Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Do you remember when your were a kid on those hot summer days playing outside with your friends? Running around, jumping on the tramp, riding your bike from friends home to friends home. Oh, how I loved those summer days and man do I miss them. The best part of those hot days was running to the freezer and grabbing a popsicle. One of my favorites--Orange Creamsicles! When I found this recipe, I couldn't wait to try it. And let me tell you...AMAZING! 

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest 
2 cups white chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and white chocolate chips.
Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. (Try 8 minutes first-you don't want to over bake so they will stay soft and chewy!) Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Snickerdoodles

Who doesn't love Snickerdoodles!? They are crunchy, cinnamony and delicious! I love making these cookies, and when I do, they don't seem to last very long!

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix until combined. Add the rest of ingredients and mix.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture and cover completely. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Don't over bake.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

I was just sitting at home the other day and was craving cookies. I wanted to bake them and I wanted to eat them! I have always loved white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, but honestly, I could always do without the nuts. So, I found a delicious recipe for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and I just left out the nuts. They were so good! I ate 6 cookies in one day!

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
10 ounces white chocolate (chips or bars cut in chunks)
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped into chunks

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, beat well. Stir together flour, and the baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture,beating until well blended. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. (Edges are golden brown and center is set.) Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a great recipe for those bananas that start to over ripen. They are always a hit in my home!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the World Wide Ward Cookbook.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Combine all of the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients. Mix well with mixer. Spoon cookie dough onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

*The dough is a littler more sticky/runny than most cookie doughs.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I thought this would be a fun post after the last one since it is its opposite. I made these for my Sunday School class this week and they were definitely a hit! I loved them...I couldn't stop eating them. If you love peanut butter and chocolate, you will love these cookies.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Adapted from Gourmet.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cups (10 oz. bag) peanut butter chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (about 8 oz.)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Into a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy and beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Beat in flour mixture until just combined and stir in chips.

Drop dough by tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto un-greased baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven until cookies are just set and begin to crack on top, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute and with a spatula transfer to racks to cool completely.

*I only baked my cookies for 10 minutes and they turned out gooey and chewy, just the way I like them.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

Chocolate and peanut butter! How could you go wrong!? I found this recipe and thought that it looked interesting because it calls for honey. Other than jam (and chocolate, of course), honey is the best with peanut butter!! It reminds me of those peanut butter and honey sandwiches my mom used to make me when I was little. These are great cookies. Give them a try!

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks
Adapted from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup old-fashioned chunky peanut butter (about 9 0z.)
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used chocolate chips)

Directions:

Mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir dry ingredients into peanut butter in two additions. Stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. With hands, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough for each cookie into 1 3/4 inch-diameter ball. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes . Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.

*I just used a cookie scoop and it worked just fine.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

These cookies are always a hit. I made them for the Super Bowl this year and everybody loved them. They can be a little time consuming, but they are definitely worth it!!

Oreo Cookies

Mix together:
2 packages Devil Food Cake mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup flour

Mix together and roll into balls. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix together:
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 lb. powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
2 tsp. vanilla

Sugar Cookies with Butter Cream Frosting

Valentine's Day and Christmas. Those are the two holidays that I always make sugar cookies. But let's be honest, sugar cookies are good anytime! This is the sugar cookie recipe that I have grown up on. It came from my Grandma. I love this sugar cookie recipe because it is so easy to make. Some sugar cookie recipes take such a long time. They require you to put the dough in the fridge for a few hours before you start to roll it out. With this recipe, you can start rolling out dough right away.

Sugar Cookies

Cream:

1 cup crisco

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tbs vanilla (I used 1 tbs because I used real Mexican vanilla)

Add:
4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour

Roll out and use cookie cutters to make desired shapes. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Cool completely then frost and decorate.

Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 package (32 0z.) powdered sugar

1 tsp almond or vanilla extract

Milk

Mix first two ingredients together, then start adding a little bit of milk. Add enough milk to make desired consistency. Once the consistency is right, add the extract and food coloring if desired.