We’ve got a cookie exchange at work on Tuesday. Those things are always such a crap shoot. There are a lot of people out there who can’t bake worth a damn. And anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to make spritz cookies with margarine needs to have taste bud reassignment surgery.
I have all my mother’s wonderful recipes, but most of them are fairly labor intensive, and I need to bring six dozen, I think.
What I’m looking for is a really scrumptious bar cookie recipe that makes A LOT. Maybe something baked in a jelly roll pan, preferably without peanut butter as an ingredient. (No real reason there other than I don’t like it that much in cookies.)
For the incredibly simple. Take the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe. Replace chocolate chips with red and green m&ms. Pour batter into jellyroll pan, bake according to recipe directions. (I’m too lazy to type my version, or to search the classic recipe for you, but it can’t be hard to find.)
I do drop cookies with fruitcake fruit that are pretty yummy – you could use the toll house recipe, use rum flavoring instead of vanilla, throw in fruitcake fruit and pecans, and it would be pretty damn close. (Too lazy to type in the full version if it’s not what you want.)
Our youth minister called me recently, begging for 8 dozen cookies for an event early the next afternoon. (A bunch of people had forgotten their promises.) I have a scratch version of Toll House bars, and that’s what I made. They’re pretty fast and easy, and your average person is delighted with chocolate-chip anything.
Also: 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon for the sprinkling part
Mix the first five ingredients. Roll very thin. Cut into shapes. Using a pastry brush, spread egg white on top of tarts. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 9 minutes. Top each with a nut if you like.
Supposedly this makes quite a few, if you don’t make them too big.
My sister in law asked me to bake her favorite Christmas cookie last week, and I finally got around to it last night. It’s actually really, really easy, and they’re quite tasty. It’s not a bar cookie, but I baked up four dozen of them last night in about an hour. (I’m pretty much the fastest cookie pans in the west, though…I did 5 dozen chocolate chip/oatmeal/pecan cookies in an hour and a half last night too).
Butterballs:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2-1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
your choice of solid filling, like chunks of chocolate or nuts
powdered sugar for rolling
Preheat oven to 375.
Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, salt, baking powder, and vanilla.
Using teaspoons of dough, wrap dough around filling and form balls.
Bake 8-12 minutes. You’re not supposed to let them brown at all, so keep a close eye on your first batch and adjust time/temperature accordingly.
As soon as they come out of the oven, roll in powdered sugar and cool.
Does it have to be “cookie” cookies? Haystacks are easy and quick. One cup peanut butter, one 12 oz bag of butterscotch chips, one cup peanuts, two cans of chow mein noodles. Melt the peanut butter & chips in the microwave. Stir in the peanuts and noodles. Drop by spoons onto waxed paper. That recipie makes six dozen.
If you want something a little more “exotic”, try the chocolate chip cookie (can use a mix), but drop blobs of raspberry jam on top and swirl through. Pretty!
For anyone who wants to impress at an exchange, but is less worried about time, Polar Bear cookies are adorable: using any sugar cookie recipe, shape dough into 1 inch ball; make 2nd smaller ball and put on top for snout; make 2 more tiny balls and put at top for ears. Mini chocolate chips for eyes and a regular sized one for the nose. Sprinkle with sanding sugar if you want. I added lollipop sticks to make a bear-on-a-stick. When baked, lightly dust with confectioner’s sugar. Tie bow to lollipop stick and watch everybody melt when you bring them in .
I know these from Germany. Bakeries there used to use regular sugar cookies that were not sold and probably two or three days old.
If you can’t find day-old cookies in your supermarket, use vanilla wafers.
Ingredients
* 1-250g box vanilla wafers
* 1 cup ground nuts (100g) (optional - in case some people have allergies).
* 1 cup powder sugar
* 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
* 3 Tablespoons corn syrup
* 6 Tablespoons rum (or more...and use the strong Jamaican rum!)
(Be sure to let people know there is alcohol in these, as they do indeed pack a punch!)
Crush vanilla wafers into crumbs in blender or food processor to make about 2 cups.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
Roll into one inch balls. Roll the balls in chocolate sprinkles. This gets messy, so be prepared to have to wash your hands several times in cold water.
Refrigerate. Will keep for 2 weeks in fridge. Freezes well.
(They taste better when in the fridge at least two days).
My brother and I have started a “tradition” (ok, we’ve done it for 2 years now…) of making Oatmeal Scotchies in bulk for Christmas as our gifts to friends.
One bag of Nestle Toll House Butterscotch Morsels makes 4 dozen. This year we made 24 dozen in just a few hours.
For some reason, although these are just about the most tastiest cookies ever and everyone we give them to say they are sooooo delicious, many people have not had them before.
The recipe is on the back of the bag. We make the bar version (make same dough, press into jellyroll pan, bake for 20 mins instead of 10). We’re baking idiots and also tend to be drunk when we make them and they still come out perfect!
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