Molasses Cookies

Molasses Cookies

1/4 molasses
1 egg
3/4 shortening
1 c sugar
2 t baking soda
2 c flour
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t ginger
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt

Mix molasses and egg. Add other ingredients. Roll dough into small balls, and roll in sugar. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. 

Cake Mix Cookies

John was famous for cake mix cookies when we were dating at BYU.

Cake Mix Cookies
1 cake mix
1 egg
1 cube butter
1 t. vanilla

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 for 10 minutes.

John's "Deceptive" Andes Mint Cookies

Several years ago, John made and delivered these cookies to his Home Teaching families. Later, at church, one of the ladies told him his cookies were "deceptive!" They look just like chocolate chip cookies, but the Andes Mint chunks provide a much different flavor.

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1 pkg Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

2 2/3 c. flour

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs. Stir in baking chips and then flour. Chill dough 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Sugar Cookies and Buttercream Frosting

This is the recipe my Mom used for Christmas cookies to decorate every year. I mixed it up by using almond flavoring in the frosting for Valentine's Day. One batch of each makes about 2 dozen medium rolled-out cookies. I am very good at saving money and time by leaving out ingredients. I used to make the cookies without the lemon rind, but I recently discovered they are much better with it. So don't leave it out!

Sugar Cookies
Blend together:
1/2 c. butter
1 t. grated lemon rind
1 c. sugar

Beat in:
1 egg
2 T. orange juice

Stir in:
2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. soda
1/2 t. nutmeg

Chill for a while to ease handling. Roll to 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 400 7-9 minutes. We rotate the dough in the freezer so it stays cool and easy to roll. Also, if you don't roll the dough thin enough, the cookies will spread and ruin your cookie cutter shape. And, if you keep the cookies in a sealed container, they will stay nice and soft. Just layer wax paper in between.

Buttercream Frosting (James Beard Cookbook)
1/3 c. butter
3-4 T. heavy cream
3 c. powdered sugar
flavoring

Cream together butter and sugar and beat in the cream. Flavor with 1 t. vanilla, almond, or lemon extract. For chocolate frosting, add 1/2 c. dark cocoa sifted with the sugar.

Make one batch for frosting for each batch of cookies.

Jake Cookies

This is one of two recipes we use regularly which are named after a former roommate. They are worth the extra effort. It makes a lot of cookies. I halved the recipe this morning and got over 5 dozen using a 2 oz cookie scoop. Blend the walnuts and the oatmeal in the blender after measuring. Also, grating the Hershey bar takes a very long time. This time I just threw in 1 T. of cocoa. Not as delicious, but definitely faster.

Blend together:
2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. blended walnuts
2 c. sugar
2 c. dark brown sugar

Mix in:
4 eggs
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. vanilla

Add:
5 c. blended oatmeal
4 c. flour
1 24 oz chocolate chips
1 8 oz Hershey bar, grated

Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes.

Peanut Butter Balls

I haven't posted anything in a while because I've been doing another sort of cooking - the bun-in-the-oven type where actual cooking doesn't sound appetizing. But yesterday John made these delicious cookies using a recipe from his sister, Jamie.

They are somewhere between peanut butter cookies (which are dry) and no-bake peanut butter balls (which are not nearly as delicious). If you like peanut butter, you must try these.

1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter
2 c. chocolate chips
1 egg

Mix and roll into balls. Roll balls in sugar. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Swedish Pepparkokar

This recipe is from my grandmother, Lorna Call. My mom made this every year along with sugar cookies. We decorated them with frosting a lot of the time, but traditionally, they have a blanched almond in the center.

1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 T. molasses
2 t. baking soda
1 T. warm water
3 c. sifted flour
2 t. ginger
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. cloves

Cream the butter and add the sugar gradually creaming continually. Beat in the egg and molasses and add the soda dissolved in warm water. Fold in sifted dry ingredients, mix well. Chill for several hours. Roll and cut out. Place a piece of blanched almond in the center of each and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 for 6-8 minutes or until done. Yields 4 dozen medium cookies.