In last week’s MMP, towards the end, cookies and the holidays past and present were getting a lot of mention. I thought about tossing in some of my favorites but didn’t want to put them in a thread that was not CS and also was about to end.
So as a baker who likes cookies here it is. I like eating them, although breads are my favorite. Cookies are treacherous, they turn on you in a heartbeat, getting overdone, but I remember learning to bake as a child, from a woman who helped my mom with housework, and thinking about her chocolate chip cookies still brings back memories.
So this thread is meant to be a collection for cookies recipes, as doing a cookie exchange with online participants would be difficult. Put down as many as you like. If you have stories that go with them that would be fun. I’m going to wait a bit to start putting in mine but I have my favorites!
I won’t waste space with a recipe. because I just go with the cookbook.
But we always make spritz cookies using a cookie press. Same one we had when I was a kid 55 years ago, that I used to used as a ray gun. (Don’t worry: it has been cleaned since)
This is one of my favorites. I’m pretty sure my MIL got it off an old Quaker Oats container, but I added to it and I like it better. Also, this is the doubled recipe. If I’m gonna bake, I’m gonna bake!
Oatmeal Cookies
2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
1 1/2 cups shortening (I use butter)
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1-2 tsp cinnamon (this is my addition - I’m kinda casual with the measurement because cinnamon is yum! I’ve thought about adding nutmeg, but haven’t tried it yet.)
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
2 tsp vanilla
Beat together till creamy, then add the flour mixture and combine well.
Stir in 6 cups quick oats (I’ve used non-quick oats and rolled oats and they all work.) then add raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, whatever and stir.
(I’ll add 1/2-3/4 cup of raisins and sometimes 1/2 cup or more of chopped pecans - whatever looks right.)
Drop by spoonful on greased sheet or sheet lined with parchment paper. (Definitely parchment paper!)
Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.
Try not to eat them all in one sitting.
I used to make these with raisins for my FIL - they were a favorite. Spousal unit prefers them without raisins or nuts, so sometimes I’ll bake half the batch before adding extra stuff. Me - I like 'em all.
My mother had one of these when I was a kid and we made spritz cookies every Christmas. Naturally that tradition died when I left home. My mother passed last year and this weekend I went looking for the old press as my dad had no idea if they still had it.
We couldn’t find it.
So I bought one off of eBay. It should arrive next week. I haven’t made spritz cookies in decades and I’m looking forward to trying them out again.
My wife makes peanut butter temptations each year for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, usually using a mix of mini Reese’s PB cups and Rolo candies. I prefer them made with Hershey’s Kisses but she usually forgoes those.
I like traditional sugar cookies: the kind you roll out, cut out with a cookie cutter, bake, then decorate. However, I haven’t been able to find a recipe that I like (that or I suck at baking cookies). All the recipes I’ve found, the cookies come out misshapen when they’re done baking. Considering how much work they take and how disappointed I’ve been with the results, I’ve pretty much given up on DIY sugar cookies.
That’s sweet. I hope your kids help out and manage to not act like angry teens for one day!
Ever since I got elected to city council I make cookies for everyone for the December meeting. I made Oatmeal Scotchies which is a recipe found on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse Butterscotch Chips bag. Except I make bars not drop cookies, because bars are so much easier when you are making 14 batches. Also my mom always made the bars growing up. I like them.
A few years ago I realized my bars weren’t coming out well at all. Turns out Nestle changed the recipe and their changes for drop cookies don’t adapt well for bar cookies so for a couple years my bars sucked.
I did some digging online and people talked about using butter Crisco instead of butter, and also using the older recipe from the back of the bag, which people have thankfully posted online.
So, I’m back in the “those are great cookies!” game and everyone looks forward to them every year now. It’s hard work and expensive for me to make but I do like it. I like everyone I work with at the city so it’s nice to do something for them. Also I can’t just…stop. That would be weird.
Note that the above points to a recipe for oatmeal scotchies, not chocolate chip cookies. I could have figured that out if I read the whle post more carefully. But maybe others will miss it, too.
Try substituting Penzey’s Baking Spice for the cinnamon. You’ll thank me.
My mother always made these. They’re supposed to be fairly small and quite crisp tea cookies, but I prefer them larger and a bit softer, hence the addition of a bit of orange juice.
Orange Nut Crisps
½ Cup granulated sugar
1/3 Cup butter
1 Cup sifted flour
1 Egg, separated
¼ Pound (about 1 cup) chopped walnuts
Grated rind of 1 orange
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 Tsp orange juice (delete for crisper cookies)
Cream sugar and butter together very well. Work in flour, orange rind, lemon rind, orange juice and egg yolk. Work this all together thoroughly with hands or with mixer dough hook. Make into 24 small balls (fewer if larger cookies are desired). Roll each in slightly beaten egg white, then in chopped nuts. Place on greased sheet and flatten out with a fork to about a quarter of an inch thickness. Bake in moderate oven, 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
These cut-out cookies were a HUGE hit at the football game last Saturday. People who normally eat zero cookies managed to eat three each! Two people asked for the recipe.
Ooh that’s a cool idea with the apple cider mix. Lately when I’ve tried making apple stuff they don’t come out very apple-y. This seems like it would definitely hit the mark!
Since they use teeny tiny print on the packages, I long ago transferred the recipe to 8 1/2 x 11 paper. I am safe from such “improvements”.
Also, Nestle changed their butterscotch chips several years ago. They tasted like oil soaked flour. Depending on when you made them that may have had more to do with it. I switched to Guittard brand, but they got expensive.
They changed their chocolate chips, too. I miss the traditional flavor, and the new flavor is kinda boring as chocolate goes. And recommendations on chocolate chip brands?
It’s quite possible the ones from my youth were much better due to the chips. I agree that the chips aren’t that delicious. I get a chance to be left alone with a dozen open bags every year. I never manage to eat too many plain.
There was something up with the consistency of the cookies. Now I don’t remember if they were too dry or too wet. Or if in my quest to make them less wet I made them too dry, or the other way around. They were a mess.
I think the biggest difference between the older and new recipes was the new one has 3/4c granulated and 3/4c brown sugar, and the old has 1.5c brown sugar only. Plus using the Crisco instead of butter is probably better for consistency.
These cookies are often called Mexican wedding cakes. My mother just called them Almond Balls. Though the recipe calls for vanilla extract, I make them with almond extract. I usually triple the recipe, as they’re very popular.
Almond Balls
1 Cup butter
¾ Cup powdered sugar
2 Cups sifted flour
1 Cup ground almonds
1 Tsp vanilla (or almond extract)
18 Candied cherries, halved
Additional powdered sugar
Cream butter with sugar until fluffy. Add everything else except cherries and extra sugar. Mix well. Form into balls (approx. 1-1/2" in diameter) and press ½ cherry in center. Bake at 325 on ungreased sheet for 20-25 minutes. While hot, roll in powdered sugar.
The original recipe for Oatmeal Scotchies called for a small amount of orange extract. It made a big difference. I recommend finding the original recipe, or maybe just adding a touch of orange extract.
One of the recipe-askers specifically remarked that the cookies taste very apple-y. The sugar in the cider mix also is coarser than regular sugar, which gives the cookies a nice texture IMHO. They hold their shape well during baking.
I haven’t made spritz cookies in decades and I’m looking forward to trying them out again.