Category: Drop Cookies
Let’s Get Ready to Crumble! (Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookies)

Let’s Get Ready to Crumble! (Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookies)

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There is this wonderful bookstore in the City (San Francisco for all you out of towners) called Omnivore. It is a tiny tiny storefront in the middle of a residential neighborhood (parking sucks) close to Delores Park that has become the mecca for cookbook lovers and foodies.  Their schedule of speakers is literally the A list of cookbook authors and chefs.  I drove up to Omnivore right after the election to see Dorie Greenspan the baking guru. I needed a pick me up and her new book Dorie’s Cookies was just the answer.

Last weekend Omnivore threw a cookie contest or as they called it a Cookie Crumble.  You could either bake a batch of cookies or pay 5 dollars to taste and judge ever tasty morsel. I signed up to bring cookies of course.

Tactically I knew if I was serious I needed to make a cookie that stood out, had some sort of chocolate in it, maybe a different spice, a catchy name and garnered attention at first glance (sprinkles, icing, I have no shame cookie bling).  After mulling it over and perusing through different baking books and blogs I came up with…….drum roll please…..

Oatmeal Cookie!

Whaaat?  I know, that hardly fits my criteria for a winning cookie.  In fact quite the opposite.

Let me explain, one of my favorite blogs Ipso Fatto had posted an oatmeal cookie that she had just made.  That one wasn’t particularly memorable but it brought to mind another recipe she had tried that she felt was much better, a delicious Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookie from the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook (of course I have it, the beauty of an addiction). Oooh, it looked so yummy and sounded soooo good.  Bits of apricot and cranberry in an oatmeal cookie flavored with cloves, ginger, cinnamon…buttery, spicey, chewy with crispy edges.  Despite my initial strategic thinking this became THE one.

We headed to the city cookies in hand. Checking Omnivore’s FB page, eight people signed up.  Looking good…

Uh-oh, did ALL these people forget to sign up?  Sheesh!


Whoa! At least fifty entries and that’s the good news.  The bad news, a gazillion (slight exaggeration) of them looked like oatmeal cookies.  Oh well.

and the winner is…not me (damn) but……a chocolate cookie with white chocolate drizzles (the one on the right side of the plate, I admit it was pretty darn good).  I should have stuck to my tactical plan.

Five dollars for this plate of cookies. Guy in golden pants-SCORE.  He was determined to get one of each cookie and I think he came darn close.   I snapped a quick pic, I think I have plate envy.

So my cookies didn’t win, but they are yummy and if you like oatmeal raisin cookies add this one to your baking bucket list.  A little bit more spice than a classic oatmeal cookie and the addition of apricots, cranberries, not just raisins makes for a delicious cookie.

I do have a couple tricks up my sleeve when making them.  For uniformly sized cookies, use an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough. I often chill my dough to minimize spreading.  I scoop all the dough, put it on a sheet and place it in the fridge. To get the nice craggy tops, about 3-4 minutes before the cookies are done, (they’ll look puffy) quickly open your oven door, lift and rap the cookie sheet once or twice on the wire shelf.  The cookies will “deflate” and develop the crevices and ridges.  If you want the uniform top then ignore the rapping.  My baking time was shorter, closer to 12-14 minutes.  Not all your cookies come out round?  As soon as I remove the cookies from the oven I survey them for odd shapes.  The cookies are still soft and pliable so with a knife or spatula go ahead and gently push the edges of the cookie to shape them.  Voila perfectly round cookies. Is this cheating?…I won’t tell if you don’t.

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Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup dried apricots diced
  • 1/3 cups golden raisins
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
  • 1 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices. Stir in the oats and salt. Set aside.
  • In another bowl combine dried fruits.
  • In the mixer using a paddle attachment on med-high cream butter, both sugars and vanilla until pale and fluffy, approximately 4-5 minutes.
  • Add eggs, one at a time.
  • On low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Add the dried fruits and mix until combined.
  • Put on cookie sheets and flatten to 1/2 inch thickness.
  • Bake until golden brown around the edges and still slightly pale in the middle, 14-18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
  • Remove and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

 
Good Cookies-A Winter SOS from Nashville

Good Cookies-A Winter SOS from Nashville

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We received an SOS from our kid Jorge who goes to school in Nashville.  For a California kid, 19 degrees (Fahrenheit!) and snow deserves a care package from home when requested.  If I could box some warm California sunshine I would send that too but he will have to settle for cookies and treats.

Yes, I Have a Food Saver 🤦🏻‍♀️

Care packages are quite a production for us (self-imposed of course). We bake cookies, scour our local Asian market for a particular brand of ramen, and make homemade granola and candied nuts. It doesn’t end there.  We freeze the cookies and vacuum pack them.  No stale smooshed cookies for my kids, nope.  I bet you think this woman is nuts…..you might be right.

What? Make Cookies?

Still reeling from the holiday cookie baking extravaganza, I enlisted the hubs to bake cookies.  Two things Wes bakes and he has perfected them both, carrot cake and his version of oatmeal raisin cookies.  I am off the hook for making birthday cakes as Wes’s Carrot Cake is the uncontested family favorite.  Birthday cake and Carrot Cake are synonymous in our house.

Good Cookies, that’s his other specialty.  That’s their name, Good Cookies.  But they live up to the name.  They are really good.  Think of them as oatmeal raisin cookies that have attained Nirvana. Chewy and soft with a little bit of crunch from the addition of Life cereal.   Over the years he has tinkered with his recipe and has added tart dried cranberries and fresh rosemary which elevates these cookies from good to Awesome.   Like his carrot cake, these cookies have become a tradition, the unequivocal munchie-favorite during midterms and finals.

This recipe can be easily halved or doubled depending on your need.  You can omit the rosemary if that doesn’t appeal to you but try it at least once.  You’ll have your friends wondering what is in that delicious cookie.

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Good Cookies

Delicious drop cookie, think oatmeal cookies on steroids, so good.
Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword brown butter, cornflakes, cranberries, Good Cookies, life cereal, oatmeal
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 Fugly Goldenrod Large Tupperware bowl from the 60's optional but....

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound salted butter (2 sticks) softened
  • 1 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs slightly beatened

Dry Ingredients:combine in small bowl and set aside

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour Gold Medal or Pillsbury AP preferred, but use what you have
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda

Adds

  • 1/4 tsp fresh finely chopped rosemary optional, but pretty darn good
  • 1/2 cup cereal, crushed (Wes uses Life cereal or sometimes cornflake crumbs)
  • 1-1/2 cups Quick Quaker Oats old fashioned would work, DO NOT USE instant
  • 1.5 cups raisins Wes uses a combination of raisins/cranberries at a ratio of 75%/ 25%

See notes to use a stand mixer

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients plus oatmeal. LITERALLY, Wes uses his hand to knead the ingredients together.
  • In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients (except the raisins).
  • Add dry mixture to wet and mix thoroughly but do not overwork your dough if using an electric mixer
  • Add raisins and cranberries
  • Place heaping tablespoons on an un-greased baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes until edges are golden brown.
  • Makes around 5 dozen.

Notes

Wes actually makes these cookies by hand, no mixer. At most a spatula or wooden spoon to mix the dough and a beat-up fugly goldenrod Tupperware bowl 😂
Classic drop cookie instructions.  On medium speed, cream butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. You do not need to beat until light and fluffy, which will make it a little cakier.   Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add flour, oatmeal, cereal and rosemary if using. Combine on low speed until no flour is visible.  Stir in dried fruit and rosemary.  To form the dough use a #40 ice cream scooper (1.75 tablespoons) 
A Cool Minty Riff for #10 on the Holiday Cookie List

A Cool Minty Riff for #10 on the Holiday Cookie List

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Only 2 more cookies after this post for my holiday cookie list and COINCIDENTALLY there’s only 2 more days until Christmas.  Yikes, I’m cutting it pretty close!

When I’m in a grocery or cookware store I feel like a kid in a candy store.  I go bonkers.  It’s really not my fault, there is just too much STUFF out there to entice me.  Take chocolate chips, for example.  Back in the day you had  semi-sweet chocolate chips and that was it.  Now the chocolate chip universe has expanded to include milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and bittersweet.  They come mini, midi and maxi size, in chunks or bits.  It’s easily a 15 minute decision in the supermarket just picking chocolate chips!  And to make matters worse there are peanut butter chips,  butterscotch chips, and EVEN candy bars that come in chips.  The other day I found Andes Creme de Menthe Chips (the holy grail for mint and chocolate lovers), and it would have taken a stronger person than I to walk out without a bag…..or two.

And so, I give you Cookie number 10, The Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie, right off the back the bag!  The dough is fairly soft and the cookies will spread quite a bit if not chilled before baking.  I used a tablespoon ice cream scoop to make cookies approximately 2.5 inches in diameter.  Bake the cookies on a Silpat to minimize spreading.  Baking time was around 9-10 minutes.

And a song to listen to while you’re baking these minty morsels, 12 Days of Christmas as sung by The Disney Princesses!

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Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • Andes Crème de Menthe Chunk Cookies
  • Servings: 4 Dozen
  • Preheat oven to 350
  • • 1/2 cup salted butter softened
  • • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • • 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
  • • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • • 2 eggs
  • • 1 package 10 oz Andes® Creme de Menthe Baking Chips
  • • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

  • Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed.
  • Stir in baking chips or chopped candy and then flour.
  • Chill at least one hour in refrigerator.
  • Measure out approximately 1 ounce of dough.
  • Raise oven rack one level above middle and baking on non-stick cookie sheets.
  • Bake at 350-degrees for approximately 8-10 minutes.
  • Cool on pans for two minutes before removing.
Almond Cookies: Homage to Mrs. F

Almond Cookies: Homage to Mrs. F

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My brother-in-law’s mother passed away unexpectedly a few days ago.  Through the years we would see her at family functions and exchange pleasantries.  Every Christmas we were the lucky recipients of one of her signature pink cake boxes filled with a variety of delicious homemade holiday cookies.  We all had our favorites.  Me, I loved her almond cookies.  They were just like the ones in the windows of Chinatown bakeries, crumbly, full of almond flavor and finished with an almond pressed into the center.

Unfortunately I do not have her recipe but I do have one by Belinda Leong of B patisserie in San Francisco.  Bursting with almond flavor and buttery goodness this is an amazingly delicious cookie that for me pays tribute to Mrs. F.  Baking these lovely morsels conjures up the image of her pink boxes stacked on the holiday table. Most of all it reminds me of her warm smile and her kind and generous spirit.  She will be missed.

Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)/Auld Lang Syne performed by Yo- Yo Ma and Chris Botti

 

DSC02832

The recipe for these wonderful almond cookies is from Andrea Nguyen’s blog post Viet World Kitchen.  The recipe was first published in the book Chef’s Table by Carolyn Jung.  There were some glitches in the recipe and luckily food people are of the most generous spirit.  No sooner had I emailed Ms. Nguyen she responded answering all my questions and updating her website.  Here is the link to the recipe on her blog, Viet World Kitchen.  I weighed the flour using the 8.75 ounces and used 1/2 cup volume measurement for the sugar.  Start checking the cookies early. My batch only took 12 minutes to bake.  If you like crisp, buttery, almond flavored cookies..BAKE THESE, you won’t regret it.

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Almond Cookies

Buttery, crispy, full of almond flavor.  These cookies from B's Patisserie are a winner.
Course cookies
Cuisine Asian
Keyword Almond Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups 8.75 oz / 250 g all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 ounces 120 g almond paste
  • 1/2 cup 3.5 oz / 100 g sugar
  • 2 sticks 8 oz / 225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 4 ounces 120 g sliced or chopped slivered almonds
  • Powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C / gas mark 4) with a rack in the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda. Set aside.
  • Use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to make the dough. Cut the almond paste into thick slices or big chunks. Put them in the mixer with the sugar. On low speed, mix the ingredients together until the almond paste has broken up into big pea-like pieces.
  • Pause to add the butter. On medium-low speed, beat the ingredients until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  • Add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined (you no longer see flour bits). Add the almonds and use the lowest speed (“Stir” on a Kitchen Aide) to mix into the dough.
  • Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar in a small bowl or on your work surface. For slightly gnarly/textured cookies, pinch off balls of dough – each the size of a big cherry tomato (1.5 inch / 3.75 cm wide). Roll in powdered sugar, then place on the prepared sheet pan, spaced 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Flatten each ball slightly as you work. (If you want neater cookies, squeeze and roll the dough into a fat log and cut crosswise into pieces. Roll them into balls, coat in the sugar, etc. See the photo above.)
  • Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown at the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for several days.
A Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Cookie

A Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Cookie

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Are you ready to start baking for the holidays?  I tried two new cookie recipes yesterday to take to our annual holiday cookie swap and both are winners.  We started our swap way back when the kids were in pre-school and through the years we have managed to keep the tradition alive.  Our early gatherings were during the day with kids and babies in tow but have now morphed into a mom’s happy hour. We eat, drink, catch up on what we are doing as well as the kids and of course trade cookies.  Amazing how quickly 17 years have flown by.

The first thing you should know is that both recipes are STUPID EASY.  My favorite cooking category.  If you are looking for cookies that are delicious and will illicit oohs and aahs, look no further. Oh, did I mention they are both GLUTEN FREE?  BAM! The trifecta.  I did not choose them because of that, they just happen to be gluten free. Here is the first one, Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.

FlourlessPeanutButter

To go along with these crazy good cookies here is a Peanuts favorite The Charlie Brown Christmas Song sung by Mariah Carey.

 

As the song is playing, pullout the peanut butter (smooth or chunky), brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, vanilla and 1 egg.  That’s all you need for this recipe!  I found multiple versions of this recipe online and adapted the one from Our Best Bites.  These cookies are soft, chewy and scream peanut butter flavor.  You can add chocolate to take it to another level, its entirely up to you.  Enjoy!

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup peanut butter smooth or chunky
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I use 1/2 cup white sugar & 1/4 cup golden brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • Sugar for rolling
  • Chocolate chunks I use the chunks from TJs, you can use chips if you like
  • optional: heaping 1/2 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips I recommend dark or semi-sweet

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Combine peanut butter and sugars and until smooth (1-2 minutes on medium speed).
  • Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix for about a minute.
  • If adding chocolate, fold into dough now. Chocolate is optional, really.
  • Using a tablespoon ice cream scoop, scoop and shape dough into balls, roll in sugar.
  • Place balls on parchment lined cookie sheet, approximately 11/2 inches apart.
  • Using a fork, flatten with a criss cross pattern, or simply flatten with the bottom of a glass.
  • Press one chocolate chunk or chip into the center of cookie after flattening the dough.
  • Bake for 8-9 minutes, don’t overbake!
  • Let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies. Recipe can be doubled easily.