Peanut Blossoms

The perfect union between crunchy, chewy, and peanut butter. And I used whole wheat flour again because guess what: you can’t tell the difference in these cookies! Try it for yourself to see.

Peanut Blossoms

Adapted from the Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup natural peanut butter

2 t vanilla

2 eggs, room temp

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

80 chocolate kisses (about 13 ounces)

Cream together the butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt. Mix these into the creamed mixture. Roll into 1 1/4 inch balls and roll in the 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for about 9 minutes. While still hot, press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheets and cool completely on a wire rack. After chocolate is set, transfer to an airtight container for storage. These freeze well.

Yield: about 6 1/2 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies

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Raspberry Ribbons

A light, buttery trough for your choice of jam. I know I said this week would be full of white flour but I couldn’t resist trying these with some whole wheat. They are still very delicious.

Raspberry Ribbons

Recipe from my mom

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 t vanilla

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 T instant clear gel

1/2 cup raspberry jam (or whatever you have on hand)

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flours, baking powder, salt, and clear gel. Gradually add to the creamed mixture while mixing on low. Divide the dough into 4 portions. Shape each one into a log 10 inches by 2 inches. Place 4 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Make a 1/2 inch depression down the center of each log. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Fill depressions with jam and return the cookies to the oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes longer. Cool 2 minutes and then remove to a cutting board. Slice on the diagonal in 3/4 inch slices. Transfer to a wire rack. Drizzle with the glaze and then cool completely.

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 – 3 t milk

1/4 t vanilla

Mix together until smooth and drizzle-able.

Yield: about 4 dozen

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Chocolate Jumbles

These things are GOOD. Brad’s mom grew up snitching these out of the cookie tin every December. This year we made them together. So fun!

Chocolate Jumbles

Recipe from Brad’s mom

1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 T vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 cup grated unsweetened chocolate

granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Mix the flour, baking powder and chocolate. Stir into creamed mixture. Divide dough into 3 balls and chill at least 3 hours.

Take one ball of dough out of the fridge at a time. Roll to 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake on parchment lined cookie sheets at 350 for about 7 or 8 minutes. Don’t let them get very brown…just ever so slightly golden at the edges. Cool on wire rack.

Yield: 7 to 8 dozen if using 3-inch cookie cutters

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Grandma B’s Snickerdoodles

My grandma ALWAYS made these at Christmas and us kids devoured them. We still do. It’s not uncommon for my brothers to request these when they come over, even at times other than Christmas. Fun fact: I even made these using Grandma’s old cookie sheets. These cookies are high in sentimental value.

Grandma B’s Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, room temp

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 t cream of tartar

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

3 T sugar

3 t cinnamon

about 17 maraschino cherries, cut into quarters

In a small bowl, combine the 3 T sugar with the cinnamon. Set aside.

Cream the shortening, butter, and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Chill dough for about 2 hours. Roll dough into ball about the size of a small walnut (1 1/4 inch?), roll in the cinnamon sugar and place on cookies sheets that have been lined with parchment paper. Poke 1/4 of a cherry in the middle of each dough ball. Bake at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes, or until just starting to brown around edges. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Eat. Leave a few for the Christmas guests.

Yield: 5 1/2 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies

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Chocolate Coconut Neapolitans

(Note: Check out the two pages I made yesterday…”About my Ingredients” and “New in my Etsy shop”! You can find them at the top of the page.)

I guess I’ll designate this week to Christmas cookies. And I apologize to the health nuts out there…there won’t be many whole treats going on the next few days – just lots of butter, white flour, and overly processed sugar. Yum!

Almond flavoring sets these babies apart from all the other Christmas cookies on my tray. They are a bit time consuming, what with the gently patting each layer in the pan without messing up the previous layer and waiting for them to freeze but once you pull them from the freezer, they couldn’t be quicker to bake up. Let me tell you something. I was slice, slice, slicing away and Brad walked in the door. He stared at my cutting board, a look of dismay on his face, and stammered, “Zoe Dawn! Is that, is that, BOUGHT cookie dough?!” I gave him a hairy eyeball and told him to go fly a kite. So, if you mix these up a few weeks prior to baking, you’ll feel like you’re whipping up a batch of store-bought cookies. Only, these taste far better.

Chocolate Coconut Neapolitans

another recipe from my mother

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 huge egg (or two small ones)

1 1/2 t vanilla

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 t almond extract

6 drops red food coloring

3/4 cup finely chopped flaked coconut

2 T chocolate syrup

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 t shortening

Cream the butter and sugar until fluff. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together and then stir these into the creamed mixture. Divide the dough into 3 bowls. In one bowl, mix in the almond extract and red coloring. In the second, stir in the coconut; the third, the chocolate syrup. Now find yourself two 8×4 inch loaf pans and line them with waxed paper. Take the red dough and divide it between the two pans. Spread it in a thin, very even layer. Top it with the white dough and then the brown. Keep the layers as even as possible. Your resulting cookies will look that much prettier. Cover with plastic and freeze for 4 hours, or up to a few weeks.

When ready to bake, remove the dough from the pans. Slice the “loaves” in half lengthwise. Then cut them into 1/4 inch slices crosswise. Lay them on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 11 to 12 minutes or until just slightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire rack.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a double boiler or in the microwave. Dip the ends of the cookies in (about 1/2 inch), shake/scrape off any excess, and set them on the COOLED parchment lined cookie sheets (if the sheets are still warm, put them in the freezer for a few minutes). Let the cookies set until the chocolate is hard and then store in a container between layers of waxed paper. These freeze well.

Yield: I do apologize, but I forgot to count before Brad got is fingers on them. I do know it’s a lot…maybe 8 dozen?

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