Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

Cookie:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup cocoa

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

Big marshmallows, cut in half

Frosting:

1 cup brown sugar

6 tablespoons margarine

1/2 cup water

4 tablespoons cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla

Cookie:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa.  Cream together remaining ingredients except marshmallows.  Add dry ingredients, mixing well.  Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and press half a marshmallow, cut side down on each cookie.  Return to oven 2 minutes more to partially melt marshmallows.  Cool on pan 2 minutes then remove to cooling rack.  When cookies are cooled, frost.

Frosting: 

Put brown sugar, margarine, water and cocoa in pan and bring to boil.  Remove from heat and cool.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla.  Spread on marshmallow and cookie.

If there is left over frosting, I put it on graham crackers.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Almond Cookies

BATTER:
1 1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
3 cups all-purpose flour

TOPPING:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks.  Gradually add flour and mix well.  Using cookie press fitted with bar disk, press dough one inch apart into long strips onto ungreased cookie sheet.  In small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; brush over dough.  Combine all topping; sprinkle over stripes.  Cut each strip into 2 inch pieces.  Do not seperate pieces.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm.  Do not brown!  Remove to wire racks to cool.


*Next time I make these there are going to be a few changes from the recipe.  The only almond flavor in these cookies is the almonds on top and I feel that only gives them crunch.  I couldn't taste much almond at all.  I'm going to add some almond flavoring to the batter.   
*Another change I will make, the topping made WAY to much so I will cut it in half next time. 
*I do not have a cookie press so I split the dough into fours and rolled each forth into a long "snake".  I then just flatted each "snake" a bit to make it look like a used a cookie press.
*I do not think I baked them long enough.  When I moved them from the pan to the cooling rack they all fell through (except the few you see in the picture) and looked really doughy.  Luckily I had set a cookie sheet under the cooling racks before moving the cookies over so they fell through onto the cookie sheet.  I did get a lot of compliments about the flavor and texture even though they didn't look that great.

Homemade Pecan Sandies

This recipe turned out more difficult than it sounds.  I would suggest trying this when you have lots of patients and time!

1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

In food processor, finely chop the pecans. (I bought pecans already chopped so there was no need for a food processor.)  Cream softened butter, confectioners' sugar, and brown sugar using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy or about 3 mins.  Add egg yolk and beat until smooth.  Gradually stir in flour and salt until just incorporated.  Then add chopped pecans.  Divide dough into 2 equal portions.  (When I got to this point the dough was way to dry and would not stick together at all so I added more butter until it would stick together.)  Roll each portion into a log about 10 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap each log individually in a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or overnight (I think I refrigerated it only for 1 hour and it came out fine).  When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Slice dough into 1/3 inch thick rounds and place on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart.  HINT (this hint was in the original recipe): rotating the log of dough often to prevent it from becoming flattened as you cut.  Bake about 15 minutes or until edges are light golden but the top is still soft.  Leave cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.

Snickerdoodles Recipe

This recipe is one mom used to use when she was a kid.

Cookie:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Coating:

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Using hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth (about 2-3 mins).  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla extract.  In separate bowl mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; stir into other mixture.  Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch round balls.  Mix coating in a separate bowl.  Roll balls in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Space cookies about 2 inches apart and gently flatten each cookie on the pan.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges.  Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Can be stored in airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10-14 days.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I use the recipe off the back of the Nestle Toll House bag of chocolate chip and typically double the recipe as one batch just isn't enough.  The posted recipe is for one batch only.

The recipe (not doubled) says it makes 60 cookies but that all depends on what size you make them.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 9 minutes
Cooling time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. package) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped nuts (I have never put these in as my family isn't a big fan of nuts)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.  Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.  Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe states: May be stored in refrigerator up to 1 week or in freezer up to 8 weeks.  I leave my cookies set on the counter in a covered container until they are gone.