This is one of those recipes that is all over the Internet. It seems weird to call them “peanut butter” when there is no peanut butter in them at all.

For some reason, I have always referred to the chunky ingredients added at the end of the cookie recipe as “floaties.” Don’t ask me where that came from. Maybe it is because I just can’t think of a better word. Anyway, this recipe has more floaties than any other recipe I have ever made. Seriously, packed with nuts and chips.

Recipe By:

All over Internet

Yield:

36

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon instant espresso or coffee powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup walnut halves, not chopped
1 cup pecan halves, not chopped
⅔ cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl set over simmering water, melt butter, 6 ounces of chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate, stirring occasionally, until just melted. Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes.

3. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, beat eggs, espresso powder and vanilla until combined.

4. Add sugar. Raise speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes, until the batter is thick and falls back on itself in a ribbon.

5. With  mixer on low, slowly stir in  chocolate mixture.

6. Combine ⅓ cup of flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir into chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula.

7. In another bowl, combine walnuts, pecans, peanut butter chips, remaining 6 ounces of chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of flour. Fold into chocolate mixture.

8. Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of dough, 1 inch apart, onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes exactly. Cool on baking sheets.

Natalie’s

Probably no one needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe but Natalie, one of our physician assistants, told me there were the very best. She swears the secret is dropping them, hot out of the oven, onto the counter top. I was not disappointed!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
2½ cups flour
1 tablespoon soda
½  teaspoon salt
2½ cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugars.

2. Stir in egg and vanilla.

3. Stir in flour, soda and salt.

4. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until bottoms and edges are just browning.

7. As soon as you take them out of the oven, drop each sheet from about a foot onto counter top.

8. When set, remove to rack to finish cooling.

Recipe By: bakeeatrepeat.ca
Yield: 20

Ingredients:

½  cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
½ lemon, zest and juice
¼  teaspoon salt
¼  teaspoon baking powder
⅛  teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾  cup frozen raspberries, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

2. In large bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Add salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour. Mix until combined.

5. Add raspberries. Mix briefly to incorporate them.

6. Drop in 2 tablespoonful balls onto prepared cookie sheets. A cookie scoop works best because the dough is extremely sticky, but two spoons work too, the cookies will just be less uniform.

7. Bake 14-16 minutes or until they are just starting to brown on the edges and are no longer shiny at all. Put the second half of the cookie dough in the fridge while the first sheet is baking. It will get even softer as the raspberries thaw.

8. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Alex was the head cook when I was the baker at our church’s girls’ summer camp. This recipe came from him. Easy to make and a good way to dispose of left over M&Ms from Halloween!
Recipe By:

Alex
Yield:

36

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
2 cups M&Ms or chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

4. Add vanilla and egg. Beat well.

5. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in M&Ms.

6. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges and bottoms just browning. Don’t over-bake!

This recipe was forwarded to me by Eli, a nurse in our emergency department. Even though I chilled the dough all day, it was too soft to be able to seal it around the filling and roll into a ball. I had to scoop balls of dough onto a plate covered in plastic wrap. I then covered the balls with another sheet of plastic wrap, flattened them, then put them in the freezer until they were stiff enough to handle. It complicated the process a lot but people really liked them in the emergency department.

Recipe By:

Bakeaholic Mama

Ingredients:

3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly-ground ground nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon-sugar coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Directions:

1.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

2. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together  butter and sugars on medium high speed until fluffy.

3. Blend in pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla.

4. Slowly add dry ingredients on low speed just until combined. Cover and chill dough for an hour.

5. To make the cream cheese filling, blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. Chill for an hour.

6. Heat oven to 350 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

7. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and spices for the coating and set aside.

8. To make the cookies, take a tablespoon of the cookie dough. Flatten it like a pancake and place a teaspoon of the cream cheese in center.

9. Form another tablespoon of the cookie batter into a flat pancake shape and place on top of the cream cheese. Pinch the edges together sealing in the cream cheese and roll into a ball. Roll in the cinnamon sugar coating and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.

10. Repeat until the dough is gone and flatten the cookie dough balls with a heavy bottomed glass or measuring cup.

8. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until the tops start to crack. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.

My friend, Lisa, sent me a recipe for Hard Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies. “What the…?” I asked. A quick Google search showed that something that sounded bizarre to me was, actually, all over the place. I tried some different recipes and this is the one I liked the best. They are very moist but are not nearly as good the next day so make small batches or eat them up!

This is a very interesting way to make cookies. I’ve never seen a cookie recipe that asked you to blend the butter into the flour as if making pastry. This is a small batch but even at that, it was pretty tricky to get the food processor to mix it up. The processor was just too full. When it was done, however, the dough was fabulous and it was really fun to mix the chocolate chips in with my hands. Had to repeat it thee times to make enough for the emergency department.

Recipe By:

the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

Yield:

24

Ingredients:

2¾ cups flour
1 cup cold butter, cut into small chunks
1 teaspoon salt
½  teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced finely
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Mix flour, salt and soda in a food processor.

3. Add butter and process until mixture is the texture of small crumbs.

4. Add sugars, vanilla, and boiled eggs. Pulse again until mixture comes together.

5. Remove dough to a large bowl. Add chocolate chips and combine by hand, using a wooden spoon or clean hands.

6. Scoop 2-tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten slightly with your hand.

7. Bake  13-15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned.

8. Remove cookies from oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Eat them today.

Here is Hunter enjoying one:

Here is a picture of my hens. No wonder I am always looking for egg recipes:

Semolina is made from hard durham wheat. It is cooked, dried then ground. It looks and feels kind of like corn meal. It gives these cookies an interesting texture. They are soft and very lemony.

Hunter enjoys one after a spaghetti lunch.

Recipe By:

Adapted from Food.com

Yield:

24

Ingredients:

3 large lemons
½ pound unsalted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 cups semolina
1 cup all-purpose flour
To dust the cookies
½ cup sugar

Directions:

1. Using a grater, grate lemon peels, removing only the yellow part. Set aside. *See notes.

2. Squeeze juice from the lemons. Set aside.

3. Combine butter, vanilla, sugar and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat until creamy.

4. Add egg, ½ cup lemon juice and grated rind. Beat until incorporated.

5. Reserve any extra lemon juice for another use.

6. Decrease speed to slow. Add semolina and flour, beating until just incorporated.

7. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

8. Heat oven to 325°F.

9. Scoop dough into 2 tablespoon balls. Roll each ball in sugar then place on greased baking sheets.** See notes.

10. Flatten each ball to about ½ inch thick. *** See notes.

11. Bake cookies on the middle rack of an oven for about 14 minutes, or until the surface starts to crack. They will not start to brown.

12.  Remove from the oven and let cool before removing from baking sheet.

Notes:

*This finely grated citrus peel is called zest. I have a zester, specifically made for this job. It works ever so much better than a regular grater.

**I almost always use parchment baking papers but these didn’t come off the papers well at all.

*** My preferred method to do this: Butter the bottom of a drinking glass. Dip it into sugar. Gently flatten a dough ball to desired thickness. Re-dip in sugar before flattening the next ball.

When Shari and I went to Sydney in 2016, we hung out with our Australian friends, Rachel and Richard, who recommended several classic Australian treats for us to try. This is the one that I came home and made. They are shortbread cookies and the icing makes them. Dr. Al’ai, one of our emergency physicians, went crazy over them, saying they were just like a cookie he remembers from his childhood in the Philippines.

Recipe By:

bakeforhappykids.com

Yield:

32

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:
1 cup unsalted butter, 250gm, at room temperature
1/2 cup, powdered sugar, 80 gm
2 cups all-purpose flour, 250 gm
1/2 cup custard powder, 80 gm. *see notes
For the buttercream:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, 160 gm ** see notes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two baking trays with parchment.

2. To make the biscuit dough:

3. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until combined.

4. Sift flour and custard powder into the butter mixture. Mix gently until the dry ingredients are fully absorbed into the butter mixture to form a dough.

5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for about 15 mins. If the dough is too soft to roll, place it in the fridge instead and allow it to rest for 15-30 mins or until the dough is slightly firm (but not too firm.) (I found refrigeration to be unnecessary.)

6. Scoop mixture into 1 tablespoon balls.

Place on prepared trays and press down with the back of a fork.

Bake for about 15 mins or until their edges are light golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray for about 10 mins. Transfer onto a wire rack and allow the biscuits to cool completely.

7. While the biscuits are cooling, make the buttercream. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

8. When biscuits are cooled completely, sandwich two biscuits (back to back) with a dollop of buttercream in the middle.

Notes:

Originally from the book, Country Women’s Association of Australia (CWA): Biscuits and Slices, contributed by Alisa Bond from Riverside Branch Tasmania.

* I bought Bird’s Custard Powder online from Amazon Prime but Rachel told me she saw it at Whole Foods.  Also note that Corine, our daughter’s mother-in-law, from Canada, says this is the key to perfect Nanaimo Bars!

** I alway sift my powdered sugar when making icing. It is just easier to get it smooth.

My friend, Jill, offered me some rhubarb. I had NO experience cooking with these tangy, fibrous stalks with poisonous leaves. Still, my mind when right to, “rhubarb cookies.”

Here is what I came up with. Because of the sour cream, they very soft, even hard to pick up. The rhubarb cooked up well and was, indeed, a tangy, interesting addition to the tender cookies.

Recipe By:

tinyprints

Yield:

24

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup sour cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups rhubarb, diced

Directions:

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

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

3. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

4. Beat in egg.

5. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until well-combined.

6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until combined.

7. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture beat until combined

8. Add remainder of lower and beat until combined.

9. Stir in rhubarb.

10. Drop 2 tablespoon balls of batter onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

11. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies start to brown and the tops of the cookies get a little color. Let cool slightly, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

During fresh peach season, we buy then buy the lug directly from the orchards between Sacramento and where our parents live in Paradise. Like tomatoes, I really only enjoy eating peaches this way. Call me a peach snob. Here is something fun to do if you have a few that are not prime for eating. I would never waste a perfectly good peach by making it into a cookie.

Recipe By:

www.bakeorbreak.com

Yield:

24

Ingredients:

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/3 cup peach preserves
3 tablespoons sanding sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper.

2. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix well.

4. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture, mixing just until combined.

5. Add the peaches and preserves, mixing just until combined.

6. Drop 2 tablespoon balls of the dough onto prepared pans, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.

7. Combine the sanding sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle each cookie with about 1/8 teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar.

8. Bake 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown and just set. Cool on the pans for 5 minutes. Then, carefully transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.