More cookies...

Ok, so I'll try to stop baking so many cookies.  I've decided I need to look into more savory snacks (suggestions?) or find more time for actually cooking a meal.  But in the mean time, here's a yummy sugar cookie recipe I made about 3 weeks ago and forgot to blog about...

Chewy Sugar Cookies:  (source:  Fine Cooking Magazine, issue 109)

A couple of things.  First, I'm not big into colored sugar, so I didn't use any.  I also chose not to use the almond extract.  Thirdly, I actually have pictures!  yay! 

Molasses Cookies

Back to sweets again.  Oh well...these are too good to not share. 

Anyways, this is part two of Sunday's cooking adventures.  I made a batch of these cookies because there weren't any sweets in the pantry and I had nothing better to do (haha).  This is my aunt's recipe and I've used it many times.

Molasses Cookies:

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 tsp. baking soda

2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

350 degrees for 10 minutes.

*   *   *   *   *

And yes, those are all the instructions.  I usually mix the shortening and sugar together, then add everything else except the flour because the spices will often be unevenly distributed if added them after mixing in the flour.  Then I'll add in the rest of the ingredients; usually the flour is last.  Generally I add heaping teaspoons of the spices. 

I've tried a couple of molasses/spiced cookie recipes, but this one is, by far, the best.  I also like Abigail Johnson Dodge's Ginger Crackles from The Weekend Baker cookbook.  Her recipe is very similar to my aunt's, making roughly x1.5 more cookies, and uses butter in addition to shortening.

Once again, sadly no pictures. 

Baking for fun...

First blog posts always seem awkward.  *sigh*  So I'll just skip the introductions and jump right in.

Last week I had the rare opportunity to make cookies just for the fun of it.  They're the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Sandwich Cookies from the Fine Cooking magazine (issue 89, p. 77).  I wanted to make something a little different from my family's favorites and plus it's hard to go wrong with Abigail Johnson Dodge's recipes. 

I thought it was interesting the recipe didn't have any flour in it but that it still had the same texture and look as "normal" cookie dough.  The chocolate filling was very easy, too--I think the hardest part was waiting for both the cookies and chocolate to cool so they could be eaten!