Grapefruit Cookies with Grapefruit Glaze

It’s starting to feel like fall, but I am still catching up with baking. I had no idea what I wanted to bake this week, as I am not yet fully back at work and I want to make the time off last as long as possible! My husband went looking and homed in on grapefruit. He sent me two recipes, and I combined them to make these cookies. 

My husband lived in Florida for a while when he was growing up, and I hope these cookies make him think of the good times there. When we visited Florida (some time ago), we went to an orange grove, which was an amazing experience. They grew all sorts of citrus, and many species/varieties of each type of fruit. Did you know that some orange trees have thorns? I didn’t!

Since I didn’t want to roll out cookies, I made the first recipe when you shape the dough into balls and bake them. The original recipe said you could refrigerate the dough, I didn’t really, and this is a step that you don’t want to skip. Mine also spread a lot, so you don’t want to make them too large. The glaze was great, and it does still spread a little no matter how thick you make the glaze! These cookies have a refreshing grapefruit flavor, tart but still sweet, and just a little bit unexpected.

Grapefruit Cookies with Grapefruit Glaze
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon grapefruit zest
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground ginger
Additional sugar

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp grapefruit juice
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream 
Grapefruit zest

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine. Mix in the grapefruit juice and zest. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, salt, and ginger. The dough will be soft. Refrigerate the dough for an hour to firm up the dough.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape them into 1 tablespoon balls. Roll in additional sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set. The cookies will not be browned. Reshape the cookies into circles if required. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the glaze: in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, grapefruit juice and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Continuing to whisk, add additional heavy cream until the glaze is thick, but still spreadable. Spoon a small amount of glaze on each cookie and spread it around. (The glaze will continue to spread as the cookies sit.) Top the cookies with grapefruit zest to garnish. Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Cookie recipe from Homesick Texan and glaze recipe from Desserts for Life

Graham Cookies with Cinnamon Glaze

A little while ago, I made chocolate chip cookies with graham cracker crumbs. That turned out to be a wonderful addition, and it made me think of what other recipes I could try with graham cracker crumbs. I typically have the crumbs in the cupboard, so I am ready to go whenever I find the right recipe. I have found a couple of recipes, some that I pinned and then disappeared, and this one, which is a lovely graham cookie.

I made these up, very simple and came out perfectly round. I did think that they looked a little plain, so I tried to figure out what I could do. In that situation, my most common response is to add a glaze. Since these cookies were already flavored with brown sugar and cinnamon, I decided to make a cinnamon glaze. That ended up being a good choice.

The glaze makes a tasty, but somewhat plain, cookie and makes it more delicious. Without the glaze, the cookies don’t have a distinct flavor- the brown sugar and cinnamon are subtle. The glaze helps bring out the cinnamon flavor, and it was simple to put together. Perhaps the glaze could have been thicker, but it worked fine just as it is. 

Graham Cookies with Cinnamon Glaze
135 grams flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
113 grams butter, room temperature
150 grams brown sugar
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla 

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3-4 tablespoons milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until light, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes before proceeding. 

Scoop the dough into the baking sheet and roll them into 1-1/4” balls.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing toa wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, make the glaze: in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and about 2 tablespoons milk. Continue whisking, adding additional milk as needed, until the glaze is of the desired consistency. Dip the cookies halfway in the glaze and place on a wire rack to allow the glaze to set.

Recipe from Fresh April Flours

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies were made by my husband, and he doesn’t bake as much as he’d like, so I wanted to highlight these great cookies that he made. They had a cookie extravaganza recently with his colleagues, and these were his choice. People made all sorts of different cookie flavors, but sometimes you just want a classic. This is a classic that can’t be beat!

My husband shared the nuances of making this cookie, but he didn’t change much from the original. The quantities are listed in grams because he said that was an easier measure, and I completely agree. Peanut butter cookies can get dry if there is too much flour, and weighing the ingredients helps. He also noted that he used the Hawaiian sea salt instead of plain salt. The original recipe said to sprinkle the cookies with additional salt, and that step seemed unnecessary.

One thing that I thought was unusual was that these cookies don’t need to be chilled. They are typically too sticky to bake right away, but there was no issue with these. They baked up perfectly and started out puffy but flattened as they cooled. They were soft and they remained soft even after a couple of days! This is a great recipe and my husband is excited to make these again with different mix-ins.

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup (256 g) smooth peanut butter 
16 tablespoons (226 g) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 1/3 cup (293 g) packed dark brown sugar 
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/4 cups (304 g) flour 
Additional sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or silicone baking mats).

In a large mixer bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat on medium for 5 minutes, until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix for another minute. 

With the mixer running on low, add the flour, beating for about 20-30 seconds. Do not over mix.

Using a 1 tablespoon scoop, scoop the dough into balls. Roll each dough ball in additional sugar. Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes. The cookies will still be soft, but that is what you want. They will be puffy but will deflate as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipe from Displaced Housewife 

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

I think if I were to capture the flavor that best summarizes summer, it would be blueberries or some other type of fruit. We had blueberry bushes at the house that I lived in until I was 6 years old. I don’t remember a lot, but I do know that I like blueberries a lot. Baking with fruit of any type is challenging, but there are options.

For this recipe, the solution was to use freeze-dried blueberries. While this was once an unusual ingredient, freeze-dried fruit isn’t too difficult to find. There must be some sort of shortage as I went to get blueberries, and everything was stocked except the freeze-dried blueberries. I had wanted to make them sooner, but I just kept my eyes open until I was able to find them in stock at the store.

Using freeze-dried fruit removes the extra moisture you get with fresh fruit, but they still have great flavor. The blueberries are enhanced by lemon zest, that is combined with the sugars and allowed to infuse in order to strengthen the flavor. These cookies are soft, and remain soft after baking, so you must be careful not to use too much flour and to not bake them too long. If all goes to plan, you will get lovely soft cookies with the wonderful flavors of lemon and blueberry.

Lemon Blueberry Cookies
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
Zest of one lemon (2 tablespoons)
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups (280 grams) flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup freeze dried blueberries, chopped
Additional sugar

In a large mixer bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, and lemon zest. Mix the ingredients with your fingers to evenly distribute the zest. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes. 

Add the butter and mix on medium until light. Add the egg and vanilla and stir until incorporated. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. In order to avoid over mixing, stop the mixer when a few streaks of flour remain.

Using a spatula, carefully fold the blueberries into the dough. Do not over mix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and roll the balls in sugar. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10minutes, until the cookies start to turn golden brown. Be careful not to over bake the cookies, they should still be soft. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Browned Butter Blondie

Pistachio Cookies

When I was choosing cookies to bake for this week, I was looking at two different recipes. Both used pretty classic ingredients, which I had on hand. When I bake, I usually get all of the ingredients out on the counter, so they are there and ready to go. That helps also to discover that I don’t really have a necessary ingredient. For this week, I got out items for these cookies, but also some items only used in the other cookies I was considering. Hmmm.

In getting out the ingredients, I was sure that I had a new bag of pistachios. I got through baking spurts with them, and I thought I had used up my supply and bought more. I guess I hadn’t. I did have just enough left for the ½ cup used in this recipe, but that squashed my idea of adding extra pistachios to this recipe. I was so flustered that I forgot to chop the nuts, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. 

Thankfully I had recently purchased pistachio pudding mix, so these would be subtly flavored with pistachio. They came together quickly, and I didn’t need to refrigerate the dough, despite the warmth of my kitchen. I thought that I had to roll these in sugar before baking, and I did, but that was actually part of the other recipe I was considering. It helped make lovely, rounded cookies, so no worries. As expected, these have a subtle, buttery pistachio flavor. They are just wonderful. 

Pistachio Cookies
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 & 1/4 cups flour
3.4 ounce box pistachio instant pudding
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
Additional sugar, if desired

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, pistachio pudding mix, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until the flour almost disappears. Add the white chocolate chips and the pistachios and stir on low, just until the dough comes together. 

Scoop the dough into 1-1/4” balls. (If desired, roll the balls in additional sugar before baking.) Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Bake until the cookies are light and golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from BellyFull

Cinnamon Oatmeal Espresso Cookies

 

In looking through recipes to find something different, something that isn’t a bar cookie as I have made a lot of those recently, I certainly strayed far from my goal. I ended up picking these cookies, with browned butter, oatmeal, cinnamon, espresso, and brown sugar and I don’t think that I could have found a more fall-like cookie. Oh well, that’s really what I like anyway. I did find a recipe better suited to the summer season, but I couldn’t find all of the ingredients (yet).


I likely also chose these cookies as they look a lot like Mother’s Iced Oatmeal Cookies, which are a favorite. They have more flavors of browned butter and espresso and are a bit darker, but they do have a lot of similarities. I happened to have some dark brown sugar on hand, which I did use in these cookies. It made some difference, as the molasses flavor is stronger, but if you only have light brown sugar that would be just fine.

Browning the butter takes a couple of extra minutes, but I have new pans and it is much easier to monitor the butter than my old pans! I made the dough then refrigerated it, closer to 90 minutes, but any time in the refrigerator is what is needed. I also shaped the cookies all at once and refrigerated the dough balls unless they were in the oven baking, as my kitchen is fairly warm. These cookies are so tasty- all the flavors come together but no one flavor is overpowering, which was a concern I had. You taste the espresso, the brown sugar, the oats, and they all come together to make a lovely cookie.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Espresso Cookies
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla 
2 cups flour
1 ¾ cups 
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoons espresso powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon reserved brown butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons milk

Brown the butter: cut the butter into  chunks and place in a small saucepan. Heat the butter on low, swirling the pan frequently. Once the butter has melted, continue swirling the pan, until the butter begins to turn amber and smells nutty. It can burn quickly, so make sure you watch carefully. Transfer the browned butter to a large mixer bowl and 1 tablespoon to a separate small bowl (for the icing). Allow the butter to cool for 10 minutes.

Once the butter has cooled, add the brown sugar to the mixer bowl. Mix in medium until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir again on medium to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour oats, baking soda, espresso powder, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until the dough is cohesive. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into 1” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set. Be careful not to overbake the cookies. Allow the cookie to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Once the cookies are cool, make the icing: in the bowl with the reserved browned butter, add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and begin whisking, adding additional milk until the icing is the proper, runny consistency. Brush the icing on the cooled cookies and allow the icing to set for 10 minutes.

Recipe from Ambitious Kitchen

Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was gathering recipes recently and one of the recipes that I wanted to make called for Rice Krispies. When you buy those, you have to buy a box, so I figured I had better find other uses for the cereal. I suppose you can eat Rice Krispies as a breakfast cereal, but you’d have to add so much sugar! Off I went to find more recipes using Rice Krispies cereal.

My husband often claims I never make him chocolate chip cookies, so when I came across this recipe for a chocolate chip cookie that contained Rice Krispies, I figured I should make them! I hadn’t made anything like them previously, which was a relief. Sometimes it’s hard to find a recipe that’s different from others.

This recipe is typical, with the exception of the inclusion of Rice Krispies. This recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I think you could add any number of ingredients: different chips, coconut, nuts, etc. The cookies do spread and brown quickly along the edges, so you need to watch them carefully. The ones I refrigerated before baking did the best, so I feel that this is a useful step. These cookies are tasty and crunchy, with the addition of the Rice Krispies, and were enjoyed in my house!

Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup Rice Krispies cereal

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix on medium until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until almost combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and Rice Krispies with a spatula.

Scoop onto the prepared baking sheets. If desired, refrigerate the cookies for 15-20 minutes before baking to reduce spreading.

Bake for 10 minutes, until browned along the edges. The centers will firm up as the cookies cool. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Recipe from Clara Quick Dinners

Peach Cobbler Cookies

I came across these cookies and thought that they were so different. It can be very difficult to bake with fresh fruit, as they can make things soggy. I have noticed that so many recipes now call for freeze-dried fruits, which removes the liquid but keeps the fruit’s flavor. That is a good option, and freeze-dried fruit is easier to find at the store than it used to be. But sometimes you just want to use real peaches.

Peaches in the western part of Washington state vary a lot. I worried that the ones I bought were a little hard, but they were perfect and juicy when I chopped them up. I got sticky peach juice everywhere, but I knew the flavor would be good. There is also the option of adding peach flavoring, but I left that out. If you happen to use it, add it in with the vanilla.

The other change I made was the size of the cookies- the original recipe made 8 giant cookies and baked them at a higher temperature. I knew I would make smaller cookies, and I reduced the oven temperature to 375 degrees. That worked, but you do have to watch the baking time since ovens vary a lot. These have a great peach and cinnamon flavor. They were certainly something different and perfect for when the weather has started to improve.

Peach Cobbler Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup oats
1 cup cinnamon chips
1 cup finely chopped peaches (1-2 peaches) 

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter on medium until light. Add the sugar and brown sugar and mix for three minutes until well combined. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix on medium until evenly distributed. If the dough looks slightly curdled, it will come together after adding the other ingredients. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and flour. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the dough. When the flour almost disappears, add the oats and cinnamon chips, stirring on low to incorporate. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chopped peaches with a spatula. 

Shape the dough into 1-1/2” balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the cookies with the palm of your hand.

Bake for 10-14 minutes, until browned on the bottom. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Baking with Blondie

Candy Cookies with Maple

One of my favorite candy companies is https://www.purdys.com/ Purdys Chocolates, and using a hedgehog as their mascot makes me like them even more! The biggest issue is that they are in Canada, and I am not. I try to get there when I can, and they do ship to the states, but it’s not the easiest candy to acquire. I follow them on social media and they recently posted a cookie recipe that called for two of their chocolates: Sweet Georgia Browns and their Blond Maple Bar. While I hope to get to Canada this summer, I needed to figure out how to make them sooner.

Since I had weights, I knew I could find something. I went to the Puyallup Farmer’s Market and bought chocolate caramel clusters from Amy’s Decadent Chocolates. At home I had picked up some chocolate/caramel smores square, since I had never seen such a thing before. While not a maple candy bar, it would work. They very subtle maple flavor was still there with the presence of maple syrup.

Different stages of chilling is a critical part of this recipe. Once you have chopped up the candy, refrigerate it so it’s cold. This was especially critical since the chocolate/caramel square got caramel everywhere! I made the dough and then chilled it again. I ended up with lovely, puffy cookies, with few blowouts from melting chocolates. The cookies are soft and cakey, with a subtle maple flavor. I need to check out what other recipes Purdys has!

Candy Cookies with Maple
85 grams Purdys Maple Candy Bar, chopped
2 chocolate caramel clusters (34 grams each), chopped
½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup maple syrup
1 egg
1-1/2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Chop the Maple Candy bar and the chocolate caramel clusters into pieces. Put the chocolates on a plate and refrigerate while you make the dough.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Mix on medium until the mixture comes together. Add the egg and stir to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chilled chopped chocolate with a spatula.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into 24 balls, each weighing about 30 grams. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 9-13 minutes, until the cookies are puffy and golden brown around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipe from Purdys Chocolate

Butter Toffee Cookies

My husband often orders things from nuts.com but I don’t know what he has ordered, so it’s a surprise for me. In the most recent order, there were a couple of varieties of mixed nuts, including some that were coated with butter toffee. I knew right away that they would be great in a recipe. I chose this one, since I liked the flour and oats combination. If you don’t have these specific nuts, you could always use honey roasted peanuts or something similar.

We had also recently visited the Farmer’s Market and picked up some honey. We got two varieties, a mellow variety and then coriander honey. I have used coriander in cooking, but I wasn’t sure what the honey would taste like. My husband said it was noticeable, but it didn’t really taste like coriander since it is from the plant. I didn’t use the coriander honey here, as I didn’t want any potential flavor conflicts.

This makes for a fairly large batch of cookies. With a good quantity of flour and oats, I made about 60 cookies. Because the cookies contain honey, which burns easily, you need to be careful that they aren’t in the oven too long. I tried for 8 minutes, then added one minute at a time. 11 minutes worked for me, and the cookies still looked a little under done when I took them out of the oven. Thankfully they set as they cooled so I think that was the right amount of time. You are left with a soft, every so slightly sticky cookie, with lovely oat and nut flavors.

Butter Toffee Cookies
2-1/4 cups flour
2-1/2 cups oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup  butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup butter toffee mixed nuts
Additional nuts

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat the butter and brown sugar on medium for 3 minutes, until light. Stir in the honey. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour/oat mixture. Fold in the butter toffee nuts.

Using a medium cookie scoop, place 12 rounds on each baking sheet. If desired, top each cookie with a butter toffee nut.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until beginning to brown. The cookies may look undercooked, but they will set as they cool. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Wanna Come With?

Lemon Crunch Oreo Cookies

I was looking around for cookies to make with our sunnier weather and I came across a couple of variations of this Lemon Crunch Cookie. The recipes vary a little bit, but most are flavored with lemon and white chocolate chips, then include chopped vanilla or lemon Oreos. That couldn’t possibly be bad, right? I picked this recipe and thought it would be great. I figured I might change the ratio of white chocolate chips and Oreos, but that’s not too significant.

This is a pudding cookie, which means you add pudding mix to the dough. The original recipe calls for lemon pudding, but there was a note in the recipe that lemon flavor may be difficult to find. That was true in my case, and I ended up using vanilla pudding mix and added the zest of a lemon. I guess I never look too closely at the variety of puddings available for purchase, but I suppose they are somewhat interchangeable.

This dough comes together easily, and I ended up using about a cup of white chocolate chips and 14 of the Lemon Oreo thins. I don’t know if they make non-thin lemon Oreos, but these were pretty good and I am happy to report that there are lemon Oreos left over for eating. The dough is soft and sticky, but that isn’t uncommon for a puddling cookie. These cookies browned quickly, so you do have to watch the timing, Other than that, they are a lovely cookie that makes a generous amount.

Lemon Crunch Oreo Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
3 ounce instant lemon pudding mix
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
14 lemon lemon Oreos, chopped
1 cup white chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium until
incorporated. Add the pudding mix, salt, and eggs and stir again to combine. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour and baking soda, mixing until the dough forms. Fold in the chopped cookies and white chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Press additional chopped lemon Oreos to the top of the cookies if desired.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until lightly browned along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Shugary Sweets

NY Crumb Cake Cookies

My weird week has continued, and the cookies I had planned to bake made a larger batch. I had planned to take them to work, but that wasn’t happening. I searched for a recipe that was fairly small and I came across this recipe. I chose it for a couple of reasons; I love crumb cake, and in a cookie form? That sounds great! Also, Jessie Moore (CakeSpy) used to have a shop in Seattle that I visited. I have a number of things she created, including an illustration of a library staffed with cupcake librarians. Yes, I am a librarian!

The original recipe made two dozen, but I made a half batch and got exactly 12 cookies, which was fine. I made the dough and then refrigerated the cookies for about 15 minutes. I usually have little issue making streusel by hand, but it’s warm in the kitchen and I ended up using my pastry cutter. Did you know that a pastry cutter with wire is old fashioned and made for cutting lard, but modern ones with flat metal strips are best for butter. Who knew?

You will have more streusel than you need, but I think things like streusel and frosting are always best to have more than you need. Some of the streusel did get on the baking sheet, but that was ok. I had a few bits stick to the baked cookies, but I just brushed them off. These are so tasty, my husband, who did live in New Jersey, approved. He also made the little plate in the picture at the pottery class we recently attended. Isn’t it lovely?

NY Crumb Cake Cookies
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, cut into pieces
Powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, add the butter and beat about a minute until creamy. Add the brown sugar and mix again until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until the dough forms.

Shape the dough into 24 balls, and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the dough balls slightly with the palm of your hand. Place the cookies into the refrigerator while you prepare the crumb topping.

In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and salt; stir to combine. Add the pieces of butter and using your hands or a pastry blender, mix the topping until it resembles streusel.

Sprinkle some of the streusel topping on each cookie, pressing the topping firmly onto the cookies. Some streusel will fall onto the baking sheet; that’s ok.

Bake for 8-11 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned and set. Allow to cool on the baking sheet before sprinkling with powdered sugar.

Recipe from Jessie Unicorn Moore

Cinnamon Toffee Cookies

It’s been a weird week, but I realized that I didn’t have any cookies ready to post this week! One of the great relaxations in my life is baking, and even when the week is weird, I have a great drive to bake! I knew that I wouldn’t want to make a very big batch, since I didn’t have a place to take them. I also needed to find a recipe that did not require a trip to the store, since that wasn’t in the cards.

This recipe fits the bill, well, for the most part. The original recipe called for toffee bits with chocolate. I’m not really sure why, as there is no other chocolate in this recipe. I use chocolate and non-chocolate toffee chips interchangeably.  I had non-chocolate toffee bits, so I used those. Also, I thought that a cinnamon toffee cookie that didn’t contain cinnamon chips was just wrong. I decided to add those.

This dough is easy to make, and I am glad that I changed the recipe slightly to add the cinnamon chips. I started baking these at the requested 8 minutes, but they were nowhere near fully baked, so I added more time. I found that 11 minutes worked for me, but every oven is different. When I topped the hot cookies with toffee bits, they went everywhere! Pressing the toffee bits into the top of the cookies made an indentation and that helped so much. These have a great buttery cinnamon sugar flavor, and the extra toffee bits on top add an extra crunch.

Cinnamon Toffee Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ cup cinnamon chips
¾ cup toffee bits
Toffee bits plus more for topping

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.  

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat on medium until creamy. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. When the dough is almost completely together, stir in the cinnamon chips and toffee bits.

 Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press additional toffee bits into the tops of cookies. Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from I Dig Pinterest

Chocolate Cookies with Reese’s Pieces Bunnies

I came across this recipe from Practically Homemade on Pinterest, and I was inspired! We had recently bought a large bag of Reese’s Pieces from nuts.com, and my husband had said that we had those available for baking. The original recipe used M&Ms, but Reese’s Pieces are nearly the same and I figured I would be fine. The colors worked, but I wanted to use a chocolate cookie.

The most difficult part of this recipe was finding a pill splitter to cut the Reese’s Pieces in half. I could have just cut them, but I had read a comment about using a pill splitter and that seemed easier. I went to two stores to find a pill splitter, and I was finally able to find one when I asked someone. I guess people often get them when they pick up a prescription, so the tool was not easy to find. I was happy that I eventually found one.

I altered the recipe slightly, as I didn’t want Reese’s Pieces in the dough, so I added mini chocolate chips instead. I baked them before adding the Reese’s Pieces, as I didn’t know what would happen and how the dough would shift while baking. I had the cut Reese’s Pieces ready to go once the cookies came out of the oven, and that’s really important. These cookies are super soft and chocolatey! The Reese’s Pieces add a subtle peanut butter flavor, which is just perfect.

Chocolate Cookies with Reese’s Pieces Bunnies
12 tablespoons butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 ⅓ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Reese’s Pieces, whole and half, for decoration

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter on medium until very creamy. Add the sugar, brown sugar, and molasses and mix on medium to combine. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to incorporate. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture; mixing until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir with a spatula to incorporate.

Shape the dough into 1-1/2 inch balls. Place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Once all the cookies are formed, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place the chilled cookies on the baking sheet. They don’t rise a lot, so there is no need for extra space between the cookies.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until set and firm around the edges. Once the come out of the oven, immediately top the cookies with Reese’s Pieces (whole and half pieces) to resemble bunnies.

Recipe from Partylicious and inspiration from Practically Homemade

Browned Butter Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

This is the final recipe that I made with the bag of cinnamon pistachios that I purchased during the holidays. I feel like making three recipes was a victory! Some of the recipes that I found are quite similar, but there are little nuances to set them apart. This one uses browned butter, which does add an extra layer of flavor. It looks a lot like a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but it is more than that.

I have used browned butter in a number of different recipes. It’s frustrating that I can’t provide times for how long the butter will take to brown, but there are so many factors that make a difference. I will say that if you step away from the stove for even a moment, your browned butter will become burnt butter and that’s not good at all. I’m not sure why this happens, just be careful! You could also simply melt the butter, but that wouldn’t impart the same flavors.

Yes, I suppose this is a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but it has some extras. I used dark chocolate chunks and not milk chocolate. I felt this would pair better with the cinnamon pistachios. You really could use any type of chocolate, because it is the pistachios that make the big difference. There are lots of interesting flavors of pistachios out there on the market, and this cookie would lend itself to all sorts of flavors.

Browned Butter Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
½ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 ⅓ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup chocolate chunks
¾ cup cinnamon pistachios, roughly chopped

First, brown the butter. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once the butter melts, continue cooking, swirling the pan frequently, until the butter browns and smells nutty. Watch carefully so that the butter doesn’t burn. Transfer the browned butter to a separate dish to cool slightly.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a larger mixer bowl, combine the browned butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium to combine. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again to incorporate. With the mixer running on low, add the flour and baking soda. Stir in the chocolate chunks and cinnamon pistachios with a spatula.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are browned along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Kale Junkie

The Best Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I love a good peanut butter cookie and I have made a number of different variations of cookies with peanut butter. I came across this recipe and it is called “The Best.” Well, that is certainly up to discussion, but I thought that these had a good combination of peanut and peanut butter flavors. Whether they are the best ones ever is something that you can decide, but they are really tasty cookies!

I often make a half batch of cookies, in order to have a more reasonable amount of cookies around. (Hmm, I’m not even sure what that means. Oh well.) I did a full batch of these cookies as I was taking them to work, and I perhaps could have made a half batch. This made just over five dozen cookies, which is a lot. The original blogger noted that it would make a much smaller number, so the cookies she made must have been huge.

When I first started making peanut butter cookies, I often struggled getting the texture right. They were usually too dry. That isn’t a problem any more, and I am not exactly sure what makes the difference. These cookies, with the inclusion of honey roasted peanuts, have a nice crunch and overall the cookies are soft. The look extra special with the peanut butter chips on the top- not required but a good thing to add!

The Best Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2-⅔ cup flour
1 cup of peanut butter chips
1 cup of honey roasted peanuts
Additional peanut butter chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium until combined. Add the peanut butter, almond extract, and vanilla and stir again to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the baking soda and salt, and then with the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour. When the flour in the dough is almost completely incorporated, stir in the peanut butter chips and the honey roasted peanuts.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” rounds and place on the prepared baking sheets. Top each cookie with additional peanut butter chips.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies are golden and are just beginning to brown along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Fat Girl Hedonist

Chocolate Cherry Cinnamon Pistachio Cookies

Another recipe that I found where I could use the cinnamon pistachios was this chocolate chip cookie recipe with dried cherries and pistachios. This comes from a blog that focuses on bread and sourdough items. I edited this recipe a little, based on the ingredients that I had and the attempt to make a fairly standard cookie.

This recipe initially called for sourdough starter discard, which was not something that I had on hand. I have never had good luck with sourdough starter! Later I found out that this is something that my friend at work has, since her husband bakes sourdough bread. Of well, it was not a large quantity, so I omitted it from the recipe. I am not sure what the sourdough discard would add to the cookies, maybe a little more flavor? It wasn’t something that you traditionally see in a recipe.

This cookie started as a chocolate chip cookie, and the original recipe had you sprinkle the cookies with chopped pecans and then top them with dried cherries. I decided to add the pistachios and dried cherries to the cookie dough, which makes for a very chunky cookie, but they were great. A couple of cookies really spread around the edges, but that was just a few. The rest baked up without issue, and just looked wonderful. The cookies are chock full of add-ins, but that just makes these cookies interesting.

Chocolate Cherry Cinnamon Pistachio Cookies
1 cup butter, melted
200 grams sugar
70 grams brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
275 grams flour
300 grams chocolate chips
50 grams cinnamon pistachios, chopped
1 cup dried cherries

In a large mixer bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Once the mixture is cohesive, add the eggs and vanilla, beating on medium-low to combine. Stir in the flour and the chocolate chips. Once the dough is almost uniform, add the pistachios and dried cherries and stir in low until the dough comes together.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape the dough into 1-1/4” rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between the cookies.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies are browned around the edges and set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Art, Bread, Love

Graham Crumb Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you read this blog with any frequency, you will be aware that my husband often complains that I don’t make enough chocolate chip cookies. That is true, as it needs to be quite a different chocolate chip cookie for me to add it to my blog. I came across this recipe and it seemed interesting. I have made a couple of items with graham cracker crumbs, but not this recipe exactly. I figured it would be nice to make a chocolate chip cookie variation.

This recipe originally called for mini milk chocolate chips, but I didn’t have those on hand, so I used regular sized milk chocolate chips. I need to restock some of my baking chips, and I will see if that’s something that is available here. I gather recipes from bloggers that live all around the world, so sometimes I have to be creative with specific ingredients.

These cookies come together like traditional chocolate chip cookies, simply with the addition of graham cracker crumbs and cinnamon. I like cinnamon a lot and it pairs well with milk chocolate, so I wasn’t surprised to see that added to this recipe. Some people don’t like the idea of adding extra flavors to chocolate chip cookies, but I think this one is fine. The graham cracker crumbs and the milk chocolate chips add a lovely sweetness to these cookies, which is hard to resist!

Graham Crumb Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium for several minutes until light. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and graham cracker crumbs. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. When the dough is almost cohesive, add the milk chocolate chips and mix on low to incorporate.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes, until cookies are set. The cookies will continue to bake a little as they cool. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Lord Byron’s Kitchen

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cookies

I really need to get back in the swing of baking, but now that my schedule is getting back to normal, I am very hopeful that will happen. My husband sent me this recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding Cookies, as he knows that we both love sticky toffee pudding. He asked if I had dates, a critical ingredient, and I did. I typically buy chopped dates, since dates are so sticky, but I had whole dates. For this recipe, that was fine as it all goes into the food processor.

This is a different method of making cookies than I am used to. You mix the flour in the mixer bowl and then handle the wet ingredients in the food processor, then mix the two together to make a dough. It worked fine, although I think if you quizzed someone about whether these contain dates, they may not know as they aren’t obvious.

I used fairly small caramels that I had bought at a local fair, which were about 2 centimeters square. I cut them in half and that was great for these cookies. If you have larger caramels, then adjust accordingly. You are supposed to roll the dough balls in sugar, but I forgot and they seemed to turn out fine. These taste so much like sticky toffee pudding, with the wonderful dates and the spices, and the caramel adds that sticky element that makes it that much more special.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cookies
235 grams flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
85 grams dates, roughly chopped
67 grams sugar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
170 grams butter, melted and cooled slightly
Soft caramels, cut in pieces

In a large mixer bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside. In a food processor, combine the dates, sugar, brown sugar, molasses, egg, and vanilla. Pulse until smooth (or nearly smooth). Add the butter and pulse again, until the ingredients come together.

Add the date mixture to the flour mixture in the mixer bowl. With the mixer running on medium-low, stir until the dough comes together, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as needed. Once the dough forms, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into 24 balls, each about 1-1/2” inches. Place a piece of caramel into the top of each cookie, flattening the dough slightly.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, until the cookie looks set. The caramel will be molten at this point, so be careful. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Hailee Catalano

Orange Poppy Seed Cookies

I think that the first cookie that I post each year is probably the hardest, as I have to decide what to make, what isn’t too much, likely what isn’t too sweet, etc. I didn’t end up posting last week because we were traveling, and I certainly had enough sweets and chocolates around that I was just fine. Now I am in the process of sorting through what we have, throwing out what is stale, and moving on, although I have a feeling that some of the treats we have on hand will last some time.

What should I make? This cookie seemed good, with the flavors of poppy seed and orange. I don’t traditionally bake a lot with orange, but it is in season right now so the time is right. I don’t use poppy seeds a lot, and as they tend to go stale, I decided to replace my supply. If you have had poppy seeds in your cupboard for a while, this might not be a bad idea.

This doesn’t make a huge batch of cookies, just over two dozen and I figured that was a good number. I ended up using the two tablespoons of poppy seeds that I had bought, and at least I know that they are fresh! I’m never sure if I should use food coloring or not, but I did add some orange powdered food coloring since I had that on hand. Ok, one or two cookies are a little streaky, but that’s not the end of the world. These are a lighter, refreshing start to the new year!

Orange Poppy Seed Cookies
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg + 2 yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

½ cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons orange juice
Additional orange zest

Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the egg and egg yolks and combine again on medium speed, until incorporated. Stir in the orange extract. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, salt, baking soda, orange zest and poppy seeds.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, using about 1-1/2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

To finish, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice and drizzle on the cookies. Sprinkle with additional orange zest if desired. Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Recipe from Mom on Timeout