Cookie recipes...

[hellfire_angel]

Since I like to experiment with baking and all those sorts of things, I really need to remember a few recipes, but if any one wants to steal them go ahead. They are here for the stealing and I promise they're good. A few of these are from recipes that were in cook books or magazines that were added to or changed to create a different taste.

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Ingredients

Makes 40

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread oatmeal in an ungreased baking pan, and toast until it is lightly browned, about 11 minutes, shaking once. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter and nonfat dry milk. Stir in toasted oatmeal, and set aside.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in honey. Pour the butter mixture over the peanut-butter mixture, and stir until well combined. Allow to cool slightly.
4. Shape into about forty logs, each about 2 1/2 inches long. Place the logs onto a wire rack or a parchment-lined baking sheet, and set aside.
5. Place chocolate morsels in a small heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler, and set the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir occasionally until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer melted chocolate to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain round tip. Pipe chocolate onto the cookie logs. Chocolate can also be drizzled onto the logs inside of being piped. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to 1 week.

Oatmeal dried fruit cookies

Ingredients

Makes about 4 dozen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup dried currant
• 1/2 cup dried dates
• 1 whole granny smith apple
• 1 cup of any other dried fruit you want to add to the mixture 

Directions

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine butter with both sugars, and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, milk, and eggs, and mix well. Add flour mixture, and beat until everything is combined. Remove bowl from the electric mixer, and stir in oats and dried fruits. Peel skin off the apple remove the core then cut off thin pieces to add to the mixture, save at least 1/4 of the apple to place little bits on top of the dough when placed on baking sheets.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. Scoop out 1 tablespoons of dough, and shape into a ball; place on one of the prepared sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing balls 3 inches apart. Press down to flatten into 1 to 2-inch diameters and place some pieces of apple to the top of it.
3. Transfer to the oven, and bake until golden but still soft in center, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans between oven shelves halfway through baking. Remove from oven, and place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool completely. Do not remove cookies from parchment paper, cut the paper apart and when cooled completely place the cookies while still on the paper into an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week

Lime Meltaways

Ingredients

Makes about 10 dozen

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• Grated zest of 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups , plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
5. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks
   

Broccoli Calzones

Prep: 1 hour Total: 1 hour 30 minutes

These turnovers make a great weeknight dinner. Just pop them straight from the freezer into the oven, and serve with your favorite tomato sauce.

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 (10 ounces each) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• Flour, for rolling dough
• 2 (1 pound each) balls fresh or frozen pizza dough, thawed if frozen
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded (6 ounces) part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Prepared tomato sauce, (optional)
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onion; cook until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add broccoli, garlic, and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl; set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees;. Form calzones: Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, stretch each piece out, first to a 3-by-4-inch oval, then stretch again, this time to a 6-by-8-inch oval. (Let dough rest a few minutes if too elastic to work with.)
3. Stir cheeses into cooled broccoli mixture; season generously with salt and pepper. Assemble calzones: Spread a rounded 1/2 cup broccoli mixture over half of each piece of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border; fold over to form a half-moon. Press edges to seal. With a paring knife, cut 2 slits in the top of each calzone.
4. Using a wide metal spatula with a thin blade, transfer calzones to 2 baking sheets lined with parchment or waxed paper; reshape if needed.
5. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Serve with tomato sauce or fresh pesto, if desired.
   

Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake

The dark-chocolate cake at the base is baked in ramekins. Two layers of plush, pillowy mousse -- bittersweet and milk chocolates -- are piped on top and capped with semisweet chocolate curls. Chill and serve as just the right sweet for your sweet.
Ingredients

Makes 8

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Individual Chocolate Mousse
• 2 ounces solid semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place eight 6-ounce (3 1/2-inch diameter) ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet, and coat with cooking spray; set aside.
2. Stir flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add egg, milk, oil, vanilla, and 1/4 cup water; mix on medium-low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes.
3. Divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Run a knife around sides of cakes; unmold. Cakes can be refrigerated, wrapped in plastic, up to 1 day.
4. Trim each cake to 1 inch high. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut eight 10 3/4-by-4-inch strips of parchment paper. Wrap a parchment collar around base of each cake, keeping bottom flush with baking sheet. Secure each collar with tape; set aside.
5. Transfer bittersweet-chocolate mousse to a large pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (such as Ateco #808). Pipe a 1-inch layer of mousse into each parchment collar. Refrigerate until mousse is set, about 20 minutes. Repeat with milk chocolate mousse, piping on top of the bittersweet chocolate mousse. Refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
6. Microwave semisweet chocolate until slightly warm but not melted, about 30 seconds. Scrape at a 45-degree angle with a vegetable peeler, forming curls. Before serving cakes, remove parchment collars, and garnish with chocolate curls.