Friday, July 31, 2009

Love Day Friday: Cookies!

I'ts FRIDAY!! It's been a long, up-and-down week, but we made it. In honor of my good friend Tiffany Schmidt--who generously made 15 DOZEN cookies Wednesday and mailed out cookie SparkleBoxes--I think we need to celebrate with some COOKIES of our own.

What's your favorite cookie recipe? Everyone has at least one. Join the love and share it in the comments, please!

My favorite cookies of all time are Orange Drops, from the 1963 Betty Crocker cookbook. They taste like little orange cakes.

Orange Drop Cookies

Ingredients
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 egg
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup shortening
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup white sugar


Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
  2. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir 1/2 cup orange juice and 1 teaspoon rind into the flour mixture.
  3. Cream shortening and white sugar together. Mix egg into the sugar mixture thoroughly. Slowly blend flour mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet.
  4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
  5. Make the icing: Mix confectioner's sugar and 2 tablespoons butter together until smooth. Pour 2 tablespoons orange juice and 1 teaspoon orange rind into the sugar and butter mixture, mix well. When the cookies have cooled spread the icing generously over the tops of the cookies.
I haven't tried substituting butter for shortening (which I don't exactly have on hand), but I think I might. If they turn out right, these melt in your mouth!

What's your recipe? (links are good if you don't want to type it out. Just share, please! I'd love to see your favorites!)

8 comments:

  1. Mmmm. I think I'll just take your recipe, add 3/4 cup cocoa to the dough mixture, and mix an abundance of dark chocolate shavings into the orange zest. Orange is tasty, but cookies must have their chocolate!

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  2. Mmmm...those sound yummy! Almost tempting enough to get me to actually do something in the kitchen. :)

    And I heartily agree -- Tiffany rocks!

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  3. Jeanie: Hey, dark chocolate MIGHT be good.

    Linda: It's not the easiest cookie recipe in the world. But it's scrumptious.

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  4. I almost never make cookies. I like eating them, and I like baking, but I tend to make cakes and pies. If you need a recipe for either of those...

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  5. Annika: I will keep that in mind. Surely there will be a cake day somewhere down the road...thanks!

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  6. Anonymous8:23 PM

    Suze, favorite cookies as a kid: Haystack cookies. Of course I don't have a recipe (quickly googling), okay, here we go:

    4 cups butterscotch chips
    1 can (7c) chow mein noodles
    1 can (2c) spanish peanuts (although I swear we used regular, salted peanuts)

    Melt chips over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in noodles and peanuts. Drop onto wax paper using tablespoons and let harden.

    Kreek

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  7. These were my favorite childhood cookies. My mom always made them during the holidays ans sometimes, if I was really down, which was kind of a big deal because my mom was more of a party mom than anything else. That, and it was kind of a well-known fact in our extended family of great cooks that the culinary gene somehow skipped her.

    Ooo. Also, kind of cool veri word: grancepa.

    Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I adore these . . . and I just reailzed I have everything to make them today. Hmmm.

    No Bakes

    INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
    1 3/4 cups white sugar
    1/2 cup milk
    1/2 cup butter
    4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
    1/2 cup crunchy (opt. I like them better with smooth) peanut butter
    3 cups quick-cooking oats
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    DIRECTIONS
    In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

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  8. Oooh, thanks, Kreek and Amethyst! New cookies, YAY!

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