Posts Tagged ‘cookies’

I'm hoping to have time this weekend to do another post about the wedding, but until then I thought I'd post this recipe that I already had here in the computer.

For Nora and Topher's wedding reception we had cake, groom's cake, fruit, a variety of cookies, chocolate dipped pretzel rods, coffee, and punch. I realized that I had never posted the recipe for these cookies on the blog. They are one of our favorites. I found this recipe in a church cookbook years ago. Before the wedding I experimented and found that you can prepare the balls of cookie dough, roll them in powdered sugar and then freeze them on a tray. After they are frozen they can be slipped into a ziploc bag. When we baked them we just baked them for about two minutes longer than normal and they turned out great. This was a big timesaver in preparing for the wedding.

Double Chocolate Treasures

2 cups chocolate chips, divided
1 stick margarine or butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups oatmeal (not cooked)
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsps. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
about 1 cup powdered sugar

Melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips and then set aside to cool slightly. In a mixing bowl beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs, vanilla, and melted chocolate. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix into the creamed mixture. Stir in the oats and remaining cup of chocolate chips. Shape the dough into 1" balls and roll in powdered sugar, coating heavily. Place on cookie sheets (I like to line them with parchment) and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 mins. Cool slightly before removing from baking sheets. Roll in powdered sugar again while they are still warm if you like a heavily sugared cookie. Makes about 5 dozen.

Baby Ryan is absolutely darling and we have come up with any number of excuses to run out and see him. Here's one of his latest photos:

Have a wonderful weekend!

Becka

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One thing that I have in common with Andy and Opie Taylor is that I, too, had an Aunt Bea. My Aunt Bea was at one time married to my mother's brother, Kenneth. They were married for only a short time and then were divorced. I remember seeing Kenneth only one time, but Aunt Bea lived near us and continued to be my aunt in spite of the family break-up. She never had children of her own but she knew how to delight young children. I can still remember the anticipation of receiving birthday cards from her which contained either dimes or sticks of gum. She also sent my sister and me a yearly subscription to Donald Duck comic books. I still have a few of those comic books and I have this recipe for her delicious fruit cookies:

Aunt Bea's Fruit Drop Cookies

1 cup dates (chopped)
1 cup raisins (chopped)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 sticks margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (these are optional -- I usually omit)

Combine the dates, raisins, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in saucepan and cook about 5 mins. or until the mixture thickens and fruit softens. Set aside to cool about 20 mins.

Cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs. Mix in flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Blend in fruit and nuts. Drop onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 mins. Makes about 8 dozen.

These are one of my favorite cookies. I really like them with the combination of dates and raisins, but you can make them with just the raisins if that's what you have on hand.

Becka

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I recently had a birthday and I received two of these non-stick Madeleine pans from DH. I tried them out for the first time this week and made these lemony Madeleines. I have eaten Madeleines before, but I had never attempted to make them. I discovered that most of the recipes are basically sponge cake recipes that you bake in these special shell-shaped pans to produce tender, cake like cookies. I think they would be nice as refreshments for a shower or tea.

I work in an office with two other ladies. We often discuss books that we are reading or authors that we have enjoyed. This summer all three of us have been enjoying books by Alexander McCall Smith, a Scottish author who has written a delightful series of books about The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. The stories take place in Botswana, South Africa. They do not contain a lot of violence or bad language — the stories are primarily about relationships between people and you can learn a lot about the customs and life in Botswana. I have found the stories to be quite charming.

One thing that the ladies in the Number One Ladies Detective Agency do quite often is to drink Bush Tea.They also treat themselves to donuts on Fridays. I found some Kalahari Bush Tea at a local grocery store (Ingles) and on Friday we had a little tea party at work with the Bush Tea and Madeleines. The tea is a herbal tea and we tried a variety that was lemony. It went quite well with the lemon-flavored Madeleines. It was a fun way to end the week.

Becka

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Have you ever heard of saucepan brownies? I had never heard the term before I read it in a little booklet many years ago, although I had made brownies using this method before I knew of the term. They are sometimes also called one bowl brownies. The idea is that you melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan (or in the microwave) and then combine with the other ingredients. I have found that brownies or bars prepared by this method are usually very moist, dense, and chewy rather than cake-like.

These Congo Bars are an example of saucepan brownies. I was given this recipe by a student many years ago and we have enjoyed Congo Bars ever since. They are very rich and delicious, so cut them small and plan on sharing a plate of them with friends.

Congo Bars

2 1/4 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine (approximately 10 Tbsps.)
3 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt butter or margarine. Add brown sugar and slightly beaten eggs. In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to first mixture and stir to blend and then stir in the chocolate chips. Spread in a 9" x 13" pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 mins. or until the bars test clean. Cool and cut into bars.

Here are the ingredients:

Here's everything mixed together:

Here they are ready to pop into the oven:

Since I was planning to give most of these bars away I lined the pan with non-stick foil instead of greasing and flouring it so I could remove the bars from the pan to make them easier to cut.

Give these a try if you need a quick, delicious bar recipe.

Becka

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I was trying to think of an idea for a blog post and realized that I had never posted the recipe for these Big Cookies.

I got this recipe many, many years ago from my friend Sue. Over the years my daughters and I have made hundreds of these big cookies. One year DD, Nora, made these cookies in heart shaped pans for every room on her hall in the dormitory!

You can put all the dough in a 9" x 13" pan and cut them into bars or you can bake the dough in two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. The round "big cookies" can then be turned out onto a paper plate or cake board and these make really nice treats, especially for hungry college students. They are also a nice dessert to include when you are taking supper to someone.

Here are the ingredients:

Here's the recipe:

Big Cookies

1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1tsp. vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix cake mix, oil, water, egg, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spread in two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans that have been greased and floured and lined with parchment or waxed paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins. Cool in pans for 10 mins. and then turn out onto a cooling rack covered with a towel. Immediately turn right side up onto a plate or cake board. Cut into wedges to serve.

If you are baking in a 9" x 13" pan you don't need to line the pan with waxed paper. Bake the same way and cut into bars. You can decorate these with the person's name and a border of icing for a birthday or other event. You can also use a chocolate cake mix for a brownie like version. You can also drop the dough onto cookie sheets and bake as you would bake regular chocolate chip cookies.

Here I'm tracing the pan onto waxed paper:

Here is the pan greased, floured, and lined:

Here's the cookie dough ready to go into the oven:

This picture shows how to flip the cookie out onto a towel lined cooling rack:

Here's the important step of peeling off the waxed paper before flipping the cookie right side up onto a plate:

One of DD Megan's friends made a batch with a lemon cake mix one time -- I don't recommend the lemon.

Becka

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