Cookies

Pumpkin Pie Spice

September 16, 2020 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

Pumpkin Pie Spice. Even if I didn’t bake I would want to own a jar of Pumpkin Pie Spice simply because it sounds so domestic and Fall-ish. Since I do bake, and because so many recipes call for this combination of spices, it has become a staple in my kitchen. I don’t necessarily have an aversion to purchasing Pumpkin Pie Spice, although it can be pricey. The problem rests in the fact that I go through so much of it that I always seem to be out. I guess what I am saying here is that I make Pumpkin Pie Spice because I can. There are 5 spices that I combine to make Pumpkin Pie Spice; allspice, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon. A note about allspice. My understanding of allspice is that, although it is it’s own dried berry and NOT a combination of spices, it does closely resemble the combined flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. The reason this is important to someone like myself is that I am not deterred in making Pumpkin Pie Spice just because I am out of something like say…allspice. I just add a bit more cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in equivalent proportions. There. I hope I have convinced you not to put off making delicious things just because you are out of Pumpkin Pie Spice. Grab and empty jar and let’s get started.

You will need the following: Nutmeg, Ground Cloves, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Ground Allspice. These spices just make you happy! Seriously.

Into a bowl measure 6 Tablespoons ground cinnamon, 4 teaspoons ground ginger, 4 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground allspice and 2 teaspoons ground cloves. They look so beautiful in the bowl don’t you think?

Grab a fork and give it a stir until the spices are nicely incorporated. Store in an airtight jar to keep all the aroma and flavor tucked nicely away and get busy making those pumpkin cookies or rolls or pie or bread…..and remember you made this just because you can. Happy baking!

Pumpkin Pie Spice

I love making large quantities of this to keep me from running to the store!

Author: Sweet Suppertime

Ingredients

In a bowl combine:
6 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cloves

Instructions

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

Thin and Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

April 27, 2015 by Shanon Balser 8 Comments

I just love cookies. Love them. I love all kinds of cookies. I love trying new recipes and I love the recipes that I have made for years. I love starting a batch of cookies in the afternoon so that the aroma fills the house just as the kids are coming home from school. I love packaging them up to give to friends. I love packing them in my kids’ lunches. They are sweet, they are tasty and they are portable. I have cookie moods. People often ask me what my favorite cookie is. It depends on the day!

Recently one of my favorite nephews stopped by with his wife for a visit. I have a real soft spot in my heart for this one. When he was younger he used to come and sleep over at our house. His ready smile and happy nature made him pretty easy to love. He’s all grown up now– tall, strong and handsome. When I see him and he gives me a hug, in many ways it’s much like a hug my own sons would give me…it’s a little tighter and a little longer and it’s packed with genuine care. At any rate, the other day he was visiting and before he left he asked me if I had a good oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. We tried to define which kind of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Does it have cinnamon? Is it cake-like? Is it flat? Does it have raisins? I have so many great oatmeal cookie recipes, but this one is one of my all-time favorites.

This cookie is thin and chewy, no raisins and no cinnamon. Oh, it does have plenty of butter. Here you go, Brandon. And since a picture is worth a thousand words…

My husband likes to stack cookies…

and pile cookies. I kept telling him I needed them lined up nice and neat on parchment so that I could drizzle them with chocolate. They needed to dress themselves up a bit because they were going to a neighbor’s house.I like using white chocolate for this as well. Do it or don’t–they are your cookies!
He laid them out for me on the parchment like I asked. I drizzled and when I turned around he had stacked cookies again. So I took a picture.
And because a taste is worth more than a thousand words, you should make yourself a batch. This makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies. Have fun!

4.3 from 3 reviews

Thin and Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

This buttery chewy cookie is the perfect oatmeal chocolate chip treat!

Author: Shanon Balser

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 40

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2½ cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

In a large bowl, cream together softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
Add eggs one at a time until well-mixed.
Add soda, salt and vanilla and mix, taking care to scrape down the sides of the bowl so that all ingredients are well-incorporated.
Add flour, mixing just to combine.
Add oats and mix on medium speed for 20-30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add chocolate chips and mix just to distribute.
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes in a 375° oven. (Mine took about eleven and a half minutes.
Cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack.
**I like to dress these cookies up a bit with drizzled white or milk chocolate. Melt chocolate in a seal-able plastic bag and microwave on low until the chocolate is melted. Snip off a tiny corner of the bag and drizzle chocolate over the cookies if desired.

Grandma’s Cookies

March 31, 2015 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 2 Comments

cake-like cookies, cookies, old-fashioned cookies, unique cookies

The other day my father called us all together for a family meeting. He has cancer. He wanted to talk to all of us about the way his estate would be settled when he dies. I was assigned dessert for the dinner portion of the meeting. I decided on nostalgia and made these cookies for the event. It was great to be together with my brothers and sisters and my dad. They are amazing people and I am a better person just because I am related. My dad opened the meeting saying something like “When I die and things are settled I want you to make your mother proud.” He ended the meeting by telling us that none of the “things were his and none would ever really be ours. “Everything belongs to God.” At any rate–I made the cookies and I’m pretty sure that they brought back more than a few good memories for my family. So I decided to give them a re-post. If you haven’t made these yet, give them a try. I’m sure you will have a new family favorite of your own.

The photo above was taken this particular occasion. You will notice yellow sprinkles on a few. On the last 2 dozen cookies I added lemon extract, lemon zest and a few lemon chips. They were a delightful twist to an old favorite.

And now the re-post…..

Fair warning; this is going to be serious.

I love the kitchen! I love dishes, dishtowels, kitchen gadgets, family conversations, recipe books, oh yeah…I also love cooking/baking. It’s just a little something that I picked up from the hours I spent in the kitchen with my mom when I was growing up. You will hear a lot about my momma over the years. In fact, it’s because of her that I started collecting my favorite recipes to put on a blog ! She is the reason for so many things. I’m not really ready to talk about it yet, but my mom passed away a couple of months ago. She was my biggest cheerleader and inspiration. She was also my editor. I don’t know how objective she was about my writing but I do know that she had me correct a few misspelled words now and then. Mostly she would just read through the post and then call and tell me how wonderful I was. I miss that. I miss her. Wow.

I thought it might be appropriate to come back to blogging with a recipe of her mother’s. I was one of the youngest of the grandchildren and my memories of my grandmother are sketchy at best. What I do remember of her, though, was complete kindness and really encompassing hugs. I wish that I had the same memories as my cousins and siblings about these cookies, but my memories come from my own mother making these unique cookies. I’m told that grandma would bake them in her wood burning/coal stove and then store them in a big roaster. Grandkids and friends alike were welcome to stop in and dip their hands into the roaster for one of these nostalgic cookies. I’ve collected a lot of recipes over the years and I’ve never run across one quite like it. I find these cookies to parallel a grandmother in many ways; they take time, they are sweet and they bring happiness to all around them.

I made these cookies shortly after Momma died. Somehow digging out this recipe and laboring with love over them made me feel closer to both her and grandma. I took a few to a cousin and dropped some off to my brother who always claimed to love them most. I reintroduced them to my own children who had no memory of this cookie and was glad I had taken the time to share a memory.

Make them for the people you love. Take a few minutes and tell them a story about your own grandmother. There’s just something about the kitchen. I feel close to my momma there. She wrote a post for me in the spring and asked me to post it in the fall. That will be my next gift to this blog and any who love their mother and grandmother. If you will notice these ingredients are so simple and most surely found in most pantries– nothing fancy here except the finished product.

The first thing to remember is that this is a sticky dough. Refrigerating the dough for at least 2 hours makes it manageable, so there’s no reason to get all excited and preheat the oven when you crack the eggs…

The happy ingredients:

In a large bowl ( and I mean Large bowl) cream together:

1 cup white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup shortening

Add:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Carefully incorporate:

5 1/2 to 6 cups flour
2 cups canned milk
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans * optional (Okay I have a confession: I don’t love nuts in these cookies so I make them in stages and add nuts for those in the fam who love nuts or are nutty…)

Remember, the dough will be sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 2 hours. I always tell my girls to do a test batch of cookies when they start baking, just to see how the shape holds. If you feel like it needs more flour, toss it in!
I’ve never been successful using a cookie scoop with these cookies. I always use either two spoons or a spoon and knife. This would be called the “old-fashioned” way of shaping cookie dough. This is how we did it in the old days. My momma taught me that.

Cookie Dough, Sweet Suppertime, Grandma's Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and drop cookies onto parchment-covered cookie sheet or greased cookie sheet. Bake about 12 minutes or until the edges begin to brown and the top springs back when you tap it carefully with your finger, avoiding burning yourself. Come on and try it. If grandma could manage this in an old coal stove 80 years ago I think you can do it! If you can’t handle that do the standard insertion of a toothpick coming out mostly clean. You are baking the equivalent of a mini-cake here. Some of mine will turn out flattish and some will turn out nice and rounded. Either way they will melt in your mouth and flood your mind with a million happy memories.

Cool 2 minutes on a cookie sheet before moving to them to a cooling rack, or as grandma did; a dry, clean dish towel.

Frost with vanilla frosting of your choice. Grandma Reba’s recipe is below. I always use her recipe when I make these cookies, flour and all. 🙂 There are some things you just don’t mess with. You will want to frost them while they are still slightly warm so that the frosting sort of runs down the sides just a bit. Sprinkle them with chopped walnuts if you love walnuts.
Share a few… because that’s what your grandmother would do.

Grandma's Cookies

This old fashioned cookie is well worth the effort. Cake-like in texture, this cookie evokes memories of days gone by and visiting with good friends and family.

Author: Shanon for Grandma Dunsdon

Recipe type: Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 whole eggs
2 cups canned milk
5½ to 6 cups flour (sometimes even more if it is humid)
*optional chopped walnuts or pecans
Grandma's Frosting
1 square butter softened
2 Tablespoons flour
1½ package powdered sugar
canned milk to desired consistency

Instructions

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add salt, soda, vanilla and eggs just until blended. Carefully incorporate flour and milk. Add chopped nuts if desired and reserve a few for sprinkling on the top of the cookies if you are nutty. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically to make sure that you the dough has mixed up nice and even. Refrigerate overnight or at least two hours.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees until the edges brown and the top of the cookie springs back when touched.
Cool until just slightly warm and frost with vanilla frosting. Top with chopped nuts as desired.

There you have it….a memory.

The Giant Cookie

February 20, 2015 by Shanon Balser 2 Comments

My husband had to leave on a business trip for a couple of days. So…. I did what any lonely housewife would do. I invited The Doobie Brothers, Boston and The Eagles over to make cookies. Actually that’s not completely true. I invited them to make cookie. I turned up the sound and mixed, stirred, whipped and rolled to “Listen To The Music”, “Lyin’ Eyes”, and “More Than a Feelin'”. There’s not much that can beat a great classic rock playlist. It’s fun. And since this cookie is fun to make, fun to look at and fun to eat it all worked out. I just wish they could have gotten better pictures.

This dessert is known simply as The Giant Cookie. I’ve been making this for over 20 years and it has remained a favorite at our house. Since I started posting to this blog Keven, my son, has been begging me to post this Giant Cookie recipe. He has an ulterior motive. He just wants to eat the spoils of blogging. Ahh Keven…

This is one of those recipes you can whip up pretty quick and get impressive results. I have made it often for my kids and their friends on many a weekend night. It usually supplied the sweet while the bean dip provided the salty.

For this delicious dessert you will need a batch of cookie dough, a small box of instant chocolate pudding, cream cheese at room temperature, refrigerated whipped topping, whole milk and sugar. Allow the whipped topping to thaw in the refrigerator to keep it from going runny.

Preheat your oven to 350°. On a 15″ baking stone or any large sized baking sheet, roll cookie dough to within 1 1/2″ of the sides. If you go too close to the edge of the pan you will be cleaning up dough that expands and runs off the edge as it bakes. I am working with about 2 cups of cookie dough here. If you don’t want to make this homemade recipe (which is fabulous for this) pick up a tube of your favorite refrigerated cookie dough.

Put your beautiful Giant Cookie in the oven and set a timer for 14 minutes. It is usually perfect at 15. While the cookie is baking combine 1 8oz package of softened cream cheese with 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Mix until it is perfectly blended and creamy. Set aside. By the way… this makes a great fruit dip. Add a little lemon zest or melted caramel. This stuff is delicious. Go ahead and lick the spoon…

Now empty a small package (3.9 ounce) of instant chocolate pudding into a bowl. I like to have the pudding down in the bowl first since instant pudding can clump a bit. In fact instant pudding gives me a bit of anxiety–so this is my solution. Put it in the bowl first. Measure 1 1/2 cups cold whole milk and with a wire whisk ready slowly pour the milk over the pudding while stirring it with the whisk. Continue to stir for about 2 minutes or until the pudding is a lovely creamy texture. Put this in the fridge. Lick the whisk. 🙂

Well, the cookie is about done. Grab it out, leave it on the pan, set it on a cooking rack and patiently wait for it to cool.

Here comes some serious fun. Now that the cookie is cool, spread your delicious cream cheese mixture over the top of the cookie. Get this right out to the edges. That way no one dodges the edge pieces. My son always takes the middle piece. Always. Now–here’s a great tip. Now that the cream cheese base is down–cut the cookie. Cut it in whatever shapes or sizes you want. I like using a pizza cutter for this part. The genius of cutting this dessert now is that when you are all done there is no reason to run a knife through all your hard work. That just disrupts the appeal of something this enticing and delicious. Simply loosen a few pieces so that people get the idea.

After pre-cutting your cookies, spread the chocolate pudding on top of the cream cheese mixture. The pudding is thick by now, so give it a stir and spread it on. Fill a decorating bag with a small container of whipped topping, like cool whip. This topping is great to use for projects like this because it holds its form so well. Decorate to your hearts content.

Sprinkle with chocolate shavings if desired. Loosen a couple of pieces like we talked about, turn up the music and dig in. Simple, unique and incredibly delicious.

This makes about 20 large pieces which will serve 10 people nicely or… one 15 year old.

The Giant Cookie

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

This is a sure fire hit for your family and a wonderfully unique party dessert...

Author: adapted from The Pampered Chef

Recipe type: desserts

Serves: 20

Ingredients

2 cups prepared cookie dough
1 8oz package cream cheese
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 small package instant chocolate pudding (3.9 oz)
1½ cups cold whole milk
1 small container whipped topping
chocolate sprinkles if desired

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°
Roll Cookie dough, about ¼ inch thick on a 15" round stone or a large baking sheet. Keep the dough 1½ inches from the edge so the cookie has room to expand.
Bake 15 minutes, checking after 13 minutes. Don't over bake 🙂
While the cookie is baking combine cream cheese and sugar and mix to a smooth consistency.
Set aside.
Pour instant pudding mix in the bottom of a bowl and, while stirring with a wire whisk, add 1½ cups cold milk.
Whisk ingredients for about 2 minutes until the pudding is smooth and glossy.
Refrigerate.
When the cookie is done remove it from the oven, leaving it on the baking dish/stone, set it on a wire rack to cool.
When the cookie is cool spread with cream cheese mixture.
Pre-cut the cookie into desired sizes.
Spread with pudding mixture.
Fill a decorating bag with whipped topping (Cool Whip style) and decorate the top of your giant cookie.
Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles if desired.
When serving just loosen a couple of the pre-cut slices and people will get the idea that the dessert is already cut.
Enjoy this fun and unique dessert.

link

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

February 13, 2015 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

Butter. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Melt, mix, bake, eat. Well–you get the idea.

I love this cookie because it does NOT start with a mix. The flavors of chocolate are smooth, not grainy. And because you just keep adding and adding the chocolate chips and chunks; every bite is a delight! They store really well for a few days, staying soft and delicious for eating or sharing! I live with some seriously chocolate loving people and each of them are pretty opinionated about the type of chocolate they love most. This recipe satisfies all their varied tastes. What makes the dough so yummy? The base is made with butter and melted semi-sweet chocolate chips. Shall we make a dozen or two?

You will need semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, any other chocolate chunks you might have or love, butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder, all purpose flour and vanilla. Can we just say here how happy those jars of chocolate make us? Seriously. I get a bit giddy looking at this photo. Okay–I am a little less giddy for a minute–I forgot to photo the sugar.

In sauce pan over lowest heat melt 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 3 tablespoons of butter. You will be using 2 cubes of butter at room temperature so just chop off 3 tablespoons to put with the melting chips. This just makes the chocolate easy to work with and melts it to a smooth texture. Keep an eye on the chocolate mixture. Sometimes I just turn the burner off and on while I am getting other ingredients ready. Stir it occasionally. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.

While the butter and chocolate are melting over that very low heat, take the rest of the butter along with 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar and beat it at medium speed, scraping down the bowl a couple of times, until the mixture is nice and creamy. That’s just pretty.

Add the ever-so-slightly-cooled chocolate mixture, 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the creamed butter and sugar and continue beating until it is combined. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Beat on low speed until everything is well mixed. I accomplish this by turning the mixture on and off until the flour starts to incorporate and then turn the machine to medium and mix for about 1 minute.

Time to add all those chocolate pieces we have been talking about. Fold in 1/2 each of milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Notice those chocolate chunks in that jar at the right up at the top of this post? Top your cookies with a few those if you have something similar. Cut up a chocolate bar if you need to. Ahh now you see the folly in naming these Triple Chocolate Cookies. Quad Cookies didn’t sound that great. 🙂

Drop cookies by rounded tablespoonfuls on an ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Place the cookie balls about 2 inches apart.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 10-11 minutes. Try not to over bake them. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Store up to 5 days in an airtight container. Or just leave them on the cooling rack–they aren’t ever going to make it to that airtight container….

I can’t help think how great these would taste with a peppermint drizzle at Christmastime….

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

30 mins

These triple chocolaty cookies make the perfect late night snack. Make sure you have milk in the fridge....

Author: Sweet Suppertime

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 42

Ingredients

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips for melting
½ cup additional chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup milk chocolate chips
a handful of whatever kind of chocolate chunks you can get your hands on. Cut up a chocolate bar pieces work great.
1 cup softened butter, divided
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups all purpose flour
1¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°
Line a baking sheet with parchment
Over very low heat melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips with 3 tablespoons of your softened butter. Stir occasionally being careful not to overheat the chocolate. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool slightly.
While the chocolate and butter are melting, cream together butter and sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add slightly cooled chocolate mixture, eggs and vanilla to the creamed butter and sugar.
Mix until well blended.
Starting on low speed, add 2½ cups flour, 1¼ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon of salt..
Increase speed to medium and mix for about one minute.
Fold in all remaining chocolate chips, reserving a few for the tops of the cookies if you wish.
Drop by rounded tablespoons on an ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake 10-11 minutes being careful not to over bake.
Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container.

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

December 12, 2014 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

If you think the name is a mouthful wait until you try the cookie! This cookie is packed with a sort of quiet sweetness that comes around and taps you on the shoulder and says “Hey, grab a glass of milk and another cookie.” At least that’s what they say to me. Do you ever have one of those days where you want to bake and you wonder what you should put together? Today was that day for me. I wanted to bake but I wasn’t sure what to make and then I was thinking about my family and all the things that are going on in their lives and my brain landed on my son-in-law. He’s taking a test on Saturday that is a pretty big deal AND he has sort of a favorite cookie and this is it. So I grabbed out my ginormous bag of dried cranberries from Costco and got to work.

As a side note… we are expecting a grand-baby any day now and I was feeling grateful for all the people who know my cute daughter-in-law and wondered what to bake today and then thought of her. She had a few deliveries herself today…hoping the baby is the next delivery!

This is how packed with goodies the dough looks before it’s baked!

This is how they look when they are baked. They are all ready to be eaten or…

Shared. (get gift tag here)

Enjoy baking cookies for people you love today. I hope you are one of them!!!

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are great to take to a party or give as gifts. They are pretty rich for an oatmeal cookie...

Author: Sweet Suppertime

Serves: 2 doz large cookies

Ingredients

½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
1 egg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/1/2 cups quick cooking oats
⅔ cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°
Cream brown sugar, sugar and butter.
Add egg, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and vanilla and mix well.
Add flour and oatmeal,mixing until combined.
Fold in dried cranberries and white chocolate making sure they are evenly distributed.
Using a large cookie scoop or rolling the dough into 1 inch balls, place on a well greased baking sheet about 3 inches apart from each other.
Bake at 350° for about 11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned.
Cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack
** if your oven is like mine--I have to turn my cookies around once about halfway through the cooking process so that the cookies at the back don't over bake.

Molasses Friendship Cookies with Lemon Drizzle

November 13, 2014 by Shanon Balser 2 Comments

I love this recipe. I have fond memories of sitting with my father and eating ginger snap cookies. You know– the ones in the brown homely bag that you walk by at the store and wonder if anyone ever really buys them. They do. I actually like them. In fact there isn’t a molasses/ginger cookie that I don’t like. But I LOVE this recipe.

These cookies are soft and packed with all the right spices. We make these cookies year round but when the weather turns crisp and leaves billow and dance around the backyard I always reach for the molasses. I love that these are called “friendship cookies”, and every time I pull a batch out of the oven and breath in the smell of them and look at how pretty they turn out I am reminded why. I automatically think “I should take a few of these to ____”. If I can get them on to a plate or in to a bag fast enough, I do just that. Otherwise I just pour the milk and watch them disappear.

Recently my daughter Lacey needed to make invitations for a church function where ladies would be invited to share traditions. We decided to make our traditional “friendship cookies” into the invitation. We made the cookies smallish and put them in little bags which were then delivered around her neighborhood. It was a fun day baking together. These are easy to make and fun to share. Let’s make ~~cookies~~ friends!

Cream together everything except the flour. Yup, it’s all in there at once. Rebel.

Beat in your mixer for 1 minute, on low, scraping down the bowl once. Add the flour and continue to mix until incorporated about 2 minutes, again scraping down the bowl so that nothing gets left out of the mix and mingling of ingredients.

Roll dough into walnut size balls and roll in sugar. Here they are just rolling around in all that happy sugar.

Place the cookie dough on a parchment lined or greased cookie sheet. Since we made smallish cookies, the size of an acorn, the baking sheet you see here is loaded up with 30 cookies.

Bake at 350° for approximately 10 minutes, checking after 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Decide if you want to glaze them with a little drizzle of lemon glaze. Not necessary, but pretty and delicious.

If you decide to drizzle glaze on them use 1 cup of powdered sugar with one tablespoon of lemon juice and one tablespoon of water mixed together until smooth. Line all the cookies up nice and snug together on a cookie sheet and drizzle the glazing to your hearts content. Oh– and here’s a photo of how Lacey’s invitations turned out!

Molasses Friendship Cookies with Lemon Glaze

I love the way these cookies bake up with the beautiful textured breaks along the top.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup shortening
¼ cup molasses
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups all flour
LEMON GLAZE FOR DRIZZLING
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°
Cream together all ingredients EXCEPT flour, mixing on low speed for 1 minute, scraping down the sides once.
Add flour and mix an additional 2 minutes, again scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Roll the dough into walnut size balls ( or smaller) and dip them in sugar to coat.
Bake on parchment or a lightly greased cookie sheet for approximately 10 minutes. You want them to be soft, so do not over bake.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
When the cookies have cooled, line them all up close together and drizzle lightly with lemon glaze.
LEMON GLAZE
Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and water and stir until smooth.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 10, 2014 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

I have to admit that I am a bit of a late comer to pumpkin cookies. In fact I hadn’t even tasted so much as a morsel of a pumpkin cookie until 11 years ago. I still remember the occasion; my youngest son was graduating from preschool in full black garbage bag regalia. I know, I am still trying to consider the wisdom of having a group of preschoolers working with plastic that will eventually be draped over their heads. Gasp… shudder. At any rate he marched proudly in his black garbage bag cap and gown across the deck and down the stairs while Pomp and Circumstance played on the small boom box plugged in near the base of the wooden stairs. He looked adorable. I was hungry. There were pumpkin cookies. I scoffed at first and considered staying hungry (pumpkin is not usually a favorite) but eventually the hunger pains won out and I tried one. Eureka! I tried two and then three and then I sent my little garbage bag graduate to get one for the road. What had I been missing all these years? The long and short of is that I couldn’t get enough these new found treats and it was spring as in… it wasn’t even fall! To date I have not met a pumpkin cookies I didn’t like but making them from scratch is my favorite and I have never found the need to discriminate the season. They are equally delicious spring, summer, winter or fall.

One note; don’t get pumpkin pie filling when the recipe asks for pumpkin.Get 100% pumpkin. Or better yet–when you are feeling all domestic prepare your own pumpkin. Let’s make some cookies! This batch makes about 3 dozen medium size cookies. Gather the following ingredients: butter, brown sugar, white sugar, pumpkin, egg, vanilla, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.

Preheat your oven to 375° Combine 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl and whisk together.

In a separate bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 1 cup butter at room temperature (this recipe works well with 1/2 cup margarine and 1/2 cup butter for those of us on a budget), 2/3 cup brown packed brown sugar and 1/3 cup white sugar (aka granulated sugar) .

Beat together and then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add 1 cup pumpkin**, one egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and beat together.

Scrape down the bowl again and then add the dry ingredients, beating together until thoroughly combined.

Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips ( I like milk chocolate) and drop the dough onto a prepared baking sheet. I like using a large cookie scoop for this because the cookies stay nicely uniform.

Bake on the middle oven rack in your preheated oven until your cookies edges are lightly browned. As you are checking on your cookies you will notice the color denseness disappear as the cookies bake. Watch for the denseness in the center to close in, but don’t over bake the cookies. Plan on about 12 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your cookies. I usually do a test run on a couple of cookies to make sure that when they bake I like the way they look when they are done. I like this cookie to be a bit “puffy” so if I need to add a bit more flour to the dough, I do.

Remove them from the oven and cool the cookies on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to completely cool.

**Any pumpkin not used should be removed from the can and refrigerated or frozen. If I put mine in the refrigerator I like to use it within 5 days max. If I don’t think I will bake pumpkiny things within that time frame I put it in a freezer bag ( because I can get most of the air out) and pop it in the freezer, labeled. I like to use my frozen pumpkin within 6 months.

By now the cookies should be cooled…eat up! No garbage bag required.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened (or 1/2 cup margarine and 1/2 cup butter if you are feeling thrifty)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 cup pumpkin (canned or make your own)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour (more if needed)
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°
In a bowl combine dry ingredients whisking together. Set aside.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together butter and sugars. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract and mix together. Scrape down the bowl again and add all dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and stir in chocolate chips.
Drop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet and bake at 375° for approximately 12 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and finish cooking on a cooling rack until completely cool. Makes about 3 dozen large cookies.

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Raisin Filled Cookies

November 4, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 2 Comments

Early in the spring I asked my mom to write a post for my recipe blog. I asked to her to review some of her memories of childhood and write, for me, a memory. The following post is hers. She mailed this to me in the spring and I called her to tell her that I had gotten it and to thank her for sharing this memory. She told me, “Shanon, I would like you to publish it in the fall. I won’t be here, but the story would be best suited for the fall.” My mother passed away in late August and I have watched the leaves change and drift to the ground. Still I have procrastinated publishing this piece. I’ve enjoyed seeing the letter perched on my dresser these last months. It’s a connection to her and somehow in publishing her recipe and memory, I feel like I am moving on and I’m not sure I like that feeling.

With that being said…. here is my mother’s memory:

My favorite time of the year has always been early autumn when nature steps out in an array of brilliant colors; but I also enjoy late autumn when the leaves start to fall and the air becomes chilly. By this time the harvest had been safely gathered in and it would be time for the final preparations for winter and Hog Butchering time. Probably that doesn’t sound exciting to folks today, but with a fresh supply of lard, we knew our winter days would be filled with the smell of doughnuts frying or raisin-filled cookies baking.

My Dad would carefully trim all the fat from the meat and cook it in a large kettle on our wood burning stove. I bet some of you have paid good money for commercial “pork cracklings” from this process. The melted lard was then poured into crock jars, sealed and placed in a cool spot for winter cooking. The best cooks today know that pure lard makes the flakiest pie crusts and pastries. My mom made doughnuts and cookies by the dozens and the remaining ones were put in a heavy roasting pan placed on the bottom shelf of her cupboard where everyone could find them. My very favorite was her Raisin-Filled Cookies. Many years ago I copied this from my Mother’s old worn, torn, almost unreadable notebook.

Filling:

Combine 1 cup sugar with 3 Tablespoons of flour in a medium size mixing bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups raisins and toss to coat.

Bring one cup of water to a boil. Add the flour, sugar and raisin mixture to the boiling water. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened; approximately 3 minutes. Cool completely. Refrigerate overnight if desired.

Cookie Dough:

Cream together 1 cup lard(I used shortening)and 1 cup sugar.
Add 1 egg and beat well.

In a separate bowl combine 3/4 cup whole milk with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. In another bowl combine 3 1/2 cups flour with 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sift together.

Add the flour mixture alternatively with the milk mixture to the creamed mixture until incorporated.

Roll the dough very thin on a well-floured cloth and cut into rounds.

Place a teaspoon or more of the filling on half of the rounds,

top with remaining rounds and press edges together.

Bake 375 degrees 12 minutes or until slightly golden on the edges. Do not over bake.

Store in an airtight container or an old roaster on the bottom shelf where all the people you love can reach them. These are always better the second and third day as the dough on the cookie softens. Full recipe at the bottom of this page!

(Shanon, did you know the rest of the “lard” story? Just for your information: When some of the first settlers came to this area, they found that the hollow to the west and north part of town was covered with grasses, sagebrush, oakbrush, with a stream running through it. But it was also full of rattlesnakes. Since pigs can kill rattlesnakes, the settlers would put all their pigs in this spot from springtime until late autumn. Then the men and boys would ‘holler’ to the pigs and most of them would come and the others were found and taken to their separate shelters. Some called this area “Hog Holler” and others called it “Hog Hollow.” It didn’t matter as both names were familiar. An LDS church house was later built on part of this area; and at the dedication of that Chapel, the original names were researched and mentioned in a talk by one of the Stake Presidency. It brought back memories for us old timers; but “comers”didn’t appreciate that name for their church or address. Today the Chapel and area is appropriately named Temple View and it still gives a magnificent view of the whole valley.)

So, there you have it; my mother’s memory of raisin filled cookies. I’m so glad she put this memory in writing for me and so glad she showed me around the kitchen. As I worked on these I could almost hear her giving me little bits of advice and tips to make them turn out just right; and they did. Man I miss her.

Old Fashioned Raisin Filled Cookies from my momma Alta Dunsdon Chamberlain

Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 cup boiling water

Cookie Dough
1 cup lard (shortening to those of us who don’t have a pig handy)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups flour (plus some for rolling)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream shortening (lard) and sugar, add egg and beat well. Add vanilla to milk and set aside. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in another bowl and alternatively add dry ingredients and the milk mixture to your creamed sugar/shortening/egg mixture. Mix well.
Roll dough very thin on a well-floured cloth and cut into rounds. ( I used an old tuna can) Place a teaspoon or more of the raisin filling on half of the rounds, top with remaining rounds and press edges together.
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes, until edges turn golden. Do not overbake.

Note: For fun I filled a few with raspberry jam and a another with Nutella. Then, just because I couldn’t help myself, I added a glazing to a few and they turned out so pretty.

Double Delicious Cookie Bars

March 19, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Lucky me. Saint Patrick’s weekend found me in Saint George, Utah watching my son play baseball. He’s great. His name is Keven. He’s not just great at baseball but he’s a great kid. When we were expecting Keven we weren’t sure we were going to get to keep him. Lucky us… we did! He is named after my husband’s brother. The reason? Because I have rarely seen an older brother who loved his younger brother like my brother-in-law loves Tod, (my husband).
You may wonder what all this has to do with baking cookie bars. Well, there is a connection. We stayed with Tod’s brother and his wife and we had plenty of time to visit while we sat in the stands. It was fun to share memories and tell stories and catch up on kids and grandkids. ( I get my first one in two weeks!) One conversation led to another and before long we were all hungry and wishing for something delicious to eat. That’s when I remembered this recipe which I promised to share with my sister-in-law. So, here it is! She will appreciate this because it speaks of some pretty rich ingredients and we have shared a few of those over the years. So here we go:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Cream:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Add:
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Mix well and
Add:
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups oats (quick cooking or old-fashioned)
Mix together to form cookie dough. When well-mixed
Throw in:
1 cup chocolate chips ( I am a milk chocolate girl trying to refine my senses to enjoy semi-sweet)
You will need an additional 1/2 cup chocolate chips when the bars are removed from the oven.
Spread:
Take about 2/3 of your cookie dough mixture and spread it in the bottom of your prepared pan. It’s a bit sticky so you can use a little flour with a small roller and a piece of waxed paper or parchment or you can just dig in with your fingers. I like to think of baking as a contact sport so I just got a little non-stick spray on my fingertips and went after it!
This is where it gets fun.

Place:
3 lines of chocolate creme-filled cookies (I used Oreos) in the pan
Drizzle:
1/2 cup or more of caramel over the cookies. I melted 32 caramels with 1 teaspoon of water in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds on half power and 1 minute on full power; stirring halfway through. You can use bottled caramel but I can’t recommend caramel-flavored topping. Get the good stuff!
Sprinkle
1/2 cup of shredded sweetened coconut over the caramel drizzle
Finish off:
by dropping spoonfuls of the remaining dough on top of the cookies and pressing the dough down lightly. It doesn’t need to cover all over the pan, just most of it, as it will spread.

Bake:
at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the top starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and

Top:
with remaining half cup of chocolate chips. These will soften.
Drizzle:
more caramel if you feel like it and wait until it is completely cool before slicing. I’m sure you won’t have any lack of imagination on how to serve these or where to hide a few extras for yourself!

Double Delicious Cookie Bars by Sweet Suppertime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups oatmeal (quick or traditional)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup or more of caramel sauce or melted caramels
18 chocolate creme-filled cookies

Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray. Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar until fluffy.
Add vanilla and eggs and incorporate. Mix in baking soda, baking powder and salt. Once incorporated, add flour and oats scraping sides of the bowl. Add 1 cup of chocolate chips, mixing just to coat.
Spread 2/3 of the dough on the bottom of your prepared pan and place 3 lines of creme-filled cookies on top of the dough. Drizzle about 1/2 cup of caramel on the cookies followed by 1/2 cup coconut.
Top with remaining cookie dough, dropping by spoonfuls and then slightly flattening.
Bake 350 for 20-25 mintues, until nicely golden brown.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips (1/2 cup) on top to melt. Drizzle with additional caramel, if desired.
Enjoy and feel lucky!