These are basically a sugar cookie with a zing from ginger. I made them with lime rather than lemon and they were very good. I might try them with more zest as they were really mostly ginger cookies when made like this. Makes me wonder what my Taku Ginger Cookies would be like with crystalized ginger pressed into the top of them.

Makes:

24 cookies

Ingredients:

½ pound butter at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

5 drops lemon oil, optional

¼ teaspoon dried ground ginger, optional

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large egg yolks

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2½ cups unbleached all purpose flour, 
11¼ ounces

¼ cup crystallized ginger, minced

¼ cup raw sugar

2 egg whites, beaten lightly

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment.

2. Beat together butter, sugar, fresh ginger, lemon zest and salt. Cream together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

3. Scrape down bowl. Add dried ginger, lemon oil, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.

4. Add the flour and mix on low speed until well blended and dough just comes together.

5. Scoop 2-tablespoon balls of the dough and set 1½ inches apart on cookie sheets.

6. Mix together raw sugar and crystallized ginger in a small bowl.

7. Press down on dough balls until flattened to about ¼ inch thick.*

8. Brush with egg whites. Sprinkle with raw sugar/ginger mixture. Pat down with fingertips to get ginger topping to stick.

9. Bake 11 to 13 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool for five minutes before removing cookies to cool completely on wire racks.

Notes:

* I used a glass, buttered on the bottom and dipped in sugar.

Another cookie recipe that caught my attention because the word “chewy” was in the title and made with all coconut oil. They were sweet, chewy and delicious but a bit boring so I added macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips to make them more elegant and interesting.

Source:

Adapted from: twopeasandtheirpod.com

Yield:

36 cookies

Ingredients:

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup coconut oil melted but not hot

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

1 cup oats

1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl cream together sugar, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.

4. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until combined.

5. Stir in oats, coconut, macadamia nuts and white chips.

6. Form into 2 tablespoon balls with a cookies scoop. Place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and slightly browned. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

We bought sour cream for something we were going to make for dinner but didn’t end up using it. In such cases, I head for Google to see what “sour cream cookies” will produce. Here is the recipe I chose. When I took them to the emergency department, they were rapidly consumed. Pat, a clerk, said they were the best I ever made. They were not my favorite. I am more into chewy than soft and cakey. These are really soft and cakey. Oh, and I don’t care much for the nuts, even when finely chopped.

Source:

Cooks.com

Yield:

36

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs, beaten

2/3 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. nutmeg

1 cup chopped dates

1 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans and did them very fine in the food processor.)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Blend in eggs, sour cream and vanilla.

4. Combine flour, salt, baking soda and nutmeg, mixing well. Stir into creamed mixture.

5. Gently stir in dates and nuts.

6. Scoop into 2 tablespoon-sized balls onto ungreased cookie sheets or sheets lined with parchment.

7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Cool about 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then remove with a spatula. They will be soft.

My parents bought a huge jug of coconut oil at Costco. Though they use some coconut oil, they recognized they didn’t need that much so they gave it to me. I came home committed to using it, since it was a gift from my parents.

I Googled “coconut oil cookies” and came up with several options to try. I liked these the best because the author said they were chewy (very good for my taste,) they used only coconut oil rather than a combo of oils, and they used coconut flavoring, which I have liked since my Aunt Mabel June shared her Cowboy Cookies recipe with me. These cookies are rich and very coconuty. They were just as good the second day, which is unusual.

Source:

howsweeteats.com

Yield:

30 cookies

Ingredients:

¾ cup coconut oil, melted but not hot

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon coconut flavoring

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular sized and they were fine)

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together melted coconut oil and sugars. Let sit for 15 minutes.
3. Whisk in egg, egg yolk and flavorings. Mix until completely smooth.
4. Add baking soda, salt and ½ cup flour. Stir to combine.
5. Add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring after each addition.
6. Fold in coconut and chocolate chips.
7. Scoop dough into 2 tablespoon balls. Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
8. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until just set and edges turn a little brown. Let cool completely before removing to racks.

Note:

The original recipe called for less coconut and chocolate chips. It also called for them to be baked for only 7-8 minutes which, at this temperature, is hardly long enough to get them to sag.

We bought foam containers at Smart and Final or Cash and Carry. Each held a stack of about a dozen cookies. We then used shrink wrap and a ribbon from the Dollar Store to seal in the cookies and give them a bit of color.

I am always looking for interesting ingredients. This clearly caught my attention. I have to say, I am very skeptical that a teaspoon of beer will make any difference but I didn’t try them without. This recipe has more chocolate chips and cooks for less time than the original.

Source:

beerandbaking.com

Yield:

4 dozen

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon of sea salt

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon Guinness Beer

1 jar of speculoos*

1 cup of cocoa nibs

1 cup of dark chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour and baking soda and salt in a bowl with a whisk (I like to do this with my hand.) Set aside.

2. Mix butter and both sugars in electric mixer with the paddle attachment until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

3. Mix in eggs.

4. Mix in Guinness and speculoos.

5. Slowly stir in flour mixture until just combined.

6. With a spatula, fold in cocoa nibs and chocolate.

7. Using a cookie scoop, drop the cookie balls onto baking sheets with parchment paper. Space about 1 ½ inches apart.

8. Bake about 12** minutes, rotating once during cook time. The edges of the cookies should get a little color and then you know they are done. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes then place on wire racks.

Notes:

* See my notes about this wonderful treat on the recipe for Speculoos Spread Chocolate Chip Cookies‬.

** The original recipe calls for 20 to 25 minutes. I have no idea how anyone can print a recipe that calls for baking cookies that long at 350 degrees. That would result in charcoal cookies. Don’t over cook you cookies. This is very important.

My wife and I have had a long-running joke about licorice. Following my dad’s good example, I grew up eating and enjoying black licorice. My wife, on the other hand, just can’t imagine how it could be considered edible. When my good friend, Debbie, sent me this recipe, she cautioned you had to be a real licorice lover to enjoy the cookies. I think I proved this not to be true in that Shari really liked them. I think they taste like anise in a very interesting way and not like a licorice stick, at all. The icing makes them.

Recipe By:

Debbie Smith

Yield:

32

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

16 tablespoons butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons ground star anise

3 large eggs

½ cup yogurt, sour cream, or creme fraiche

½ cup milk

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375F. Use top 1/3 and bottom 1/3 racks to bake cookies.

2. Cover cookies sheets with parchment.

3. Cream butter and the sugar until fluffy.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and star anise.

5. Mix dry ingredients together with a whisk. Stir 1/2 the dry ingredients into the butter mixture to combine.

6. Stir in yogurt to combine.

7. Stir in remainder of dry ingredients to combine.

8. Stir in milk to combine.

9. Drop 2 tablespoon balls of dough onto the prepared pan, leaving 1-2 inches between each one.

10. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

11. Frost with icing, recipe follows:

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

8 ounces butter, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground star anise

1 pound, approximately, confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with a mixer on low speed to combine.

2. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until aerated and light.

3. Stop the mixer and add about a third of confectioners’ sugar. Beat on low speed until combined.

4. Repeat with the rest of the sugar, adding in two additions.

5. Once all is added, increase speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy.

During the election, I thought about trying to do Michelle Obama’s and Ann Romney’s favorite cookie recipes. The problem was that the Romney recipe was a peanut butter cookie with M&Ms in them. Ho hum. These are not really amazing but they are unusual in that they have mint. I was unable to find mint chocolate chips so I used the Andes mints. They are really good and so are the cookies, if you like mint in your cookies. The other problem I had during the election was that I was supporting Obama. Could I really put a Republican cookie recipe on my blog?

I have looked and looked for my pictures of these but can’t find them. Will have to post without the usual evidence that I have, indeed , made them myself.

Yield:

5 dozen cookies 

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 cup unsalted butter, softened 

1 stick Crisco butter-flavored solid vegetable shortening 

¾ cup granulated sugar 

¾  cup packed brown sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 eggs 

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup mint chocolate chips (or Andes mint pieces) 

2 cups chopped walnuts (optional, of course)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter, vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. On low speed, beat in flour mixture.

5. By hand, stir in white and milk chocolate chips, mint chips and walnuts.

6. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased or parchment-line baking sheets.

7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

As I have said, there are many chocolate cookie recipes. This one stands out for being very rich and moist. I heard “brownie” several times as they were being devoured at work last week. This amount of coffee gives them a little extra bite, along with rich chocolate, but it was subtle enough that few people even detected they were “mocha.”

Source:

Baking Illustrated

Yield:

About 42 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

½ cup (1½ ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1½ cups packed (10½ ounces) light brown sugar

½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar

12 ounces (about 2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth; remove from the heat. (Alternatively, you could melt the chocolate in the microwave. If you do so, be really careful not to burn it. I use a double boiler.) Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork, sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve, and set aside.

4. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in the sugars until combined. The mixture will look granular.

5. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated.

6. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined.

7. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat.

8. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

9. Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a 1¾-inch ice cream scoop, spacing the mounds of dough about 1½ inches apart.

10. Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets about 10 minutes, slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks, and cool to room temperature.

Notes:

I tried them without refrigerating the dough and they came out fine.

I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and they were a good size. They don’t flatten out a lot but don’t need to be flattened before baking.

There are a million chocolate cookie recipes. I grew up with chocolate crinkles which are dipped in powdered sugar then baked. Here is one I tried recently and it is hard to beat if you like rich, smooth chocolate. My wife said they are more like mousse cookies. Someone at choir said they are like pudding. They are also not hard to make and are beautiful with a fabulous cracked shell. They are delicious with my favorite vanilla ice cream: Breyer’s Natural Vanilla.

Source:

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/ (Adapted from Culinography)

 Yield:

36

Ingredientes:

16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 eggs

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup all-purpose flour
 (That’s right! Only a half cup!)

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper of a silicone baking mat.

2. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. (I use a double boiler.)

3. In the meantime, stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.

4. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.

5. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine well.

6. Slowly add the dry ingredients, folding them into the batter.

7. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are just firm on the outside. Like brownies, do not overbake! Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets.