I went to a cookie exchange today. Everyone in the group makes three dozen cookies and they are all set out on a table. Then we all go around and pick out a mix of the cookies presented, getting a great assortment for a lot less work.
We can’t exactly do that here.
But what about posting recipes for cookies instead. Okay, okay, we won’t get real cookies, but I’ll be we’ll get some great family favorites, classics from our grandparents even.
I will start things off.
This recipe came from an older woman who did housekeeping for my folks while my sisters and I were in grade school. Mrs. Conley is the one who first interested me in baking. I wish I had got her recipe for chocolate chip cookies!
Combine the shortening, sugar, molasses and eggs, mixing until thoroughly blended. Mix together the dry ingredients and stir into the sugar mix. Chill dough. Shape into balls and roll in sugar. Place on an ungreased baking sheet about an inch and a half apart and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes. Don’t overbake. The cookies flatten as they bake. Remove from sheet and cool.
*Because I feeling all Christmas-y, I’m going to share with Doperdom the recipe for the Ultimate Ginger Snap. These are guaranteed to make any snap-lover orgasm with one bite.
Roll spoon-sized bits of dough in sugar, place @ 2" apart on a no-stick baking sheet and bake at 375° for 14-16 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool.
You’re welcome.
*
Mine is another ginger cookie, this one from my favorite goofy little nursery up the road:
Nichols Ginger Cookies (And when they say ginger, they’re not kidding!)
Easy to make. The dough can be frozen and pulled out as needed. Use unsalted butter for a crisp cookie. Grating a cold cube of butter is a quick solution when butter is cold from the refrigerator.
Oven temperature 350 degrees
Form into 1″ balls
Bake 12 minutes
Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper and leave cookies on sheet for three minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Makes two to three dozen cookies depending on size. With a 1″ ball I get 30 cookies.
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon Vietnamese/Saigon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves, ground
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup Bakers Cut Ginger or minced crystallized ginger
1 teaspoon pressed minced fresh ginger juice
1 cup light brown sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter (softened or grated)
1 egg
¼ cup unsulphured molasses
Sift first six ingredients and set aside.
Place remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl, turn to medium low speed and when ingredients are well combined add flour mix one cup at a time and only mix until it develops a dough like consistency.
Place dough in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove and follow instructions above.
These cookies spread so don’t place closely together.
*The ginger juice will be about 1/2 teaspoon and can be pressed through a very clean garlic press. If frozen and thawed before pressing it will be quite easy.
Candy the peels of a couple of oranges. This recipe looks right. When they’re dried, snip the peels into little pieces, triangle and parallelogram and trapezoid.
Make yer favorite brownie recipe, except grate about 1/2 an orange’s zest into the batter.
While the brownies are warm, scatter about 1 cup of chocolate chips over the top. (I guess you could use fancier chocolate; I usually use Ghirardelli, which is good enough). Let them melt, putting them back in the oven if necessary, and use a spatula to spread the melted chocolate over the brownies in a very thin layer.
Scatter the candied orange peel on top.
The chocolate orange combination comes through really well, and the bits of candied peel look like a mosaic of stained glass fragments. It’s a lovely effect.
