an unwrapped kiss in the center of each cookie and press down.
7. Allow to cool on a wire rack and enjoy your holiday baking.

Triple Threat Cookie

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

2 large eggs yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl and beaters as needed.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chips and nuts until incorporated.
4. Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay on parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden brown, but the centers are still soft and puffy, 17 to 20 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway between baking.
5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.