Ricotta mini cakes

These are called mini cakes but are definitely a cookie. We all loved these! My mom said that my Italian great-grandmother used to make something like this, but she thinks that she used almond extract instead of vanilla. I wish I had all of my great grandmas recipes written down by her, for me to treasure forever but I don’t. So it leaves me searching. In my search I came across this recipe in an old Family Circle magazine and I knew that I had to try it. I might try almond next time but the vanilla is delicious! I added sprinkles to some of the cookies while the frosting was still wet, just for fun. Enjoy!

The ingredients are:

Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze

• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk

Cookies:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together; set aside.
2. Beat butter and granulated sugar together until blended. Add egg, ricotta and vanilla, beating until combined.
3. On low-speed, add flour mixture and beat until blended. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 13 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Let cool on sheets 3 minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely.

Glaze:

1. Beat cofectioners’ sugar and milk together until well blended. Dip tops of cookies into glaze and set aside (this is when I put on the sprinkles) until glaze has hardened.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Showdown

Last month was my son’s birthday (I know I’m a little bit behind on posting my recipes). I asked my son what treat did he want to bring in to his class to share for his birthday and his reply was chocolate chip cookies. So I thought to make this even more fun for him we would have a chocolate chip cookie showdown. I chose two new chocolate chip cookie recipes, baked up a batch of both and he got to choose which ones were best and those would be the ones he would bring in to his class. Can you tell that our favorite shows in this house are Chopped, Iron Chef America, and Cup Cake Wars? Only my son would say to me after I made him homemade belgium waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast…”Mommy…. You could so win Chopped with this recipe!” Love it! So.. anyway back to the chocolate chip cookie showdown. The two recipes I chose were McCormick’s Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cookie and the Food Network Magazine’s recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. And the winner was………and it was unanimous……McCormick’s Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cookie! Not that the Food Network’s Chewy Chocolate chip cookie wasn’t good, it was, those stayed at home and we polished them off. It’s just that everyone including the birthday boy thought that McCormick’s was better. So here is the recipe for McCormick’s Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/3 cups butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 tsp vanilla
• 1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I did not use)

1. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low-speed until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
2. Drop by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake in preheated 375 F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Makes 5 dozen (I must have made mine bigger because I didn’t get that many.)

 

Coconut Macaroons

 

I was looking through my Taste of Home 30-Minute Cookbook when I came across this recipe for Coconut Macaroons. We love Coconut Macaroons (well 3 out of 4 of us do, my daughter is not a fan). These cookies were said to have won a first place ribbon at a county fair and I can see why. They were perfectly crisp around the edges and soft and chewy in the middle, with a sweet coconut vanilla taste! Not to mention they were super easy to make! The only thing I would do differently next time would be to double the recipe. There definitely was not enough for my family. I had to hide some so that my son could have some when he got home from school.

The ingredients are:

• 1-1/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg whites and vanilla; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto greased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Note: the recipe says that it makes 1-1/2 dozen cookies. I made my cookies a little bigger and only got 9 cookies and increased the baking time to 20-22 minutes.

Raspberry Coconut Cookies

 

 

I’m always on the lookout for lactose free desserts because my grandmother has allergies to dairy. I hate showing up to a family gathering with something she can’t eat. If I do make something that does have dairy then I try to also bring something that she can have. This last Saturday we had a BBQ over at my Aunts house and I brought these cookies for my grandma. These Raspberry Coconut Cookies were very good. They are soft and yummy with the raspberry filling. As a matter of fact my son was so disappointed to find out that there wasn’t one left to put in his lunch today! I found the recipe in one of my Taste of Home Cooking School magazines.

The ingredients are:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1-1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Cup flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

1. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, water and extract. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in coconut (dough will be sticky).
2. Set aside 2/3 cup dough; roll remaining dough into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make a 3/8-in. deep indention in the center of each ball. Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon jam. Cover jam with a teaspoon of reserved dough; seal and reshape into a ball (I didn’t pick dough balls back up to reshape. I just patted dough over the raspberry filling sealing the dough as best as I could). Repeat.
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

 

Swedish Butter Cookies

These cookies may not look like much, but boy are they deceiving! These little cookies are sweet, buttery rich and delicious! I made them to bring over to my family’s dinner night and everyone loved them! I had to make everyone copies of the recipe, and my grandpa said to my grandma as they were leaving ” honey make sure to bring some of those cookies home for me”. So if you are a fan of butter cookies then I think you will love these too!

The recipe is out of the cookbook, Taste of Homes’s Contest Winning Annual Recipes 2006.

The ingredients are:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• confectioners’ sugar

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add syrup; mix well. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. Divide dough into eight portions. Roll each portion into a 9-in. log.
2. Place 3 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into 1-in. slices. Remove to wire racks to cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. (I was out of confectioners sugar so I sprinkled a little sugar over the tops.)

Yield: about 6 dozen

Pride of Iowa cookies

I got this cookie recipe from a friend about 8 years ago and I’m just now making them for the first time…. I needed to make a dessert for our families sunday dinner, but I needed to find a recipe that had no dairy (my grandma has dairy allergies). That’s not an easy task, most baked goods have some sort of dairy whether it be milk or butter. So when I came across this recipe and saw that it was made with shortening and no milk I thought I would give it a try……I was very pleased with the results. The cookies were chewy and delicious! Everyone loved them including my grandma….. My next task will be to find a yummy gluten-free dessert recipe, both my nephew and my friend’s daughter have gluten issues. (I have a strange feeling that this is going to be a harder task, we will have to see) The ingredients for the cookies are:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp.Baking soda
• 1 tsp. Baking powder
• 1 cup coconut
• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. Cream together the first 5 ingredients. Add the dry ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookie Mix

I made  a lot of homemade gifts this Christmas and this pretty layered cookie mix was one of them. I really wanted to get this recipe posted before Christmas but that didn’t work out. So I’m going to post it anyway because I think homemade gifts can be given anytime throughout the year. This mix was super easy to put together and looked nice in the gift basket. I got the recipe out of one of my Paula Deen holiday magazines. The ingredients are:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a 1-quart glass jar, layer ingredients in order listed, pressing each layer down firmly before adding the next ingredient.

To make the cookies you will need:

• 1 jar Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookie Mix
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine cookie mix, butter, egg, and vanilla, stirring until combined. Roll dough into 1″ balls. Place dough 2″ apart on baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello all! Hopefully everyone is enjoying the Holiday season. In my house the baking has officially begun and what better way to kick off the Holiday baking than with a classic Chocolate Chip Cookie. Who doesn’t love Chocolate Chip Cookies!! We definitely all do and these cookies are delicious! I got this recipe from Allrecipes years ago, added the toffee bits to it and love it. The Ingredients are:

• 2/3 Cup Butter flavored shortening
• 2/3 Cup Butter (softened)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Packed light brown sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 T. Vanilla
• 3 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1 t.Baking soda
• 1 t. Salt
• 1 Cup Chopped Pecans (optional)
• 1 1/2 Cups Semi Sweet chocolate chips
• 1 Cup Toffee bits

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl cream together the shortening, butter and sugars until smooth.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture.
5. Stir in the pecans, chocolate bits, and toffee chips.
6. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop dough into balls. Place onto ungreased baking sheets.
7. Bake 10 minutes until lightly browned. Don’t over bake!
8. Cool on sheets for 2 minutes and then remove to cooling racks.

Savannah Cheesecake Cookies

 

This is a Paula Deen recipe that I tried for the first time a few years ago. They are sooo yummy!!! Everyone loves them! They are easy, and are the perfect thing to make if you have to take a dessert somewhere. I just recently made them for the fundraiser we helped with for JDRF.

The crust is a shortbread type of crust and the filling is sweet and creamy. Cheesecake in a bar cookie form. I can’t see anyone not liking these…. The ingredients are:

Crust:

• 1 Cup flour
• 1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 Cup chopped pecans (I don’t use)
• 1 stick butter, melted

Filling:

• 2 (8oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 Cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla
• Fresh berries and mint leaves, for garnish (When I am bringing this desert somewhere I just dust the cookies with powdered sugar)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine the flour, brown sugar, pecans (if using), and butter in a bowl. Press dough into an ungreased 13×9″ pan. (it might look like the crust is not going to fit but just keep pressing until the bottom of the pan is covered)
3. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. For filling, beat cream cheese and sugar together in a bowl until smooth, using a handheld electric mixer add eggs and extract, beat well. Pour over crust.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into squares, before serving decorate tops with berries or powdered sugar.

Enjoy!