Another thread has devolved into the glorious art of cookie bakery. I’m not much at making any sort of sweets that aren’t from a box, so I thought maybe we could continue the recipe swapping here. And you guys could elevate me beyond Pillsbury perforated refrigerated. 
So, hit me with your best shots. All desserts welcome!!
Good idea! I almost started this, but got distracted.
Can I post my bread recipe here too?
I use 1 cup white whole wheat and 2 white.
Oooo! Wonderful idea, faithfool!
Here’s a tasty dessert that doesn’t require any baking, or much of anything, really. It’s made with boxed stuff, though, so I don’t know if it counts.
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Eclair Cake
1 box Chocolate Graham Crackers
2 (3 1/4 oz.) boxes Vanilla Pudding
1 C. Peanut Butter
3 1/2 C. Milk
1 (8 oz.) tub Cool Whip
1 can Chocolate Frosting
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Line the bottom of a 9 x 13" pan with whole graham crackers.
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In a bowl, combine the peanut butter, milk, and chocolate pudding. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, at medium speed. Fold in the Cool Whip.
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Pour half the mixture over the layer of graham crackers.
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Place another layer of whole graham crackers on top.
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Pour the remaining pudding mixture over the top.
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Place another layer of graham crackers on top.
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In the microwave, heat the can of icing, uncovered, until melted. Pour the melted icing over the top of the graham crackers.
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Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving.
I like the thread, faithfool! Cozy!
I don’t have any culinary masterpieces to add that I can think of but I will be reading this a lot! Yum desserts!
Does it count if I just make sandwiches out of graham crackers and cake frosting?
Yes. That would be considered a dessert in my book!
This is from Alice Medrich. I’m not even that fond of gingersnaps but these are GOOD. We make them every Christmas and they are very much requested. I like them chewy but you can also make them crunchy.
Gingersnaps
Ingredients
2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted and just warm
1/4 cup unsulphured mild or full-flavored molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup (2.3 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar or light muscovado sugar
2 Tbsp. finely minced or grated fresh ginger root
1 large egg
3/4 cup (4 ounces) ginger chips or crystallized ginger , cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup Demerara or turbinado or 1/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling
Directions
Equipment: Baking sheets
Position the racks the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Set aside.
Combine the warm butter, molasses, both sugars, fresh ginger, and the egg in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and ginger chips and stir until incorporated. The dough will be soft.
Form the dough into 1-inch balls (1/2 ounce of dough for each). Roll balls in the Demerara sugar and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets from back to front and top to bottom about halfway through the baking, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they puff up and crack on the surface and then begin to deflate in the oven. For chewier cookies, remove them from the oven when at least half or more of the cookies have begun to deflate; for crunchier edges with chewy centers, bake a minute or so longer.
Slide the parchment sheets of cookies onto cooling racks or use an offset spatula to transfer the cookies, and cool completely. Stored in an airtight container, gingersnaps keep for several days.
Not baked or cookies, but one of my favorite breakfast/dinner recipes
French Toast
Dozen slices of Texas Toast
8 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
powdered sugar
cinnamon sugar
butter
syrup
heat griddle to 340 (or 350)
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beat eggs in large bowl, add vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix well
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dunk bread into egg mixture, holding under for a few seconds, flip bread repeat
stir egg mixture between dunkings -
as one side is cooking to a golden brown, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top side, then flip bread on griddle, cook to golden brown - takes approx 30-45 seconds per side
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repeat steps 1-3 until dozen French Toast are cooked
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serve, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar, add butter and syrup to taste
I’ve posted these before, but they’re real, and they’re spectacular, so here we go:
Rabbit Punch Cookies*
Ingredients
1 stick butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white flour
¼ cup Turkish coffee grounds
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup chopped pecans or toasted hazelnuts (optional, but tasty)
½ bag or more Ghirardelli’s double chocolate chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325, and grease a cookie sheet or two.
Beat the butter until fluffy, and add the sugars, beating until well mixed in. Add the egg and vanilla and beat some more.
Mix the flour, coffee grounds, salt, and baking soda together, and stir by hand into the dough just until combined. Add the nuts and the chocolate chips. The dough should now be dark brown.
Measure out by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on how gooey you like your cookies. Eat with a cup of coffee.
Eating too many is like a blow to the kidneys*
**Last time I posted that joke we went several rounds over what a real rabbit punch was, so let’s skip that bicker this time, kay?
Not cookies, but strawberry shortcake. Everyone that I make this for is blown away by how simple and yet delicious it is. Especially for you if you’re the type that buys those pre-made little sponge cakes, top them with strawberries and store-bought glaze, and think that’s what strawberry short cake is.
Use the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for shortcake. I make one big 9-inch pie pan cake instead of 6 individual ones, and I cut it into 6 triangles. Cut up fresh strawberries (wait until summer because the ones they’re selling right now are tasteless bullshit, and use organic ones, preferably, because they taste better) and add a couple tablespoons of sugar and let sit in the fridge for a couple hours. Take heavy whipping cream and add a very small amount of sugar and whip it, whip it good. Cut a triangle of shortcake in half, put strawberries on bottom half, top with top half, top that with strawberries, and top it all with whipped cream.
Heaven.
anyone have a good oatmeal cookie recipe using quick oats?
We haven’t had a good recipe thread in ages.
My name is Baker, and I approve of this thread!
These are all amazing! I need to go hang out in my kitchen for a couple of weeks. One question so far do Alice…
Have you ever added basil to your strawberry mixture? I’ve seen that done on a ton of cooking competitions, but when I’ve tried to do it myself, I’ve been pretty non-plussed. Any suggestions?
I haven’t. Really the recipe the way it is, is, to me, simple perfection. If I ever get a wild hair, I’ll try it, though. It could happen.
Monster Cookies
Just to let you know, I’ve cut this recipe down from what I do at work, so some of the measurements may be a little wonky. I’ll try to convert to measurements as well, as I weigh most ingredients.
7.25 ounces white sugar*
7.5 ounces brown sugar*
8 ounces peanut butter
2-2/3 ounces butter**
2 eggs
9-7/8 ounces oatmeal
1-2/3 ounces baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon white syrup
2-2/3 ounces M&M’s***
2-2/3 ounces chocolate chips***
*One cup of sugar is about 7.1 ounces
**This about two thirds of a stick of butter
***These candy amounts are just under a half cup
In a bowl place all the ingredients except for the candies. Beat together until well blended. Fold in the chips and the M&M’s. Scoop out to size desired, flattenn a little on the ungreased pan, and bake at 350 degrees until lightly browning.
This recipe has no flour so is good for those who want something tasty but have a gluten intolerance.
Oatmeal, Raisin & Walnut Cookies
This recipe makes large (4”) cookies that are moist and chewy with a crisp edge.
Dry ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose or baking flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 heaping tsp of Baking Spice (Penzeys: www.penzeys.com)
½ tsp Vietnamese cinnamon (same source)
OR substitute your own mix of cinnamon, cardamom, anise, nutmeg or cloves
Whisk these all together in a large mixing bowl.
Wet ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar (dark or light)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla (not imitation)
Cream the wet ingredients with a hand mixer until light. By hand, stir the wet and dry ingredients until just well combined. It’s important not to overwork it.
Add the following and mix in:
3 cups oats (not instant)
1 cup golden raisins (I also like to use dried apricots or other dried fruits)
1 cup walnut pieces
Heat oven to 350F. Using a spoon or a cookie/ice cream scoop, form the dough into 2” diameter balls, taking care not to compress the dough too much. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet or on parchment paper on a sheet, allowing enough room for expansion (about nine cookies per sheet). With a fork, slightly flatten each ball. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until golden. It’s important not to overcook these.
And I must add my favorite bread recipe from childhood:
Herb-Parmesan Bread
This is batter bread, so it doesn’t require kneading, just thorough mixing of ingredients.
4 ¼ cups sifted flour
2 pkg. active dry yeast (check date)
2 TBSP sugar
2 TSP salt
1½ TBSP dried oregano leaves
½ cup plus 1 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese (or combine with Romano or Asiago)
2 cups warm water (130 deg.F)
2 TBSP softened butter
In a mixing bowl, place three cups of the flour. Add salt, yeast, sugar, and oregano and mix on low speed or by hand until blended. Check the temperature of the water with a thermometer. This is critical for the yeast to properly activate. Add the water and softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the ½ cup of Parmesan cheese. Continue beating for 2 minutes until the batter is smooth. Add the rest of the flour gradually, either beating in by hand or with mixer at low speed. The batter should not be too wet. If it is, add a bit more sifted flour, or you’ll end up with a dense product.
Cover the bowl and let rise in warm place for about 45 minutes until double in bulk. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Beat the dough down for about 30 seconds, then transfer to a well-greased 2-quart casserole dish. Cover and let rise for a short period, perhaps 15 minutes. This allows the batter to rise a bit, but not double. If it rises too much, it will be full of air holes.
Sprinkle the remaining TBSP of cheese over the top of the bread and bake for about 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Turn out immediately onto a wire rack. It helps to run a table knife around the dish to break the loaf loose before attempting to turn it out onto the rack. Otherwise, part of it may remain in the dish.
YES. This is the way my grandma made strawberry shortcake. It is the only way to go. She didn’t usually bother cutting the shortcake in half but apart from that it’s identical to her method. To die for.
I made about 24 dozen oatmeal-raisin cookies and sent them to friends and family for Christmas. Everyone raved about them. I keep my secret recipe carefully hidden under the lid of every container of Quaker Oats in the world.
I regularly make a batch of espresso shortbread biscuits (cookies for you USers) which a just awesome, and come with the nifty hint of setting in a ziplock bag to make a nice even dough which can easily be cut into squares for a more professional look. Eating it straight from the bowl is less professional, but just as good.
I have been slowly introducing the British to Tollhouse cookies. The recipe on the bag is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve found (although I leave out the nuts and add more chips, by personal preference).
I have an excellent peanut butter cookie recipe somewhere than I’ll dig out later, and a few cakes as well.