How to become a CooKiE - MONSTER

Yogurt Cookies
From the recipe files of Bjorn and Kirsten Freeman-Benson

• 1/2 c margarine
• 11/2 c brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 1/2-3 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 c plain yogurt
• 12 oz chocolate chips (I always use much more)
• 1 c chopped nuts (I never use nuts)

1. Cream margarine.
2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
4. Add flour, soda, baking powder, salt alternately with yogurt,
5. beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
7. Bake 12 minutes at 350 F.

Almond Angel Cookies
Crisp, rich and heavenly holiday gems

• 3/4 cup toasted slivered almonds, cooled
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water

Gather dough into a ball and divide into 3 equal balls. Pat into 3, 1/2-inch-thick circles and refrigerate 30 minutes between sheets of wax paper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees 15 minutes before rolling out dough. Coat baking sheets with vegetable cooking spray. On lightly floured surface roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 2- to 3-inch angel shape or other cookie cutters. Place angels on baking sheets 1 inch apart. Bake in center of oven 10 to 12 minutes just until bottoms of cookies begin to turn golden. Let cool 5 minutes; remove to racks to cool completely.

In small bowl whisk powdered sugar with enough of the water to make a thin spreadable glaze. With a table knife or the back of a spoon cover each cookie with glaze. Arrange sliced or slivered almonds on wings, then return to rack; dry glaze completely, then decorate, if you wish, with colored icing in tubes and colored sprinkles. Allow to dry, then carefully place on tray in a single layer and cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap; store up to 2 days. Or freeze and bring to room temperature before serving.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on size of cutter

* To toast almonds, spread in an ungreased baking pan. Place in 350-degree oven and bake 5 to 10 minutes or until almonds are light golden brown; stir once or twice to ensure even browning. Note that almonds will continue to brown slightly after removing from oven.

Molasses Cookies

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup melted shortening
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup hot water, dissolve in 2 tsp soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tblsp vanilla
• a little ginger
• flour, about 5 cups

Chocolate Chip Cookies
We think its the best Chocolate Chip Cookie on the planet!

• 5 sticks butter (1 stick = 1/4 lb)
• 1 pinch salt
• 2-1/2 cups brown sugar
• 6 cups flour
• 2 egg
• 20 oz chocolate chunks
• dash vanilla
• 1/2 tb baking soda

Also, use bread flour rather than all purpose flour and make sure you have light brown sugar.
Method: In a large bowl, and with only your hands, combine the butter, salt and brown sugar. Add in Flour, also by hand. Add Eggs, combine by hand (yes, this is very messy, but you really should do it with your hands) Throw in the Vanilla and baking soda. Finally, add the Chocolate.

Roll the batter into one inch diameter balls, you should get about 40 cookies out of this recipe. Now, go wash your hands!! Place the cookies on a cookie sheet, and refrigerate overnight.

Baking:
So, you've managed to wait till now, and haven't eaten any raw cookie dough, right? Pre - heat your oven to 325. While your oven is warming up, take out some (or all, if your really hungy!) of the cookies and allow them to sit at room temperature for the fifteen or so minutes it will take your oven to get to 325. Then, simply pop them in for fourteen minutes, take 'em out, let them cool off, and get fat!!! Enjoy!! (thanks to Joel Sense for converting my original weights to dry measures)

Tom's Mmmm-good Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 stick Crisco-bar or 2 sticks butter (16 tablespoons total)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1.5 cups brown sugar (may substitute white sugar)
• a couple glops of honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• a gurgle of vanilla (2 tablespoons if you're picky)
• a hefty sprinkling of cinammon
• optional nuts (I like walnuts)
• a bunch of chocolate chips (half a bag? -- don't feel compelled to use
• as much as they suggest on the package -- they're just trying to sell chips)
• 2.5 or so cups of flour

Melt Crisco in a large bowl. Add in everything but the flour (but don't add the chocolate chips in while the Crisco is still hot, or they'll melt). Mix. Add flour. Mix some more. Mixing may be accomplished with a contemporary wooden spoon or through the old-fashioned method of sticking your hands in and really working the dough (old method has the benefit of being able to lick your hands clean afterwards -- wash hands thoroughly). Add extra flour until a few chocolate chips don't quite stick to the dough -- this will achieve the right consistency. Drop little clumps of dough onto baking sheet (don't use a spoon or else you won't be able to lick the dough off your fingers afterwards. don't roll them into balls or else they won't have that homemade awkwardness of shape).

Bake 9-10 minutes at 375 degrees F. Don't overcook -- Tom's cookies should come out slightly undercooked for that delicious chewy texture.

Tom's Crazy-good Apple Cookies
My favorite cookie recipe

• an apple (or just half an apple if a whole one looks like too much -- I use green apples)
• 1 stick Crisco-bar or 2 sticks butter (16 tablespoons total)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1.5 cups brown sugar (may substitute white sugar)
• a couple glops of honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• a gurgle of vanilla (2 tablespoons if you're picky, but more is good)
• lots and lots of cinammon (add until the dough is a rich light-brown color)
• optional nuts (I like walnuts)
• 2.5 or so cups of flour

Exotic Apple-Cookie Pie
A great holiday idea!
Follow Apple Cookie Recipe as above. Also need a standard graham-cracker pie crust. Available pre-made at the grocery store.

After mixing all ingredients, press dough into graham-cracker pie crust, about 1-2 cm deep (don't make it too deep or it won't cook evenly). Extra dough can be used to make cookies. Bake 20 or so minutes at 375 degrees F. I don't actually know how long it takes to cook -- test it periodically with a toothpick in the center -- baking is done when toothpick comes out clean. Slice and serve like any other pie.

As with any cookies, this keeps best if you keep it covered. In fact, I usually find that it's even more consistently moist and chewy after being covered for a few hours.

Share your stories of burnt pie crust and gooey inconsistent cooking with Tom.

Peanut-butter Bread
it's better than you might think

Note: this is a bread-machine recipe. I don't actually know how to make bread by hand. I imagine you can just use standard hand-made technique, but you may have to modify the recipe somewhat for hand-kneading because it's a bit STICKY. I'd suggest substituting a third cup peanut meal for one of the scoops of peanut butter.

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter, melted
• 2 heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter (2 tablespoons if you're picky, but more is good). I like to use chunky.
• 1 cup or so flour (preferably the stuff labelled for bread-making)
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup peanut meal (peanuts ground to a powder)
• 2 tablespoons or so brown sugar
• a glop of maple syrup (or try molasses)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1.5-2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Note: Bread machines vary. Mine is a Sunbeam Hot&Fresh Bread Maker. It makes a reasonably small loaf -- a standard white bread recipe takes 2 cups of flour -- scale the recipe for your breadmaker appropriately.

Banana chocolate-chip bread
Wow, this stuff is great!

Note: This is a bread-machine recipe. My bread machine makes small loaves that require about 2 cups of flour. If your bread machine typically requires more flour, then scale the amounts of the ingredients appropriately. Also note: This is not the thick sweet banana bread you're probably accustomed to eating at holiday time. This is more of a banana-flavored bread, though it is reasonably sweet and a little thicker than ordinary bread.

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 medium-sized banana, smushed
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter, melted
• 1 egg white -- I usually use "Egg Beaters" which are just egg white in
• a carton (it's pretty convenient)
• 1 cup or so white flour (the stuff labelled for bread-making, which is high in gluten, or else add a tablespoon of gluten flour to normal white flour)
• 1 cup oat flour (or just add another cup of white, but I love the oat
• flavor -- rice flour is also tasty)
• 2 tablespoons or so brown sugar
• a glop of maple syrup (optional, or add honey)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1.5-2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• a handful of chocolate chips

Wild Banana-Nut and Banana-Coconut Cookies

2.5 or so cups of flour Melt Crisco in a large bowl. Smush a banana into it. Add in everything else but the flour. Add nuts for a banana-nut cookie. Or add coconut for the banana-coconut version (very exciting!). Mix. Add flour. Mix some more. Add extra flour until the mixture is reasonably firm (doesn't stick very much to your fingers). If you added much honey, it helps to chill the dough briefly -- otherwise the cookies melt and make big flat cookies (though they still taste good). Drop little clumps of dough onto baking sheet. Bake 9-10 minutes at 375 degrees F. Don't overcook -- Tom's cookies should come out slightly undercooked for that delicious chewy texture. If you pull them out a little undercooked, you can let them cook just a little more after you pull them out of the oven as they're cooling off on the cookie sheet.

I'm getting hungry just typing this in.

Carol's Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans, divided
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 9 ounce package chewy caramels in milk chocolate*

Directions
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugars, beating well. Add eggs, beating well.

Combine flour, cocoa, and soda; add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in vanilla and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Cover cookie dough and refrigerate one hour.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar; set aside. Gently press 1 tablespoon cookie dough around each candy, forming a ball. Dip one side of cookie in pecan mixture. Place, pecan side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for eight minutes, (Cookies will look soft,) Let cool one minute on cookie sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool.

* I use plain Eagle Brand caramels, cut into quarters, without milk chocolate.

Double-Rich Chocolate Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat: 350 In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside. In a large bowl blend sugars with an electric mixer at medium speed. Add butter and beat to form a grainy paste. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add eggs and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and cocolate chips, and blend at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 21-23 minutes. Immediatly transfer cookies to cool surface.

Nieman Marcus Cookies

• 2 cups butter
• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp. soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 cups blended oatmeal**
• 24 oz chocolate chips
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 8 oz Hershey Bar (grated)
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix toghether with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts.

Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies. **Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder

Cathedral Window Cookies

• 12 oz. chocolate chips
• 2 cubes margarine
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 lb. powdered sugar
• 1 C chopped walnuts
• 1 lb. small colored marshmallows

Directions
Melt chips and margarine, cool slightly. Add eggs and vanilla, cool more. Stir in sugar and wisk out the lumps. Add nuts and marshmallows. Divide into fourths. place on aluminum foil that was sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll into logs and refrigerate. Slice into cookies and eat. I could not find colored marshmallows at Harris Teeter, Fresh Market and Wellspring. The cookies look more like a stained glass window if colored marshmallows are used.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

• 1/2 c margarine
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 c whole wheat flour

Cream together the margarine and peanut butter. Add white and brown sugar. Stir in egg, vanilla and baking soda. Place dough, a teaspoon at a time, onto cookie sheet, pressing each dab flat with a floured fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool a minute or two before removing from cookie sheet.

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