Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

(recipe from Little Sous Chef)

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. LSC: In a large bowl add in flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
3. LSC: Using a whisk, stir all the ingredients together, then set aside.
4. LSC: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugars and butter. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and only mix until combined, don't whip the batter.
5. Add the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla and mix again. 
6. Place dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for an hour. This helps it to be firm enough to roll in the sugar and cinnamon. 
7. Preheat oven (try to preheat 20 minutes before bake time) to 350 degrees. 
8. LSC: Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
9. Roll dough into 1" balls. 
10. LSC: Roll balls of dough in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on an un-greased cookie sheet.
11. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before eating.

Thick and Chewy M&M Blondies

These are just what you expect.  Thick, chewy and delicious!  The M&M's sink to the bottom which doesn't affect the taste but if you want to see them on top you might try sprinkling a few on towards the end of the baking time.

Thick and Chewy M&M Blondies
Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup M & M candies (or chocolate chips or butterscotch chips)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9" pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Add the brown sugar to the melted butter and stir until combined. Add the vanilla and the eggs to the brown sugar mixture.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the brown sugar mixture and stir until all combined. Fold in the M&M candies (or chocolate chips). Scrape the batter into the baking pan and smooth the top using a spatula (I actually just used my hands to push the dough all the way to the edges and it was much easier). Bake for about 24-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the blondies comes out clean.
Let the blondies cool completely and then cut into squares.
Makes 12-20 squares depending on how big you cut them.

I found this recipe at www.sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com 

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

recipe from Lauren Brennan

Made this for our after school snack on the first day of school and they might just be my new favorite cookies! YUUUUUMMMMMMM!
Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes. Makes 2-3 dozen (closer to 2)

SUGARLICIOUS COOKIES

So, in case you can't tell from the title of this post. I LOVE these cookies. They are so soft and stay that way, the flavor is perfect, the frosting divine and they cook so uniformly. This recipe belongs to a girl I visit teach and one year when we did Enrichment together we made cookie bouquets for Valentine's and made these cookies on a stick. They were so cute.

Lori's Sugarlicious Cookies

2c butter, softened
2c sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6c flour (I usually need a little more flour than this but sometimes I just sprinkle a lot on when I'm rolling it out and that does the trick)

Mix together. Chill for easier handling. (anywhere from 1 hour to overnight). Roll and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes until the cookies are done but not browned. Let cool and frost.

I think the key to good sugar cookies is how thick you make them. I always tend to roll out the dough too thin. So when you roll these out keep the dough about 1/4" to 5/8" thick. This makes them easy to lift up and onto the pan after you cut them out with a cookie cutter, they look beautiful and they don't get crispy when you cook them.

Frosting:
2 oz cream cheese, softened
2T butter, softened
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla
pinch of almond extract
milk to consistency

Mix together adding milk to the consistency you prefer, color and frost cookies!

Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE DIPPED COCONUT MACAROONS

As you can see from the topics of my recent posts, my nausea is obviously doing much better. Hooray!

My sister in law made me these cookies as a belated bday gift and I LOVE them. Coconut Macaroons have always been a favorite and adding chocolate just makes them better! Mmm!

5 1/2 cups unsweetened chipped coconut
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 egg whites

dipping chocolate

Blend coconut in food processor (optional). Beat egg whites until still. Blend in remaining ingredients. Form into 1 3/4 inch balls (flatter slightly if preferred). Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes on parchment paper or Silpat.

Melt dipping chocolate in double boiler and dip half of each cooled cookie.

(sorry for the blurry pic, but the subject has now been consumed so a retake is not an option!)

HOMEMADE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES & OREOS

My friend Mandy introduced me to these tasty treats. She made them for a dessert exchange with frosting in the middle and they were so cute! I made them on Christmas Eve to take to Mark's parents for dessert and filled some with peppermint ice cream and some with cookies and cream ice cream. They were sooo good! The cookies are so moist and chewy. Not to mention quick and easy. In my Christmas Eve rush I forgot to take a pic of mine so I borrowed these from Mandy so that you get the idea.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches & Oreo Cookies

2 Pkgs. Devils food cake mix

4 eggs

2/3 C. oil

Mix all until well combined. Scoop, or roll into balls onto a lined cookie sheet. Flatten top just slightly. Bake @ 350 for 8-10 min. The tops are supposed to crack a little while baking. Cool completely. Pipe frosting of your choice or even ice cream on one cookie and top with another. Roll sides in sprinkles if desired. ENJOY!

PARADISE BAKERY SUGAR COOKIES

My sister found this recipe at BLD and we tried it out while she was visiting this weekend. Okay, and by "we tried it out" I mean she made, I ate (way too many). They are sooooo good. And about 1000x easier to make than any other sugar cookie recipe. Thank you Amy!

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups shortening
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, beaten
4 1/3 cups cake flour (*important*)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Plain or colored sugar, for decorating

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream together sugars and shortening using an electric mixer. Mix on slow speed 30 seconds, then scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Increase speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes.

Slowly add vanilla and beaten egg while mixing.

In a separate bowl, combine cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, mixing on slow speed until just blended. Do not overmix.

Scoop with an ice cream scoop and roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet. Flatten slightly with palm of hand.

Bake 9 to 10 minutes. Cookies are done when small cracks appear and are pale golden. Ideally, do not let edges brown.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

*Note: Let these cool completely before trying to pick them up or they will fall apart!