Snickerdoodles (Mrs. Sigg’s)
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I don’t know who Mrs. Sigg is, but she sure has a good snickerdoodle recipe. Slightly crunchy on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside, these are the perfect kind of cookie! This recipe is pretty damn similar to the other snickerdoodle recipe I tried, but this one calls for cream of tartar (which I apparently mistakenly thought would make them puff up more. They didn’t.)
These were so easy to make that as soon as I put the first cookie sheet in the oven, I wished I had doubled the recipe. I know my coworkers and my eyebrow girl are going to inhale these tomorrow! And my family will get to enjoy them on Friday (yep, I’m bringing them down to San Diego).
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.
- Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
- Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.
Recipe from Allrecipes.
Halloween Finger Cookies
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I’ve been seeing these scary finger cookies all over the Internet and knew I had to bring them into the office. The cookie itself tastes like a cross between a sugar and a butter cookies. Not too sweet, yet not bland either.
By the second cookie sheet, I realized I needed to make the fingers a little skinnier, otherwise I’m pretty happy with the way they turned out. I’ll probably be making these again next year.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon almond extract)
Almond slices
Red decorating gel
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325° F. Combine dry ingredients. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla, beat in dry ingredients. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
Working with one-quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoons full of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press an almond firmly into one end for nail. Squeeze in center to create a knuckle shape and use a paring knife make slashes in several places to form knuckle.
Place cookies on the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for three minutes. If desired, lift up almond and squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back in place so gel oozes out from underneath. (I skipped this part.)
Remove from cookie sheet and let cool on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough.
Yields 3-4 dozen.
Notes
- You can paint the nails by using some red food coloring that’s been diluted with water and brushing it on with a clean artist’s brush. Or, color frosting red and dilute it with water, then dip the bottom of the finger in it.
- Awesome step by step instructions for creating finger shapes here.
Recipe from Fabulous Foods.
Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
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When I came across this recipe, I was hoping they would be like the Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies. Sadly, they’re not. And they’re just OK, definitely nothing special. The cookie is sort of blah and the icing is way too sweet–and I’m someone who loves all things sweet.
I’m going to bring them into the office tomorrow so I’ll you know what my guinea pigs say. Update: Huge hit with the coworkers. Maybe I’m just picky.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
Cookies
3/4 cup butter flavor Crisco, plus additional for greasing
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups quick oats, uncooked
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Icing
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup butter flavor Crisco
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preparation
- Heat oven to 350 F. Grease baking sheets.
- For cookies, combine shortening, brown sugar, milk, egg and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.
- Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix into creamed mixture at low speed just until blended.
- Drop rounded measuring tablespoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
- Bake one sheet at a time at 350 for 0 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to foil to cool completely.
- For frosting, combine confectioner’s sugar, shortening, and vanilla in medium bowl. Beat at low speed, adding enough milk for good spreading consistency. Spread on bottoms of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.
Makes about 16 sandwich cookies.
My notes:
- I ended up with more than 16 sandwiches since I used a smaller cookie scoop.
- I flattened the tops of the cookies after scooping them, in an attempt to get a flatter cookie.
Recipe from The Baking Bible.
Peanut Butter Cookies
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I was in the mood to bake, but wanted to make something easy so I decided to give this recipe a whirl. I followed other reviewers’ advice and added vanilla as well as more peanut butter, but I just don’t get all the rave reviews. To me, these were good, but nothing special. Then again, I’m not a huge peanut butter cookie fan and the real test will be when I bring the cookies into the office tomorrow.
Also, I noticed the tops of most of the cookies look cracked, and the nice criss-cross pattern didn’t show. I’m thinking it may be because I made the cookies smaller (and therefore flatter), but really, I have no clue. Any ideas?
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups crunchy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Preparation
- Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter. Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Roll into 1 inch balls, (optional–roll in sugar), and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.
Makes about four dozen cookies.
My notes:
- I didn’t have any crunchy peanut butter at home so I used creamy.
- I rolled some of the cookies in sugar after shaping them into balls.
- I used a small cookie scoop so I got way more than four dozen cookies.
Original recipe from All Recipes.
Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
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I’m sad to report that this is the first Dorie recipe that wasn’t a huge hit. Don’t get me wrong, these cookies are good. They’re just not great. I brought them into the office and they lasted three days which is usually unheard of with my coworkers.
I think part of the reason they weren’t gobbled up is that they’re crispy. People seem to enjoy the chewy, soft cookies more. And, these had a lot going on–peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate chips!
Ingredients
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I omitted this)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks
Preparation
Adjust the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, Silpat baking mats, or foil. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, spices, baking soda, and salt just to blend.
With an electric mixer (preferably a stand mixer fitted with a paddle), beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients slowly, beating only until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. (At this point, the dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.)
If the dough is at room temperature, drop rounded tablespoonsful two inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. If the dough has been refrigerated, scoop it out by rounded teaspoonfuls and roll the balls between your palms. Place them 2″ apart on the sheets. Press the balls gently with the heal of your hand until they are about 1/2″ thick. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the cookies are golden and just firm around the edges.
Lift the cookies onto wire racks with a wide metal spatula – they will firm as they cool. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
Makes about 60 cookies.
Recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.
