Cookies Everywhere

I mentioned on my other blog that it was getting down to the baking wire and I needed to get started in order to redeem myself. Well, consider me redeemed.

I spent five hours yesterday baking cookies. All told, I baked about 250 cookies, many of which will go to friends and neighbors. I made Coconut Macaroons, Copycat Sunshine Lemon Coolers, Festive 3-D Stars, Soft Milk Chocolate Chips, and the Mocha Chocolate Chips that Bluepaintred posted about on her blog. Oh, and quite by accident I made a few cut-out Christmas trees (because I got tired of making stars and had leftover dough). I just frosted those with pre-made cake frosting. Nothing special, but Sparky will like them.

And here's a tip for you...if you are going on a turbo cookie making marathon like this, start out with the lightest (in color and flavor) recipe first and work your way to the darker, more flavorful recipes (like the chocolate ones) last. Why? Because then you don't have to wash your mixer, beaters or bowls in between batches! At the very most, all you have to do is give it a quick rinse, and that's only if it has coconut or nuts in it that you don't want in the next batch. This saves a ton of time and effort.

Coconut Macaroons
(These are one of Spouse Guy's favorite. It's a small batch, making only a dozen, so I usually double it.)

2 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups shredded coconut

Heat oven to 325° F. Grease and lightly flour cookie sheet (or use parchment paper).

In medium bowl, beat egg whites lightly. Add sugar, flour, salt and almond extract. Blend well. Add coconut and mix well.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on pan. Bake 13-17 minutes, until set. Remove immediately and cool on wire racks.

Makes about 1 dozen.


Festive 3-D Stars


(This was originally posted in Taste of Home Dec/Jan 2007. I have to say I'm not thrilled with this recipe. The shortbread cookies taste just fine, but getting them to interlock is a big pain in the butt. If they aren't thin enough, or if the slot cut into them is either too narrow or two wide, they won't interlock right. That's a lot of ifs. Also, I had to add quite a bit of extra flour to get this dough to a workable consistency; that could because I used all butter and no shortening. And the excess sugar makes a big mess on the cookie sheets, even with parchment paper. In any event, I file these in the "good, but not worth my time" file.)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup red or green colored sugar

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Chill for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-inch five point star-shaped cookie cutter. Cut a vertical slit between two points on each star to just above the center; spread dough apart to form a 1/4-inch opening.



Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Bake at 400° F. for 6-7 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Assemble by placing two stars together at slits.

Makes about 3 dozen (assembled) cookies.

Copycat Sunshine Lemon Coolers
(I've had this recipe in my card file for a long time, but this is my first time to try it. They are good little cookies; the only change I would make is to increase the Kool-Aid lemonade powder to make them more lemony. Also, this is a great dough to let your kids "play with" to make candy canes, snowmen and other shapes.)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon (rounded) unsweetened Kool-Aid lemonade powder

Heat oven to 325°. Cream together sugars, butter, egg, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Add flour and baking powder.

If dough is crumbly, add water, 1 teaspoon at a time until a smooth dough forms. If dough is soft, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. The goal is to have a dough that is smooth and similar in consistency to Play-Doh.

Roll dough into 3/4" balls and flatten each slightly onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 15-18 minutes or until light brown.

While cookies bake, mix 1 cup powdered sugar with Kool-Aid lemonade powder in a large plastic bag; shake well to mix. When cookies are removed from oven, and while they are still hot, add 4-5 at a time and shake until cookies are well-coated with sugar mixture. Place on wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Makes about 5 dozen.


Soft Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

(These soft cookies are most requested in Blogaritaville. It's the pudding mix that keeps them soft. Feel free to use semi-sweet chips instead of milk chocolate if you like.)

1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 4-serving package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 12-ounce package milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375° F.

Beat butter, sugar, pudding mix, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy.

Mix in flour and baking soda. Stir in chips and nuts.

Drop by spoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie pan. Bake 8-12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

(These are my favorite of the five recipes. )

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 tablespoons instant coffee crystals
1-3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350° F.

In large bowl, cream together sugars and butter. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well-blended.

Add rest of ingredients and mix until combined.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for one minute on cookie sheets before moving to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 to 3-1/2 dozen.