It’s that time of year to pull out the KitchenAid mixer and get to baking. Here are some of the FOCUS on NoVA Team’s favorite cookie recipes.
Anise Cookies
Maura Stevens
4 Cups Flour
2T Baking Powder
1 Cup Sugar
½ Cup oil or melted butter
2 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
2T Anise Extract
1 Cup Confectioners Sugar
DIRECTIONS
- Mix dry ingredients.
- Make a well in mixture and add Eggs, Oil, Milk and Anise Extract.
- Mix all ingredients together. Dough will be sticky. Flour hand to prevent stocking.
Shape dough into1 inch balls. - Bake on a greased Cookie Sheet 2 inches apart at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes until golden brown on bottom only.
- Take Confectioners Sugar and add a small amount of water until it forms a thin icing. You can add Anise Extract to icing if you like. Dip baked cookies into icing and top with colored sprinkles or colored sugar.
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Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Tracey Barrett
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl; set aside.
- Cream butter, sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar together in a separate bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and milk
- Add flour mixture; mix well.
- Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes.
- Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Let cookies cool before carefully removing them from the pan.
Soft Sugar Cake Cookies
Lynn Norusis
1/4 C butter
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 C sour cream
2 1/2 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Icing and sprinkles of your choice
DIRECTIONS
- Cream softened butter and sugar.
- When fluffy add beaten eggs. Beat until light and pale in color.
- Add dry ingredients alternatively with sour cream.
- Add nutmeg.
- Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet inches apart.
- Bake at 375-degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Frost with icing and top with sprinkles.
Peppermint Mocha Cookies
Latoria Logan
1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons (51g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons espresso powder or 1 Tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (180g) mini or regular size semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 large candy canes, crushed
DIRECTIONS
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined and then beat in the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be thick and very sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Scoop and roll dough, 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each, into balls. A medium cookie scoop is helpful for this step. To ensure a thicker cookie, make the balls taller than they are wide (almost like a cylinder or column). Arrange 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheets. The cookie dough is certainly sticky, so wipe your hands clean after every few balls of dough you shape.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Melt the chopped white chocolate in a double boiler or use the microwave. For the microwave, place the white chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Melt in 15 second increments, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Dip each completely cooled cookie halfway into the white chocolate and place onto a parchment or silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of the chocolate. Repeat with the rest of the cooled cookies. Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator to help the chocolate set, about 1 hour.
