Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 t. vanilla
3/4 t. corn syrup
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1 c. peanut butter
1 c. flour
2 c. oats
1 bag chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter with sugars. Mix in eggs, vanilla, corn syrup, baking soda and peanut butter. Add flour, oats and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 14 minutes.

Makes 3 dozen

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

"I've never made oatmeal raisin cookies before, and wanted to try. I found this on allrecipes.com, and they were awesome!"


INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Make sure you get some, because they don't last long!

Yield: 3 doz.

Lemon Pie Bars

"I was looking for a fruity, non-chocolate dessert and found this on allrecipes.com"


INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Mix 2 cups of flour and confectioner's sugar together. Cut in the butter. Mix well until the dough resembles pie dough consistency. Press the dough into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Beat together eggs, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lemon juice and lemon rind for at least 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the baked crust.
Bake the bars another 20 minutes, or until the lemon topping has set. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar when cooled.

Notes:

It's best to mix the dough with your hands

Cranberry Orange Cookies

"I found this on allrecipes.com. I made them without the icing, but since they're a little tart I think I'll add the icing next time. I made changes as suggested by a review."


INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest (I used McCormick's orange peel in a jar)
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh cranberries, cut in half
1/2 almond slivers

Icing (optional)
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and extract until well blended. Mix in orange zest and orange juice. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Icing:
In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over the tops of cooled cookies. Let stand until set.

Notes:

I used parchment paper on the cookie sheets, and mixed the dough by hand because it was very dry.
This only made about 3 1/2 dozen for me.

Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

"I was on an airplane and a lady across the aisle was reading a magazine with this recipe in it. I asked her what magazine it was and found the recipe online. It ended up being a Paula Dean recipe. Please read my notes at the bottom."


Ingredients:

2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 6-ounce package raspberry cream-filled dark chocolate baking pieces, such as Hershey's brand, or plain dark chocolate pieces
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon seedless raspberry preserves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease 1 or more cookie sheets.

Using a mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and both sugars in a bowl until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla; beat well.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Gradually add to the butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in the baking pieces. Drop by tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk and raspberry preserves. Stir until smooth. When the cookies have cooled, drizzle the icing over them.

Yield: 4 dozen

Notes:

-This recipe makes very small cookies. I made my tiny and still only got 3 1/2 dozen. Next time I would double the recipe and the size of the cookies.

-The only chocolate I found with raspberry inside was Ghiradelli squares. The package was a little less than 6 ounces, but it worked out fine.

-The only brand of seedless red raspberry preserves I found was called Polander All Fruit, and it still wasn't preserves, it was spread. The color was too brownish for the icing compared to the pinkish icing in the photo for the original recipe, so I added a couple drops of red food coloring. I also had to add an additional tablespoon or two of milk to the icing

Scottish Shortbread

"This is super easy to make and tastes wonderful! I found this on allrecipe.com"


INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Blend all ingredients well. Dough will be stiff (best to mix with hands).
Press into a 9 x 9 inch buttered dish. Prick top with a fork.
Bake until pale golden brown on the top (approx. 30 minutes). Cool and cut into squares.

Sugar Cookie Cut-outs with Icing

"I found these two recipes on allrecipes.com. I wanted an icing recipe that hardened so the cookies could be stacked...different from the frosting in a can I usually use. The icing is pretty and glossy and makes store-bought looking cookies."


Cookies: (makes 5 dozen)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Notes:

-Use parchment paper on top of cookie sheets (can use again and again and it never sticks)

-make sure you flour top of dough you're rolling out and the rolling pin.

-mine only took 6 minutes and were the 1/4 in. thickness


ICING: (enough for the five dozen cookies)

INGREDIENTS:

5 cups confectioners' sugar
10 teaspoons milk
10 teaspoons light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring
sprinkles (optional)


DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

Notes:

-I added more milk instead of corn syrup to get the consistency I wanted