Snickerdoodles

 Snickerdoodles 

Makes 24-30

2 1/4 C flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 T butter, softened

1/4 C Crisco

1 1/2 C sugar

2 large eggs

For rolling cookies: 

1 T cinnamon

3 T sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper

2. Whisk dry ingredients together; set aside. 

3.  In mixer, cream butter, shortening, and sugar.  Add eggs, beat.  

4. Add dry ingredients, beat til combined. 

5.  Roll dough into small balls, roll in cinnamon sugar. 

6.  The cookies spread, so place them 2 to 2 1/2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. 

7.  Bake 9-11 minutes, til edges are browned and centers are soft and puffy. 

8.  Let cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing with spatula. 

YUM 

Chocolate Crinkles from Boston Globe

 Chocolate Crinkles from Boston Globe December 2008  

These freeze well and look great on a cookie plate.  They are so yummy!  

Makes 3 dozen

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped  

2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C canola oil 

2 C granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C powdered sugar 

Melt chocolate.  

Combine flour, baking powder, salt in small bowl.  

With a mixer, beat the oil and sugar for 1 minute.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Beat in vanilla, then chocolate, until the batter is smooth.  Beat in the flour on low speed until just combined.  

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.  

350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

Have on hand a bowl of cold water.  Place the powdered sugar in a shallow bowl.  Wet your palms and shape heaping teaspoons of dough into balls.  Roll the balls in the xxx sugar to coat them all over.  Place on cookie sheets. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops crack.  Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes.  Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

Store in an airtight container, layered with waxed paper, for up to a week, or freeze for up to a month. 

Spritz - Mary Lou version

 This is the Spritz recipe Grandma Mary Lou used.  In her notes she said "excellent" and "fills 2 lb coffee can".  Mom (Janis) remembered that they would cover coffee cans with wrapping paper, fill the cans with cookies, as gifts for church people. 

Spritz 

1 C butter, room temperature 

1/2 C superfine sugar (we just use regular sugar) 

1 egg yolk, slightly beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1/2 tsp almond extract 

1 3/4 C all purpose flour 

Cream sugar and butter until smooth.  Add sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and almond extract.  Gradually stir in flour.  Use a cookie press to form cookies.  Sprinkle with colored sugars. 

Bake at 375 degrees, 10-12 minutes (9 minutes for me in Meadow Beauty oven)

2022 - Kaela has the Kuhn Rikon cookie press; Cynthia just started using the Oxo Good Grips cookie press. 

2023 with Charlotte:  

Chewy Molasses Cookies

These are so good!  No mixer needed.  Melt the butter on the stove.  This is from the Bon Appetit magazine website.  I didn't have cardamom - used 1/4 tsp cloves (a little goes a long way).  I rolled them in Japanese white sugar (sort of moist like our brown sugar) and then a tiny sprinkle of sparkling sugar on top.  I made them very small and 8 at a time in the Japanese oven.  7 minutes.  So so good.  Mom 

In this recipe, molasses keeps these cookies magically fresh and chewy for days.

Ingredients

MAKES 2½ DOZEN

2

cups all-purpose flour

2

teaspoons baking soda

1½

teaspoon ground cinnamon

1

teaspoon ground ginger

¾

teaspoon ground cardamom

½

teaspoon kosher salt

1

large egg

½

cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted.  - 113 grams 

⅓

cup granulated sugar

⅓

cup mild-flavored (light) or robust-flavored (dark) molasses

¼

cup (packed) dark brown sugar

Coarse sanding or raw sugar (for rolling)

Preparation

Step 1

Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk egg, butter, granulated sugar, molasses, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Mix in dry ingredients just to combine.

Step 2

Place sanding sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop out dough by the tablespoonful and roll into balls (if dough is sticky, chill 20 minutes). Roll in sugar and place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2” apart.

Step 3

Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until cookies are puffed, cracked, and just set around edges (overbaked cookies won’t be chewy), 8–10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Step 4

DO AHEAD: Cookie dough can be made and rolled into balls 2 weeks ahead. Freeze on a baking sheet; transfer to resealable plastic bags. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling in sugar.

Tokyo oatmeal chocolate chip bars

Tokyo Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars 

These are those cookies I made all the time the last time we lived in Tokyo 2011-2013.  Very oaty,  not too sweet.  You can't get brown sugar here (hence the molasses) but 1 1/2 C brown sugar and leaving out the molasses would work.  Back then you couldn't get quick cooking oats either.  I will try these sometime with quick cooking oats. 

1 C butter, softened, almost melted 

1 1/4 C sugar  (or skip the molasses and use brown sugar) 

1/4 C molasses 

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

large pinch salt 
pinch cinnamon 

3 C old fashioned oats 

1 C semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (or chopped up candy bars to make 1 C) 

350 degrees (170 celsius in the Japanese convection oven) 

Butter a 9x13 inch pan - or line with parchment paper.  Spread dough into pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes before cutting into squares bars.  

  

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies 

by Kaela for Joe

This is based on a Cook's Illustrated Recipe years ago, but without the extra peanuts.  Instead we used more peanut butter and a little more flour.

Ingredients: 

2 3/4 C flour 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

2 sticks (1 C) butter, softened

1 C brown sugar 

1 C sugar

1 1/4 C JIF extra crunchy peanut butter 

2 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

optional:  chocolate chips 


1.  Combine dry ingredients; set aside. 

2.  Cream butter and sugars.  Add peanut butter, eggs and vanilla. 

3.  Stir in flour mixture and chocolate chips if using 

4.  Heaping spoonfuls, criss cross with fork dipped in water. 

5.  Bake at 350 degrees, 11-12 minutes.  They will be puffed and slightly brown around the edges. The centers will not look completely baked.  Cool on cookie sheets a few minutes until the cookies settle.  Transfer to a drying rack. 

6.  YUM! 

Those Yogurt Cocoa Fudge Cookies

Those Yogurt Cocoa Fudge Cookies 

These mix up very fast.  So simple and yummy. 


Preheat oven 350.

Mix in small bowl and reserve:

1 C flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt

Melt in saucepan:

5 T butter
7 T cocoa powder

Remove from heat.  Add:

2/3 C sugar
1/3 C brown sugar
1/3 C yogurt (plain, vanilla, or berry flavored)
1 tsp vanilla (optional if you used flavored yogurt)

Last, add flour mixture.

Drop onto cookie sheets and bake 8-10 min.

Makes about 24.  YUM!

Chocolate Oatmeal Treats

Chocolate Oatmeal Treats 

The best no-bake treat!!  Noelle loves these.

Heat until mixture just boils:

2 C sugar
1/3 cocoa powder
1/2 C milk
1 stick butter

Remove from heat and add:

1/2 C crunchy peanut butter
2 1/2+ C quick cooking oats

Spoon onto cookie sheets - nice to line the sheets with parchment paper.

Chill uncovered.  YUM!

tip - make on a dry day!

Two's Sugar Jumbles

Two's and Tommy's Sugar Jumbles 

Simple, buttery, cakey, old fashioned, yummy.  My great-grandmother "Two"'s favorite cookie.  Tommy's favorite at Christmas and good any time of year! 

Makes 24. 

Ingredients: 

1 C butter

1 C sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 C flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Any flavor jelly or jam, or apricot puree. 

Directions: 

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Use parchment paper or lightly grease two cookie sheets. 

2.  Cream butter, sugar in mixer.  Add egg and vanilla, beat well. 

3.  Stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture. 

4.  The dough will be quite soft and sticky. 

5.  Drop heaping spoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.  

6.  Make a well or thumbprint in each one, and add a bit of jelly. 

7.  Bake til lightly browned, about 10 minutes. 

8.  Remove and let cool on wire racks. 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (King Arthur) - or bars

These are so good, our new favorite.  This is from King Arthur's 2015 Recipe of the Year - my only changes are to use dark brown sugar instead of light, and I put in fewer chocolate chips.  Yes - one tablespoon vanilla!

IN TOKYO 2019- much easier to make bar cookies:
1.  melt the butter
2.  I used quick oats
3. line 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper
4.  Bake at 160 degrees Celcius - for 22 minutes. 
- consider using two whole eggs - and bake a couple minutes longer. 

Makes 4 dozen small - 

2 sticks butter, room temp - 226 grams 
1 C dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 T vanilla extract
2 C all purpose flour
1 C rolled oats (old fashioned)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz package (2 C) chocolate chips - I like Ghidardelli semi sweet


Preheat to 325 degrees.

Beat butter and sugars til smooth; add eggs and vanilla, beat til incorporated.  Mix dry ingredients together and add to the dough, mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake about 10 minutes, until lightly golden with slightly darker edges.

YUM

Tommy (right) and his mission buddy Ethan 

Shortbread Hearts

SHORTBREAD HEARTS
3 dozen+

These are adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook.  My Mom would send these to me in college at Valentine's Day in the 80's.  Takes some time but very simple to make.  Sturdy and good for care packages!  Buttery, not too sweet.  What could be better with hot chocolate or a glass of milk? 

3/4 lb butter, softened (Land o Lakes - salted - 3 sticks)
1 C confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp salt 
1 tsp vanilla 
3 C flour 

granulated sugar for dusting 


Instructions: 

Cream butter and sugar til blended.  Add vanilla and salt and beat until light and fluffy. 

Add flour.  Mix well.   

Gather the dough into a ball, flatten slightly into a disk, and chill for an hour or more.  

Roll out chilled dough to 1/4" - 1/2" depending on your preference.  Cut with cookie cutter (I like using a small 2" heart - I tried bigger ones this time too, and, no).  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets.  The do not spread.  Sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and then with a little colored sugar if you want.  


Refrigerate cut-outs on the cookie sheets for 45 min before baking. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Bake about 20 minutes (check at 17 minutes) or until just starting to color slightly.  The bottoms will be golden.  The cookies may still look soft when you pull them out of the oven but they will firm up as they cool.  

x
Mom 

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Soft Pumpkin Cookies 

2 1/2 C flour

1 C oats (quick cooking or old fashioned) 

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (I don't measure)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C butter (one stick), softened  - about 113 grams in Japan 

1 1/2 C sugar

1 15 oz can pumpkin 

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.  Cream the butter and sugar, then add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla.  Beat until light and creamy.  Mix in dry ingredients.  

Drop by rounded spoon onto cookie sheet.  If necessary, smooth tops with wet fingers.  The cookies do not spread - they are cakey. 

Bake at 350 (180 celcius) degrees for 15-20 minutes (just until the tops spring back when tapped).  Less time in Japan.  Cool.  Drizzle with glaze. 

Glaze: 

2 C powdered sugar

2 T milk or apple cider

2 T melted butter

1 tsp vanilla 

*** A favorite with all of us ever since Noelle was in preschool (I modified a recipe to include more pumpkin and oats, and less sugar, for her preschool class) *** 

Optional:  Add 1/2 C crushed pineapple, well drained 

Best Ever Sugar Cookies

Best Ever Sugar Cookies 
light and crispy 

1/3 C butter, softened 
1/3 C shortening
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour

Cream butter, shortening, and sugar.  Beat in salt and baking powder, then egg and vanilla.  Stir in flour. 

Divide dough in half and press into two disks.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 3 hours or until easy to handle. 

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut out shapes.  Sprinkle with colored sugar (or wait and frost the cookies). 

Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes til edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned.  Cool cookies on wire rack.  

Makes about 2 dozen.  Kaela loves these. 

Gingerbread PEOPLE

Gingerbread PEOPLE
This is the recipe I've used for 20 years.... soft and delicious.
Makes about 16 large men.  Dough needs to be chilled before rolling out

3 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves 
1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened 
3/4 C light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed 
1 large egg
1/2 C molasses 


Whisk together flour, salt, and spices. 

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and molasses; beat until smooth.  Stir in flour mixture.  Do not overmix. 

Form dough into 2 large disks - wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or longer. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness, on floured surface.  You will use a lot of flour to prevent the dough from sticking.  Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. 

Bake 8-10 minutes until set.  The cookies will appear puffy but the edges will be firm. 

Cool completely, then frost and decorate.  

Simple icing for gingerbread PEOPLE: 
Juice of one lemon
1 egg white
enough powdered sugar to make a good icing.  

Classic Brownies

Classic Brownies - from Cook's Illustrated March 2004 

Never make from a box! (but if you have to, use Ghirardelli's).  These are so good!  Always a big hit.

1 1/4 cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder

6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped 

12 T butter, cut into several pieces

2 1/4 C sugar
4 large eggs
1 T vanilla 

1.  Preheat oven to 325.  Line a 9x13 pan with foil, leaving an overhang to act as a handle; spray with cooking spray.  LATELY I JUST LINE WITH PARCHMENT PAPER, no butter!  
2.  In small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. 
3.  Melt chocolate and butter in large bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove bowl from pan; add sugar; add eggs one by one, whisking thoroughly each time.  Add vanilla.  Mixture will be smooth and glossy.  
4.  Add flour mixture into chocolate mixture, folding gently with a spatula. 
5.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick or skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs. 
6.  Remove from oven and cool in pan on wire rack for about 2 hours.  Lift brownies from pan using foil overhang.

YUM. 

notes for Japan:  
160 degrees 
30 minutes (next time try less time).  
Butter = 170 grams (1 box, plus about 2T).  
Sugar - that moist sugar is fine.  Regular hard flour is fine. Chocolate - I used 4 oz unsweetened, plus 2 oz extra dark cocoa bar.  

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 

• 2 C  butter, softened
• 3/4 C firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 3 C oatmeal (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 C chocolate chips 

In a mixer, cream the sugar and butter.  Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.  Mix in dry ingredients, then oatmeal and chocolate chips.  Bake at 350F until golden and crisp around the edges.  Remove to cooling racks. 

Makes about 2 /12 dozen, depending on how much dough you have eaten! 

notes: I prefer using Old fashioned oats.  Try adding a handful of coconut - yum!  

Pecan Butter Balls

David, Kaela, and I really love these at Christmastime.  You don't need a mixer.  This recipe makes a small batch.  They are so good.  They can be frozen but be sure to bring to room temp before eating.  The recipe is from Lisa Yockelson in the Boston Globe 2005.  

edited 12/22 - Important to not make them too big, or they will taste of raw flour.   These are so yummy and easy.  

Pecan Butter Balls - makes 2 1/2 dozen, maybe 3 dozen if very small -

2 1/4  C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
large pinch salt
1 C butter, melted and cooled to tepid  (227 grams)
9 T powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 T very finely chopped pecans 

1. Set oven to 350F (160C in Japan).  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt
3. In large bowl, stir butter and sugar until well mixed.  (I just melt the butter in a pyrex bowl in the microwave, and then add everything else to that same bowl.)  Blend in vanilla and pecans.
4. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing to form a firm, moist dough. 
5. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls.  Set them on baking sheets. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until they are set and golden brown on the bottom.  
7. Transfer cookies, still on the parchment paper, to cooling racks.  Cool 5 minutes. 

COATING: 

2 C powdered sugar

1/4 C finely chopped pecans. 

1. In a large shallow bowl or pie plate, combine powdered sugar and nuts.  Carefully toss/roll the warm cookies in the sugar, one by one.  
2. Set the cookies on the parchment again to cool.  Then dredge again in the sugar mixture. 

Cocoa Drop Cookies

These were the cookies Grandma ML would make whenever I visited her in Denver.   I just loved them and she knew it!  These are from the Colorado Cache cookbook.  -Cynthia