Sea Salt Ginger Cookies

 There's a type of cookie I like but you just don't see or hear much about anymore. And that's a Ginger Cookie. When I was a kid I remember Ginger Snaps, Ginger candies, Ginger Bread! I loved the taste of ginger.  So I searched and searched for a recipe and found a good one I thought I could adapt at Dinner and Dessert. What appealed to me was that these cookies weren't thin and gingersnap like, but instead a cake cookie which is what I wanted.

I also wanted a cake-like cookie because I thought a sprinkling of sea salt might work with a ginger cookie.  All I'll say is, I was right. These are delicious!!!  The sting of double measured ginger with the saltiness and the sweetness of molasses and brown sugar. Definitely a cookie I will make again, and again, and again. Do give it a try.


Adapted from Dinner and Dessert
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger (yes, two)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sea Salt for finishing touch

Melt butter and pour into mixing bowl with both sugars. Combine well.

Add beaten egg and molasses and mix together.
Add cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and ginger and mix thoroughly.

Add flour. You may need to add 1/4 cup or two more until you get a nice thick cookie dough.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. (The stiffness of the cookie dough and the chilling will keep the cookies from spreading too much while baking.)

Spoon tablespoon size of dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, or just greased pans. Leave about 1 1/2 space between each one.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 - 12 minutes. Each batch of mine took exactly 12 minutes. The best way to tell is to take them out of the oven when the very edges are beginning to brown.


Immediately sprinkle the tops of the hot cookies with sea salt. Don't overdo it but a light visible sprinkling is perfect.

Let cook for five minutes, and then remove from baking pan to wire rack and let cool completely.

Psst, the picture below is my new Convection Toaster Oven. Bakes, browns, toasts, defrosts and broils. I'm liking this oven.

Enjoy!

The Merlin Menu Top 10 Recipes for Year 2010

I know, it's February, not January. This is the kind of post that, were I up on things, would have been posted right around the New Year. But, I've been a bit distracted trying to find a new position at my company. That's my excuse, anyway.

But here's the deal. As I looked through my newsreader in 2011, I noticed a number of blogs posted their top recipes from the previous year. And I found, that I liked being able to just click on whatever recipe I wanted to without having to scroll through page after page of blog. I figured therefore, that other people probably like this convenience also, so I decided to do one for my blog. And here it is. Hope you find at least one or two things you'd like to try, and maybe catch up on a recipe or two you might have missed over the last year.

Salted Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars Decadent and delicious.

Dutch Oven Bread A little baking magic from a Dutch Oven

Cinnamon Currant Bread Another Dutch Oven Bread

Eggs Benedict Who doesn't love Eggs Benedict. Make them at home for 1/10th the price.

Homemade Potato Chips Delicious and easy and fun to make.

Irish Brown Bread Authentic and delicious.

 Lime Cake with Strawberry Compote Light, refreshing, and a great flavor combination.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars Decadent and delicious.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies Just the title says it all.

Three Ingredient Tomato Sauce 3 Ingredients and knock your socks off good.

My personal Top Ten from my Blog for 2010.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Yes these are rich. Yes they are supremely buttery. Yes, they melt in your mouth. No, you cannot just eat one.

I had to bring something into work to share with co-workers and I wanted something different and I came across this recipe. (Original source here)  They are amazingly good. Give them a try.

Preparation and Method:

For the Crust:

1 lb. butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
4 cups flour


For the Filling:

1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
⅓ cup milk or cream or half and half
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt 

To make the crust:

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Using mixer on medium speed, beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour and mix until smooth.

Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Press one-third of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust.

Place remaining crust mixture in the refrigerator

Preheat to 325F.

Bake crust  until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown approximately 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.

While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place the unwrapped caramels in a saucepan, add the cream and vanilla and cook and stir over low to medium heat until completely melted. (You can also use the microwave in short bursts to melt the caramel mixture.)

Pour the caramel filling over the crust. Generously salt with sea salt.

Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel. You may find the chilled dough doesn't "crumble" that easily. If so, just place on a cutting board and chop into the

size pieces you want for the topping.

Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 - 30 minutes.

Let cool, and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

I looked in my cabinet the other day and checked the expiration dates on some semi-sweet chocolate and some peanut butter chips I had, and they were to be out of date in a couple of weeks. I didn't want to waste

them so what to make?  Um, cookies????   Yeah, I think so. So I tinkered with another of my recipes for Chocolate Butterfinger Cookies and made Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips and Chocolate Chips, and since I'm totally addicted to salty sweet, dusted them with sea salt. All I know is, they didn't last long when I brought a couple dozen to work.

Ingredients and Method:

4 oz butter, room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup peanut butter chips

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sea salt for dusting

In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and butter. Add peanut butter and cocoa powder and mix well. 

Add eggs, one at a time and fully incorporate. Then add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and combine. Add vanilla extract.  Add the two chips and mix just long enough to distribute them.

Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes to make it easier to work with.  On a baking sheet covered with parchment paper (if you use parchment paper, it sure makes cleanup easier) drop by tablespoonfuls on the sheet about 2 inches apart. Pick up each scoop and shape it into a ball and then press down on it slightly. (Doing this prevents the cookie from spreading too much and makes them more uniform) Repeat until all dough is used.

Dust with coarse sea salt. A pinch sprinkled over each cookie is perfect.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Do not over bake. They may not look completely done, but they are.

Remove to cooling rack. Then grab a very cold glass of milk, and eat 5 of them when still a bit warm, and don't tell anybody. Your secret is safe with me.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I decided to make some cookies. I wanted peanut butter but I also wanted chocolate chips. So, I combined it into one recipe. These are peanut butter cookies with both peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. Came out pretty well I thought. Hope you like them.

Ingredients and Method:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup peanut butter (do not use natural)
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
3/4 cup chocolate chips


In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add vanilla, beaten egg and peanut butter and mix well.

Add the flour and baking powder and salt and combine thoroughly.

Add peanut butter chips and chocolate chips and fold in gently.

Refrigerate dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

On a cookie sheet covered in parchment, or greased sheet, drop dough of about a tablespoon onto the sheet two inches apart.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes until just beginning to brown around the edge of the cookie. Remover, let cool on sheet for 10 minutes, remove to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with balance of the dough.

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Butterfinger Cookies

Gosh these cookies are good!!!

I got some good news (personal, but my daughter is home from Iraq soon) and I just was bustin' up, ya know?  And because I'm a food geek and have no life, I decided to look through my saved recipes I've found over months and months and make something. And I found one.  And made them.

After a cold Beck's or two, and visit for a bit to the Sports Bar, because, ahem, I guess I DO have a bit of a life.

I came home, made these, loved the dough, texture and consistency.... they baked up perfectly, and were just as good as could be.

So they get a Merlin Thumbs UP!    Thanks to Jenny at Picky Palate for the recipe. Now admittedly, her photo's are much better than mine, but I bet my adaptation tasted at least as good. Thanks Jenny.

1 stick of butter
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate morsels
2 Large Butterfinger bars, crushed into pieces (I placed both in a plastic sandwich bag and attacked them with a meat tenderizer)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and use a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicon liner if you have it.

In a large bowl/mixer combine sugars and softened butter until fluffly. Add the eggs and vanilla.

Add baking soda and salt and mix well. Add cocoa and flour and mix thoroughly.  Add the chips and
butterfinger bar crumbs and mix well.

Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes so it's easier to work with.

Drop in rounded teaspoonfuls onto sheet with an inch and half space in between.

Bake for 9 - 11 minutes. (Mine took 11 exactly) They will still be a bit soft in the center, that is fine.

Let cool on pans for 5 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely.


Enjoy!

Chocolate Espresso Cookies with Sea Salt

Here's a basic chocolate cookie recipe with a couple of twists. One, I added Starbucks VIA Italian Espresso Roast instant coffee to the mix for a mocha taste, and two, dusted with sea salt to get that "sweet/salty" taste which is so popular right now.

I must say, they came out quite well.  I admit I work for Starbucks, but I have to tell you I love using the VIA instant coffee in recipes. It's perfect. I'm trying to work up to a Tiramisu, ya know?  LOL.

 2 sticks butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 - 2 cups flour (check consistency before adding balance of flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 dollop of sour cream
2 tablespoons milk
2 envelopes Starbucks VIA Italian Roast instant coffee
Sea Salt for garnish and finishing

Preparation:

Combined softened butter with sugars in a bowl. Mix in cocoa powder. Add eggs, salt, baking powder, vanilla, sour cream and milk and stir well. Add 1 1/2 cups flour and mix. Add more flour only if dough is too thin. Mix in VIA instant coffee.

Chill dough for 20 minutes in refrigerator.  Using a scoop, add a rounded tablespoon of dough to cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about an inch apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Immediately sprinkle cookies with sea salt.  Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Waffle Cookies

Surfing through tons of recipes as I sometimes do, I came across an unusual cookie I hadn't seen before. Naturally, I just had to make them.

It's a lighter dough that you bake in a waffle iron! They came out very well, and were a hit at work.

On the one hand you can only bake 4 at a time, but they bake very quickly, just like a waffle does. Check them out.

Adapted from Culinary in the Desert. 

Ingredients and Method:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks butter, softened
4  eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Glaze:

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons milk


In a bowl, melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second bursts until both are melted. (The butter will melt first) Stir and check chocolate after each burst.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the melted butter and chocolate with the sugar until well blended. Add the eggs, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa powder and mix thoroughly. Add the flour and mix well.

Preheat a waffle iron. Lightly spray with cooking spray. I found that I didn't have to have to add any more oil to the iron.

If your waffle iron has a pattern of 4 waffles place a large tablespoon of batter in the middle of each square. My iron has a pattern of 2 waffles so I placed a tablespoon at the top  and bottom of one square and repeated with the other.

Close cover and cook for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 minutes until they are done. Remove to wire rack and let cool completely.



When they have cooled, mix together the cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan and stir and cook over low heat until melted and blended. Pour glaze onto a plate, and dip each of the waffle cookies gently into the glaze, just trying to cover on the very tops.   Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, serve and enjoy. These are delicious with cold milk, of course. Duh!

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you noticed bacon showing up in odd places lately? I mean, for years and years, bacon showed up beside some eggs in a breakfast, sometimes in a waffle or a pancake, and occasionally added to some kind of green bean dish. But that's about it in my recollection.

Now, however, it seems to be showing up everywhere. Check out the 3rd photo down at Voodoo Donuts. It's a huge maple bar covered with freshly cooked bacon slices! And people rave about it.

Or how about a fried breakfast served in a "dish" made out of cooked bacon? Click here.

Or maybe, bacon cupcakes, or chocolate covered bacon, bacon baklava, bacon pie, bacon candy or bacon fried bananas? See them and more here.

Anyway, being the cutting-edge kind of guy I am, I decided to jump on the bandwagon when I came across a recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies. Yeah, bacon chocolate chip cookies.

And guess what? They were strangely addictive. That's all I can say. I took two dozen to work and they received rave reviews, after a moment or two of hesitation of course. So do give them a try if you want to be up on the cutting edge of bacon cooking-dom. (I made that up, can ya tell?)

Adapted from the peterandrewryan website.


Ingredients and Method:

10 slices thick cut smoked bacon
3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer Ghiradelli)
2 1/3 cups flour

Place bacon in an ovenproof pan. I use cast iron, and if you're using a different type pan to bake the bacon, you might want to use some parchment paper to ease on cleanup.

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons brown sugar over bacon and place into 350 degree oven. Turn occasionally to spread the molten brown sugar over the cooking bacon. Let get dark brown and crisp. Remove from oven and place/drain on waxed paper. The bacon will be sticky, so be careful, don't just drain on paper towels, or you'll be starting over, believe me, unless you want paper towels in your cookies. It's strange enough we have bacon, huh?

Meanwhile, cream butter and sugars in a mixing bowl until well combined.

Add salt, baking soda, and vanilla and beat well.

Mix in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.

Add flour and mix well.

Add chocolate chips, and crushed and crumbled bacon into mixture. Mix briefly until just blended.

Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Now, this dough will spread during baking. (One reason we're chilling it ahead of time) So place cookies with sufficient space on cookie sheet.

Drop by tablespoonfulls onto baking sheet. To retard the spreading of the cookies further, use parchment paper.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 12 - 15 minutes. I always bake for 15 minutes because I like them browned and crisp, but go for 12 if you like them softer.

Remove from oven, let sit for 10 minutes, and remove to cooling rack.

Convince your friends they'll love them if they try them, and then revel in their adulation....lol

These really are good. But hard to explain why.

Enjoy!

Care Package Chocolate Chip Cookies

So as some of you know, I have a Son in the Arabian Sea, and a daughter in Baghdad, Iraq. So I spend a lot of time doing what? CARE PACKAGES!

It was my daughter's turn this last weekend, and I wanted to send her and her unit Chocolate Chip cookies. (I understand that the protocol is, anybody who has received home baked goods, is to immediately donate to the group, so nothing generally lasts more than 10 minutes)

Good chocolate chip cookies are generally heavy in butter but I'm sending baked goods on a 5-6 day trip to a Country where the approximate daytime temperature is 110 degrees so I was concerned about butter turning maybe a bit rancid.

So I decided to substitute some vegetable shortening because I'm sure it would stay fresh longer.

I baked them all up, froze all but a couple, so I could sample them, and left them in the freezer for a few days as I continued buying things for the care package so it would be full.

Funny thing happened though. Those cookies are DELICIOUS!

I couldn't stop "hitting" on them. Just a couple each day, but jeez, this is a care package. I felt like I was stealing from my own baked goods.

So I bought everything I needed to buy, filled up the package, with the cookies, and took it directly to the post office and got them out of my house.

My point is, make these cookies. The shortening cut with butter is a great way to go. The cookies retain a great texture even after being frozen and defrosted. And, I suspect I'll get an email from Iraq in a day or two saying...."Hey DAD, thanks for the cookies, they lasted about 10 minutes!"

Ingredients and Method:

1 cup vegetable shortening
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
large package mini semi-sweet chocolate chips


Cream shortening, butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and mix well. Add baking soda and salt and flour and mix thoroughly. Toss in chips and mix until incorporated.

Refrigerate dough for 10 minutes so it's easier to handle. On a cookie sheet with or without parchment paper, drop cooking dough with a scoop or use two spoons to make 1 - 2 inch balls.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 -12 minutes. (I usually always go 12 minutes, but no more)

Let sit on pan for 5 minutes and then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Repeat with remaining dough until all are baked.

Enjoy!

And here's a thought, if you like the cookies, double it and send a couple dozen to my daughter's unit in Iraq. The address is: SGT Merlin Merissa, C co 7-158 AVN, APO AE 09391

I KNOW our troops would be grateful! Trust me, they all share with everyone.

Whoopie Pies

So I'm originally from the NE part of this country, and as a child remember having whoopie pies. Whoopie pies are a devils food-like cookie that has a creme filling between a bottom and upper half. In fact I haven't had one since I was a kid.

I have someone I've come to know on Facebook who recently sent me a recipe for, you guessed it, Whoopie Pies! Further, it turns out he had found the recipe on a card from his mother's stock of recipes. (Here's the link to his website) I LOVE old recipes. I remember, as I've often said, as a child baking with my grandmother, and although oftentimes she never used a recipe, she did have some recipe cards in her pantry. I used to look at these, and since her handwriting was indecipherable to me, I was amazed anybody could make anything using them. The other thing I remember is they were always stained with vanilla, or flour, or chocolate, or whatever she had spilled on them over the years.

Anyway, obviously I HAD to make these and did. Took them to work and people raved. Try 'em, you'll like 'em.

I modified the recipe a bit, but only slightly. I wanted to keep it as true to Mom Wymans recipe as I could.

2 1/2 cups King Arthur bread flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable shortening (Yes, shortening. It won't hurt ya this one time)
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Mix well and refrigerate the dough for 15 mintues in the refrigerator. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie. Leave some room between the cookies as they should spread. I used parchment paper and that seemed to retard the spreading and as a result the cookies were taller which made for a huge cookie when put together. In other words, I'd omit the parchment paper. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. They may not look quite done when you take them out, but they are, don't worry. Let them cool on the sheet for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Now for the filling:

Remember, this is an old time recipe and this filling is kind of different. But, don't substitute if you can help it. This filling fits the cookie perfectly, it's not overly sweet, the texture is perfect, and it appropriately oozes out when eating the Whoopie Pie.

Heat 3 tablespoons flour and 1/2 cup whole milk over medium heat, stirring constantly, until a thick ball forms. Let this cool slightly and add it to a mixing bowl and add 2 cup confectioners sugar, 4 tablespoons of butter (melted), 8 tablespoons of warmed shortening, vanilla, and salt to taste. Whip these ingredients together at high speed for 4 - 6 minutes. It won't aerate, but will get smoother and smoother. Let the filling sit for 15 - 20 minutes so it will cool off slightly.

Spoon filling onto the flat side of one cookie, and top with the bottom of another cookie. Dust with confectioners sugar if you like.

Enjoy! John, thanks for the recipe and the memories.

Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chunk Cookies

So every food blog I look at seems to have a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe displayed on it. Except for mine. But that's just it, EVERYBODY loves Chocolate Chip Cookies and EVERYBODY makes them. So why in the world would I decide to make, bake and blog my version of those cookies this weekend? Sigh, here's why........

That's Nate, my youngest son, and a college student, came up to see his Dad this weekend. How could I NOT make cookies right?

OK, so I'm a softie, but I did whip his butt at Cribbage so the old man still rules.

Here's the recipe: (adapted from the back of the package)

2 1/4 cups flour (I use exclusively King Arthur flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks butter, softened)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
2 eggs
1 large package chocolate chunks

Combine sugars, and butter and eggs and beat thoroughly. Add scraped vanilla bean seeds.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda and add to mixture.

When combined, hand fold in the chocolate chunks.

Chill dough for 15 minutes to make it easier to work with, and so cookies won't spread too much while baking.

Drop by tablespoon fulls onto cookie sheet or parchment paper.

Bake in 325 degree oven for 15 minutes. Cookies should just begin to brown around the edges.

Remove from oven, cool for 10 minutes on pan and remove to wire rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Malt Cookies

About 6 months ago I came across a recipe for pancakes that contained malted milk powder. Next time I made some buttermilk pancakes, I tried them with the malt powder and it's definitely a winner. So I've started adding it to pancake and waffle batters, certain muffins, and even some of my homemade bread. It's unique taste and tang is delicious and subtle. I usually substitute it for part of the sugar and flour in a recipe.

In my usual search for good recipes I was surprised to come across a recipe for Malted Cookies. I have never even heard of a malt cookie so had to try it. Apparently the original recipe is from a Martha Stewart cookie cookbook but was posted by My Baking Adventures.

I really like the way the cookies turned out. They have a unique taste and are perfect as a food pairing to coffee, tea, milk, etc. If you like nuts in a cookie this recipe would accommodate them well, but I preferred them without.

Do try them, I think you'll like them.

Ingredients and Method:

2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup malted milk powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 sticks of butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds removed
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decorative sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

With a mixer, combine cream cheese, butter and sugar until well blended. Add vanilla seeds, egg, and vanilla extract and mix well.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt and malted milk and mix until incorporated.

Chill dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with decorative sugar.

Bake for 12 - 16 minutes. You want to bake until the edges of the cookie is turning brown.

Enjoy!

Whipped Cashew Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter. Peanut Butter Cups. Peanut Butter Brownies. Peanut Butter Cheesecake. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Peanut Butter Parfaits. Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream. Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches. Peanut Butter in a spoon right out of the jar....

All of them delicious!!!!

Peanut Butter Salmonella? Not so good.

So I decided to take my world famous, delicious, unique, peanut butter cookies recipe and substitute a nut I like better. What? Heresy? A nut better than peanuts? Yeah, CASHEWS!

I love Cashews. We all love cashews. Admit it. But they are Expensive!!! But currently, they ain't got no salmonella, ya know?

But I've never baked with Cashews. Never even thought about it.

Until SALMONELLA showed up in freakin' peanuts!!!!

So give it a try. I bet you like them....

By the way, I am NOT talking about butter cookies with cashews in them, NO, I'm talking about real whipped cashew butter as the base for the cookies. OMG, these are good.

These cookies have to be tried to be believed. Four ingredients only and absolutely delicious. They just melt in your mouth. Please note they have NO flour. It can be a fragile cookie (which is what makes it so good) so my advice is to measure the ingredients exactly.

1 cup Cashew Butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Cream together pecan butter and sugar. Add eggs and baking soda and mix thoroughly.
Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 - 45 minutes.

Use two spoons to drop tablespoons onto parchment paper on cookie sheet at least 1 1/2 inches apart as the cookie will spread during baking.

Top with decorative sugar or granulated sugar before or after baking. I prefer, before.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12- 15 minutes. (Bake until they start to brown around the edges)

Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from sheet and transferring to a rack to cool.


Enjoy! (Especially with a cup of Starbucks coffee or ice cold milk)

Chocolate Souffle Cookies

So, I haven't made any cookies for a while and thought it was time. So I searched and searched to find the cookie I wanted to bake this weekend. To be honest, I'm tired of Chocolate Chip cookies, and I'm tired of Snickerdoodles, and I'm tired of Sugar cookies, I guess due to the recent holidays.

So I was reading the Noble Pig site the other day and came across Chocolate Souffle Cookies. Instantly knew that's what I wanted to make so I adapted the recipe there. There is no flour in this recipe, just egg whites, a bit of sugar, fine chocolate and a touch of vanilla and cream of tartar. That's it! These cookies are easy, quick, and delicate but absolutely delicious. I love a chocolate cookie that is so soft inside and a bit crunchy on the outside and as light as a feather. I've just finished baking them, and have already eaten two of them warm from the oven with a glass of milk. Heaven, who needs dinner?

Do try these, I think you will really enjoy them.

Ingredients and Method:

3 egg whites
8 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip egg whites until soft peaks form. (If the bowl is chilled and the whites are room temperature it will whip much quicker)

Add cream of tartar and sugar and extract and continue to beat until the whites just begin to stiffen.

Meanwhile melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments. Add melted chocolate to egg white mixture and fold in until all one color.

Drop by tablespoons full onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with decorative sugar and bake in 350 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool.

Enjoy! These will not last long.