Nanny's Fruitcake Cookies (Taste of Home)

I just found these Christmas cookies on my camera and the worst part is, I don't seem to have a photo of the completed, baked cookie. That's too bad because they are wonderful. Crispy and chewy and full of fruity flavor. I remember sampling the fruits and nuts while they were soaking in the Triple Sec. YUMMY.

You might recall that I'm in charge of a large Cookie Walk fund raiser and I sold these beautiful cookies there. It's a good way for me to try new recipes and break away from the usual Christmas cut out cookie. 

You can find the recipe in Taste of Home December 2014, or HERE on their website. Thanks to Nanny for her excellent recipe! 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Post Punk Kitchen

V is for Variety and A is for Aztec

Welcome to the Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)  I intend to post 20 times during the month of September – all about vegan food. Check out the gals who organize the project here, and search out other fantastic vegan bloggers. I decided on the theme of “V is for Variety” because, honestly, once I quit the chicken breast – my food choices exploded! Join me!

Ok, so I want everyone to think way, way back to their 6^th grade geography teacher blathering on and on and on about Hernando Cortez and the conquest of the Aztec Indians way, way back in 1519. Remember any of it? (Probably that the Aztecs performed human sacrifice and ate the beating hearts of those whom they conquered, but I digress.)

Actually, historians (of which I am one) would call the meeting between the native Aztecs and the conquering Spanish one of the most dramatic and caustic clashes of culture ever experienced, anywhere, at any time, in all of world history. I believe I once read that Cortez remained atop a horse in the presence of Montezuma to instill fear and awe. Can you imagine how Montezuma, who was actually awaiting the arrival of a great god, felt when he saw those Spanish ships drawing near his shore? No wonder he gave Cortez so much gold! And speaking of gold, did you know that many Spaniards actually drowned while trying to escape Teotihuacan, which was up in flames? The reason? Their pockets were stuffed with gold and it weighed them down.

Of course we know how it all played out: Aztecs – zero …. Spaniards – one.  

I never tire of learning more about the Aztec culture. I have been to Mexico City to see the ruins and museums and the floating gardens of Chapultepec Park. I look forward every year to teaching a long Aztec unit to my own 6^th graders and seeing how they learn to love this ancient culture, from its language, its art, its architecture and not least to its food!

I bet some of your favorite food is Aztec in origin: tortilla, avocado, tomatoes, corn, beans, CHILIS and CHOCOLATE!

Aztec dudes eating spicy Snickerdoodles. 

You can find this excellent recipe here at the Post Punk Kitchen. I followed it to the letter. 

Caution: these little Mexican Snickerdoodles pack quite a punch; they are not for your toddler’s lunch box. There is a serious cayenne kick in these, but the Aztecs often mixed chili with chocolate, so let’s just call these authentic. Take them to work and watch the faces of your co-workers! I love them and I hope you do also. 

Saturday and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

One last ice fisherman.... will winter ever end? 

What a busy day! #saturdaysarethebest    We spent the day working in the house, barely making it out of our PJs and that felt so, so good! The kitchen is spotless. The bathrooms are gleaming. Dinner is on the stove (Spiced Potatoes with Lentils and Barley). Deck furniture is out of storage even though there is still some snow on the ground. #westmichigan.

And the most impressive announcement….. the laundry is all done!!! My hubby spent the day in the basement with basketball blaring on the TV #goblue AND #goMSU and he patiently washed, dried and folded every thread of clothing. I am blessed. (Not that the laundry is done, but because my guy loves our family and home that much – thanks, babe!) #besthusbandonearth

I did run a quick errand to the grocery store looking for red lentils, but no luck. I want to make a coconut curry red lentil soup just like the one I had at Seva Restaurant in  Ann Arbor a few weeks ago…spicy, sweet, creamy, hearty. #iliveinasmalltown

Speaking of great food, I made these little lovelies for my party last week, and as much as I want to share the recipe….. I must admit that I have lost it. (the recipe, not my mind) #gettingoverwhelmedwithclutter. Luckily, you can google “Lemon Tassies” and choose whichever recipe suits your fancy. They were excellent!

I also made my famous Bourbon Brownies. #cantgowrongwithboozeydesserts , but the best dessert on the tray were the chocolate chip cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking. #donttellmyfriendstheywerevegan. Dawn, over at Vegan Fazool, suggested the recipe to me and I send her zillions of thanks! #killerrecipe It’s better than ANY other chocolate chip cookie recipe. #idareyoutotryitt

Chocolate Chip Cookies (from The Joy of Vegan Baking, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

Here’s what you need:

4 ½ t Ener-G Egg Replacer (equivalent of 3 eggs)

6 T water

1 C non-hydrogenated, nondairy butter, softened (Earth Balance brand is the BEST)

¾ C granulated sugar

¾ C light brown sugar

2 t vanilla extract (use the good stuff, you are worth it!)

2 ¼  C flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1-2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 C chopped nuts (pecans are the BEST)

Here’s what you do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Whip the egg replacer until it’s thick and creamy. (Colleen suggests using a food processor, but I did it by hand.) Set it aside.

Cream the butter, sugars and vanilla. Add the egg replacer and mix thoroughly.

Combine the flour, soda, salt and gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. When it’s almost all combined, add the chips and nuts.

Bake for 8-10  minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool.

(printable recipe)

Chocolate Caramel Treasures

Hello dear readers,

December brings many extra responsibilities to my world! As a church music director and also a middle school teacher, there are so many extra music practices, Christmas events, parties and celebrations to organize and plan.... It's really fun,but it takes lots of time and effort. SO.... I am going to put the blog 'down for a nap' until the hustle and bustle is over. See you in a few weeks!! 

Merry Christmas to you all! 

It’s always problematic to file recipes and keep them all tidy and put in place. At least for me.  I have a few favorite methods of organizing them….notebooks, baskets, piles, big paper clips, shelves and bookcases. Believe me when I tell you that I am a clutter person. You should see my classroom! My kitchen is no better  - little piles of special projects in every corner. The worst (or best, depending on how you see it) place is next to my bed….. oh! So many great ideas are ready to bloom from the piles there! Let’s just chalk it up to creativity, shall we?  (hopefully, my husband is not reading this. And fellow teachers, please just keep your comments silent….  !)

This wonderful recipe comes from a few pages I have saved in a paper clip from Gourmet Magazine 1999. Yes, it took me 13 years to make these… and it was worth it! So, no comment from you organized people out there!

Listen to the names of the cookies in this most special bundle of magazine clippings, and tell me you wouldn’t want to save them for 13 years.

Sleigh Bells (can you even resist this name?? How fun!!)

Skibo Castle Ginger Crunch (gotta make these!)

Grandpa  Landwehrle’s Pfeffernusse (German + Spice + Grandpa = heaven on earth)

Chocolate Sambuca Crinkle Cookies (I made these last week… yes, I have a bottle of Sambuca in my cupboard – don’t judge me!)

Swedish Ginger Thins (these would be great with coffee… I am currently reading “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series, which takes place in Sweden and all they do is drink coffee in the book!)

Rainbow Cookies (I have made these also – they have lots of colorful layers)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheel Cookies (I have had very bad luck with the so-called-pinwheel method)

Serina Kaker (some kind of Norwegian Christmas cookie)

Chocolate Caramel Treasures (who could resist?)

Here’s what you need for the cookie:

1 stick butter, softened

2/3 C sugar

1 egg yolk

2 T whole milk

1 t vanilla

1 C Dutch­ – process unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ salt

1 large egg white, lightly whipped

½ C finely chopped hazelnuts

Here’s what you need for the filling:

10 -12 plain caramels, unwrapped

2 T heavy cream

Here’s what you do:

Beat together butter, sugar, yolk, milk, and vanilla with an electric mixer until blended well. Sift in flour, cocoa, and salt and beat on low speed until mixture forms a dough. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll scant tablespoons of dough into balls, then coat with egg white, letting excess drip off, and roll in nuts to coat. Arrange balls, once coated, 1 ½ inches apart on greased baking sheets and press your thumb into the center of balls to flatten, leaving a depression. Bake in batches in middle of oven until puffed slightly but centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press centers of cookies again with the handle end of a wooden spoon. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Make the filling while the cookies are cooling: Heat the caramels and cream until melted over low heat. Spoon the caramel filling into the cookie. Cool completely.

Vanilla Chip Maple Cookies

As soon as Thanksgiving is over and December is on the horizon, I get into COOKIE MODE. I’ve got a bus load of 7^th and 8^th graders and their parents all counting on me to get them to Washington DC in the spring. Selling cookies is one of my best money makers. But I need lots, and lots, and lots of cookies.

Here’s how I do it: I set up a room in my school during our annual Craft Fair. I ask everyone I know to bake cookies for me (thanks, friends, if you’re reading this!) I collect and decorate coffee cans (they’re plastic these days, not as nice as the old tin ones). Then I welcome folks in to fill as many cans as they want to the brim with cookies. Simple…. Sugary, but simple!

For the Cookie Walk this year, I made three types of cookies – today I share this recipe from Taste of Home Winning Recipes. If you like maple flavoring, you will love these.

Here’s what you need for the cookie:

1 C shortening

½ C butter

2 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

1 t maple flavoring

3 C all-purpose flour

2 t baking soda

2 C vanilla or white chips

½ C chopped pecans ( I think I used walnuts here)

Here’s what you need for the frosting:

¼ C butter, softened

4 C confectioners’ sugar

1 t maple flavoring

4-6 T milk

3 ½ C pecan halves

Here’s what you do: (I think you know the routine for a basic cookie, but here goes, anyway!)

Cream the shortening, butter and brown sugar together, until all incorporated. Add in  the eggs, vanilla and maple flavoring. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Stir in the chips and nuts.

Drop cookies by rounded tablespoon, onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Mix the frosting ingredients. Spread over warm cookies and place a pecan half in the melty frosting. Cool completely before storing. 

Marry Me Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let’s play a matching game today. Can you name the person who said these love quotes? You may choose from the following people:

A. Elizabeth Barrette Browning

B.   God

C.  J. Geils

D. Plato

E.  Robert Frost

F. Ryan O’Neal  (in that corny old movie)

1. “At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”

2.”How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.”

3. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

4. “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.”

5. “Love means not ever having to say you're sorry.”

6. “Love stinks.”

How did you do? Click here to see the answers.

If you need to propose marriage to someone in the near future, then you might be interested in making these cookies. Or if you’re like me and happily married (almost 27 years!), maybe you just want to make them for your sweetheart.

Supposedly, you bake them and you get a marriage proposal…..hmmmm…..anyone willing to try it? J They’re mighty good.

Here’s what you need: (I tweaked the recipe found on Cooking Channel website.)

1 C butter

1 ¼ C dark brown sugar

½ C sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 t pure vanilla

2 C flour

1 C oats

½ t baking soda

½ t salt

¼ cinnamon

2 C chocolate chips (original recipe called for a mix of both white and dark chips, but you will never find a white chip in this house.)

Here’s what you do: There are a lot of strange steps, so read carefully!

Melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and add the sugars. Stir until well blended. Chill for 10 minutes in the fridge.  There’s something so, so great about the aroma of melted butter and brown sugar, am I right?

Remove from fridge and add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

Add the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well.

Living dangerously up here in Michigan - cold enough to cool my cookie dough in the garage next to my hubby's tennis shoes. See the bike and the broom? Those are not actually needed to make these. And actually, neither is that boot.  

Stir in the chocolate chips. Roll by hand into 24 medium size balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 12-14 minutes

(printable recipe)

One Year Ago: Baked Beans

One Year Ago : Sesame-Ginger Tilapia en Papillote

Cashew Drops

Last week you read my prose; today it's poetry. I call it "Ode to the Cashew."

Cashews, oh cashews, how do I love you?

Your buttery flavor, your sweet taste, your lovely texture

I could eat you in the morning in my cereal

I could eat you in the noontime in my salads

I could eat you in the afternoon by the handful

I could eat you in the evening in my stir-fry

And I could definitely eat you in a cookie!

Oh! And don’t forget at bedtime on my chocolate ice cream J

If you like cashews you will LOVE these. LOVE!

Here’s what you need for the cookie:

½ C butter, softened (you may NOT use margarine here….stick to the real thing)

1 C packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 C sour cream

1 t vanilla (you should use the real stuff, not the imitation…makes a noticeable difference)

2 C flour

¾ t baking powder

¾ t baking soda

¾ t salt

1 ¾ C salted cashew halves (yes, I know, that’s a lot, but trust me! Great! I chopped mine just a little bit.)

Here’s what you need for the frosting:

½ C butter

3 T half-and-half (I think I actually used whole milk….)

½ t vanilla

2 C powdered sugar

More cashews for the top of each cookie

Here’s what you do:

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, sour cream and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and add them to the creamed mixture. Mix well.  Fold in the cashews.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting, melt the butter; remove from heat, add cream, vanilla and sugar. Mix to desired consistency. Frost and decorate with cashew halves. Glorious!

Snickerdoodles : A snack for my students

I made Snickerdoodles today for my 7^th and 8^th graders. They are reading a Jerry Spinelli novel called Loser. It’s the story of a sweet and unique boy named Donald Zinkoff.  Donald is clumsy, he is not great at school or sports, he raises his hand at the wrong time, and he falls down with laughter at his own jokes. Because he is different, he is labeled ‘loser’ by the other kids. Of course by the end of the novel the kids have learned to appreciate Donald for who he is and Donald gains self-confidence. The book is filled with lessons about bullying and the importance of accepting people as they are. Great lessons not only for 7^th and 8^th graders, but for all of us.

The essay question posed to my students is to explain this quote from the book (pg 94). “As with all discoveries, it is the eye and not the object that changes.”  Three well-written paragraphs, typed, one quote from the novel, due tomorrow. J

Another note about Donald Zinkoff – he loves Snickerdoodles.

¼ C sugar

1 T cinnamon

1 ½ C sugar

1 C butter

2 eggs

2 ¾ C all-purpose flour

2 t cream of tartar

1 t baking soda

¼ t salt

Mix ¼ C sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and mix well. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Mix well.

Shape dough into 1 ½ inch balls. Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove while warm and cool on rack. 

Cranberry- Marmalade Pinwheels

Are you on the hunt for a very tricky recipe? One that will make you pull your hair out? Perhaps let a few choice words spew out? A recipe that takes all day and leaves you feeling frustrated and exhausted at the same time?

Look no further; I present the second cookie in my series of cookies for my annual Cookie Walk Fund Raiser.

Here’s what you need for the filling (which was actually pretty darn tasty)

1 T cornstarch

¾ C whole berry cranberry sauce

¼ C orange marmalade

Cook over low until boiling. Then cool for 1 hour.

Here’s what you need for the cookie (which also was pretty darn tasty)

¾ C brown sugar

½ C butter

1 ¾ C flour

1 t baking powder

1 t grated orange peel

¼ t salt

¼ t allspice (which I love – it made the dough very warm and cozy tasting)

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix well – I was reduced to using my hands. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

After everything has had a chance to chill in the fridge, roll the dough out into a 16x8 rectangle on a highly floured surface …use a measuring tape and trim away excess.  Spread the cranberry marmalade mixture over.  Then simply ('simply'.... yeah, right…) , cut the rectangle in half and roll each half up into a pretty roll. Be prepared for filling to squeeze out everywhere and for the dough to stick to everything. Wrap (again) and chill in the freezer for a few hours.

When the little logs are sufficiently firm, simply ( 'simply'.... yeah, right…) slice and bake….. 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Use a greased cookie sheet. Remove them immediately with a metal spatula to cool on a wire rack. 

I don’t know why I get these wild ideas to try new and involved recipes. Actually I was rather pleased at how these turned out… they just took some TLC to make. Stay tuned for more Cookie Walk recipes as soon as I recover from making these. 

Cardamom Shortbread Cookies

One of the many hats I wear is 8^th grade American History teacher at a small Lutheran school. This role came to me late in my teaching career, and at first, I was intimidated at the depth and breadth of the topic. So, in my usual fashion, I determined to do the best I could; I took many, many history classes, read everything that came my way, upped my teaching certification, and voila! I now teach 8^th grade American History! Not only do I teach it, I LOVE it! Just ask my students.

Organizing and chaperoning a biennial (“happening every two years”… had to look that one up in the dictionary….) trip to Washington DC is a highlight of the job. To get there, we need money, so another hat I sometimes wear is Fund Raiser.

My annual Cookie Walk is an excellent way to earn funds – it’s pure profit. Click here to see last year’s event. To make it successful, I need lots and lots and lots of cookies. Today I share my first batch: Cardamom Shortbread Cookies, now all tucked away in my freezer for the big day.

Here’s what you need for the cookie:

1/3 C sugar

1 C butter – no substitutions here

1 t vanilla

¼ t almond

2 ¼ C flour

2 t cardamom

 Here’s what you need for the glaze:

1 C powdered sugar

½ t vanilla

1/8 t almond

1-3 T milk

Here’s what you do:

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and almond flavors. Mix together the dry ingredients and incorporate them into the butter mixture. Line two 9-inch pans with foil and spray the daylights out of them. Make sure the foil is hanging over the tops because you will need to be able to grab on to it in order to lift the cookies from the pan.

As you can see, the dough was dry and crumbly, but it seemed OK. Use your hands to press the dough into the two pans. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool for 10 minutes. Lift gently from pans with the foil ‘handles.’ Cut them into 16 wedges while still warm.

When completely cool, drizzle glaze over them and CAREFULLY separate. There were some broken ones, but they went quickly into my mouth.

Delicate. Spicy. Buttery. 

Oatmeal Honey Cookies

These cookies might get away with the name Oatmeal Honey Breakfast Cookie – I am eating two as I write this. It’s very early Saturday morning and I am having my first cup of coffee.

It’s my favorite part of the week actually.  Sitting in my favorite chair, the house is quiet, the dog is in his favorite spot right near my feet, the sun is rising outside my window. The sky is honey colored and the trees are golden. There is frost on the lawn and mist is rising from the lake. Autumn at its finest. The day is full of possibilities.

If you like oatmeal, you will like these cookies and if you like honey, you will love them.

Here’s what you need:

1 ½ C sugar (I think you could get away with 1 C)

¾ C butter

2/3 C honey

3 egg whites

4 C oats

2 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking soda

Here’s what you do:

Mix the sugar and butter. Add the honey and egg whites. Add the oatmeal and mix well. Add remaining ingredients.

You can see I made some small cookies and some giant cookies. The small ones were 1 level tablespoonful baked for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. The giant ones were ¼ cupful, pressed down a bit before baking, baked for about 15-17 minutes at 350 degrees.  They never got completely brown on the bottom and I did not over bake them – just left them a tiny bit soft in the middle. Excellent. Chewy. Sweet. Golden. 

One Year Ago: Eggplant and Wild Rice (one of my favorite ways to eat eggplant)
                        Four Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
     Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Bundt Cake (you might already know how much I like my Bundt cakes!!)

ginger pecan chews

As I look out my kitchen window, all I see is snow, snow, snow and more snow. The temperature is dropping, the fireplace is ablaze (thanks to the flip of a switch....) and I'm in the mood for comfort food. It's the perfect time of year to hibernate indoors with a cup of tea and a home made cookie.

I got very brave a few weeks ago and made crystallized ginger at home. It was very easy and pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The bonus now is that I have all the crystallized ginger I need for baking and snacking. 

Click here to see how I made it.

These are the perfect cookies for a blustery winter day – very warm tasting and filled with flavor.  My kitchen smelled warm and spicy while these were baking.

Here’s what you need:

½ C sugar

½ C butter, softened

½ C molasses

½ C chopped crystallized ginger

1 egg

2 C flour

1 t ground ginger

½ t baking soda

½ t salt

½ C chopped pecans

Some pecan halves for decorating the top of each cookie

Here’s what you do:

Cream butter and sugar. Add the molasses, crystallized ginger and egg and mix well. 

Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Shape heaping tablespoonfuls into balls and gently press pecan half on top of each cookie.

Bake 375 degrees for about 12 minutes.

I love this type of cookie at all time of the year, but especially on cold winter days with a cup of tea.

(printable recipe)

4 ingredient peanut butter cookies

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Really. Just four ingredients. These cookies are delicate, very sweet and they have an intense peanut butter flavor. I personally think some peanut butter cookies can have a greasy, heavy taste, but these do not.

Here’s all you need:

1 C good peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

1 C sugar (next time I will try using ¾ C)

1 egg

1 t baking soda

Here’s what you do:

Mix the ingredients with a mixer. Scoop dough out in level spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Make them small – they are very delicate.

I like to make cross hatches with the tines of a fork which has been dipped in sugar…. Allow some of the grains of sugar to sprinkle down upon the cookie for extra goodness.

Bake 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Remove with metal spatula and allow to cool completely.  It’s that easy!