Fluffernutter Cookies

Sometimes you just see a recipe and you know it is a keeper.  I saw this recipe originally in a Better Homes and Garden while waiting at the doctor's office for my Mom. For once, I didn't mess around with the recipe, I just followed it.

My advice? Resist the urge to increase the amount of peanut butter chips. I really had to stop myself from throwing in the whole bag, because really, who wants half a bag of chips hanging around?
Well... since I now have an open bag of mini marshmallows, an open box of rice crispies AND those peanut butter chips, it seems like I should make some peanut butter rice crispie treats too. Right?

Makes about 60 2" cookies
Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1¼ cups granulated sugar

⅔ cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

1¾ cup all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2½ cups crisp rice cereal

1¼ tiny marshmallows

⅔ cup peanut butter chips (about 1/2 bag)

Optional: melted milk chocolate and sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix butter and sugars on medium-high for 2 minutes

Beat in egg and vanilla until light and fluffy, 5 minutes

Beat in flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda on low until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in cereal, marshmallows, and chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart on lined cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Drizzle with chocolate and sprinkles if desired
NOTE- I used a small cookie scoop and I'm glad I did, the bigger one would have been too large.

Be sure to really beat your butter and sugars, it should be light colored and very fluffy.

Polly's Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies

I texted my sister and asked about those "kitchen sink" cookies, hoping she'd send me her recipe for these fantastic cookies that she makes that have so many great flavors- fruit, nuts, coconut, chocolate- you name it, it's in there.

She was funny, as you can see from our text interchange. 
Since I didn't get a real recipe out of my sister, my recipe is loosely based this one from Martha Stewart. 

One note, I used walnuts in this recipe and didn't stop to taste them before mixing them up.  Yep, my walnuts were bad/rancid and I did have to throw away my first batch as the bad taste permeated the whole batch.

They say "one bad apple can spoil the whole cart", but why don't they say "one bad walnut can wreck the whole batch of cookies"?.  Because it is a real thing! When in doubt, throw them out!

Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup old-fashioned rolled, or steel cut*, oats

1 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup flake coconut (sweetened, or unsweetened- either works)

1 cup raisins, or a mixture of apricots, raisins and cranberries

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnut

1/4 cup pistachios, or almonds, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper.

In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla. 

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir into butter mixture until well blended. Add oats, chips, coconut, raisins, and walnuts, and stir until well blended.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons or with a 2 ounce cookie scoop onto parchment or a Silpat mat about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden, about 16 to 18 minutes. Cool on pan for 2 minutes.  Remove from pan, and finish cooling completely on wire rack

*Steel cut oats can be used in cookies and give it a crunchier texture.  Regular rolled oats are more traditional.

Below- I used dried cranberries, apricots and golden raisins.

I like to use mini chocolate chips instead of regular size ones, but any kind work.

It's a lumpy bumpy mixture.

Cooking Light Fudgy Chocolate Skillet Cookie

Fudgy delicious goodness baked quickly and easily in one bowl and a fry pan!  This was in Cooking Light a number of years ago, and I finally got around to making it.  I have a very hard time believing this is really a "light" recipe (here's the original recipe here).

A couple of the original reviewers said this cookie was dry, but in my experience this was a luscious, moist brownie like cookie wedge.  I had to let it cool thoroughly as it was too fudgy to serve.  I do think this would be great scooped hot into a dish and topped with vanilla ice cream.

I sent most of these to work with my hubby to give to one of the housekeeping guys at work who we love.  The norm is to leave the treat on the office kitchen counter with his name on it, and he always gets it (and appreciates it).  However, yesterday somebody took liberties with the cute Halloween container and ate about 2/3 of the cookies.  I guess they thought they were up for grabs, but someone was powerfully disappointed. Luckily these are easy to make, so I need to whomp one up for him to replace the pilfered treats.  Now these two guys have a system to stealthily communicate that the treats are hidden in the back of the fridge, LOL, I love their strategy... "the eagle has landed, i repeat, the eagle has landed"

Makes about 16 wedges
Ingredients

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

3 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, to mix in seperately

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine semisweet chocolate, canola oil, and butter in a bowl. Microwave at HIGH 45 seconds, stirring occasionally. Stir in brown sugar, granulated sugar, and egg. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chopped milk chocolate. Scrape into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Bake at 350° for 19 minutes.

It looks pretty doughy and soft here, but I let it cool completely and then cut into wedges.  

Breakfast Cookies- Coconut, Almonds, Chocolate and Zucchini

I've been wanting to try breakfast cookies for a while, because you know...
breakfast cookies!
Yay!
I would be happy to eat healthy cookies to start my day.

I found so many recipes online, with all sorts of ingredients, but I love coconut and I had some zucchini that I wanted to use.  Perfect!  I found this recipe on this cute blog, and only added one thing, nuts!  I felt this needed a bit more crunch, so I added slivered almonds, but walnuts or pecans would be great too. 

Makes 24 large cookies
Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temperature

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup shredded zucchini

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (mini chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.

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

In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut oil and sugars, mix until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract. Next, add the shredded zucchini. Mix until combined.

Slowly add flour mixture until just combined. Stir in oats, nuts, coconut, and chocolate chips.

Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are slightly golden around the edges and set. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

I got 24 cookies, and yes, I DID eat a little dough!

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Scotcheroo Bars

Chewier and more delicious than regular rice crispy treats, made with corn syrup and peanut butter.

I found the cutest website of a gal, Jenny, who plans parties and makes wonderful desserts. I am just smitten with all the fun things she does when she entertains.  I found this recipe for cookies on her site, and it was just too much fun!  I decided to try these bar cookies out and make them for a gathering at work.  I only  changed one thing on her recipe as I felt the bars just needed a little bit of salty with the sweet and chocolate.

A couple ways of icing them, I took the easy way and just spread on the cereal mixture, though they certainly are so cute the way she did them.

Makes about 24 bars

Ingredients

1 cup Light Corn Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt

6 cups crispy rice cereal

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

Step 1. Cook corn syrup and sugar together in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter; mix well. Add cereal; stir until evenly coated. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch pan and pat into place.

Step 2  can be done one of two ways:

Option 1.  Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread over cereal. Cool at least 45 minutes, or until firm. Cut into bars.

Option 2.  Let rice cereal mixture set for about 15 minutes.  Using a cookie cutter, cut out a variety of shapes.  Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly (or use your favorite colored candy melts).  Dip shaped Scotcheroo bars into melted chocolate mixture.  Place on wax paper to dry.

Decorate as desired, or eat as is!

 

Gingerbread Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yum, gingerbread is one of my favorites!  
These are moist and so tasty, it will make regular gingerbread pale in comparison.  I may need to make another batch before Christmas. 
  

I found this recipe on this site, and my only suggested change is to cut the icing recipe in half.  It's delicious, but it made too much. These bars are good enough that they don't have to have the icing at all, powdered sugar would be enough. 
Leftover icing... you can use it on another batch of cookies, or spread it on gingersnaps or graham crackers.

Serves: 24 bars

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg, well beaten 
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger 
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Cream Cheese Frosting: (or just dust with powdered sugar)
½ cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 lb (3¾ cups) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and molasses on medium speed until creamy.

Add the egg and stir until completely incorporated. Add flour, spices, and salt and mix until well combined.  It's a somewhat thick dough, but easy enough to pat down in the pan with a spatula or your fingers.

Spread dough into prepared pan, using clean hands or a rubber spatula to press the dough to the edges of the pan. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes; do not overbake! If the edges puff up, push down with your fingers while it is cooling, that will make a nice evenly flat bunch of gingerbread bars.

Cool in a pan with a wire rack.

When bars have cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting or dust lightly with powdered sugar. They are delicious with nothing on them! Cut into squares and serve.

For the frosting: Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Slowly mix on low and then beat it on high until fluffy.

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