Butter Cookies

At some point LV left me a note that said, "These cookies are insane they're so good," but I'm not sure if it was this batch...

More Ranger Cookies (kind of)

"I haven't figured out what you put in them, but these are possibly the best cookies I've ever had" was LV's reaction to the last batch. That set the bar a little high. These were good, but not the same as before. (A lot less coconut because I was working with what little was left in the bag.)

Shortbread and Whole Roast Chicken

I made shortbread this morning. I made shortbread this afternoon. This is the afternoon batch. It's slightly less toasted-looking. LV had said the pseudo-Ranger Cookies were the best cookies he had ever had. But these were bordering on insanity they were so good. I was like, "Really? Because they melt in your mouth?" And I was joking, but he was serious. "Yes!" Who knew shortbread could be such a hit?

I roasted a little chicken for dinner. Rather than serve it with more potatoes like I have been doing, I made more biscuits. Between the cookies and the biscuits and the chicken, the oven was on pretty much all day. Which was nice because I had decided 58 degrees was plenty warm enough for opening all the windows.

Oh, and those things that look like pickles in the background... I put green squash in the bottom of the roasting pan with the chicken. Luckily I didn't put them all in there. They turned really mushy. I tried to bake them like fries later (again, more with the oven), but that didn't work well. So I served raw squash to Scrappy. I didn't think she'd be down with squishy squash.

Ranger Cookies (kind of)

Although they require the use of an electric beater, I've really taken to the kind of cookies that children of the Depression era seem to favor. No, they don't *really* require an electric beater, but when your only ingredients are a little butter and a little flour, you better hope you can get that dough as fluffy as possible.

(These aren't really Ranger Cookies because I used a chopped up chocolate bar and pecans instead of dried fruit.)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Morsels Cookies

These are basically chocolate chip cookies, but the recipe calls for placing half the morsels on top of the drops of dough. Why? So you can see that the chips are swirled. You're also supposed to add chopped peanuts, but I skipped that step. The recipe said to add extra flour. That makes them a little too crunchy.

Muffins & Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to make something for breakfast. No, not really. I wanted to eat freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, but that seemed an inappropriate thing to do with Scrappy around. To set a better example, I made oatmeal muffins with cinnamon streusel topping.

Then I made chocolate chip cookies. (You can tell these were from the last of hte batter because there are no chocolate chips visible.) I didn't give the oven enough time to cool down after the muffins. This batch is a lot crunchier than the previous round.

Butter Cookies

I found a funny little white hat in one of the baby's drawers. A very nice hand-me-down that nevertheless looks like it belongs to a Smurf because of the built in pocket of air. LV said we should take a picture of the kids in chef hats and bake cookies for his mother's birthday. But what kind of cookies...? We went with butter cookies. Shortbread seemed a little too old lady-ish.

Chicken Pot Pie and Lemon Cookie Bars

Hooray! I finally got to turn that leftover chicken into a pot pie. This is part of the chicken that was leftover from the last whole chicken I roasted. I added too many potatoes to my new and improved (and more filling) version, so there is still more chicken leftover. (Which is good because I'm kind of tired of peanut butter and jelly for lunch.)

"It looks like a pie," LV said. So, click click click. I took a picture to remember. The crust was really good this time. I think it was combination of giving it enough of enough baking time with better prep work.

Apparently Target had baking ingredients on sale. LV brought me one bag of chocolate chips two weeks ago. "Don't you want cookies every week?" I asked. I sent him back for more of anything the following week. He brought me coconut flakes. What can I do with coconut flakes... We had a box of lemon cake mix in the cabinet from when cake mix had gone on sale. I hunted around for a recipe that would tell me how to turn cake mix into cookie bars (luckily, I had been tempted by the peanut butter fudge bars on the side of the yellow cake mix box), and then mixed the coconut flakes with vanilla frosting. Scrappy thought it was delish. But she's not shy about complimenting her own cooking. This was the first time in forever that I had her bake with me. (Her and the baby and LV. It was a family affair.) I kind of like making cookies alone...

Extreme Close-Up

We ate the last batch of chocolate chip cookies in record time. Something about ingredients being on sale or maybe me thinking that if I stir them by hand instead of using an electric mixer (as I have been for the past three batches (and they seem to come out better when I mix by hand)) then that burns all the calories necessary to offset eating so many cookies... These are oatmeal scotchies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mmm... Monday morning cookies. This time I added pecans.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love the cookie dough scooper. I think I forgot to mention that on the Oatmeal Scotchies entry. I love it!

LV redeemed a coupon I gave him last Christmas as a gift, so we have more cookies. I think my idea of baking every week (it started as a goal for Fridays) really will go on and on way past the holidays.

Oatmeal Scotchies

With our cookie container empty, it was time to make more...

Christmas Eve

We had a lot to do on Christmas Eve. I'm kind of surprised there were so many stores open... The main goal for me was to get two batches of chocolate cookies made for part of a gift set. LV was able to pick up a cookie dough scooper for me the day before. I *love* the scooper. Love it.

Scrappy would be with her mom on Christmas, so we tried to make a bigger deal about Christmas Eve dinner than we have in the past. This is another gigantic chicken cutlet with broccoli and homemade biscuits.

Then Scrappy and LV made sugar cookies using the Jiffy mix. LV and I had the same thought when we first tasted the finished product: This tasted like a corn muffin... I guess now we know that the fastest sugar cookies are definitely not the best sugar cookies.

And then we waited for Santa.

The Dubbies

LV started a little magazine, Art Department Weekly, which he affectionately calls "A-D-Dubs." As part of a year-end special, he wanted to hand out awards--the Dubbies. His fellow Art Departmenteers thought they would be receiving actual trophies. This pressured him into thinking he needed something real to give them--not just a copy of the issue with their names printed in it. So he asked me to make star-shaped cookies. He had also expressed disappointment in there potentially being no gingerbread cookies this year (I think the recipe is a bit labor-intensive). But here we are: dozens of star-shaped gingerbread cookies for the Art Department. (There are a bunch more gingy children and bears off camera. This recipe produces a lot of dough when you roll it out right...)

Chocolate Cake Cookie Bites

After we ran out of brownies, I wanted more. In my head, though, I was picturing something more like chocolate wafers--thin and crispy. Way back in 2007, Scrappy and I tried to make Oreos. I thought I would take that recipe (box of cake mix minus essential liquids), make better cookies, and then maybe make a peanut butter frosting. I ended up with a crying baby and my hands coated in super-sticky dough.

Rather than fight to roll out 100 tiny balls of dough (I don't remember it being such a pain the last time), I tried first dropping the dough in rounded teaspoons (but it stuck to the spoon) and then using a cookie press (but it wouldn't break away and the baby started crying again, so I just made one long ribbon on a cookie sheet to deal with later).

They ended up being really tasty.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Crunchy peanut butter is what I always say we should buy. But at the beginning of November, I bought the twin pack of creamy. I knew I was going to make peanut butter cookies. When I asked LV which were better--the soft peanut butter cookie base or the crunchier chocolate base (from last year)--he said they couldn't be compared. I think I liked the chocolate base's texture more, but mmm... Peanut butter.

Baked Friday

In honor of our next out-of-town visitor (and because I ate all the chocolate chip cookies), I made Oatmeal Scotchies. Sooo good. And can I just say I have the best baby ever? He doesn't sleep, but he lets me bake cookies while he chills in his bouncer seat.

Baked Friday

I've been eating Halloween candy non-stop for three weeks. It was time for something new. So I made chocolate chip cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

It was our week to bring snacks for our birthing class. I thought I could make chocolate chip cookies and they would be as big a hit as the time I whipped up a batch for a Fourth of July party. That didn't happen at all. I didn't set out the butter early enough to let it soften. Then I melted it in the microwave. Then I substituted spreadable fake butter. The cookies looked like puddles when they came out of the oven. Gross. I freaked and asked LV to pick up a tray of vegetables instead. He bought some cookies, too.

Father's Day/Birthday

My mom wanted me to be sure I understood what a brat I was for not mailing a card to my dad in time for it to arrive on his birthday. Then I waited until two days before Father's Day to bake pecan sandies and mail them. Oh well.