Cookies, cookies, cookies!

Growing up, I was never a big fan of baking cookies.  I was always more interested in baking pies like my Nana. Not to say I didn't enjoy eating them, but for some reason they just didn't fascinate me.  As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of King Arthur Flour.  Not only do they make a superior product, their web site is amazing!  And the customers/baking geniuses that contribute to it are amazing too!  KAF has recipes going way back and spans all the cultures so check it out.  You won't regret it.  Since visiting their site, my love for baking cookies started to grow. With all the products KAF offers, the sky's the limit on flavors and appearances.  And as they say, presentation is half the taste.

Following are three different cookies I decided to make for the first day of school.  I love my kid's elementary school.  They have wonderful teachers, administration and office staff and I try to let them know how wonderful they are by making them treats.  So here we go with the recipes:

My mom found this recipe on the Crisco web site.  These cookies have lots of flavor and are slightly chewy.  And they taste better the next day.  Check out their Oatmeal Raisin cookies, too.  The directions are pretty clear and if you follow them exactly they will be perfect.  I always use a piece of parchment paper on my cookie sheets so when I take them out of the oven I just slide the cookies on the parchment directly onto the cooling rack.

Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies

  

 Ingredients:

·       1 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar      

·       3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

·       1/2 cup butter flavor shortening

·       3 tbsp. milk        

·       1 tbsp. vanilla extract  

·       1 egg         

·       1 3/4 cup flour   

·       3/4 tsp. baking soda    

·       3/4 tsp. salt

 Directions:

    Preheat oven to 375º. 

    Beat brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk and vanilla at medium speed in a mixer until well blended.  Add egg.  Beat just until blended. 

    Combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Add to creamed mixture at low speed.  Mix just until blended. 

    Drop by rounded tablespoons of dough 2″ apart onto greased baking sheet.  Flatten slightly. 

Bake one baking sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Do not over bake.

    Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.

Servings:  3 doz.     

This recipe and the next were both from King Arthur Flour's web site.  When I think of Summer, I think of lemon.  When it's really warm, you don't want too much sweet.  These are a great combination of tart and sweet.  And they are so pretty!

Lemon Cream Cheese Coolers

 Ingredients:

·       Dough:     

·       2 sticks butter    

·       4 oz. cream cheese

·       1/4 tsp. salt         

·       1/2 tsp. baking powder

·       1 tsp. finely grated lemon peel       

·       1/4 tsp. lemon oil        

·       1/2 cup sugar     

·       1/2 cup powdered sugar       

·       2 cups flour

·       Coating:

·       3/4 cup powdered sugar

·       3/4 cup sugar     

·       1/4 tsp. lemon oil        

·       yellow sanding sugar (for color)

 Directions:

    In a mixer, beat together the butter, cream cheese, salt, baking powder, lemon peel and lemon oil. When that mixture is soft, add the sugars, a bit at a time, until evenly blended and fluffy. Finally, mix in the flour.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes. 

    Preheat the oven to  375°.

    Using small scoop to measure, roll the dough by hand into 1/2″ balls.

  Place the balls on ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheets, and flatten them to about 1/4″ thick and 1 3/4-2″ in diameter. 

    Bake the cookies for 14-18 minutes, or until they're lightly browned on the bottom and edges. 

    While the cookies are baking, make the coating. Place the sugars in a food processor or blender, and add the lemon oil. Process until well-blended. Note: This can also be done in a bowl with a whisk, but the food processor makes sure the lemon oil is evenly blended with the sugar. 

    Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets for about 5-8 minutes, then dip them into the prepared sugar coating mixture. Place the cookies on a wire rack and let them cool completely. After they're completely cooled, shake more powdered sugar over them. 

    Variation: For Raspberry-Lemon Coolers, add 1 teaspoon raspberry flavoring to the cookie dough and pink sanding sugar to the coating.  If you like raspberry lemonade, you'll love these cookies! 

    Note:  Why coolers? Because these citrusy, slightly tart cookies are a "cool" alternative to the usual heavy, chocolate, sweet confections that cover the table during the holidays. Tender but not exactly crisp, soft but not soggy, these cookies melt in your mouth.

Servings:  4 doz.     

For the butter, I like to let them sit on the counter for 30 minutes.  They're not too soft, but warm enough to cream.  I would do the same with the cream cheese.  This recipe calls for lemon zest and for lemon oil.  With the zest, you only want the yellow part of the skin, not the bitter white pith.  I get my lemon oil for KAF, but I think you would probably be able to find it at these stores:  William's-Sonoma, Sur la Table, Whole Foods or any cake supply store.  

To shape the cookies, I use my Pampered Chef small scoop.  I scoop up the dough to where it's level.  I do 4 rows of 3 across and scoop up all the balls before I roll them with my hands.  You can use another object to flatten them, but I found it took too much time because of the dough sticking to the object so I just used my hand.  Don't flatten them too much, though because they will over bake.  Keep an eye on them as they bake because they will brown fast on the bottoms.  

For the coating, it recommends combining it in a mixer or food processor.  If you do so, add the sanding sugar  after by hand.  The mixer and food processor will break down the colored sugar and it won't show up as much.  As a variation, you can gently stir in yellow edible glitter (you can find it at Michael's or KAF). This will give them a sparkly look.  You want to do the first coating while the cookies are slightly warm.  This will make it stick and give it more flavor.  

Lemon-Raspberry Sparkler Cookies

 Ingredients:

·       Cookies:   

·       1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

·       3/4 cup sugar     

·       1/2 tsp. salt         

·       1 tsp. baking powder

·       2 tbsp. lemon juice      

·       1/8 tsp. lemon oil        

·       1 tsp. raspberry flavoring

·       1/8 tsp. sour salt (citric acid)*       

·       1 large egg          

·       2 1/2 cups flour

·       Coating:

·       1/8 rounded tsp. sour salt (citric acid*)

·       1 1/2 cups powdered sugar  

·       3 tbsp. white edible glitter

·       yellow and pink sanding sugar (for color)

Directions:

    Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a mixer beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and baking powder till well blended. Beat in the lemon juice, lemon oil, raspberry flavoring, sour salt (citric acid), and the egg. Blend in the flour thoroughly. 

    Roll the dough into 1" balls, and place them on lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake the cookies in the top third of the oven for 15-18 minutes, until the cookies are browned on the bottom.

    Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan for about 10-12 minutes before transferring to a rack. 

    Mix together the sugar coating ingredients in a pan or bag. Gently shake and roll the still slightly warm cookies in the sugar till coated. Allow the cookies to cool completely, then repeat, coating again with the sugar. (If you're freezing the cookies, you may choose to recoat the cookies in sugar once they've been removed from the freezer, before serving.) 

    *Sour salt (citric acid) is what gives the cookies their sour bite—if you want less tang, use just a pinch.

Servings:  3 doz.     

This recipe is a variation of a favorite, Key Lime Sparklers.  I usually make the Key Lime version during the holidays to balance out the heavier flavors of the other treats I make.  They seem to be more of a favorite with the adults who really go nuts over them.  This version is a bit more kid friendly and better suited for the Summer.  

There are two additional specialty ingredients that this recipe calls for, raspberry flavoring and sour salt.  You can probably find the raspberry flavoring at the sources I mentioned in the last recipe, but the sour salt might be harder to find.  I bought mine from KAF, but I have had it forever.  You will probably only have to buy it once, though.  You can omit it, but I love that tiny bit of tartness it gives.  If you do buy it but want to know other ways to use it, here is another feature I love about KAF's site.  Go to their site, kingarthurflour.com and click on recipes.  Instead of typing in the name of a recipe you're looking for, type in the name of the ingredient.  Up comes all the recipes that call for this ingredient!  

Again I use the small scoop to shape these cookies, but the balls can be slightly rounded when you scoop up the dough.  Since these stay in the ball shape, I do 4 rows of 4 across.  Just be real careful when you carry your cookie sheet to the oven.  If you move too fast or have the sheet at an angle, they can roll around.  

For decoration you can add the yellow and pink sanding sugar, but I find the yellow doesn't show up that much with the pink.  It also calls for white edible glitter, but you can use yellow (it's brighter than the sanding sugar) and/or pink.  That's what gives them the sparkler name!  Enjoy!