Magic Cookie Bars

This recipe was pulled from watching B. Dylan Hollis’s TikTok full of recipes. I am going off of a combination of what he said and my own experience.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, salted (I chose salted because there’s no other salt in this recipe)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about one sleeve of crackers- 9 sheets, crushed)
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup coconut flake (recommend unsweetened unless you really like sugar)
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans shown)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 if using a glass pan like shown). Place butter in pan and place in oven just until the butter melts. Remove from oven.

Into the hot pan w/ melted butter, spread each of the remaining ingredients in as even layers as you can. First the graham cracker crumbs, then the milk, the chocolate, the coconut, and finally the nuts.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for 27-30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely in pan. Cut with a sharp knife into bars.

The bars are sweet and slightly chewy. I didn’t taste the salt from the butter- if sodium is a concern, you could probably use unsalted.

Honey Spice Cookies

I developed this recipe at a time when my mom was avoiding refined sugars but still eating carbs. So, it’s all honey and whole wheat and nuts and spices. These cookies are best eaten the day after they’re baked- the spices need time to really perfume the whole cookie. Fresh from the oven, they’re kind of disappointing. Your patience will be rewarded, though!

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), softened
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 cups nuts (chopped walnuts or pecans, or slivered almonds- shown with almonds)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat the butter and honey together until fully combined. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the vanilla and beat in.

Combine all the dry ingredients. Add to the batter a third at a time. When fully mixed, add and fold in the nuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the edges are golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a closed container.

Goes very well with tea, coffee, and vanilla bean ice cream.

No Puff Roll Cookies

These cookies are intended for cutting into shapes. As such, there’s no leavening in them! What you cut is what you get. They’re best frosted. Ice them with royal icing, confectioner’s icing, or the stuff from a can.

Plain, they have a pie-dough like texture.

• 1 cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour (white whole wheat works!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• optional: 1/2 tsp lemon rind, 1 Tbs cinnamon, or 2 Tbs poppy seed

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until fully combined.

Stir together your flour, salt, and any seasonings. Add to the creamed mix. Beat until fully combined.

Chill 3-4 hours.

Roll out the desired thickness (about 1/4 inch is good) and cut into shapes. Recommend rolling on a piece of parchment or wax paper that’s been lightly greased, to avoid adding more flour. Reroll the “scraps” to cut more, until all the dough is used.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-11 minutes, until they just begin to brown at the edges.

Remove and cool entirely on a rack before frosting.

Chocolate Bear Cookies

Since I often make these for big gatherings and gifts, I usually end up doubling the batch. But even a single batch will make a couple dozen bears if you don’t make them too big. The original recipe wasn’t for Santa Bears- that’s an idea I had as a kid, and my family stuck with it.

These make very soft, rich little bites, almost like miniature cakes or brownies.

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs; blend well. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add dry mix to the creamed mix, blending thoroughly with each addition.

Chill until dough is firm enough to handle, a couple hours. May be safely kept overnight for a day (or even two) in the fridge.

For each bear, first make a body by rolling a 1 to 1 1/2 inch ball or oblong. Press lightly against an ungreased cookie sheet to flatten it some (leave room for the other parts of the bear). Roll a ball about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the body for the head. Place touching the top of the body and flatten to a matching height, so the edges will press together. Roll four smaller balls for the paws and the smallest for the ears (one or two, depending on if you’re making regular bears or Santa Bears). For a Santa hat, get a piece of dough slightly smaller than a head and shape into a rough triangle that’s a little taller than it is wide. Bend the top of the triangle a little and press the bottom against the side of the bear’s head (whichever side you didn’t put an ear).

Take the tiniest pinch of dough and roll it into an itty-bitty ball for the nose.

Use a toothpick to draw in the eyes and mouth.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 6-8 minutes (usually takes 8 for me). Cool at least a minute, then remove from the cookie sheet (carefully!) and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Decorate with frosting!

If you want to make a boar’s head, you’ll need a large ball, almost 2 inches across. Flatten on the sheet for the head. Make a smaller ball, about the size of a bear’s foot. Flatten that ON the bottom half of the head piece for the snout. Roll two balls for the ears, and pinch the tops into points before attaching and flattening. A pair of slivered almonds make excellent tusks on the sides of the snout. Add nostrils and eyes with a toothpick.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Aka Jampots, Aka “old lady cookies”. I thought I’d taken a picture of the finished cookies yesterday, but I hadn’t! So, a picture of the ones already packaged to be given away.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks (save the whites for meringue later)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 ounces (about) of assorted jam (full sugar- the low sugar ones won’t melt properly)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Mix in the flour and salt until fully combined.

Form dough into 1 inch balls and arrange on the baking sheet (I got 24 on a half sheet pan easily). Press in the center of the ball, flattening it and leaving a nice, deep hole.

Carefully spoon some jam into the depression.

Bake for 11-14 minutes, until the jam begins to melt and bubble and the cookies are golden brown at the edges. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool. Jam will be very soft until cooled, then will adhere to the cookies properly and only slightly sticky to the touch.

Double Peanut Butter Cookies

These are the BEST peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had. Worth all the effort (and it was a lot of effort)! That may, in part, be due to the peanut butter I used- Smucker’s Natural (the kind you have to stir), which is my favorite brand. So.. make sure you pick a good peanut butter for this recipe to get the best results!

This doesn’t make many cookies, but they’re HUGE when finished. I doubled the batch when I made mine so I would have enough to give away for Christmas. I used up a jar and a half of peanut butter!

• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 Tbs orange juice
• additional peanut butter

Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt), stir, and set aside. Beat together the butter and peanut butter. Add all the sugar (white and brown) and beat until fluffy. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the orange juice, beating until all is mixed well.

Shape into a 7 inch long roll (try to square the edges as much as you can). It will be pretty thick! Wrap in waxed paper, and chill thoroughly (overnight if you can).

Slice the chilled dough with a SHARP knife into 1/4 or 1/8 inch slices. Try to keep them even. Feel free to smooth the edges after cutting. If the dough begins to soften too much to slice easily, chill again until it firms back up.

Place half the slices on an ungreased cookie sheet. Add a spoonful of peanut butter to the center of each. Place another slice on top of each cookie. Use a fork to crimp the edges together.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. Cool for a minute or two on the sheet, then carefully remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Makes 18 to 24 very LARGE cookies. Seriously, they spread even beyond the big discs they are when you cut them. Eat with a big glass of milk handy!

Ultimate Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yes, ULTIMATE. If you want a recipe that highlights the flavor of some unusual chips (butterscotch, mint, etc), there are better ones. But if you’re just here for the CHOCOLATE, this is the right recipe. Have milk or ice cream at the ready.

• 4 c. (2 12 oz packages) of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, divided
• 2 2/3 c. flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated (white) sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan (use very low heat and stir often). Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and stir.

Cream butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together in large mixer bowl until it’s fluffy and light brown (kind of tan). Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition (don’t forget to scrape down the sides). Beat in melted chocolate. Gradually add and beat in flour mixture.

Gently stir in remaining chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees fo 8-9 minutes or until cookies are puffed. Let cool at least 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Everyday Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yes, I have TWO chocolate chocolate chip cookie recipes. My ULTIMATE recipe, which is like having a candy bar you can dip in milk, and my Everyday recipe, which is a little less work to make and goes well with all sorts of different chips. In honor of St Patrick’s day, I made this batch with Mint Chocolate M&M’s, which are all green.

• 2 1/4 c flour (as usual, I use white whole wheat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 c white sugar
• 1 c brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 c cocoa powder (I use the Special Dark cocoa)
• 2 c chips (chocolate, M&Ms, peanut butter, etc.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. In a second bowl, mix together butter and sugars, then add eggs, vanilla, and cocoa powder (in that order). You can speed this up greatly by using a mixer, or you can get a workout by using your arms and a thick wooden spoon.

Add flour mix to butter mix in 3-4 doses, stirring between until fully combined. Mix in chips.

Drop by (rounded) tablespoon full onto cookie sheets and bake for about 10 minutes, cool briefly on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling completely.  I like using parchment paper for this, just because it makes it easy to remove cookies from a hot pan.

OR, make bars by patting dough into a lightly greased 9 x 9 square pan, then bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

Meringue Cookies

Instead of flowers, I seem to have made a set of fancy ladies’ hats. Meringue cookies are crisp and very sweet. Also gluten and dairy free, if you’re stuck for an option. They’re not all that difficult with a modern mixer, but they can be messy to make!

Tip: Egg whites freeze with no drawbacks for making meringues. If you have some leftover because you needed yolks for a recipe, just save them in the freezer until you want to make these. Make sure they’re fully thawed before use.

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• optional food coloring
• optional chocolate chips (or other)

I recommend a stand mixer for this if you have it. A hand mixer will do. If you need to, you can even manage with a whisk and a strong arm, but you’ll be sore later. Use the whisk attachment on your mixer if you have one. It’ll go faster.

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Make sure the racks are set about 1/3 and 2/3 up.

Beat the egg whites (medium speed) until they’re frothy. Sprinkle in the cream of tartar. Turn up the speed and whip until they form soft peaks (the foam stands up but the tips fall over when you lift the beater/whisk). Sprinkle in the sugar, a heaping tablespoon at a time. Make sure each spoonful is fully incorporated before adding the next. You’ll get hard peaks and the meringue will look shiny before you’re done adding the sugar.

Add the vanilla and any food coloring, and whip in.

Get two large cookie sheets and cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Grease the paper/foil lightly (cooking spray or a lightly oiled paper towel).

You can add chips by stirring them in, or save them for decorating.

You can simply scoop up heaping spoonfuls of meringue and drop them onto the sheet, or you can place the meringue in a piping bag and pipe the meringue onto the sheet in fancy shapes. Be careful, as the meringue is VERY sticky, worse than icing. If you stir chips in, it won’t go through the nozzle of the piping bag, so keep that in mind if you want a specific shape.

Make sure you use all the meringue to fill the two cookie sheets. You can place the cookies pretty close together- they only puff a little bit when they bake.

Place both cookie sheets in the oven at the same time. Bake for 45 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside for another hour (don’t open the door).  End result? Crispy meringues that crunch when you bite into them.

Danger Cookies

This is a favorite cookie recipe. A heaping serving of ginger backs up some honest-to-goodness cayenne pepper to make them truly addictive, but only to people who enjoy hot stuff.

I try to label these appropriately, but these would make for excellent pranks if you’re the devious sort. In the past, I have made two batches at the same time, a half strength and a full strength batch. When I do, I dye the Demerara sugar for decorating the full strength batch a nice, deep red so I can tell them apart.

These have orange sugar on them because they’re for a Trunk or Treat for Halloween. Seasonal! And scary! But fun.

• 2 1/2 cups flour (any kind will do- I often use white whole wheat)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste- even the 1/2 will make you sweat if you’re not a daily consumer of spicy foods)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• about 1/2 a cup of Demerara sugar (also called “turbinado”; common brand is “Sugar in the Raw”) – this is crystal sugar that looks like brown sugar that’s been magnified. You may need more than 1/2 a cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and all spices. Stir to mix evenly, then set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in a mixer until it looks light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, and remember to scrape down the sides so it all gets mixed. Beat in the molasses.

Add the flour carefully, in batches. Go slowly- if you mix at high speeds, the flour full of ginger and cayenne will fly everywhere and get into everything nearby. When it’s all mixed together, give it a poke. If it’s sticky and hard to control, put the dough in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to chill and firm up. (This is more likely to be necessary in warm surroundings.)

The dough may be kept chilled overnight, by the way.

Roll the dough into one inch balls (use a melon baller or dessertspoon when scooping dough for better portion control). Roll each ball in the Demerara sugar to coat, then place on the cookie sheet. Space them an inch and a half to two inches apart.

You may use sterile gloves to protect your hands- get the disposable ones from the first aid section. The dough isn’t dangerous, but it IS warming. Might feel good if you have arthritis.

Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are firm. Cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then move to rack to cool completely. Makes 50-70 cookies, depending on how disciplined you are in your rolling sizes.

Let them cool completely before eating for the best effect, so the spices mingle properly. Even though they’re small, I don’t recommend eating a whole cookie in one bite unless you’ve built up a tolerance!

Make a batch to warm yourself up this winter!