Trail Mix Cookies

To kick off my challenge of blogging every day for the month, which equals 31 posts in 31 days, I have a great cookie recipe to share. If you want to know more about
NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month just click the link. It is very interesting and I have heard it is quite the challenge, but I am up for it. Look for something new every day this month. Now for the cookies...

The other week my family wanted me to make cookies. I thought to myself ok no problem... well, big problem; they did not want my normal chocolate chip cookies, they wanted something different. I stood there dumbfounded and wondered, "how could they NOT want chocolate chip??" I was definitely puzzled. So, I looked through the cupboards for ingredients and through my recipes for some type of cookie. I found my grandmother's oatmeal cookie recipe and in my cupboards I had cereal (Post Trail Mix Cereal, Vanilla Cranberry to be exact), chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, dried cranberries, couple different kinds of nuts, and then the usual cookie baking stuff that I always have. I do not buy cookies at the store, I always make them. It is more economical than buying store made cookies and they taste better. So again, I thought to myself.."what should I make?" and then it came to me reading the box of cereal.. Trail Mix Cookies! What a brainstorm, I could modify my grandmother's recipe to make it happen, which is exactly what I did. Take a look. (again pretend this picture is not fuzzy since I need a new camera and just look at all the goodness in that cookie, yummy!)



They were very good, except that they get crispy after they cool off but, if you like crispy cookies than these are good. Here is the recipe:

Trail Mix Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened (I recommend using butter)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups Trail Mix Crunch Cereal (any kind will do, I used the Vanilla Cranberry since that is what I had on hand at the time)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans since I had the most of those)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup cinnamon chips (Hershey has a new cinnamon chip and it is very good)
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter or margarine, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs. Mix well. Add half the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Then add remaining flour and mix well. Mix in the cereal, cinnamon chips, chocolate chips, nuts, and cranberries. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet (I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets) and bake 11-13 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes to set (they may look soft when you take them out), transfer to wire racks. Enjoy!

Notes:
- This might be a good cookie recipe to add some M&Ms to for another trail mix effect.
- You can add oats in place of Trail Mix Cereal
- Any type of dried fruit or raisins can be substituted for cranberries and that will probably be good, just different flavors.

Basically, you just have to mess with this recipe to get the taste you want, or you can make it different every time for a change of flavors. Just depends on what you want to add to it. White chocolate chips or peanut butter chips would probably be good too. I just used what was already in my kitchen. The kids loved these cookies!

Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

This is the cookie that I made for a treat at my daughter's orchestra concert last week. They were a hit, we did not have any leftover to take home. Good thing I saved a few out before the concert. These are Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, and it is an adaptation of a recipe I found on the Baker's Chocolate Website. There is a wealth of information on the packages of products in the pantry. When I am choosing things to make or bake, I check the package to see if they have a website, and then check current recipes. Sometimes I find something I can make with ingredients on hand, and then throw my own twist on that recipe. As in with this recipe, instead of the nuts I added dried cranberries. They were fudgy, chewy, and yummy!!



Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
(an adaptation to Baker's Chocolate for the Double-Chocolate Chunk Cookies; my variations are at the bottom after the recipe; this is the recipe from the website, they also have a lot more great recipes)

1 pkg (12 oz) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate chunks, divided
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Microwave one cup of the chocolate chunks in microwaveable bowl on high 2 min or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir chocolate until completely melted; set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt until well blended; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in remaining chocolate chunks and the walnuts. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 10 minutes or until chocolate cookies are puffed and feel set to the touch. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

Cre8tive's Variation on this recipe:
- I used one 12 oz package of dried cranberries in place of the nuts
- I used 1 box of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate squares (since that is what I had on hand) and chopped 4 squares for the chunks in the cookies and 4 squares to melt, it turned out wonderful.
- Then I followed the instructions just like it says on the recipe.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

These are by far the best sugar cookie on the planet. They get crispy in the oven but yet stay soft and yummy after they are baked. (but then again, I like my cookies soft). They hold up really well when frosting for holidays, yet they also make great crusts for tartlets, fruit pizza, and anything else where you need a cookie crust. They are great by themselves with a cup of coffee, or decked out with frosting for holiday cookies. This is the cookie recipe I use for all my cut out cookies, with the latest time was making cookies for my daughter's Valentine's party at her school, she said they were a hit. No wonder, they are the best sugar cookie on the planet! Pictured below will be the same sugar cookie recipe used for our Christmas cookies we made and decorated. They were beautiful, only because my daughters decorated them.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine
6 oz cream cheese
4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Beat margarine or butter and cream cheese until smooth with electric mixer for about 30 seconds. Add about half the flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat till thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

Divide the chilled dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet (I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper, it works really well)

Bake in 375 oven for about 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool cookies on wire rack.

Variation:
Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies: Prepare as above, except add 2 squares semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled, with the first half of the flour.

Here pictured is our Christmas cookies made with this sugar cookie dough, aren't they pretty? I think they are, the girls did a great job decorating them.

Cocoa Kiss Cookies

Cocoa Kiss Cookies are another recipe that I love to make since I am an avid chocolate lover. This also comes from New Hampshire from an inn called The Darby Field Inn. It is a super simple cookie recipe that is great for gift giving (although these do not ship well either,but make great gifts packaged in decorative tins and given to friends and family locally. My family loves these as well and they were received well also when I brought them to work in one of my treat trays. I work in a happy place and like everyone who works there to be happy also during this time of year. The Hershey kiss on the top of each cookie remains soft after the cookie has cooled so it gives a great burst of chocolate when you bite into this cookie. Truly a chocolate lover's cookie!



Cocoa Kiss Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks)of butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (if desired)
1 package (9 oz) Hershey Kisses, unwrapped
Powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Mix flour, cocoa, and salt in a small bowl. On low speed, beat into butter mixture. Add walnuts (if desired); beat until blended. Chill for 1 hour or until firm enough to handle. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into balls, 1 tablespoon of dough each. Press unwrapped kisses into centers of balls. Place on ungreased or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly on sheet on rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar. If desired, dust with sugar again before serving. Store in airtight container.

Notes:
- I do not use nuts in my cookies, my family isn't really all that hot on nuts in cookies. I find they taste better without the nuts, but feel free if you like nuts in your cookies.

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

This is a wonderful holiday cookie recipe that I have come to love over the years. The Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies come from New Hampshire from The Forest which is a quaint country inn located there. I got it from my magazine Holiday Cakes and Cookies by Family Circle from 1999. They are super simple to make and the recipe makes quite a bit of cookies. It is versatile in that you can use any berry jam, I really like the raspberry and one year I made it with cherry jam and it was very good too. With the almond glaze, this makes it a very decadent cookie for any occasion. My family loves them, I usually end up making at least 3-4 batches a year for Christmas cookies. I may have to make more this year since I took some to work and they were received very well by my fellow co-workers. This is not one of my Grandma's recipes but, it is just a good cookie to have around!



Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

2/3 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup raspberry jam

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
2-3 Tbsp water (or milk can be used for a richer glaze)

Beat sugar, butter, and almond extract in a large bowl until light and creamy. On low speed, beat in flour until dough forms. Cover and chill at least an hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. With thumb, make indentations in center of each dough ball. Fill each indentation with 1/4 tsp of jam. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on rack.

For the glaze whisk together powdered sugar and almond extract. Add water or milk until desired consistency is achieved whether you like a thin glaze or a thick frosting. Pipe on or drizzle on glaze on each cookie. Store in an airtight container.

Notes:
- Good cookie for gift giving but not for shipping. They are too fragile to make it in the mail but are great to put into a decorative tin to give gifts to friends and family locally.
- I make my glaze thick so that it pipes on good and stays on the cookie and a thicker glaze doesn't make the cookie soggy while it is stored. If you use a thinner glaze, plan on eating the cookies within about 3 days as they will absorb the moisture and become soggy the longer they sit.

Swedish Cocoons

Ok this is a recipe that my mom has made for us during the holidays ever since I can remember. I do not know how this got to be a traditional recipe, but in our family, these cookies are a must have during the holidays. My mom made them for me and my sisters and now I make them for my kids. My older sister always needs to have these cookies, so she calls mom and asks her to make some and send them to her since she has such a hectic work schedule with little time to bake them herself. Mom is always happy to do it for her, these cookies are that good! They are super simple and only require just a few ingredients but the burst with flavor. Here it is:

Swedish Cocoons

1 1/2 cups margarine or butter (butter makes these cookies taste much better)
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
3 cups finely chopped nuts (we use pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream margarine or butter with 1 cup of the powdered sugar until light; add vanilla. Blend in flour, add the nuts. Shape into cocoons (finger shaped pieces 1 1/2 inches long) Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Roll in remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Sandwich Cookies

Next time you make homemade cookies, here is a twist on just having plain old cookies. Sometimes when I bake cookies, my kids and husband want something more than just plain old cookies, so we make sandwich cookies. Some ideas are below of how you can make quite a few different types of sandwich cookies.

1. Frosting in the middle- The kiddos like vanilla frosting in between 2 chocolate chip cookies. Or you can use chocolate frosting between 2 peanut butter cookies.

2. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookies- make peanut butter cookies and put your favorite flavor jam or jelly in between 2 cookies. Or, make shortbread cookies and put peanut butter and jam in between cookies.

3. Peanut butter in the middle- I have found that when you make a good fudge cookie, put some peanut butter in the middle and it is like having a Reese Peanut Butter cup in a cookie.

Just some food for thought next time anyone wants a sweet treat for dessert. Similar to the ice cream sandwich idea. Enjoy! If you come up with any other type of sandwich cookie idea, please let me know by leaving a comment here.