Recipes Discovered – Recipes

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• Zest from 1 lemon

Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Cookies:

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.
Glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Recipe courtesy of Giada DeLaurentiis.

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup coarsely ground pistachios
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

In a bowl,  cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla. Add the flour, salt, and pistachios and mix until well blended. Cover and chill for 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Shape dough into balls or crescents. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from pan to cool on wire racks. Dust cookies with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Scoop dough into balls before refrigerating (much easier to handle).

Recipe courtesy of Baking Delights.

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring (about 10 to 15 drops)
• 1/2 cup peppermint candy, crushed
• 1/2 cup white sugar, for decoration

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and confectioners’ sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extracts. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Cover or wrap dough and chill for at least one hour. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough into halves. Color one half red by mixing in the food color. Roll a small amount of each dough into a 2 inch long worm. Roll them together in a twisted rope and curve the end like a cane. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. In a small bowl, mix together the crushed candy cane and remaining white sugar. Roll hot cookies in the sugar mixture.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Mix the food coloring into the dough before chilling (a lot easier). The dough gets sticky pretty quickly, so it may need to be refrigerated again half way through. The cookies fell apart when I tried rolling them in the candy/sugar mixture, so I just sprinkled it over top while the cookies were warm. I used 25 peppermint candies and had a lot of topping leftover.

Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 pound dates, chopped
• 1 pound walnuts, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained and cut in halves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until ingredients are combined. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tarter together. Slowly add to the creamed mixture. Stir in dates and walnuts. Batter will be stiff. Drop from teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Top each with cherry halves. Bake 10-12 minutes. Store in airtight container.

Makes about 10 dozen small cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Recipe courtesy of Christmas Cookies.

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 1/2 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 11 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 7 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Place 4 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Add the butter and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and brown sugar. Stir to combine. Add the flour and mix gently. Fold in the remaining bittersweet chocolate, along with the white chocolate, milk chocolate, and nuts. Spoon heaping teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet anb bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Recipe courtesy of The Cookie Book

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Zest from 1 orange
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, then add the brown sugar. Beat well. Add the vanilla and orange zest. Sift the flour and baking powder together and then stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in the nuts. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour or overnight.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto a cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

I used lemon zest instead of orange zest. I scooped the dough while it was room temperature and then refrigerated the dough balls overnight.

Recipe courtesy of Bake or Break

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup red maraschino cherries, finely chopped and drained
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Directions:

In a large mixer bowl beat butter till softened. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add milk and vanilla and beat well. Add flour and beat until well mixed. Stir in cherries and pecans. Shape into three 7″ rolls. Roll in coconut to coat. Wrap and chill for several hours. Preheat oven to 375. Cut into 1/4″ thick slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 12 minutes or until done. Remove and cool.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Recipe courtesy of Christmas Cookies.

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup malted milk powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 cups (6 ounces) chocolate-covered malted milk balls, coarsely chopped
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or 1 cup store-bought choc chips or chunks

Directions:

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Sift together the flour, malted milk powder, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned in the mixture looks curdled – it will even out when the dry ingredients are added. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear in the the batter. Mix in the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. The batter will look more like fudge frosting than cookie dough – and that’s fine. With the mixer on low, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the malted milk balls and chopped chocolate.
Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls on to the sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between spoonfuls. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 6 minutes. When done, the cookies will be puffed and set slightly but soft to the touch. Let the cookies rest for 2 minutes before using a wide metal spatula to transfer them to the racks to cool to room temperature.
Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Recipe courtesy of Baking: From My Home to Yours

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup  butter, softened
• 1 cup  chunky peanut butter
• 1 cup  granulated sugar
• 1 cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  baking soda
• 1 teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon  salt
• 1 teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 (11.5-ounce) bag chocolate chunks

Directions:

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add chunky peanut butter and sugars, beating well. Add eggs, beating until blended.

Combine flour and next 4 ingredients. Add to butter mixture, beating well.

Stir in peanuts and chocolate chunks.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 1/2 tablespoons for each cookie). Refrigerate at least 4 hours, over overnight.

Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pan 1 to 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

I used creamy peanut butter and added an extra cup of peanuts. I also used salted peanuts, just cut down the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.

Recipe courtesy of My Recipes

Read my review of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 7 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon strong coffee
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 ounces milk chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 pan with overhanging parchment paper.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the unsweetened chocolate and bittersweet chocolate and stir until completely melted and blended. Remove from the heat and blend in the brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly until the batter is thick and glossy. Mix in the coffee, vanilla, and salt. Mix the flour with the baking powder and stir into the batter, mixing only enough to incorporate the flour. Stir in the milk chocolate and chopped pecans. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cool before serving.

Nutrition:

Substitutions:

Recipe courtesy of Brownie Points