Tuesdays With Dorie and Julia: Mocha Chocolate Chips

YUM!!!

 Instead of Tuesdays with Julia and Dorie, I’m late and will call this Friday night with Julia and Dorie using Rick Katz’ Mocha Chocolate Chip cookies.

This is a crazy time of year for me plus we have lots of family events over the next 2 weeks and a new granddaughter due now...I run every time my phone rings,  Usually I’m not a good phone answerer but now I hear every ring or text "ding" hoping for some good news.  So, I’m late with this post, but doing my best.

Because I’m a cookie monster, I did not want to skip this recipe, however I did have some issues with sentences like “leave at least 2 inches of space between each mound of dough so that the cookies have room to spread.”  And I had the advantage of looking through several of your posts, and I was not impressed with many that I saw.  Sorry.  Of course, I did see many that looked great, but a simple recipe for all us experienced bakers should have turned out very well for most everyone.

I do love apricots and wanted that addition.  I am not a coffee person, so I left out that flavor.  I do not care for cookies that spread so much during baking especially after the dough has chilled for many hours.  And I do not like to chill a simple cookie dough unless that step has a good purpose such as rolling out a firm buttery dough.  In very hot Arizona my best cookies do not have hanging out time, even in the fridge.  My kitchen is often 86-88^ with the oven on during our hot summers which last for several months.  Butter melts and chocolate melts quickly.  Doughs need adjusting.  With all the spreading these cookies do, they would be impossible in AZ.

Many of you posted that you liked the white chocolate with the apricots and that made good sense.  And I had another item to try.  Instead of a great dark chocolate, the “best chocolate you can,” I wanted to try the new Costco chocolate chips.  A friend said she had tried them and likes them and asked my opinion.  Since I’ve not used them, I have no opinion, but cringe a little at using a Costco chocolate.  But Hubby went to Costco for cases of copy machine paper for the office, and he brought me Costco chocolate chips which he knew I “needed.”  It was a surprise, like bringing me flowers.  (Because I tried a new chocolate chip and also used white chips rather than chunking up white chocolate.)
                                               
To combat what I perceive as extra spreading for this baking dough I added 1 cup of quick oats.  I like oats in many cookies and I also think they go well with apricots and chocolate chips.  To color my dough and give a flavor boost I added 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder.  I baked the cookies for 11 minutes and I’m very happy with my changes.  These are great cookies!  And no fridge time and reasonable spreading.  And I like the Costco chips for day-to-day baking.  My warm cookies oozed with that lovely chocolate and I have been fixed with happiness for the night.

Thanks to your many posts which I read through before baking this recipe.  You all inspired me to make this recipe my own.

Have a great week!

Baked Sunday Mornings: Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies

TASTY MALTED MILK AND ORANGE SANDWICH COOKIES

Hubby, Son #2, and I have a class to attend later tonight and the teacher, my friend, has a birthday early next week.  I want to take a little treat to share with the class and to bring my Happy Birthday Wishes.

I wanted something that felt like springtime, something with a little color and great flavor.

With 1 change that made a huge difference, I used today’s recipe as written.  Also, instead of the 2" cutter  and I used a smaller 1" round cutter.  The cookies grew a little during the baking process to about 1 ½” diameter.    1 or 2 bite size will be easier for the class.

My minor change that made a huge difference was to add the zest of 2 freshly picked Valencia oranges for the cookie dough and I also used their freshly squeezed juice and more zest for the filling (along with the other written flavorings).  Fresh orange was the pronounced flavor for this cookie and it was wonderful.  (Smaller size baked for 7 minutes.)  (I made 80 of these smaller sandwich cookies.)

This cookie baking project became my big time out for the day.  I’m on schedule to finish all our business taxes by the end of next week.  I try to take a good break doing something fun each day, and today  I looked forward to the Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies.   I’m working from home, so when I reached a good stopping point, I went downstairs, put on a chick flick, and started baking.  By the time the movie ended all my cookies were baked and filled and I’d cleaned up my mess.  Not bad for rolled out cookies that are filled and sandwiched...sometimes I pass over this type of cookie thinking it will take too much time, but they finished quickly.

When my first batch was baking, #2 Son who was home doing school projects, came in and sat at the kitchen table to work.  He couldn’t resist the cookies baking in the background of his work.  He told me earlier that he is enjoying baked goods lots more since he moved back home.  He attributes his new likes to all the baking aromas in the house that get him hungry for foods that have not interested him in the past several years.  Well, of course, most store-bought bakery items are not close to my freshly baked goodies that are filled with lots of love! I honestly don't eat store bought baked goods either.

“Hope ya don’t mind, Mom, but I keep snitching cookies every time I walk into the kitchen.  They’re really good.  Kinda like Vanilla Wafers but way better.” (I would have had more than 80 sandwiches.)

“Well, son, they will be much better when they are filled.”

And then, later, after filling and sandwiching the cookies:

“MMMMM    MMMMM!  I could eat a hundred of these.  This is a recipe for a belly ache!”

That all made me feel really good.  If fussy #2 likes them, for sure our class mates will too!

And, yes, they did.  A few classmates phoned me later and wanted the recipe.  I asked for a critique.  They all replied that they loved the cookies just the way they were.  Great texture and super flavor.  And, they are quite pretty too.

So, I’m glad I added all the orange zest and juice.  They really are a good cookie that I will bake for sure again soon.

Loved my baking break today and loved even more sharing a successful new recipe with my friends.  Hope you all had fun with this recipe too!

Baked Sunday Mornings: Chocolate Ginger Molasses Cookie

LOVE THESE!

It's 1 am and I'm still up working so I need to be quick.  Today, well, I guess it has become a new day, so yesterday, was my anniversary.  Hubby took me out all day...did lots of fun stuff.  When we returned home I baked cookies...didn't tell him it was for my assigned post...let him think I was making special "I LOVE YOU" cookies for our special day.

HE LOVES THE COOKIES...said over and over how tasty they are.  I used the frosting to stick on red hots...these cookies are flavorful and I'm sure the frosting adds to them, but not necessary.  This dough was easy to work with and kept a nice shape while baking.  I did not take the time to refrigerate...I mixed and rolled and baked...quick and easy.

Let me quickly say, "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY" to all of you.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Classic Shortbread with Fleur de Sel

A POUND OF BUTTER CLASSIC SHORTBREAD

 There are times that a dream about baking butter cookies for their simple pleasures.  Hubby is from Pennsylvania and craves sand tarts, I enjoy baking rolling, cutting, and decorating sugar cookies made with lots of butter with my grandkiddies, and sometimes I bake chocolate butter cookies.  I love shortbread cookies with a layer of caramel similar to the soft caramel we recently made and maybe covered in chocolate, and sometimes I add finely chopped nuts...these buttery cookies are so versatile and truly say Christmas.

3 of my grandchildren have invited Hubby and I to a talent show at their house New Year’s evening.  They sing, play instruments, have art work, and love to perform and show off.  Their Frolicking Night Owl mom is providing a hot chocolate bar with lots of wonderful mix-ins (including homemade marshmallows, lots of candies, and real whipped cream), and I will bring something to dunk into that delicious, hot, sipping dark chocolate, possibly my shortbread cookies.

These cookies are, however, not really made for dunking.  They have a tender, flaky crumb and are a bit fragile.  I dipped several in dark chocolate and added sprinkles, crushed candy canes, or broken-up whoppers (in honor of all the malt we use in Baked recipes).  But I had to be very careful; I admit to breaking a few.  (We needed something to taste.)

Today’s Classic Shortbread cookies are beautiful, fill the house with their buttery aroma, and taste delicious, but they would not be a good choice to mail as many shortbread cookies are.

EVEN BETTER DIPPED IN DARK CHOCOLATE WITH SEASONAL SPRINKLES

These cookies are similar to a recipe I usually bake for my shortbreads, however today’s recipe adds egg yolk and rice flour which is different.  My recipe has no egg and calls for a little corn starch.  I enjoy these cookies with cirtus zests, but chose to go more plain today (I did add vanilla) hoping for a cookie that would pair well with the hot chocolate bar.

Anyway, what a great way to begin the new year!  Time with family, continuing the eating season, and relaxing before getting into my busiest office time of year (year end paperwork and then taxes...UCK!).

Can’t wait to see what you have done with your cookies...I enjoy all your ideas.

Happy New Year to each of you.  Hope you all have a terrific New Year!!!

Baked Sunday Mornings: The No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie

I'M SURE SANTA WOULD LOVE THESE COOKIES AND MILK!

I certainly appreciated this easy, yummy no-bake CHOCOLATE peanut butter cookie for my busy December schedule.  This is a wonderful treat that I’m adding to my cookie platters.  I rarely purchase cookies at the market or the bakery...I’m particular about my cookies; I like them super fresh, with no shortening or strange oils and I love baking them, usually, several times each week.  Grandma’s house should always have fresh cookies on hand at all times!  But, I’ll admit, that when I see these cookies on the bakery shelf, I can’t resist.  I buy them every time.  Iresistable!   Good childhood memories.  It’s hard to mess them up.  They are a perfect project  to “bake” with my little kiddies.

And...they are healthy, right?  With that high protein peanut butter and all those old fashioned oats they must have some good food value.

The only addition I made to this recipe was I added 2 cups coconut.  I wanted my scooped out mounts not to spread, and the coconut is, in my opinion, a great tasting addition that stiffens the dough a little and my mounds were kept in tact.

Love this recipe and enjoyed making these yummy cookies.

This is the best cookie time of year...hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am!

French Fridays with Dorie: Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad

LOVELY LENTIL, LEMON, AND TUNA SALAD  LETTUCE WRAPS

 This week's salad has strong overtones of a recent Dorie cooking project also with lentils and fish: salmon.

This salad meal was healthy, but not exciting.   My grandkiddies came to swim and enjoyed a cookout which included a side of today's salad.  The opportunity was taken to introduce them, once again, to lentils with the bribe of chocolate truffle cookies if they ate their portions.

For patio dining, I turned this lentil-tuna salad into lettuce wraps which could be eaten by hand.  First we  portioned out pretty rounded amounts of lentils and then of tuna salad and added chopped veges.  Next, we tried layering these foods and found the easier method to look just as lovely.

ALL INGREDIENTS LAYERED ON MAKES A HEALTHY SIDE

To make the lentils a little more flavorful I added chopped onion and carrots.  The tuna was made into a tuna salad with mayo, sweet pickles, onion, lemon, and seasonings.  I'm sure the whole idea conforms to the given recipe well enough.

The chocolate truffle cookies were exciting, however, and did the trick.  Everyone cleaned their lentils and earned their cookies.

 

DEEP DARK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE COOKIES

KRIS'  CHEWY CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE COOKIES:

Yield: 40 using my smallest ice cream type scoop...about 1 Tablespoon of dough

First, line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Beat together until thick ribbon stage:

2 large eggs

2 1/3 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon honey

Melt together in microwave and stir until smooth:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

3 Tablespoons butter

Combine:

2.75 oz almond flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon cocoa

Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and combine.

Stir 1/3 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Then gently fold the rest of the egg mixture into the chocolate until well combined, making sure to keep the mixture aerated.

Chill until firm, about 1 hour....REALLY FIRM!

Scoop out the dough and roll each dough ball in sugar, place on baking sheet and place in freezer.  When dough balls are frozen solid, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Keep these cookies in the fridge especially in AZ...they love to be eaten cold.

If any cookies are left over...very doubtful...they keep well in an air tight container in the fridge for 2 weeks.   Nice to have on hand for rewards including for myself.

ENJOY!

Tuesdays With Julia and Dorie: Rugelach

DELICIOUS ADDITION TO OUR  "SAYING GOOD-BYE TO OUR FRIENDS" DINNER

How much fun is this!!!  Rugelach, made with a buttery, cream cheese dough and “abundantly stuffed” with a homemade apricot lekvar, finely chopped pecans, and lots of cinnamon-sugar... YUM!

I needed cookies for a few occasions this week so I decided to make LOTS of Rugelach for all my needs.  Friends who are moving out of state came for dinner, I always take homemade treats to my adult Sunday school class where I plan on 75 attenders, the usual weekend crowd stopping by looking for food,......     One can never have too many good cookies.

It’s a very busy week, so these cookies took some planning, especially since I decided to 5 X the recipe (about 250 cookies).  Wednesday night I made all the dough, in my food processor.  The by-hand method sounded lovely, but I needed to get this dough finished and into the fridge.  It all came together nicely with my modern machine.

Friday evening I had time to make my fillings.  I actually made several types and flavors of fillings, but when it came time to actually roll out and fill my cookies, I chose to use only the apricot version just to keep things moving along.  I was really wanting chocolate and berries and a variety of nuts, but those can wait for another time.  After making my initial apricot batch, and trying them, and trying them again, and again...well...they were really good. 

Saturday afternoon I made all the cookies...took about 3 hours, but it was nice to have my kitchen time after a yard work and house cleaning morning.

UPDATED CENTURY'S OLD JEWISH COOKIE

My Sunday school class lesson was on the writings of the ancient Old Testament Hebrew prophet, Isaiah.  I knew these cookies would add a little more inspiration.  While baking I decided to tell my class (after doing some internet research) that this Rugelach recipe is an updated version of a century’s old Eastern European Jewish recipe and with the dried fruits and nuts it could have been something similar to what was eaten in ancient Jerusalem.  (But I’m sure my cookies had lots of extra sugar.) My class agreed and loved the idea of eating a Jewish food with a long history.  I may be totally wrong, but I did read several comments where this cookie is served during Jewish holidays.  And I have seen them in bakeries during Jewish holidays, and at Christmas time, and whatever their heritage, they are delicious.

After my dough chilled for a couple of days (much longer than necessary), I rolled it out into long rectangle shapes about 1/4" thick, slathered them with my apricot lekvar, added the nuts, and sprinkled their tops with lots of cinnamon sugar.  Then  I cut the topped dough rectangles in half lengthwise, and rolled each half like I would cinnamon rolls.  After pinching the seams together, I added an egg wash and sprinkled the long, cookie rolls with more cinnamon sugar.  Last, each roll was sliced with a pizza cutter into 1 ½" pieces, placed on doubled, lined baking sheets and baked for 22 minutes, until golden brown.

YUM!  FRUIT, NUTS, BUTTER, CREAM CHEESE....SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST FOODS

Wow!  After cooling for just a few minutes, these were delicious.  Not too sweet; just little 2 or 3 bites each of puffed up goodness.  These cookies are dangerous.  I gave myself all the ends, that’s 2 on each of the 10 rolls I made (already I’m up to 20 cookies) and I had to taste several more to make sure each batch was worthy of my friends...Yup, they were.  I must have eaten pounds of butter and cream cheese and sugar and....it was all good...had to keep myself going for those 3 hours, especially after all my morning work.

Next time, I’ll roll my cookies into crescent shapes which I think are prettier, and I’ll use other fillings just for fun.  I’ve already added  Rugulach to my Christmas cookie baking list. 

See you all in a couple of weeks after St. Paddy's day baking...up next with this group, Irish Soda Bread.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Chocolate Whoopie Pies

I LOVE THESE WHOOPIE PIES.  THEY CAN BE DECORATED FOR ANY HOLIDAY

I love these Chocolate Whoopie Pies which are perfect as a Valentine for someone  loved.  These almost melt in your mouth "pies" have great flavor, are relatively simple to make, yet look like a special, more complex treat.  

And what could be better than chocolate, butter, sugar....little clouds of heaven.

And I just read that the biggest chocolate day of the year is Valentine's Day, followed by Easter.  So, these are perfect as a preview for Cupid's day.

I'M FILLING,  SANDWICHING,  AND DECORATING

Last year about this time we made the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies which were fun and tasty.  I remember liking the cream cheese filling, but also remember that after the first day, these whoopie pies did not hold up  well and were not so good.  They were definitely day-old baked goods.

As a comparison, today's whoopie pies seem to be lighter, being made with oil, where last year's included oil, butter, and shortening...all with different properties.  In my opinion, today's Whoppie Pies are a better recipe than those we baked last year. Today's Chocolate Whoopie Pies are actually great!

To make these pies for Valentine's Day,  I used a red cherry flavoring in the filling ...one that is popular as an Italian soda or coffee flavoring.  This added ingredient turned the filling a pretty pink...not shown very well in the photos... and gave a subtle cherry flavor.  I wished I'd added a little to the chocolate batter and even more to the filling.  Then, Valentine sprinkles were added to finish the look.  Heart shapes would also be fun to bake...maybe next year.

This recipe makes about 4 dozen sandwiches  using about a tablespoon of batter for each half.  This size baked perfectly in 10 minutes.  I would say the yield is greater than the recipe states.  

THESE ARE READY FOR SOMEONE I LOVE

I'm sure my creative cyber friends have some good ideas for these whoopie pies.  I'm excited to see their versions of this recipe.

Note:  The buttercream filling really tasted like butter, as it should, but...the butter was the strongest flavor in this cookie.  It overpowered the chocolate.  Next time I might consider a different filling.  (It was good buttercream filling, but I wanted to have a more chocolatey flavor.)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO EVERYONE!!!

Baked Sunday Mornings: Speculaas

THESE SPECULAAS WILL MAKE GREAT CHRISTMAS COOKIES.....ABOUT A YEAR FROM NOW

This “BAKED” version of the German Biscoff Cookie is delicious, but I wish I’d baked them for Christmas as I did Dorie's recipe a year ago.

Every time I have a kitchen project that is inspired by the German part of the world, my mind wanders to my Grandmother, Charlotte, who immigrated from Switzerland during WWI.  She, along with her mother (her father had died) and an older sister, Bertha, braved the war areas and made their way to Germany, to the American embassy.  Had she been a boy she would not have been allowed to go further as she would have been forced fight in the German army.  Even though her travels were dangerous,  she arrived in Salt Lake City at the age of 18.

Grandma Charlotte was highly educated for a woman in her time, and was also a skilled seamstress.  Her clothes were extraordinary with hand made lace and beautiful, perfect stitching.  Before immigrating, her family’s Swiss home was a four story mansion and she lived in luxury...the home is in use today as an inn. But she came to America with nothing, married young, bore ten children (my father was the10th) and always lived in poverty.  She was always happy, however, and I remember her singing in her soothing alto voice  as she did her chores and continually served others.  By the time I was born, my grandfather had died, and she was homeless.  All her children did well and she divided her time with them all, living with each for a month or maybe two of every year. 

I loved her staying with us because she would mend all the clothes, help me sew outfits for my Barbies, clean the house, cook, do dishes...anything.  After our sewing projects, I remember how she always crawled on her hands and knees under the sewing table with an empty spool that she used to wind every small piece of thread for future use such as sewing on a button.  She wasted nothing.  Not only had she escaped war-torn Europe with only the clothes on her back, but she lived through the Great Depression and other very hard times, and she never forgot.

I’ll never forget the one time I became angry with her.  I returned home from my Jr. High classes at the end of the day, and found that all my dresses and skirts (yes, we used to wear nice clothes to school every day), had been lengthened...to mid-calf ...and this was the mini-skirt era.  I was horrified and could not believe that she would do such a thing without first talking to me.  She had seen me growing like a weed and thought she would surprise me with her kind deed, but I could only envision how I would be humiliated by my friends at school.  Yet, back in the day, when we were taught to be respectful of our elders and to have good manners, I was unable to voice my frustrations.  I remember crying myself to sleep.  I know things got worked out and my clothes were “fixed,” but I don’t remember how that all happened.  I only remember my trauma.

Back to the cookies...my grandma loved to cook and enjoyed good foods.  With her strong German accent, she reminisced about special days and holidays from her youth, and I wonder if a similar cookie had made it to her family’s holiday table.  I think so.  She often spoke of pfeffernusse, ginger, and other spice cookies which she loved.

I’ve had a couple of people ask me if these cookies are the same as Dorie’s recipe that we baked a year earlier.  I would say no.  They are really very different.  The mixing method is different, and the texture is different, and some ingredients are different.  (Cardamom is listed in the procedure part of the recipe, but not in the ingredient list.)  And I always have fun running to the back yard where I can pick a fresh orange to zest, and that flavor is also different in this recipe

ALTHOUGH I EXPECTED THEM TO BE SIMILAR, THIS SPECULAAS RECIPE IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM DORIE'S SPECULOOS,

When I  mixed the dough, I cheated by using my food processor.  It was very dry and crumbly.  I was really worried when I took it out of the fridge this morning after chilling all night, that it would not roll out nicely, as it still appeared to be crumbly, but everything came together and the dough was actually sticky and needed a good dose of flour on the counter top and also sprinkled on the dough top.

Once rolled, the dough cut out well, baked nicely and tastes delicious.  I only baked the cookies for 10 minutes instead of the suggested 15.  At 10 minutes, the edges were browning and I feared they would be burned with 5 more minutes in the oven.

This shorter baking time produced a softer, chewy cookie where Dorie’s were crispy and remind me of those Moravian cookies that sell for a high price at Williams-Sonoma during the holidays.

We are still into holidays at our house, so this recipe still fits into our family.  Seems like holidays keep marching on: the fall holidays lead into the Christmas season, then New Year’s, and somehow we keep catching up on good foods and treats we feel we have missed.  (we made more pumpkin pie this week, and peppermint topped brownies) And this week we celebrated 2 days of Chinese New Year with our Singapore friends, and now we are thinking about Valentine’s Day.....and we have had lots of birthdays and other fun days through it all.  Christmas cookies are still appreciated, especially when in the shape of a heart.

Just like the Biscoff airline cookies being an addiction for the Baked boys, I’m finding these Speculaas are a new addiction for me...I'm munching while I type up this post...a nice change from my chocolate addiction.

Since it is now afternoon, I’ll get this “morning” post up and see what you all have done with your cookies.  I’m sure they will look delicious as you all are fantastic bakers!

Well, after 2 hours out of the oven, these cookies are now "thin and crispy" but I would say are still not the same as Dorie's.  My opinion. 

Baked Sunday Mornings: Cowboy Cookies

CRISPY ON THE OUTSIDE--GOOEY AND CHEWY ON THE INSIDE

I confess.  I am the cookie monster.  Favorite food in all the world is cookies.  Favorite item to bake is cookies.  So many different flavors, ingredients, textures....ahhhhhh...puts me into a heavenly state just thinking about them (I admit I have a plate with several different varieties of freshly baked cookies, including Cowboy Cookies, right next to me and they are disappearing as I type up this post.)

Part of why I love Christmas so much, and every other holiday for that matter, is the cookies.  Most weeks I go through 6 to 8 pounds of pure, wonderful butter just for cookies.  When guests come to stay I place baskets of cookies on their pillows.  When friends need cheering I take them cookies.  I mail them away to kids away at college.  I take them to share during my adult Sunday school classes (adults are always amazed...they expect that teachers will bring treats for kids, but adults are usually left out), and I make them just for fun to have on my kitchen table so that anyone who comes can have a choice of cookies to munch any time night or day.    Maybe it is the grandmother in me, but the older I get, the more cookies I bake.

READY FOR THE OVEN--I'M INTERESTED TO LEARN HOW SALTY THESE PRETZELS MAKE THESE COOKIES

It was easy to get excited to bake Cowboy Cookies.  I read the ingredient list to determine if any shopping was needed...all usual items, but the list made me smile.  I really love oats with chocolate chips.  Adding a yolk to a whole egg was unusual...the rest of the recipe, except for the pretzels, is very similar to my usual oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Nice to try new things!  I just love trying something different that I end up loving...such is the case with these cookies.

Today was my monthly volunteer day for the Town of Gilbert, AZ.  I spent the morning preparing a presentation for tonight’s Heritage District meeting which began after work...5:30...when everyone really wanted to go home and eat dinner.  Bad time for another meeting.  So to keep attenders awake and lively I decided to bring sugar in the form of cookies.  I baked the usual chocolate chip, then Russian Tea Cakes (or Mexican Wedding Cakes...seems to be similar, but with my Russian daughters we call the cookies "Russian"), Pumpkin White and Dark Chips Cookies (the favorite of our Town Counsel person), Coconut Macaroons, Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies (using Trader Joe’s bittersweet 17 oz. chocolate bar with almonds; the whole bar) ...one of my personal favorites, and today’s new recipe, the Cowboy Cookies  which, for me, are unusual due to the addition of pretzels.

And now, in a state of heaven (reveling in my sugar high), I am enjoying a few left over cookies, which, before bed, will send me into a state of euphoria and bliss and happy dreams for the night.

MOUNDS OF HEAVEN FRESH FROM THE OVEN

Back to the Cowboy Cookies.  I pointed out the cookies to those attending the meeting and explained that they are made with pretzels rather than nuts.  No one had ever tried cookies with pretzels previously, so everyone was anxious to taste this new recipe.  (And with all the nut allergies these days the pretzels are a good idea for group use.)  

Did the group like the Cowboy Cookies?  100%...everybody consumed more, and then more, and at the close of the meeting, several  attenders wrapped up more in napkins to take home to waiting spouses...I thought that was so nice and, of course, the spouses should have their chance to try cookies with pretzels too.  The other cookies were appreciated and enjoyed, but the “pretzel” cookies were the hit.  They were unusual and scrumptious.  They were just a bit crispy on the outside and chewey-gooey on the inside.  Because the butter used was still cold rather than room temperature, the cookies did not flatten while baking...kept a rounded shape which also distinguished them from their neighboring chocolate chip cookies.

Downstairs in our meeting building is a European bakery.  You should see the cases of beautiful desserts.  Over-The-Top-Overwhelming.  The Cowboy Cookies received what I considered to be a huge compliment as several meeting attenders suggested that the European Bakery should purchase Cowboy Cookies from me for their bakery case.  I just laughed this off by saying that my homemade cookies would never rise up to the fancy bakery confections.  But the committee members tasting my cookies told me that these kind of cookies are what people really want...good homemade fresh baked goods, and I was assured that the Cowboy Cookies would score high.  I’m glad they were so enjoyed.

MY NEW "GOODWILL" PLATE...STOPPED IN YESTERDAY AND FOUND A FEW PLATES AT $.49 EACH JUST SO I CAN HAVE A VARIETY OF "PHOTO PLATES"...NOT THAT MY POINT-AND-SHOOT PHOTOS ARE GREAT, BUT JUST FOR FUN

And, it’s a personal treasure to have a new cookie recipe  added to my loved and desired cookie list.  These cookies are a hit.  They are easy to make, satisfy even the big men... even those wild west Arizona cowboys in our lives, and are delicious.  For the meeting I did not make huge cookies...used a smaller sized scoop that holds a couple of Tablespoons of dough, but I thought they baked up into a nice size.  I doubled the recipe and got 4 X the cookies.  Perfect size for a 2 bite cookie.  THIS ONE'S A KEEPER!