Cookies | Mommie Cooks!

Family Friendly Fridays: Almond Orange Anytime Cookies

January 21, 2011 By Julie 23 Comments

There are a lot of great recipes roaming around; on the internet, in cookbooks, and on the shelves of home cooks and chefs just like you and me. Recipes that fill you up, make you smile, and leave you satisfied until you’re ready for your next meal. But once in great while, you stumble upon a recipe that is so good (so very very good), it reminds you of why you were put on this planet to eat. With every bite, you close your eyes just so you can focus better on the flavors. You relish every tantalizing bite, and you may even make a small groan or a swoon as you eat it. You take your time, not wanting the experience to end and when it does, you look around for a second round, not caring if you’re too full to actually eat it.

We have all had these experiences. I remember an incredible creme brulee french toast I had the privilege of eating last summer when my family took a vacation up at The Tyler Place in Vermont. I put my lips to that french toast and just about got up and started to do a happy dance right there in the dining room. We’re going back there this coming summer. I told my husband it was for the vacation, but it’s really for the french toast. It was just that good. I haven’t had an experience like that since. Until I made this recipe that is.

I don’t know what I did, or how I figured it out, but these cookies are TO DIE FOR. They are so good that I’ve been eating one with my coffee/tea at breakfast, one after eating my lunch, and one (ok maybe two) as a dessert after dinner. I just can’t stop myself. They’re moist, they’re chewy, they’re orange flavor, they’re almond flavor, they’re sweet. They’re sheer and utter heaven in a carb form. But don’t take my word for it. Cook a batch up and see for yourself.
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Family Friendly Fridays: Grandma Effie’s Molasses Kringles

November 5, 2010 By Julie 38 Comments

It’s Friday again which means time for Family Friendly Fridays! Feel free to join the link up at the bottom of the post. All are welcome from recipes to crafts to stories, so long as it’s family friendly.

One of the aspects I love most about food is how it can be so much more than just a way to lessen your hunger. It can be used to help us celebrate and to entertain. We can use food for gifts and as a way to tell people we love them. And we can use it as a way to preserve memories. I’m sure we all have at least one food that reminds us of our childhood, or brings back memories of a best friend, a family member, or a long lost love. These molasses cookies are that memory for me.

This recipe was handed down to me by mom who had it handed down to her by her mom. It may not be completely unique from other molasses cookies or a one of a kind never before seen idea, but for me, it’s a reminder of the wonderful woman my grandmother was to my brother and me when we were kids. The instant the aroma starts wafting from the oven, I am taken back to my grandma’s garden. I used to roam for hours through the flowers, taking in all the beautiful colors and smells; being sure to stop every so often to indulge in a juicy gooseberry or two from her fruit filled bushes. When I’d had my fill of the garden, I’d run inside and find a plate of these cookies, still warm from the oven, waiting for me.

The first bite was always the best and it still is. I miss my grandma on a daily basis, but making these cookies brings me back a memory of her and reminds me of what a wonderful presence she was in my life.
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Family Friendly Fridays: White Chocolate Cranberry Macadamia Nut Cookies

October 8, 2010 By Julie 38 Comments

Ok, so I know you’re probably wondering what the heck that vote request is that I’ve dropped on the top of today’s page for all to see. Remember my chicken and asparagus dish that I posted a month or two back? Well I took that tasty little dish and entered it into a contest for Pacific Foods and low and behold it advanced to the final round! And the prize, (are you ready for this?) is two days at culinary boot camp in Napa Valley California!!
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The Mommie Cooks Midterm and Some Re-Purposed Cookies

July 19, 2010 By Julie 24 Comments

Happy Monday to everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend. We definitely did. Our big event on Sunday was installing a new toilet in the boys bathroom (yes, we live wild lives over here). I can’t tell you how excited I am; this new toilet is supposed to be able to flush a bucket of golf balls which, with three boys, is definitely a good thing. Less clean up makes for a much happier mommy. It’s the small things, right?

Anyway, I’m coming up on the half year mark of blogging and I want to know how I’m doing! So I’ve put together a short little survey that I’m hoping at least one of you will open and take for me (pretty please!!) You can track it down here:

The Mommie Cooks Survey

I’ll have it up through Friday of this week. Thank you in advance for helping me to make Mommie Cooks a better blog!

Moving on to today’s recipe. Have you ever read a blog where someone re-purposed something and made it into something even better? Well, we’re about to do the same thing over here – Mommie Cooks style.

Remember the Homemade, Eat it by the Handful Granola I whipped up last month? Well, grab a handful, because we’re going to use it to make cookies today! But folks, that’s not all. Take another step back to the Pavlova daring cooks challenge last month. Do you have a vague recollection of the creme angelaise we drizzled over the top of our finished product? Sinful stuff, right? Well, we’re taking the leftover angelaise and, wait for it….. we’re running it through the ice cream maker. Are you seeing where I’m going with this? Alright, let’s go grab what we need to make these little beauties:
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The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. EVER.

April 13, 2010 By Julie 3 Comments

I know, I know, everyone says that about their chocolate chip cookies. But trust me, these really ARE the best. EVER. They’re oowey, gooey, chewey, delicious goodness. And the secret ingredient? Would you believe it’s Almond Flour? I don’t know what it is about it, but yummo is it good.

If you aren’t sure where to buy Almond Flour, check out your local health food store. I get mine at Trader Joes. If you check around and still can’t find it, you can always make your own. You just need to throw some almonds into a food processor in small batches and pulse them until you have meal. Don’t pulse too much though or you’ll get almond butter (which isn’t half bad either but that’s for another day)! Almond meal can be used in most sweets and replace up to half of the flour called for in a recipe.

So let’s bake some cookies! Here’s what you’ll need to curb your craving:

Ingredients Needed:

1 Cup Butter (2 Sticks), softened
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp Almond Extract
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp of Salt
1 Pkg Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
11/4 Cup White Flour
3/4 Cup Almond Meal

Cream your butter with the brown and white sugars. Add in your extracts; vanilla and almond, along with your egg and mix it in well. Next, slowly add in your flours; white and almond, salt and baking soda. Once your mixture is well combined, add the chocolate chips and stir in by hand. Now throw your cookie dough into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes just to give it a chance to cool down. This will help to keep your cookies from going too flat.

Place spoonfuls of the batter on an ungreased baking sheet and cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. I usually pull them out once I see the outer edge of the cookie brown. That makes for a soft, chewy cookie, which, in my opinion, is the only way to eat a chocolate chip cookie! I DARE you to eat just one!!