Cookies

Is there anything yummier than homemade cookies? The taste, the way they make scent your home with their aroma...yum! I still have wonderful memories of my grandmother bringing over huge batches of her oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies - sometimes at the same time - and insisting on sharing them with us over a cup of tea, then regaling us with stories of her childhood.

Here are six cookie recipes to help you through the day, including my grandmother's aforementioned Oatmeal Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies. There's also a recipe for Chocolate Espresso Oatmeal Cookies and more. Enjoy!

GRANDMA'S OATMEAL COOKIES



Another one of my grandmother's recipes. When it came to baking, cookies were her specialty. You can also find these in my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking

1 C flour

1 C brown sugar

3 C quick cooking oatmeal (NOT the instant oats!)

1 C butter or margarine

1/4 C boiling water

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Mix flour & brown sugar. Add oatmeal; stir. Melt butter; add to dry ingredients. Mix baking soda into boiling water; add to other ingredients, stirring well. Place batter into loaf pan, lined with aluminum foil & place in freeze for several hours. Slice & bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Oatmeal Cookie dough, taken from the freezer; showing first cuts before baking



Then cut down the center, like so:



Placed on parchment paper-covered baking sheet, for easier handling



PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES





This was one of my grandmother's recipes, along with the oatmeal cookie recipe that follows. You can find them in my e-cookbook, Off The Wall Cooking.

1/2 C butter

1/2 C peanut butter

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1 egg, well beaten

1 1/4 C flour

3/4 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Cream butter & peanut butter together. Add sugar gradually & cream thoroughly. Add egg. Sift flour once before measuring. Sift flour, soda, baking powder & salt together & add to creamed mixture. Chill dough well, then form into balls the size of walnuts. Place balls on lightly greased baking sheet. Flatten with fork dipped in flour, making criss-cross pattern. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

This recipe, from The Food Network, begins, “A triple dose of cream cheese (mixed into the batter, in chunks in the dough and as a glaze on top) makes these pillowy cookies extra tangy. Freezing the cream cheese before stirring it into the dough makes it easier to cut into clean pieces and keeps the chunks from disintegrating when shaping the dough into balls.” Total Time: 3 hr 25 min; Prep: 40 min; Inactive: 1 hr. 30 min; Cook: 1 hr 15 min; Yield: 3 dozen cookies; Level: Easy.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/cream-cheese-cookies.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients

2 3/4 sticks (1 cup plus 6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

One 8-ounce package cream cheese, 6 ounces at room temperature, 2 ounces frozen

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 large egg yolk

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring (see Cook's Note)

2 tablespoons whole milk, plus more if needed

Very finely grated lime zest or finely minced cranberries, for garnish, optional

Directions

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Combine the butter, vanilla, 4 ounces of the room-temperature cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups of the sugar and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and beat until smooth, then add the flour and beat on low until the dough just comes together. Remove the frozen cream cheese from the freezer and chop into 1/4-inch cubes. Add the cubes to the dough, quickly stirring with a rubber spatula to evenly incorporate them into the dough. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop or 2 tablespoons, scoop 12 portions of dough, roll into balls and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly apart. Lightly flour the bottom of a 1/2-cup measuring cup and use it to flatten each cookie into a disk about 1/2 inch thick, re-flouring the cup after each cookie.

Bake, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the cookies look set but are still pale and barely brown on the bottom, 20 to 24 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining 2 ounces room-temperature cream cheese, 2 cups sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture forms a thick paste. Add the milk and stir slowly until a thick glaze forms.

When the cookies are cool, dip the entire surface of the top of each cookie in the glaze and lift up, letting the excess glaze drip off, then flip the cookie right-side up and onto the cooling rack. If the glaze is too thick, add another teaspoon of milk to loosen it. If using the cranberries or lime zest, sprinkle on top of the cookies while the glaze is still wet. Allow the glaze to set before serving, at least 10 minutes. Store the cookies in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Special equipment: a 1-ounce ice cream scoop, optional

Cook's Note: When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO OATMEAL COOKIES

Makes 48 cookies.

From the December 2011 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 75. This begins, “Take chocolate chip cookies to the next level with this espresso-spiked dough that's laced with chewy oats.”

To view this online, click here.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour or oat flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

4 oz. (1 stick) margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cooled espresso or strong coffee

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups oats

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in bowl.

Cream margarine and sugar together with electric mixer in bowl. Beat in espresso and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, adding up to 1/2 cup more if necessary to make thick dough. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half. Transfer each dough half to large sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper. Use plastic wrap to shape dough into 2 2-inch-diameter logs with plastic wrap or wax paper. Wrap tightly, and chill 2 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Slice dough logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Transfer slices to greased or parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Bake 8 to 11 minutes, or until cookies look dry on top. Cool cookies 3 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack.

nutritional information Per Cookie: Calories: 56; Protein: less than 1 g; Total Fat: 3 g; Saturated Fat: less than 1 g; Carbohydrates: 8 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 43 mg; Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 4 g; vegan

SOFT GINGER COOKIES

This is from Gesine Bullock-Prado in the January 2013 issue of Runners' World, page 36 (“The Athlete's Palate”). Genise writes, “Dates keep these whole-grain cookies moist without using butter or oil. 'Crystallized ginger adds the perfect bite--spicy and chewy at the same time,' says Bullock-Prado.” Makes 30 cookies.

To view this online, go to http://www.runnersworld.com/recipes/soft-ginger-cookies.

3/4 cup hot coffee

1 cup chopped, pitted dates

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs at room temperature

1/4 cup organic blackstrap molasses

1 1/2 cups organic spelt flour or whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine coffee and dates and stir in baking soda. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Put mixture in a food processor; process until nearly smooth. In a bowl, whisk eggs and molasses. Continue whisking and add date puree. In a small bowl, whisk flour, salt, and spices. Stir into date mixture. Stir in ginger pieces until just combined. Freeze till very firm but scoopable (30 minutes). Using a teaspoon, drop dough into little mounds, a few inches apart, on a parchment-lined tray. Sprinkle sugar over cookies. Bake 10 minutes or until they feel spongy yet firm and spring back when gently poked.

Calories Per Cookie: 66; Carbs: 14 g; Fiber: 1 g; Protein: 1 g; Fat: .5 g

PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH COOKIES

This comes from the December 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 55. It starts off, “These sandwich cookies are held together by a rich (and ridiculously easy) chocolate filling.” Makes 24 sandwiches.

To view this online, click here.

Cookies

2 cups smooth natural-style peanut butter

4 oz. Earth Balance margarine (1 stick)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup plain soymilk or almond milk

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped

Filling

1/2 cup coconut creamer or soy creamer

8 oz. vegan chocolate chips (1 1/4 cups)

To make Cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray.

Cream peanut butter, margarine, brown sugar, cane sugar, and vanilla 2 to 3 minutes with electric mixer, or until smooth. Beat in soymilk and 1/4 cup water.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and peanuts in separate bowl. Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture, and beat just until dough forms.

Scoop 1 Tbs. dough onto prepared baking sheets 2 to 3 inches apart. Make crisscross pattern on top of each Cookie by pressing down with fork. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges of Cookies begin to brown. Cool on baking sheet.

To make Filling: Heat creamer in top half of double boiler over medium heat until steaming. Pour hot creamer over chocolate chips in bowl, and let stand 30 seconds. Mix creamer and chocolate with wooden spoon until chocolate is melted, then whisk until smooth.

Spread 2 tsp. Filling on flat sides of 24 Cookies. Top with remaining Cookies.

nutritional information Per Cookie sandwich: Calories: 344; Protein: 7 g; Total Fat: 18 g; Saturated Fat: 5 g; Carbohydrates: 38 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 304 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 18 g; Vegan