Cookies! and other YuMMies!

One of my Christmas projects was typing up my favorite recipes. Some were from family, and others from friends. I have shared those with the immediate family, but if anyone else is interested I thought I would post a few here, including the new one I tried yesterday and totally love! (the Choco-Toffee Bars)

Cry Baby Cookies
-a Baker Family Favorite

4 cups scant flour
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
2 eggs unbeaten
1 ¼ cup shortening
½ cup molasses
Mix flour, soda, and spices. Blend in sugar, shortening, molasses, and eggs. Mix well. Roll into balls and dip in sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Michelle’s Molasses Cookies
Michelle Burnette, Medford Oregon

1 ½ cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup molasses
2 eggs
4 ½ cups flour
4 tsp soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
Mix wet ingredients and sugar. Add dry ingredients. Shape into 1” balls. Roll in white sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Gingerbread Cookies
Vicki Peterson, Overland Park, Kansas

5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp clobes
3 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 1/8 tsp soda
1 cup shortening
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
1/3 cup warm water
Mix dry ingredients. In separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Combine. Makes a soft dough. Refrigerate before rolling out and cutting shapes. Or, roll into a log, wrap, and chill in refrigerator until firm. Cut ¼ “ slices off of roll and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees10-12 minutes depending on size of cookies.

Luscious Layered Bars
-taken from HERSHEY’S Fabulous Desserts

1 pkg chocolate cake mix (any kind)
½ cup butter
1 cup HERSHEY’S Chocolate Chips
1 cup REESE’S Peanut Butter Chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease 15 ½ x10 ½ x1-inch pan.
Cut butter into cake mix to form course crumbs. Sprinkle evenly in prepared pan. Layer chips, coconut, and nuts over crumb mixture. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly over top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting.

Coconut Butter Crispies
-Originally from Florence Sorenson, this is Eileen Quigley's recipe

½ cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 ½ cup chopped dates
2 well beaten eggs
½ tsp salt (opt)
Combine and cook at 250 degrees (low or medium low heat) until thickened (5-9 minutes).
Add: 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 cup Rice Krispies
Mix well. When cool enough to handle, roll in coconut shreds 1 tsp at a time, forming into little logs or balls. Makes about 3 doz.

English Toffee Bars
-taken from Hershey’s Fabulous Desserts

Bars: 2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup butter
1 cup pecans
1 cup Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips
Topping:
2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, brown sugar, and butter; mix until fine crumbs form. Press into ungreased 13x9x2-inch pan. Sprinkle pecans over crust. In small saucepan combine butter and brown sugar. Cook over med heat, stirring constantly, until it boils. Stir and boil 30 seconds. Pour evenly over pecans and crust. Bake 20-22 minutes or until topping is bubbly and golden. Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over top, pressing gently onto surface. Cool completely, cut into bars.

Choco-Toffee Bars
-from Pillsbury The Million Dollar Bake-Off contest

1 batch cookie dough
1 cup English toffee baking bits
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
2/3 cup butterscotch chips, melted
½ cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Using floured fingers, press cookie dough evenly into 9”x13” pan to form crust. Sprinkle with ½ cup toffee bits. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine brown sugar, vanilla, cream cheese and egg; beat at medium speed until blended. Add melted butterscotch chips, blend well.
Spoon and spread cream cheese mixture over the partially baked crust. Sprinkle with the remaining toffee bits and chocolate chips.
Bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown and center is set. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen. Cool 2 hours or until completely cooled. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator. Very rich and yummy!
I used the next casserole pan size up (10’x15”?) and used ½ cup brown sugar, 8 oz cream cheese, and 1 cup butterscotch chips, and it worked perfect! I would probably also increase the cream cheese for the 9”x13” size as well.

Banana Drop Cookies
-Grandma's, taken from a magazine

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 mashed bananas
½ cup buttermilk (can use powdered buttermilk, reconstituted 1st)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts)
Chocolate chips (abut ½ pkg)

Method:
Cream together butter & sugar; blend in eggs, beat until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk, vanilla, beat well. Add flour one cup at a time. Blend in baking soda. Finally fold in nuts and chocolate chips into mixture.
Chill for 1 hour.
Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at hotter temp, 375 15 minutes (may need to adjust baking time) Makes a big batch.

Burnt Butter Frosting
-Perfect for banana, applesauce, or pumpkin cookies!

2 Tbsp Butter......heat until golden
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup canned milk
Beat 'til smooth.
yield: about 2 cups

Peanut Butter Blondies
-Amiane Baker

Cream together:
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter
Add:
1 ½ cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
Beat until pale and fluffy.
Stir in:
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups peanut butter chips.
Line 9”x13” pan with greased tin foil.
Bake 45 mins in 325 degree oven.
Cool slightly, and frost with peanut butter frosting.

Pumpkin Eater’s Bars
-from Original Baking Recipes

Crumb crust:
2 ¼ cups oats
scant 2 cups flour
1 ½ firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup chopped nuts
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups butter

Filling:
One 16-oz can pumpkin
2/3 cup milk (canned or regular)
1 egg
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

For crumb crust combine oats and dry ingredients. Add butter; beat at low speed on electric mixer until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 ½ cups crumbs mixture; press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of greased 13’x9” baking pan.
Bake in pre-heated 375 degrees oven about 10 minutes.
While that is baking mix filling: beat together all ingredients, mixing well. Spread on partially baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over pumpkin mixture. Continue baking 25 minutes. Cool, chill, and cut into bars.

Quick and Yummy Pumpkin Cookies
1 spice flavored cake mix
¼ c flour (whole wheat works well)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp cloves
¼ cup butter, softened
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin
1 ½ -2 c chocolate chips
Mix dry ingredients first. Stir in pumpkin and butter; mix well. Stir in Chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degree oven, or 15 minutes in 375 degree oven. Makes 2 ½ to 3 dozen.

Marci’s Sugar Cookie Recipe
-Marci McKee Ashby

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Gradually sift in flour, salt, baking powder. Roll out on flour surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Bake 10 minutes in 350 oven. Do not over bake.
The key is to not roll them too thin, a good ¼” thick works well, and they will keep soft.

One Bowl Coconut Macaroons
-recipe from BAKER’S Coconut

1 bag coconut (about 5 cups)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
Mix all ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
Immediately remove from cookie sheet.
Cakes

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
-Grandma Eileen Quigley

½ cup butter
½ cup oil
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup sour milk
2 ½ cup flour
4 Tbsp cocoa
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Chocolate chips may be sprinkled on top before baking. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Peanut Brittle
-Thelma Gough Quigley
Read the entire recipe before you start, and prepare everything first. You really have to hustle when you make this recipe.
Mix 2 tbsp butter 1 tsp soda before you make the candy. Gather on to the tip of a large medal spoon so it ready to add.
Using an electric fry pan, stir together until sugar is dissolved:
1 cup sugar
½ cup white Karo syrup
½ cup water
Then add:
1 scant cup raw peanuts
Cook it on high temp until it sends a thread, about 5 minutes. (How to tell if it sends a thread: lift the spoon up and let the syrup run out; then when a little thin string forms instead of drops, you will know it is spinning a thread.)
Cook on high until mixture is a light tan color.
Stir it all the while. Keep lifting the spoon to see if it is spinning a thread. When it starts to spin a thread, test in cold water to see if it is brittle. If it is, then turn off the heat.
This sets up very quickly so move fast!
Drop butter/soda mix all at once into cooked syrup. It will foam. Stir quickly until well mixed. Pour it onto greased pan or platter 9”x12” or more, before it sets up.
Let it cool and brake into pieces.
“Half a cup of coconut really enhances the flavor. Pre measure so it is ready to dump in. Add at the same time as the soda butter.” -Grandma Eileen Quigley