Iowa recipes: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

So this is probably my third or fourth attempt at trying to find the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.  But I think I've finally found my favorite.  I found this recipe after digging through my old Iowa State Fair blue-ribbon cookbooks.  I love everything about this cookie: the cinnamon flavor, the plump raisins, the chewy texture.

Here's the recipe, if you want to give it a try at home.  Enjoy!

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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• Hot water
• 1-1/2 C. raisins
• 1 C. sugar
• 1 C. brown sugar
• 1 C. butter or margarine
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1-1/2 C. quick cooking rolled oats

Pour just enough hot water over raisins to cover; set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream sugars and butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Add flour, baking powder, soda and cinnamon; mix well. Stir in oats and drained raisins by hand. Drop by teaspoonsful onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake in 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Oatmeal raisin cookies

I've been trying to go back to the basics lately and find good, classic recipes.  I've never had much luck with oatmeal raisin cookies, for some reason.  Most of the recipes I've tried don't have a lot of flavor.  I decided to try this King Arthur Flour recipe for Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  My hubby and I liked these cookies so much that we ended up gobbling up the whole batch over the weekend.  Thankfully, it wasn't a big batch of cookies!  My only complaint is that the cookies were too soft the next day and fell apart.  Not sure why that happened.  But otherwise, these were excellent!  If you give this recipe a try, let me know how they turn out for you.

Frosted sugar cookies

I wish I could say that a 9-year-old decorated these sugar cookies, but it was all me.  I guess that I don't have a hidden talent for cookie decorating!

My hubby gave me a cake decorating set for Christmas.  I finally gave it a try to make these Easter sugar cookies.  I found all the necessary decorating tools at Wal-Mart: cake frosting dye, blossom shaped cookie cutters.  The bunny and chick cookie cutters are from my own personal collection of antique cookie cutters.

For the cookies, I tried out the frosted sugar cookie recipe from the Two Chicks from the Sticks cookbook.  They turned out exactly as I hoped -- a nice, soft, cake-like cookie that was easy to roll and cut.  I would share the recipe, but I don't want to discourage anyone from buying the cookbook, which is excellent.  I'm thinking about baking my way through the entire cookbook as a fun project.

Can you tell which cookie my husband decorated?

 To get the full use out of my decorating set, I also tried to decorate a few cookies following these terrific instructions from one of my favorite blogs, Brown-Eyed Baker. I think they turned out pretty good for my first effort. And it was way easier to mix up the frosting than I thought it would be. 

Can you tell this is a bunny? It's about as artistic as I get!

I'm already looking forward to making cutout cookies for the next big holiday.  I'm thinking star cookies for the Fourth of July.  Can't wait for summer!

Brown sugar cookies

Have you been busy baking Christmas cookies?  I haven't even started my holiday baking. I'm just not feeling it yet, I think because of the unseasonable warm weather.

I've been admiring all the beautiful cookie recipes on Pinterest right now, but for some reason, I couldn't get this recipe from the latest King Arthur Flour Baking Sheet newsletter out of my mind.  It's so simple, I had to see why the authors were raving about it.  And these brown sugar cookies were excellent.  I added toffee chips, and I'm glad I did.  These would make a great "lunchbox" cookie, if you're looking for a simple and sweet snack.  Here's the recipe, if you want to try it yourself.

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Brown Sugar Cookies

From King Arthur Flour's Baking Sheet

• 3/4 C. unsalted butter
• 1-1/4 C. brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2-1/4 C. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 C. bittersweet chocolate chips, optional
• 1 C. toffee chips, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets, or line with parchment.

In large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg; scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix into the butter and sugar until combined; scrape the bowl, mix for a few seconds more. Stir in chips if using.

Scoop by the tablespoon on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, just until the edges turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for crispy cookies; for chewier cookies, transfer to a rack. Yield: 3 dozen plain, 4 dozen with add-ins.

BH&G's Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I like to visit the local bookstore on my lunch break, and I always tell myself not to buy another cooking magazine, but then I always end up buying one anyway.  I discovered the new Better Homes and Garden's Chocolate special interest publication, and there were so many fun recipes that I couldn't resist buying yet another magazine.

A few days later, I found these fancy chocolate chips at World Market, which I thought was a good excuse to try the BH&G's chocolate chip cookie recipe in the magazine.

It turns out that these chocolate chips were "super" because of their gigantic size.  I wasn't sure how many of these huge chips I could squeeze into each cookie. It turned out, quite a few.

This recipe makes a lot of cookies, which is great because I love to give away cookies to my friends and family.  How cute are these?

And I like how the recipe uses both butter (for flavor) and shortening (for texture).  Here's the recipe if you want to try them at home. Or better yet, pick up a copy of the BH&G's Chocolate magazine while it's still on the shelves for more great recipes.

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BH&G's chocolate chip cookies

• 1/2 C. butter, softened
• 1/3 C. shortening or vegetable oil
• 1 C. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2-3/4 C. all purpose flour
• 1, 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate pieces
• 1-1/2 C. chopped walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts, toasted if desired (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat until mixture is combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in chocolate pieces and, if desired, nuts.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Chocolate Mini Robin Egg cookies

I was looking for an excuse to give into my Easter candy cravings, so I decided to bake these chocolate mini robins egg cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod.  I'm not a big fan of chocolate cookies, but these looked adorable.  And I love the pastel colored malted "eggs."  My grandma used to buy these for Easter egg hunts. Such good memories!

To be honest, these cookies didn't look as good as I had hoped.  The malted eggs ended up melting, so some of the cookies looked a little like they exploded!  Next time, I'll just eat the mini robin egg candies straight from the bag :)

Lemon drop cookies

The warmer weather has got me thinking about springtime baking.  I found this recipe for lemon drop cookies in King Arthur Flour's Baking Banter magazine.  These cookies didn't turn out at all like I expected.  They are very cakey and soft.  I couldn't stop eating them, mostly because of the lemon-flavored frosting!  I wanted to decorate the cookies with a jelly bean on top for Easter, but I didn't think I could be trusted with an entire bag of jelly beans.  They're my favorite Easter candy!  Hope you enjoy these!

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Lemon drop cookies

From King Arthur Flour

• 3-1/4 C. flour
• 1 Tbl. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 C. sugar
• 1/4 C. unsalted butter
• 1/4 C. vegetable shortening
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 C. milk
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 C. fresh lemon juice

Glaze:

• 2 C. powdered sugar
• 3 Tbls. fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbls. soft butter
• 1 tsp. lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment.  (I used silicone mats.)

For the cookies:  Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, butter and shortening together until light. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape the bowl, mix for another 30 seconds, then add 1 C. of the flour mixture and mix to combine. Add the vanilla, milk, lemon zest and juice, then the remaining flour mixture. Mix until smooth, scraping the bowl once during the process.

Scoop by the tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, until the edges are barely light golden brown.  Remove from the oven and cool on a rack before frosting.

For the glaze: Sift the sugar into a medium bowl; add the lemon juice, butter and zest and whisk until smooth. Brush the glaze on top of the cooled cookies. Yield: 3-1/2 dozen cookies.

Peanut butter oatmeal sandwich cookies

A few weeks ago, I came home after a very stressful day at work, and I was feeling grumpy.  My husband was out tinkering on one of his car projects in the garage, and I knew he would be working on that all evening.  So I decided to cheer myself up by baking cookies!  I couldn't stop thinking about these peanut butter oatmeal sandwich cookies ever since I saw them on Two Peas and Their Pod. I already had all the ingredients in my kitchen, so I whipped up a batch.  And they were wonderful!  The cookies came out of the oven looking perfect, and the peanut butter cream fillling was over-the-the-top delicious. My husband ended up eating four sandwich cookies in one sitting -- and he doesn't usually like peanut butter cookies. That says how good these cookies are.

Mmmm....peanut butter cream!

I used my medium Oxo cookie scoop to make these cookies, but I wish I owned a smaller scoop, because these cookies were huge!  It's not that one cookie was big, it's that when two cookies were sandwiched together, it was almost too much.  I knew having those giant cookies around the house tempting me wasn't a good thing, so I asked my husband to take them to work with him. One of his co-workers sent me an email later that day, asking for the recipe!  Another sign that this recipe is a keeper.

Give these cookie a try if you're wanting to cheer up your friends, or yourself, with a comforting treat.

Skillet chocolate chip cookie

I told you I was on a chocolate baking kick lately.  When I saw this chocolate chip skillet cookie on Eat Live Run, I knew I just had to try it.  And I have the perfect pan for the recipe -- the old cast-iron skillet my husband found for me at the annual Walnut, Iowa, antique festival.  (If you've never gone before, you must.  Such a great community event.)

I loved this recipe!  It looked so gorgeous right out of the oven.  But in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I ended up not eating more than a couple bites of this cookie. It tasted a little like onion, because my husband uses this pan to cook omelets and such.  Oh well!  At least it looked pretty for the photos!  Next time, I'll try to bake this in a pie plate.

I flipped the cookie onto a plate for easier slicing. Doesn't it look gorgeous out of the pan?

Cocoa nib cookies

Remember a couple weeks ago when I visited the Allspice store in East Village, Des Moines?  I bought a small bag of cocoa nibs while I was there, but I didn't really know how I would use them.
 

A couple weeks later, I found this recipe for Oatmeal Walnut Cocoa Nib Cookies from Joy the Baker. Finally, a great recipe to try out the cocoa nibs.  And this was a great recipe.  I love a good oatmeal cookie, and the cocoa nibs added a nice coffee-like kick to these treats.  If you don't have cocoa nibs at home, then you could probably just add dark chocolate chips, or just stick with the semi-sweet chips.  Either way, these are a good go-to cookie for snacking.

I hear you can also use cocoa nibs as a topper for yogurt or oatmeal, but I thought the flavor was too bitter. But they were perfect in cookie form!

Cookie Friday: Peanut butter blossom cookies

When Christmas rolls around, I get a little obsessed with cookie baking.  I pour through all my cookbooks, trying to find a new recipe that will wow my family.  But I always crave my old favorite, Peanut Butter Blossoms, with the Brach's chocolate stars, just like my mom made when I was a kid.

I've tried a couple different recipes for this cookie, but my favorite so far is the peanut butter blossoms recipe from Land O'Lakes.  Be sure to eat one of these cookies fresh from the oven, when the chocolate star is melting on top.  Yum!

We'll be leaving out a plate of peanut butter cookie blossoms for Santa this year!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, all my blog friends!  Wishing you all the best and brightest of the season.

Cookie Friday: Mound Bars

Happy Cookie Friday, everyone!  If you're a coconut lover, you're going to want to try this recipe immediately.  I found the recipe for Mound Bars in a local farm publication.  If it's from a farm cook, it's got to be good.

But I should warn you, this treat is rich.  Plan on cutting it up into small squares, because just a couple bites will satisfy your sweet tooth.  In fact, the chocolate frosting is so rich, my husband suggested replacing the frosting with a drizzle of dark chocolate.  I'll probably try that the next time I make these. Oh yeah. I'll definitely be making these Mound Bars again.

Enjoy!

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Mound Bars

• 1/2 C. butter
• 3 T. cocoa
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/4 C. sugar
• 1 C. flour

Mix ingredients and put into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Combine:

• One 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 C. coconut
• 3/4 C. nuts

Mix ingredients and spread on top of first layer when removed from oven. Return to oven and bake 12 to 15 minutes.

Frost with:

• 6 T. butter
• 6 T. milk
• 1-1/2 C. sugar
• 1/2 C. chocolate chips

Mix ingredients, except chocolate chips, and boil 30 seconds.  Add chips.  Beat with electric mixer.  Pour over bars.

Candy bar cookie

Hello, everyone!  The unexpected sunny weather has put me in a great mood.  My hubby took me out to eat tonight, so I'm fighting off a food coma at the moment and am barely able to keep my eyes open.  But I wanted to urge you to bake up these toasted coconut toffee cookies ASAP.

My hubby calls these candy bar cookies, because they offer that great combination of caramel, chocolate and coconut flavors.  This is definitely one of my top five favorite cookies.  Try them for yourself!

Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

Hello, everyone!  I've had a super busy day, so I'm keeping this post super short.  Last week, I just had to bake up the Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies when I saw the recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod.  My hubby helped cut up the mini Snicker bars, and he left the candies in huge chucks.  So the cookies ended up looking like they "exploded" in the oven.  But they still were excellent.  I may have underbaked them a bit, because they were very soft and crumbly.  Yet I couldn't stop eating these cookies, crumbs and all.

Visit Two Peas and their Pod for the complete recipe.  Have a good evening!

Treats for my sweetie

I've been feeling a little under the weather this week, so I haven't been doing much of anything.  I did manage, however, to make a few Valentine's Day treats for my hubby.  He requested that I bake him up a batch of chocolate-dipped heart cookies.  It's one of the first recipes I tried when I was learning how to bake.  Nowadays, I try to bake mostly from scratch, but these cookies are made with refrigerated cookie dough.  Admittedly, it's pretty great not to have to make a super mess in the kitchen and use pre-made dough and cake mix once and a while.  These would be a great kitchen activity for kids, as well.

Of course, I couldn't resist trying a new brownie recipe for V-Day.  I've seen the Bon Appetite recipe for Browned Butter Brownies with Walnuts floating around the food blogoshere, and they looked absolutely divine.  So I baked up my own batch, and they turned out amazing, as promised.  I think it's my new favorite brownie recipe -- and surprisingly easy!

 Do you have a favorite treat you like to make for your sweetheart?

Cookie Friday: Palmer's Deli lemon bars

Happy Cookie Friday, everyone!  It's 10 degrees outside today, so I wanted to bake something sunny to brighten the day.  I love all the citrus fruits in the grocery stores right now.  It's the perfect time of year to make lemon bars.

A popular lunchtime spot in Des Moines, Palmer's Deli, serves the best lemon bars.  And they are very generous with their servings.  I remembered seeing the recipe for Palmer's Deli lemon bars in the Des Moines Register a few months back, but the Register doesn't archive its stories for more than two weeks (boo!). But after a quick Google search, I found the recipe on the Midwest Living magazine website.

Let me tell you, these lemon bars were even better than I remembered!  They have a great sugar-cookie-like crust and an almost pudding-like texture.  Check out Midwest Living for a printable recipe.  Enjoy!

Sugar cookies like Mom made

Hi everyone!  I'm going to keep this post short, because it's getting late and I've got lots more that I want to do tonight.  But I wanted to share with you what a typical Iowan does when there's a blizzard in December.

We bake.  A lot.  With ingredients that we already have in our cupboards, since we don't want to venture outside.

I've been itching to dig out my mom's old cookie cutters and make some sugar cookies.  I'm still experimenting with different sugar cookie recipes from old church cookbooks until I find one I like.  The one I tried last weekend came from a recipe submitted by a good friend's mom, who also happened to be a home ec major in college.  So I knew it had to be a good one.

But to be honest, these cookies turned out a little odd.  If I rolled them out to a moderate thickness, they spread out of shape when baked.  But if I rolled them out a little thinner, they kept their shape, but they were as fragile as ice crystals.  I think it's because the cookie dough was made with butter, not shortening, but that's just a guess.  They were still fun to make.

I like to use a powdered sugar frosting -- about a 1/2 C. powdered sugar mixed with a tablespoon or two of milk -- on sugar cookies, just like my mom used to make when we were kids.  It's so much fun seeing the white frosting turn green from the food coloring.  And my hubby liked how the frosting was shiny when it set.

Do you have a favorite cut-out cookie recipe?  Do you use shortening, margarine or butter for your cutout cookies?  I'd appreciate any advice.

Cookie Friday: Christmas cookie plate

One of my very favorite things to do is bake cookies.  I've been known to go a little crazy when it comes to Christmas cookie baking.

My record is baking more than 12 different kinds of cookies for Christmas.  I went on a month-long baking spree.  Every free night I had was spent mixing up cookie dough in the kitchen.

While I had a lot of fun trying new cookie recipes, it was seriously too much.  My family is fairly small, and we don't have big gatherings for Christmas.  We ended up with way too many leftover cookies in the freezer, which isn't ideal considering that's also the time of year when you're trying to work off those extra holiday calories.

So this year, I went simple.  I only made two types of cookies.  One batch was my favorite ginger creme cookies, the other was the lemon sandwich cookies that my husband requested.

I'll leave the sugar cookies to my sister this year.  She's a much better baker than I.

So, what's on your Christmas cookie plate this year?

Cookie Friday: Raisin Cake Cookies

Happy Cookie Friday, everyone!  Today I'm sharing another super easy cookie recipe, which I found in a recent issue of Simple and Delicious magazine.

My hubby prefers raisin cookies to chocolate chip (strange I know), so I try to save a new raisin cookie recipe whenever I see one.  This one captured my attention because it isn't an oatmeal raisin cookie.  It's a soft, chewy raisin cookie with cinnamon and nuts, but no oats.  You can find the recipe on the Taste of Home website.

Mmm...cookie dough.

To be honest, my husband didn't like these as much as traditional oatmeal raisin cookies.  But that didn't stop him from eating almost the entire batch himself.  Personally, I love the soft, puffy texture of these cookies.  I'm keeping this recipe in my clipping files to save for a rainy day (like today) when I need a little "baking therapy."

Enjoy, my blog friends!

Cookie Friday: Coconut macaroons

Happy Friday, everyone!  I'm so glad that the weekend is finally here, although I'm a little disappointed that there's rain in the forecast tomorrow.  I was hoping to go for a long, leisurely bike ride.  But I'm thankfully that we've had so many beautiful fall days this past month.  It's been a blessing!

For my favorite day of the week, Cookie Friday, I'm sharing a speedy 5-ingredient recipe that my husband went ga-ga over.  He loves anything coconut, so I clipped this recipe for coconut macaroons from the August/September issue of Taste of Home magazine.

These were so easy to make and would make a cool tailgating treat.  My husband has already requested them again, and he's pretty picky when it comes to sweets.

So without further delay, here's the recipe.  Enjoy, my friends!

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Coconut Macaroons
From Taste of Home

• 2-1/2 C. flaked coconut
• 1/3 C. all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2/3 C. sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a small bowl, combine the coconut, flour and salt.  Add milk and vanilla; mix well. (Batter will be stiff).

Drop by tablespoonfulls 1 inch apart onto a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 35 degrres for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to wire rack. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen