Showing posts with label Cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cookies. Show all posts
Today I think we are having one of the most miserable days we have had all winter weather-wise. Yesterday was so mild that we were almost tempted to walk around in our shirt sleeves.
What a difference a day makes. It is sleeting and raining and snowing all together out there as I write this on Friday morning. There is nothing for it but to bake as it is a for sure that we will not be going out!
There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked cookies to chase away the Winter blues! And these cookies do just that perfectly.
Ranger Cookies are a cookie that I have been baking for my family for many, many years. I think I got the original recipe from a church recipe book here in Greenwood about 35 years ago.
I can remember making them once for my middle son's nursery school. Each parent had to take turns bringing in a snack. These were very popular.
And that is no small wonder as they are loaded with lots of delicious things. Coconut, crisp rice cereal, raisins, white chocolate chips.
Of course you could sub dried cranberries for the raisins and semi sweet or milk chocolate chips for the white chocolate chips.
You could also sub large flake oats for the coconut if you wanted to. I like these just as they are however.
The original recipe made a truck load of cookies. With there only being me in my household now and it still being a Pandemic, I small batched the recipe to make only 20 cookies rather than the original 84.
I just can't be dealing with 84 cookies, no matter how tasty they are!!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE RANGER COOKIES
There is nothing out of the ordinary here. Just plain, simple, baking cupboard ingredients, as it should be.
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large free range egg yolk (freeze the white for another purpose)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (75g) raisins (or dried cranberries)
- 1/4 cup (20g) shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips (can use a mix of milk and semi sweet if preferred)
- 1 cup (42g) crisp rice cereal
- 1/2 cup +2 TBS (85g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
I am sure you know the kind of crisp rice cereal I am talking about. You could also use corn flakes crushed a bit. You just want a crisp cereal not too large in size.
You can also sub butterscotch chips for the white, semi sweet, or milk chocolate chips. They go very well with raisins.
HOW TO MAKE RANGER COOKIES
These go together pretty much like any cookie does with the exception that you do have to chill the scooped out batter on the cookie sheet for an hour prior to baking. Don't skip this step. It really does make a difference!
Melt the butter and allow to cool to room temperature. Beat the butter and both sugars together. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
Whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Beat slowly into the butter mixture.
Stir in the coconut, chocolate chips raisins and cereal by hand until thoroughly combined.
Scoop into 1 1/2 inch balls (1 1/2 TBS each) and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place in the refrigerator to chill for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/ 180*C/gas mark 4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crispy edged and golden brown on the bottoms. Delicious!
Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
When I was bringing up my five children I prided myself on making sure that there was a freshly baked snack waiting for them each day when they got home from school. I was very blessed to have had the luxury of being able to be home for them when my children were growing up.
I know not everyone had this luxury. So I was very lucky indeed. So were the kids! (At least I like to think that they were!)
These are the perfect cookie to enjoy with a cold glass of milk or a hot drink. They are even lovely served as a dessert with a bowl of vanilla ice cream!
In short, these are delicious. So delicious that I betcha can't eat just one!
Ranger Cookies (small batch)
Yield: Makes about 20
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 12 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 22 M
Crunchy, chewy, sweet moreish cookies. Betcha can't eat just one! Do plan ahead however as they need to chill for one hour prior to baking.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large free range egg yolk (freeze the white for another purpose)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (75g) raisins (or dried cranberries)
- 1/4 cup (20g) shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips (can use a mix of milk and semi sweet if preferred)
- 1 cup (42g) crisp rice cereal
- 1/2 cup +2 TBS (85g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Melt the butter and allow to cool to room temperature. Beat the butter and both sugars together. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
- Whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Beat slowly into the butter mixture.
- Stir in the coconut, chocolate chips raisins and cereal by hand until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop into 1 1/2 inch balls (1 1/2 TBS each) and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place in the refrigerator to chill for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/ 180*C/gas mark 4.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crispy edged and golden brown on the bottoms. Delicious!
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Thanks for visiting!
I am sitting here in my cosy home this afternoon enjoying a hot drink and one of these delicious jam filled drop sugar cookies that I baked this afternoon. As I am writing this I am reminded of a song that was very popular when I was a teen, called Our House, by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Our house is a very, very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is easy coz of you . . . it was a pretty little song and I can remember thinking to myself one day I will have a very, very, very fine house.
Oh how very blessed I am to have my four walls and the comfort which lies within. I may not have anyone at the moment to share it with, but my two cats. I may never have anyone to share it with, but life has a funny way of turning out completely different than we think it will, and we must take our blessings where we find them.
Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam
I think being safe and warm in a very cosy house with two very lovely cats on a snowy, blustery day, with warm cookies, fresh from the oven to enjoy is a very, very, very fine thing.
And I'll not knock that! I won't knock it at all! Cinnamon and Nutmeg are mighty fine company for me. I am a lucky woman.
Its a drink and cookie kind of a day. Be it hot cocoa, or tea, coffee, or even cold milk for that matter. You cannot beat one of these delicious cookies served alongside a nice bevvie.
They are soft inside, chewy in the middles where the jam soaks into that sweet dough, and crisp and buttery around the edges. They are a very fine cookie indeed.
When I lived here many years ago, there was a Ben's Bakery discount store almost right next to my mom's where you could buy discounted baked goods. They often had these soft white sugar cookies there, with jammy middles.
Oh but I didn't half dream about those cookies when I was in the UK. This is a version of those that I developed when I was over there, a little taste of home away from home.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE JAM FILLED DROP COOKIES
Pure and simple ingredients. I am sure that the original cookies were made with white sugar and shortening, but I prefer them made with butter and brown sugar.
1/2 cup (120g) butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) soft light brown sugar, packed
1 large free range egg
4 TBS warm water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup (280g) plain all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
strawberry jam to fill (or your own favorite kind)
1 cup (200g) soft light brown sugar, packed
1 large free range egg
4 TBS warm water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup (280g) plain all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
strawberry jam to fill (or your own favorite kind)
Usually when I am baking I try to make sure all of my ingredients are at room temperature unless otherwise specified. If your eggs are cold from the fridge, it is very easy to bring them to room temperature.
You can do this using warm running tap water. It is a bit of a waste of water, but it’s the quickest means of bringing your eggs to room temperature. Carefully place the desired amount of eggs in a bowl or other container and let the warm water run over the eggs.
Another thing you can do (this is what I do), if you know you are going to be baking on any particular day, you can take the butter and eggs out of the refrigerator when you get up in the morning. By the time you get around to baking they will be at the right temperature.
I have specified strawberry jam here, but in reality you can use whatever kind of jam you enjoy. Apricot is nice, so is blueberry, or even peach. Raspberry. Bake up a rainbow!
The jam I used today was a seedless strawberry jam that needed using up.
HOW TO MAKE JAM FILLED DROP COOKIES
Nothing could be easier. Start by preheating the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with some baking paper and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using an electric hand mixer. Beat in the water, egg, and vanilla. Whisk together the flour, salt and soda. Beat this into the creamed mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop the mixture into 18 equal portions on the baking sheet, leaving at least two inches in between each.
- Using the back of a wet teaspoon, make a small hollow in the center of each cookie. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the jam into each hollow.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before eating.
If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you will know that we really love baked goods with jam in my family. Its quite simply one of our favorite things to eat.
A few of my other jammy favorites are:
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. I am no stranger to jam, that's for sure!
Anyways, if you are looking for a nice wholesome, homey, old fashioned kind of a cookie to bake for the family this weekend, look no further.
Jam Filled Drop Cookies will fit the bill perfectly. I promise!
Jam Filled Drop Cookies
Yield: 18 - 24 large cookies
Prep time: 7 MinCook time: 12 MinTotal time: 19 Min
These soft brown sugar drop cookies are topped with a lovely sweet dab if strawberry jam prior to baking. Everyone loves these! They are a wonderful taste of home sweet home, especially with a glass of cold milk.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large free range egg
- 4 TBS warm water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cup (280g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- strawberry jam (or your own favorite kind)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with some baking paper and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using an electric hand mixer. Beat in the water, egg, and vanilla. Whisk together the flour, salt and soda. Beat this into the creamed mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop the mixture into 18 equal portions on the baking sheet, leaving at least two inches in between each.
- Using the back of a wet teaspoon, make a small hollow in the center of each cookie. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the jam into each hollow.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before eating.
Thank you!!
We're having a huge snow day today! I don't know how much fell, but I am sure it is over two feet altogether. Put it this way, I can't open my back door and they have no plans to shovel it according to Sheila next door.
I know they are struggling with clearing up the road and the driveways, never mind the back doorways., but I always thought that legally tenants needed to have two viable exits in case of fire.
I just went out and tried to push against it with all my might and it wasn't budging, and as you know I am a pretty hefty woman! My next door neighbor Sheila is very concerned She has a doggie and her doggie can't get out to toilet itself.
I suppose he could use the front, but that's not the point. We need to be able to get out our back doors. She is going to call the office and complain I think.
I thought I would bake some cookies today for some of my neighbors, especially Sheila. I thought it would be a good excuse for me to check up on them and see if they are okay. You never know with seniors how they are getting on.
Its always a good thing to check up on them, especially in inclement weather. And bringing them freshly baked cookies is the perfect excuse to use for knocking on their door!
The recipe which I am sharing today was adapted from the King Arthur Baker's Companion cookbook. Its an excellent baking book. I highly recommend. It was one of the books I chose to replace when I moved back to Canada.
I have another chocolate chip cookie recipe that is my favorite that I have been baking for years. It results in cookies which are crisp on the edges and chewy in the middles. You can find that recipe here.
Its a really good one, but I am always up for trying something new and I was especially intrigued by the title of this one. Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies.
I love crisp cookies. Cookies that snap in your mouth. Cookies that are perfect for dunking into a hot cuppa or a cold glass of milk. I needed to bake these to see if they lived up to their name!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CRISP CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Nothing more than the usual suspects when it comes to baking cookies.
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter at room temperature (they specified unsalted, I used salted and cut back on the salt in the recipe)
- 1/2 cup (110g) vegetable shortening (in the UK Trex or white flora)
- 1 cup (200g) soft dark brown sugar, packed (I am sure you could use light brown sugar as well, but the molasses flavor would not be quite as pronounced.)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract (This was optional, but I added it to see if it made a difference.)
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 2 cups (280g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 cup (120g) chopped toasted pecans
- 2 - 2 1/2 cups (360g - 450g) semi sweet chocolate chips (I used the full amount, Kirkland brand.)
It seems like a lot of chocolate chips I know, but trust me, if you are a chocolate chip lover, do use the full amount. I really like the Kirkland brand that you can get at Costco. They are quite simply the best chocolate chips.
Nice and rich and chocolatey. Also you could use walnuts instead of pecans, or leave them out altogether if you don't like nuts. But if you do like nuts, do toast them first. It makes all the difference in the world.
10 minutes in a moderate oven does the trick beautifully. Just spread them out on a baking sheet and pop them in. They're done when they smell nutty. Make sure you cool them down before using them.
HOW TO MAKE CRISP CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Cookies are probably one of the easiest things to make. Most children start off their baking careers by baking cookies with their mums. Mine did!
Begin by preheating the oven to 375*F/190*C/gas mark 5. You want to have a couple of large baking sheets ready and lined with baking parchment. Alternately, you can butter them, but I am rather lazy and baking paper saves on the washing up.
Beat the butter, shortening, both sugars, egg, vanilla and almond extract together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the baking soda and salt. Add the flour, along with the nuts and chocolate chips, mixing on slow speed until thoroughly combined.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on the baking sheets 1 1/2 to 2-inches apart. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. The underside will be light golden brown and the cookies set and crisp around the edges.
Leave to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before scooping off onto a wire rack to cool completely. I dare you to resist eating one, or two, or three fresh off the baking sheets!
If you can do that you are a better man than I Gunga Din!
Store the baked cookies in an airtight container. These also freeze very well. And just so you know, frozen cookies taste just as good as room temperature cookies. (I am so naughty!)
These are really, REALLY good cookies. (I would expect nothing less from King Arthur Flour.) Sheila phoned me up to say she was enjoying one with a nice hot cup of tea.
I'm about to go and do just that myself! I think I am going to brew up a pot of Mandarin and Honey tea. That will suit me just fine, or maybe I'll crack open that hot chocolate bomb my sister and Dan gave me for Christmas. A snow day seems like the perfect occasion!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan@aol.com
On Wednesday nights my father usually meets with some lady friends for Fish and Chips at one of the local restaurants. Occasionally I go to meet him there and have dinner with the ladies and him.
He has been after me to bake him some cookies for a while now so I thought today I would bake him some Jam Jams and bring them with me to the restaurant to give to him. I thought they would make a nice surprise.
My father just loves Jam Jam cookies. He also loves Molasses cookies. These Jam Jams are the perfect combination of the two and comes from the annals of my Big Blue Binder.
The Big Blue Binder is a large plastic covered binder which I have been gathering recipes in since I was a young girl. It has been all the way across Canada and back and across the Atlantic ocean and back as well. It is one of my treasures.
It is filled with old family recipes, recipes clipped from magazines over the years, handwritten recipes shared with me by friends, etc. It is filled with tried and trues. I reckon everyone has something like my Big Blue Binder.
This is a recipe I got from my good friend Leona back in 1981. Our husbands were both in the Canadian Armed Forces and serving on a base in London, Ontario. We met at a Bingo at the Junior Ranks mess on a Sunday evening and have been fast friend ever since!
Not only did we have a love of Bingo in common, but we both also loved to cook and to bake for our families. Quite a few of my tried and trues come from Leona.
I love recipes that come associated with happy memories and beloved friends and family, don't you? I never bake these cookies without thinking of my dear friend and remember the happy times we spent with each other through the years bingo-ing, laughing and cooking!
The original recipe (as most older recipes) was not complete with instructions, temperatures, finished amounts, etc. Those older recipes rely on the cook/baker knowing a bit about what they are doing.
I have worked out the temperatures, etc. for you as well as the amounts of flour needed. The original recipe only said one word . . . flour. haha
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MARITIME JAM JAM COOKIES
Simple ingredients you probably already have in your larder and cupboard.
- 1 cup (220g) butter (I use salted)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) mild molasses (In the UK you can use 60ml golden syrup and 60ml dark treacle)
- 1/2 cup (100g) soft light brown sugar, packed (you could also use muscovado)
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp baking soda, dissolved in 3 TBS hot water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/2 cups (490g) all purpose plain flour (you may need a bit more, plus you will need more for rolling out the dough)
- jam for filling (I used seedless raspberry jam, you will need about 3/4 tsp for each cookie pair)
These are somewhat different than the cookies you will see in the shops here in the Maritime Provinces. The Jam Jam cookies there are produced by Purity a Newfoundland company and are not molasses cookies per se.
These are molasses cookies, and I like this version better than the Purity one because . . . one, I love Molasses Cookies, and two, homemade is always infinitely better!
HOW TO MAKE MARITIME JAM JAM COOKIES
As I said above the original recipe was basically just a list of ingredients, and some of them were quite vague as to the amounts, and there were no instructions listed at all. I have endeavored to make these instructions as simple and yet as exact as I can!
You need to begin by preheating your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4 and lining several large baking sheets with some baking paper. The recipe makes approximately 26 jam filled double cookies, so you can use one baking sheet twice, or two baking sheets. Its up to you.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Your butter should be at room temperature. Actually I usually have all of my ingredients at room temperature when I am baking. It just works better that way.
Beat in the egg, salt, vanilla, molasses, and soda until well combined. I am not sure why in the old days they always requested that you mix the soda with hot water. Perhaps it was to make sure the soda dissolves. In any case I do exactly that and then beat it in.
The mixture might look a bit curdled at this point, but don't worry you are going to start beating in the flour now and that will sort that out. I beat it in 2 cups (280g) at first with the electric hand mixer and then I beat in the remainder (about 1 1/2 cups 210g) by hand.
Your dough should be stiffish but not dry. You want it to be quite malleable about the consistency of play dough. So don't add too much flour.
Once you have your dough to the right consistency you can start rolling it out on a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin. I usually do this in quarters. I roll out a quarter, (1/4 inch thick) and cut out my rounds with a 2 1/2 inch cutter, placing them 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
Once I have cut all the rounds that I can from that quarter, I gather the scraps and knead them into another quarter measure of the dough. That way you don't end up with really floury dry cookies (if that makes sense). You can see why you don't want your dough to be really dry and crumbly to begin with.
Once the dough has all been rolled out and placed onto the baking sheet(s), it is time to bake them. It takes approximately 12 minutes at 35/*F/180*C. You will know they are done when they are set on top and golden brown on the bottoms.
Because they are a brownish cookie you won't really be able to tell from looking at the color on the top.
Scoop them off onto a wire rack to cool completely. You can then sandwich them together in pairs, using about 3/4 tsp of jam in the middle for each pair.
If you want to make them really stick well together you can return them to the oven briefly (in pairs) and this will heat the jam up a bit and they will stick together better. Or (and this is what I do) I sandwich them together while they are still quite warm.
I can't wait to see my father's face when I turn up with these tonight! I think he is going to be really excited to see them. I am going to be really happy as well because making him happy makes me happy!
My sister stopped by with some mail this afternoon and I was able to give some to her to take home as well. That also put a smile on my face.
These cookies are really nice served with an ice cold glass of milk. I hope you will enjoy these traditional Maritime favorites as much as we do!
Yield: 26 jam filled cookies
Maritime Jam Jam Cookies
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 12 MinTotal time: 27 Min
This is a recipe I got from my friend Leona about 40 years ago now. This is a crisp molasses cookie sandwiched together with raspberry jam in the middle. A maritime tradition. The original recipe used margarine. I use butter.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (220g) butter
- 1/2 cup (120ml) mild molasses
- 1/2 cup (100g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp baking soda, dissolved in 3 TBS hot water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/2 cups (490g) all purpose plain flour
- jam for filling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line several large baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, salt, molasses, vanilla and soda until well combined. Stir in the flour to give you a stiff dough.
- Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out on a lightly floured flat surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a 2 1/2 inch cutter, gathering up scraps and re-rolling as needed.
- Place onto a baking sheet leaving 1 1/2 inches between each cookie.
- Bake for 12 minutes until done. (They will be firm on top and golden brown on the bottoms.)
- Scoop off onto a wire rack, and repeat baking process until all cookies are baked.
- Sandwich pairs together with about 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of jam in the center. Store in an airtight container.
All of the content you see here on this page, both photography and written, are the sole property of The English Kitchen, Marie Rayner. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
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