Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

I had almost all of a cake mix leftover from making the Cake Batter Bark, so as the bark was chilling, I put the oven to work and made these easy, moist and tasty Snickerdoodles. It was a nice, simple alternative to something super chocolate-y, and a neat way to create a version of a classic cookie I often forget about.

Ingredients
1 box cake mix
1/3 c. oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Mix and roll into balls and into sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes.

Source: Makes and Takes

The things we do for love

I found some photos from my great Christmas Baking Adventure of 2010, which yielded such yummy gems as Brownie Crackles and Chocolate Caramel Cracker Candy.

While I am fully aware these were taken months ago, it's not the first time a late-night baking session has occurred in our home, and I'm certain it won't be the last. I had agreed to bake up a few plates of cookies for Tim's holiday work potluck, and I also needed some cookies to send out with gifts we were mailing the next day.

I came home from work around midnight, and Operation Bake All Night commenced. Tim was working days back then, so he went to bed hours before I was done with this project. I think I made five or six different kinds of cookies and had a pretty good routine down by the end of it. But I was exhausted. And tired of washing dishes, particularly my mixing bowls and baking sheets. And if I remember correctly, minutes after I finished the last batch, washed the dishes and covered and packed everything up appropriately, my daughter woke up. She'd been sleeping through the night for months, yet apparently the little Betty Crocker in her woke up that night and decided she wanted to party with Mommy ... at 4 a.m.

After getting Elle back to sleep, I stumbled to bed for a few hours - no time for sweet dreams, I just wanted sleep.

Ah, the life of a Baker.

Some of my creations.

Ugh.

Oven on, and it's 3:40 in the morning. Kill. Me. Now.

What's the craziest baking adventure you've had? Stayed up all night to finish a birthday cake? Promised to make dozens of cookies for a work or school function and then finished them at the last minute? Share your stories, folks - just remembering this night makes me feel a little nuts, and I'd like to know I'm not alone :)

Butterscotch Chip Pumpkin Cookies

I *think* this is the last of my Christmas cookie recipes. (Better late than never, right?) And once again, this was one of those pumpkin recipes that felt familiar as I was making it ... and then I realized it was pretty much the same thing as the Pumpkin Cookies I always make - except with the addition of butterscotch chips.

Ah well.

They were delicious, and since they have a cake mix base, they stayed extremely moist, which was great considering I was shipping these to various friends and family members across the country. And once again, ease to the rescue! The fact that this one batch made a ton of cookies was perfect for Christmas, too.

Ingredients

2 packages yellow or spice cake mix

1 can (29 oz.) pumpkin

2 cups butterscotch chips*

Directions

Preheat over to 350 degrees. With a spoon, stir cake mixes and pumpkin together in a large bowl. Stir in butterscotch chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes.

Cool 2-3 minutes on cookie sheet before removing to a nonstick rack to cool completely.

 *Milk chocolate chips can be substituted for butterscotch chips.

Source: 101 More Things To Do With A Cake Mix by Stephanie Ashcraft

Brownie Crackles

I wanted a new addition to my Christmas cookie lineup, but with all of the other baking I had to do (for my husband's surprise birthday party, for a coworker's birthday, for work potlucks, etc.), I didn't have time for anything fancy. I just wanted something different and something tasty.


These cookies were a winner, and I have already made them again. They are simple, and they don't taste like your normal cookie - they are kind of like a brownie bite with chocolate chips. In a word: Amazing. I highly, highly recommend these, and I don't even like chocolate that much (I will choose vanilla over chocolate any day).

Ingredients

1 package fudge brownie mix (13-in. x 9-inch pan size)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup (6 ounces) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Confectioners' sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, beat the brownie mix, flour, egg, water and oil until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Place confectioners' sugar in a shallow dish. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls into sugar; roll to coat. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 4-1/2 dozen.

Nutrition Facts: 2 cookies equals 154 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 8 mg cholesterol, 84 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein.

Source: Taste of Home

Heaven, ready-to-bake and on sale

Happy Valentine's Day, all! I have a few recipes I'm hoping to make soon and blog about immediately, but for now, I wanted to share a sweet find with you.

Last week, cookie dough was on sale at my local grocery store. I needed to buy some pre-made cookie dough for a recipe, and since the sale was 2 for $5, I grabbed a second package.

The words "caramel filled" intrigued me, and the picture made my mouth water, so I went for it. A few days later, I baked them, and in an embarrassingly short amount of time, they were gone.

These are amazing, especially warm, gooey and fresh out of the oven. My husband mentioned that they were "too caramel-y," but I must note that it did not stop him from eating several cookies. And I wholeheartedly disagree.

In short: Buy these. Eat them. Don't share them. Then don't buy them again unless you want to gain 20 pounds. SO. GOOD. I wasn't compensated for this post, but if Toll House wants to offer me some cookies, I will gladly take them :)

Anyone else have any boxed mixes/packaged doughs/store-bought goodies to recommend?

Fresh-peach drop cookies

I volunteered to bake in honor of a coworker's birthday last month. I asked Mike what kind of desserts he likes - I know he makes a killer Key Lime pie, but that was about all I knew. He said he loved desserts with fruit but didn't like real cake-y desserts.

I immediately thought "cobbler!"

But this is the coworker who made a peach cobbler the month before, so that was out.

This birthday? The week before Christmas. Which meant it was during the week that I was baking cookies to ship to friends and family as well as desserts that were going to be served at my husband's surprise birthday party. So I needed something that wouldn't keep me in the kitchen longer than necessary.

I headed to my friend Google and quickly came across a Martha Stewart recipe that looked surprisingly easy and very delicious. It also fit the bill of "fruit" and "not cake."

These cookies were fantastic. A slightly unseasonal cookie to make in December, but here's a secret: I used canned peaches, and they were yummy *and* a nice hint of our friend summer. Mike suggested adding something tart, like blackberries, cherries or cranberries, to balance out the sweetness of these cookies ... and I just might have to try that :)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 3/4 cups) (I used a can of peaches - don't tell Martha!)
1/3 cup peach jam or preserves
2 tablespoons fine sanding sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.

2. Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Add peaches and jam, and beat until just combined.

3. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing about 2 inches apart. (If not baking all of the cookies at once, refrigerate dough between batches; dough can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.) Combine sanding sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle each cookie with 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon-sugar mixture.

4. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 11 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Martha Stewart

Lactation Cookies

Since we started the baking blog almost two years ago, I've made very few things more than once. I've wanted to experiment, to share new recipes, and there is no shortage of new recipes to try. There are a few staples, sure, like Oatmeal Carmelitas and Cake Mix Coolers and Blueberry Banana Bread, that I've made repeatedly, as well as special occasion foods like the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake that I make for my husband's birthday, but for the most part, most of it has been new.

But I've made this cookie recipe pretty much every two weeks for the last two months. I love it because you can mix it up a bit - I've added cranberries, substituted white chocolate chips, etc. - and it yields about six dozen, so I freeze most of them and have a ready stash.

The other reason I love it? A bit more complicated, and perhaps, at first, a bit more challenging to follow. But here I go:

Breastfeeding is hard work, yo. (Cue your "I thought this was a baking blog?!" statements here.) I gave birth to my daughter more than five (!) months ago, and she's been exclusively breastfed. We plan to introduce solids after her six-month pediatrician's appointment, but for now, her nutrition is all on me. No pressure, right? :) We've actually had a fairly easy time of it - no issues latching, no supply problems, no real pain - and I am extremely grateful for that. But it hasn't been a stress-free journey.

Initially, it is very exhausting and overwhelming to be "on-call" 24/7. After the first few weeks, things calmed down a bit, but the whole process of breastfeeding works on the premise of supply and demand. And when I returned to work, I worried it would  be harder to keep up the supply, because a breast pump just doesn't replicate the demand as well. Combine that with added stress and sometimes having to miss a pumping session because of work-place demands, and supply can easily plummet for some women.

But to keep my supply up, I sacrificed: I make and eat these cookies regularly. I know, I know - I lead a tough life, but someone has to eat the cookies!

I was introduced to the lactation cookies in one of my mommy/baby groups - it is actually a "breastfeeding support" group, but we cover a variety of topics, from eating to sleeping to acid reflux. The facilitator of the group brought these cookies in to one of our meetings, and although it *could* be psychological, they really do seem to help. I was without cookies for a few days at one point, and it didn't seem like I was pumping as much as I usually do.

Oatmeal is a food commonly mentioned in conversations about naturally increasing breastmilk supply, and these cookies contain two other key ingredients: Brewer's Yeast and flax seed. I found the yeast at a natural food store, and while it wasn't cheap, I am set for life and even shared some with another mom.

 The breastfed wonder. She knows she's cute :)

But aside from those ingredients? These are your run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookies. My husband and one of his friends have eaten them (without lactating) and were surprised at how "normal" they taste. They're not the healthiest cookies I've ever made, considering they have a cup of butter in them (and my attempt to substitute "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" produced flat, not-quite-right cookies), but when you're breastfeeding, you need to consume *some* extra calories to make up for the fact that you're contributing so many to the baby. It isn't advised to eat a diet of Twinkies, onion rings and Skittles to get those extra calories, but if I'm going to eat a dessert, I now choose these cookies.

Mommy note: I often make the batter for these at night, when my daughter is in bed, and then I bake them during her nap or playtime the next day, when I can put her in her jumperoo for a few minutes and dart in and out of the kitchen to change cookie sheets. Life with an infant can be a little unpredictable, so at least if the batter is made, I can sneak in a few baking sessions here and there during the course of the day.

Mommy note II: These wouldn't be a bad gift for a new mom, especially if you know she's breastfeeding. Or you could buy some of the pre-made mix from a seller like Hardier Lime. 

Ingredients:

1 C butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
4 T water
2 T flaxseed meal (no substitutions)
2 Lg eggs
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
3 C Thick cut oats
1 C Chocolate chips
2 T Brewers Yeast (no substitutions)

Directions:

Preheat oven at 375.

Mix 2 T of flaxseed meal and water, set aside 3-5 minutes.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs.

Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla. Beat until well blended.

Sift dry ingredients (except oats and chocolate chips).

Add butter mix to dry ingredients.

Stir in the oats and then the choc chips.

Drop on parchment paper on baking sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes.

Source: Epicurious

Rice Krispies Raisin Cookies

I had some leftover raisins from these cookies and had no idea what to make with them. After thinking about it for a bit, I remembered a cookie that I used to make while in middle and high school, in my earlier baking days. I knew I had the recipe in a notebook that I started after taking home economics in eighth grade (and because I find it impossible to throw anything away I still have that notebook).

I found it quickly and thought my writing and the spots of butter/oil/who knows what was rather telling of this recipe's age and how much use it got.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I made these cookies, and I don't know why they fell out of my go-to rotation. For folks who don't have or like raisins, chocolate chips can be substituted for the raisins. I used both for this batch, and I doubled it, although in hindsight, a single batch would have been plenty.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup margarine or butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Stir together flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Set aside.

2. In large electric mixer bowl, beat together sugars and margarine until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Add flour mixture, mixing until combined. Stir in crisp rice cereal and raisins.


3. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.

4. Bake at 350° F about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container.


Source: Kellogg's Kitchens

Oatmeal Raisin Toffee Cookies

When I was looking for recipes to make for Meghan's birthday treat, I came across two with toffee that sounded delicious. While I opted to make the Toffee Almond Sandies to send to her, I decided I needed to try the others at some point in the future, too.

I made them a few weeks later and took them to our May craft gathering and work, where they were devoured. They're very yummy cookies, although mine seemed rather sticky, and many of them didn't come off my cookie sheets in singular cookie form (I had a bowl full of cookies that looked like they had seen better days by the end of my baking).

I definitely don't think these would have traveled well to Arizona, but they certainly do taste good!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup crushed toffee candy

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Blend in the oatmeal and toffee bits. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: allrecipes.com

Toffee Almond Sandies

For Meg's birthday treat, I had a recipe alllll picked out. But then on the day that I was going to shop for the ingredients for that recipe, she and I were talking about Special K cereal and our mutual love for the Vanilla Almond variety. Then we started talking about the other kinds of Special K we liked ... basically, it was quite a conversation about nuts (like pecans) and flavors (like the yogurt one).

I was playing around on good ol' allrecipes.com and started searching for cookies with almonds in them. I searched for cookies with pecans. I was having a grand time, so I came up with plenty of options. My biggest obstacle, of course, was in the shipping. It it quite hot in Florida, where I am, and in Arizona, where Meg is, so I needed something that wouldn't get all mushy or melted. I usually go with a cake mix recipe in times of shipping baked goods, because they stay extremely moist, but I thought I'd be adventurous and try something different.

I wasn't sure if Meghan liked some of the other ingredients I was finding (after all, the girl hates peanuts and peanut butter, so who knows what other things she doesn't like?!). So I started texting her with random questions about whether she liked butterscotch, toffee, raisins, pistachios (no recipes with pistachios were actually involved in my search, but I was trying to throw her off a bit), etc. I was torn between these Toffee Almond Sandies and another recipe that I ended up making the next week. I finally decided these might ship a little better, so I made the Sandies.

After reading some of the comments on the Web site, I opted to not flatten them with a fork (that screams peanut butter cookie to me, and I thought Meg might not appreciate that) and I took note that some people used pecans instead of almonds, but I wanted to get the almond flavoring/almond punch in there, so I stayed with the original. I didn't have any wheat flour on hand, so I used all all-purpose flour.

Something else I learned as I was making these: This recipe makes A LOT of cookies. I sent some to Meg and took a ton to work and still had leftovers.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped almonds
1 (6 ounce) package English toffee bits
Additional sugar

Directions


1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add oil, eggs and extract; mix well. Combine flours, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in almonds and toffee bits.


2. Shape into 1-in. balls; roll in sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets and flatten with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.


Source: allrecipes.com

Sugar crispies, ska the best sugar cookie in all of Texas.

A few weeks ago, we put out the call for your favorite holiday recipes. I received a few for yummy treats that I can't wait to bake, whether it be sometime this year or for a future Christmas. This recipe is perfect for the holidays, but it's also great for absolutely any time.

My crafting group had a cookie party a few weeks before Christmas. Darla, one of our faithful members, wasn't able to attend, but she offered to bake these special sugar cookies for us to decorate at the party. A few of the crafters had the pleasure of munching on these cookies at other events and raved about how fantastic they were.

These cookies are delicious, and super-fun to decorate. Unlike the sugar cookies that usually come to my mind (fluffy, thick, maybe even a bit chewy), these are crisp and oh-so-thin. They're amazing.

Directions:

Cream 1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar

Combine/cream
1 beaten egg
1tbsp milk
1tsp vanilla

Sift
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Chill 1 day, roll and bake 5 min at 350 degrees


Glaze (optional):
1 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar
Milk and vanilla, make it thin.

Source: Darla

Peanut Butter Blossoms

For the last round of Operation Baking Gals, I was home in Ohio for a few days and wanted to get my little brother involved. We knew we were going to make a batch of Cakies, and my mom had a bag of Hershey's Kisses she suggested we use. Alas, we decided to make Peanut Butter Blossoms (aka another recipe that Meghan will never touch because of her deep hatred for peanut butter).

The Peanut Butter Blossoms were always a staple of my family's Christmas cookie making. This particular round of Operation Baking Gals was a few weeks before Christmas, but it still brought back memories of baking for the holidays.

Doug helped mix the dough and unwrapped all of the Kisses. While he unwrapped the Kisses, I rolled the dough in to balls and rolled them in sugar. By the time he was done, the first batch was out of the oven and we hurried to put the Kisses in the still-warm cookies.


Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

granulated sugar

Hershey's Kisses

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended.

Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat until fluffy.

Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat in to peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough in to 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place on ungreased cooie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Immediately press a kiss in to center of each cookie. Place on wire rack to cool.

(The recipe I followed said the recipe made 48 cookies. We got about 34, so apparently I need to make my balls of dough smaller next time!)

Source: Little Leopards Purrfect Delights Cookbook

For Russell

In the latest round of Operation Baking Gals, our team baked for my friend, Russell, who is currently leading a unit that is training with the Hungarian Guard, before continuing on to Afghanistan.

I baked late in the round because all of my team members were emailing me to tell me what they had whipped up for Russ. It ranged from traditional chocolate chip cookies to peanut butter bars, lemon poppyseed bread and chocolate hazelnut biscotti. I figured I would wait until the end, so I could be sure to send him something he and his unit hadn't received yet.

I also wanted to try a new recipe, but wanted to stick with a cake mix base, since those seem to stay the freshest. These Chocolate Chip Macadamia Oat Cookies fit the bill, and they were really good. They don't flatten as they bake like a lot of cookies do; they stay dense and round, which was a nice change of pace.

Ingredients
1 package white cake mix
1 cup flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips

Directions
1. In a large mixer bowl, combine cake mix, flour, oats, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 1 minute or just until smooth. Stir in nuts and chocolate chunks.


2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets. Bake 10-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on wire racks or until firm on baking sheets, then remove to racks and cool completely.

Source: Duncan Hines Cake Mix Magic

Marriage and cookies

Today is my one-year anniversary. On this day 365 days ago, I married my best friend, the man who has stood beside me for six years and has promised to stand beside me forever. The man I long-distance dated for three years before we finally ended up together in Florida, then got engaged, then planned a long-distance wedding. Needless to say, November 15, 2008, is a day I will never forget, for many reasons.

We live at least 1,000 miles away from our friends and family. Our wedding day was a rare chance to get everyone together, and in that blending of families and brief time of togetherness, I chose to highlight a tradition that was a nod to my Pittsburgh roots: The Cookie Table.

We had wedding cake. We had a decadent raspberry cheesecake as the groom's cake (and incidentally, the groom nearly didn't get a piece of it!). But the thing people have been talking about all year is our Cookie Table.

I first heard of the Cookie Table starting as a Pittsburgh tradition. Really, a western PA tradition. As I started to propose having our own Cookie Table, I received arguments that it was a Youngstown tradition. After doing some research, I found evidence to support both sides. The bottom line for me was that this Pittsburgh-born, Ohio-bred, Florida-living, Columbus-marrying bride was having a Cookie Table. No argument there.

And the basic premise of the Cookie Table holds true no matter where the tradition started. For me, it meant having friends and family (both my own and my soon-to-be husband's) bringing cookies to bridge all the parts of our lives together. Meghan brought cookies from Phoenix. My friend Stef brought cookies from Florida. My sister made some treats. My college suitemate made some yummy cupcakes, among other things. There were cookies from various pieces of our lives, and the eatin' was good. We had a brief period of time between the ceremony and reception, and guests were invited to munch on cookies in the downtime. I put out a short, framed explanation of what the Cookie Table was, and the cookies were all labeled with the name of the baked good, as well as ingredient warnings for people who might be allergic or avoid things like nuts, coconut, peanut butter and other such things.

I love how the Cookie Table represented the caring nature of our friends and family on our special day. After all, when you go to a wedding, you expect to take a gift and get all the good things that go along with a reception: food, drink, cake, dancing. So for us to ask our loved ones to go above and beyond and bring an offering to this Cookie Table on our special day ... it just really makes me warm and fuzzy when I think about how generous the people in our lives are.

And I love the fact that many friends and brides-to-be since then have told me how much they love the idea of a Cookie Table, and I'd like to think it's a tradition that will continue to be passed down along the lines of our wedding guests and others who have seen photos or heard stories about the Cookie Table.

Today I remember my wedding - from the early morning wakeup to the last-minute details, and from the vows I made to the man I married (love you, babe!), but I cannot forget the cookies :)

Almond Cookies

As Meg and I pondered what to make for Desserts of the World week, I thought of all the yummy European recipes we could make (yes, I know Mexico and Canada are not in Europe). There were so many tempting pies, cakes, bars, breads, muffins and cookies that we *didn't* make this time around! I wanted to find something out of the European box, so I searched for recipes from Asia.

And I found a winner from China.

As I made these cookies I realized that I really don't use almond extract enough. I think I should start using it in everything. It's heavenly! And these cookies were light, buttery and fluffy with the perfect hint of almond taste. I deviated from the recipe a bit, using almond slivers instead of whole almonds. I was unsure of how thin to roll my dough, but I think I was close because I yielded about the right number of cookies. I think my dough was less than a quarter inch thick. I checked them often as I was baking and took them out of the oven when they were golden and light brown on the edges.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon almond extract
1/4 pound whole, blanched almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a food processor, mix the flour, sugar, butter, salt and baking soda until it forms little balls.

Add the eggs and almond extract.

Roll out the dough on floured surface.

Cut with 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter.

Place on greased cookie sheet and place an almond in center of each cookie.

Bake for 25 minutes. (I did mine for about 12-15.)

Source: Chinese Food DIY

Maple Cookies

When I was growing up, I heard all sorts of stories about my maternal grandmother's ties to Canada. She had family there, there was family land there, trips were made and memories were created.

I am also a self-professed smart aleck. I was born with an inherited sarcastic streak, and I'm a middle child, so I'll do anything for a laugh.

All of this led to me spending the majority of my life answering "Polish and Canadiaish" when asked my family's heritage. And to me, it was true, although I've learned that I'm more Polish, German and Scottish than tied to our neighbors to the north.

When we decided on Desserts of the World, I wanted to touch on my heritage, real or interpreted. I made these cookies for work one day, received rave reviews and craved nothing but pancakes for the rest of the night - the maple smell and flavor is so appealing, and the taste is the perfect hint of something maple, brown sugary and delicious.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg, syrup and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir into mixture until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart and flatten slightly.


3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool on wire rack.


Source: allrecipes.com

Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I spent the summer splitting my time between two different departments. Each week, I'd be in the news department for about two days, then move to sports for the next three days. Lately, I've been in sports five days a week, which means news is *not* getting baked good love from me :(

I took advantage of a rare news shift a few weeks ago to fix this problem.

I also took advantage of ingredients I had in my cupboard and my insane desire to recreate fall in every cookie, bar, bread and other creation I can. Florida doesn't have a real fall (we get two days of crisp fall-ish weather in January), and I am IN LOVE with all things autumn, so it kills me to still be running my air conditioner at full blast and sweat on the way from the car to the office. I'm sure you'll hear more about this in future postings :)

One coworker told me these were the best cookies she'd ever had. They went fast, but I have to say that if I make them again, I'll use more butterscotch chips. You can never have too many!

Ingredients:
1 yellow or spice cake mix (I used spice)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup applesauce
2 cups quick oats
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a spoon, mix cake mix, eggs, oil and applesauce together.


Stir in quick oats one cup at a time. Add butterscotch chips. Drop doug balls onto a lightly greased cookies sheet.


Bake 9-12 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Remove cookies and place on nonstick rack to cool.

Source: 101 More Things To Do With A Cake Mix by Stephanie Ashcraft

Oatmeal Choconut Cookies

My friend Julia is heading to law school in a few short weeks, and this past weekend we had a going away party for her. I was in charge of desserts. (Woo!) I made several old favorites (cake mix cookies, cookie dough pizza, and lemon chillers), and I also branched out with some new recipes.

One of the new recipes was these Oatmeal Choconut Cookies. I wanted something moist (and Meg and I have found anything with cake mix stays soft and moist longer) and had oatmeal and coconut to use up, so this totally fit the bill.

Ingredients:
1 yellow or white cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup coconut
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. With a spoon, mix cake mix, eggs and butter together.

Stir in coconut, oats and chocolate chips.

Drop dough balls on to a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake 9-12 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Remove cookies and place on non-stick rack to cool.


Note: Semisweet or peanut butter chips can be used in place of milk chocolate chips.

Source: 101 More Things To Do With A Cake Mix by Stephanie Ashcraft