::Lemon Crinkles::

Thank you Alanna for bringing these sunshiney morsels into my life. We used this recipe, but there are thousands out there.

Crinkled Molasses Ginger Cookies

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup vegetable shortening (or margarine)

1/4 cup light molasses

1 egg

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon salt

Granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350.  In large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, shortening, molasses and egg.

Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.

Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom & salt.

Beat at low speed until soft dough forms.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar.  

Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until set.

Cool completely before storing

Oatmeal Cranberry Flaxseed Cookies

My new favorite cookie recipe: click here

::Cinnamon Roll Cookies::

Found via Food & Drink Magazine

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

Cookie Dough:
2 cups plus 4 tsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cool but not cold, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp. whipping cream

Filling:
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

method

For the cookie dough, pulse all ingredients in a food processor until a rough, crumbly texture. Keep blending until dough shapes into a ball. Divide into 2 pieces, wrap and set aside while preparing the filling (do not refrigerate).

For the filling, stir all ingredients together.

On a lightly flour work surface, roll out one piece of dough into an 8x12-inch rectangle. Spread half of the filling evenly over rectangle. Roll up cookie dough in the style of cinnamon rolls, from the long side. Repeat with second piece of dough. Wrap each and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice cookie rolls into 1/4-inch slices and lay flat an inch apart on prepared sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes until cookies barely start to turn golden. Cool cookies completely on tray before removing.

::Oatmeal Cookies::Joy of Baking::

THESE HAVE A COFFEE SHOP TASTE. WHILE I GENERALLY PREFER A CRUNCHY COOKIE, I DEFINITELY HAVE COFFEE-SHOP-COOKIE MOODS. . .

RECIPE FOUND via Joy of Baking.com

::Jumbo Rainbow Cookies::

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups m&m's or smarties

1 cup chopped nuts {optional}

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking powder and baking soda in medium bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate and nuts. Roll 1/2 cups-worth of dough into balls and flatten. Dough is dry, but do your best. 4-5 cookies should fit per baking sheet.

BAKE for 12 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

{Recipe via VeryBestBaking.com}

::Caramel Thumbprints::

THESE ARE A VARIATION ON A HOLIDAY CLASSIC. AFTER HAVING MADE THIS FANCY VERSION OF A THUMBPRINT COOKIE, I HAVE TO SAY I MISSED THE JAM CENTERS. HOWEVER, THIS DOUGH WAS FAR BETTER THAN THE STANDARD DOUGH. SO, IN FUTURE, I WILL USE THIS DELICIOUSLY NUTTY DOUGH RECIPE, BUT WILL FILL THE COOKIES WITH JAM.

Found via *Country Living*

::Scottish Shortbread::

A CHRISTMAS CLASSIC GROWING UP, THESE TASTE LIKE THE REAL THING. SUBTLY SWEET. VERY BUTTERY. GREAT CRUNCH & CRUMBLE.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour, sifted
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

1. Put ingredients together. Shape into thick squares or use a small cookie cutter, on a floured surface. Poke each cookie with a fork. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-17 minutes.

NOTES:
~This is a very dry dough. I use a pizza cutter the get my squares, making them about 1/2" thick.
~Let cookie cool completely before storing or they will lose their crunch.

Maple Cookie Sandwiches with Lemon Butter Cream Filling

THESE ARE SOFT COOKIES THAT WOULD BE TASTY ALL ON THEIR OWN, BUT COMBINED WITH THE LEMON FILLING THEY TAKE ON A ZINGY FLAVOUR. GREAT WITH TEA.
{Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters}

Maple Cookies:
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
2 t maple extract (optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients until smooth. Combine all.
3. Chill batter until easy to work with. Roll batter into small balls and place them onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, allowing enough room on the cookie sheet for them to expand. Bake for 18 minutes.

{Makes 50 small cookies OR 25 cookie sandwiches}

Lemon Cream Filling
Ingredients:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/8 t salt
1/2 cup butter
3 t grated lemon zest
4 t lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add butter. Add zest and lemon juice until a cream forms.
2. Place 1 T of filling in between two cookies and enjoy.

NOTE: Fill the cookies just before serving and keep extra filling in the fridge.

Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies

THE THING THAT SEPARATES THESE FROM EVERY OTHER PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE IS THE CHUNKY FACTOR. WHOLE SALTED PEANUTS. BEING A BIG FAN OF A GOOD CRUNCH, THESE WERE A HIT WITH ME.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. Cream butter, sugars and peanut butter. Add egg. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.
3. Refrigerate dough if it needs to be firmed up. Roll into balls and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes.

{24 BIG COOKIES or 42 SMALL ONES}
from Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters

Brownie Cookies

THESE ARE EXACTLY WHAT THE NAME IMPLIES: A PERFECT FUSION OF COOKIE AND BROWNIE. CAN'T LOSE IN THIS EQUATION.

INGREDIENTS:
2 c. chocolate chips
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/4 c. butter
4 eggs
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 c. chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Set oven to 375 degrees
Melt 2 cups chocolate chips, 4 oz baker's chocolate and butter together in saucepan.
Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla until just combined. Stir together dry ingredients.
When chocolate is melted, stir in egg mixture.
Add dry ingredients.
Stir in last 2 cups chocolate chips. OR 1 cup chocolate chips with 1 cup pecans.
Scoop onto cookie sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. Timing is important here. This batter cannot really sit or you will not get the pretty crackly crust you see in the picture. If you only have one cookie sheet, you might want to halve the recipe so you can bake them all at the same time recipe. As for baking, do not overcook these. The edges should be set but they should be pretty soft in the middle when you take them out of the oven. They will set quite a bit upon cooling and you definitely do not want to miss out on biting into the perfect mix of crisp edge and squishy middle with melted chips.

{This recipe was found via Welcome to my Pantry}

NOTE: The batter is alarmingly runny. Just glob it onto the cookie sheet and it will be fine. However, I dumped an extra 1/4 cup of flour into my batter, along with a bunch of nuts, to make myself feel better and the cookies turned out beautifully anyways. It's up to you.

Hootycreeks

No, I have NO idea why they are called Hootycreeks. But it rolls off the tongue a bit better than "White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans and dried Cranberries."

Ingredients:
2 1/3 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 t baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter
2t vanilla
1 cup pecans
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips

1.Mix the wet. Mix the dry. Combine!
2. Form into balls. Don't bother flattening them. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

BAKER'S NOTES:
This is a dry recipe. The cookies stay nice and rounded that way. If you need more wetness, just melt a bit more butter and add it in. Also, these are great right out of the freezer. Refreshing, even. I just put them into a big Ziploc once they are cool, and we eat them one by one out of the bag.

Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.