soft molasses sugar cookies

{meet my new cookie jar from bath & body works.}

{and the perfect cookies to fill it}

{and some to give away}

molasses sugar cookies
3/4 C shortening
1 C sugar
1/4 C molasses
1 egg
2 C flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

melt shortening in saucepan, remove from heat. add sugar, molasses & egg. Beat well with beaters (i beat it right in the pan). Stir in dry ingredients (i add right to pan...no need to do more dishes!) DON'T beat with beater! stir in with spoon...it makes the cookies softer. Chill for at least 1 hour. Form into 1" balls and roll in white granulated sugar. place on cookie sheet 2" apart and bake 6-8 min @ 375 degrees.

when life gives you lemons...

m a k e

when i was visiting my mom, she said that she could really go for these cookies, so i've had them on my mind ever since. when she came out last october we found this recipe on food network and tried them out. they were scrumptious! i decided that i needed to make them again for my stampin' up party tonight. i adjusted the recipe a bit b/c the original recipe had some crazy ingredients that i couldn't find at the grocery store...and this worked out great! this is a PERFECT treat for spring time or summer. matt says they "awaken his mouth."

For Cookies

• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp butter at room temperature
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest {about 1 lemon}
  
• 2 x large egg yolks
• 1 x whole large egg
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

For Icing

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice {or more depending on desired consistency & tartness}
  
• 3 tbsp butter {if you want it to be thinner, then melt the butter}
  

To Assemble

1. For cookies, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and stir in lemon zest. Beat in egg yolks and whole egg until fully incorporated. Stir in sour cream until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients and stir just until blended. Chill batter for 30 minutes, just to set butter a little.
2. Preheat oven to 325 °F. Spoon tablespoons of batter onto a greased cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, just until the bottoms of the cookies turn golden brown. Allow to cool before icing.
3. For frosting consistency: beat powdered sugar & room temp butter until mixed, then add lemon juice until you reach desired consistency. Then frost the cookies with a knife. For icing consistency: stir powdered sugar into lemon juice until smooth. Stir in melted butter (this will thicken the icing a bit). Dip the tops of the cookies into icing, and place on a cooling rack, so excess icing can drip off. Let cookies set 1 hour before removing, and store in an airtight container, with layers of parchment between the cookies to prevent sticking.

3 ingredients to goodness...

{1 - 15oz jar of pumpkin}

{1 box spice cake mix}

{1 cup of mini chocolate chips}

{3 dozen yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies}

no joke! that's all folks...i like to call this kind of recipe a "fake it" recipe...like you are faking that you are exactly like a perfect, martha stewart, homemaker.
here's how you "fake it":
blend cake mix and pumpkin until cake mix is all mixed in.
add the chocolate chips.
spoon onto a greased cookie sheet.
bake at 350 for 15 min.
voila....perfection!
{and they are super low-fat! so you can eat 5 instead of only 1! and believe me, you'll want to!} thanks steph for the recipe!

"mommy-made oreos"

so for jack's preschool get-together i was assigned to bring a "fun dessert". i thought i'd ask jack what he wanted me to make...knowing full well this is what he'd pick. he loves "mommy-made oreos" {not the ones in the package he clarifies}. this has been jack's favorite "mommy-made" treat since i can remember. a little over a year ago i had a beautiful platter of these yummy cookies sitting in the middle of my counter, all ready to take to a BBQ, and when i came back into the kitchen after getting ready, i found evidence of the top ten missing cookies on jack and gracie's face and hands. i'm sure many of you have at least had a variety of these...aka {cake mix cookies}. we just add frosting. so go make some "mommy-made" oreos today!

*1 box chocolate cake mix {just the powder}
*1/2 C. oil
*2 eggs
*1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all together. Spoon cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake @ 375 for 7-10 min. After completely cool, frost with:

Vanilla Butter Frosting:
*3 C Powdered Sugar
*1/3 C softened butter
*1 & 1/2 t vanilla
*2 T Milk

Mix pwd sugar and butter. Stir in vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth.

varieties:
*use mint extract instead of vanilla and add green food coloring for mint oreos
*use cream cheese instead of butter for cream cheese frosting
*use a tub of vanilla frosting from the store if you must {i'm such a frosting snob! i only like homemade!}

{for those of you who didn't read the comments, my friend heather said for the fall she likes to use spice cake mix for the cookie part, and adds pumpkin to the frosting: YUM!!!! thanks heather!}