A Valentine treat--No Bake Cookies!

I realized today that I have never posted my recipe for "No Bake" Cookies.  These are one of my very favorite things to make and to give.  My mom made them many times during my childhood.  At Easter time she would shape each cookie into a little nest and put jellybeans in it.  My favorite thing to do with these cookies is to shape them into hearts.

This is very easy to do using heart-shaped cookie cutters.  Just fill each cookie cutter with the cookie stuff (it's not really dough, so I don't know what to call it).  I use a little scooper to fill the cookie cutter, and then use a spoon to push the cookie stuff to the edges of the cutter.  I usually make the cookies about 1/2 inch thick. Leave it for about 5 seconds to take shape, and then lift the cookie cutter off and move on to the next one.  It speeds things up a bit if you have multiple cookie cutters, and small shapes work the best.  Also, it is easier if you have a helper around to either scoop or to spread.

So here's the recipe.

No Bake Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
Melt butter in a saucepan and add sugar, cocoa and milk.  Stir as it comes to a boil.  Let the mixture boil for about 30 seconds.

Remove the pan from heat and add 1/2 cup of peanut butter (although I am a creamy PB girl, I prefer crunchy in the cookies), 1 tsp vanilla and 3 cups of oats.  Stir well and allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.  Then use a scoop to drop the cookies onto parchment paper.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

There is a new cookie in my lineup. This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour catalog. I love their website and their catalog. They have a great collection of recipes and a great baking blog. We just got a new catalog yesterday and this recipe was inside. I immediately had to try it.

First, I had to find mini peanut butter cups. The catalog had them for $6.96 for a 12-oz bag. That seemed a little steep to me. I vaguely remembered seeing them at Trader Joe's around the holidays, and sure enough, TJs didn't let me down. $2.99 for a 12-oz package.

One tip I would recommend is to keep the mini PB cups in the refrigerator. The first time I tried this with room temperature PB cups, and the mixer smashed them. I quickly shut off the mixer and finished mixing them in by hand and it worked fine. Next time I will chill the PB cups and then hand-mix them into the dough.

• 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 c mini peanut butter cups

1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

3) In another bowl, (I use a Kitchenaid with paddle attachment, of course0 beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy.

4) Beat in the vanilla, egg, and water, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.

5) Stir in the mini peanut butter cups.

6) Scoop dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each cookie to about 1/2" thick.

7) Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Monster Cookies

I had two requests for this recipe this past week. It is one of my all-time favorites, and always a crowd pleaser. These cookies win big points on looks, and even bigger points on taste. Make sure you have a whole jar of peanut butter on hand before you get started on these. And, yes, there really is no flour in this recipe--that's not a typo.

Monster Cookies
1 c butter
2 c sugar
2 1/4 c brown sugar
24 oz. peanut butter
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 tsp baking soda
8 cups oats
1 1/2 c chocolate chips
1 large bag of M&Ms

Directions:
Cream together butter, sugars and peanut butter. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add baking soda and oats, and then chocolate chips. Mix together. Form each cookie with a 1/4 c measuring cup. Place 6 dough balls on each cookie sheet, and smash each one down with your palm. Place 10 M&Ms on each cookie. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Makes about 45 cookies.

Double Chocolate Cookies

This is probably my favorite cookie. I love how chewy it is. As an added bonus, they are particularly pretty cookies, and great for giving away to impress people.

This is Martha Stewart's recipe. But she made one big mistake--these cookies taste MUCH better if you add chopped semi-sweet chunks (or just use chips if you're lazy as I am) instead of the milk chocolate chunks the recipe calls for. I still use the milk chocolate to melt with the butter, but I definitely prefer the cookies with semisweet chunks.

• 
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 pound good-quality milk chocolate, 4 ounces coarsely chopped and 4 ounces cut into 1/4-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Melt 4 ounces coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; let cool slightly.
2. Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks.
3. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should be soft). Let cool on parchment on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Snickerdoodles

It's no secret that I make a lot of cookies. It is probably my favorite hobby. A cookie has got to be worth the calories. I am a self-described pastry snob. I don't eat baked goods just because they are there. They have got to be premium. Don't ever try to feed me a Marie Callendar's pie or a grocery store cookie. I'd rather lick the sidewalk.

I don't often get to choose the cookie I make. The kids (or their friends) make their requests, and I obey. When I do get to choose, I always choose snickerdoodles.

This recipe was Mark's grandmother's. It is absolutely the best snickerdoodle recipe ever. Be prepared to hear, "Wow, I didn't know that snickerdoodles could actually taste good."

Snickerdoodles
1/2 c butter
1/2 c butter-flavored Crisco
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 c flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Cream shortening, butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients. Form into balls. Roll balls in a mixture of 2 TBSP sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet, and smash slightly with your palm. Bake 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees.

M&M Cookies

This is one of my personal favorite cookies. I have to mix things up around here. I have made chocolate chip cookies so many times that my family is kind of bored with them. I came up with this recipe for M&M cookies to add a little variety into our lives.

M&M Cookies
1 c butter
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 3/4 c flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp psalt
2 c M&Ms

Cream butter and sugars together in KitchenAid. Add vanilla and eggs and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to the mixture. Mix well. Scoop into 2-TBSP sized balls and place on cookie sheets. Smash each ball of dough slightly with your palm. Lightly press M&Ms into each cookie (7-10 on each cookie). Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes, until cookies are a very light brown.

Sugar Cookies for Sasha

I promised my niece I would post this recipe on my blog. It is an old one also. I always loved Grandma Bs pink frosted sugar cookies. I desired to re-create such cookie perfection, and my freshman year at BYU I found a recipe that was very near to it, and required only minor tweaking.

These cookies are my most-requested, but I don't make them too often because of the extra step of frosting them. Once again, there is no secret--just follow the recipe. And a KitchenAid helps. They are the ultimate Valentine cookie!

Jill's Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 c butter

2 c sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

5 1/4 cups flour (add 1/4 cup at high altitude)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Directions:Cream cold butter and sugar in Kitchenaid fitted with paddle attachement. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Mix well. Chill dough. Roll out 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes. Bake at 400 for 8 minutes or till barely set.

Frosting: 1/2 c softened butter

1.5 (approx) pounds of powdered sugar

milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

food coloring

I keep saying I'm actually going to measure my ingredients the next time I make frosting, but I never do. Just mix the butter, vanilla and salt, and add enough milk to make it turn into frosting. More powdered sugar, more milk, more powdered sugar, more milk. It works for me!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was making cookies this morning for Abram to take to school, and I thought I should post the recipe, because this is one of my all-time-most-requested cookies.

I have been accused of leaving out an ingredient so that nobody else can make the cookies turn out like mine. I would never do that. My secret to making these cookies (and all my cookies) is that I follow the recipe. I can't tell you how many times I've had people say, "My cookies didn't turn out like yours." I then ask whay he or she did, and many times he or she will say, "I used margarine," or "I used crisco." DUH! The recipe calls for butter! They are not interchangeable! I haven't bought margarine in decades, and the only recipes I used crisco in are snickerdoodles and oatmeal raisin--1/2 butter, 1/2 crisco. For some reason that works out better with those cookies. I suppose my other "secret" is that I use a KitchenAid, which is really no secret at all.

One time I was assigned to bring 10 dozen cookies to the Pinewood Derby (I detest the Pinewood Derby, but as we have 5 boys, I am doomed to attend one for the next long, long time). One other person from another pack was also assigned the same. I walked in with my beautiful cookies on my Jill signature tray (people have come to know which tray my cookies are on), and set them on the table next to her flat, pale, disgusting cookies on paper plates. She looked at me like a puppy dog and said, "Do those cookies taste as good as they look?" I told her politely that most people really like them. The dinner began, and when it was all over, my 10 dozen cookies were long gone, and she had to take hers back home. Even hungry little cub scouts wouldn't eat her cookies.

My philosophy is that if you're going to eat a cookie, it has to be worth the calories. These definitely are, especially when they are warm. It's a recipe I took off of the back of a Gold Medal flour bag my freshman year at BYU 19 years ago. Still a classic.

Jill's Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 sticks of butter-not melted, not room temperature--slightly cold

1 1/4 c sugar

1 1/4 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 c flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 c chocolate chips (yes, 4 cups!)

Mix butter in the KitchenAid until it is smooth. Add sugars, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Whisk dry ingredients together in a separate bowl (flour, soda, salt) and add to the butter mixture. Mix well, add chocolate chips and mix again. Use a 1-oz. (2TBSP) cookie scoop to make balls of dough, placing each about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Before putting dough into oven, smash each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes, until lightly browned.