Frosted lemon cookies

Another lemon flavored treat for work today – lemon cookies with lemon frosting.  I actually used fresh squeezed lemon in the cookie. But opted for bottled juice for the frosting  (I needed to save some time).

I recommend chilling the dough for a few hours.   Also scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  (Do the same for the powdered sugar). And,  preheat your oven.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbs lemon juice (fresh or bottle)
  • 1 tbs lemon zest (not a fun thing to do, honestly)
  • 1 tsp lemon extract (opt)
  • 3.4 Oz package instant lemon pudding
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2  tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs, zest, lemon juice and extract.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough.  Chill a few hours.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 12 to 13 minutes (no longer).   Cookies will be gushy.  Pop in fridge for a bit to firm up.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tbs lemon juice

Directions – in a bowl, combine ingredients.  Frost cooled cookies.  Store in covered container

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Lemon squares

A request for these were from a friend from work- lemon squares.  They were super easy to make and are topped with a lemon frosting.  

I used fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.  You can use bottled lemon juice if you prefer.  Honestly, zesting a lemon seems like unnecessary work!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also preheat the oven before baking.. and, take these out after 16 or 17 minutes, even if they don’t look completely done.

  • Bars ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled for 10 minutes
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp lemon zest (opt)
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line and 8×8 pan with parchment paper.  Set aside.   In a bowl, combine butter, sugar and powdered sugar.  Add eggs, juice and zest.  Blend in flour and salt.  Spread evenly into tapered pants.  Bake 16 to 17 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs lemon juice

Directions – combine and evenly spread over bars.  

Let frosting set before cutting.  Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Milk Chocolate Chip cookies with finely ground macadamia nuts

I thought it was time for another batch of  chocolate chip cookies.  These are made with milk chocolate chips and finely ground macadamia nuts (I actually ground them in the food processor a little too long, so they were more like a nut butter 😀)

I recommend chilling the individual mounds of dough.  for a few hours or freeze them for 30 to 60 minutes to keep them from spreading. 

I used butter flavor crisco.  You can use regular crisco or butter if you prefer.

Also, you can use a different type of nuts or none at all.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also, preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter flavor crisco
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (firmly packed into measuring cups)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup macadamia nuts (finely ground)

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter crisco, brown sugar and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Blend in chips and nuts.  Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Chill a few hours. (I froze mine for an hour to speed up the process).  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger cookies on sheet. 

Bake 12 to 13 minutes, no longer.  Cookies will be gushy, but bottoms will be golden brown.  gentlt press extra chips on top of cookies.

  Pop cookies in fridge to firm them up.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Frosted brownie cookies

Today’s treat frosted brownie cookies… so simple because they  use a brownie  mix and a few other ingredients.  

You probably could leave them unfrosted, but i think the frosting adds a little extra goodness.

I do recommend chilling the dough and few hours to keep them from spreading too much.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 brownie mix
  • 2 tbs cocoa powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tbs chocolate syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions – in a bowl, mix all ingredients.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and chill a few hours.   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger cookies on prepared sheet.sheets.  bake 9 to 11 minutes.  They were a little gushy in the middle, but I did not cook them any longer because I was worried about the bottoms burning).  I did pop them in the fridge to firm them up.  Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, mix ingredients well.  Frost cookies.   Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Sugar coated puffy peanut butter cookies

We have a busy day at ESPN Radio tomorrow with an NBA game 7 (Nuggets-Clippers) and and MLB game (Mets Cardinals) so I thought I would bring in large puffy, peanut butter cookies coated in sugar.  I thought of adding melted chocolate on top, but decided to skip it this time.  

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also, chill the individual mounds of dough and few hours to help keep them puffy.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups flour (scooped from flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup peanuts, finely ground in a food processor

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter.   Add eggs and vanilla.  Blend in flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Stir in peanuts.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and form into mounds.  Chill a few hours or overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Dip tops of cookie mounds into sugar.  Stagger on cookie sheet, like below.  

Bake 11 to 13 minutes (no longer).  Cool completely.   Store in covered container. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Wishing you a day of peace, joy and love!

Blondies with Chocolate Chips

I do not know whether these are called blondies, toll house bars or chocolate chip bars.  They are basically a chocolate chip cookie in bar form.  Always a  big hit and super easy to make. 

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Also preheat the oven before baking so it cycles to the right amount.

And wait until these are cooled before cutting them.  This is on either Rob or Gracie.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9×9 pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray.  Set aside.  In a bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and sugar.  Add eggs, yolk and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips and spread evenly in pan.  Sprinkle  remaining 1/2 cup chips on top and gently press into dough.  In preheated oven, bake 25 to 30 minutes .  No longer.  Cool completely.  Cut and store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

For part one of tomorrow’s treat for ESPN Radio – browned butter chocolate chip cookies.  Browned butter adds a slightly different flavor to the cookies.  It is pretty easy to “make.”  You place the butter in a saucepan pan, cook over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally,  until brown specks appear at the bottom.  Immediately turn off stove burner and remove from heat.

These also used bread flour, which makes the cookies a little thicker and more dense.  I would not sub all purpose flour in this recipe.  If you don’t have bread flour, I have plenty of other chocolate chip cookie recipes that use AP flour.  remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  Pouring flour directly into your measuring cup can result in packing in the flour, making for a dry cookie.

I recommend chilling the individual doughs overnight, so they stay puffy while baking.   Also preheat your oven before baking.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, browned, then cool for 5 to 10 minutes
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (packed into measuring cup)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1 yolk
  • 2 1/4 cups bread flour (scooped from flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, mix browned butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add eggs, yolk, vanilla and heavy cream. Blend in dry ingredients.   If dough seems a little dry, add another tbs of heavy cream.  Mix in chocolate chips.  Scoop out 1/4 cups dough.  Chill individual fridge overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger cookies doughs on prepared sheets.  Bake 10 to 14 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.  If cookies seem too gushy, pop them in the fridge a bit to firm them up.  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

What better way to celebrate a perfectly, sunny, spring, 80 degree day than with hot cocoa cookies.  I am always looking for new tweaks for cookies, so I thought adding some hot cocoa mix and marshmallow bits would be a nice way to accomplish that. 

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I also recommend chilling the individual dough mounds after scooping them out.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 1/4 cups flour (scooped from flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 4 packets hot cocoa mix
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup marshmallow bits

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Mix in chips and marshmallow bits.  Dough will be very soft.  Chill 30 minutes to an hour.  Scoop out 1/4 cups of  dough.  Chill a few more hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger cookies on sheet.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes.  Let set on cookies sheets 15 minutes or so.  Pop in fridge for a bit to firm them up (I left them overnight).  Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Puck cookies for the Frozen Four and to welcome the Stanley Cup to campus

The Frozen Four begins tomorrow on ESPN2 (5 pm and 8 pm eastern), and the Stanley Cup will be on campus at ESPN Friday.   So to celebrate, I made puck cookies – soft chocolate sugar cutout cookies shaped like pucks.  Some are frosted with chocolate frosting and since I didn’t make enough of it, I topped the rest with melted Hershey kisses.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount (same goes for the baking cocoa).  Also preheat your oven before baking for the best cookies.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour (scooped from flour bag into measuring cup so you get the correct amount)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (scooped from the container into measuring cup)
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions – preheat oven to 350 degrees.  in a bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Blend in egg and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.   Flour a flattened surface and rolling pin.  Roll and cut.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Stagger cookies on it.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes.  Cool completely

  • Frosting list
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tbs water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp cornstarch syrup
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, melted

Directions – in a bowl, mix powdered sugar, water, vanilla and corn syrup.  Blend in melted chips.  Frost cookies.  Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Frosted Cake Batter Cookies

I am always looking for ways to tweak recipes and, while walking in the baking aisle, I noticed cake batter extract, so i added it to my flavoring collection (vanilla, almond, lemon, maple).  And today, instead of making vanilla flavor cookies, I went with cake batter.  Cake batter frosting too.  Some are topped with sprinkles, others with mini m&ms (bc the mini m&ms bag lasts forever).

Of course if you don’t have cake batter flavoring, vanilla is just fine. 

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I also chilled the individual doughs overnight to keep them from spreading too much.

  • Cookie ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp cake batter extract
  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter, sugar, eggs and extract.  Blend in dry ingredients.  Scoop our 1/4 cups of dough.   Chill, in a covered container, a few hours or overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking liners.  Stagger on prepared sheets.  Bake 13 to 15 minutes.   (Bottoms will be lightly browned).  Mine were a little gushy on top, so I popped them in the fridge to firm them up.  Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3 cups powdered sugar (scooped from your container into your measuring cup so you get the right amount)
  • 1 tsp cake batter extract
  • 4 tbs milk

Directions- in a bowl, blend all ingredients well.   Frost cooled cookies.  Top with sprinkles or m&ms.  Store in covered container.  (I put mine back in fridge)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!