cookies | Stephanie's Slice Of Life

Tag: cookies
- Sugar Cookies
  
  Posted at 4:47 pm by StephMo
  
  Feb 17th
  Sugar cookies are such a fun cookie as you can make them into so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. I just made a batch in the shape of elephants for some students at my daughter’s college, whose mascot is an elephant. Next month I will be making some shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day. The other good thing about them is if you don’t feel like adorning them with colored sugar or frosting, they are just as tasty plain. Here is the recipe I use:
  
  Ingredients:
  
  2/3 cup butter flavor Crisco
  
  3/4 cup sugar
  
  1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. milk
  
  1 tsp. vanilla extract
  
  1 egg
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  
  1/4 tsp. salt
  
  In a large bowl combine the crisco, sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of an electric mixer until blended. Beat in the egg.
  
  In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  
  Add into the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
  
  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours.
  
  When you are ready to make the cookies, roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into shapes. Maybe about 1/8 – 1/4″ thick.
  
  Re-flour the board every time you roll out a new batch. Place on an un-greased cookie sheet.
  
  Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Remove immediately from pan to cooling rack.
  
  I have never been very good at decorating cookies, but I found this really easy technique on-line that worked well. For the icing combine:
  
  2 cups powdered sugar
  
  4-5 tbsps. half and half
  
  1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  
  Food coloring
  
  Mix the ingredients together until they form a thick icing. Dip the cookies into the icing and hold over the bowl for about 15 seconds allowing the excess icing to drip off. Then quickly turn the cookie over and gently move side to side to let the icing cover the entire cookie evenly. Allow to set on a wire rack.
  Sugar Cookies
  
  Print Recipe
  
  Ingredients
  
  2/3 cup butter flavor Crisco
  3/4 cup sugar
  1 tbsp. milk
  1 tsp. milk
  1 tsp. vanilla
  1 egg
  2 cups flour
  1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  1/4 tsp. salt
  
  Instructions
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  In a large bowl combine the crisco, sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of an electric mixer until blended. Beat in the egg.
  In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture on low speed until well mixed.
  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours.
  When you are ready to make the cookies, roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into shapes. Maybe about 1/8 – 1/4" thick. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Remove immediately to wire cooling rack.
  Posted in Cookies, Recipes, Sugar Cookies | Tagged cookie recipe, cookies, food blog, food blogger, homemade cookies, shaped cookies, stephanie's slice of life, sugar cookie recipe, sugar cookies
- Italian Sesame Seed Cookies
  
  Posted at 5:48 pm by StephMo
  
  Jan 2nd
  
  My mother passed away recently and while going through her recipes I came across this recipe for Sesame Seed Cookies. These were one of her favorite cookies, and when she made them she would always enjoy a few while she was sipping a cup of coffee or tea. This recipe may have been my grandmother’s recipe, but I do not know for sure. I never really paid attention to these cookies because to be honest, they weren’t my favorite so I can’t say if they taste like they did when she made them. They still aren’t my favorite cookie, but I liked the batch I made and my daughter really liked them.
  
  I can remember fondly how at least once a year she would buy a bag of sesame seeds at Polcari’s Coffee on Salem Street in the North End of Boston. I haven’t been in that store in years but I can still remember being mesmerized by all of the big bins filled with seeds and nuts. I’ll have to stop in there some day to see if the store is as I remember. While I don’t have a fresh bag of sesame seeds currently in my home, or never have, I just used the ones I purchased at the super market. Maybe I’ll have to start following her tradition and buy my sesame seeds in the North End from now on.
  
  This index card is the recipe I found and apparently I must have had a type writer at some point when I was a child and transferred some of her hand written recipes on to cards for her. The funny thing is there is no mention of sesame seeds in the recipe. Or how long to bake them for. They could be missing another ingredient as well for all I know as I obviously missed a few steps 😅. I am also confused by why her Ricotta Pie recipe that I typed out has no mention of ricotta. Thank goodness transcribing was not the path I chose in life.
  
  The ingredients are wonderfully typed above as seen, except for the sesame seeds and I think I used about a cup of seeds. Now let’s break down the instructions a little bit better.
  
  In a small mixing bowl combine the flour and baking powder, set aside.
  
  In a large bowl mix together the oil, eggs, and sugar. Add the vanilla and salt and mix well.
  
  Add in the dry ingredients and combine well.
  
  Put the sesame seeds on a small plate and put some milk in a small bowl.
  
  I assumed “dip fingers in milk” meant to do so before grabbing some of the dough and rolling it in your hands. Once the dough is in the shape of a ball roll it in the sesame seeds.
  
  I remember my mother’s cookies being more of an oval shape so I shaped them after I placed them on an ungreased cookie sheet.
  
  Since there was no mention of time on the recipe I tried a few different times. My first batch was about 10-11 minutes and they were just slightly brown on the bottom. Then I tried 13 minutes and the bottoms tasted over done, so I settled on right in the middle at 12 minutes.
  
  I like cookies soft and while these are most likely supposed to be a hard biscotti type cookie, I don’t prefer them that way.
  
  If you prefer an all around darker cookie you may want to try a higher temperature and see how they turn out.
  
  I hope you enjoy my mom’s favorite cookie as much as she did 😊
  
  Posted in Cookies, Italian Seed Cookies, Recipes | Tagged cookie recipe, cookies, food blog, food blogger, italian seed cookies, italian sesame seed cookie recipe, italian sesame seed cookies, sesame seed cookies, stephanie's slice of life
- Gingerbread Cookies
  
  Posted at 9:14 am by StephMo
  
  Dec 19th
  
  This recipe for Gingerbread cookies is delicious, not overpowering with spices and a really nice soft texture. When I was a child my mother would use raisins as the buttons, does anyone else remember using raisins? I wanted to use some but my raisin hating daughter vetoed that idea before I could even get the entire thought out of my mouth. I don’t know what it is with my children and raisins. So if you like raisins, they can be a cute old school thing to use for buttons!
  
  My tip with making these cookies is to make them fairly thick. My first batch wasn’t as thick as they should have been and they were a little crispier than I like cookies to be, I prefer a nice soft cookie. I think the perfect size is somewhere around 1/4″ thick, maybe a little more.
  
  You can be as creative as you’d like with decorating. I used a simple icing recipe to decorate them, but if you don’t feel like making icing you can just buy some at the store. The icing I made was 1 cup of powdered sugar mixed with 2 tsp. of milk, then add 2 tsp. of corn syrup and 1/4 tsp. of clear vanilla.
  
  Cookie Ingredients:
  
  3 cups flour
  
  2 tsp. ginger
  
  1 tsp. cinnamon
  
  1 tsp. baking soda
  
  1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  
  1/4 tsp. salt
  
  3/4 cup butter, softened
  
  3/4 cup brown sugar
  
  1/2 cup molasses
  
  1 egg
  
  1 tsp. vanilla
  
  Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
  
  In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
  
  Beat in the molasses, egg, and vanilla until well combined.
  
  Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed until combined.
  
  Press the dough together and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least four hours.
  
  On a floured board roll out about half the dough and start cutting out your gingerbread men. Re-flour the board and roll out the remaining scraps of dough and continue cutting out cookies.
  
  Place the cookies on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes or until they are just starting to brown.
  
  Remove from the cookie sheets and let cool on a wire rack.
  
  Have some fun and decorate! Make sure to eat the ones that aren’t “perfect”.
  
  Posted in Cookies, Recipes | Tagged cookie recipe, cookies, food blog, food blogger, gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, gingerbread cookies recipe, gingerbread men, holiday baking, holiday cookies, stephanie's slice of life
- Snickerdoodles
  
  Posted at 3:32 pm by StephMo
  
  Nov 12th
  
  As I have been flipping through the pages of my mother’s beloved Betty Crocker cookbook, I came across the Snickerdoodles recipe that she made for years. These crunchy cinnamon sugar cookies were often waiting for my children when they would visit as they are one of their favorites. So in honor of my mom, I am baking them today not only as a treat for my children, but to share her recipe with all of you.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/2 cup butter, softened
  
  1/2 cup shortening
  
  1 1/2 cups sugar
  
  2 eggs
  
  2 3/4 cups flour
  
  2 tsp. cream of tartar
  
  1 tsp. baking soda
  
  1/4 tsp. salt
  
  2 tbsp. sugar
  
  2 tsp. cinnamon
  
  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  
  Mix together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and eggs.
  
  In a separate bowl mix together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
  
  Mix flour mixture into the butter mixture.
  
  In a small bowl or plate mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
  
  Shape the dough into balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. The ones I made were a little too big and they almost stuck together. Either make the balls a little smaller, or space them apart further.
  
  Bake for 8-9 minutes or until set. Immediately remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and transfer to a wire rack.
  
  Yum, yum, yum!
  
  Posted in Cookies, Recipes | Tagged cookie recipe, cookies, food blog, food blogger, snickerdoodle recipe, snickerdoodles
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
  
  Posted at 2:48 pm by StephMo
  
  Apr 30th
  
  Years ago I veered away from the classic Nestle Toll House cookie recipe and started trying to find a better chocolate chip cookie recipe. Although I love a good Toll House cookie, I just kept finding they were a little too crispy for my personal liking. This recipe is quite different but they are soft, delicious and have become my new favorite!
  
  When I realized I was out of the regular size chocolate chips and only had minis, I was initially very disappointed. Well, that turned into such a good thing because I loved them even more with the small chips! Give it a try if you never have and see what you think.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1 cup butter, softened
  
  1 cup sugar
  
  1 cup brown sugar
  
  2 eggs
  
  2 tsp. vanilla
  
  1 tsp. baking soda
  
  2 tsp. hot water
  
  1/2 tsp. salt
  
  3 cups flour
  
  1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
  Cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.
  
  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
  
  Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. This is the only recipe I have ever had to do this with.
  
  Add baking soda water to the batter with the salt and combine well.
  
  Stir in the flour and chocolate chips ( I used mini chips).
  
  Drop onto ungreased pans. I decided to use the large cookie scoop this time, go big or go home!
  
  Then bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until edges start to brown.
  
  Cool on a wire rack. Then eat, and repeat!
  
  Posted in Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cookies, Recipes | Tagged chocolate chip cookie recipe, chocolate chip cookies, cookie recipe, cookies, cookies and milk, food blog, food blogger, foodie, mini chocolate chip cookies, mini chocolate chip recipes, soft cookies
- M & M Cookies
  
  Posted at 10:21 am by StephMo
  
  Jan 17th
  
  For years any time I baked M&M cookies I just used my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and added M&M’s instead of chocolate chips. They were good, but just good. Then I started looking around and trying other recipes and found this recipe which is great! This recipe uses shortening as opposed to butter, which I must say makes quite a difference.
  
  These cookies stay plump and soft, which has to do with the shortening. I have been so used to recipes containing butter, but often times they cook too thin for my liking. I am not sure where I found this recipe, but it has been a favorite ever since I did.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  1 cup packed brown sugar
  
  1 cup shortening
  
  2 eggs
  
  1 1/2 tsps. vanilla
  
  2 1/2 cups flour
  
  1 tsp. baking soda
  
  1 tsp. salt
  
  1 cup (plus more) M&Ms
  
  Combine sugars, shortening, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, then add to large bowl and mix well. Add 1 cup M&Ms.
  
  Drop by teaspoonfuls (I like to use cookie scoop) onto baking sheet. Gently add a few M&Ms onto the top of each cookie.
  
  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes at 350 degrees.
  
  The thing that’s fun about M&Ms is that you can use their Holiday colors, or whatever colors you choose. Except when you take out all of the reds and blues for the 4th of July, make sure you tell your peanut allergic son because he may think the leftovers are Reese’s Pieces and get a little nervous 🙁
  
  Posted in Cookies, M&M cookies, Recipes | Tagged baking, cookie recipe, cookies, food blog, food blogger, homemade cookies, life blogger, M & M cookies, M&M cookie recipe, M&M cookies, M&Ms, my slice of life, my slice of life blog
- Childhood Candy Cane Cookies
  
  Posted at 3:34 pm by StephMo
  
  Dec 13th
  
  I can vividly remember getting so excited for these candy cane cookies as a child. My mother would make them every year out of her Betty Crocker cookbook, and they were such a treat! Years ago I decided to make my own and found a Betty Crocker recipe on-line that I assumed were the cookies of my childhood, well they weren’t. It appears that Betty has made a few versions over the years, but the ones I remember as a child are still my favorite.
  
  The original recipe calls for almond extract, which due to nut allergies I no longer use in any recipes. I have made these with just using more vanilla, and I have also made these with substituting peppermint extract for the almond. While they are both very good, my family is down the middle with which version they prefer, so I alternate the versions I make so that it is fair to everyone.
  
  Candy Cane Cookie Recipe:
  
  1/2 cup butter softened
  
  1/2 cup shortening
  
  1 cup confectioners sugar
  
  1 egg
  
  1 1/2 tsps. almond extract (I either use peppermint or vanilla)
  
  1 tsp. vanilla
  
  2 1/2 cups flour
  
  1 tsp. salt
  
  1/2 tsp. red food color
  
  1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter, shortening, confectioners sugar, egg, and flavoring. Blend in flour and salt. Divide dough in half and mix red food coloring into one half.
  
  Shape teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and then roll on a floured board into 4 inch ropes. Place a white and a red rope side by side and twist together.
  
  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and curve top to form a cane. Bake for 9 minutes or until set and very light brown.
  
  Mix peppermint candy and sugar and immediately sprinkle on cookies when out of the oven. Let cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.
  
  I love that my fond childhood memories have now become my children’s memories!
  
  Posted in Candy Cane Cookies, Cookies, Recipes | Tagged baking, baking blog, betty crocker candy cane cookies, candy cane cookies, christmas cookies, cookie recipe, cookies, food blog, food blogger, holiday cookies, my slice of life
- Koulourakia – Say That Three Times Fast
  
  Posted at 1:19 pm by StephMo
  
  Nov 14th
  
  This is hands down one of my favorite cookie recipes! My grandmother used to make these on occasion, but I never liked them because typically they are a hard, dry cookie. Years ago I found this recipe, and these are melt in your mouth good! What could be better than a soft vanilla butter cookie?
  
  I make these every year for Christmas, but Kouourakia is a traditional Greek Easter cookie. Sometimes I make them for Easter as well. Sometimes I just make them for the heck of it! If you prefer a crispier cookie, cook them for the recommended length of time on the recipe. Since I don’t like crispy cookies, I only bake them for about 10-11 minutes until the bottoms are brown. Trust me, although a little time consuming, this recipe is worth it and everyone that tries them will love them.
  
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/koulourakia-butter-cookie-braids/10581/
  
  If the dough is really difficult to work with and keeps sticking to your fingers, just refrigerate it first. I often split the dough in half so that the half I am not working with can stay in the refrigerator until I am ready for it.
  
  Take a little dough (the recipe states walnut size), make it into a ball in your hands, then roll it along the cutting board with the palm of your hand until it makes a long roll. Then I shape them into S’s and braids. You can put them fairly close together on the cookie sheet as they don’t increase much in size. Then be prepared to not be able to stop eating them once you start. So good!
  
  Posted in Cookies, Holiday Treats, Koulourakia, Recipes | Tagged butter cookies, cookie recipe, cookies, easter cookies, koulourakia, koulourakia recipe
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