Things to know before you start:
Walnuts are always English.
Brown sugar is always light brown unless it says otherwise and packed, whether it says so or not.
Flour is always All Purpose (AP) flour unless it says otherwise.
Abbreviations:
t = teaspoon
T = tablespoon
C = cup
b. powder = baking powder
soda = baking soda
LoL = Land of Lakes
Notes are in italics and not part of the original recipe.
Pinoche (Dec 2011)
3 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C milk, scant I used cream
Boil until it forms soft ball in cold water.
Remove from stove and add:
lump butter (2 Tbsp)
vanilla (1 tsp)
cocoanut (best guess, about 1 cup. You could also do nuts if you were so inclined)
Beat well. Pour in buttered dish.
I was told
to beat until it was no longer shiny, this took about 30 to 45 minutes
in a stand mixer. I would NOT recommend trying to beat with a hand
mixer. I greased my pan w/ vegetable shortening and it worked just
fine.
English Toffee (Dec 2011)
Ingredients:
1 C butter (real, salted)
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 lb (English) walnuts
1/2 lb sweet (milk) chocolate
Arrange waxed paper on cookie sheet. Spread chopped nuts over paper. Place butter, sugar, salt and vanilla in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir slowly but constantly until ingredients meet and combine. Cook on high until light brown in color and hard crack stage is reached. Pour over nuts and spread. Sprinkle with chocolate until melted and spread. Sprinkle more nuts when chocolate is still soft (optional). Cool slowly. Break into pieces when completely cold.
Extra notes from my aunt:
Do NOT
- use a margarine - tastes funny
- try to microwave - burns
- cool quickly - chocolate breaks down, tastes and looks funny
Careful about the nuts, should be dry and not oily (oily is a sign that they are rancid and should be tossed)
Candy Bar Cookies (12.17.2011)
Cookie Base
Ingredients:
3/4 C butter (I used LoL salted)
3/4 C powdered sugar, sifted
1 t vanilla
2 T evaporated milk
1/4 t salt
2 C flour
Cream butter. Gradually add powdered sugar. Cream well. Add vanilla, evaporated milk, and salt. Blend in flour. Chill (I chilled it for at least an hour). Split dough in half (put the half you're not using back in the fridge) and roll on a floured (I used powdered sugar) surface to a 12 x 8" rectangle. Cut into 3 x 1.5 or 2" squares. Trim sides. Bake at 325F for 12 - 16 minutes. Cool.
Caramel Filling
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs light caramel
1/4 C evaporated milk
1/4 C butter
1 C powdered sugar, sifted
1 C chopped pecans
Combine in top double boiler caramel and evaporated milk. Heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, powdered sugar and chopped pecans.
Spread 1 tsp filling on top of Cookie Bases.
Chocolate Icing
Ingredients:
6 oz package chocolate bits
1/3 C evaporated milk
2 T butter
1 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C powdered sugar, sifted
Melt chocolate bits with evaporated milk over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
Spread 1/2 tsp icing on top of Caramel Filling. Top with pecan half, if desired.
Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 C Shortening
1 C Sugar
1 C Canned pumpkin
1 C Raisins or dates, chopped I left out
1/2 - 1 C Nuts I used pecans
1 t Vanilla
1 t Soda
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Baking powder
2 C Flour
Cream shortening, sugar and pumpkin. Sift together soda, cinnamon, b. powder, and flour. Mix with creamed mixture. Add raisins, nuts, and vanilla. Drop by spoon on lightly greased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper). Brush top of cookie with milk. Bake 375F - 8 minutes. May be iced with powdered sugar, orange juice, or maple flavoring.
Strawberry Surprise (5.8.2011)
Ingredients:
1 pt strawberries - washed, hulled, and drained
1/2 C sugar
3/4 C cake flour
1/8 t salt
1 t B. powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 C milk
1 T butter, melted
Preheat oven to 375F. Mash strawberries and mix with sugar, set aside. Sift together dry ingredients. In separate bowl combine egg, milk and butter. Combine wet and dry ingredients. In a greased (8x8) baking dish spread strawberries on the bottom and layer dough on top. (if you want multiple layers and are using an 8x8 dish you will need make the recipe for each layer). Bake at 375F 30 to 40 minutes. 35 minutes in my oven. Serve with cream.
Forgotten Cookies (4.22.2011)
Ingredients:
2 egg whites I used 3 in my second batch and it seemed to work a little better.
Pinch salt (omit) yes, this is what it says and I did omit the salt
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 C chopped nuts OR 1 C nuts + 1 C coconut I went with pecans and coconut
1 sm pkg choc bits*
Preheat oven to 350F. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar and extract (Beat in). Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350F. Place cookies in oven and turn it off. Leave cookies in oven til next morning then remove. Mini choc bits may be used.
*In the 1st attempt we used a pkg of regular chocolate bits and it was a LOT of chocolate (not necessarily a bad thing but it depends on what you're going for) when I made this recipe a second time I used a cup of mini chocolate bits and it seemed to work a little better.
Ranger Cookies (4.22.2011)
Ingredients:
1 C shortening
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t soda
1/2 t baking powder
2 C oatmeal
2 C Rice Krispies
1 C coconut (sweetened coconut flake)
1/2 t salt
Preheat oven 375F. Cream shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add (sifted together) flour, soda, b. powder, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Add oatmeal, Krispies, and coconut. Mixed dough will be crumbly. Place on greased sheet in a ball the size of a walnut. Press slightly. Bake 375F for 12 minutes.
Butternut Chewies (4.10.2011)
Ingredients:
1/2 C margarine or butter flavored shortening, melted (I used margarine)
2 eggs
2 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C unsifted flour (all flour sold commercially today is sifted, not exactly sure what the unsifted is about)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 C finely chopped nuts (I used pecans)
Preheat oven to 350F. Beat eggs until light in large bowl with mixer. Beat in sugar, vanilla and margarine/shortening. Add b. powder to flour (sift) and add to egg mixture. Mix at low speed until blended. Stir in nuts at low speed. Mixture will be stiff. Spread in greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or until top is lightly brown. Cool 10-15 minutes. Cut into bars. Depends on how big you cut bars as to how many you get. Recipe says 24. I mix mine by hand. (I used a mixer and no one complained.)
Sugar 'N Spice Cookies (3.27.2011)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 C flour
1 t soda
1 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 C milk
3 C oatmeal
1 C raisins
1/2 C shortening
Preheat oven 375F. Sift together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large bowl. Add shortening, sugars, eggs and milk. (I creamed together the sugars and shortening, added the eggs and milk and beat until smooth. I then added the sifted mixture). Mix until smooth. Stir in oats and raisins. Roll out on lightly floured board or canvas to 1/4" thickness. Cut out with floured 3" cutter. (I ended up rolling the dough into 2" balls and flattening to about 1/4"). Place on greased cookie cheet sprinkle lightly with sugar (missed that step!). Bake in preheated oven (375F) 12 to 15 min (took me 14 min).
Pineapple Nut Bread (3.20.2011) & (3.27.2011)
Ingredients:
2 1/4 C flour
3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 t salt
3 t baking powder
1/2 t soda
3/4 C nuts (I used walnuts)
1 1/2 C crushed pineapple (undrained)
1 beaten egg
3 T melted butter
1 C All-Bran (Original)
Preheat oven to 375F. Sift flour then measure (FYI all flour today is sifted prior to packaging/selling therefore this step is somewhat unnecessary). Sift all dry ingredients except All-Bran. Then add All-Bran and nuts. Add pineapple and butter to beaten egg. Combine egg mixture and dry ingredients. Will make one large (I think this means one 9" loaf pan, at least that's what mine is) or 2 small ones (I have no idea what "small" is). Bake at 375F for 1 hour.
VERSION 2.0
1 1/8 C flour
1 1/8 C whole wheat flour
2 T ground flax seed
1 1/2 t salt
3 t baking powder
1/2 t soda
3/4 C sugar
1 beaten egg
3 T melted butter
1 can crushed pineapple (undrained) (I used Dole, which is approximately 20oz, anything near this amount would be fine)
3/4 C chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 375F. Sift together first 6 ingredients. In separate bowl, combine sugar, egg, and butter. Slowly add about 1/2 the dry ingredients. Add pineapple. Add remaining dry ingredients. Add pecans. Bake at 375F for 1 hour. Let cool in pan about 10 minutes before removing bread from pan. Let cool.
Pineapple Drop Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 C shortening
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C pineapple crushed, drained
1 egg well beaten (I didn't and usually don't beat my egg(s) first)
2 C sifted flour (all flour is sifted unless you buy in bulk, like at Whole Foods, then you may want to ask)
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 t soda
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1 t vanilla (I forgot it and they turned out fine)
Cream shortening and sugars thoroughly. Add pineapple and egg and mix well. Sift together dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture. Blend in nuts and vanilla. Drop by level teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 425F for 8 to 10 minutes (my oven took 9 minutes) or until lightly browned. Yield: about 4 dozen cookies (Yield: 64 cookies)
Orange Kiss-Me Cake (2.20.2011)
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 large orange: rind and flesh - reserve 1/3 C juice for topping
1 C raisins
1/3 C nuts (I used pecans)
2 C flour
1 t soda
1 t salt
1 C sugar
1/2 C shortening
3/4 C + 1/4 C milk
2 eggs
Topping:
1/3 C orange juice
1/3 C sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 C chopped nuts (I used pecans)
Preheat oven to 350F. In food processor (or similar) combine rind and flesh to make orange mixture (I zested the rind since I'm not skilled enough to cut only the rind and not the pith of the orange). Reserve 1/3 C juice from the mixture. Add raisins and nuts to orange mixture and set aside. Sift together flour, soda, and salt. Cream shortening and sugar. Add 3/4 C milk. Beat for 2 minutes. Add 2 eggs and 1/4 C milk. Beat for 2 minutes. Add dry ingredients. Fold in orange mixture. Pour into a well greased, lightly floured 12x8x2 or 13x9x2 inch pan. Bake at 350F 40 to 50 minutes. Alternately, you can use two 8" or 9" round pans at 350F 35 to 45 minutes.
Orange-Nut Topping
Drip 1/3 C orange juice over warm cake. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. Sprinkle over cake. Alternately, drip o.j. over cake. Make a cream cheese icing and add cinnamon. Spread over cake and sprinkle nuts on top.
Beau-Catcher Cookies (2.12.2011)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 C sifted flour
1 t soda
1 t cream of tartar
1/2 C soft margarine
1/2 C light brown sugar
1 (4oz (I think it only comes in 3.5 oz now)) pkg butterscotch pudding and pie filling (aka Cook 'n Serv pudding if using Jell-O brand)
1 egg
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, soda, and cream of tartar. Cream butter (really means margarine), add sugar gradually also pudding mix. Blend well. Add egg, beat thoroughly. Add dry ingreds. Shape into balls (or avoid the whole sticky orange mess and use a cookie scoop or spoon). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F about 11 to 12 minutes.
Coffee Spice Cake (2.3.2011)
Ingredients:
1/2 C shortening
1 C sugar
3 eggs
1/2 C black coffee
1 2/3 C flour
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t mixed spices (1 t cinnamon, 1/4 ground cloves, 1/4-1/2 nutmeg)
powdered sugar
Oven 350 - 400F, 30 minutes. Sprinkle top with sugar. (I used a Bundt pan so it took about 37 minutes or so to bake at 350F.)
Chocolate Square Oatmeal Cookies (1.29.2011)
Ingredients:
3/4 C sifted flour
1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C shortening
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 C oatmeal (old-fashioned)
1/4 C chopped pecans
chocolate squares (I used Dove Milk Chocolate squares, mainly b/c they are square)
pecan halves
Sift together flour, soda, and salt. In separate bowl add sugars, shortening, egg, and vanilla, mix. Add flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Stir in oatmeal and chopped pecans. Shape dough into a 12 in. roll. Wrap. Chill thoroughly. Slice. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet (I always use parchment paper and have no idea how much a pain in the butt it would be to get these off of something that isn't in some way non-stick. I have a feeling that the pain level would be on the med-high side.) Bake at 375F, 10 to 12 min. (I discovered that this is too hot for my oven/cookies. I used 350F for 10 minutes and had good results.) Remove from oven and immediately place a small square of milk chocolate on each. Remove from cookie sheet; press pecan half into melted chocolate.
Delicious Cream Cookies (1.23.2011)
Ingredients:
1 C shortening
2 C brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 C cream
4 1/2 C flour
4 t b. powder
1 t salt
1 C nuts (I used pecans)
1/2 C raisins
1 t lemon extract
1 t vanilla
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, b. powder, and salt, set aside. Cream together shortening, sugar, and beaten eggs. Beat 2 minutes. When well-mixed add cream. Add dry ingredients. When all dry ingreds are well-mixed add nuts, raisins, and flavorings. This recipe didn't come with a baking instructions, bake time, or temp. I used a temp of 350F and about 15 minutes cook time. I recommend dropping tablespoons of dough onto a greased/parchment covered cookie sheet. Any smaller (like I orignally made) and you will have a LOT of cookies (103 with my 2 teaspoon cookie dough scoop).
Applesauce Nut Bread (1.13.2011)
Ingredients:
2 C flour
1 C sugar
1 t soda
3 t b. powder
1 T butter, melted
1 C applesauce
1 egg
1/2 C nuts
Optional: I added 1 t cinnamon and 1/2 t cloves to one loaf, this was preferred over the plain bread.
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, soda, b powder, set aside. Beat egg, add melted butter and applesauce. Add sugar. Mix in dry ingredients. Fold in nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes in the pan before turning out.
Yield: 1 loaf
Butterscotch Brownies (1.7.2011)
Ingredients:
1/4 C shortening
1 C brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 C flour
1 t b. powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 C nuts (I tried both walnuts and pecans and liked pecans better)
Preheat oven to 350F. Melt shortening. Remove from heat (I found it worked best if I left it on the heat, might depend on the heat retention of your pots/pans) and blend in sugar (should look like dark brown sugar and smoothly come together). Cool. Sift together dry ingreds, set aside. Stir beaten egg into sugar/shortening mixture. Add sifted dry ingredients. Add vanilla and nuts. Spread in an 8" sq greased pan. Bake 25 minutes (it might look a little "raw" but trust me only cook for 25 minutes!). Let cool before attempting pan removal (only if you want it to look good or serve it to someone else - it is FABULOUS warm/hot).
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
Pinch salt (omit) yes, this is exactly what it says on the recipe card and I did omit it!
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 C chopped nuts OR 1 C nuts and 1 C coconut I used pecans and coconut
1 small pkg choc bits 1st version we used an entire pkg of Ghiardelli semi-sweet chocolate morsels (this was a WHOLE lot of chocolate - not necessarily a bad thing but depends on what you're going for) 2nd version I used a cup of Tollhouse mini chocolate bits and it worked pretty well
Preheat oven to 350F. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar and extract (Beat in). Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by tspful on greased cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350F. Place cookies in oven and turn it off. Leave cookies in the oven til next morning. Then remove. Mini choc bits may be used if desired.
