Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Around Christmas time I bought a bag of Andes peppermint crunch baking chips and found this recipe on the back. I adapted it a bit and discovered that it's AMAZING if you like minty things. I don't even know if you can buy those chips at this time of year, but I don't want to lose this recipe.


Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 pkg (so about 5 oz) Andes peppermint crunch baking chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and let cool to about room temperature. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the eggs. Gradually beat in the flour mixture 1/3 at a time, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in Andes peppermint crunch baking chips.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto an ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let rest on baking sheet for 1 minute then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Homemade Oreos

Homemade Oreos

1 box devil's food cake mix

3/4 cup shortening

2 eggs

Mix ingredients together. Roll into balls and bake at 350. Make them into sandwich cookies with cream cheese frosting.


**Lately I've been making my own mix instead of using a box mix. When you do this you have to use three eggs instead of two. Here you go:

Cake mix ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt 

Oatmeal (Chocolate Chip) Cookies

From Better Homes and Gardens. I've never made them without the chocolate chips, because they're really the point to me. However, the original recipe is just oatmeal cookies, and you can stir in in raisins. But then you won't get any chocolate. Just a warning.

These have become Gary's specialty and they disappear very quickly wherever he takes them!

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup chocolate chips or raisins (optional)

In a large mixing bowl or bowl of stand mixer, beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in rolled oats. (I've never had any problems doing this with my Kitchen Aid.)

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool on cookie sheet for one minute. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies

I found this recipe in Parade magazine around Christmas time, and decided to give it a try . . . good decision, these are delicious! It sounds like a lot of work to put a cherry into each cookie, but really it's not, especially if you give a jar of cherries and a bowl of dough to 3 little boys then make dinner while they get the job done.  If you don't have 3 little boys, you could maybe sub in girls. Interestingly, these cookies were better the next day once the flavors had hung around together for a little bit. Yes, I bought rum extract for this recipe, but now I have a reason to make them again, so I'm not disappointed with the purchase.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp rum extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
30 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry with a paper towel
2 Tbsp sugar, for coating

For glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp rum extract
4 tsp maraschino cherry juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg, and rum extract until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat well.

Flatten out about 1 Tbsp dough. Place a cherry on top; mold dough around it. Roll in sugar.Repeat with remaining dough.

Place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

For glaze, whisk ingredients; spoon over cookies.

Swedish Cookies (Gingerbread)

I don't know how I ended up with this, but I have Grandma's recipe for gingerbread cookies. Here it is basically as she wrote it.

Swedish Cookies--Gingerbread men; good for children

[word I can't read] 15 minutes: 1 cup molasses and 1 cup shortening.

Cream together 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla. Dissolve 2 tsp baking soda in 1/2 cup hot water. Add hot water & baking soda to sugar & eggs. Sift together 6 cups flour, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp finger. Add to other mixture and stir until flour is well mixed.

May need more flour or to chill first.

Roll thin and cut with cookie cutter. Bake 10 minutes at 375. This dough doesn't stick to board.

--LouCeil

Chocolate Chip Cookies Dad Loves

Actually, he likes the dough.

To be fair, I got this recipe from AllRecipes.com.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

I usually leave the oven at 350 because I'm lazy and forget to change it. But it shouldn't be a problem if you're just eating the dough...

No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup coco powder
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, salt, and coco powder in saucepan. Add butter and milk; bring to a boil. Add oats, peanut butter, and vanilla; mix well. Place spoonfuls on wax paper and let cool.