Blueberry Lemon Cookies

   When I start working on cookie recipes, I think about how the finished cookie will look, taste, and even smell while baking.  I've given this recipe to a few realtors over the years.  Seal up the house and bake off a few dozen of these before a showing.   Sounds crazy, but it helped get offers on hard to sell properties.  I wrote this small batch recipe based on one of my production recipes.  Not much different than my original recipe except that it doesn't start with 15 pounds of butter.

Blueberry Lemon Cookies

1/2 C. Butter

1 C. Sugar

2 Eggs

1 C. Dried Blueberries

Zest of 1 Lemon

1t. Vanilla

2 1/2 C. Flour

1/2 t. Baking Soda

1/2 t. Baking Powder

1/8 t. Salt

Cream the butter and sugar.

Mix in the eggs, zest and extract.

Blend dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add to the wet ingredients mixing until a dough starts to form. 

Add the blueberries and mix until incorporated.

Form the dough into logs and wrap with wax paper or plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Slice dough into 1/4 inch or so discs.

Lightly press one side of the dough into a dish of pearized casting sugar. You don't want to overload it. just get a nice spread of grains across the face of the cookie.

Place sugar side up on a baking sheet.  There will be a small amount of spread, so not very close.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

This recipe can be frozen. Just make sure it is well wrapped. May be frozen for up to 6 months.

Coconut Cookies

All too often when you think of coconut cookies, people envision macaroons.   While perfectly fine,  they don't store well.  This is one of my go to recipes for cookie trays.  When combined with my other cookie recipes,  you can create a tray of cookies that will have people coming back for more.  A great cookie jar cookie.  This recipe is easily adapted for flour replacement or egg replacement.  The recipe tends to tolerate 1 allergen replacement at a time.  Plus, I believe in keeping recipes in context while consuming in moderation. 

Coconut Cookies

1 C. Butter (softened)
1 C. Sugar
2 Eggs
1 T. Rum Extract
2 C. Finely Shredded Coconut
2 C. Flour
1 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Salt

Preheat oven to 350

Mix the eggs, sugar, butter, extract, soda, powder, & salt.
Mix in the coconut and flour. 
Firm into uniform balls with a scoop or spoon. 
Roll in sugar and flatten with a glass.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until edges start to brown.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I have been working on a series of cookie recipes that produce a soft cookie that retains it's shape 

That may not mean much now, but as further recipes in the soft cookie series are posted, the creative potential will become clear.  The peanut butter cookie is such a basic cookie, but holds great potential for creative variation.  Changes to nut butters and extracts can make a plain classic cookie something truly exceptional.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 C. Butter (softened)

1 C. White Sugar

1 C. Brown Sugar

1 C. Peanut Butter

2 Large Eggs

1 T. Vanilla Extract

1/8 t. Cinnamon

2 1/2 C. Flour

     Mix the Butter, Sugar, Eggs, Peanut Butter Cinnamon, and Vanilla. Just mix enough to combine the ingredients. You don't want to really dissolve the sugars.  Mix in the flour.  This is going to take some patience unless you have a sturdy kitchen mixer like a KitchenAid. Then just mix on low until a dough forms.  I like to let the dough rest a bit in the refrigerator with a plastic wrap cover.  An hour or 2 is really enough.  

     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

The easiest way to get uniformly sized cookies is to use a scoop.  In the commercial setting, uniformity means measurable food cost and attractive display.  At home, a simple spoon and sound judgment do the trick.  Form balls of dough and place them evenly on a cookie sheet.  I use the bottom of a cup dipped in a saucer of sugar to slightly flatten the dough.  I then use a long tined fork to complete the traditional design for each cookie.

This recipe is compatible with a springerle mold.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

10 minutes for a convection oven.

Cool on a wire rack and store in your favorite cookie jar if they last that long.

Makes 3 dozen reasonably sized cookies. 

This recipe may be varied using exact measure replacements of different nut butters, or extracts.

Pecan, walnut, or even macadamia come to mind, but there really isn't much of a limit to the combinations possible.