Cran-Pistachio Cookies

Original Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (1 lb 1.5 ounce) pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
• 1 box (4 serving size) pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup dry roasted salted pistachio nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• optional - green food coloring (I didn't add any but if you wanted them extra green you could)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl stir cookie mix, pudding, and flour. Add melted butter and eggs and stir until incorporated.
3. Add pistachios and cranberries and mix well.
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and slightly flatten with fingertips.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The only way you can ruin these cookies is to overbake them! If you bake them too long you will lose the soft texture and they won't be as green. They will not look done but take them out and let them sit on the pan for about 2 minutes. Trust me.
6. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Double Peanut Butter Cookies

sunspire.com (with alterations)

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time:10 min

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup unbleached white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 Stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup Natural Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup SunSpire™ Peanut Butter Baking Chips
• Opt. Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

Prepare 4 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven 350F.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the sugar and both butter’s together until smooth and light in color, beat in egg. Slowly add flour mixture, beating until smooth and just incorporated, Stir in morsels.
Drop dessert spoon full onto prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart and 6 per sheet. Bake for 9-10 mins or until lightly golden and remove from oven to cooling rack, leave cookies to cool slightly before removing cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Mint Buttercream Frosting

(AKA Brownie Cookies, as Rick calls them.)

8 ounces semisweet chocolate bars, chopped (Chocolate chips work great!)
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I always add 1/2 cup instead of 1/4)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mint Buttercream Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 or 2 drops green food coloring
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions:

Cookies: Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with wax paper. (This is important. If not done, the cookies are extremely difficult to remove after baking.)

Melt chopped semisweet chocolate bars in pan on low, stirring until melted and smooth. Set aside.

Stir together sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl. Add melted chocolate and mix well. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt till blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by level tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets about an inch apart. Bake 10 minutes until puffed and set. (The dough isn't as "thick" as traditional cookie dough. No worries, keep moving forward!)

Cool on baking sheets about 2 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. They will take on the appearance of brownies when you pull them out of the oven: a reflective top.

Frosting: Beat all ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Frost cookies.

Super tasty with out frosting. AMAZING with frosting!

Makes 24-30 cookies.

Candy Cane Cookies

Allrecipes.com

Ingredients 

1 cup margarine

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

1/2 cup peppermint candy canes, crushed

1/2 cup white sugar for decoration

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, white sugar and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extracts. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Cover or wrap dough and chill for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Divide dough into halves. Color one half red by mixing in the food color. Roll a small amount of each dough into a 2 inch long worm. Roll them together in a twisted rope and curve the end like a cane. Place onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. In a small bowl, mix together the crushed candy cane and remaining white sugar. Roll hot cookies in the sugar mixture.

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles
3 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 c butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
Plus 3 tbs cinnamon to roll dough in.

Mix all ingredients together well, will be sticky. Roll in to small balls and roll in cinnamon. Bake 350 10-12 minutes

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

1 cup mashed cooked carrots (about 4 medium)

¾ cup sugar

1 cup shortening (part margarine or butter, softened)

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup shredded or flaked coconut

½ recipe Orange Butter Frosting

Heat oven to 400°.  Mix carrots, sugar, shortening and eggs.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in coconut.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched, about 8 minutes.

Immediately remove from cookie sheet; cool.  Frost with Orange Butter Frosting.

About 5 dozen cookies

Orange Butter Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

About 2 tablespoons orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

Mix powdered sugar and margarine.  Stir in orange juice and peel; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.

The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

Wet

• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

• 1/2 stick butter (we use salted butter)

• 3/4 cup raw honey (pick up at your local health food store, substitute regular honey if that

is all you have)

• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I advise against using imitation vanilla)

• 1 egg

• 1 egg white

Dry

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 cup whole grain rolled oats (I do not use quick oats, so I roughly chop these oats in my

food processors before adding to other ingredients)

• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. fine sea salt

Finishing touches

• 12 oz. package of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• 1/2 cup chopped craisins (a.k.a. dried cranberries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Now just mix and bake them like a batch of normal chocolate chip

cookies. In a mixing bowl, combine all the wet ingredients (I partially soften the butter in the

microwave, just be careful not to melt it too much). Stir them together with a spoon. In a

separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Now carefully stir in the dry ingredients in with the

wet. Now stir in the finishing touches.

Place cookies on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 - 14 minutes (Betsy & I do 12 minutes),

depending on your oven and how well done you like your cookies. Enjoy fresh out of the oven,

or frozen then warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Alternate/additional finishing touches (add whatever you have a taste for here and substitute it

for the finishing touches above, here are some ideas for additional )

• 1/2 cup pureed banana (In our next batch we will use this in place of chopped craisins to

switch up the taste)• 1/2 cup shredded coconut• 1 cup Rice Krispies• 1/2 cup chopped raisins

**Remember…these cookies freeze well, can be eaten as a breakfast meal and are a great healthy treat for any time of day