Lemon Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

This is a recipe I found in an old issue of Everyday Food, and these cookies are delicious!  They have quickly become my favorite Summer treat. They are super easy to make, and help make sure I use up all of the extra zucchini I have laying around.  I have all of the ingredients on hand, even the lemon zest needed stored in my freezer.  I did make one addition to the recipe, I replaced half of the vanilla extract with lemon extract, just to make it a little more lemony.  Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon packed finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 medium zucchini, grated on small holes of a box grater (about 1 cup)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon extract, lemon zest, and salt. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until mixture is crumbly. Add zucchini and stir until a thick dough forms.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are light golden brown at edges, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I made these cookies after a friend put the recipe on Facebook.  They are gluten-free, and possibly the quickest cookie to make in the entire world, mainly because of the lack of ingredients.  They are also super fun to make with kids!  Enjoy!


Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Whip the first five ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.  Add the peanut butter and mix until creamy.  Mix in chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate, but any kind would do).  Bake for 12-15 minutes. 

Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies

If you like lemony desserts, you will LOVE these cookies!  I generally don't even really enjoy lemon desserts,  just leaves less room for the chocolate.  However, these were so good, they will definitely be going on regular cookie rotation in our house.  They are light and chewy, and pretty much just melt in your mouth.  Here is the recipe:

Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
Zest of one large lemon, finely minced
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, I used a Silpat.   In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla and lemon extract, lemon juice and lemon zest.Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.  Refrigerate mixture for about 30 minutes.  Roll dough (about a teaspoon) into balls and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.  Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks. 

Recipe adapted from mybakingaddiction.com.

Almond Maple Cookies

A friend made some yummy cookies the other day with basically just almond flour, oat flour, and maple syrup.  They were so good, I had to find the recipe myself.  I found a few recipes and went for it.  These are so good and gluten and refined sugar free (for those of you on special diets).

Here is the recipe:

1 cup almonds (whole)
1 cup oats (whole
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheet by either greasing it or using parchment (I use a silicone mat).  Grind the almonds into flour in a food processor and set aside, then grind the oats into flour and add to the almond flour, add salt and mix.  Add maple syrup and vanilla and mix together.  Form the dough into balls, place on cookie sheet and flatten a little with your hand.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned.  Enjoy!!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER

My "go to" cookie has always been the Nestle Toll House recipe on the back of the package of chocolate chips (with the addition of extra vanilla and a pinch of extra salt).  I always have the ingredients on hand, and it's incredibly easy, especially if you make them into bars...basically pouring all of the dough into a small cookie sheet.  Anyway, I was intrigued when I saw a recipe for "Chocolate Chip Cookies Reinvented" in an issue of Cooks Illustrated.  I was blown away at how much better this recipe could be...the only changes were browning the butter (which gave the cookies a toffee-like flavor), upping the brown sugar in the recipe, and the elimination of one egg white.  These are my new "go to" cookie, the are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside...the perfect cookie!   Anyway, try them out and enjoy!

1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12- inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use#24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking seet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

I've been loving this healthy dessert blog called Chocolate Covered Katie.  We LOVE dessert in our family, and I really like the idea of making healthier desserts, since we eat them so often.  These were super easy and they are gluten, dairy, and egg free.  I modified them a bit by sticking a dark chocolate chip in the center, and I used half craisins and half raisins because I didn't have enough raisins.

You can find the recipe here.  Enjoy!

Chocolate cookies

I love this simple chocolate cookie recipe from Martha Stewart.  They are perfectly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Normally, these cookies flatten out pretty well, but when I made them this time they stayed puffy.  I think it's because I used Silpats (silicone cookie sheet liners) instead of parchment paper.  I recently purchased a couple of them, and I'm still learning when to use them and when to not.  Flat or puffy, these cookies are tasty...enjoy!

Grammy's Chocolate Cookies (Martha Stewart)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 sticks plus 4 tablespoons) unsalted, butter room temperature
2 cups sugar, plus more for dipping
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, 2 cups sugar, and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients, and combine with mixer on low speed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and chill until dough is firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dip top of each ball into sugar. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sugar free oatmeal banana cookies

I found this recipe when I was cooking gluten free for my husband.  We took about three weeks to figure out if he was gluten intolerant...at the end we determined that he wasn't, but it was fun to get creative with baking.  This is one of the recipes I'll stick with, mainly because it's super easy and yummy.  I love that it's sugar free, well, it would have been had I not added in the chocolate chips.  Here is the recipe: Gluten and sugar free oatmeal cookies.  The only thing I did differently was sub Craisins for raisins and added chocolate chips. I also added about 1tsp. of cinnamon.  Be sure to click on the link for the updated version of this recipe, it gives directions for making the dough in the food processor, which is what makes them even easier.

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