Soft Sugar Cookies

My favorite sugar Cookie recipe to date(adapted slightly from my friend Allison's recipe):

Soft Sugar Cookies
Cream together:
1 cup softened butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract

ADD
1 cup sour cream
6 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Refrigerate an hour to overnight. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters. This dough is much easier to work with than my previous recipe. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes 'till just barely brown (do not overcook). Makes 4-5 dozen. Frost with your favorite frosting (I like cream cheese).

We really like these, pt. 2

We really like these

Also know as Jenny's Real Cool Cookies or just No Bake Cookies

• 3/4 c canned milk
• 1 1/2 cube margarine
• 2 1/4 c sugar
• 4 1/2 c quick oats
• 1 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 1/2 c coconut
• 3 1/2 T cocoa

In a sauce pan mix canned milk, margarine, and sugar. Bring to a boil and let boil for 3 minutes. In a large bowl mix oats, vanilla, coconut and cocoa. Pour cooked sugar mixture over oatmeal and mix well until all oatmeal is well covered. Drop by teaspoons onto waxed paper and let cool.

Butterscotch Brownies: The Original

I looked in the cookbook Madre gave me when I went to college and here is the recipe for Butterscotch Brownies listed in there.

• 1/2 c butter
• 2 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 2/3 c flour
• 2 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t soda
• chocolate chips
• nuts

Melt the butter and add to brown sugar. Add eggs. Add dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 350 in a greased 10 1/2 x 15 x 2 inch pan. Bake 15-18 minutes.

Butterscotch Brownies

Growing up, we must have had butterscotch brownies at every picnic, on every road trip, always housed in the same red tupperware. A few weeks ago I randomly remembered these golden bars. Their distinct flavor practically percolated my taste buds. I thought surely the recipe would be in the Barton Family Cookbook, but no such luck.

Next I googled "butterscotch brownies" and found this recipe posted in several places, the source being the 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking. That certainly matched the era, and the cover looked like something that was on Mom's cookbook shelf.

It struck me last night, in all my cookie making, I don't think I had ever personally made butterscotch brownies before (I guess I was always too busy trying to perfect the chocolate pretzels from the Hershey book). The recipe I found didn't include chocolate chips, but since ours always did, I made sure to add them.


• 1/2 stick unsalted butter

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 finely chopped nuts

Set oven rack to upper middle level. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9- by 9-inch baking pan. Melt together in a small saucepan the butter and brown sugar. Set aside to cool slightly and while it cools, sift together into a separate bowl the flour, baking powder and salt.

Beat egg and vanilla into butter mixture. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake on upper middle rack at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, cut, and serve. Makes 1 dozen bars.

One Chocolate Chip Cookie

How to Make a Single Chocolate Chip Cookie - wikiHow

This is just the right amount to cook as a Skookie. Just undercook it slightly and serve with ice cream on top if you choose to make the Skookie.

1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 to 2 tablespoons chocolate chips
1 tablespoon water
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of baking soda
5 tablespoons flour

Preheat the oven to 350.

Measure all the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix and mash thoroughly with a fork. It's easier if the butter is slightly softened rather than using a hard-brick.

Add the mixture to the center of a pre-greased cookie sheet. To make it easier to bake evenly, smooth the mixture out as a thin layer.

Bake for 15-17 minutes. Bake for an additional 1-2 minutes if the cookie is too soft or gooey.

Let cool on a plate and enjoy. It's that simple!

Alfajor

Ah, the heavenly alfajor. I've only made these a few times since coming home from Paraguay, but I should probably make them more often. They can be a little difficult to get just right, not all crispy and not crumbling to pieces. I haven't actually made this particular recipe I'm posting, but the ingredients look about right from other times I've made it. The main thing you need to look for is the corn starch. If you find an alfajor recipe with just flour and little to no corn starch, run away. Fast. The corn starch is what gives it the melt in your mouth consistency. The trick to knowing when they are done is similar to classic sugar cookies...they are done just a minute or two before you think they're done (not brown at all yet).

First, you need to make some dulce de leche. If you can find it already made, feel free to buy it, but I've had a hard time finding it in any stores. I've tried making it the classic way, which involves slowly boiling, stirring, and adding sugar to milk for several hours. The easy way is to take 3 or 4 cans of sweetened condensed milk, and throw them in a pressure cooker for half an hour. You probably only need one can for a batch of alfajores, but as long as you've got the pressure cooker running, throw a few extra cans in there. Take the labels off the cans before boiling them, and don't open the cans before cooking or until they are completely cooled after cooking. The pressure will keep the can from exploding, which can happen if it boils dry in an open pot, besides the fact that it cooks much quicker in the pressure cooker. Throw the extra, unopened cans in the pantry after they cool down and save them for later. It's great on graham crackers, on top of ice cream, to dip fruit in, and the list goes on.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
non-stick cooking spray
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

PREPARATION:

To prepare dough: Sift together flour, cornstarch and baking powder; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and lemon zest on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in whole egg, then egg yolk, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. (The mixture will look somewhat curdled.)

Add sifted ingredients all at once. On low speed, beat just until dough comes together. Scrape out sticky dough onto plastic wrap, press into a disk, wrap tightly and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray, line with parchment, and then lightly spray the paper.

Place chilled dough on a well-floured surface; roll out with a floured rolling pin to an even 1/4-inch thickness or slightly thinner. Using a sharp 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut as many circles as possible, occasionally dipping the cutter in flour to prevent sticking. Arrange the circles 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.

Gather scraps of dough, roll them out, cut more circles, and add to the cookie sheet. If dough becomes overly soft and sticky, chill it briefly until it is workable. Refrigerate the filled cookie sheet for 15 minutes.

Bake the cookies about 10 minutes, until they have just set and are slightly puffed but not at all colored. Let cool for 1 or 2 minutes, then loosen cookies with a spatula.

Pipe or spoon about 1 tablespoon of dulce de leche onto the bottom (flat side) of a cooled cookie. Make a sandwich with another cookie. Press the cookies together gently to spread the filling to the edges. Roll the sticky rim in grated coconut. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

If you don't like coconut, don't roll it in coconut. Roll it in something else: Rice Crispies, crushed Oreos, chopped peanuts, or just leave the edges gooey.

S’more Cookies

We got our first taste of s'more cookies while sampling refreshments at a church event a few weeks ago. They were so good, I was performing an intensive internet search on the subject as soon as we got home. I eventually figured out the cookies we had came from Over the Top Cookies in South Jordan, but this recipe from The Domestic Scientist looked promising so we tested it out in Logan over the weekend.

• 1 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp vanilla

• 2 eggs

• 4 cups flour

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 cups broken up Hershey’s bars
 (1/2 inch chunks)
• 1 1/2 cup broken up graham crackers
 (1/2 inch chunks)
• 1 1/2 cup marshmallows

In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, except the last three add ins. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. Add in the chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows last.

Preheat oven to 375. Scoop with a tablespoon or medium ice cream scoop and roll dough into balls. Place on a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 – 11 minutes or until the sides and tops just start to turn golden brown.

NOTES: These really do taste like s'mores. Try to avoid marshmallows on the bottom or close to the edge of the dough balls, or when they melt, the cookies will get impossibly stuck to the pan. The recipe makes a ton. We ended up with over 3 dozen, and they are larger than your average teaspoon-sized cookies.

Elizabeth's Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 3 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. almond extract
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla & almond extract and mix until combined. Mix dry ingredients and add to the butter mixture. Mix well. Chill dough for several hours. Roll and cut into shapes using some flour as the dough will be sticky. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until set. Makes about 2-3 dozen cookies depending on the size.

Notes: These are the best sugar cookies. We made them for Valentines Day. I only make them once or twice a year though because of the labor involved. I like to frost them with cream cheese frosting.