Fine Cooking Cookies: 200 Favorite Recipes for Cookies, Brownies, Bars & More by the Editors of Fine Cooking

Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Maida Heatter’s Cookies by Maida Heatter

Cookie Kisses

The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook by King Arthur Flour

Chocolate Walnut Holiday Cookies

Aside from brownies, I think the only time I made bar cookies is at Christmas.

Probably because the recipes make entirely too many cookies, and I either eat them until I’m sick, or they go to waste (or Michael eats too many).

Christmas Cookies by Oxmoor House

Cranberry-Caramel Bars

I follow this recipe only vaguely–primarily I just drizzle the caramel over the shortbread and cranberries, and then sprinkle the other bits on top.

Fine Cooking Cookies: 200 Favorite Recipes for Cookies, Brownies, Bars & More by the Editors of Fine Cooking

Cranberry Streusel Shortbread Bars

This is my first year making these, and I think they need some work as far as presentation. The dough is gloopy like a drop cookie, rather than sandy like a shortbread cookie. But if they taste good, I’m willing to tweak the recipe.

Simply Sensational Cookies by Nancy Baggett

Praline-Pecan-Coconut Bars

OMG. I love these so much. I like to trim the edges off because it makes the bars neater, the cookies fit back in the pan better once sliced, and because then I have to eat those edges, since they won’t fit into the pan neatly.

Every December I find myself scrounging around trying to find last years list of proposed Christmas cookies, and trying to remember what cookies I made, and what cookies everyone liked best.

This year I’m making note of everything.

I’ve made several different kinds of biscotti, and I have Many Thoughts on how biscotti should be properly made.

Biscotti aren’t supposed to be “high fat”; a biscotti recipe without butter is the correct way (or the traditional Italian way) to make biscotti. I hate the “less fat” designation because it makes you think something is missing, rather than something is made correct.

Biscotti are for dipping into hot drinks. They are supposed to be crunchy and hard. If you make biscotti with butter, they may hold the flavor better, but they don’t properly absorb the liquid when you dunk them in tea or cocoa (or coffee).

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

Chocolate Biscotti with Less Fat

These “low-fat” biscotti are very delicious, and my new favorite biscotti recipe–dutch process cocoa AND chocolate.

YUM.

Simply Sensational Cookies by Nancy Baggett

Cranberry Ginger Spice Biscotti
Spiced Chocolate Biscotti

Nope. The spices were interesting, but the butter made the texture all wrong, so I gave them all away. I learned my lesson–don’t even try making biscotti if the recipe has butter. I won’t like it.

The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook by King Arthur Flour

Orange-Cranberry Biscotti

The KAF cookie book has two recipes for biscotti–Traditional Italian or American Biscotti. You then try any of the variations with your choice of base recipe.

I of course used the Traditional Italian base.

Couple things I’ve discovered making biscotti. First, even when using parchment paper, lightly grease the paper. It makes it much easier to slide the hot biscotti loaf onto the cutting board without burning your hands. Second, in a tip I learned in David Lebovitz’s Room For Dessert, once you blop the the dough into a log (or logs), wet your hands to shape and smooth the log–it makes the sticky dough much easier to handle.

Vanilla Cinnamon Bread
from The New Best of Better Baking by Marcy Goldman

Dough
1 ½ cups warm water
2 ½ tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ tsp salt (vanilla salt if you have it)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp non-fat dry milk
¼ cup instant potato flakes (1)
3 ½ to 4 ½ cups bread flour (2) (3)

Filling
Milk
2 tbsp cinnamon
¼ cup sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it)

Two 8- x 4- inch bread pans

Add yeast to water and let sit for a few minutes. Stir in butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, dry milk, and potato flakes / flour. Add 3 ½ cups of bread flour and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to form a soft dough. (As noted, I use potato flour, and it is a really sticky dough that never cleanly pulls away from the sides of the bowl.)

Let dough rise 30 to 45 minutes, or until about doubled.

Mix together cinnamon and sugar.

Roll out dough into a 12 by 10 rectangle. Brush dough with milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll up into a log and cut in half to make 2 loaves and place in pans. (I actually cut in half before rolling, and manipulate the roll, pinching in the ends, so that the cinnamon sugar bits are sealed inside. This makes a finished loaf that is a bit more like poticza and less like normal cinnamon bread, but makes the pans MUCH easier to clean. And I like the more random cinnamon swirld.)

Cover and let rise for 30-45 minutes, or until dough rises just above the edge of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350. I generally preheat for at least 30 minutes, or try to bake something else before the bread so the oven is definitely at temp, but then I keep a baking stone in the bottom of my oven.

Bake 35-45 minutes or until loaves are brown. Cool in pans for 15 minutes then remove from pan.

(1) I only have potato flour, and I’ve dropped it to 2 tbsp and it’s still a very sticky.
(2) 1 cup of flour = 4.5 oz for her recipes
(3) I’ve used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and added 1 tsp gluten

for Amy

Peach Rum Sauce
From the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

6 cups chopped, pitted, peeled peaches
2 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup rum
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

Reduce heat and boil, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 20 minutes.

¼ inch head space, process 8 oz jars for 10 minutes.

Finally! We found pawpaw!

The Arboretum is having pawpaw parties, where you can come and taste the fruit and–if you want–take seeds home to propagate.

Here are the fruits, plucked from trees in the Arboretum:

And here is what the insides look like. The pawpaw on the left is less ripe, the fruit on the right is more ripe.

The fruit really doesn’t taste like anything else grown in WV, and certainly not something growing wild.

If you have seeds, here is how to propagate pawpaw.

Cran-Apple Crisp for Two
(Minus the Cranberries, which I Forgot)

(Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours)

Serves 2 generously, or 4 if you want to be more healthy.

Topping
1.8 oz flour
1.9 oz light brown sugar
.875 oz oats
.75 oz coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
4 tbsp cold butter

Fruit
2 medium or 3 small apples
1/2 cup cranberries
2.3 oz sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 tbsp flour

Preheat the oven to 375 F

Mix the ingredients for the topping in a food process, or cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or your fingers.

Core and slice the apples (I don’t peel apples for desserts), mix with the sugar, cranberries, and spices.

Put the fruit mixture in the bottom of a small, square pan, or a small loaf pan, or a small round pan–whatever will hold it and is oven-safe.

Ready to go into the oven:

Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Awaiting ice cream:

Top with vanilla ice cream.

Last year I started thinking about all the fresh berries I can get at the Farmer’s Market, and how I often have trouble using them all.

“You know what would be awesome?” I said to myself. “Using them to make homemade ice cream!”
“Self,” I said, “That is a genius idea.”

This was our first attempt at making ice cream. I made strawberry ice cream, from Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book.

Ingredients for the ice cream were: heavy cream, sugar, CreamLine whole milk (which we can get locally! In GLASS BOTTLES!). The strawberry puree was: strawberries, sugar, lemon juice.

Mash the strawberries with the lemon juice and sugar:

Whisk the sugar into the heavy cream, then add in the whole milk.

I strained the strawberries, and added the juice in after the whole milk.

Pour into the running ice cream maker:

The recipe, helpfully, says, “about two minutes before the ice cream is done, add in the strawberry puree. I just guessed.

Is it done yet? Is it done yet?

Looks done to me!

YUMMY!

Next up, lemon frozen yogurt.

Michael makes this, because meat squicks me out. This is also our fallback position when I don’t want to cook. We have these about once a week.

1 pound ground turkey
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs (or something similar)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/3 cup onion
4 tablespoons dried parsley
dash salt
dash pepper

Line cooking sheet with foil.

Squish together with your hands until ingredients are combined.

Make ~1/2 cup patties and place on cookie sheet NOT TOUCHING. Depending upon the size of your cookie sheet, you may need to make another layer of foil.

Place sheet–uncovered–in freezer for a couple hours. Once frozen solid, place into stacks and put in ziploc bags.

To cook, heat frying pan on low. Add 1 or 2 tbs oil. Add frozen patties to frying pan, cover, and cook on low until done.

Toppings:
Cheddar cheese
Avocado
Turkey bacon
Fresh spinach
Red leaf lettuce

Serve with sweet potato fries, baked in the oven.

This is a favorite of mine, adapted from the Cooks Illustrated Italian Favorites 2009.

1/4 cup minced onion
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 – 4 garlic cloves, minced
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
1/4 – 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt
1/3 cup good quality vodka
1/2 cup neufchatel cheese (ie “light” cream cheese), softened and cut into squares
fresh Parmesan cheese
Penne pasta, 1 lb

Heat 4 quarts of salted water, to boiling.

Heat large saute pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, and then onion, cooking until onion is light golden. Add red pepper flakes, and then garlic, the add the tomatoes and ~1/2 tsp salt.

Once everything is well mixed, turn off flame and add vodka. Turn the flame back on, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, or while pasta is cooking.

Cook pasta according to directions.

When pasta has a few minutes left to finish cooking, add cream cheese to tomato sauce. I’ve found that Philadelphia actually melts and incorporates better than the store brand, but YMMV.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Pour sauce over penne and stir.

Serve, with fresh Parmesan.

The hospital serves a really unhealthy version of this that is INSANELY delicious. I tried to make it healthier.

There is a LOT of room for flexibility here. You can use lime or lemon here, I personally hunted down lime powder, because I really like the flavor the lime adds.

And you don’t need a wrap if you can’t find a gluten free ones. For lunch, Michael just plops everything in a bowl to eat.

1/2 onion, sliced
chicken, sliced or cubed
garlic, minced
vegetable/canola oil
1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
1 tsp cumin (or to taste)
salt
pepper
lime juice (or lime powder) or lemon juice [When I need fresh lemon for something, I get several lemons, the put the remaining juice in ice cube trays to freeze, then store the cubes in a ziploc bag with the air sucked out. This works perfectly for me.]
hot sauce (I’m partial to Melinda’s Mango Hot Sauce)
spicy ranch dressing (this is the key ingredient to the uber deliciousness)
lettuce (or spinach) sliced/shredded
sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
wraps (I’m partial to spinach wraps; I know I’ve seen gluten free wraps]
Options:
rice (Mexican rice is an option, but I don’t like it. I’m actually happy with plain brown rice.)
and/or
1 can black beans
1 cup or so frozen corn
Avocado

Mince the garlic into a tablespoon or so of oil, then set aside. Slice the onion (or mince it, but I think the slices work better with this recipe)

If you want the black beans and corn, heat 2 tbsp oil in a small pot. Add a clove or so of minced garlic, a tsp or so of cumin, the black beans, and the corn. Mix occasionally, until heated through, then drop the heat to low. Feel free to add other spices.

Heat your largest skillet over medium heat (a drop of water should sizzle fiercely). Add 2 or 3 tbsp of oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, saute the onion. While the onion is cooking, add the chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Once the onion is soft and translucent, push it to the edge of the pan and add the chicken.

Spread the chicken evenly over the bottom of the pan and then STEP BACK AND WAIT. When you saute chicken, you want to let one side cook well–you’ll notice that when one side is cooked, it will actually unstick from the pan. This is when you can then stir it around to make sure the chicken is well-cooked. So you can poke individual pieces to see if they’ve become unstuck, but you’re better off not paying attention to it.

Once the chicken is sauted, add 1 to 2 tbsp lime juice and hot sauce to taste.

Heat wraps you’re immediately going to use on a place in microwave for ~10-30 seconds. They should be warm and pliable.

Layer chicken, rice, black beans & corn, cheese, lettuce, spicy ranch and wrap as best you can. If you are me, you’ll make a huge, but delicious mess as you eat.

This is very basic, and very delicious. We serve it with turkey sausage and fresh bread and butter. Fresh ingredients are a requirement–you’re not working with a lot here, so what you have HAS to be good.

Mis en place is important here. Get everything ready to go before you begin–water in the pot, eggs cracked and ready to go, garlic minced, etc. You don’t want to be scrambling (HA!) trying to do several things at once.

This recipe is adapted from “Cook’s Illustrated Italian Favorites 2010”.

2 slices bread (When I have leftover bread, I just process it and put it in the freezer for later)
10 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, total
salt
fresh ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 – 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
spaghetti or linguini or fettuccini, 1 serving per person
Fresh grated Parmesean cheese or Parmesean & Asagio mixed
1/4 cup fresh parsley (I’ve skipped this and it’s fine. If you use dried, use only ~1 tbsp)
1 large egg per person, each egg in a separate bowl,

To make bread crumbs:
Preheat oven to 375 F
Pulse bread in the food processor till you get crumbs.
In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs, two (2) tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. It’ll start lumpy and then look like moist bread crumbs.

Toast bread crumbs for 8 to 10 minutes.

You can make a large batch of bread crumbs, store them in the freezer, and then just toast/heat them before using.

While the bread crumbs are toasting, start the pasta water boiling. Use a large pot, and salt the water well.

While the water is heating, heat a non-stick skillet on low heat. When the pan is hot, add 3 tbsp of olive oil (I actually use a little less). When the oil is hot, add the garlic, peeper, and some salt, stirring until the garlic foams, about 8 to 10 minutes. Once the garlic is cooked, put it into a small bowl.

At this point, I turn the pan down to low, to keep it warm.

When pasta is al dente, drain water and then return pasta to the pot. Add 3 tbs olive oil, garlic, parsley, and salt (I actually skip the salt here) and mix well.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in pan. Fry the eggs sunny side up.

Divide the pasta between the bowls, sprinkle with cheese, sprinkle with bread crumbs, then, when eggs are done, put a fried egg on top of the pasta in each bowl.

Serve and eat immediately.

The original recipe had you mix the Parmesan with the garlic and a 1/2 cup of pasta water, but for me, this turned into a lumpy mess. Sprinkling the cheese with the bread crumbs turned out MUCH better.

My friend NeuronDoc hates to cook, but she wants to cook more both because it’s healthier, and because she wants to sent a good example for her daughter.

So I’m going to a few recipes that I think are easy, and also very delicious.

But more importantly, some basics:

1. Use fresh ingredients, whenever possible. When you’re only using five or so ingredients, they have to taste good.

2. Most ground spices should be replaced once a year, as they lose their potency once they are oxidized (exposed to air). Whole spices keep longer, since they are ground.

3. You can do a lot of prep ahead of time–having serving sizes of pre-cut onion or chicken in the freezer makes life much easier.

4. Mis en place (French for “get your shit together before you start”) is incredibly important. Get everything laid out and ready to go, so you’re not halfway through a recipe and realize you don’t have something essential.

5. That said, there are lots of substitutions you can make, if you don’t like an ingredient, or you don’t have something on hand. Just know you’re going to be making a substitution BEFORE you start cooking.

6. Keep staples on hand. Find a recipe you like that’s really easy to make, and keep stuff for that on-hand, for nights when you want something easier. Making and freezing soups is also good for this. On our house, turkey burgers are the default fall-back position. They’re easy, they’re delicious, and you can experiment with things you put on them.

7. I am a HUGE fan of kitchen scales. Measure cups are good, but if you want to quickly measure spaghetti, taring a tall drinking glass and then measuring out 2 oz of pasta per person is really easy.

8. Almost everything I make contains garlic, because I love garlic. I always mince the garlic first, into a tablespoon or so of oil. This helps release the aromatic compounds AND the healthy compounds. Also, immediately after mincing the garlic, wash your hands with DISH soap. This should remove the oils that makes your hands stink.

If I remember, I’ll try to make an index here, for the recipes as I make them.

Spaghetti with Fried Eggs

Other recipes:
Butternut Squash Risotto

Tried new recipes this year, some of which were an absolute failure, but most weren’t.

Sugar Cookies – The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook
Lemon Cookies – America’s Test Kitchen Christmas Cookies 2012
Rum-Raisin Chocolate Ship Cookies – The Good Cookie: Over 250 Delicious Recipes from Simple to Sublime
Hermits – The Good Cookie: Over 250 Delicious Recipes from Simple to Sublime
Shortbread – Alice Medrich’s Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich (I made one regular batch and one batch with nutmeg, because I LOVE NUTMEG.)
Pumpkin Walnut Bread – Cook’s Illustrated Holiday Baking 2007 (I love this recipe)
Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies – The Best of Fine Cooking Cookies No 23
Praline-Pecan-Coconut Bars – Nancy Baggett’s Simply Sensational Cookies
Bourbon Balls (I no longer remember where this recipe came from)
Peanut Butter Blossoms (I no longer remember where this recipe came from)
Lemon Coins – Carole Bloom’s The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients
I also plan on making Poticza from the The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook
And I’d also like to lemon poppy seed quick bread.
And probably a pumpkin pie.

I think I am going to give up trying to make pumpkin cookies. This year I tried Nancy Baggett’s Pumpkin Rocks with Cream Cheese Frosting (The All-American Cookie Book) and they were beyond a failure. I ended up with a flat, oily brown ooze. Theoretically, it’s because I use fresh (frozen) pumpkin, but this was a bigger mess than any other pumpkin cookie I’ve attempted to make with fresh (frozen) pumpkin.
The other recipe that failed was Chocolate Raspberry Cookies, which are delicious, but a complete mess.

And of course, there was the baking and decorating of sugar cookies, with peanut butter blossoms added in this year.