Tag Archives: drop cookies

December 1, 2011

Cream Cheese M and M’s Cookies

December first! Christmas season is in full swing and it is the month of cookies.

I did some research and I really could not find an answer that I felt answered the question of where the tradition of baking Christmas cookies came from. I imagine that it came from some of the early traditions of the Pagans and the Romans who celebrated the Feast of Saturnella, the winter solstice, and other important holidays at this time. The early church was underground out of necessity – to be a Christian meant that you were in constant danger of arrest and death. So, rather than having a celebration that was different from those of the people around them, they adapted many of the traditions of the cultures they lived in.

Small cakes were sacrificed to various gods and given to neighbors and friends. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Cookies, Holiday Cooking

Tagged as brown sugar, chocolate chip cookies, christmas, Christmas Cookies, cookie recipes, cookies, cream cheese, drop cookies, granulated sugar, holidays, M & Ms, m & ms cookies, vanilla

August 29, 2011

Ranger Cookies

Yeah. So I have been totally out of pocket for…oh…. most of the summer?

I know. I know.

My son was here on leave for all of July and then, as luck would have it, the backlight on my laptop went out. The power cord had been loose for awhile so we took it to Best Buy because Marc was smart enough to get a special warranty on my computer, knowing that I use it constantly. It was supposed to be back relatively soon and in the meantime I was going to use Marc’s laptop..Well, we were going to SHARE.

With my schedule that means I get 20 hours and he gets 4.

Did I mention that my camera had to be fixed at the same time?

And then my contracte with a large client was broken unexpectedly (by them due to financial issues) and I found myself scrambling to replace that income.

And Best Buy is being difficult and not wanting to honor the warranty. More about that later in the week.

Poor cooking blog. I absolutely did not have the time. Hopefully I have a few die hard readers who have been anxiously awaiting my return to the virtual kitchen – and I don’t think you are going to be disappointed. These Ranger cookies are a twist on the ones in my cookbook, and honestly I think I like them so much better. They are crunchy-chewy-tender with big blasts of flavor from coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, pecans, and toffee bits.

They have oatmeal in them so you can even pretend they are health food. Nice, huh? Continue reading →

Chocolate Cardamom Pecan Cookies

O.k. I made these for Renee at Flamingo Musings… really I did. I wanted to send them to her with a cookbook..

I am nice that way.

chocolate-cardamom-cookies

So I baked them and let the kids each have one…and saved 2 dozen for Renee…and then…stuff happened. Lots of stuff. Stress. Life. And pretty soon the cookies were gone and I still hadn’t sent a thing to Renee.

cookies-gone

Did I feel awful? Yeah. Dang. I hate saying I am going to do something and then not doing it. But there ya go. Life sometimes gets in the way. So, here is the recipe. And Renee? I will get the cookies to you as soon as I can, girlfriend.

These are chewy and chocolatey…with a tiny bit of citrus from the cardamom. Candied orange peel would be amazing in these. Don;t overbake them or they will be hard and not chewy..unless you want them that way.

Chocolate Cardamom Pecan Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp fresh cardamom
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup pecans
1 cup bittersweeet chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped candied orange peel
Turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F
Line a baking sheet with parchment
Cream shortening, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sugars together and beat well
Mix dry ingredients together and stir into the butter mixture
Fold in remaining ingredients except turbinado sugar
Chill for 30 minutes
Drop by rounded teaspoons in turbinado sugar
Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until just barely done. Allow to cool for 1o minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

4 dozen cookies

5 Comments

Filed under Cookies

Tagged as cardamom, chocolate cookies, cookies, drop cookies, pecans

December 23, 2008

Cherry Almond Kiss Cookies

I love making Christmas cookies but get tired of making the same ones year after year. My family likes tradition and by the time they are two most of my kids can tell you what should be on the cookie plate for each holiday, what dishes should be on the table, and if I forget or try to do something different, you can bet I hear about it.

I can add to the basic stuff but never, never take away and do something different. Continue reading →