Recipe For Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

Do you like macaroons?

I love them, especially if they are dipped in chocolate. I came across this super easy recipe for making some.

These are perfect for an everyday cookie to keep in the cookie jar, or fancy enough to put in a pretty package and give as a gift. I'll be giving some at Easter for sure.

The recipe calls for very few ingredients, so use the best available. I buy the sweetened coconut from the bulk foods section of my grocery store. It's much fresher than the coconut in packages.

You can also use white, or milk chocolate to dip the macaroons in. I used dark chocolate this time.

Recipe for Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

Ingredients:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces dark, white, or milk chocolate, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, coconut, and salt. Add condensed milk and vanilla; stir until well combined.

Drop batter by tablespoonful, 1 inch apart, onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until just golden on bottoms.
Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. When cookies are cool, dip top halves into melted chocolate. Let stand until set.

Makes 1 dozen cookies.

Betty Crocker Recipe For Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

There's nothing I love better than a good old-fashioned recipe for one of my favorite cookies. I remember back in the day, before Martha, or the cooking shows, homemakers turned to the mythical and perfect Betty Crocker for easy and delicious recipes.

While generations of people may recognize the name, most people assume that Betty was a real person, someone nice and cheery, ready to kindly encourage us to be confident in the kitchen. But in fact, it was a made up name that was created to give letters about baking a more personal feeling response from the large company that sold products.

The company grew to be one of the largest world wide, and so did the name Betty Crocker. I remember my mother loved her Betty Crocker cookbooks, and many, many meals and baked goods graced our table that started out as recipes from those books.

Unfortunately, I don't have any of those cookbooks of my mothers, I wish I did. But I can find many of the recipes online, just like this one for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's such an easy recipe but don't let that fool you. These cookies are downright delicious, and a little bit of heaven with a cold glass of milk. 



Recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir brown sugar and butter until blended. Stir in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Onto an ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoon about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool slightly, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes approximately 24 cookies.

-Post written by Patricia

Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies Recipe

I know a lot of people think milk and cookies are a kid thing, but believe me, they're not. I know some grownups who indulge in this ritual on a regular basis and it makes life more pleasurable. I happen to be one of those people, and so finding a new cookie recipe that I love and can make for my family is a real pleasure in my book.

I think a home baker who has a good list of cookie recipes to rely on can always whip up a batch on the spur of the moment. My granddaughter Ashley will sometimes ask me if we can bake something and cookies are often what she chooses to help me make. What four year old doesn't love cookies?

So milk and cookies are a regular treat around our house and I wouldn't have it any other way. This cookie recipe is quick, easy, and utterly delicious.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped chocolate covered toffee candy

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add sugars, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat together until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour, stir in candy pieces.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 24 cookies.

Brown Sugar Butterscotch Chip Cookie Recipe



One of the things I love about blogging is that it forces you to be creative. In a good way of course.
It's kind of like the chicken and the egg situation. Do I do things to blog about them, or am I already going to be doing something, so I blog about it?

It turns out to be a little of both. Take these fabulous cookies, for instance. Since I live with my daughter and her family, my granddaughter Ashley loves to bake with me. And it's pretty hard to resist that sweet little four year old and her bag of butterscotch chips who begs you to make cookies with her.

So that's exactly what we did yesterday, we made these yummy Brown Sugar Butterscotch Chip Cookies. And I get to blog about it, which of course Ashley suggested I do. She is absolutely a blogger in the making, and I predict she will probably have her first blog by the time she turns five.

These cookies are super duper yummy. They are crunchy and soft at the same time, and they are rolled in brown sugar which gives them the best flavor. The butterscotch chips go perfectly with the brown sugar, and these cookies are sure to become a favorite.

Pair them with a glass of milk and you have a little bit of heaven. I plan to make them again for a book club meeting, and I totally expect to bring home an empty plate.


Recipe for Brown Sugar Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups light or dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips
 extra brown sugar for rolling cookies, about 3/4 cup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl, put in butter and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed with a hand held mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, beat on medium speed until combined.
Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until all ingredients are just combined. Stir in butterscotch chips.
Use a tablespoons worth of dough to form a ball. Roll balls in extra brown sugar and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool cookies on baking rack.

Makes 24 cookies.

Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I feel like shouting from the rooftops about how delicious these cookies are!! If you're a chocolate fan you will absolutely love these, and if you aren't, you'll love them anyway.

I was looking for a recipe to make cookies with white chocolate chips when I came across this one from The Pioneer Woman. I wasn't thinking about chocolate batter, but when I found this recipe I knew I had to try it.

It does call for white chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips, which ends up in so much yummy goodness. This recipe makes about three dozen cookies, and it's pretty easy to make.

These cookies are perfect to share with friends or coworkers if you want them to think that you have mad skills in the kitchen. That is, if you can bear to part with them!!


Recipe for Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in the vanilla

Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, and add in batches to the mixer, mixing until just combined after each addition. Gently fold in the white chocolate chips and chocolate chips. 

Using a cookie scoop, add 1 tablespoon portions to a baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are done but still soft and chewy, about 8-10 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

Easy Valentine's Day Cookies

Valentine's Day will be here before we know it, so I wanted to find some fun and easy cookie recipes. My family and I love celebrating the day with the kids, and themed treats are a big part of it.

I remember when I was young and Valentine's Day always seemed to me to be about romantic love. And of course romantic love is wonderful, but I really like how it has become more of a day about all kinds of love. No one is left out and everyone is made to feel special. That's the best kind of day for sure!

These cookies are some of the easiest I've ever made, and they taste so good. They are actually sort of like a cookie and donut combination. They are soft in the inside, and the glaze gives them a perfect sweetness.

This recipe makes 18 cookies but can easily be doubled. My granddaughter wants us to make them for her preschool Valentine's Day party, and I think that's a great idea!

Do make sure that the glaze is completely dry before you take them off the rack so that the sprinkles are set.

Recipe for Easy Valentine's Day Cookies

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Glaze:

1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons milk

sprinkles of choice for decoration

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and eggs until blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined.

With floured hands, roll rounded tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until puffed and the bottoms are pale golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, and 4 tablespoons milk.

Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and set on rack, sprinkle on decoration. Let cookies set until glaze is dry, about 20 minutes.

Makes 18 cookies.

Another great thing about this recipe besides it's great taste is how easily it can adapt to any holiday or season. Just change the color of the glaze with food coloring, and the sprinkles to match the occasion.

Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Seattle has been living up to it's rainy reputation for the last few days. I love living here, and I really do love the rain, but even I can get a little down when it just goes on for days.

But one thing that always makes me feel better is getting in the kitchen and baking up something for my family to enjoy. Cookies are always welcome, and when my grandchildren get home from a long day at school, it's always a nice surprise for them.

I love being a Nana who bakes treats, and hopefully that is something they will always remember about me.

My granddaughter Ashley is only four but she is already my baking buddy in the kitchen. When we get ready to bake something, she'll ask if we need brown sugar, baking powder, the spatula? She makes me laugh because she's already familiar with what we need for baking.

And Ashley did help me with this very easy and delicious recipe for these cookies. They are soft and chewy, and filled with milk chocolate and chopped walnuts. If you don't want nuts in your cookies, you can leave them out, but they do add so much flavor.

These are the perfect cookies for a milk and cookies kind of afterschool snack. But grownups love them too!!

Recipe for Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 eggs, large
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 2¾ cups flour
• 11.5 ounces milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar with hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until mixture is very fluffy and turns lighter in color
3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and baking soda for 1 minute on low speed. Scrape the sides of bowl as needed.
4. Gradually mix in flour just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until golden around the edges - about 11 to 13 minutes.
6. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 30 cookies.

 

Happy New Year and A Recipe For Molasses Cookies

Happy New Year everyone!! I'm sitting here typing this on New Year's morning, the Rose Parade is on, and I'm drinking a delicious second cup of coffee. Very simple pleasures, but I've certainly learned through the years that finding a little bit of happiness in each day is essential to our wellbeing and peace of mind.

This past year has brought some new things and situations into my life, all of which have been blessings and that I'm most grateful for. And I'm so grateful to still have this blog and the many opportunities it's brought to my daughters and myself through the years. I don't make New Year's resolutions much anymore, but if I were going to, it would be to get back to more serious blogging.

I love blogging and I want 2016 to be a great year here at Frugal Family Tree, and to be able to share more personal stories, more recipes, and new things that we discover.

Yesterday, my granddaughter Ashley and I had the urge to bake something yummy, so we baked these easy Molasses Cookies. I'd been meaning to bake them before Christmas but just didn't get around to it.

My mother used to bake molasses cookies all the time and though this isn't her recipe, it does come close to being almost as great tasting as hers. This is a simple recipe that is good to make with the kids as it involves rolling the dough into balls, and pretty much feels like playing with play dough.

Recipe for Molasses Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar plus extra for rolling on the cookies
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses, light unsulphured
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, 1 cup sugar, and egg on medium speed until smooth. Stir in the molasses.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger, then add it into the molasses mixture and mix thoroughly.
Roll the dough into small balls, about a tablespoon's worth, and then roll them in the extra white sugar.
Place cookies on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart and bake for 12-13 minutes or until tops are cracked. Place cookies on a wire rack and let cool completely.

This recipe will make about 30 cookies.

So here's to 2016, and I hope it's a happy, healthy, and loving new year for us all. And have a cookie, because it's the little things in life that add up to a happy one.

Jam Thumbprint Christmas Cookie Recipe

Jam Thumbprint cookies bring back happy memories of my mom baking in the kitchen at Christmas time. She made these several times during the season because they were eaten almost as soon as they came out of the oven.

I wish I had her recipe, but I never asked her for it. So, decades later, this is the first time I've tried making these cookies. They honestly aren't as pretty as my mom's were, but they do taste great.

My grandchildren ate these right up too, and it was bittersweet for me to realize how time passes, and the generations carry on.

You can use different flavors of jam for the cookies. I used strawberry jam for these, but I'm making a few more batches where I'm going to try raspberry and apricot.

Recipe for Jam Thumbprints

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts.
Beat at medium speed until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour. Continue beating until well mixed.
Take a scoop of dough the size of a walnut and roll it into a smooth ball. Place the balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets liked with parchment paper. With your thumb, make an indentation in the center and fill each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Stir together powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over cookies.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Snowball Cookie Recipe

*Originally Posted Dec. 19, 2013

As the children get older and start attending school (elementary or preschool) holiday teachers gifts are something we love to make and buy. Teachers are a very important part of our lives, they help mold our children into the adults they will someday be. I want them to know how important they are to not only my children, but to our family as a whole. Homemade gifts, along with a gift card to their favorite coffee shop or café are a pretty standard gift for our family to give. This year we made Snowball Cookies for the teachers and they were a huge hit! The boys helped out by rolling the dough in the "snow", it ended up everywhere but at least they had fun!

 

Christmas Butter Cookies

Last week I started getting into the Christmas spirit, and decided to make some Christmas cookies. We always had butter cookies during the holidays when I was a kid. I wish that I had my mom's recipe for them, they were always so rich and delicious, and decorated with sprinkles just like these.

This recipe is actually fairly easy, and I think the cookies turn out best when the dough is refrigerated over night. You can add whatever kind of sprinkles you like of course, but the red and green are very festive.

These cookies hold up well if you'd like to give them as a gift, too. That is if you have any left over, which I didn't because my grandchildren thought they were perfect with a glass of milk on a cold afternoon.

I ate my fair share too, because they just tasted so good. For me, Christmas is about food, and treats and sharing them with friends and family. And cookies are so easy to make and give, and who doesn't love receive homemade goodies?

Recipe for Christmas Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
2 cups all-purpose flour
Sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
Mix in the egg yolk until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once,
Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.
Scrape onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times.
Turn onto a sheet of waxed paper and roll into a log, wrap and refrigerate, or over night.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Before baking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice the dough into slices about 1/8-inch thick and place them on the baking sheet. Shake on sprinkles.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges.

Makes approximately 32 cookies.
 

Fall Cookie Favorite, Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Yesterday, it finally started to really feel like fall weather here. Fall makes me happy, and when I'm happy, I like to bake. I've been making quite a few apple desserts lately, and so I thought it was time to make something with pumpkin.

These Pumpkin Spice Cookies are pretty fabulous, and I made them fairly large, big enough so that one was enough for each of my grandchildren to enjoy.

I think that one of the delights of baking is the way the kitchen smells so heavenly when something good is in the oven. These cookies smell like fall itself, and should do just the trick if you need a yummy pumpkin treat fix.

I live near a wonderful market that sells fresh spices by weight, so I was able to go buy my fall spices that I need for my baking. They are super fresh and less expensive when you buy them this way. Who wants to open that bottle of pumpkin pie spice that has been sitting around for years because you only use a teaspoon or two of it every season?

So, if you are looking for a great cookie recipe, try these, soft and yummy glazed cookies, Perfect with a glass of milk on a chilly fall day.

Recipe for Glazed Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray cookie sheet with baking spray, or line with parchment paper.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle glaze over cookies.

To make glaze, combine powered sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Makes about 18 large cookies.

Easy 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Bites







Peanut Butter cookies are one of my very favorite kinds of cookies. I've been making them for years, first for my own children, and now for my grandchildren.

I do have my regular recipe that is very yummy, with flour and all the usual ingredients. But when I came across this very simple, 3-ingredient one, I just had to give it a try.

These little cookies are really good, with a very intense peanut butter taste. I also like the small size,
perfect for little fingers to hold.

In fact, these cookies would be great to make with your kids. The batter is rolled into1-inch balls, just like playing with play dough.

Recipe for 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly wipe a baking sheet with vegetable oil.

Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl, and stir until well blended. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls, and place them on the baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Makes 24 cookies.



Enjoy!!

Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Are you a cookie lover like me? I'm always on the lookout for a yummy cookie recipe, and this combination of chocolate and coconut is my new favorite.

This recipe calls for almost two cups of coconut in it, so you know it's packed full of coconut goodness.

These cookies were a huge hit with my grandchildren when we sat down to eat them with a cold glass of milk. This recipe is definitely one I'll me making again, especially since my family likes them so much.

Recipe for Chocolate and Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the butter until fluffy and pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated and brown sugars, and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.

Add the dry ingredients, and beat together until just combined. Add the coconut and chocolate chips, stir until combined.
With dampened hands, shape the dough into 1-inch balls, and place on baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cookies cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.