My Favorite: SUGAR COOKIES!!

There are so many great sugar cookie recipes and everyone has his/her favorite, I'm sure. This recipe came from my mom and I've always liked it. I used to make them every Christmas time and the kids and I would spend a long time decorating them. The principal at my school brought some the other day for all us teachers, so they've been on my mind. So here's a good recipe for:

Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs

Cream together then add:

1 cup milk
1 t. vanilla
about 5 cups flour
1/2 t. salt
4 t. bkg. powder

Makes a soft dough. Handle gently on floured board. Roll out 3/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes. Bake 7-10 min. at 375. Don't over brown. Frost with:

1 cube melted margarine or butter
vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
enough milk to make good spreading consistency
coloring

This makes quite a few so make them with a bunch of little kids to help you frost them all. :)

Cereal Crunch

These aren't really cookies, but whatever. This is a fun treat to take places because people are impressed that you made such a good thing to eat.

Cereal Crunch

Mix into a large bowl:

1/2 box Golden Graham Cereal (17 1/2 oz. size)
1/2 box Rice Chex Cereal (18 oz. size)
6-7 oz. slivered almonds
7 oz. coconut

Stirring constantly, boil 3-4 minutes to soft ball stage the following:

1 cup sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cube butter

Pour over the cereal mix and stir really good. Stir it up now and then while it is cooling and then put it in a pretty bowl and you're ready to take it to a party.

Note: This recipe is kind of old, so cereal box sizes have changed, but you can figure it out according to the ounces needed.

S'Mores

I had a request from my niece for this recipe. They are "kind of" cookies anyway. And I can seriously make myself sick from eating these cause they are GOOD!

S'Mores

12 oz. MILK chocolate chips
2/3 cup white corn syrup
1/4 cup margarine

Melt together either in a big microwavable bowl or on the stove. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir it all up good until the choc. chips are all melted, then stir in 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows. Stir all that until the marshmallows are almost all melted, then pour over 8 cups Golden Graham Cereal. Stir until well coated, then pour into a buttered 9x13 pan. Cool and cut. Or else start eating them immediately, which is what I do. :)

Variation: If you don't want the marshmallows so melted, mix them with the cereal before you pour the chocolate on. Personally, I like them melted more.

Sugar Snowballs

I was just sitting here thinking about winter and snow and remembered these cookies. They are the same as Mexican Wedding Cookies, if you know what those are, but they are called. . .

Sugar Snowballs

Mix together: 1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Add: 1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix well with your hands. Form balls. Bake at 375* for 8 min. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm. They are cute (and yummy). No picture because I didn't make them today. I'm too fat.

Are You Into Peanut Butter?

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 and 1/4 c. flour
3/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix shortening, peanut butter, sugars and egg. Blend in flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill for a while in the fridge so that it's easier to work with. Shape into balls and then push down with a fork. Bake 375 * for 10-12 min.

Sunday Afternoon Treat

When I was growing up, almost every Sunday afternoon, after the dishes were done and Mom and Dad had retired for their Sunday nap, one of us girls would make a treat. We often tried to make fudge which didn't work out, but no-bake cookies are a second best and easy, fast, and yummy.

No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3 tablespoons cocoa
dash of salt

Combine and bring to boil stirring constantly. Then add:

3 cups oatmeal
1 teaspoon vanilla

Drop from spoon onto waxed paper and cool. Yummy.

(optional add-ins: 1/2 cups nuts,
1 cup coconut,
and 2 or 3 heaping tablespoons peanut butter)

Cake Mix Cookies

Making cookies, using a cake mix, is an easy, quick way to make some scrumptious cookies. Here's one of my favorites;

Chocolate Crackles

1 box Devils Food cake mix
2 eggs
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup chocolate chips (personally, I like 1 cup)

Mix everything together. This is one of those recipes that you will need to use your hands unless you have a big mixer. Just squish it all up really good. Shape into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Bake at 375* for 8-9 minutes.

Comment: I baked them for 8 minutes in my oven, took them out of the oven and then left them on the cookie sheet for another minute and they were just right. They remind me of brownie bites. I also have made them with German Chocolate cake mix and they were good too. Just depends on how dark you like them. This made 45 cookies.

Here are a couple more ways to use cake mixes:

Butterscotch Chip Cookies

2 eggs
1 cup softened butter
1 caramel cake mix (which is hard to find, so Spice is good too)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup - 1 cup (your preference) butterscotch chips

Mix all together and form balls and put on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 until lightly browned or set up. Don't over-bake. You can use this recipe with other flavors of cake mixes too and different flavored chips - like cherry, vanilla or peanut butter.

Oreo Cookies

1 chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup shortening

Mix together into balls. Don't flatten. Bake at 350 for 8 - 10 minutes. Put frosting between cookies to make it look like an Oreo. There's a recipe that follows or you can use any frosting and make it any color and they are such pretty cookies. One of our family's favorite. Yum.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup margarine or butter
2 - 4 cups powdered sugar

Cream the first 3 ingredients, then add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Mix together until smooth and is a good spreading consistency. You can add food coloring to make this any color.

Pastel Cookies

For some reason, this picture won't post except in this position. I've tried it about 5 times and it always shows up on its side. Oh well. You can still see the pretty color of these cookies. Here's the recipe:

Pastel Cookies

3 and 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 cups butter
1 cup sugar
1 package (3 oz.) Jello (save out about 2 Tbls.)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Soften butter, then cream it while gradually adding sugar and jello. Beat well. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour and baking powder, mix well. You will have to use your hands to mix it after that much flour is put in unless you have a great mixer. Roll dough into balls about an inch big and press down on the ball with a fork. That gives is a cute design on top and also makes them bake so that they aren't doughy in the middle. Sprinkle with the extra Jello you saved out. (I just pinch a bit between my fingers and sprinkle it on.) Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes, or until edges are golden. They don't spread very much, so you can put quite a few on a cookie sheet.

The thing that's fun about these cookies is the pretty color. I usually use some flavor of red Jello so they're pretty pink. But you can use any flavor and would get some very pretty colors. As you will notice, the main ingredient is butter, but I used part margarine too and that worked fine. So basically this is a Jello-flavored butter cookie. This recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Banana Cookies

It never fails that I buy bananas with good intentions of building up my potassium, then they get too ripe before I get around to eating them. I usually make banana bread, which I don't make very good, and end up throwing most of it away. So . . . today it was Banana Cookies! These are light and airy and have just a great banana taste.

Banana Cookies

2/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. soda
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 small ones)

Cream shortening, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and bananas. Drop on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake for 11 minutes at 375 degrees.

And so it begins . . .

Grandkids are coming to see me this weekend, so of course I checked my cookie jar. Only 4 small, stale, animal crackers. Time to bake!! (And to be honest, grandkids coming isn't the only reason I check my cookie jar.) This blog is going to be dedicated to cookies. Because I love cookies. I love to bake them and I love to eat them. They are a perfect little cake-like, hold in your hand treat. Even my favorite poem is about cookies:

A Cookie And A Kiss

A house should have a cookie jar
For when it's half past three
And children hurry home from school
As hungry as can be,

There's nothing quite so splendid
In filling children up
As spicy, fluffy ginger cakes
And sweet milk in a cup.

A house should have a mother
waiting with a hug
No matter what the boy brings home,
A puppy or a bug.

For children will only loiter
When the bell rings to dismiss
If no one's home to greet them
With a cookie and a kiss.

Isn't that a great poem? Yessiree, cookies and kisses. I don't know who wrote it, or where I even got it, but if anyone knows the author, let me know so I can give him or her credit.