The cookie that started it all

These are the cookies that I created when I was, oh, three (?) in my Grandparent's kitchen. It was a kitchen filled endlessly with every baking essential (and non-essential) that you could possibly imagine. Instead of going to daycare, when my parents worked, I got to go to Grandma and Grandpa care, a luxury that I get to have now that I have my own little one. While on these adventures, I got to explore and play in the kitchen with my Grandma. There was always a project that needed to be baked, and I was there to measure ingredients and operate the mixer.

Ez- bake ovens are for sissies, I had the real thing.

So, here was the beginning. Digging through the cupboards for ingredients and climbing up on the bookshelf filled with cookbooks for the jar of nuts, these are the cookies that emerged.

Butterscotch cashew cookies

2 1/4 cups Flour

1/2 tsp. Baking soda

1 3/4 sticks (14 Tbs) Unsalted Butter, room temperature

3/4 cup Granulated sugar

1/4 cup Brown sugar, packed

2 tsp Vanilla extract

2 Eggs

8 oz. Butterscotch chips

1 - 1 1/2 cups Salted Cashews, yes, SALTED!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Sift flour and baking soda together in a small bowl, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a regular bowl, if using a hand mixer) beat butter until light and fluffy, add sugars and continue beating. Add vanilla and eggs, one by one. Slowly add flour mixture while beating. Once the dough has come together add the chips and nuts until just folded into the dough.

Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto parchment lined or silicone mat lined cookie sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes until beautifully browned and puffy.

Let sit on the cookie sheet for about a minute before transferring to a wire rack.

Make sure to eat one before they are completely cooled. These are far too delicious to pass up when the are warm.

*Disclaimer, I take no responsibility for you burning your mouth if you choose to eat them while they are entirely too hot.

Mama's Margarita Cookie

The laundry is piled and staring at me to be put away.

The floor is begging to be mopped.

The poor babe is cutting the final edges of two molars.

No matter how much I try to keep up with cleaning and organizing, there are always five more projects waiting for me.

So I find myself at an impasse. Do I tackle the tasks, or do I sit down with a margarita (Margarita cookie, that is)?

The answer, my friends, is cookie. ALWAYS COOKIE.

My plan was to make these for Cinco de Mayo, but I could wait no longer.

Mama's Margarita Cookie

1/2 c. Butter

1 c. Sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 c. Flour

1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Lime zest

Juice of that lime you just zested

Green sugar

Tequila glaze

1/2 c. Powdered Sugar

1 Tbs. Tequila of your choosing

1 1/2-2 Tbs Lime juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Beat butter until light, add sugar and continue beating. Add egg and vanilla and lime juice. Once the mixture is thoroughly combined, begin adding the remaining dry ingredients slowly. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally, continue mixing until dough comes together.

Cut two sheets of waxed paper. Divide dough in half and roll into "logs" 2" in diameter. Refrigerate until firm (2-4 hours) or if you are impatient, like me and want your cookies sooner, freeze for 1 hour, or so.

Remove dough from your chosen vessel of chilling and roll the logs in the green sugar. Cut into 1/2 inch rounds. Place on parchment lined or silicone mat lined cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Transfer to wire rack, when completely cooled drizzle the glaze over the cookies.

Rocky rocky road cookies

Life is filled with rocky roads. Bittersweet, sticky and nutty moments, and times when you need the extra jolt. Even though we all go through this, there is no reason that we can't have a cookie take with us.

9 oz. Bittersweet chocolate

3/4 c. Butter

1 1/2 c. Brown sugar

3 eggs

1 3/4 c. Flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 c. cocoa (heaping)

2 tsp. Instant hazelnut coffee (or any flavor you want)

1 1/2 c. Hazelnuts, chopped

1 12 oz. package Chocolate chips

1 c. Mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Melt semisweet chocolate and butter. In your mixer combine the melted chocolate and butter with the sugar and mix until light. Add eggs, one by one letting each one fully incorporate into the mixture.

Sift the dry ingredients together, then slowly add to the mixer. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the nuts and chocolate chips while on low speed to fold into dough. Turn off the mixer and pour in the marshmallows, fold them into the dough as well.

Scoop dough into balls and place on parchment lined or silicone mat lined cookie sheets. Flatten tops of cookies with a glass (just something with a flat side) and bake for approximately 14 minutes. You will start to see a beautiful sheen on the top of the cookies when they are done.

Something tells me that you will be trying these, like now. Because life just wouldn't be complete without them.

The home from vacation, but I'd rather still be there cookie

Home from Costa Rica.

Sigh.

It would be nice if vacation could last just a little bit longer.

1 c. Butter

1 c. Brown sugar

3/4 c. Granulated sugar

2 1/2 c. Flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

1 c. flaked and sweetened coconut

1/2 c. Macadamia nuts, chopped

1/2 c. Dried mango, chopped

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add sugars and continue beating. Once the sugar is fully incorporated add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Keep your mixer going. Slowly add the flour and baking powder. Once the batter comes together, begin adding the mix ins. Keep your mixer on low speed to fold in the coconut, nuts and mango.

Scoop dough into 1-1 1/2 inch balls, whatever you like. Place on parchment lined or silicone mat lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes- you'll see them start to turn a beautiful golden brown.