at home with ann

I am sorry I left you for two weeks!  We were on vacation in Maine, and then have been having some major happenings in life with Colin.  All good things, but not conducive to sitting down and writing.  I had to choose between napping while Colin napped and writing, and I apologize, but the sleep won.  I am back, though, and have one of the most popular cookie recipes I bake to share with you. Among the food I brought to Maine last week were these molasses cookies.  Also known as my Dad's Most Favorite Cookies.  The only change I would recommend is to store these in a container as opposed to a large plastic bag. I did the latter, and when I had to acrobatically climb into the backseat to attempt (unsuccessfully) to calm down our crying baby at hour 4 of the traffic jam, I landed on the bag of cookies. They did not fare well.  Still tasted delicious but less round than what you see here.  Molasses Cookies recipe from Joy of Baking 2 cups...

Colin had his first play date yesterday, so I made some cookies to bring along.  He's lucky enough to have two cousins within 5 months of his age (he's the youngest), and I'm lucky to have two other girls in our family to have mom chats with. This is one of my fail safe cookie recipes. I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, it only takes about 20 minutes start to finish, and is always delicious.  Borrowed from the lid of the Quaker Oats canister, it's also available online . Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies recipe from Quaker Oats 1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened 3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2  cup granulated sugar 2  eggs 1  teaspoon vanilla 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour 1  teaspoon baking soda 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2  teaspoon salt (optional) 3  cups Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) 1  cup dried cra...

Kicking off Monday morning with cookies.  And not just any cookies, these old school cookies that have been gracing bake sales and parties forever.  There are times when I want to make fancy, multi-step, gourmet cookies, and there are times when 20 minutes and 1/2 a cup of peanut butter are all I can muster.  Perhaps since it's Christmas week you are attempting to keep things healthy in anticipation for the weekend.  If so, I apologize and promise that we'll be eating lentils later in the week.  Or, if you are like me and are 39 weeks pregnant (or just like cookies), you have declared this your final hurrah and are enjoying every last bite.  Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies recipe from Hershey's Ingredients: 1 package mini peanut butter cups 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon...

Jon will frequently request food by lamenting out loud that I never make him __________ (fill in the blank with tacos, swedish meatballs, muffins, banana bread, cookies, pie, etc.).  In the case of peanut butter cookies, he was right.  I'm not sure I've ever made them, and given that peanut butter has been a major food group for me during the last 6 months, I can't imagine why.  There is no shortage of recipes out there and between my own cookbooks and the internet, I pieced together what I consider to be a pretty good one. Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural, it worked well) 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2 1/2-3 cups flour (I used three and had a little extra flour in the bottom of my mixer) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda In a mixer, or a bowl using a hand mixer, cream together butter, peanut but...

We aren't big on Valentine's Day around here, but we are big on cookies. I used a classic Martha Stewart  recipe, but opted for a soft powdered sugar frosting instead of royal icing.  Royal icing can be beautiful, but it can also be frustrating. I started with the usual ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.  (There are two sticks of butter in this picture, but I only used one.) And then I used the basic cookie dough technique. I creamed the room temperature butter and sugar in my mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy.  This is an action shot. Then I added the egg and vanilla and mixed well. And finally added in the dry ingredients and stirred until just mixed. The dough is pretty crumbly, but sticks together when pressed.   Finally, and this is an important step, I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and chilled in the fridge for at least one hour. Once chilled, I rolled it out to about 1/8" thickness, ...