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

Glittery Sugar Cookies!!

Theres something you need to know about me.
I. Love. Glitter.
Like, Love.
Seriously, I don't know what it is. It's been this way for as long as I can remember... It's like I was born with a special glitter gene. A little piece of sparkle in my veins that attracts to me other sparkley things.
It's really an obsession.
So you can only imagine my excitement when I came across Disco Dust!!!
Within about two minutes of seeing it I ordered three different colors offline.
Amazing.
It's everything I hoped for and more!
And there's only one thing better than just glitter....pink and glitter!
So I had to make something to test out of the Disco Dust, and hearts and cupcakes seemed like the perfect idea.
This sugar cookie recipe is the best one I've found so far, they're nice and soft and still hold together well enough for decorating. I'm still working on my decorating skills...but these are by far my best yet.
A little glitter never hurt anyone...give it a go!


Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
¾ cups Butter
1 cup White Sugar
2 whole Eggs
1-½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
¼ teaspoons Cream Of Tartar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine room temperature (not melted) butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and combine.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt. This is an important step; you want to avoid lumps in your dough.

Slowly add dry ingredients into wet batter until fully incorporated.

Drop dough onto a large piece of saran wrap, mold it into a 4×4 square, and refrigerate for at least one hour. I often let mine sit overnight.

When ready to bake the cookies, generously flour a flat surface and roll out the dough. You can use as much flour as you need! I prefer to make cookies about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick, but you can go thicker and still have successful results.

For best results, bake on silpat or parchment paper. You can reuse parchment, too!

Bake at 325-350 degrees for 5 to 8 minutes. In my oven, right about 6 minutes yields a perfectly cooked cookie, with no brown edges.( I had to cook them closer to 10 minutes at 350, so just keep an eye on them)

Recipe from i am baker

Royal icing recpe Here

Cream Cheese Cake Mix Cookies

I'm back!!
Sorry it's been so long, things have been crazy! I've been working like mad, my mom came into town :), we've been opening new stores at work, I've been starting new jobs...Just crazy! But enough about my life, more about cookies!
First thing I have to say is that these pictures just do not do these cookies justice. The camera battery died while I was taking pictures, and by the time I got around to charging it, well the cookies were definitely gone.
You're probably looking at this post and thinking,
Wait...didn't she already post these?
And you're right. I did.
Kind of.
These are a new variation on the Cake Mix Cookies I had previously shared, but thicker and creamier.
I still feel like the cake mix is almost cheating, but they're so easy and soooooo good it's impossible not to make them!

Cream Cheese Cake Mix Cookies
Ingredients:
1 Box Funfetti Cake Mix
1 8 oz. package Cream Cheese, room temp.
1/4 cup Oil
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix cake mix, cream cheese, oil and egg together.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.
Press ball down slightly to flatten.
Bake 8-10 minutes until edges are light golden brown.
Let cool for 1 minute on sheet then remove from cookie sheet.
Optional: Spread frosting over warm cookies.

Recipe from Me

Lemon Cheesecake Cookies

There's something about cheesecake, in pretty much every form that makes everything better. It's really a cure-all I think.
Bad day? Cheesecake.
Cold? Cheesecake.
Fabulous day with no real reason? Cheesecake.
I'm just sayin...
But let's be real, I don't usually have like five packages of cream cheese on hand, do you? And I love to have my baking ingredients on hand. The less trips to the store, the better.
This is where the cookies come in...
Three ounces of cream cheese and you've got a delicious cheesecake subsititute right in your hands.
So. Good.
Ever since I made the last cheesecake cookies, I've had constant requests for more. And now, I think these are going on that list.
Make sure you don't overbake these cookies, you want the middles to stay really soft, almost underbaked to have the cheesecake texture. Making them a little bigger helps with that. And I loved the mini chocolate chip addition, it really added that extra something.
Enjoy!

Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons lemon zest (I just used the zest and juice of one lemon)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans (I omitted the pecans)
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, optional
In a large bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add in the lemon zest and juice if you are using. Mix in vanilla. Stir in the flour until well combined and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes so that it is easier to handle.

Mix together the pecans, graham cracker crumbs, and cinnamon to make the crust. Pour half of the crust mixture onto a large sheet of wax or parchment paper. Form a log with half of the cookie dough and roll it in the crust mixture. Place log of dough on a new sheet of parchment paper and wrap the ends up. Repeat with the remaining dough and place both dough logs in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Slice dough into half inch thick rounds and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. The bottoms should be only lightly browned. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Source:Buns in My Oven

Orange Spritz Cookies

Babies.
They're everywhere.
Maybe they've always been everywhere, or maybe I just have baby goggles on. But they're definetly around in massive quanities lately.
I know more women who are pregnant right now than ever before and I can't wait for those things to pop out!
Your friends having babies is the best, it means you get to play with them and buy them cute clothes, and then still give them back when you're done. Ha. It's wonderful.
Recently we had a baby shower for one of these women, which gave me the perfect opportunity to use the new cookie press my mom had got me!
I didn't have much time, which was fine because these little spritz cookies mix up super fast. And the only problem I had was getting them to sick to the pan and not the press, but I think I may have added a little too much flour. That whole being in a hurry thing makes me do silly things. I dusted the cookies with a little bit of blue sugar to make the flowers a little more boy-like, since the shower was for a baby boy, and they were perfect!

Orange Spritz Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon orange rind, finely chopped
1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)
Makes: About 5 dozen cookies.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolk and orange juice. Mix in flour, orange rind and optional pecans. Mix until combined. Dough should be soft, but not sticky. Place dough into cookie press, and using desired shapes, press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on cooling grid and remove from cookie sheet.

Source:Wilton's Recipes

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eventually, this post will get around to talking about chocolate chip cookies, I promise.
But first, we should call this the "Sarah has the best friends/family/boyfriend/boyfriends family ever post". I wasn't really sure if that had quite the same ring to it though.
Now, why do I have the best family, boyfriend, etc...?
Well, because aside from their everyday amazingness, it just so happens that they also know how to give the most perfect Christmas presents ever.
It's true.
First and foremost, since I've spent years dreaming of the day that this wish would come true. The amazing boyfriend gave me...
Are you ready for it?
The most useful gift ever! That's right, a KitchenAid Mixer!!

I love it! Seriously.
I don't know how I've survived so long without it.
And to only make the KitchenAid better, I got a scraper blade from the boyfriends mother. If you've never tried one of those, let me tell you, you need to.
And that's not it!
I got a wonderful cake tester and pearl sprinkles from my sister and a Wilton's electric cookie press from my mom!
It was a wonderful Christmas, in ways far beyond the gifts, and I hope the same for everyone.
Now! The cookies I promised.
Just like everyone else in the world, I'm always on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. And I must say, so far, these are the closest.
They have the thick, chewy texture and brown sugar flavor that I love. Putting them in the fridge for at least an hour really seems to make a difference for these guys, so definitely try to do that.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven 325°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Source: Annie's Eats

Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but orange and cranberry has to be one of the best flavor combinations ever. In pretty much every form. I'm all about it.
Now add oatmeal, and other deliciousness, and you've got yourself one awesome cookie.
The orange flavor is so prominent, it really adds that little bit of extra that other oatmeal cookies are missing.
And they're not even that bad for you!
Well...in cookie terms.

Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup of dried cranberries

½ cup orange juice

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup butter, room temp

3 tbls of honey

1 large egg

1 ½ cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

3 cups of oatmeal

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon orange zest

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine the cranberries and orange juice in a small bowl, cover and let stand while you make the cookies. Beat the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in honey and egg then add the cranberries and orange juice.

Combine flour, soda, powder and salt in a separate bowl and enthusiastically whisk together. Toss in the oatmeal, walnuts and orange zest and whisk some more.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and blend together till just right. Drop loving spoonfuls onto lightly oiled baking sheets and bake for about 8-10 minutes, depending the size of your cookies.

Source:The Go Lightly Gourmet
Photos by Keegan Orange

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was another one of those recipes that as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to make it for the holiday baking. Every picture I saw of these cookies made them look like they had the most perfect chewy, dense texture, just like chocolate chip cookies should be.
Unfortunately, when I made them they didn't turn out quite like the pictures. Mine seemed to turn out with a more cake-like texture than the dense, chewy one that I prefer. I've noticed this happens with a lot of my cookies.
Why is that?
Does anyone know?
Anyone?
Yeah...you should let me know.
But still, cakey texture and all, these were good. They had just the right amount of peppermint and smelled amazing while baking. It's like insta-air freshener for your house. I mean, even if I didn't eat them, it was totally worth it for the smell.
Really.
Promise.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of baking Soda
1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 tsp. of peppermint extract
1 cup of chopped dark chocolate

Directions:
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and peppermint extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chopped dark chocolate by hand. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. *You don't have to chill the dough if you are in a hurry.*

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and roll them into balls. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 8-9 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing.

This is a small recipe, It only made about 18 cookies. Feel free to double it or to eat them all on by yourself.

Recipe from Here
Photos by Keegan Orange

Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies

Personally, I'm not a big fan of chocolate cookies. In fact, I'm not a big fan of most things chocolate flavored. I love real chocolate, or anything fudgy chocolatey like fudgy brownies or icing. But stuff like chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream or cookies, I've just never been a big fan. But regardless of whether or not I would eat them, I decided these were a great holiday cookie.
They remind me of cherry cordials, with the cherry inside and fudgy icing on top. And even though they weren't my favorite, I still thought they were good, and everyone else seemed to love them!
I brought quite a few into work and they were certainly one of the first cookies gone.
Make sure you don't over bake these cookies, you want them to stay nice and soft on the inside. And make sure they cool completely before adding the frosting. Also, this recipe makes quite a few cookies, so make sure you get enough cherries to fill them all!
(Pre-frosting)
Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 (6 ounce) jars maraschino cherries, well drained
1 (6 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, bear butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients; stir into butter mixture (dough will be stiff). Shape into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press cherry into center of each cookie. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool. *To make these cookies fabulous make sure to not make them too big so the cherry/chocolate ration is good and do not overbake! Start with 8 minutes. Remove from pan right after they come out of the oven.

3. In heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt chips with condensed milk. Cook until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Frost each cookie, covering cherry. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Source:The Girl Who Ate Everything
Photos by Keegan Orange

Snickerdoodles

I was talking to a friend at work the other day about everything I'd be baking for the holidays and Snickerdoodles came up. I said I'd be making some, and he replied with....
"What's a Snickerdoodle?"
Umm...Excuse me?! Who doesn't know what a Snickerdoodle is?! I was shocked. I couldn't let it go. I was convinced he'd had them before and just didn't know what they were called. I mean, really...who doesn't know what a Snickerdoodle is?
After recovering from my shock and moving on in life, I made it to the day of baking and made these Snickerdoodles. I used the recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies book, but did make a slight adapation with the addition of Cream of Tartar.
They turned out great, nice and soft and fluffy just like a Snickerdoodle should be. I brought some into work when they were done and somehow it was true...
He had never had a Snickerdoodle.

Snickerdoodles
makes about 1 1/2 dozen
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
- – -
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies
Photos by Keegan Orange

Cake Mix Cookies

Now, I work Retail. I'm not sure why, but I do it. And I know, the Holidays are a particularly busy time of year for everyone, but try working Retail during the Holidays. Sometimes people have bad days, sometimes they're a little rushed, I get it...but please, don't take it out on the girl trying to ring you up for your Christmas presents. She did nothing to you. In fact, she's trying to help you. And even through her six day work weeks, there's probably still a smile on her face to make your day a little brighter.
But you know what makes her day a little brighter?
Cookie Exchanges.
I was told a friend was having a Cookie Exchange last night and was totally in. Since I had to work all day though, there wasn't much time to whip something up. So, I went to my go-to super fast and easy cookie recipe. I call them Cheater Cookies. They get thrown together in about three minutes and cook in under 10, perfect for quick cookie needs. And even though they're made with a pre-made cake mix, these cookies are amazing! Personally, I think they're way better than the cakes that the mix usually makes. My mom got this recipe off the side of a box probably about 10 years ago, and that's still the one I use, but now the recipe is everywhere! I'm pretty sure they even make it boxed especially for cookies.
Feel free to add anything to these and use any kind of cake mix. I've made S'more Cookies by adding marshmallows and chocolate chips, or Carrot Cake Cookies with cream cheese frosting. Mix it up!

Cake Mix (Cheater) Cookies
Ingredients:
1 (18.9 oz.) package Pillsbury® Funfetti® Cake (I used French Vanilla)
1/3 cup Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
2 large eggs
1/2 (15.6 oz.) can Pillsbury® Vanilla Funfetti® Frosting( I omitted the frosting and just used sprinkles)

Directions:
1. HEAT oven to 375°F. Combine cake mix, oil and eggs in large bowl. Stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten to 1/4-inch thickness with bottom of glass dipped in flour.
2. BAKE 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.
3. SPREAD frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container.

Source: Adapted from Here

Molasses Spice Cookies

We have a rule in my family, no Christmas decorations until the day after Thanksgiving.
Now, I love the Christmas season more than well, a lot of things. And having to wait until that one Black Friday every year is sometimes a lot harder than it should be. But, I grit my teeth and I bear it. Every year. For 11 months. I suffer.
Then, after the months and weeks and days of waiting, that wonderful day appears. Christmas music appears everywhere, wreaths are on the street lights, lights on the houses in the neighborhood. It's like the Heavens have opened up and everything is right with the world.
Ha..Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic.
But really, I love this day.
Unfortunately this year the Christmas-ness in my world was halted a little bit since I had to work, so no time for putting up the decorations or Black Friday shopping. But you better believe there was Christmas music at work.
And cookies.
Spicy, delicious, Christmasy, cookies.

Molasses Spice Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. lower-protien unbleached all-purpose flour (I used regular AP Flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tso finely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1/3 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/3 c. granulated sugar, plus 1/2 c. for rolling
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup molasses

Directions:
-Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Line large baking sheet with parchment.
-In medium bowl whisk flour, baking soda, spices, pepper and salt.
-Either by hand or with electric mixer, beat the butter with brown sugar and 1/3 c. granulated sugar at medium high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 min.)
-Reduce speed to medium low and add yolk and vanilla, increase speed and beat until incorporated (about 20 seconds).
-Reduce speed and add molasses beat until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping the bottom and sides once with rubber spatula.
-Reduce speed to lowest setting and add flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, scraping the bowl once.
-Give the dough a final stir by hand to ensure no flour pockets at bottom. (dough will be soft).
-Place 1/2 c. sugar in shallow bowl for rolling. Fill small bowl with cold tap water.
-Dip hands in water and roll heaping Tbsp. of dough into scant ball.
-Drop ball in sugar and roll to coat.
-Set on prepared baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.
-Bake about 11 min. (cookies will "crack", edges are puffy and inside of cracks look raw). Do not overbake.
-Cool on baking sheet for 5 mins. and trasfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
-Serve when cooled to room temperature.
Source: Good Things Catered

Orange Cheesecake Cookies

I had a special visit this weekend. My little sister braved the airport crowds and made the two hour flight from California down to visit me. :)
(Pardon the faces..:))
We really only get to see each other every couple of months, so I try (usually to no avail) to think of something fun to do while she's down here. This time, we got up way too early for a Saturday morning and took the Light Rail to the Downtown Farmer's Market. This was both of our first times at this Market, and it was great! We got all sorts of goodies, but I think the highlight was definitely a Blood Orange Marmalade. This stuff is amazing! After covering our French Toast in it, it was decided that something else had to be made. Then I found this recipe...
These taste just like Cheesecake, minus half the work, and in delicious cookie form. So. Good.
We substituted the orange zest for two teaspoons of the marmalade and it worked perfectly. We also decided not to cover them in the chocolate this time, but I'm sure that would also taste amazing.

Orange Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest (We used 2 teaspoons of marmalade)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted

Heat the oven to 375 and prepare two sheet pans with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a mixer cream the butter and cream cheese until they are well combined.
Add the sugar, vanilla, and citrus zest and blend until the ingredients are well combined but not fluffy. Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated.
Scoop the dough into 1″ balls onto the prepared sheet pans. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the tops are slightly puffed.
Cool on the pan for two minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cool drizzle, or dip, the cookies with the melted chocolate. Put the cookies into the refrigerator for thirty minutes to set the chocolate.
Yield about 3 Dozen.
Adapted from Evil Shenanigans

Browned Butter Cardamom Cookies

I almost wasn't going to post these cookies. They aren't my favorite. They're a little too powder sugary and just seem kind of lacking. There aren't as many levels of flavors as I would have liked.
Plus, have you ever tried to type complete sentences with a head cold? Yeah, this is a lot harder than it looks.
So why am I posting them then? Because I love the pictures! I think they turned out so cute and wintery. That's a word, right?
So, my advice to anyone who does end up trying these...Don't roll them in powdered sugar twice. Just do it one time, when they're cool. When they're warm I think they just pick up too much of the sugar and it gets a little overwhelming. I would also consider adding something else to it. Maybe a little extra spice, maybe some cinnamon. I'm not really sure...but it could use something.
Maybe I just need fully active taste buds. Ha...Perhaps I'll try them again in a week.



Browned Butter Cardamom Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup Butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup powdered sugar (for rolling cookies in)
Melt butter in 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and watching closely, until butter just starts to turn golden brown (3 to 5 minutes). (Butter will get foamy and bubble.) Immediately remove from heat. Pour into bowl; refrigerate until cooled (30 minutes).

Heat oven to 350°F.
Combine cooled browned butter and sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until well mixed. Add egg yolk, vanilla and cardamom; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour, until mixture is no longer crumbly and forms a dough.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies puff and start to turn light golden brown. (Cookies will have cracks in them.)
Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Cool 1 minute. Roll cookies in powdered sugar while warm and again when completely cooled. Store between sheets of waxed paper in loosely covered container.

Source: Land O' Lakes
Photos by Keegan Orange

Brown Sugar Cardamom Cookies

I have a confession to make.
This was the first time I've ever baked with Cardamom. I know, I'm shocked too.
I was looking through some recipes to try and find something to make for a friends work potluck and came across this recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies. I've been wanting to make these cookies for awhile now and this seemed like the perfect time.
Although I haven't worked with Cardamom before I knew I liked it and wanted to give it a shot. It ended up being a great addition to these cookies! It took the Snickerdoodle-like cookie and turned it into a little more of a spice cookie. This will definitely be one of my new go-to recipes and will probably even show up in a Christmas gift box or two.



Brown Sugar Cookies
yield: 36 cookies
Ingredients:
14 TBS butter
1 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Large Egg plus 1 Yolk
1 TBS Rum Extract (I used Vanilla Extract)
2 cups AP Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cardamom

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

preheat oven to 375 degrees
1. Melt 10 TBS of butter in a small pan and keep on the low heat for 4 minutes until the butter is a light brown color and smells nutty. Pour into a separate bowl and add the remaining 4 TBS butter and whisk to melt the butter.
2. Let cool 3 minutes , then add brown sugar and salt. Whisk until brown sugar is completely clump free and smooth. Add egg, egg yolk and rum extract. (can be replaced with vanilla extract)
3. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture and mix until fully combined, using a spatula.
3. Combine 1/4 cup of each sugar and brown sugar and mix. Roll out 36 balls of dough and coat in the sugar combination.
4. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes, placing only one cookie sheet in the oven at a time to ensure even baking. Rotate the cookies after 4 minutes.

Source: Adapted from Natalie's Killer Cuisine

Photos by Keegan Orange

Fall Sugar Cookies

Fall and Winter are two of my favorite times of year. In my head Fall usually stands for things like cooler weather, pumpkin baking, and falling leaves.
Unless you live in Phoenix.
Fall in Phoenix means 85 degrees instead of 95, if you're lucky. It means you can bake with pumpkin, but you should probably do it at night since the rest of the day the kitchen will still be burning hot. And falling leaves? Ha, I'm pretty sure I haven't seen those since vacation.
Fall is, without a doubt, one of the most frustrating times in Phoenix for people who love the season. Generally because most years, it doesn't exist. It's been in the 90's here for the past week and I've been getting desperate for a sign of weather change. So, I'm making one in my house. Fall Leaf sugar cookies, my own personal vision of how fall should be. (Baked at night of course.)
I haven't had a lot of experience with Royal Icing, but it something I want to try and work with more. I seem to have a lot of trouble getting the colors the shade that I really want them. I'll probably try again soon using more basic colors so I can work on my actually decorating skills. But for now, these are pretty delicious.


Ella’s White Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
2 ½ c. sifted flour
Directions:
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to 1/4” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. Yields ~40 cookies.
Source: Annie's Eats

Royal Icing
Ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2.5 tbsp. meringue powder
5 tbsp. water (may need a little more/less)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined with a smooth constancy. Add a little more water to create a thinner icing to fill the cookies, use a slighty thicker icing to create the outlines.

Most recipes I read for Royal Icing are made for use with a stand mixer. They all say to mix the icing for 7-10 minutes until it becomes for matte looking and loses its shine. I personally don't have a stand mixer so I wasn't able to try out this method, but it seems like it would create an easier to work with icing.

Photos by Keegan Orange