cookies | Good Dinner Mrs Mellen

Category: cookies
- Sandies
  
  Posted at 12:23 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 18th
  My love of baking started when I helped my Mother bake cookies at Christmas time. Since then I’ve never stopped baking cookies for Christmas. Baking isn’t very hard and I am always amazed when I hear people say I don’t like to bake. What’s not to like, sugar, butter, chocolate, all those wonderful ingredients in one place. Baking is very precise, you need to measure the correct amount of ingredients and follow the recipe especially if you’re a beginner. Once you get some experience with baking you can add your personality. Christmas cookies make wonderful personal gifts to share with family and friends. And so many beautiful boxes, bags, tins can be used as containers for your cookies gifts.
  
  A few tips that will help novice bakers. Read all the recipe through before you start and assemble everything that you need. Do any preparation before you start, if the recipe calls for chopped nuts, chop and set aside, eggs separated, same thing. This will make the flow of baking so much easier. Only use unsalted butter. I love Cabot, it’s made in Vermont by the cheddar people, I’m not sure if this butter is available outside of New England. The first time you try a recipe always bake for less time than the recipe calls for and then add additional minutes if needed. Unless your oven is calibrated perfectly and even then, ovens do bake differently. Nothing is worse than over baked cookies, cakes etc. Dry is not good!
  
  At Christmas I just start baking cookies and stop when I don’t have any more time left. I have so many recipes and cookie cookbooks and I keep buying more, I just can’t help myself. I try out one or two new cookies each year to see if I can find another favorite for my holiday tradition. The two recipes that I have included below are some of the first cookies that I make with my mother. These cookies are very basic and easy to make. Out of tradition I make them every year and I want to share them with you.
  
  Sandies – These are wonderful cookies to make a few weeks ahead of time because they keep very well.
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  2 teaspoons water
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 cup chopped pecans
  
  1 cup confectionery sugar- for rolling cookies after baking
  
  Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and water. Add flour and mix well. Stir in pecans. Shape into small balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in 325 F over for 20 minutes. Remove. Cool slightly . Roll in confectionery sugar
  
  An easy way to do this is put sugar in plastic bag and add 3-4 cookies and gently shake around to coat cookies. Or you can put sugar in a bowl and roll around to coat.
  
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  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, easy, pecans
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
  
  Posted at 11:25 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 16th
  My love affair with making Christmas Cookies started when I was a little girl helping my mother bake cookies at Christmas. We made large quantities of my mother’s favorite recipes. To this day I have continued the tradition of baking, baking and more baking of delectable cookies. Today I made a favorite cookie of my children when they were little. Peanut Blossoms are a fun cookie topped with a chocolate kiss. Who does love a peanut butter cookie with a chocolate kiss in the center. I love the taste of peanut butter meeting chocolate. I’ve tried different versions of this cookie but always return to the Hershey’s original recipe that I made so long ago.
  
  1 3/4 cups flour
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  1/2 cup brown sugar
  
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
  
  1/2 cup peanut butter
  
  2 tablespoons milk
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  1 egg
  
  48 chocolate kisses, unwrapped
  
  Pre heat oven to 325 F. In large bowl mix beat shortening and peanut butter. Add sugars mixing until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat flour mixture into peanut butter until all the ingredients until combined and dough forms. Shape a teaspoonful of dough into balls. Roll balls in additional sugar(1/2 cup). Place on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove cookies from oven and immediately top each cookie with a kiss, pressing down so the cookie cracks slightly around edges of kiss. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet letting cool completely.
  
  Makes 48.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  buzxchomp.com
  
  gooddinnermrsmellen@blogspot.com
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  Posted in Baking, Baking, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, easy, Hershey Kisses, peanut butter
- Kolaches – Hungarian Christmas Cookies
  
  Posted at 1:00 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 1st
  Kolaches, Hungarian Christmas Cookies take me back to Christmas of my childhood where my mother would spend days baking Christmas cookies, filling our home with perfectly delightful smells. I would come home from school being greeted by my mother and the aroma of cookies baking in the oven. One of her favorite cookie to bake was Kolaches: a recipe that was pasted down to her by a Hungarian neighbor when she was growing up. Like my mother these flakey pastry cookies become one of my favorites that I still make today for my family and friends!
  
  Enjoy!
  
  Kolaches – Hungarian Christmas Cookies
  
  Ingredients
  
  For the Pastry:
  
  2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
  
  ½ teaspoon salt
  
  8 oz cream cheese
  
  1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  
  ½ cup powered sugar for rolling
  
  1 can Solo Poppy Seed Cake and Pastry Filling
  
  Instructions
  
  For the Pastry Dough:
  
  Sift flour and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.Beat the cream cheese and butter together with a stand mixer or a hand mixer until completely incorporated and creamy (3-5 minutes).
  
  Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add in the flour. I used 5 additions and completely mixed in the flour each time. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
  
  Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and flatten each to ¾” thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until hard, at least 2 hours.
  
  Assembling the Kolaches:
  
  Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Move the oven rack one setting higher than the center.
  
  Take one of the disks of dough from the refrigerator and lightly flour both sides. Spread powered sugar on your pastry board or work surface. Place the dough on top and roll out pastry to 1/16” to 1/8” thick.
  
  With a pastry wheel or sharp knife, trim the dough into a square and then cut the square into 16 smaller squares.Place a dollop of filling into the center of each square. I used ½ teaspoon to ¾ teaspoon for each.
  
  Gently grab two opposite corners and fold one over the other, gently pressing down to try and seal them together. Gently move it to a parchment covered baking sheet. Repeat with all remaining squares, placing the kolaches no closer than 1” apart.
  
  Sprinkle the middles of the kolaches with just a touch of granulated sugar.
  
  Bake 12-14 minutes or until the bottom edges are a golden and you can smell them. Let cool slightly on the pan on a wire rack and then move them gently to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all remaining dough. Refrigerate and re-roll your scraps.
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  Posted in Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, Food | Tagged Hungarian Christmas cookies, Kolaches, Poppy seed, Solo filling
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars
  
  Posted at 12:07 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Mar 5th
  Who doesn’t love caramel and chocolate. These bars have both and are very easy to make. Cookies generally require time although worth all the effort to make homemade cookies. If you love cookies but thought you didn’t have the patients or time to make try a bar cookie. So easy to make without having to roll out or decorate. And so delicious, need I say more. Once you master the bar cookie you will always find time to whip up a batch.
  
  Ingredients
  
  1 cup butter, soften Cabot Butter
  
  2 cups packed brown sugar
  
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  
  2 eggs
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  
  3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats, Quaker Oats
  
  1 14-oz package vanilla caramels, unwrapped, I use Kraft
  
  1 14 ounce can (1 1/4 cups) sweetened condensed milk or low-fat sweetened condensed milk , Eagle Brand my favorite
  
  1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces, Ghiraredlli Chocolate the best
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  1 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or fine sea salt
  Directions
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the butter. In a large mixing bowl beat the remaining butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in the rolled oats.
  
  For filling, in a medium saucepan combine the reserved 2 tablespoons butter, caramels and sweetened condensed milk. Cook over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.
  
  Press two-thirds (about 3-1/3 cups) of the rolled oats mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15X10X1-inch baking pan. Spread caramel filling evenly over the oats mixture. Sprinkle chocolate chips.Dot remaining rolled oats mixture on filling.
  
  Bake for about 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Cool pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 60 bars.
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  Posted in Baking, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Easy recipes, Food | Tagged bar cookies, caramel, chocolate, Cookies
- Red Velvet Kiss Cookies
  
  Posted at 11:48 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 19th
  I love Red Velvet cakes, cupcakes, and cheese cake, anything red velvet. So I said why not take one make these delicious Red Velvet Cookies and top them with a Hershey’s kiss. My Red Velvet Kiss Cookies was born! So good, so festive for your holiday cookie tray. Did I mention easy too!
  
  1/2 cup butter, softened
  
  1/2 cup shortening
  
  1 cup sugar
  
  1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, I like Ghirardelli
  
  2 teaspoons baking powder
  
  1 egg
  
  1 tablespoon milk
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  1 tablespoon red food coloring
  
  1 3/4 cup flour
  
  In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with a electric mixture on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, vanilla then red food coloring until combined. Stir in flour mixing until flour is all mixed in and batter is red. Chill for about 1 hours to make dough is easy to handle.
  
  Preheat over to 350. Shape dough into one inch balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges are firm.
  
  Immediately press a Kiss candy into the center of each cookie. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, cool.
  
  Store cookies between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container.
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  Posted in cookies, Dessert, Easy recipes, entertaining, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, Ghirardelli, Hershey, kiss cookies, Red velvet
- Sinfully Rich Chocolate Fudge Cookies
  
  Posted at 6:47 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Mar 1st
  ^{When it’s cold outside and the weather is tiring I always turn to chocolate. What could be better than baking these fudging cookies to enjoy warm right out of the oven, just melting in your mouth. Easy and delicious I loved to make these cookies with my children on snowy days so they could have a warm cookie after playing and sledding in the snow!}
  
  ^Ingredients
  
  ¹/₄ cup all purpose flour
  ¹/₄ teaspoon baking powder
  ¹/₄ teaspoon salt
  1 ¹/₂ cups Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips, for melting into the cookie dough
  2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  2 eggs
  ¹/₂ cup granulated sugar
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  ¹/₃ cup Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips for mixing into the prepared cookie dough
  
  Directions
  
  In a heatproof bowl over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Turn off the stove and let chocolate sit over warm water. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. In another bowl, mix together sugar and eggs, combine thoroughly with a whisk and slowly add the warm chocolate mixture. Stir to combine. Add vanilla extract and mix. Stir in flour mixture. Cool for a few minutes (if batter is warm, chocolate chips will melt). Stir in chocolate chips. Chill for 10-15 minutes.
  Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter and place on baking tray. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 7-8 minutes until the outside looks slightly cracked. Be very careful not to over bake cookies because they will continue to bake as they cool once removed from the oven. Cookies should be soft and gooey in the center.
  
  For a twist add one of the following: 3/4 cup toasted pecans or pistachios, 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger or 1/3 cup sweetened coconut
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Baking, cookies, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged chocolate, Cookies, fudge
- French Macarons a special Valentine’s Day treat for your Sweetheart!
  
  Posted at 9:54 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Feb 11th
  I’ve never met a holiday that I didn’t love to celebrate. Valentine’s day happens to be one of my favorites. I love decorating; pulling out all my dishes, plates, teacups pots and more. China, silver, and crystal which I collect and use all the time but especially lend a nice touch to Valentine’s Day.
  
  Today I baked up some treats to share with my family. I made French Macaron cookies and Red Velvet Heart cookies. Perfect to say Be My Valentine!
  
  These delectable little treats are worth the all the work. I also like to fill with other flavored filling to change it up!
  
  French Macrons with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
  
  Makes 24-30 shells or 12-15 macarons
  
  3 large egg whites, at room temperature for three hours
  
  1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
  
  2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  
  2 tablespoon sugar
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  Red food coloring
  
  Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
  
  1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a pencil draw 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch circle. (Depending on the size you want the macarons) Turn parchment paper over; set aside.
  
  2. Combine almonds and 1 tablespoon of the confectioners’ sugar pulsing until finely ground. (Do not over process.) Add remaining confectioners’ sugar and process until combined. Set aside.
  
  3. Using a mixer or medium-high speed beat egg whites until frothy. Gradually add sugar, beating at high speed until peaks form, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add vanilla extract and desired about of food coloring: mix well.
  
  4. Add almond mixture to egg whites, folding gently until well combined. Place batter into pastry bag fitted with medium tip. Pipe batter into drawn circles on prepared baking sheets. Tap baking sheets on counter 5-7 times to release air bubbles. Let sit at room temperature 45 minutes to 1 hour before baking.
  
  5 Preheat oven to 275F. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool cool completely on baking sheets until ready to fill.
  
  6. Place Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream in pastry bag fitted small round tip. Pipe mixture onto flat side of macaron, and top with another macaron, flat sides together, pushing gently down and twisting slightly so that filling will spread to edges. Repeat with remaining macarons and filling.
  
  Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
  
  3 egg whites, at room temperature
  
  3/4 cup sugar
  
  1 cup butter
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  
  1. In medium bowl combine egg whites and sugar. Using a mixture at medium speed, whisk together. Set pan over over pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until mixture registers 140 on a instant-read candy thermometer. Remove from heat and beat at high speed with whip attachment for 10 minutes. Meringue should be tripled in volume.
  
  2. Reduce mixture speed to low. Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, cookies, entertaining, Food | Tagged Macarons, Valentine Day
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