Dad's Cookies

Now that 2012 is in the books, I wanted to go over all the cookies that comprised my Dad's Cookie of the Month Club membership.

In many ways, be it good or bad, I am a lot like my Dad.
I share his sense of humor.
I can thank him for the blonde hair!
And my Dad and I are super close
(Despite living 250miles away!)
Thank goodness for cell phones and the fact that he now texts!

The idea played out over the course of 10ish months:

Dec 26, 2010: I have no ide what to get Dad for Christmas next year. It's okay. I have a year to figure it out.

May 27, 2011: Dad likes to eat.

September 23, 2011 : Dad ALWAYS compliments my cookies and made 

not-so-subtle insinuations that he'd like to have MORE

(Dad's favorite food group is "Hot and Massive")

October 5, 2011: I got it.  I should create a "cookie club" where I send him homemade treats every month!

And that's where the idea came from. Dad's Cookie of the Month Club

Christmas 2011: Initiation into "the Club"

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

(These the cookies my dad BRAGS about. 

It was an obvious choice for the inaugurational month)

January 2012: Brown Butter Toffee

February 2012: Heart Shaped Thin Mints*

March 2012: Oreo Crunch*

April 2012: Carrot Cake Cookies

May: Birthday Cupcakes

June: Rocky Road Cookies

July: Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

August: Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies

September: Trail Mix Cookies

October: Black and White Cookies

November: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles 
and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

December: Hot Cocoa Cookies!

(cookies with the asterisk mean the recipe is coming soon!)

This adventure was well appreciated by Dad and, also, required a lot of time.  I wouldn't have done anything else but I did get him a gift for Christmas 2012. 

Black and White Cookies

These cookies were my Dad's October edition of his Cookie of the Month Club.

I think I've mentioned before that my Dad's Christmas gift (for 2011) was a batch of homemade cookies delivered once a month.  It's been fun for me because I get to try/create new recipes and he gets to try/enjoy my creations!

The month tends to have a theme and this them was Halloween.  Black and White translating to x-rays/skeletons.

I made a Halloween theme note (complete with word plays "boo-tiful, "spook-tacular" and, my favorite, de-"fright"ful) and tried my hardest to impress the man.

(I'll admit... this was a stretch and not my most creative.. oh well!)

Black and White Cookies

(makes 3 dozen)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*

In your mixer, combine butter and sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs until incorporated.  

In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa and baking soda.  In small batches (3 or 4) add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined.

Stir in white chocolate chips.

Drop onto lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to cooling rack and let cool for, at least, 20 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!

Trail Mix Cookies

This is the picture I posted as  "Guess the Mess" on Facebook...

These are also the September installment of my Dad's Christmas gift. 

I LOVE trail mix (regardless of if I'm on a trail or not)  and thought it'd be a good idea to make a trail mix cookie.

(Apparently these can also be "Monster Cookies" but I've also envisioned Monster cookies to be... HUGE... these are not oversized cookies... these are normal sized)

Trail Mix Cookies

(adapted from my Oatmeal Cherry and Chocolate Chip Cookies)

(makes 5 dozen cookies... 

maybe more if you can keep from taste testing the dough!)

1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)

1 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1  teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup rasins 

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup peanutbutter chips

1/2 cup crushed pretzels 

1/3 cup M&Ms

(for the mix-ins measurements were estimated)

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, rasins, chocolate chips, peanutbutter chips, M&M's and pretzels.

Set dough in fridge to chill for  after about 30 minutes, Preheat oven to 350(F) and form the dough into little balls and set on lined baking sheet.  

Bake for 8-10 minutes

When done, move to cooling rack, let cool for 30minutes.

ENJOY!!!!

Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love handwritten recipes.

I love going home to parent's house and seeing recipes in my grandmother's handwriting.  It always brings back memories of delicious dinners and family gatherings.

And it, of course, memories of my Grandma C in general!

But this recipe is my own handwriting. And I hope that when my children and grandchildren see it, they'll have fond memories of me!

Anyways,

I made these cookies for my dad's August cookie-of-the-month club.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, goes together like peanutbutter and chocolate.

PB Chocolate Chip Cookies 
(also commonly called PB C^2 Cookies)

(makes about 2 dozen... depending on how much dough is consumed)

1 C butter (softened)

1 1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 C peanut butter

1 1/2 C flour

12 oz chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. 

Combine butter and sugars and beat until creamy and smooth, add vanilla and eggs.  Gradually add flour and mix well. Stir in peanutbutter and mix for about 3minutes. Fold chocolate chips until combined.

Place by rounded spoonfuls on lined cookie sheet and bake for 14 minutes. 

ENJOY!!!

Rocky Road Cookies

I figure these are the perfect cookie for Father's Day!

What kid hasn't taken their parent down a rocky road, at some point? (the teenage years? Im looking at you!)  I like to think I never gave my "Papa Bear" too much trouble but I did have some GREAT older siblings to teach me what NOT to do (-or- how to do it BUT not get caught!) 

As I mentioned, last week, my Dad and I are really close and I love him VERY much... By the time he gets home from work- there should be a package of these babies waiting for him! (that was this weeks's "Guess that mess..." (huge kudos to Mrs Kolec for the name suggestions!!))

Rocky Road Cookies

 (from Two Peas and Their Pod)

(makes 5 dozen small cookies) 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 cup granulated sugar 

1 cup light brown sugar 

2 large eggs 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1 cup mini chocolate chips 

1 cup Mallow Bits

1 cup chopped almonds 

 Directions

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.

 With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Next, add in vanilla extract. Mix until blended.

Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix until flour disappears. Stir in chocolate chips, Mallow Bits, and chopped almonds. Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies for 8 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges, but still soft in the center. Don't over bake. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

 So make these for your dad... He probably deserves it! 

 ENJOY!!!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

 This is my Dad

(with my sisters- circa May 2010)

Dad and I talk almost every day and usually about food.  We also have an uncanny ability to spend the majority of our conversations in uncontrollable laughter.

 Last Christmas I struggled at what to get my dad and I realized (despite putting socks on his list) he'd probably like homemade cookies...every month. So for 2012, every month my dad gets a package of homemade treats. 

Except for May. 

That's his birthday month and the man deserves a cupcake! I made a Lemon Blueberry cupcake topped with a lemon cream cheese frosting.

 These cupcakes taste lighter than air and so deliciously summery. The refreshing lemon flavor and the sweet juicy blueberries all bring their best flavors for an irresistible treat! 

  

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting  

(slightly adapted from Annie's Eats)

 Makes 16 cupcakes 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

Zest of  1 lemon

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. lemon juice

½ cup plus 2 tbsp. milk, at room temperature

1 cup fresh blueberries

Frosting: 

8 oz. cream cheese

5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Zest of 1 large lemon

Additional fresh blueberries, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup all-purpose flour, the cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Fold in blueberries. 

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting 

Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Garnish with fresh blueberries.

 Enjoy!!!!

Carrot Cake Cookies!!

Was I the only one that noticed my first recipe on "That Girl Can Bake" was for CHICKEN?!?!

Time to remedy that...

You'll hear more about this story (I promise) but every month I bake and ship my dad homemade cookies and they usually have a theme/flavor (relating to the month) and a story.  This was his April cookie. 

 My dad loves carrot cake.  (My dad loves food: especially of the hot and massive variety!)  A few years ago, we (my mom, sisters and brother, and myself) ordered a carrot cake for his birthday and I snubbed it (I mean: carrots, yum. cake, yum. Carrots and cake? um, no) and I probably let everyone know I was snubbing it.  I can't remember how but somehow I ended up with a forkful and it was AMAZING.  So when I thought of an April idea I thought: hmmm, Easter. Bunny --> carrots... CARROT CAKE! 

My dad (more fondly called Papa Bear) ventured (along with my mom) to Chicago for Easter and I took the opportunity to NOT mail cookies but rather hand deliver.  He loved them. He (along with my roommates and brother) said they're the best cookie ever (this is big, my dad shared!)

For the love of carrots, make these  (and yes, Dad said, these do qualify as breakfast cookies: oats, raisins and cream cheese- that's breakfast!)

Cookies (slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup grated carrots
1 1/2 cups flour  (mixed with: 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt)
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.
Place oats in a bowl with 1/4 cup of water. Let soak until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Beat butter and sugars in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla, then carrots. Add flour and cinnamon until combined. Fold in oats.
Drop batter by tablespoon onto baking sheet. Baked for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.


Cream Cheese Frosting (from Food Network)

4 ounces butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.




Let cool completely before frosting.

Enjoy :-)