Chocolate Refrigerator Cookie Update!

Tasting the cookies this morning, I am a bit more critical of the taste. The actual cookie probably does not have enough chocolate to stand alone without the extra icing. They are not very sweet, which is fine by me, but I would probably want a bit more chocolate taste to the basic cookie. I still think they are worth making. I gave a sample to Trish this morning and she concurred with this analysis. She did recommend them with tea!! Thanks for the input, Trish!

Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies

Refrigerator cookies are a two-step process. You make the dough one night, refrigerate it overnight and then slice and bake the cookies the next day. There are advantages to this type of cookie. You can make the dough for several kinds of cookies early and then bake them the day you want to serve them. One recipe makes quite a few cookies. They are not difficult to make but it did take some manipulation to get the dough into thin rolls (the best way was to put the dough in wax paper and then push it into a roll, otherwise your hands get very messy!). This recipe called for pressing chopped pecans into the rolls but I didn't press them hard enough which I found out tonight when I was slicing them to cook--many of the nuts fell off. Oh well, live and learn! I also will push the dough into a tighter roll as there were a few holes when they were sliced. OK, on to tasting! They were excellent and pretty! Light and with the tiny dollop of melted chocolate in the center, just the right degree of flavor. I did make a small deviation from the recipe in that it called for the chocolate for icing to be heated in a double boiler. However, I microwaved the chocolate to melt it as I felt that's what Betty would have done had microwaves been more commonly used when the book was published. This is a recipe to try!!

Coconut Apricot Strips

It's Sunday and the Sox lost but the Patriots won. Both games were early so I am baking cookies while watching the Colts/Cardinals game.....go Colts! This is the last of the bar cookie section and then I move on to refrigerator cookies which means that I have to make the dough one night and then bake them the next as they require overnight cooling. I love apricot and coconut so I was very happy to make these on a Sunday as the recipe noted to serve the same day they were made. This gave us the whole day to eat them! The first challenge was to find pineapple preserves. The recipe called for both apricot and pineapple but I could not find the pineapple anywhere....pineapple/mango, pineapple/guava, pineapple/lilikoi, but no pineapple alone. Finally found a combined pineapple/apricot at Safeway Manoa!!! How lucky is that!!!! I started the baking when I got home and followed the directions exactly. It required a three step process: crust, preserves layer, meringue layer. Not difficult but a bit more time consuming then previous recipes. The final baking with the meringue layer said to leave it until it was "golden brown",which I did , but the picture in the book had it looking white!! Go figure! So when all was done, they were good but not great. The flavor was definitely the preserves so it is very dependent upon the quality of jam used. Glad I made them but not again. Dream Bars and Butterscotch Brownies are the winners for this chapter!!!

Chocolate Fruit Bars

Bar cookies really are very easy. You cook them at one time, no putting trays in and out of the oven like other kinds of cookies. Also, the very warm, humid weather of Hawaii does not affect them as much. So far the dream bars and butterscotch brownies win this category but I was hoping these bars would give them some stiff competition. Again, easy to make just requiring a bit of easy chopping of nuts and cherries and then some fast mixing with the other ingredients. The result was more of a cake than a bar cookie but it was tasty. I think Dad like them more than me eating several even with a bad toothache! I am not putting them in the same category as the previously mentioned favorites. There is one more recipe in this section, apricot bars. I have great hopes for these as I LOVE apricot! Hopefully will have time to go to the store tomorrow and will make them while watching football games and the Red Sox/Yankees game. I hope they bring my Sox the luck they need to beat the Yankees!!! Night!

Lemon Squares

Even though we did another late case, I did not mess up this time!!!! this will be a short post as I am very tired but there is definitely a difference when the crust is cooked first. It is very light and flaky and the filling very tart and lemony. I again used fresh squeezed lemon juice and was happy that the squares were not too sweet...something I hate in commercial lemon squares. One suggestion: the recipe calls for the crust to be pushed into a 1/2 inch crust which was not quite enough. I would make it more of a 3/4" crust if I made it again as the filling was higher than the crust and it made the edge pieces hard to get out of the pan. OK, off to bed!!

A mistake!!

I was so excited about doing Lemon Bars, which I love, that I decided to forge ahead even though we got home very late from work and I was really tired. I even was so positive that one recipe ( 8X8 pan) would not be enough so I doubled the recipe. HOWEVER....... though I read the recipe many times, I didn't see the part about baking the crust first for 20 minutes before pouring in the filling and continuing to bake. While it was baking I recognized my mistake and just forged on to see how things turned out. The taste was ok but seemed a bit flimsy so I stuck it back in the oven for another 6 minutes and the crust firmed up nicely. Dad found them very tasty. I will give Trish a sample tomorrow and see what she says as she has declared herself to be a fellow lemon bar lover. As to why there is no picture, I will re-make them tomorrow following the recipe exactly and then post the picture. We are going to have lots of lemon bars!!!!!!!

Dream Bars

If you like coconut you will like this recipe! I do so I am putting it on my favorite list. The only suggestion I would make is to bake the crust layer a bit longer. The recipe called for 10 minutes but when I took it out to put the topping on, it was still a bit too mushy to easily spread the coconut/almond mixture. However, it did work out and looked fine and tasted fine so maybe it really didn't make any difference. One of the variation of the cookies is to add chocolate chips which would be really, really good. Next go-around!!!!!

Teen Time Chocolate Nut Bars

Aloha to Seth! As you may have noticed, the recipes for the previous 10 cookies have been posted in the previous offering. Bon Appetit!

I proceeded on to the next bar cookie recipe since they are fast and easy to make. These required an extra step of melting the butter,sugar and milk together before adding the dry ingredients but it was still very easy. However, the end result was a little dry. Guido thought they were fine but they were not even close to being a favorite.

Orange Drop and Butterscotch Brownies are my favorites so far. In fact, Alex told me tonight that the Grad Assistants at UH got the master key to get into his office to get the tupperware of brownies since they had heard they were so good! That is a great endorsement.

recipes for previous cookies

Date Bars

I have never baked with dates before and I am sure I will have to again during this challenge but they are really ugly to look at. However, once cooked into a soft filling, they were a mush like any other mush and very tasty. The final result was a moist, soft bar that would be good for a breakfast treat as well as a regular cookie. One suggestion......the recipe says to cut them while warm and remove from the pan. I followed the directions but they were hard to cut. I would wait a bit longer , until almost cool, before cutting and removing. I have one whole drawer in the freezer filled with cookies for our Christmas sampling!!!

butterscotch brownies

Happy Sunday! I did my baking earlier than usual ( defied the heat!) since I am starting bar cookies and don't have to worry about keeping the dough cool as with drop cookies. Also, wanted to watch the football games on TV and the Sox play on computer. I made a mistake following the recipe exactly ( the Patriots LOST!!!) and so had to make a second batch. I added the vanilla with the wet ingredients but the recipes calls for adding it after the flour mixture is added. I don't think it made much difference but I pledged to follow the recipes exactly. Also, it didn't make very many brownies ( only an 8X8 pan) and I have plenty of people to eat them now so no problem. They are very quick and easy to make. The bars are very similar to Punahou caramel cuts....just with nuts added. I need to check the caramel cuts recipe to see how similar it is. The taste test: excellent!!!! I will post this recipe and the orange drop recipe in a separate entry later on. If anyone wants another recipe just leave a note in the comments and I will post it.. So far, this is my second favorite recipe. Orange drop cookies still is the winner!

Jubilee Jumbles

The first time I have used sour cream in a recipe during this challenge. The recipe is very similar to the nut bread recipe. I think they have a similar taste just with a cookie texture. Again, they are good but the Orange Drop cookies still are my favorite. I recognize that the pictures are all beginning to look a like but now I move on to a new grouping: bar cookies! I also have new tasters in Bob and Trish in the office next door. Trish is an incredible runner so these will help with her carbo-loading. Small world, Trish and Cyndi both work with the same marathon training group at Kapiolani Park. I digress......sorry! Ok...love to you all....Maybe will start the bars tomorrow!

Molasses Jumbles---Yeah!!!!!

I have waited for these cookies since I love molasses anything. They were easy to make...no eggs required so if you know someone with an egg allergy, these are the cookies for them! It also has gotten to be a bit cooler so it was not too horrible baking them tonight. Now, about the taste of the cookies, you must love molasses to like them as the flavor is intense. There is a variation that has other spices but I made the original according to my rule of the challenge. It might be good to add a bit of ginger and nutmeg but I have more than 200 recipes to go before I can redo one. The cookies are really pretty....check out the picture! Orange drop are still my favorites!!

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

I decided to make the oatmeal cookies today so that I can get to the Molasses Jumbles sooner...I love molasses cookies!!!! I was a bit skeptical about the oatmeal cookies as we like the recipe that is on the Quaker box so well. I also thought that I had a full box of oatmeal when I started making the dough this morning. Unfortunately, I only had a small amount left and had to make a quick trip to Longs. Thank goodness for Longs! The other weird thing about this recipe is that you have to simmer the raisins in water for about 20 minutes and then use 1/2 cup of the drained water in the batter. The raisins were really moist in the final cookie and they were more tasty than just regular raisins. Over-all, however, the cookies were not as good as our usual recipe. Margie is here to help eat these cookies and so the next time I blog it will be the molasses jumbles...yeah!!!!!!!

Pineapple cookies with nuts, raisins and coconut

It's Sunday and that means time for more cookies!!!! I made the dough early this morning while it was cooler and then did lots of errands before returning late afternoon to bake them while watching the football game. The cookies have a very delicate flavor with a "cakey" texture. Its good that there is alot of stuff in them as the flavor is a little too delicate for me. Easy to make and nice in a selection of cookies but if they were the only thing you had on a deserted island, I think I would still like the orange drop cookies! Since Guido is in Peru I may make a few more recipes than usual this week.......you will have to check back to find out!!! Alooooooooooha!

brown sugar drop cookies with macadamia nuts

I decided to make another recipe of cookies as this is a holiday. I have made this recipe before and it can be a bit bland so I decided to make a variation of it using nuts. After seeing a few patients this morning, I ran to Longs and bought macadamia nuts for baking as they were on sale. I made the dough when we got home and then baked them tonight when it was cooler ( it was 91 degrees today!!!!) The cookies were easy to make and were good. I thought they tasted a bit like nutbread and probably would have tasted even more so if I had used walnuts or pecans. Margie and Dad really liked these, however. My favorite so far are the Orange Drops from yesterday. OK.... I am "cookied out" so you may not hear from me until next weekend!!!

Double Cookie Day!

Since I can not bake every day, I am not going to title these "day 1" etc so as to not confuse my readers. I will title them by recipe instead. I am going to try to bake 2 to 3 recipes a week...if our stomachs can handle it! So today is Sunday and tomorrow is a holiday so I decided to bake 2 kinds of cookies today: ORANGE DROP COOKIES AND CHOCOLATE NUT DROP COOKIES. I followed the recipes exactly and even squeezed my own orange juice to achieve the maximum flavor for the cookies. Both recipes were delicious! The chocolate drops were like little brownies and the orange drops were light in texture with a taste that reminded me of the icing of the Pillsbury breakfast rolls that you buy in the tubes and bake. The extra cookies were given to the Ahn's next door and to Alex downstairs. I am going to try to bake another batch of cookies tomorrow as it is a holiday (Labor Day) and I had to buy buttermilk for the chocolate drops and the next recipe also calls for it. I want to use it up before it goes bad! Ok....off to bed ....maybe will rise to bake another day!!! Just a quick note after looking at the pictures, the orange drop cookies are iced with orange butter icing. It's hard to see that in the picture!

Day 1-Applesauce cookies with lemon icing

I have actually started this challenge!!!! After making a trip to Times after work to get the supplies needed for the first few recipes, I came home and started to work. I bought new spices as the ones I had at home were old and I feel that its important to do this right.....only using butter and am following the recipe exactly. So, if it calls for raisins, I am using raisins. This means that some kids will not be happy when we do tasting at Xmas but so be it. So I have now finished night #1 and have declared this recipe to be delicious. They are good with or without the lemon icing. The recipe does make quite a few cookies so I saved some dough and will make some more tomorrow as I am tired ( it is 9:30 pm at this writing!). One thought on making these cookies.....keep them small and they don't need much icing! ok...now we are going to figure out how to put the picture on the blog...