Tag Archives: drop cookies

Weekend Baking: There’s a kumquat in my cookie

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How can anyone resist tart and tiny kumquats, sitting so cute and bright in the produce department at the grocery store? They just look happy. I buy them every year as soon as they make their first seasonal appearance. I never have a plan for them when I set them in my basket, but it doesn’t matter. I buy the organic kumquats, rinse them well and, after I’ve cut the stem ends off, I pop them into my mouth one after the other, as if they were orange jelly beans.

Yes, these little cuties are totally edible, although they do have seeds hiding inside that seem large for such a tiny fruit. To remove seeds, slice kumquats in half and squeeze them gently—the seeds will pop out.

The skin is tender and sweet, while the flesh can be dry and very tart, compared with oranges. Kumquats that are soft will be less juicy, but they are perfectly acceptable for most uses. Store them in a plastic bag in the fruit drawer of the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

One kumquat has about 12 calories and is a good source of vitamin C.

This member of the citrus family is quite versatile. I’ve used their juice and minced skin in dressing for cabbage slaw, minced them up and stirred them into shrimp curry and stirred them into a coffee cake. This time, I’ve pureed kumquats and added them to chunky, chewy cookies.

The most time-consuming part of this recipe is getting the little kumquats ready to puree. I removed the seeds first. It’s easiest to cut them in half lengthwise. Give each half a little squeeze and the seeds will pop right out.

A ripe banana added to the cookie dough adds breakfast-like flavor as it pairs with old-fashioned oats and chunks of toasted raw almonds. In fact, my husband has been making a few of these cookies his breakfast this week.

I’ve packed a tin of them to snack on in the car as I drive to Worthington today. It’s a long drive. Did I mention these cookies also hold plenty of semisweet morsels of chocolate? That makes these cookies a good substitution for the bag of M&M’s I would normally have in my travel snack pack. Everyday needs a little chocolate, right? By the way, I’ll be doing a couple of cooking demonstrations at the Daily Globe Women’s Expo in Worthington on Saturday. If you’re near, come see me.

Try Chunky Chewy Kumquat-Banana Cookies. You’ll like them.

Chunky Chewy Kumquat-Banana Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups whole raw almonds
  • 1/2 cup chopped kumquats
  • 1 very ripe banana
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup white wheat whole grain flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Toast them in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until you can smell their fragrance and they just begin to turn a little darker. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a plate to cool. Once almonds are cool, coarsely chop.

Place 1 egg in a blender along with kumquats and banana. Process until mixture is quite smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add remaining egg, vanilla and pureed fruit mixture. Beat to blend. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together. Add sifted ingredients to mixing bowl and beat on low speed to incorporate. Stir in oats, chopped almonds and chocolate morsels.

Spoon onto parchment-lined or ungreased baking sheet, using a rounded tablespoon for each. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and turn light golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool. Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies.

Tip from the cook

I use White Wheat Whole Grain Flour from Dakota Family Mill.

Weekend Baking: Triple Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

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You’ve seen recipes for triple chocolate cookies, right? Well, why not triple peanut butter cookies?

I come from a long line of peanut butter-lovers. My uncle was so consumed with the creamy, sticky stuff, he named his dog Skippy. My mom made sandwiches with peanut butter so thick, each bite would take several minutes to finally swallow, let alone try to get a word out.

I grew up on my mom’s peanut butter cookies. They were crunchy and sweet and the little criss-cross marks made with a fork on the top of each cookie glistened with crystals of sugar.

Of course, I married a peanut butter-lover. Nothing makes him happier than a bag of chocolate peanut butter cups.

When I discovered the bags of Reese’s mini peanut butter cups at the store, I knew at least one bag of the adorable, bite-sized p.b. cups would go home with me to get chopped up and stirred into cookies. And how easy it is to do, because the tiny chocolate peanut butter cups come unwrapped.

Triple Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are thick and chewy. And chubby. They are loaded with chopped mini peanut butter cups, peanut butter morsels and of course, creamy peanut butter.

Make them to nibble all weekend long. You’ll make all the peanut butter-lovers in your house so happy.

Triple Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 4 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
  • 1 (8-ounce) bag Reese’s mini peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars together in a mxing bowl. Add baking soda, vanilla, peanut butter and eggs and mix well. Add oats and stir to blend. Stir in peanut butter cups and peanut butter morsels. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto an ungreased  or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The cookies should be soft and lightly browned. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Sparkling and Spicy-Sweet Persimmon Cookies

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It seems a bit absurd, I know, but until this week, I had never tasted a persimmon. I’ve been curious about them, though. Especially when I discovered my friend, Pat, who grew up in California with a persimmon tree in her yard, orders them by the case each year through the local food co-op.

Persimmons started simmering up in my mind a few weeks ago when I was in the Twin Cities. After reading a recent review at Heavy Table about some interesting food being served for lunch at Hmong Village in St. Paul, I was determined to get over there to explore on my own.

The large building was filled with vendors selling fresh produce, individual nooks offering a variety of this and that, and several vendors offering freshly made, ready to eat Hmong, Thai, Asian and Vietnamese food.

It was in the fresh produce area that I was tempted to grab a bag of ripe persimmons. They were the Fuyu variety — the kind that are shaped like a tomato, but with a burnt orange-colored skin. They can be peeled, sliced and eaten. I decided against purchasing one of those bags that held at least 8 persimmons. I had no idea what I’d do with all of them. But when I got home, I picked up a few Fuyu persimmons at the store.

I had planned to just eat them or maybe add a few slices to my morning smoothie. After leaving the fruit out on my kitchen counter for a few days, the persimmons got nice and soft. I did eat one. Soft and so ripe, it was filled with juice. And then, quite by accident, I came across a recipe for Persimmon Cookies in an old cookbook my mom bought for me in 1989. The recipes in the book were compiled by Home Economics teachers in California.

The recipe for Persimmon Cookies was submitted by Sandra Robertson at Whittier High School in Whittier, California. She commented that her mom made these cookies every year during the holiday season.

I decided to give them a try. It wasn’t until I started measuring out the ingredients that I noticed there were no eggs listed. Seemed strange to me, but I decided I could trust a home ec teacher. Then I realized there were no instructions for oven temperature or baking time. Maybe I shouldn’t trust a home ec teacher.

I made a few simple changes to the recipe. Rather than using the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg that were listed in the recipe, I used some Cake Spice that had just arrived this week in a box of herbs and spices that I ordered with a gift card from the The Spice House. Baking Spice blend or even a blend of Pumpkin Pie spices would work well, too.

The cookies are soft and sweetly spicy. I added chopped dates and broken toasted pecans, but dried cranberries or raisins would be good, too. Before baking the cookies, I used a rubber band to attach a damp cloth to the bottom of a glass. It makes a great non-stick cookie press/stamper when the damp cloth-covered bottom of the glass is dipped into sugar first.

If you can get your hands on persimmons, give these sparkling, egg-less cookies a try. They’re delicious with a cup of tea or hot cocoa.

If you can get your hands on several persimmons, make the cookies and make some persimmon margaritas. Just days after I turned my back on those bags of plump persimmons at Hmong Village, I saw this margarita recipe over at City Pages. Oh, I should have come home from my trip to the Cities with one of those bags of persimmons.

Persimmon Cookies

  • 1 cup peeled and chopped Fuyu persimmons
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons Cake Spice, Baking Spice or Pumpkin Pie spice blend
  • 3/4 cup chopped dates
  • 3/4 cup broken toasted pecans
  • Sugar for stamping cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease lightly. Use a fork to mash the chopped persimmons, achieving a pulpy consistency. Stir baking soda into the persimmons and set aside.

Blend sugar and shortening. Sift dry ingredients together and add to sugar mixture. Beat on low speed to mix. Blend in persimmon mixture. Stir in dates and nuts. Drop by teaspoonful on prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

Cover the bottom of a glass with a small damp cloth and fasten with a rubber band. Dip the damp towel in sugar and use it to press down each cookie. Dip glass in sugar before stamping each cookie.

Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until bottom of cookies are golden brown. Cool cookies on wire rack. Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies.

Store in airtight container or tin. These cookies can be frozen.

Tip from the cook

A thin-skin peeler, the kind with serrated blades, is a good tool for peeling persimmons.

Don’t forget the cookie monsters on Halloween

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Little munchkins and monsters, big ones, too, will be looking for special treats this weekend. Why not have some cookies to tuck into their hands?

My little two-year-old grandmunchkin will be with us this weekend. She’s one of the muffin monsters in our family. I don’t have muffins ready for her yet, but I think these cookies may be a good substitute.

Butterscotch Pumpkin Spice Cookies are not cloyingly sweet, although a thick smear of Maple Cream Cheese Frosting topping each cookie does add a fair amount of sweetness. Chopped butterscotch morsels stirred into the dough add flavor without big hard chunks  in each bite. Old-fashioned oats add a nice bit of chewy texture.

These cookies are soft on the inside with just a slight crackle as you bite into them.

I sprinkle chopped pecans on some of the cookies and leave them off of some, just because I know there are a few big monsters who don’t care for nuts or can’t eat them for one reason or another. And for the little muffin monster, there are a few cookies with no frosting.

There’s still time to make a batch of Butterscotch Pumpkin Spice Cookies. All the little munchkins and monsters will love you.

Have a happy Halloween weekend.

Butterscotch Pumpkin Spice Cookies

with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup butterscotch morsels
  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, uncooked
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (see recipe below)
  • 2/3 cup pecan halves, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Position steel blade in food processor bowl. Pulse flour and baking soda to mix. Add butterscotch morsels and pulse for about 30 seconds or until morsels are finely chopped. Add oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and pulse few times to chop the oats. Set mixture aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugars, beating well. Add egg, vanilla and pumpkin, beating to blend. Stir in flour mixture.

Drop cookie dough by tablespoonsful onto parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and set. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Frost cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the frosting.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add maple syrup, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating to incorporate before adding more. Add vanilla and blend. Gradually add powdered sugar. Frosting will be soft and creamy. If it is too soft to spread onto the cookies, add a little more powdered sugar.

Crunchy Cookies for Cool Days

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It’s been months since I’ve baked cookies. Chilly, damp days this week have spurred me to turn on the oven and mix up some dough.

The cool weather has also put me in the mood to clean out my pantry and refrigerator. Long overdue!

As I was digging through the pull-out shelves of my pantry, I came upon a shallow, clear plastic box of thin slices of crystallized ginger a friend had given me late last winter. It was still soft. I popped a slice into my mouth. Still chewy. Spicy-sweet heat tickled my taste-buds. My mind began reeling with creative ways to use up some of that ginger. I set it on the counter.

When I got to the opened box of rice krispies, I remembered a cookie recipe I’ve been making for years that includes a cup of the crisp rice cereal. Then came the bar of Ghirardelli white chocolate called Vanilla Dream. I ripped the outer cardboard wrap to get to the inside. The white chocolate bar was speckled with vanilla beans. I’m not a huge fan of white chocolate, but this smelled divine. I set it on the counter right beside the crystallized ginger and the cereal.

It didn’t take long for me to decide to toss those new-found ingredients into some cookie dough.

I pulled a recipe from my collection called Barbara’s Cookies. I don’t know who Barbara is, but I got the recipe from Flora, a woman from Worthington, Minn. who was visiting my mother- and father-in-law many years ago. I remember Flora telling me it was the most delicious cookie she’d ever tasted. I do agree that these crispy, crunchy cookies are just the kind that easily slide right down with a tall glass of cold milk. My husband gives them five stars.

I followed Barbara’s recipe, adding my own tweaks. I browned the butter to add more rich nutty flavor to the cookies. Ginger and white chocolate are my own additions. I was planning to use macadamia nuts in the cookies since it seemed I had a tropical theme going with these cookies. But, can you believe I could not find macadamias in the local stores? I did make a great discovery, though, as I was perusing the snack aisle. A (21-ounce) can of Planters Select Macadamias, Cashews and Almonds was a delicious combination of roasted and sea salted nuts to chop up and add to the cookies. The container was big enough so that there were plenty of nuts for nibbling on as a snack for a few days.

I could call these Crispy White Chocolate Ginger Nut Oatmeal Coconut Cookies. That’s way too long. For now I’ll just call them Sue’s Cookies. They are a good reason to heat up the oven on a cool day.

Sue’s Cookies

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
  • 1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup crisp rice cereal
  • 1/2 cup nuts, chopped
  • 1 cup coconut, toasted
  • 1 cup chopped white chocolate

In a saute pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Bring butter to golden brown by allowing it to gently bubble for 5 to 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in brown sugar. Use a rubber spatula to scrape butter mixture into a glass pie plate. Place in refrigerator and allow to chill for 45 minutes.

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

Sift flour, cream of tartar and baking soda together and set aside.

Scrape chilled butter mixture into large mixing bowl. Add granulated sugar and beat until fluffy. Add oil, egg, vanilla and ginger and beat to blend. Add sifted dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until dry ingredients are incorporated into the dough. Stir in oatmeal, cereal, nuts, coconut and white chocolate.

Roll cookie dough into balls, using 1 1/2 tablespoons for each ball. Flatten slightly with palm of hand. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Bottom of cookies will be golden. Transfer to rack to cool. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Tips from the cook

I toasted the coconut in the same saute pan that I used for browning the butter. I didn’t even wipe it out first. Just stir the coconut over medium heat until it begins to turn golden. Immediately transfer the coconut to a plate to cool.

When you’re shopping for white chocolate, check the list of ingredients. Be sure the bar you purchase has cocoa butter in it.

I find crystallized ginger in different areas of the supermarket depending on which store I’m shopping in. Sometimes it’s in the candy aisle, sometimes the natural food section and sometimes in the aisle with the baking products. It’s worth the search.

Loads of Nuts and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies — you may not want to share.

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Little Gracie had been feeling under the weather all day Wednesday. She had no interest in running and playing, choosing to curl up and sleep for most of the day. And, she was coughing.

So, yesterday, off to the vet we went. When I take Gracie for a ride in the car, I feel like a new mother packing up to take the new baby out to run errands. I have no diaper bag, though. I put some water in the special bowl I have with a tight-sealing screw-on lid. Chew toys for the crate in the back seat. The leash. Treats to replenish the small supply I keep in my cup-holder in the front seat.

For this trip, I also made room for a small basket of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. I was sure the nice doctors, office staff and techs at the veterinary clinic would enjoy a people treat of their own.

Gracie’s sensitive nose caught the aroma of warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies in the car. That got her attention in a hurry and she perked up a little. With Gracie in one arm and the basket of cookies in my other, I managed to get into the clinic without a spill. And, as hard as she tried, Gracie wasn’t able to grab a cookie. But the huge mastiff inside the clinic wanted to greet us and was quite interested in the cookies. Gracie got very squiggly at the site of the mastiff, the basket started to tip…..and just at that moment one of the techs came to the rescue, whisking the basket of treats to safety. Whew.

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies. It’s a recipe I’ve adapted over the years using one that I clipped from a Bon Appetit magazine in 1988. I use milk chocolate chips and loads of almond slices and pieces of toasted pecans. And butter. It must be butter for the most luscious tasting cookies in the world.

At 9 weeks and 6 days old, Gracie had her first chest x-ray. We came home with medicine for a bronchial infection. By late in the day she was enjoying a special dog treat a friend gave her.

I’m pretty sure by late in the day, the nice people who took care of Gracie at the veterinary clinic had emptied the cookies from the basket. They had already started eating them before we left the office. And, how can you possibly stop at just one cookie when they have a thin shell of crunch surrounding a soft, chewy middle with chocolate that melts on your tongue and nuts that let you know they are in there, too.

I kept plenty of the cookies for us at home, too. Luckily, this recipe makes 4 dozen good-sized people treats.

Loads of Nuts and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 1 cup butter, rooom temperature
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 cup pecan halves, toasted, broken in to pieces
  • 1 (11.5-ounce) bag milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or coat lightly with butter.

Cream butter with sugars in mixing bowl. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Add to mixture in bowl and stir until combined. Add almonds, pecans and chocolate chips and mix in.

Using a #40 portion scooper (a scant 2 tablespoons) make balls of dough and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer cookies from baking sheets to wire racks to cool. Store in airtight container. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.