Island Cookies

"A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand." - Unknown

My sweet tooth is a gruesome thing to behold.
A voracious monster.
A ravenous beast.
And I keep feeding it; It's the only polite thing to do. I know it's a habit I should work on curbing, but...well, to borrow the words of Mr. Schneebly...
"I like to eat! Is that such a crime?"

Besides, I occasionally jog, in an attempt to clear my butter and chocolate-strewn conscience.
Problem solved.
Now then, let's get down to business, shall we?


When my dad ate one of these, he firmly commanded that I throw away all other chocolate chip cookie recipes. And even though I don't think I'll be taking such drastic measures, these cookies are really, really good. I think they're in their own unique category of yummy-ness.

Aaaaaaaand......
They come direct from the Nestle Toll House Cookbook!



First, you'll need flour...
1 and 2/3 cups of it.



Next, baking powder.
And since the writer of this recipe was apparently a precise and persnickety person, and since no one has invented a 3/4 of a tsp. measuring spoon yet, you must measure three 1/4 teaspoons.











Then baking soda, and salt.


Now 1 1/2 sticks of butter.
Yup. I cut that puppy right in half, paper and all ;)

As usual, I softened them in the microwave, 8 seconds at a time. Tsk, tsk. Feel free to do it the right way, and let them sit on the counter to soften.

Next up: brown sugar. And white sugar.


Cream the butter...

See that blue reflection on the silver part of the mixer?
That's my blue sweatshirt.
Which I have worn for...3 days(?) straight.
I'm a coldblooded creature of habit.

Now, add the brown and white sugar to the butter, slowly, so it has time to mix well.

Then dump in the vanilla.

Now I want you to prepare yourself. Because your are about to observe, step-by-step, while I crack an egg one-handed.
Please, at least pretend to be impressed.



(Name that movie!)

And voila! Perfectly cracked eggs. Don't feel bad. Not everyone was trained in the finest cooking schools Par-ee has to offer...

(EXPLOSIVE LAUGHTER)

Anyway, it's not hard. Give it a try. It's all in the wrist :)

Phew, so once you get off of your egg-cracking tangent, hurry up with the rest of the mixing, because it's getting late, and your stomach is calling.

Once you mix in the egg, gradually blend in the flour mixture...

And now, for the ingredients that totally make these cookies...

Chocolate chips, coconut and chopped walnuts.

Mix them all in to the batter with a wooden spoon.
Or a yellow rubber spatula, if you really want to live on the edge.

Drop them by slightly rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet...

And bake at 375 for about 9 minutes. Or 10. Or maybe even 11. All depends on whether you like your cookie soft, or chewy, or crunchy. Personally, I'm somewhere between the first two, so I baked mine for about 9 minutes.

And there you have it! A unique twist on a classic cookie.
Enjoy!

Island Cookies
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted if desired
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg.
3. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, coconut and nuts.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.


Happy Cooking!

Soft Molasses Cookies with Caramel Glaze

These cookies were a sorta-kinda flop.
Which isn't all that rare, really. But the depressing thing about this particular flop was that I've made these cookies at least twice before. And both times, they were NOT flops. They were fluffy, great tasting, and had great texture too.
But this time, since we were fresh out of buttermilk, I used this stuff:

Which was another one of my (frequent) not-so-bright ideas.
But I mean, come on! It says right on there, "Great for cooking and baking". So what am I to do but believe it?
Anyway, I think that's the reason these cookies turned out flat and very fine-textured. Nevertheless, they are still highly delicious, and if you follow the directions, using real buttermilk, your taste buds will rejoice along with you.

First, the ingredients:

Oh yeah, and brown sugar.

(Haallelujah....)
Sorry. It was the angle. And the lighting. It just shouted "Hallelujah" to me.

So, to commence preparation...

I mixed the buttermilk powder with water first. Just thought it felt safe to do that and let it sit. No idea why. But I did.
And it looked gross. Tasted gross, too.
Not that I actually tried it or anything.
But there it is, lumpy and watery and...definitely NOT buttermilk.

But I carried on. Because that's what good cooks do.
Or insane cooks.
But let's not open that can of worms.

Next, sift the flour.

I love sifters. They're so cool.

Once you have a bunch of sifted flour, measure 2 cups of it.

(Casting odd shadows is such an important element of amateur photography that I just couldn't resist. )

Then you combine all those dry ingredients together: the flour, the baking soda:

The salt:
(Again with the odd shadows.)

I got so carried away taking pictures of salt in motion that I forgot to stop pouring.

So then, using great caution and precision, I had to pour the extra salt back into the container.

But I am not a cautious or precise type of person, thank you very much, so most of it ended up on the counter again anyway.
So after you clean up after your salt fiasco, continue with the process of combining the dry ingredients.

Ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

After the measuring of the ginger, my peaceful, quiet, solitary cooking therapy session was interrupted by a couple of wild hooligans. So the photography went downhill. As in, ALL the way downhill, crashing at the bottom. As in, I didn't take any closeup pictures of cinnamon or cloves or one-handed egg cracking. Aren't you sad?

You'll have to survive, I suppose, because I can't seem to get into the 'Zone' unless I'm cooking alone.
*Gasp*. I rhymed.

Anyway, cream together the shortening, brown sugar, egg, molasses and "buttermilk", until it looks something akin to this:

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Actually, make 'em a bit smaller than this:

And bake them at 350 for 15 minutes or so.

The result:
These golden brown discus things. Remember, follow the recipe right, and you'll have cute little puffy cookies with a thick, almost cake-like texture.
I promise.

And now for the frosting. Glaze. Whatever you want to call it.

Place 1 stick of butter and the brown sugar in a saucepan.

Add some milk and let it all melt and come to a boil.

Try unsuccessfully to run wild hooligans out of the kitchen.
Neglect to take pictures of the bubbly, rich-colored caramel goodness that simmers on your stove.
Or the uber-exciting beating-in of the Confectioner's sugar and vanilla.
And finally, frost your cookies.

You can do it with a knife, like I did above.

Or you can add a little more milk and just kind of drizzle it over the cookies.

Or you can pour the thinner glaze onto the middle of the cookie and watch in fascination as it spreads and then hardens in perfect symmetry.
Almost.

Whatever you do, get the frosting on there.
When these cookies are made right, and the frosting is the right consistency, you can just hold the bottom of the cookie and dip the top part into the frosting, creating a nice swirly coat on the top.

To tell the truth, though they may look prettier with the frosting drizzled, the taste and texture is better when it's dipped/spread. It's creamier and there's more of it. Which, in my book, is always a plus.




Soft Molasses Cookies with Caramel Glaze
2 C. sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 C. molasses
1/3 C. buttermilk
1/2 C. shortening

Thick Caramel Glaze:
1/2 C. butter
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
1/3 C. milk
2 1/2 C. Confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Sift together flour, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
3. In separate mixing bowl, cream together brown sugar, shortening, egg, molasses and buttermilk.
4. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and beat well.
5. Drop by spoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.
6. Thick Caramel Glaze: in medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and milk. Stir over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture boils. Boil gently, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in Confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat by hand until well-blended. Using a spoon, spread a small amount over each cookie.


Happy Cooking!

Chocolate Snowflake Cookies

These cookies are quick, but best of all, they taste pretty much like a mini brownie. And they look pretty.
If it's any testament to their awesomeness, I made them one evening, and the next day, I came home to a sheepish family and an empty cookie platter.
Enough said.

So, to prepare these tasty little tidbits of chocolatey goodness...

Follow these instructions.
Since I was in a hurry to satisfy my chocolate craving (and to get them in the oven before dinner), I didn't take pictures. So you'll have to content yourself with the boring old recipe.

Chocolate Snowflake Cookies
1 (18.25 oz.) box chocolate cake mix
2 1/4 C. whipped topping
1 egg
Confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, whipped topping and egg. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended. (Batter will be very sticky).
3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into Confectioner's sugar; roll lightly to coat.
4. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.


Happy Cooking!