Sept. 12: Long overdue cookie joy!

This summer we had our annual summer picnic at work, with the theme of a country fair. My husband's sister does an amazing job of planning the company gatherings down to the smallest detail; she is really quite gifted at events. I was in charge of cookies--blue ribbon state fair winning cookies, to be exact.

After a fair amount of research,  we arrived at the following cookies:

Snickerdoodles with white chocolate chips (Utah)

Molasses cookies (Ohio)

Chocolate chip cookies (Island County Fair)

Peanut butter cookies (Maryland)

Ultimate dark chocolate chip cookies (Wisconsin)

Healthy oatmeal cookies (Virginia)

I have to give big props to Pinterest once again (what else is new?). It was a very valuable search engine for finding official blue ribbon recipes, better than Google in some regards. And, of course, a handy way to save recipes for making later!

I am not a big molasses fan, but I heard more compliments on that cookie than any other. The snickerdoodles were good but had a tendency to dry out (crisp) rather than stay soft as I had hoped. My absolute favorite was the ultimate dark chocolate chip cookie, as it had craisins, dried apricots, two kinds of nuts AND chocolate. A really packed cookie, and very flavorful.

Husband's favorite was the healthy oatmeal cookie, which was similar to the dark chocolate, except not quite as packed with fruit, and only one nut. And healthier. :)

My big takeaway from the cookie making extravaganza (I made upwards of 300, just to cover my bases) was that I'd forgotten how easy cookies are to make! I remarked many times, "I need to make cookies more often!" And have I? Um, no. But still, it was a good reminder that when a sweet tooth hits, warming up the mixer and throwing in some ingredients is not a bad way to go!

What's your favorite cookie recipe? I'm always up for a new one!

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Oatmeal cookies, I had forgotten you...

Before I got out the oats and flour and dried cranberries this weekend, I can't recall the last time I made oatmeal cookies. (Well, other than the dismal banana-oat cookie experiment a week or two prior. Too banana-y for this family. There's your two-sentence Pinterest review. Too dang banana-y.)

But that little dabble into oats-n-cookie land DID pique my interest in looking further for a semi-healthful cookie that could work for an easy weeknight snack.

So I kept looking, and it didn't take long to find a keeper.

Low-Fat Oatmeal Cookies with chocolate chips (or raisins)
(or, in my case, dried cranberries and pecans)
Makes about two dozen
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional--I skipped)
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4 c plain applesauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips or raisins (I skipped)
My substitutions for the chocolate chips:
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars. Beat in the egg, followed by the applesauce and the vanilla extract. Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture and the oats until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Add nuts and cranberries just before the batter comes together.

Drop tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 12-14 minutes at 350F. Cookies will be light brown at the edges, but will not get as dark and golden as regular cookies.

Let cool on sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Husband declared the cookies yummy, though of course they proved a little too healthy for Seth. Quite delicious right out of the oven, and certainly kept well enough overnight... I haven't had one yet today, though. Hmmm. Maybe they could be a twist on my old, favorite breakfast cookie? Ha... probably not quite THAT healthy.

Happy Tuesday! May a cookie find its way to you today.

Whimsical swirl cookies

he minute I saw these cookies (on Pinterest, of course), I knew I needed to make them. This year. The theme at work for Christmas decor is "whimsical" Christmas, which involves a bit of the Krinkles look, with a touch of Dr. Seuss thrown in. These cookies looked perfect for that theme, and besides, all that green? I love it. I've made rolled cookies before (a cranberry concoction from Joy of Baking, years ago) and they turned out fairly well, so that memory just bolstered my resolve!

And, they turned out to be just as easy as I was hoping. The steps themselves take a little bit of time, but the "wow-cool" factor makes them well worth it.

Colorful swirl cookies 
2 cups flour, plus possibly a few more tbsp (the original recipe called for cake flour, but I used all-purpose flour and the dough was amply soft)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup unsifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (cut in chunks)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp of food coloring of your choice(and/or 1/2 tsp of any desired extra extracts; I skipped this)
1 1/2 cup holiday sprinkles

In a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars with paddle on medium until well blended.

Add butter in, gradually, and continue mixing. Add in vanilla extract. At this point, your dough will form a ball on your paddle.

Remove all your dough and divide into two equal parts. Return one portion back in to the mixer and add the food coloring and any extra extracts. If you are using liquid food coloring, you will need to add a few tbsp of flour to keep the dough from becoming too wet. Mix until the color is spread out evenly.

Roll out each portions of your dough, between two sheets a wax paper until is reaches about 11 x 9 inches and is 1/4 inch thick. Slide both unto a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When firm, remove the top sheets of wax paper from both. Brush the uncolored vanilla dough lightly with water using a pastry brush. Then flip the colored dough onto the vanilla uncolored dough so they are stacked atop each other and even. Press the edges lightly with your fingertips to seal them together. Using a small pairing knife, trim the edges of the dough to make straight, even lines.

Pour out sprinkles onto a large platter and set aside. Be sure your dough is still cold, but flexible. Once it's ready, begin rolling the long side of dough into a swirl, jelly-roll style. Now, don't get nervous if the outer layer of uncolored dough tears a bit. It's no problem, just pinch and pat those tears and reseal them, then just keep rolling.

Now gently lift your dough log onto the sprinkles and roll away. Cover the log completely with your sprinkles. Wrap the colorfully decorated log in plastic wrap twice. Depending on when you want to bake the cookies, either place the wrapped dough into refrigerator for about 3-4 hours or you can put it the freezer and keep it there for up to 2 months. (If freezing, give yourself time for the dough to defrost in the fridge overnight before cutting.)

Slice your dough into 1/4-1/8 inch slices and bake on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes until edges are slightly golden. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a cookie rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!