Lucy's Sugar Topped Molasses Cookies

Most people grow up idolizing a band that they may never get to see perform live, let alone meet them in person. My favourite band of all time is The Barra MacNeils. Not only have I been lucky enough to see the Barra's live too many times to count, I also got to know them as friends too, and they are lovely people.

They are currently in the midst of a national Christmas tour that takes them right across Canada. Check their website for dates.

Lucy, the lone girl in the family, recently posted a video of her baking cookies with her daughters. I thought I'd give the cookies a try, as I am always on the lookout for new cookie recipes.

For the Cape Breton music fans out there, I previously did a post on Natalie Mac Master's mothers Oatcakes. All I need now is a recipe from someone in the Rankins and I'll be all set!

These are a soft, chewy, tasty cookie. Try them out. You won't be disappointed.

Lucy MacNeil's Sugar Topped Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

4 tbsp molasses

2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp basking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp ginger

Cream the shortening and sugar together until fluffy then add the egg.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and then add in batches  the the mixer bowl until incorporated.

Roll in small balls and dip half the ball into white sugar.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 - 12 minutes at 350.

Homemade Cookies and Cream Bars

"I like my dental hygienist, I think she is very pretty so before every appointment I eat an entire box of Oreo cookies. Sometimes they have to cancel all the rest of the appointments." - Comedian, Steven Wright

These taste just like the real thing. The best part is you only need 2 ingredients:

- 1 package of white chocolate chips

- 2 cups of chopped Oreos

In a double boiler, melt the white chocolate chips. To make a double boiler, simply put a glass bowl on top of a pot of simmering water. Make sure the glass bowl doesn't touch the simmering water. Stir the chips until they are meted.

You can also use a microwave. Just put the white chocolate chips in a glass bowl and heat them for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between until they are melted.

On a cutting board, roughly chop enough Oreo cookies until you have about 2 cups.

Add the chopped Oreo cookies into the bowl of melted chocolate. Stir well and spread the mixture on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or wax paper). It is very important that you line the cookie sheet or it will stick to the pan.

Once the mixture has firmed up, roughly chop it into bite size pieces.

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

The red velvet cup cake is quite possibly the most trendy item in a bakery these days. So if red velvet cup cakes are so good, why not red velvet cookies? 

I came across the idea for these cookies on the web. After trying several recipes with minimal success, I decided to try it on my own. I'm quite happy with results. 

Not only are these cookies delicious, they look great too. They literally jump off the plate because people aren't used to seeing red cookies. 

They are a perfect cookie to make over the holidays this year.

If you do make them, please leave a comment and let me know how they turned out. 

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Cup Shortening
1 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Red Food Colouring
1/4 Cup Cocoa
2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
1 Package White Chocolate Chips

- Cream together shortening and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla. Add the food colouring and mix well. Next add the cocoa.

- In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients and then slowly add to the mixture. Add about 4/5 of the bag of white chocolate chips.  

- Form into equal sized balls and place on a cookie sheet.

- Using the left over white chocolate chips, place about 2-3 chips into the top of the ball on each cookie, flat side up.

- Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Ginger Snap Cookies

I'm about to compare food to a time machine. That's right. A time machine. It's amazing how one bite of food can take you back in time. Isn't it a great feeling when you eat homemade bread that tastes just like the bread that your grandmother use to make? Or when you eat some fresh pasta or a wood fired pizza that brings you back to a trip you took Italy? Or when you go back to a city that you used to live in and eat at your favourite restaurants again? This happens all the time to me. One delicious bite of something and I am instantly in another place.

If food can be compared to a time machine, these cookies are my Delorian. One bite of these brings me back to being 8 years old and cleaning out the cookie jar as quick as my mom could fill it. They were far and away my favourite cookie that my mom made for us. 

I'll make a batch of these and freeze half of them. More than any other cookie I've made, these freeze really well and taste great cold.

What kind of food brings you back in time? Leave a comment and tell me. I'd love to hear your stories.

GINGER SNAP COOKIES

1 1/2 Cups Shortening

1 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Molasses

4 Cups Flour

2 tsp baking Soda

2 tsp Cinnamon

2 tsp Cloves

2 tsp Ginger (powdered)

Cream together shortening and sugar. Mix in eggs one at a time. Add all dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to mixture in 2 or 3 batches.

Then Roll into balls about the size of a golf ball

Toss each ball in a bowl of sugar until it is evenly coated                                 

Spread the balls on a cookie sheet

Press down with a fork and bake at 350 for 12 mins

White Chocolate, Walnut & Cranberry Cookies

This might be the best cookie I have ever tasted. I consider myself a cookie aficionado and I declare this a seriously good cookie that will knock your socks off.

A little history about it...

When I settled into life in Calgary after moving from Nova Scotia, I started taking cooking classes at the Cookbook Company. Cooking quickly became a very fun hobby. I would take classes on many different topics such as homemade fresh pasta, over-night bread making, how to make risotto, etc...

I found myself at the Cookbook Company quite a bit so I offered to become a volunteer there. One of the first people I met who worked there was a lady named Georgia. She was extremely welcoming and kind to me back then.

Fast forward a few years and I've become friends with Georgia and her family. On a recent visit to her house at one of her family gatherings, she had plates of the these cookies in every room. This recipe was originally her mothers and I discovered that these cookies are legendary in her family. After one bite I knew why.

She was kind enough to email me the recipe. She comes from a very big family and she's used to cooking for a big crowd so I had to cut her original recipe in half and just for an extra punch I added a few extra walnuts and dried cranberries.

If you found your way here from Pinterest, welcome! Feel free to leave a comment if you try these cookies or any other recipe.

Georgia's White Chocolate, Walnut & Cranberry Cookies

2 1/2 cups Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Oatmeal

Preheat oven 350F. Mix dry ingredients well and set aside. 

1 cup Butter Flavoured Crisco

2 Large Eggs

1 cup White Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar (tightly packed)

2 tsp Vanilla

Cream together until light and fluffy. Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture.

1 cup White Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup Walnuts (toast them in the over      for a few minutes first)

3/4 cup. Dried Cranberries

Add the chocolate chips, nuts and cranberries and mix until just blended. Spoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 11 to 13 minutes.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

What is better than chocolate chip cookies? Double chocolate chip cookies!


This recipe is courtesy of the Cake Boss himself, Buddy Valastro. I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of the show, but I do watch it from time to time. I was recently walking through a grocery store and saw a book of his and after browsing through it, I decided to buy it based on partly the recipes, but more because of the in depth explanations of techniques and photos. This book has many great baking tips. It would be a great book for a beginner, or a refresher for a veteran baker. While a good majority of the book is based on cakes, there are lots of great recipes for cookies, brownies, pastries, etc...


The book is called, "Baking with the Cake Boss: 100 of Buddy's Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets" and you can buy the book here. Check it out. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 cup Butter
1 cup  Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1 Egg
1/3 cup Cocoa
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 tbsp. Milk
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 3/4 cups Flour
1 cup White Chocolate Chips (or 1 pkg. of white chocolate chips)




- Beat together the butter, white and brown sugar.
- Add the egg, cocoa and vanilla and beat together until it looks like chocolate frosting.
- Combine the baking powder and flour. Add a little bit at a time.
- Roll into meatball sized balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 325 for 12 -15 minutes.


Yield: 24 cookies
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This isn't exactly how it was written in the book. I took some liberties with this recipe. 


First off, I used white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. I chose white chocolate chips for 2 reasons: I love the taste of white chocolate and I thought the finished cookie would look better being dark a cookie with white chips. The recipe called for 1 cup of chips, but after measuring there was only a little bit left so I threw them all in.


Surprisingly, the recipe doesn't call for salt. I don't think adding a tsp. of salt would hurt, although I didn't do it.


He says to bake them at 325 for 12-15 mins. This makes a soft cookie in my oven both times I made them. Next time I'll be baking them for 15-17 mins, although he talks at length about not cooking them for anymore than 15 mins.


Using a good quality cocoa makes a big difference in these cookies. I used some cocoa that was bought for me by some friends while they were visiting in Mexico. Use whatever you have, but if you can get some good stuff, you will definitely notice a difference.


I found once the cookies came out of the oven, they were very fragile. Maybe because I didn't bake them that long. I damaged a few trying to get them from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack. I had to let them sit on the cookie sheet longer than usual, which is fine. Using a metal spatula would be easier than the bigger plastic one that I have.


Good luck. I hope you like them as much as I do.

Cape Breton Oatcakes

On a recent trip home to Cape Breton, one afternoon I went for a walk to Tim Horton's for a cup of coffee and a snack. As I looked over the options of donuts, muffins and cookies, something almost jumped through the glass. Oatcakes! Oatcakes are basically an oat cookie that is a staple on any kitchen table when the tea pot is on. It goes perfect with a cup of tea, which Cape Bretoners drink by the gallons.

Tim Horton's in Calgary doesn't stock these delicious treats on their shelves, so it was a no brainer for me to get a couple of the Cape Breton classics.

To add even more of a Cape Breton flavour, this recipe comes from Natalie MacMaster's mother. The recipe is posted on Natalie's website.

Cape Breton Oatcakes - Minnie MacMaster

1/2 cup butter 

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar

Mix all the above together and then put about 3 tablespoons of boiling water in a cup and add 1/2 tsp of baking soda to it and pour into the above mixture.  Beat well and add...

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 tsp salt

METHOD:

Combine and roll out on a floured counter to the thickness you would prefer.

Trim the sides of the rolled out dough to make a square and cut into triangles. 

  

Use a spatula to scrape the cookies off the floured surface and transfer them to a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 oven for about 6 minutes or until they are golden brown.   Each oven is different and so watch carefully that they do not burn.

(This recipe doubles very well).

Here are a few ideas that I have tried with this recipe and they work very well....

For the 1/2 cup white sugar.....I sometimes change that to 1/4 cup of white and 1/4 cup of brown. You can also add 1/2 cup rice crispies to this recipe for a nice texture. Or you may add 1/4 cup fine sweetened coconut for a very tasty addition.

 

BAKING TIPS:

Make sure you rub some flour into your rolling pin. It will prevent the dough from sticking to it.

As a rule for all baking, use vegetable oil. Canola oil will certainly work just fine, but any professional baker will tell you that vegetable oil will give you a much better flavour.

Spider Cookies

My good friends Jeff and Tosha recently returned from a trip to Mexico. They were ever so kind and brought me back some treats that included some hot sauce, vanilla beans, and a good quality Mexican cocoa. As soon as they handed it to me, I said, "I know just the recipe for the cocoa."

I've heard these cookies called "Haystacks," before. Whatever you call them, these are the easiest, quickest cookies to make in the world. Better yet, there is no baking involved! All you need is a pot and your stove.

This is another one of my mother's recipes. I used to make these when I was in university and my roommate Andrew always said that it reminded him of junior high school because you could buy these cookies for 25 cents each at the cafeteria.

Spider Cookies

2 Cups White Sugar

1/2 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Butter

5 Tbsp Cocoa
2 Tsp Vanilla

3 Cups Oats

1 Cup Coconut

Method:

- In a medium/large pot on your stove, mix the first 5 ingredients and boil for about 5 minutes.

- Add oats and coconut and stir well with a wooden spoon

- Put a sheet of wax or parchment paper on a cookie sheet or your counter top and using 2 soup spoons, scoop some mixture on to the sheet and then shape it into a mound on the paper.
- Let the cookies sit until they are completely cool, about 20-30 minutes.

Notes:
The mixture is very hot, but it cools quickly so you have to work fast. One way of working fast is to use a small ice cream scoop. This is a very efficient way of doing it, but I like the look of the cookie better when you do it by hand.

Makes about 20-24 cookies.

Mrs. Harper's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cooking is a hobby of mine - unfortunately it doesn't pay the bills. In my day job, I own a painting company, AJC Pro Painting. Let me know if you need your house painted! One day I got a call from "Mrs. Harper." She told me that I did some work for one of her friends and she wanted to get her house painted. Turns out "Mrs. Harper," was the mother of the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.

Mrs. Harper is a lovely lady who treated us like kings. We were at her place every day for about 10 days. Every morning after we had been there for about 15 minutes, she would bring us coffee and cookies. In the mid afternoon, she would bring us tea and cookies. We ate these cookies everyday and they were delicious. She was kind enough to write out the recipe for me. I joked with her that I was going to sell it on Ebay. When I made the cookies, they came out pretty good and tasted quite similar to hers. She made them a little smaller than I did.

I figured that today being election day in Canada, it was the perfect time to post the recipe. Please go vote. I really don't care who you vote for, just exercise your right to do so.

I'm not endorsing Stephen Harper by posting this, but I am certainly endorsing his mom's cookies!



The actual recipe she wrote for me

 RECIPE
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp hot water
1 1/2 cup flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 package chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

METHOD:
Beat shortening, vanilla, sugars and eggs. Combine baking soda, salt & flour. Add to mixture. Add oatmeal, and then chocolate chips and walnuts if desired.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Shortening

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup White Sugar

2 Eggs

2 Tsp Vanilla

2 Cups Flour

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 package (375g) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

METHOD:

This is my mom's recipe. Everyone thinks that their mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies. Well, my mom does, so throw away your current recipe and start making this one!

I normally use a stand mixer. If you don't have one, you can always use a hand mixer, or the old fashioned wooden spoon.

On a slower speed, cream together the shortening, eggs, white and brown sugars and vanilla. Mix for about 2 minutes until everything is smooth. Combine all the dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture in batches. I usually add half the dry mixture until it is partially mixed before adding the rest. The secret to this recipe is mixing it for a little longer than you might think. I usually let the stand mixer go for about 4 or 5 minutes until the dough is starting to look fluffy. Add the chocolate chips and mix for about another minute, until the chips are evenly mixed in the dough.

Spoon out some mixture onto a greased cookie sheet and form it into a small ball . I always put the 12 cookies on the sheet at a time. Some people put 15 on. I like a bigger, softer cookie so I like having the extra space.

Bake @ 375 for about 10 mins

TIPS:

An easy way to change up this recipe is to use half semi-sweet chips and half milk chocolate chips. The milk chocolate chips will melt a little more, but taste great. You can also substitute white chocolate chips for a nice change. The sky is the limit really. Why not add all the different kinds of chips?

If you like the cookie soft, take them out when they turn brown on the edges of the cookie. If you like them a little crunchier, leave them in until most of the cookie is brown.

Let them cool on a rack and you are good to go.