Category Archives: Cookies & Brownies & Bars

Key Lime Crackle Cookies

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking, Leftover Ideas by

Flavored with key lime juice and zest, and naturally colored with turmeric, these pretty cookies are easy to make.

The original recipe is from the Food Network magazine. The were tinted green, however, which is not the color of key lime juice, so I changed it to yellow by way of powdered turmeric. (You could certainly still use food coloring. If you do, add it with the lime juice and use about 4 drops.)

The dough needs to chill awhile in the fridge, so you can make it a few hours ahead. And another bonus — this is a good way to use up a bottle of key lime juice that you may have from making key lime pie or another dessert.

Makes 36-40

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. key lime juice
Zest of 1 key lime, if you have it
1/2 cup confectioners’ (icing) sugar

Whisk the flour, baking powder, turmeric, and salt in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the lime juice (and zest). Reduce the mixer speed to low; gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate until firm, at least 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 350F/175C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Put confectioners’ sugar in small bowl.

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll tablespoonfuls into balls, then roll in the sugar mixture to coat completely. Arrange 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. (Don’t worry if the dough starts getting soft and sticky in your hands as you make the balls; still roll them in the confectioners’ sugar and they’ll come out fine.) Return the remaining dough to the refrigerator.

Bake 18-20 minutes, or until the base of the cookies turns ever so slightly golden. Let cool 5 minutes on the pans, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking, Holiday by

These cookies are a new Christmas favorite. They’re soft chocolate cookies with a big marshmallow in the center and cocoa frosting swirled on top to look like a delicious mug of hot cocoa. The marshmallow stays soft and stretchy long after they’re baked.

I got this recipe from the Glorious Treats blog a few years ago and tweaked it to give the cookies a warm-you-up-in-cold-weather look. The Food Network magazine has a slightly different version on the cover of its current Christmas issue, topped with crushed peppermints.

One thing to note before you start: The dough needs to be refrigerated for at least an hour before using.

FOR THE COOKIES:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
About 20 large marshmallows

FOR THE DECORATION:
Confectioner’s sugar (powdered or icing sugar)
Cocoa powder
Sprinkles

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring frequently. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend until just combined.

Add the flour mixture in several additions, mixing by hand after each one until just combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour. The dough should be firm. If making the dough a day ahead, leave it out at room temperature for 30 minutes before using.

When you’re ready to bake, heat the oven to 325F/160C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a tablespoon, or a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, to scoop dough; roll it in your hands to make balls, then flatten slightly as you put them on the cookie sheet. Arrange them 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes.

While the cookies bake, cut the marshmallows in half. When the cookies are done, remove from the oven and lightly press a marshmallow half into the center (cut side down!). Return the cookies to the oven and bake another 3 minutes.

When they’re done, let the cookies cool for several minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

When it’s time to decorate:
Mix a couple of cups of confectioner’s sugar in a bowl with just enough water to make an icing consistency. But be careful — add only a little water to start with and add more as you need to. A little water goes a long way! Then add enough cocoa to make the icing chocolatey — try a few big spoonfuls first, and add more if you want. If the icing becomes too thick, add a couple of drops of water and mix well.

Put the icing in a large Ziploc bag and snip off a small corner. Pipe the chocolate icing in a swirl over the cookies and add the sprinkles while the icing is still wet. Let dry, shake off the excess sprinkles, and enjoy.

Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking by

The addition of a little cocoa powder in this recipe is what makes it. These butterscotch cookies don’t taste chocolatey, but the cocoa powder gives it a little something extra in the background. The cookies come out very soft, thanks to the two kinds of brown sugar.

It took me 15 years to get around to making these! The recipe is from a magazine and I kept the whole page loose in my cookbook this whole time, always finding an excuse to make something else, even though the picture looked really good. But it was the picture that grabbed my daughter’s attention when we were looking for a cookie recipe to make together, finally prompting me to try it — and we all loved the result.

3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350F/175C degrees. Grease baking sheets.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients and the butterscotch chips. In a small bowl, mix the butter, eggs, and vanilla extract, beating just a little bit to incorporate the eggs; pour this into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto the baking sheets, then bake for 12-13 minutes or until firm. Immediately remove to wire racks and let cool.

Gingerbread Men Cookies

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking, Holiday by

These are so much fun to make and decorate, and the smell and taste of the spices is wonderful, especially during the holidays. The recipe doesn’t take much skill, either — just some patience while the dough chills so the cookies can better hold their shape. And after the cookies are baked comes the next fun part — decorating! My favorite royal icing recipe is below.

I made these for Christmas this year and gave some as presents. Of course, these can be made in any shape you like — try huge snowflakes, circles as Christmas ornaments, or triangles for Christmas trees (if you don’t have a tree cookie cutter). I had leftover dough, so I improvised the shape of a house with a paring knife.

Yield: A whole lot of cookies (depends on the size of your cookie cutters!)

6 cups sifted all-purpose (plain) flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 tsp. ground ginger
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. white pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup molasses (unsulfured)
Royal icing (see recipe below)

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Add flour mixture and combine on low speed.

Divide dough into thirds and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour.

After the dough has chilled, on a floured surface, roll out one of the dough portions until 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes and transfer to ungreased cookie sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350F/175C degrees.

Bake the cookies until crisp but not darkened, 8-10 minutes. Transfer them to a baking rack to cool and repeat the process with the rest of the dough. When cookies are cool, decorate as desired.

I used flat sprinkles for the buttons. Mini M&Ms would be nice, too.


ROYAL ICING

2 cups confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp. light corn syrup
2 1/2 Tbsp. hot water, more if needed
Piping bag with narrow tip, or plastic bag

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with electric hand mixer on medium speed until well blended.

The icing should not be watery, so be careful when the water and only add a DROP or two until it’s the right consistency (a drop of water goes a long way when making icing). You want it to be stiff enough to go through a piping bag. Use a narrow tip on the piping bag or snip off a very small corner of a plastic bag. Scoop the icing inside the bag and enjoy the decorating!

(Icing recipe from a 1998 Christmas cookie recipe booklet from Williams-Sonoma.)

Homemade Granola Bars

Posted in Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast/Brunch, Cookies & Brownies & Bars by

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Granola bars are my latest breakfast. They’re also one of my children’s favorite snacks, so we go through a lot of them. I wanted to try to make some myself so I didn’t have to keep buying them all the time, and so I could make a slightly healthier alternative than the sugary processed kind. But it’s not easy to replicate the chewy texture that still sticks together as a proper granola bar. I’ve tried making them before and they either fall apart or they’re more like a dessert.

Finally I found this recipe, which has great ingredients such as whole oats, nuts, honey, and healthy add-ins like shredded coconut. It uses a little butter and sugar, which is not ideal for a totally healthy granola bar, but it helps to make it all stick together. And it does stick together.

Thanks to the blog with the great name Bless This Mess Please for the recipe (which I only slightly adjusted).

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cups total extra mix-ins (such as coconut flakes)

Preheat the oven to 350F/175C degrees. Line a 9- or 8-inch square baking dish with lightly greased parchment or foil.

Place the oats and nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly toasted. Place the nuts and oats in a large bowl.

While the oats are toasting, put the honey, butter, and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. When butter mixture is ready, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.

Pour this mixture over the oats and nuts and stir to combine. Add any extra ingredients and stir to combine. Make sure none of the oats are dry.

Place in prepared pan and use a rubber spatula or the back of a greased spoon to press mixture into the pan. Put in refrigerator for at least two hours, then cut into bars.

Other suggested mix-ins include dried fruit, miniature chocolate chips, and sunflower seeds, but you can play around with ingredients and add whatever you’d like.

Easy Dessert Recipes for When You’re Stuck at Home

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking, Pies & Tarts by

Cooking is a great activity while we’re all stuck at home these days, trying to find things to do. Learn some new recipes, make some comfort food, or spend time cooking with someone. If you have children, cooking can be a fun activity together. Food is one way we can help ourselves feel better during this crazy time.

I looked through my dessert cookbook and found four recipes that are easy and require five ingredients or fewer, mostly with items you’re still likely to find at the store (though we had a hard time finding eggs the other day). These are favorites of mine.

Coconut Macaroons
1 14-oz. package sweetened shredded coconut
2/3 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. flour
¼ tsp. salt
4 egg whites
And I always include this, but you can make it optional: 1 tsp. almond extract

Heat oven to 325F (about 160C) degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Mix everything but the egg whites in a large bowl. Stir in the egg whites, and the almond extract if using, until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

And to use up the yolks, make this next recipe! (You don’t even have to bake it!)

Key Lime Pie
1 pre-made graham cracker crumb crust
4 egg yolks
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup + 1 Tbsp. key lime juice

Beat the egg yolks until lemony (you’ll notice the color change to more of a yellow color), then add sweetened condensed milk and continue beating for 3 minutes. Pour in the key lime juice and beat until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Pour into prepared shell and refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving.

Tip: Whipped cream is great to have on top when you serve it.

Easiest Cookies Ever
1 box of cake mix – any kind is fine, but I use white cake mix
1 stick of butter, softened
1 egg

Mix everything in a bowl, form into balls, and bake on greased baking sheets for 10 minutes at 350F (175C) degrees.

Frozen Lemonade Squares
9 graham cracker rectangles
¼ cup butter
1 quart (4 cups/1/4 gallon) frozen vanilla yogurt, softened
6 oz. (half a can) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed (make lemonade with the rest!)
Optional: Blueberries

Finely crush graham crackers. Melt butter and mix with crumbs. Press into bottom of 9-inch square metal pan. Thoroughly mix yogurt and lemonade concentrate. Spread over crust. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Serve with blueberries on top.

Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking, Holiday by

Cookies

For Halloween, I wanted to make some dark cut-out sugar cookies so I could decorate them with white icing that would stand out. I knew exactly what I wanted — flat cookies that I could roll out and cut into shapes. They needed to be very dark (it’s for Halloween, after all), not just kind of brown. I had cut out a picture of the ghost cookies a while ago (I forget the source) and wanted to copy them.

A search turned up this recipe from the American Butter Institute, of all places! (Something about their name seems very trustworthy for a cookie recipe.) The picture of these cookies on their site was beautiful. I’m glad I tried it — the cookies were delicious and just what I was looking for.

These would make nice chocolate wafer cookies if you roll them thin enough and watch them closely in the oven to make sure they don’t burn. They’re also just a nice twist on regular sugar cookie cut-outs. The institute’s site shows them in snowflake shapes, for example.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder (dark, if possible)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well until combined. Add flour mixture and beat until dough is smooth.

Form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate one hour or until firm enough to roll.

Remove dough from refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. (Tip: If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, don’t use flour to make it not stick — dust it with cocoa powder so the dough stays brown!) Use cookie cutters to cut desired shapes; transfer cookies to non-stick baking sheet or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Return to refrigerator for another 10 minutes. Turn oven to 350F (175C) degrees.

Remove cookies from refrigerator and bake 12 minutes, or until firm around edges. Let cookies cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

FOR ICING: It’s easy! Put some confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar) in a small bowl. Add a few drops of water and mix with a spoon. Keep adding only a few drops at a time until it’s a good consistency for piping — you don’t want it too watery. If you’re not sure, then thicker is better than thinner. Spoon the icing into a plastic sandwich bag and snip off a very tiny corner. Then you can pipe it onto the cookies.

Nutella Brownies

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking by

When I posted the recipe for Nutella pancakes a few weeks ago, I mentioned Nutella brownies. I’m finally posting the recipe, which I’ve had for a few years now and is the only homemade brownie I will ever make.20190807_142943

Nutella brownies are as good as they sound! They are chocolatey and moist — not dry and cakey. They also bake to a nice height. Sometimes when I’ve sought a fudgy brownie, they come out flat and chewy. Not these. And just like Nutella on a spoon, they are irresistible.

I found this recipe on a site called Life in Pleasantville that I’m really enjoying. (It has some recipes I’m eager to try.) No tweaks are needed, but self-control definitely is. Seriously — what do they put in Nutella to make it so unbelievably delicious?

4 large eggs
1 large egg white
725g container Nutella
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F/175C degrees. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Blend in Nutella, butter, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to chocolate mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Spread mixture into baking pan and bake 30-40 minutes. Brownies will appear slightly underbaked in center. Let cool. For your brownies to look their best, refrigerate the pan overnight before slicing — otherwise they’ll be crumbly.

M&M Cookies

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Desserts/Baking by

thumbnail_20180203_130745It’s hard not to love M&M cookies — easy, fun, and just plain yummy.

Years ago in a magazine was a recipe for “cookies by the stack” — a single cookie dough recipe that could be used with any number of mix-ins, from coconut flakes and chopped nuts to dried fruit or chocolate pieces. I glued the entire magazine page into my cookbook because it was so useful. I’ve made some of the variations on the page, but I use the recipe most often for chocolate chip cookies (see below).

These are going to taste good no matter what. It’s hard to mess them up! But if you want them to look good, too, there’s a trick: Mix only half of the M&Ms into the dough, and put the rest on by hand before they go in the oven. If you don’t, they won’t show up very well, as you can see here:

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The cookies on the right had all the M&Ms mixed into the dough. The cookies on the left had only half mixed in, with the rest put on by hand.

The food scientist and cookbook author Shirley Corriher, in her terrific book “Cookwise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed,” explains how shortening and butter can affect the spread of the dough and give you either a flat, crisp cookie or one that holds its shape. Butter melts over a narrow temperature range, so if you use all butter in the recipe, the cookies will spread soon after they go in the oven.

Shortening, on the other hand, stays the same texture over a wide temperature range, she says — so cookies made with part butter and part shortening will hold their shape better than if you use all butter. This recipe uses both in an equivalent ratio. Knowing the difference in fats, you can tweak the recipe how you like — if you want a crisper cookie, use more butter, for instance.

I mentioned chocolate chip cookies earlier. If you’d rather make those, just replace the 2 cups of M&Ms in this recipe with 2 cups of chocolate morsels (semi-sweet). Three other variations are below.

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

Set oven to 375F (190C) degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the two sugars and baking soda and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Stir in flour by hand, then add half the M&Ms.

Drop dough by slightly rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, then place reserved M&Ms on top (crowd them together for best results). Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges are light brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

*The dough can be kept for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to 6 months (thaw overnight before baking).

Variations:

PEANUT BUTTER-CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Replace the M&Ms with 1 cup peanut butter morsels and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels. Mix it all in the dough.

COCONUT-WALNUT COOKIES
Replace the M&Ms with 1 cup coconut flakes and 1 cup chopped walnuts.

FRUIT AND OATMEAL COOKIES
Substitute 1 cup rolled oats for 1 cup of the flour. Stir in 1 tsp. ground cinnamon into the flour mixture. Stir 6 oz. of dried fruit bits into the dough.

Cookie Frosting

Posted in Cookies & Brownies & Bars, Dessert Etcetera, Desserts/Baking, Holiday by

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Adapt the decoration on your cookies, or the color of the frosting, for any holiday.

This creamy frosting is a fun, easy way to decorate cookies. It’s not as fancy or sophisticated as icing, which is smooth and glossier, but it’s simple and yummy, and decorations like sprinkles stick to it easily. It’s especially perfect for spreading on sugar cookies.

I got this recipe years ago from a Williams-Sonoma booklet on making Christmas cookies. I keep that booklet in the front pocket of my dessert recipe binder and refer to it often when making any kind of cookie that needs decorating.

This makes about 3/4 cup, or enough to frost 2 dozen regular cookies (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter).

With the brown vanilla extract, the frosting comes out an off-white color. Try a clear extract if you want it pure white, maybe playing around with some flavors of extract to see how it turns out. This can also easily be tinted with food coloring.

2 cups confectioner’s sugar (powdered or icing sugar)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
Food coloring, if desired

Sift the confectioner’s sugar into a large bowl about 1/2 cup at a time. Add the melted butter, vanilla, and cream. Using an electric hand mixer, beat on medium speed until creamy and spreadable.