Creamsicle Cookies

It's official, I found the perfect way to say farewell to summer!
"But Sarah, I thought I had the perfect summer farewell."
No, no, no, unfortunately, you are mistaken. See, there can't be two perfect farewells, and mine will have to win.
"Well, why is that?"
Because, they're Creamsicle Cookies! It's ice cream AND a cookie, all in one! And even better, there's no ice cream to have to worry about melting! Since, you know, it's still 110 degrees outside and not actually anywhere close to end of summer weather.
...Yeah, no, I'm not bitter at all....
"Right...Anyways, well I think you're correct. You have, indeed, found the perfect summer farewell."
Thank You loyal readers, I knew you'd understand. :)

On a side note, these are sooooooooo good! I had some Orange Creme Hershey's Kisses laying around still from Spring (don't worry, they were still good.)So I chopped them up as a substitute for the white chocolate chips. And although I do love brown sugar, I would consider using a little less next time to give these a bit more of an authentic creamsicle flavor.
Enjoy!

Creamsicle Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 cups Guitard Choc-Au-Lait Vanilla Chips (I used the Hershey's kisses)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overcook! Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Banana Butterscotch Cookies

September is almost over. Which should mean cooler weather, leaves changing, pumpkin baking, all that awesomeness that is fall should be in the air.
But, this is Phoenix.
So, it's hot. Very hot. There are no leaves to change. And the closest I'm willing to get to pumpkin right now is the (amazing!)Pumpkin Iced Coffee at Dunkin Donuts.
But that's okay.
Why?
Because as soon as it's cool enough for my brain to officially establish this as fall, it will be raining pumpkins around here.
Kind of like how it's raining bananas right now. I don't really know why I always have so many browning bananas sitting around, but I do, and they must be used!
So I decided to switch it up this time with these banana-butterscotch-oatmeal cookies. The original recipe called for regular chocolate chips, but I was out, so the butterscotch seemed like a good substitute. And it definitely was! They were sweeter with the butterscotch, so I would still like to try them again with the chocolate, but these were delicious.

Banana Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
8 ounces butterscotch chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 2 days.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies Book