Homemade Oreos March 29, 2009

I am kind of a food blog addict, and a Stumble addict as well, so when I “stumbled ” the food blog SmittenKitchen (listed in my blog roll) I died and went to baking heaven.  If you get a chance to visit and love cookies prepare to browse for a while as the homepage is quite drool-worthy, however the first thing to catch my eye was the stack of homemade “Oreos”.

I’ve never been an Oreo girl, opting for their more chocolately  brother the Fudgee-O, the homade version kicks boxed cookie bum. Theyare also easily changed depending on your taste by adding different extract or cocoa. I will copy and paste directing from her site  but the way I prefer them is by using the less sugar option and adding 1-2 drops of green food coloring as well as 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract to the icing.

Homemade Oreos
Retro Desserts, Wayne Brachman

Let’s talk about the sugar for a minute, shall we? This is a sweet cookie. A good, sweet cookie. Yet, if you think of an actual Oreos, the wafers are fairly un-sweet and actually on the slightly salty side, which contrasts with the super-sweetness of the filling bringing harmony, happiness, yada yada. If you want your cookie closer to that original, you can take out a full half-cup of the sugar. If you want to make the cookie by itself (as I did a while back for ice cream sandwiches), go ahead and use the full amount.

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

Coconut Cookies December 6, 2008

Sorry I haven’t had time to post in a while, but I just made these today and they turned out great! Hope you enjoy them.

Coconut cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp cardamon
1 1/3 cups flaked unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter with sugar. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract.  In a separate bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda, mix and then add to the butter mixture. When well combined add coconut, stirring well.

I like to make these  on the small size,  drop by small teaspoon full and bake for about 6-10 minutes. Keep a eye on these cause they cook relatively quick, you want golden brown bottoms and softer looking tops. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies November 3, 2008

It’s classic because everyone needs their favorite chocolate chip recipe, this happens to be mine.

Chocolate chip Cookies

1 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 -2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter with sugar. Add vanilla and eggs, mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients  Add dry to wet, and mix well. Add chocolate chips and combine.

Place dough in fridge for about 30 minutes while oven heats up.

Grease a cookie sheet and  drop batter by  teaspoon unto sheets. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until they are golden brown on bottom. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

Ginger Spice Cookies September 3, 2008

Yummy fall cookies, good with tea! You can make these vegan by using margarine instead of butter and powdered egg substitute accoridng to package directions.

Ginger Spice Cookies

1 cup butter

1-1/3 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

3 cups all-purpose flour

3  tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 tsp baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2″ piece of fresh ginger grated

Preheat oven to 350

In a large mixing bowl, creambutter and brown sugar together.

Add egg and molasses and mix well.

Mix in flour, ground ginger, allspice, cinnamon, fresh ginger, vanilla, baking soda, and salt; stir into the molasses mixture using a wooden spoon.

Refrigerate dough for atleast one hour if not over night

When making cookies, roll into 1 inch balls, dip in granulated sugar mixed with ground ginger. plac eon greased cookie sheet then press with a fork to flatten.

Bake for about 10 mins and let cool on rack for a bout 2 mins before transfering to wire rack.

THE COOKIES (Mere’s Fave) August 6, 2008

I am super super sorry for the delay but this has been the most pressured recipe. I have never had a recipe for these cookies, they are the handful of this handful of that , pinch of this, dash of that type of cookies. You can make these into cookies or put them in a square pan and make bars. I used to make these all the time when I had the ingredients and bring them to my lovely ladies at MCS. The theory behind them is I wanted to make cookies but didn’t want to use refined sugars and I wanted to use as little processed things as possible by using natural peanut butter, whole oats, seeds, fruits and grains, but I do through in some chocolate cause there is nothing better than peanut butter and chocolate hehe. Anyways I hope they live up to the haphazard way I usually make them … this is all for Meredith…. now you don’t need me anymore Mere hehe.

The Cookies

1 cup of chocolate chips
3/4 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut(optional, I just use it if I have it on hand)
1/4 cup of flax seed
2 1/2 cup of rolled oats
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup peanut butter, natural if you have it, but it doesn’t affect the texture
1 tsp vanilla or maple flavoring
1/2 maple syrup, a little more if you need the moisture

Preheat oven to 325

Combine all dry ingredients then add wet to them. I do this just incase u need to add more
maple syrup. It’s a hard mix and can be messy so good luck, but since i have never had
a recipe for this until now this is how I do it.

Once it is all combined and sticking to itself, grease a pan, and start dropping cookies on it.
This recipe does not spread out, so I usually make 2 tsp full cookies, and pat them down a little.
You can also makes these into bars if you would like, it works well. Just press into a 9 by 9 inch square pan
and bake until brown, usually about 20 mins. The cookies bake about 8-10 minute, just until their bottoms are brown.

When you take the cookies out of the oven let them cool on the pan for about 2-3 minutes, be careful transferring them to a wire rack and the smalled the grid on the rack the better, once they cook they are much more sturdy.

Hope this works for you Mere, mine are baking as I speak, let me know how they turned out for you!

Peanut Candy(cookies) July 9, 2008

These are suppose to be no bake cookies, but they are definitely a lot more like candy. I found a recipe like this on the internet that had rave reviews and decided to try it using the ingredients I had on hand. The result is below.

Chewy Peanut Candy Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 jar (18 oz ounce) peanut butter, yes an entire jar about 2 cups, smooth or crunchy or a mix
6 cups corn flakes ( I used organic multi grain flakes and added 1/3 cup of flax seeds for interest)

Chocolate to drizzle, don’t used standard baking chocolate but darker less sweet chocolate works wellbecause these cookies are really sweet.

*Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and stir until the mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from heat and stir in the whole jar of peanut butter. Mix well.

*Add corn flakes to a large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over corn flakes and flax seeds and mix well, taking care to coat all of the corn flakes.

With a tablespoon (or two) scoop out and form into approximately 1 inch balls, and let cool on wax paper.

Put the chocolate in a small bowl and melt in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir and drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies.

Let set until hardened and chocolate has set. You should store these in the fridge as well, especially during the warmer months.

Peanut Butter Balls July 9, 2008

Aw how I love thee peanut butter. This is a good recipe for summer because it’s no baking, only one bowl and I pop them in the freezer. Feel free to mix up the cereal, flaked cereals are actually good in them. I recently used a cinnamon flavored one and everyone wanted to know what I did different. Add dried fruit, more coconut and dip in chocolate if you like but this is the standard recipe.

Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup of icing sugar

4 tbsp butter or margerine

1/2 cup unsweeteened fine shredded coconut

1 cup of rice crispie(s) type cereal

Mix together in the order given. Roll into balls and roll them into icing sugar then coconut. I like to freeze them, but you should definitely stick them in the fridge to store if you don’t want to freeze them.

Easy Ice Cream Sandwiches July 2, 2008

I was given this recipe by word of mouth from Melinda, and now I have made these a few times. If you want to make them more difficult Vegan Ice Soy Sandwiches, it is possible using your favorite vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe, soy ice cream and nuts. Since the summer calls for laziness I use everything pre-made (gasp!) to save on a hot kitchen and improve on quick sampling

Pre-made bakery cookies (flavor of choice) I really like the mini ones if you can find them

1 carton of ice cream ( again choose flavor but I’m a sucker for a quality vanilla)

toffee chips, chopped nuts, toasted coconut, mini chocolate chips or mini m&m’s to roll in

Let ice cream soften a bit on the counter, if using mini cookies scoop about 1-2 tbsp of ice cream unto one cookie and top with another, roll in any combination of the above. Store in a seal-able container and put in the freezer. I usually make about 5 before I transfer them to the freezer again. You can make these with the bigger cookies you just need to add more ice cream. You can also make your own cookies and own ice cream. But let them freeze for about an hour before you eat them.

Dave’s Favorite Cookies (Jiffy Cookies) June 24, 2008

I suppose these got there name because they are done in a “jiffy” that tells you how old this recipe really is. These are quick, no bake and great if you need sugar chocolate fix. These are Dave’s favorite cookies therefore I have a lot of practice making these and it’s Mom’s recipe hands down BUT last time I made these I made them vegan and they were even better then the non-vegan recipe in my opinion, so I am posting both.

Jiffy Cookies

2 cups of white sugar

1/2 cup of cocoa

1/2 cup of butter or 100% vegetable margerine

1/2 milk or soy milk

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups of quick cooking oats

* Lay out a long strip of waxed paper on your countertop.

*Mix sugar, cocoa, butter ( or margerine), milk(or soy milk) in saucepan, bring to a boil stirring constantly.

*Let boil for one full minute, remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, salt and vanilla.

*When mix is smooth, add oats and coat completely.

*Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let set. It usually takes 30-60 minutes to set, but they are really good in the in between stage if you don’t mind messy fingers.

“Healthy” Cookies June 22, 2008

As if….but they are a little more conscious of healthy eating habits. No white flour, no sugary peanut butter but they do have sugar and fat and eggs. These ones are made with whole wheat flour and have spices, and I sometimes grate about 1/2 cup of carrot into them. Kelly Day loves these cookies, I used to make them when we lived together on Windsor and we figured these would be a good cookie for kids. I have served them to my nieces and nephew and they seem to like them a lot even though they lack chocolate chips.

“Healthy” Cookies a.k.a Another Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter
1 cup smooth natural peanut butter
1+1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1+1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1+ 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut
1-1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cardemon (or cinnamon if you don’t have any on hand)
1/2 tsp of allspice
1/2 tsp ginger( if you ahve it fresh grated ginger is good too)

*** optional 1/2 cup of finely grated carrot)*****

*Preheat oven to 350F

* In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter. Add the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix well.

*Combine oats,coconut and carrots, flour, baking soda, spices and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well.

*Drop “healthy” teaspoonfuls onto non stick or lightly greased baking sheet. Flatten with fork.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until done.

*Remember to let cookies rest on sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to cooling rack.