I do most of my shopping at our neighborhood Nob Hill. They publish a magazine designed to get you to buy more stuff from their store to go into their recipes. I always look through it. This week, they had a recipe  I thought sounded very interesting. I like sunflower seeds but have never seen a cookie recipe like this. Cookies always smell good coming out of the oven but it was fun to have that cookie aroma veiled in the nutty aroma of sunflower seeds.

Recipe By:

Something Extra

Yield:

36

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sunflower seed butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup Nestle Toll House DelightFulls Caramel Filled Morsels*
¾ cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds

Instructions:

1. Stir together butter and sunflower seed butter in a large bowl.

2. Beat in sugars.

3. Beat in vanilla and eggs.

4. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

5. Stir in caramel morsels.

6. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

7. Heat oven to 350°F.

8.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

9.  Roll dough into 1½-inch balls. Roll each ball in sunflower seeds then place on baking sheets.

10.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Notes:

* Though this recipe was in the Nob Hill magazine, I had to go to Safeway to find these.

I had never heard of schmaltz before coming across this recipe. Yes, it is rendered chicken fat. How could I resist the temptation to try this unusual ingredient?

I first tried to buy schmaltz on the Internet. This is the first cooking ingredient that left me frustrated as I tried to purchase it online. No luck. Then I found we had a kosher grocery not too far from the hospital. I was so excited when I walked out with it and was still excited when I finally got to make them.

Making them cooled my excitement. The schmaltz is very strong smelling and, for me, not at all appetizing for cookies. Still, they turned out well and people liked them, at least before they knew what was in them.

Source:

The Book of Schmaltz: A Love Song to a Forgotten Fat via Epicurius

Yield:

18

Ingredients:

3/4 cup schmaltz, well chilled or frozen

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups oats

2/3 cups dried cherries or other garnish*

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Cut schmaltz into chunks and put it, along with the sugars, into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix on high until the fat is fluffy, 2 minutes or so.

3. Add egg, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix on low, to incorporate.

4. Combine salt, flour, and baking powder. Add to the mixing bowl. Paddle on medium to combine, 30 seconds or so.

5. Add oats and paddle to combine.

6. Add cherries and paddle to combine.

7. Shape into golf-ball-sized orbs and put on a cookie sheet. Flatten to your desired thickness.** They won’t spread much but they will puff.

8. Bake about 15 minutes.

Notes:

* raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts, pecans or a mixture of any or all of the above

** Remember my recommended method of flattening. Butter the bottom of a glass. Dip in sugar. Flatten the ball of dough. Redip in sugar before flattening the next one.

*** Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Oatmeal-Cookies-with-Dried-Cherries-51150230#ixzz2dWWEAzTy

Last week, I posted a recipe made entirely with turbinado sugar. This recipe has turbinado but also white and brown sugars. I used a dark chocolate we bought last Christmas to dip candy but we never used. It made them really rich. This makes a firm textured, moist cookie that I had a hard time resisting. Usually during the shift at work when I take cookies, I eat one or two. I am embarrassed to admit that I think I ate five of these!

Recipe By:

Notwithoutsalt.com

Yield:

48

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 3/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (1 pound )
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound chocolate, cut into ½ inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon good quality salt*, for sprinkling on top before baking

Instructions:

1. Cream butter and the sugars until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium high. Scrape down the side of the bowl.

2. Continue mixing while adding the eggs one at time. Make sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next.

3. Stir in vanilla. Scrape down the bowl.

4. Combine flour, soda and salt in another bowl. With the machine on low, slowly add flour mixture. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix.

5. Fold in chocolate.

6. Form into 2 tablespoon balls with a cookie scoop. Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with a very fine dusting of good quality sea salt.

7. Bake at 360° for 12 minutes. They should be lightly golden on the outside but still look gooey on the inside.

Notes:

* Fleur de Sel or Murray River Pink Salt are recommendations.

I frequently look for a recipe based on some ingredient I want to use. In this case, it was turbinado sugar. I was given a couple of bags of it by our friend, Lisa. She got it from her neighbor who inherited it when the neighbor’s mother died. It might bother some people to use a dead lady’s sugar and I had no idea how old it was. It looked, smelled and felt great and I doubt it was haunted so I went looking for a recipe to try it in.

Recipe By:

Adapted from Savory Sweet Life

Yield:

48

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups turbinado sugar
3 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for finishing
12 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate, cut into ¼-inch chunks

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line two baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.

4. In a large, heavy bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on low for 3 minutes.

5. Add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes more, until ingredients are light and airy. With mixer still on low, drizzle in the molasses.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla extract, scraping down the sides as needed. Slowly fold in the flour, mixing just until combined.

7. Fold in the chocolate chunks, making sure they are well dispersed throughout the dough. Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

8. Use an ice cream scoop to shape the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon balls, and set on the prepared cookie sheets 3 inches apart. If desired, sprinkle each cookie with a small pinch of sea salt.

9. Bake 12 – 13 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers of the cookies are still soft. Cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, and then use a spatula to set cookies on a wire cooling rack.

I bought Rice Krispies to make Wasabi Pea Lace Cookies with Lime Butter Cream Filling (one of my favorites!) and had so many left over I went looking for a cookie recipe. A lot of them come from Kellogg’s and were not too inspiring. I really liked this one. Even though I am not a real Rice Krispy Treat fan, I thought these cookies were fun.

Recipe By:

spoonforkbacon.com

Serving Size:

36

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, * See Notes
1 cup mini marshmallows, ** See Notes

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer cream together butter and sugars. Scrape down sides of the bowl and mix in egg and vanilla.

3. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

4. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir together until just combined.

5. Fold in the cereal, chocolate chips and marshmallows until fully incorporated.

6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. *** See Notes

7. Drop 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment, about 1 inch apart. The cookies will spread some but not a lot.

8. Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until cookies have barely begun to brown.

9. Allow cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from baking sheets.

Notes:

* I used semi-sweet chocolate chips

**  I used Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits in the plastic bottle. They don’t melt like the mini marshmallows do and stay chewing which is a nice contrast to the crunch of the Rice Krispies.

*** I scoop the dough balls with a cookie scoop and skip this step.

This recipe is in a Pillsbury cookie cookbook I found at a thrift store. I used Granny Smith apples for crispness and tartness. I added a sprinkle of granola to the top of the dough before baking, which added a fun crunch and made them more interesting to look at. I used cinnamon, rather than nutmeg. Next time, I will try the nutmeg but would certainly put in less than the 1 teaspoon it calls for because that much nutmeg is just too much for my taste.

Recipe By:

Pillsbury

Ingredients:

1½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 egg
1½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups finely chopped apples*
1 cup granola, plus more for topping**
1 cup powdered sugar***
¼ cup lemon juice

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. In large bowl, combine brown sugar and butter. Beat until light and fluffy. Add milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, lemon peel and egg. Blend well.

3. Add all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

4. Stir in apples and 1 ½ cups granola.

5. Drop in 2 tablespoon balls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with additional granola and gently press into surface.** Bake 9 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Cool until completely cooled.

6. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine powdered sugar and ¼ cup lemon juice
lemon juice, adding enough lemon juice for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies.***

Notes:

* I used Granny Smith

** I added the granola on the surface and it made them look a lot cooler and the crunch was really fun.

*** I used almost twice as much glaze as the recipe called for.

This week, I tried a Pillsbury recipe for Maple Date Cookies. They were pretty good and the staff in the ED polished off a triple batch. As I was wondering how to make them better, I realized that, if I wanted a maple date cookie, I would take the recipe I previously posted for Maple Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies and substitute dates for the cranberries. They would then have the wonderful texture of the older recipe but the sweet chewiness of dates.

At work the other night, I grabbed a plastic bag to put some left over cookies in  and this is what I came up with:

Derek and Megan have been generously sharing their zucchini with us. Seemed like a great chance to try some zucchini cookies. The whole wheat flour and lemon zest caught my attention in this recipe.

I grind my own whole wheat flour. Our friends, the Marshalls, gave us several hundred pounds of wheat when they moved to Utah years ago. Hence, we refer to it as “Marshall Wheat.” Though it is at least thirty years old, it still grinds into great flour.

These cookies are soft and cake-like but are earthy from the whole wheat flour and the oats.

Recipe By:

Pillsbury Cookoff

Yield:

48

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups shredded zucchini, drained*
2 cups miniature chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Cover baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.

3.  In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat until light and fluffy.

4.  Add lemon peel, vanilla and eggs. Blend well.

5.  Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

6.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

7. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight to let the whole wheat flour absorb as much moisture as possible.

8. Drop 2-tablespoon balls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.

9. Bake 9 to 13 minutes or until browned on edges. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

Notes:

* I put the shredded zucchini in a sieve and pressed it as hard as I could, until zucchini juice ran through. Then, I spread it between two towels and pressed them together to try to get as much of the water out as possible.

Eric is one of our physician assistants. He brought in some blondies the other night and I asked him for the recipe. This is the first time I have taken a bar cookie recipe and made cookies from it. They turned out so well, I am inspired to try more. Feel free to use other dried fruit like craisins or raspberries.

Yield:

30

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1½ cups white chocolate, chopped into small chunks*

1 cup dried cherries

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment.

2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in sugar and salt.

3. Add vanilla and whisk again.

4. Remove from the heat.

5. Add eggs to the butter mixture and stir well. Set aside.

6. Sift flour, soda and baking powder into a large bowl.

7. Whisk in the egg and butter mixture a little at a time. (It’s important to do this in stages so that you don’t get any lumps.)

8. Leave the mixture to cool slightly, then fold in the chocolate chunks and the cranberries. (If the mixture is too hot, the chocolate will melt.)

9. Form into 2 tablespoon balls onto prepared baking sheets.

10. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the outer edges are firm and the middle still a little soft.

11. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

I used Ghirardelli’s white chocolate chips