Sugar Cookies

No matter if you call them sugar cookies or sugar cakes, the fact remains that they are delicious.  I have a few recipes for these cookies, but I am always willing to try more.  My personal preference is more of a soft pillowy cookie....unless I am going to frost the top.  Then, I make a recipe with a crispier cookie.

This is a new recipe for me, and it seems to blend the two ideas together.  It is soft and crispy at the same time.

The recipe I found was named Amish Sugar Cookies.  I'm not sure what makes them Amish, but that's really not the point.  These cookies are good.

The recipe does not call for milk, but have a glass on hand when the cookies come out. It's the perfect compliment to a warm cookie!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter 

1 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract (I would add a bit more for a bolder tasting cookie)

4-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

Directions

1. In large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugars. Beat in eggs until well blended. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually add to creamed mixture.
2. Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: about 5 dozen.

Easy recipe, no milk, no flour...peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

By now you know how much of an absolute peanut butter enthusiast I am.  I cannot, for the life of me, understand how people do not like peanut butter.  Just the mere thought of it makes my mouth water.

I stumbled upon this recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  It could not have been more simple.  There are only 5 ingredients!  There is also no milk and no flour!  I made these for my son's percussion group where there are some kids with lactose allergies and gluten allergies.  They almost created a black hole inhaling these cookies!

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp baking SODA
1 cup brown sugar....packed firmly (use light brown sugar)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

That's it!  Throw it all in a bowl and mix!  Scoop by tablespoon onto a lined cookie tray.  Oven should be 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake these for 7-9 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool completely before removing from tray.

These cookies are sooooo good.  They are gluten free and lactose free....so they are healthy right?  That's the rationale I use anyway.

Happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Cookies as good as grandma made...or close to it.

My love of baking comes from my grandmother.  She was your stereotypical housewife.  They believed in living a simple life.  They had no television, and she would wash the clothes in an old wringer machine.  The clothes would then be hung on the line to dry, winter or summer.  She ironed everything, from my grandfather's cloth hankies to sheets, everything got ironed.  

I stayed with my grandmother while my parents worked, so we spent a lot of time together.  Once a week she would say "time to make the chocolate chip cookies" and she would get to work.  I can still see her as she would measure the ingredients and mix up the batter.  She used the "2 spoon" method to drop the batter onto the cookie sheet.  I can remember how the cookies smelled as they came out of the oven.  

My grandmother has been gone for 9 years now; but she was not able to bake for quite some time before she passed.  When she passed, my step-mother got some of her recipes.  She has been trying to replicate the chocolate chip cookies, among other things, with little success.  My father and uncle say "Nope, it's close but not like Mom used to make."  

Well...when I was leaving home many, many years ago to get married, I noticed that my mother's Grange Hall cookbook jumped into one of my moving boxes (honest, it did that all by itself!).  Over the years, I have been perusing through the pages of this cookbook.  I found this chocolate chip cookie recipe.  The ingredients sounded similar to what I remember from all those years ago with my grandmother.  I decided to give it a go.  I'm so glad I did!  These cookies taste just like hers did.  Whenever I make these, I think of her and the many things she taught me all those years ago.  I miss her, and what I would not give to have her back just for a little while to give me more tips and pointers along the way.

Here is the chocolate chip cookie recipe:

ingredients:

1/2 cup soft shortening (I use stick margarine)

3/4 cup sugar (half brown sugar/half granulated)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1-1/8 cup flour (measure before sifting)

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

1 small package of chocolate chips

Mix together the shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla.  (I used my KitchenAid and let it go for about 5 minutes).  Stir in the sifted dry ingredients and add nuts and chips.  Drop by teaspoons 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.  Yield: 2 dozen