Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies

This is another recipe from that really old cookbook I have that
doesn't give exact measurements on the flour amount.
These are thick , soft  cookies with the occasional crack in
them like the old days.

Beat in Lg. bowl;
1 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
Add;
1 cup molasses
4 tsp.s  soda
2 tsp.s  ginger
2 tsp.s  cinnamon
1/2 ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
Alternate into batter;
2 cups flour
1 cup sour milk ( tsp vinegar to regular milk)
Next;
 Add up to 4 cups more  flour to make a soft dough.
 Start with 3 and add more as needed to be able to roll  them out.
 Sprinkle board with flour, roll 1/4 thick and cut out in large circles.
 Sprinkle sugar on tops and bake 5 to 8 mins in 375 mins.

A recipe-less cookie post

I normally don't post "personal" posts on this blog.. but considering the content of the pictures, I decided to do it anyway.  This is what happens when you decide to bake some Autumn cookies for some special out-of-state family.  First you bake the cookies and let them cool on the rack:

Then you hear the pitter patter of little feet who have used their sense of smell to track down something that they've figured out they're missing out on:

And since they look so cute you agree to let them "help" which turns into more eating than helping so you send them on their way, each having consumed a satisfying amount of both sprinkles and frosting:

And after they are banished from the kitchen you finish frosting them yourself, equipped with fall colors.

And by late that night you'll be able to package up delicious little apples, maple leafs and acorns to take on your weekend visit which shall include a great-grandson's soccer game, lunch at Sonic, and whatever other surprises show up along the way.

Bakery Style Maple Cookies

One of my favorite memories when I was a small child was living near by to a wonderful bakery that my sisters would take me to that made those large maple frosted cookies. And every diner in town would have a canister sitting there full of them. They were heavenly. Long story short a relative had gotten the recipe from a friend and she gave it to me. I tweaked it a bit to simulate what my memory remembered them to taste like. And she didn't give me exact amounts of frosting ingredients so I improvised there. I like to swirl the warm frosting in the middle of the warm cookies so the frosting spreads a bit and look glossy like the bakery type do. I know they are a little harder to make because they are a roll out but I think they are worth the effort if you fancy maple cookies and like a challenge like we do:) A wide mouth jar makes a great cutter by the way unless you have a big one. My daughter has done them in a leaf shape as well for special occasions. Please read the recipe all the way through first for the directions and feel free to ask questions. Hope this takes some of you back to your yester-years too and... Don't forget to share :)

Ingredients;
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 extra lg. eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup butter
2 tsp maple flavoring
5 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Cream sugars, butter and maple flavoring.
Beat in eggs, and sour cream.
Add all the dry ingredients to this well
and roll out 1/2 inch thick
on a lightly floured board and cut
in large round circles.
Bake for 10 Min's in 400 oven.

Frost warm with maple frosting.

To make the frosting warm in a pan;
1/2 stick butter
2 tbls. milk
1 to 2 tsp. maple flavoring
Beat in 2 cups or more confectionery sugar with mixer
to make a thin frosting and turn off heat leaving
pan on the stove to stay warm.
Frost the cookies right away to give them that
glossy smooth frosted appearance if you desire.
Frosting will become firmer as it sets up
and cools so make sure it's able to hold
it's shape but not real thick when you put it on.
It can be rewarmed and thinned if necessary.

Old fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

Here is another of those recipes from that cook book I told you all about in a prior post called "I found a treasure". It's just a simple peanut butter cookie recipe from years ago that I have used for many,many years.

Cream together;
1 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar

Beat in;
1 cup peanut butter
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp.baking soda
3 cups flour.

Roll into small balls and place spaced apart
on cookie sheet. Press with a sugared
fork making criss cross marks on them.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 mins.
Cool before you remove these from sheet.
These will set up and be chewy as they cool.
Do not over bake or they will be too crispy.

A Christmas-y Cranberry filled cookie

My mother (AKA Granny, AKA Karen, AKA my fellow blogger) has found a blog that she enjoys immensely. It's called Mennonite Girls Can Cook and she has directed me there several times, but I'm a busy sort and I don't always follow her around blogworld because let's face it I just don't have time what with scheduling my own personal blog posts and trying to keep up with real life too.

Well recently she gave me a few cookies to try. They were a soft lemon cookie, filled with a cranberry concoction and frosted with an almond frosting and sprinkled with coconut. They were out of this world.

So of course... I asked where she found the recipe.

And of course... she answered "Mennonite Girls Can Cook".

And of course... I gave her that dumb deer in headlights look, to which she answered "I gave you the blog address ages ago." Yeah. Because I pay attention to things like that, lol!

Keep in mind that I'm snapping pictures of cookies at this point, in all different lighting and from all different angles because I love my new camera.

And then proceeds a conversation about how I think we should link to the recipe on our blog.. but since she's new to blogworld she was hesitant because, of course she didn't realize that it was proper blog etiquette to do so as long as you give credit to the author and ask permission to link.

Which leads me to... the link for Christmas Cranberry Filled Cookies. Visit the Mennonite Girls who can not only cook, but apparently cook REALLY WELL. And they post some delicious looking recipes so don't plan on just stopping by for one cookie. You'll probably want to stay for dinner.

Applesauce Drop Cookies

This is one of those cookie recipe from the old cook book I spoke about in a prior post. I made this cookie a lot when my daughter was growing up because they were a great afternoon snack. We were always on the go to picnics and week-end get-a-ways and they traveled so well and could be eaten on the run. And the fact that they are lower in fat because of the applesauce and that they have no eggs is an added bonus. I used to double the batch and keep them in a closed container.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 +1/2 cups sweetened applesauce
2 tsp. baking soda
2 +1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat shortening and sugar in bowl. Stir in the applesauce. Add the remaining ingredients and drop by heaping teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake slowly for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Since this was the first real post on this blog, I thought I'd post the recipe that I most recently made. They are Cranberry Pecan Cookies, and they are delicious. A friend shared this recipe with me a few years ago and they have been a favorite ever since. They are really delicious, the combination of ingredients just goes really well together.

Cranberry Pecan Cookies

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c + 4T all purpose flour

1 c. quick cooking oats

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. dried cranberries

2/3 c. white chocolate chips

1 c. chopped pecans

1 tsp. lemon zest

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, & lemon zest; mix well. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, & salt. Add to the creamed mixture. Stir in cranberries, white chocolate chips, and pecans. Roll a rounded tablespoonful of dough into a ball. Place onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set and edges begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes before moving to wire racks. Makes about 7 doz.

Note, if you make BIG cookies (I use the big Pampered Chef Scoop) then you would get... maybe 3 dozen out of it. I like big cookies.. mmmm... cookies...