Magic milk cookies

I swear I didn't die. Someone actually emailed me recently asking if I started a new blog because she hadn't seen anything here in so long.

No, no new blog. Just still trying to get a handle on this new life. I hope to be able to blog some updates lately, but my poor sweet baby has struggled so bad with acid reflux that we pretty much have to constantly struggle with her to eat (not much appetite/throws it up) and to sleep (can't sleep - reflux wakes her up). Most days I feel like it's a success if I eat three meals and/or take a shower. Baby Zantac didn't do enough to help and now we're on to Baby Prilosec which, knock on wood, seems to be taking care of a lot of it. So maybe I'll return to the land of the living pretty soon.

In the meantime, I've had several people ask me for this magic recipe so I'm posting it here for everyone's reference! My wonderful neighbors brought over these lactation cookies and gave me the recipe. I find them very tasty and they're chock-full of ingredients to help boost milk supply. This batch made me 4.5 dozen - I froze 3 dozen in ziploc baggies of six and pull them out as needed (taste fine cold!) If you're needing a boost, whip up a batch.

What you need:
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. peanut butter
1 c. ground flax seed
4 T brewer’s yeast
1/3 c. water
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs1 3/4 c. rolled oats
Optional mix-ins (whatever you want!): chocolate chips, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds - get creative

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.

In a separate, large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add peanut butter and sugars and beat well. Add vanilla, yeast, flax, and water and beat until smooth and creamy. Add eggs on at a time, beating well between additions.

Slowly beat in flour, then oats. Then mix in all your fun goodies (Mine have 2 cups chocolate chips, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 cup raisins)

Drop onto parchment-lined paper and bake for 12 minutes.

Christmas Baking Part II

I love testing cookie recipes. Not just the baking - the eating :)

For neighbors and friends, we always take around a plate of cookies. Here's this year's selection and my thoughts on all three.

Disclaimer: You WILL want to go make these after I'm done describing them. I can't pick a favorite and neither can Hans. And I can't stop eating them...

Grinch Cookies (AKA mint chocolate chip)

I saw several of these floating around pinterest, but I already have a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe that I love. So, I used my favorite recipe (get it here!) I added green food coloring (doesn't show too well in the pic) and then swapped regular chocolate chips for mint chocolate chips. I had intended to add some peppermint extract to the recipe but forgot and I'm kinda glad - I think the mint woulda been too strong. The mint chocolate chips were the perfect amount. This recipe makes about 50.

Cherry Chocolate Shortbread - (The Curvy Carrot)

Hans proclaimed this one as his favorite. It's very buttery, but not overly sweet. The cherries add a wonderfully tart flavor to it. And I just love eating the extra cherries while I bake :) The recipe calls for regular Hershey kisses, but when I was at Target, I saw some cherry cordial kisses that I figured would go well. Oh. My. Gosh. Way to go Past Me - I think this made the cookie. Use these if you can find them. They're amazing. One last note: The recipe says to put the kiss in the middle immediately after you pull them out of the oven. Don't do that. I learned that the hardway with pumpkin kiss cookies a couple months ago. They get to melty. Let the cookies cool a couple minutes before pressing the kisses into the center. This recipe made the least... maybe 28. Hans was sad.

Hot Cocoa - (Pip and Ebby)

I think this one was my favorite. It's so fudgey and gooey and wonderful. I can't wait to make it again. It's very simple to put together and what you can't see in the pic is that it has melty chocolate in the middle. Only thing I'd suggest is that the recipe calls for 12 oz semisweet chocolate bars - I just used chocolate chips and that worked great. I used semi-sweet baking bars for the centers and garnish, but I think regular ol' Hershey bars would be great, too. This recipe made 32 for me.

Christmas Baking Part I

Now that all the Christmas gifts are purchased and shipped and work is winding down for the year, I can finally do what I've been itching to for the past two weeks... start baking!

For Round One of Baking Week, I'm trying out three new recipes: some basic Hershey's fudge, a Lofthouse copy cat recipe, and a mint crinkle cookie recipe.

I may be seven months pregnant, but I can still knock out 11 dozen cookies like no body's business :)

And now for my thoughts on these recipes:

Mamie Eisenhower's Fudge

I've never made fudge before - it was really easy! mix, pour, fridge. Done. It makes a TON and it's very tasty. Recommend.

Lofthouse Knockoffs

I'm not usually a fan of the store-bought Lofthouse cookies, though I know everyone else adores them. I think it's the icing... it's too sweet or something. But these... these, I love. This recipe makes 5-6 dozen and the icing is perfect. Another icing I tried before was too runny. This was great, and not too sweet. I'll be making these again. Recommend.

Mint Crinkle Cookies

Last year, Panera bread had a mint crinkle cookie that Hans LOVED. I've been trying to find something similar and just can't come close. These were very good though and Hans was pleased with them. I found something lacking in them. I made them twice - the first time I thought it looked weird as a ball so I squished them. They came out too hard and too flat and the powdered sugar all absorbed. The second time, I left them in balls and they baked up much more pillow-y and soft. I also cut the mint in half the second time - the amount the recipe calls for is too much in my opinion. And I think it needs something extra to reach a more gooey, chocolatey, brownie consistency. I might try adding some melted chocolate chips if I were to make this recipe again. All in all tasty, but not a fav. I'll give it a Recommend just because Hans was happy with it.

Now EBQuickstart cookies are done, I just have to figure out what to make for church people and friends :)

Pumpkin spice kiss cookies

I can't wait for fall. The cooler weather. The holidays. Hot cocoa. And, of course, pumpkin everything! I love pumpkin in pretty much any form. Imagine my excitement when I saw these in Target last weekend, I may have made some super sonic squeaky noises.

Then I saw these cookies on Pinterest, from Sprinkle Some Sunshine, that stick Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses in the middle. Perfect.

What you need:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and eggs and beat well.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, powder, salt and spices. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and beat until just combined.

Scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Don't do anything with the pumpkin spice kisses yet! Bake 8-10 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool for a bit, otherwise your kisses will get all melty. Push an (unwrapped, duh) kiss into the middle of each cookie. That's it! This made a little over two dozen cookies for me and took all of 15 minutes.

They end up kinda crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside and taste like a sugar cookie with something special. Enjoy!

Breakfast.... cookie?

Yes. This is a cookie you can eat for breakfast. And it's delicious. And I made them too small, so don't judge me for eating three for breakfast this morning. Did I mention that they are gluten free (provided you use gluten free oats), can be made vegan (without the chocolate chips), and have no sugar, flour, butter, or eggs? And yet... still delicious. And yes, mom and dad, I ate something with bananas in it. And liked it. Have your moment.

Here's what you need:
1 1/2 cups regular rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup nuts, finely chopped (I used pecans and walnuts)
1 cup fun stuff - this is where you add what you like. Dried fruit is good - I used dried cherries, golden raisins, and threw in a few dark chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the salt, cinnamon, allspice and almond meal in a large bowl. Mix well. Then add in the oats and coconut and combine. Add in nuts and goodies (make sure the dried fruit isn't clumping together).

I mashed my bananas up in a food processor, so it made sense to add the oil and vanilla to that and just mix there so I don't waste another bowl. Do what you will.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until it's all coated.

Getting these onto the cookie tray is the challenge. The "dough" isn't very dough-y, and can fall apart easily. For the first batch (not pictured... for a reason), I just used a cookie scoop and plopped them on the tray. They stayed little balls. They taste great, but look weird. For the second batch, I used the cookie scoop to make sure my portions stayed the same and scooped into my hands. I rolled it into a ball and then mashed it down flat. You could probably also use the bottom of a glass once you've scooped the balls onto the tray. Whatever works.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Good both warm and cold.

Original recipe from Blueberry Girl.

Christmas cookies

Something about the holiday season just gives me the urge to bake. How 'bout you? Last night, I tried a whole slew of new cookie recipes and I really like them all! They make great gifts for our co-workers and bosses. Check them out!

White-Chocolate Cherry cookies (Better Homes and Gardens)

I halved this recipe because I didn't want 60 cookies. They remind me of something, but I can't put my finger on what. I like the cookies alone - they don't necessarily need the chocolate and sprinkles. They were really easy to make (quick, too, if you skip the dipping) and taste light and not overly-sweet.

Molasses Crinkles (My Kitchen Addiction)

Mmmmm.... I love these. They have just a little bit of crunch on the outside, but the rest is soft and chewy. The combination of spices is rich and just right. They took the longest because they have to chill for two hours. Otherwise they'd be so quick.

Peanut butter Reese's cookies (Bakerella)

These were probably my favorite, and I don't usually like peanut butter cookies. I didn't use mini cupcake liners like the instructions said, and I like it just fine. I froze the unwrapped Reese's cups and then just pushed them into the cookie dough balls. They kind of melt in your mouth and have just the right amount of peanut butter.

In addition to the cookie plates, I also put together these cute hot cocoa mason jars (originally from My Recipes). I used pint jars instead of quart and halved the recipe. I cut a plastic coke bottle in half and used it as a funnel to help get the ingredients into the jar. Making them was surprisingly fast and cheap and made a perfect gift.

What new holiday recipes have you tried this year? Anything good to share?

The BEST chocolate chip cookies

Just look at those. Does it look like I'm lying?

I've never quite gotten the hang of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. My old roommate, Amy, used to make chocolate chip cookies I was jealous of. They were always moist, gooey and soft. I tried so many recipes and mine always seemed hard, dry and flat.

Until I found this recipe, originally from Pennies on a Platter. I made a couple tweaks, but I think the secret ingredient really knocks this one out of the park.

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 (3.4 oz) package vanilla pudding mix
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking soda
3 cups flour
12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream together shortening and butter. Add in sugars and cream until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Then add the secret ingredient...

... pudding! Mix in until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

In a separate bowl, mix together salt, soda and flour. Add to butter mixture all at once, beat until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes. They should still look a little gooey!

Enjoy!

No-flour, fudgey cookies

Hans isn't generally a fan of cookies. He always complains they're too dry. He much prefers brownies, which I'm not the biggest fan of. For some reason they don't feel substantive enough for me. So I've been on the hunt for a brownie-cookie crossover.

These gooey dark chocolate cookies from Divine Baking fit the bill pretty nicely. They're incredibly rich (I can't eat more than one) and satisfying. And with the warm, oozing chocolate, hopefully not "too dry" for my picky hubby.

Another great part? I had the ingredients on hand. That's always nice.

What you need:
1 1/2 cups (1 bag) bittersweet chocolate chips
3 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus some for coating
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put 1 cup of the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until melted. This usually takes me 1 1/2-2 minutes, stopping to stir in 30 second intervals. When melted, set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup powdered sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt.

Using the whisk attachment on medium-high speed, beat the egg whites until they're thick and fluffy and starting to form peaks. Reduce speed and slowly add in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

Reduce the speed again to low and gradually added in the cocoa mixture. Add in the cooled, melted chocolate and mix until incorporated. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips by hand. The mixture will be very thick and gooey.

Add some powdered sugar (I did a cup) to a shallow dish. Using my 1-inch cookie scoop, I added globs of cookie dough to the powdered sugar and rolled them around to coat. Drop the coated cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes. Allow them to cool about 10 minutes on the tray before removing to wire racks for cooling. Made 18 cookies.

Wow, these are old

I hadn't been able to locate my camera card reader for a while, so some of these are backlogged.

For the February stake youth dance, our ward was in charge. Each of the YW leaders was asked to bring 100 cookies.

Pause. And disclaimer. I'm not a *huge* fan of making cookies. They're just not my specialty. I can never seem to get the timing right - they're either uncooked in the middle or too brown and crispy.

My last foray into sugar cookies was disastrous. Despite chilling the dough for some time, it was still too soft to cut. Every time I tried to pick the cookies up, they fell apart. Then, they were so dry and crumbly that they broke in half while I tried to ice them. I think only six cookies survived and were pretty enough to give away.

This time, I tried a new recipe and it was so easy and delicious I couldn't believe I did them myself. The recipe comes from Bake at 350 (an absolutely genius cookie blog). I think the almond really does it.

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar
2 sticks (salted) butter, cold (*I used unsalted and added a tiny dash of salt)
1 egg
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Combine the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Add the flour mixture in several small additions and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl frequently.

Roll onto a floured surface, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Dip cookie cutters into flour before cutting shapes. These were half off at Target because it was right after Valentine's Day - woot! Place cookies parchment lined baking sheets (I love parchment paper!) and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before icing.

The icing experience on this one was so much different than I've had before! She really made this easy. Check out her awesome Royal Icing recipe.

4 TBSP meringue powder (found in the baking aisle at Hobby Lobby)
scant 1/2 c. water
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp light corn syrup
Food coloring/dye as necessary

Combine the meringue powder and water. Beat until combined and foamy.
Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)
Add in the corn syrup.
Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat. (See her blog for a great pic of what your peaks should look like).
Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing or divide and color using gel paste food colorings.

This is your "stiff" icing. Fill an icing bag with the icing, using a small, round tip. I actually used a star one because I couldn't find my round one and I was in a hurry. Outline the edge of your cookie.

Once you have completely outlined every cookie (make sure you got them all!) it's time to thin the icing. Add water 1 teaspoon at a time until it has the consistency of syrup. One blog I read said to dribble the icing from a spoon back into the bowl. If it's absorbed quickly (4-5 seconds), it's ready. If you can still see the dribble, it needs more water.

Icing bags are not the way to go with this, my friends. Let me tell you. It's so running that it was falling out the tip while I tried to fill the bag. And it just went everywhere. What I plan to do for next time, and I recommend you do as well, is to pick up some of those cheap-o plastic bottles that restaurants use for ketchup. Fill those up and use them to flood the inside of the cookie. You won't get all of the cookie flooded this way - get as much as you can, and then use a tooth pick to spread the icing all the way to the border.

Make sure you give yourself time for these to set. It's best to make them the day before, or several hours before. I made them and had to run out the door and it meant i couldn't stack them - they were too wet still.

But they were pretty and tasty and I'm no longer afraid to tackle decorated sugar cookies!

Chocolate chubbies (tee hee)

The name makes me giggle. I'm five years old. Get over it.

They're good, but definitely not a fav. Somewhere between a cookie and a brownie, they have a crunchy outside and a soft inside - if you don't overbake them. Which seems impossible not to do! The recipe said 18-22 minutes and I did mine for 15 and they were too crunchy. Booooo. They're still pretty tasty - I love the crunch that comes from the pecans and walnuts. Yum.

Recipe from Serious Eats.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
9 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (no more than 62 percent cacao), finely chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups (5 1/2 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans
1 1/4 cups (4 1/2 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a slow boil. Put a large, heat-proof bowl on top of the hot water and put the butter in the bowl to melt.

Add the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate to melt, stirring often. Remove from the heat and let cool, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Whip the eggs until they are foamy and lightly thickened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar, then the vanilla. Whip until the eggs are very thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes.
Reduce the speed to medium and beat in the tepid chocolate, making sure it is completely incorporated.

Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts, making sure the chunky ingredients are evenly distributed at the bottom of the bowl. The dough will be somewhat soft.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes (depending on your oven!)