Cranberry Orange Short Bread Cookie

I made these cookies to have after Thanksgiving dinner but instead we had so much dessert I saved them and then baked them on Sunday and took them to work.  I will probably made this cookie during the Christmas Holiday's.  It's an easy recipe to put together and yields a wonderful cookie.  Give them a try.

 2½ dozen cookies

Ingredients

½ cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
¾ cups sugar, divided
2½ cups all purpose flour - spooned and leveled, not scooped
1 cup butter, cubed (and cold)
1 tsp almond extract
zest of 1 orange
1 to 2 tbsp of fresh orange juice (otional)
additional sugar to coat cookies before baking if desired

• Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Combine cranberries and ¼ cup of sugar in a food processor and process just until the cranberries are broken down into smaller pieces. Set aside.
3. Combine flour and remaining sugar in a large bowl.
4. Use a pastry cutter to cut in butter. You want very fine crumbs.
5. Stir in extract, cranberries and sugar mixture, orange zest and orange juice (optional).
6. Use your hands to knead the dough until it comes together and forms a ball. Work the dough until it comes together.
7. Shape dough into a log about two inches in a diameter and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for two hours or up to 72 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 325F.
9. Cut slices of cookie dough about ¼ inch thick.
10. Place about a half a cup of sugar in a bowl and coat the cookie slices with sugar.
11. Place cookies on baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or just until cookies are set. Do not over bake.   Usually they take about 12 minutes, depends on your oven.
12. Let cookies cool for several minutes on baking sheet before removing to cooling rack. Let cool completely.
13. Store in airtight container for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

thanks for taking time to stop by, have a great week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things YOU L♥ve.

Donna

Chewy Ginger Snaps *xmas*

These were a Monday Work Treat.  I decided to try some cookies that I will be making for Christmas and see how they were liked.  I made these a bit bigger than they should have been..had forgotten how much bigger they get during cooking.  When I make the batch for Christmas gifts I'll make them small.  I find it's hard a times to judge what a 1" ball is suppose to look like.  As you can tell mine were much bigger.  :)

Printable
Ingredients

¾ cup butter or margarine

½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg

¼ cup fancy molasses
2 cups all purpose flour (or substitute half whole wheat)
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
Sugar for rolling cookies in

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, soda, salt and spices. Blend dry ingredients into creamed mixture.
4. Shape dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar. Place 2" apart on greased or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are golden. (Don't overbake - cookies should be slightly soft when removed from oven.)
5. Cool on baking sheet a few minutes before removing to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days (plastic container if you want them to stay chewy, glass if you prefer crispy cookies). These can also be frozen for 3-6 months.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to find the Time to Do ALL the Things You L ♥ve.
Donna

Orange Sugar Cookie

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for dipping
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange  zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch of ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350°F and either lightly grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together the sugar and the butter until well combined. Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, grapefruit juice, and grapefruit zest until well combined. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger and then combine with the liquid ingredients until a soft dough is formed. (This is supposed to be a soft dough, but if you find it’s too soft then chill it for 15 minutes before proceeding.)

Pour some granulated sugar into a bowl and then form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Dip each dough ball into the sugar and then place on the sheet 2-inches apart, as they’ll spread as they bake. Bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are just set. They’ll be puffy when they come out of the oven but as they cool they’ll flatten and form those glorious cracks in the surface. Continue for the rest of the dough.
Thanks for taking time to stop by.  Leave a comment if you want and Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the Things you love.
Donna

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

These had been posted as one of the top 9 on Food Buzz in June.  They looked so yummy so of course I had to try them.  They are really good but next time, and there will be a next time, I will use more lime juice,  zest and for the coconut lovers more of that too.  These are a nice soft, chewy cookie.  Would be a great one to add to your holiday baking list or summer desserts.

Printable

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one large lime, finely minced
3 tbsp lime juice
½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut
½ cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you haven't already toasted your coconut just put a layer of coconut on a cookie sheet and bake it at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Watch out. It goes from white to burnt really quick if you aren't watching closely.
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.  Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.  Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest.
Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut.
Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.  These do spread quite a bit. so don't over crowd, I did 12 cookies to a large cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
You can make them larger if you like, so they look like the giant cookies they sell in Malls.  

 Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the Time to Do all the things YOU Love.
Donna

Breakfast Anyone?

French Toast...Yum
I usually make white bread at least once a week, sometimes more depending on how much the kids eat.  Josh, my oldest grandson can eat a whole loaf at one sitting.  Well anyway I had bread sitting on the counter and was hungry for this so I made one slice with the white bread and one with the Italian Bread I made the other night .  All I can say is YUM, YUM, YUM.  Whenever I cook the dog comes down to see what there is to eat...too funny.  I like my french toast with sugar and butter, I know most people eat theirs with syrup.
Very easy to make and I'm sure many have made this but sometimes we forget the easy, yummy recipes.

 The white bread slice with butter and sugar.

The Italian bread with butter and sugar.

and a very close up....you can just about taste it, huh?

I used 1 egg, 2 or 3 TBL heavy cream and just a dash of vanilla extract.  (don't use to much vanilla or it will over power the wonderful taste, or you can just omit it)  Dip bread slices in and soak until nice and moist. Heat a skillet add some butter and cook until nice and golden brown on each side.  Remove add butter and your topping....and Enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the TIME to do ALL the things YOU love.
Donna