Cutout sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day

This cookie is my all-time favorite to make, and I use it all throughout the year because I have a billion cookie cutters for each season.  Plus, it brings back many memories of baking with my mom and they were my dad’s favorite cookie. 

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.  I also recommend chilling the dough for a few hours or overnight.  And most importantly, remember to use plenty of flour on your countertop when rolling out the dough so it doesn’t stick when you use your cookie cutters.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups crisco
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tbs vanilla
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions – in a bowl,  cream crisco and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients.  Cover and store for a few hours or overnight.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Sprinkle plenty of flour on the  surface you will roll out the dough.   I like the cookies on the thicker side.  Roll out dough and cut.  Bake 6 to 8 minutes, no longer.  Cool completely.

Frosting – combine 1/2 cup softened butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 to 4 tbs milk.  You may add more or less powdered sugar to get the consistency you want.  Color as desired.  Frost cookies. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I was looking for something different to make, so I came across oatmeal chocolate chip cookies when browsing through my recipes. And I decided to frost them. Oatmeal cookies always take me back to when I was really young and my great grandmother used to always make sure she had a bag of frosted oatmeal cookies. They were crunchy and had that hard frosting on them. I can’t remember the brand, but I know they came in a blue bag and I loved them. And I adored my great grandmother. She was a wonderful, kind lady with a big heart and was an incredible cook and baker. I was blessed to know her, as well as all four of my grandparents. I have so many great memories with all of them.

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 mounds of dough overnight. And by the way, you don’t have to frost these. 🙂

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Belong in oil, eggs and vanilla. Fold in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and form mounds. Chill overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Stagger cookies on sheet. Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Edges will be brown, and tops may be a little gushy. Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 to 3 tbs milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions – In a bowl, blend ingredients. You may want to add more powdered sugar and /or milk to get the consistency you want. Frost cookies. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today! Wishing you a day of peace and love.

Happy wildcard weekend cookies! (note the m&ms color)

Only red and blue m&ms

For tomorrow’s football Friday, I made sugar cookies with m&ms. And not just any color, blue and red only, for my beloved Buffalo Bills. I picked out the red and blue ones. It was a little time-consuming, but it needed to be done!

Inexplicably, I dropped one on the floor, so Gracie felt like she hit the lottery!

Dreaming of another cookie

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount (do the same with your powdered sugar). Also, form the dough into tall cylinders. And preheat your oven to 375 degrees before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cream of tartar
  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 cups m&ms

Directions – preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, cream butter, sugar, powdered sugar, and oil. Add eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Blend in flour. Stir in m&ms. Scoop out 2 tbs of dough and form tall cylinders. Stagger on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 13 minutes (lightly golden around edges). Cool completely.

If you find they are too gushy, store in fridge to firm them up. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Go Bills!

Chocolate chip cookies

Part two of my treats for the final NFL regular season weekend – another version of chocolate chip cookies. These have a tbs of oil, which makes them so soft!

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour container into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Preheat your oven to 350 for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp. Also, form the dough into tall cylinders to keep them puffy.

I recommend chilling the dough if you have time. If you don’t that is ok, they might not be as puffy.

Ingredients list

  • 1/2 cup butter, cold and grated with a cheese grater
  • 1 tbs oil
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • Directions- line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add egg, vanilla and salt. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Scoop out 1.5 tbs dough and form into tall cylinders. Chill a few hours if you have time. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stagger on prepared sheets. Bake 10 to 13 minutes (edges will be browned, tops may be a little gushy). Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Wishing you peace, Joy and love.

Mini chip snowball cookies

These cookies are a huge hit. Messy, because of the powdered sugar, but a hit nonetheless. They are similar to a Mexican wedding cake/Italian wedding cookie/Russian tea cakes. I do not use walnuts, but do use mini chocolate chips. Regular size chocolate chips would not work. They would be too big.

Remember to scoop your powdered sugar, as well as your flour, from your bag into your measuring cup so you get the correct amount. Also, preheat your oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. I baked mine for 10 to 12 minutes, no longer. You don’t want them to overbake and dry out.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar (scooped from your powdered sugar bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 3 cups flour (scooped from your flour bag into your measuring cup)
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions- preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Fold in flour, one cup at a time. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1 1/3 tbs dough (I used a cookie scoop). Stagger on prepared sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle warm cookies with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar. Store in covered container.

Mid week chocolate chip cookies

Rob alerted me to the fact that I have not baked “in a while” (3 days 😉) and wondered if I could bake a treat. So after we took our nightly walk with Gracie, I whipped up some chocolate chip cookies. Being a little short on time, I used crisco as opposed to butter (I always like to chill my dough when I use butter to try and keep the puffiness in the cookies).

Remember to scoop your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. And, preheat your oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup crisco
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbs water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. In a bowl, cream crisco, sugar, brown sugar,eggs, vanilla and water. Add dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Stagger cookies on cookies sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and cool completely. I stored mine in the fridge to firm them up.

Who’s ready for the next Bills game? This girl! Thanks for stopping by today.

Smores cookies bars

Amidst all the holiday baking with cutout sugar cookies, snickerdoodles and gingerbread men, I went a little outside the box and decided to make smores cookie bars. They are quite simple and are topped with marshmallow buttercream frosting and melted milk chocolate chips. We are going to our friends’ house tonight for a Christmas party and these are what we are bringing.

Remember to preheat your oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so your oven cycles to the right temp. Also, spoon your flour bag from your flour container

  • Bars ingredients list
  • 1 cup crisco (original or butter flavor)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour (scooped your flour bag into your measuring up so you get the right amount)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups finely crushed graham crackers

Preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a 9×13 pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. In a bowl, cream crisco, brown sugar and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients and crushed graham cracker. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes (edges just turn golden). Cool completely.

  • Frosting ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 2 1/2 cups to 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 to 3 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and fluff. Mix in powdered sugar slowly. Add cream and vanilla. Blend to desired consistency. Frost cooled bars. Top with melted chocolate. Store in covered container.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I wish you a day filled with peace and love.

Browned butter chocolate chip bars

Tuesday is the annual day of giving, which encourages people to do good. Tuesday is also the start of V Week at ESPN to raise money for cancer research. If you can help, go to v.org to donate.

For part of my effort to put good into the world, I made browned butter chocolate chip bars. Very easy to make. Remember to preheat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount.

Some decided to cut into the bars

To brown your butter, put it in a pan and melt over low heat, keep cooking it until you see light brown specs. Then immediately remove from heat.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, browned and cooled 10 minutes
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – line and 8×8 pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combined browned butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Blend in flour and salt. Fold in chips. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes (no longer). Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today. Remember to put some good out into the world.

You know what would make things better right now?

Does a cookie solve all problems?

That was the question my husband asked me after I got home from work and after the Bills lost by 5 in London and both lineback Matt Milano and defensive lineman Da’Quan Jones left with injuries. And they could both be out a while. Rob’s answer to all this was “chocolate chip cookies.” As soon as he said cookies, Gracie ran in and sat at my feet, like the good pup she is, as if to say “yes, mama, cookies make everything better. I do not agree, but I did make cookies. And yes,chocolate chip ones. Honestly, I am still mad about the loss, but someone will enjoy these damn cookies.

Remember to scoop your flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. Freeze the dough for an hour or chill for a few hours to prevent spreading. And preheat your oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so the oven cycles to the right temp.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter flavor crisco
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup bread flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions – in a bowl, cream butter flavor crisco, brown sugar and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough and form tall cylinders. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and stagger cookies. Bake 14 to 16 minutes. Edges will be golden. Middle may be soft,but remove from oven. Cool completley. Chill in fridge to help cookies firm up. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today! I wish you a day of peace, joy and happiness.

Oreo topped chocolate chip cookies

It is a rainy dreary Friday, so seems like a good time to bake cookies. These are chocolate chip cookies topped with crushed oreos. I made the cookies, formed them into mounds and them rolled the tops in crushed oreos. I chilled them for a few hours, then baked them.

These use a mix of regular all purpose flour and bread flour. Remember to scoop the flour from your flour bag into your measuring cup so you get the right amount. I also used some cornstarch to keep them from flattening too much.

  • Ingredients list
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups bread flour
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 10 to 12 oreos, finely crushed

Directions – cream butter, brown sugar and sugar. Add egg, yolk and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Roll tops in crushed oreos. Chill a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking so it cycles to the right temp. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, stagger cookies, as shown below.

Bake at 350 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes (the edges will be golden). The middle may be a little gushy, but will firm up as the cookies cool. Cool completely. Store in covered container.

Thanks for stopping by today. I wish you a day of peace, love and joy. And, Go Bills!