With the summer comes lots of yard work and let me tell you that it feels like we are starting with a blank canvas and have spent a huge chunk of our days outdoors. Thankfully, Doll loves the outdoors.

Now that we are almost at a “maintain” point as opposed to planning stuff here, fixing stuff there… etc. I can spend my “nap time” time doing this.

BUT these cookies… I love them. I was trying to figure out something to make with rhubarb. Something a bit more unique, as everyone has done  Rhubarb Bread, Rhubarb and strawberry pie, jam, you name it; it’s been done/seen. HOWEVER! I have never heard of rhubarb cookies before. I googled and had a good starting point for a cookie that needed just a bit of tweaks. It reminded me of  Zucchini Cookies.

Michigan Ingredients: Rhubarb (from my favorite orchard), Eggs, Butter, Sugar, Brown Sugar (and not pictured because I am silly… Cinnamon)

Now when it comes to Rhubarb, please make sure you get the most red stalks. For one they are more pretty, and for another, the redder the better. The red stalks are also more tart, which is the characteristic we are going for.

First things first, grab all the Rhubarb and start to chopping. It was a bit hard to gauge how much Rhubarb would be needed for 4 cups in total.  I happened to grab 6 stalks and hoped I would have enough. I had about one and a half stalks left over, which you could use for Rhubarb Bread.

When I started chopping the Rhubarb, I wanted to make sure it would be something that my family would eat, because as I have stated before, Rhubarb is an acquired taste/tart. I grew up with my grandmother making Rhubarb pies, so I was already use to/in love with Rhubarb.  I figured chopping the Rhubarb into small, tiny pieces would be a good start.

This is the same reason why I shredded 2 cup in the food processor. It helps ease you in, but still gives you that tart flavor! Trust me when I say that when you eat these cookies, it is not just one tart bite; the sugar in the cookies help balance everything out. Set your 4 cups of Rhubarb off to the side.

Start creaming your 2 sticks of softened butter and 1 cup of each sugar together until fluffy. Of course, you know how I always start, start the mixer with just the butter to give it a head start, then add the sugars.

Add your 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. I know it may look like I am using a special type of vanilla in the picture, but I can assure you that it is your basic pure vanilla extract. It is not the type you have to order from exotic places/spend a small fortune. I am thinking about how fun it would be to make vanilla extract from scratch. I’ve seen other people do it, and it doesn’t seem hard…. it just takes time.

Look at that! Fluffy and delicious.. I mean… just fluffy lol.

DRY INGREDIENTS!! Sorry for shouting. You know that warm and inviting smell that makes you think of  the holidays/going to grandma’s house? These spices put in the same vicinity do that. Trust me… I started getting them out and placing them in the bowl and realized that the dough part of this cookie was going to be amazing. The line up: 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of oats (old fashioned, because… come on, it’s better for baking), 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Combine all these in a separate bowl. Stir and make them friends.

Now I always chop my walnuts myself with a giant knife, but you can always  buy your walnuts pre-chopped.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, I buy my walnuts in the giant bag. I am always using walnuts in baking, salads, etc. so it makes more sense for us.

Add your Rhubarb and walnuts to the creamed mixture. Mix until evenly combined.

Add the dry ingredients and combine.

Look at that red color! Drop the cookies onto a cookie sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes. You want to make sure that these cookies are baked all the way as these have that “muffin-like” texture, and if they are not baked all the way… it does not taste the greatest. Trust me… make sure these are baked all the way.

Since these are pretty much muffins…. eat these for breakfast! Perfect for on the go and for when you want to feel like you are overindulging.  

One thing that I noticed, is that it is hard to store these in a Ziploc bag.  Try to store these bad boys in a plastic container. They store fine in a Ziploc, but they start to stick together, which is a good/bad thing. Good because if you grab a cookie and it’s actually 2 cookies, it counts as 1. The bad thing is if people are around and do not under stand the “counts as 1” rule.

Rhubarb Breakfast Cookies

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 3.5 dozen

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 35 mins

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A wonderfully semi-tart cookie that is hard to eat just one in the morning

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 3 cups Flour
• 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Ground Cloves
• ½ teaspoon Ground Allspice
• 1 teaspoon Salt

Wet Ingredients

• 2 sticks ( 1 cup) Unsalted Butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

Add-ins

• 1 cup chopped Walnuts
• 2 cups chopped Rhubarb*
• 2 cups shredded Rhubarb*
• (at least 6 stalks give or take 2)

Instructions

1. Combine and stir the dry ingredients into a medium size bowl.
2. Cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Add your eggs and vanilla to your creamed mixture until completely combined.
4. Add both the chopped and shredded * rhubarb and stir.
5. After the rhubarb is well incorporated, add dry ingredients until just combined.
6. Fold in the chopped walnuts.
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
8. Drop cookies onto a cookie sheet, and bake for 13-15 minutes.
9. Make sure the cookies are completely done, as this is the type of cookie that should not be "raw" as it will not store or taste properly.

Notes

*Note: When you chop your rhubarb, if you are not use to the tart taste, chopped the rhubarb into tiny pieces as shown. If you want, you can shred all the rhubarb in the food processor like the other 2 cups; whichever suits your family's taste buds.

Recipe adapts from Allrecipes.

3.5.3226

I seriously love these cookies! This recipe is a crazy modification of my White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies. It was something that I just whipped up one day and my husband was quite pleased. It has oats, apples, and walnuts. This makes it a health food. True story.

This cookie hits all the Fall points: apples, warm cinnamon, walnuts…. YUM!

Michigan Ingredients: sugar, cinnamon, Meijer egg, Meijer butter, and Granny Smith Apple.

Apples are in full swing right now. Everywhere you turn, apples are on sale. Stores are advertising “local produce” left and right and who is in the spot light right now? APPLES!

Apples are the perfect snack and can be used in virtually any meal. You want to make a apple gravy, apple cheddar muffins, or put some apples in a crock pot with a pork loin.

Michigan Ingredients (part 2): Meijer walnuts, Meijer brown sugar

I love it when this happens…. too many Michigan ingredients to put in one picture

Combine your flour, baking soda, and baking powder. I don’t measure the cinnamon. I just sprinkle a little here, a little there. If you have to measure it, use at least 1/2 teaspoon. But this way you can have a little bit of freedom in how cinnamon-y your cookies will be.

Take a cup of walnuts and chop away to desired size. I don’t like too big of pieces due to having a little one… BUT if you want giant pieces, you can try that…. but trust me when I say, it is better to try to make the nut that you are using in your cookies match the size of the chips.

Like so. Look at how beautiful of friends these two ingredients are.

Let’s take a side trip… the cinnamon chips are a Hersey product. It is kind of hard to find, but so worth stocking up on. If need be, you can always order them online from Amazon or the Hersey website.

Whip up your softened butter and then add your sugars.

With it being October, I got to bust out my Halloween utensils. Scrap the bowl to help assist in your creamed mixture to be extra creamy.

Add your egg and vanilla and beat the mixture until fluffy-ish.

Add your dry mixture and beat until well combined. Forget to take a picture…

What you didn’t see me do here is combine the walnuts, cinnamon chips and oats into a bowl. BUT you can see them being added to the dough.

Peel your apple and start dicing.

You will want to have your apple pieces be on the smaller side so as to not overcome/sogg-ify your cookie.  Depending on how big your apple is ( I usually use a medium sized apple), cut the quarters in half, then cut into thin strips.

Look at how small these pieces are; yet, big enough that you will taste them in the cookie. Whenever we make apple pancakes, we always cut the apples this size.

Sprinkle some more cinnamon. Apparently in my mind, there wasn’t enough. BUT adding a coating around your fruit is always a good idea. Why, I don’t exactly know; however, it is something that my family always does in recipes with fruit. Think of the blueberry muffins for example.

Fold your apples into (or on low…)  the dough.  Take a little nibble… such a warm and inviting cookie dough. And it only gets better when it’s baked.

Drop “whatever size you want” of dough onto a baking sheet and bake these beauties at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Soft, pillow-y cookies that I am sure will be your go-to Fall cookie. Hurry and make a batch today and share with loved ones. I promise they (and you) will be thankful.

Apple Cinnamon Walnut Cookies

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 24 cookies

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The perfect Fall cookie

Ingredients

• 1½ cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 stick or ½ cup Butter (softened)
• ½ cup Brown Sugar
• ½ cup Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 cup Cinnamon Chips
• 1 Cup Walnuts, chopped small
• 1½ cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 medium sized Granny Smith Apple
• Lots of Sprinkling of Cinnamon

Instructions

1. Combine your flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Sprinkle some cinnamon. You can add as little or as much cinnamon as you like. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your mixture (or separate bowl), whip up your softened butter. Add your sugars and beat until combined. I would recommend scraping the bowl at least once before the next step.
3. Add your egg and vanilla to your creamed mixture and beat until fluffy.
4. Add your dry ingredients that you set aside and mix until combined.
5. Combine your chopped walnuts (which you can do by hand or buy them pre-chopped/small), cinnamon chips, and oats in a bowl. Add to the dough mixture.
6. Peel and dice your apple into tiny pieces. Sprinkle cinnamon over the apples and give a little stir. Fold (or on the lowest setting) the apples into the cookie dough until just combined.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes

#version#

It’s that time of year where the back to school supplies are hitting the shelves and everyone is starting to talk about donation drop of locations, if one’s school is switching to the “balanced calendar” etc.  To me… this only means one thing… the sooner we are to cooler weather, fall decorations, Halloween, and comfort food (ok, I guess a few things).

Over the last couple of months, I have learned that I am a comfort cook. I love to make casseroles, slow cooker meals, soups, etc. In the spring and summer months, we survive on grilled chicken/pork, rice and veggies. Nothing really too fancy… BUT bear with me and I will have a more diverse set of recipes come this next spring and summer.

ANY WHO….. yes back to school. I will always remember that sometimes my mom would have milk and cookies for us kids after school for when we were doing our homework.  This would be a great recipe for that first day of school for either lunches or as a way to coax information out of your child about their first day (ha!)

Michigan Ingredients: Peanut Butter, Butter, Farm Fresh Egg(s), Sugar, Brown Sugar

Seriously working it with the Meijer items eh? What can I say, I love that store.  Then of course the farm fresh eggs as you can recall from my little rant in my last post.

Combine your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl (flour, oats, baking soda, and baking powder)

Cream your butter (which is softened) and peanut butter. I know that a lot of peanut butter cookie recipes do not include butter, but these are gourmet cookies and hey, why not?

Add your sugars….

Add one whole egg and one egg white, vanilla… and a splash of milk. The splash is maybe 1/2 a tablespoon. Not too much.

Try not to consume this.  I know it will be hard to do as *I* had a difficult time.

Add your dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Imagine a picture of me doing that here :).

This recipe is what got me my KitchenAid (Professional KitchenAid).  My husband loves this recipe and would see me struggle when I would add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. If you are using a hand mixture, it will come together; it just might fight you a bit…. totally worth the battle. If you have a KitchenAid, it will seem a little more violent rough than most cookies, but it won’t break it. PROMISE!

Another piece to the Gourmet puzzle…. One cup of peanut butter chips. I know that when I was testing this recipe out a few years ago, I started out with adding more peanut butter but decided that if I added more  I would have to had more dry and yada yada yada… so the thought of adding the peanut butter chips came to mind. It was the missing piece.

Add your peanut butter chips and mix until just combine.

Grab some dough and start rolling. You want to make them about the size of walnuts. You don’t have to measure (weigh), you can just eyeball them.  Roll them in sugar (you will not need that much sugar – I always have sugar left over which sadly gets thrown away). This is the point where I would turn my oven on to preheat to 350 degrees.

The secret to making these cookies look fancy: a potato masher. I always have had a hard time using the fork method; I don’t know why. BUT… my husband had this amazing idea to use the potato masher and see if that would work. This does wonders and the “indents” actually stay; whereas when I would use the fork method, the indents would bake out and not look fancy. Press the masher length and width wise.

Look at these beauties. When you make the indents, the cookie might separate (meaning the edges might crack and not have the perfect shape), so be sure to try and press the cookie back together to make it “shapely.”

Bake for 11-13 minutes. This recipe makes about 30-33 cookies. I know that these are not like my typical mega large cookies. It shocks me too; however, it is one of those recipes where you have to think about when you put the cookies on the pan and you have to press them down (flatten but not flatten). I would recommend eating at least 5 2 cookies. Enjoy!

Gourmet Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 30 cookies

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 13 mins

Total time: 28 mins

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A gourmet cookie that is perfect for after school or impressing your friends

Ingredients

• 2 cups Flour
• 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ stick of Butter, softened
• 1⅔ cups of Peanut Butter
• ½ cup White Sugar
• ¾ cup Brown Sugar
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 Egg White
• 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla
• Splash of milk (roughly ½ tablespoon)
• 1 cup Peanut Butter Chips
• Additional white sugar for rolling

Instructions

1. Combine your flour, old fashioned oats, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.
2. Cream together your softened butter and peanut butter until creamy. Add your white and brown sugars and cream again.
3. Add your egg, egg white, vanilla, and splash of milk. Mix until well combined.
4. Add your dry ingredients to your creamed mixture until well combined.
5. Add your peanut butter chips and mix until just combined (don't over-mix).
6. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
7. Place some white sugar in a bowl, no more than a cup and measure the dough into walnut-sized balls. Roll the cookie balls into the sugar and place one a cookie sheet.
8. Use a potato masher and press the indents in the cookie to make it look fancy and press any cracks in the edges together.
9. Bake your cookies in your preheated oven (350) for 11-13 minutes.

3.5.3208

This particular recipe comes from my awesome mother-in-law (Hi!!).  This is one of my husband’s favorite cookies and it is one that I could honestly make all. the. time.  It has veggies in it, so it must be a health food right? Right. Glad we are on the same page.

Michigan Ingredients: Sugar, Zucchini, Cinnamon, and a farm fresh egg.

Seriously how delish are farm fresh eggs? My little family loves them and to us they just taste so much better. Maybe it’s mental… [maybe it’s Maybelline].

There is a fresh produce stand that I pass everyday on my way home from work and we stopped there this weekend to get some delicious veggies. I would have taken a picture… but a big storm was rolling in and it was starting to rain. I will be stopping there more often, so believe you me; you’ll get to catch a glimpse.

Shred (grate) your Zucchini.  You will need about a cup after the juice has been squeezed out.

Cream your butter, sugar, and egg until fluffy-ish.

Add Zucchini…

Mix until well combined.

Add your dry ingredients…

Mix until well combined. I promise that these cookies are not pink. For some reason, the lighting must have changed a bit… like…. the sun came back out for a second. It was storming when I was making these cookies.

Chop your walnuts and raisins. You don’t have to chop the raisins if you don’t want to, but I did this time so that my sweet Doll-Face (daughter) could eat a cookie (or 2).

Fold in the chopped walnuts and raisins until evenly distributed. Now would be time if you want to chill your cookie dough for a couple hours.

I decided to forgo that this time and bake right away. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and drop (by large spoonfuls… because c’mon… we’re making cookies people!) by spoonfuls. The size of your cookies will determine how many this recipe will yield. My size cookies yield roughly 18 cookies.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Seriously, these are the best cookies. They have a cake-like texture, which is fluffy and omg so good.  I am so appreciative of my mother-in-law for introducing me to these a while (and I mean a while) back.  You could…. not I’m not saying that I do… all the time eat these for a quick breakfast – just saying!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Zucchini Cookies

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 18 cookies

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 40 mins

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A simple Zucchini cake-like cookie recipe that one would consider healthy.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sugar (white)
• 1 stick Butter (1/2 cup), softened
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup grated Zucchini
• 2 cups Flour
• 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Chopped Walnuts
• 1 cup Raisins

Instructions

1. Beat your sugar, butter, and beaten egg together in a large bowl.
2. Squeeze the excess juice out of your zucchini and mix into your sugar and butter mixture.
3. Combine your flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a separate bowl. Add to the zucchini mixture and mix well.
4. Fold in your chopped walnuts and raisins.
5. Chill for two hours (if desired) or set oven for 375 degrees.
6. Drop dough on a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.

3.5.3208

When I first starting drinking wine, my husband and I had some sangria and cheese; you know the typical “wine and cheese” dinner. Once we did that, I was hooked; I was in love with wine.

Then I started with the Michigan wines and never turned back. I became the quintessential “snob” of only drinking Michigan wine.

Have you ever thought about what brownies and no bake cookies would taste like if they were combined/had a baby? WELLLLL….. This is the recipe to try. I wouldn’t recommend sharing these beauties with children as the frosting has wine it is as well, and the frosting is not cooked…. so….. yeah…

This is the perfect recipe to have when you want to have something that is chocolatey and fudgey to go with wine for your girls night.

Michigan Ingredient:  Sugar and Wine

I think I prefer baking with wine because it is  a no brainer and you can believe that the “alcohol” bakes/cooks out of the baked good. I believe that I read somewhere that that is not completely true; now I must research and include said research in the next recipe involving wine (because I mean come on, cooking with wine is great and classy).

Combine 2 cups of old fashioned oats, 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.  Stir to combine and set aside.

Combine 2 cups of sugar, 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of wine, 1/4 cup of cocoa, and 2 tablespoons of milk. Bring to a rapid boil (just like you would for No Bakes). Boil for a minute and remove from the heat.  Pour over your dry ingredients and stir.

This is when you realize that you probably should use a spoon because the whisk is just not cutting it.  But please make sure you use a heavy duty plastic or metal spoon because……

I broke my favorite wooden spoon. Granted I have had it for years and it was probably considered “brittle,” but seriously…. my favorite wooden spoon to use for baking is now gone.

Add your 2 cups of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of milk. This is really thick, but trust me, it will not set up as no bakes and will not bake as cookies (believe me, I tried lol).

If you want to give a taste, by all means, please do. There is no egg, so you do not have to worry about getting “worms.”

Pour the batter into an 8×8 or 9×9 greased pan.  Bake at 350 for 32-40 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.  After your have pulled the brownies out, patiently wait for them to cool. It took a bit for mine to cool, and I was chasing light, so please don’t mind the pictures.

Once your brownies have cooled, place your powdered sugar, cocoa, softened butter, wine, and milk in a bowl. Use your hand mixer because this is not a lot of frosting and beat until well combined. If you want to add more wine or milk because you want it to be thinner, OR if you want to add more powdered sugar to make it thicker,  by all means do so. It’s like a combination of a frosting and glaze.

Spread/pour over your brownies and spread evenly. Place the brownies in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the frosting to “crisp” up.

Now I know that it seems like this takes for.ever. But when you make brownies (from scratch) there are these same type of steps (bringing a chocolate, butter, sugar mixture to a boil, etc.)… and the waiting for the cooling is what makes it seem like it takes forever. But you do not want to put frosting on any baked good that is warm. It’s almost like part of the commandments of baking.

Enjoy these bad boys with a nice glass of Cherry Riesling wine that has been chilled (or in my case, use Michigan shaped ice cubes… I know…) with your girlfriends or alone while watching your favorite guilty pleasure show after the kids have gone to bed.

Wine Brownies

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 9

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 1 hour

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Enjoy these bad boys with a nice glass of Cherry Riesling wine that has been chilled (or in my case, use Michigan shaped ice cubes... I know...) with your girlfriends or alone while watching your favorite guilty pleasure show after the kids have gone to bed.

Ingredients

Brownies

• 2 cups of Sugar
• 1 Stick of Unsalted Butter
• ½ cup of Wine
• ¼ cup of Cocoa
• 2 tablespoons of Milk
• 2 cups of Old Fashioned Oats
• 1½ cups of Flour
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
• ½ cup of Milk
• 2 cups of Chocolate Chips

Frosting

• 1½ Powder Sugar
• 3 tablespoons of Cocoa
• 2 tablespoons of Wine
• 2 tablespoons of Milk
• 4 tablespoons of Unsalted Butter (softened)

Instructions

1. Combine 2 cups of old fashioned oats, 1½ cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Stir to combine and set aside.
2. Combine 2 cups of sugar, 1 stick of butter, ½ cup of wine, ¼ cup of cocoa, and 2 tablespoons of milk. Bring to a rapid boil (just like you would for No Bakes). Boil for a minute and remove from the heat. Pour over your dry ingredients and stir (use a strong spoon).
3. Add your 2 cups of chocolate chips and ¼ cup of milk. Mixture will be thick.
4. Pour the batter into an 8x8 or 9x9 greased pan. Bake at 350 for 32-40 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
5. Patiently wait for the brownies to cool.

Frosting

1. Place your powdered sugar, cocoa, softened butter, wine, and milk in a bowl. Use your hand mixer because this is not a lot of frosting and beat until well combined.
2. Spread/pour over your cooled brownies and spread evenly.
3. Place the brownies in the fridge for at least thirty minutes for the frosting to "crisp" up. Cut into the desired size you would like and enjoy with more wine.

Notes

If you want to add more wine or milk because you want the frosting to be thinner, OR if you want to add more powdered sugar to make it thicker, by all means do so.

AND please note that the prep time does not include cooling time.

3.5.3208

Now that’s it’s starting to get hot out and you still want to indulge in something sweet and handheld, by all means make No Bakes! This is a cookie that people typically make during the holidays; but in my family, we make it all year round.  One mega bonus is that it doesn’t heat up the kitchen to a blazing million degrees. During the summer months, if we want chocolate chip cookies or any cookies that you have to use the oven, we usually either make them in the evening or early morning hours.

This recipe comes from my husband’s grandmother. The one thing that I modified with this recipe is changing the quick cooking oats to old fashion as using old fashion oats tends to have the cookie set better. I know that every other recipe I had used would not set right and this is such a simple recipe that you should have no problem.

Michigan Ingredient: Sugar

First things first, place your sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk in a pan. Bring it to a boil while constantly whisking.

Once the mixture is violently rapidly boiling, start your timer for one minute. It will seem like it will boil over, but it won’t. Do not be intimidated or scared. Trust me.  After the minute is up, remove from the heat and add your vanilla and peanut butter.

Please imagine this mixture being perfectly poured over3 1/2 cups of beautiful old fashioned oats. Mix until combined.

After it is combined, you can either use a scoop or a spoon to “spoon” the mixture onto wax paper. Try to patiently wait to let the cookies set (15-20 minutes).

If you use a scoop, there will more than likely be some left in the scoop at the end; which is ok, because you can have a tiny taste just to make sure it won’t poison your loved ones.

I love making these cookies all year round (as previously stated above) not only because of the simplicity; but also because it reminds my husband of growing up. It’s amazing to me how a smell or foods can bring memories flooding back.

No Bake Cookies

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Cookie

Serves: 18 cookies

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 15 mins

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A cookie that can be made year round and is especially great in the hot summer months so you don't have to turn on the oven.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of Sugar
• ¼ cup of Cocoa
• ½ cup Milk
• 1 stick of Butter
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla
• 1 cup Peanut Butter
• 3½ cup Old Fashion Oats

Instructions

1. Bring sugar, cocoa, milk and butter to a rapid boil. Boil for one minute.
2. Remove the mixture from the heat and add vanilla and peanut butter.
3. Pour over oats and scoop (spoon) onto wax paper.
4. Patiently wait 15-20 minutes for cookies to set.

3.5.3208

This is one of my husband’s favorite cookies. It is a “treat” when I make these as macadamia nuts are a bit on the pricier side of nuts. For almost $6, you can get a whopping 1 ½ cups of nuts. It’s worth it, by all means; but it is a far cry from the Snickerdoodle.

I remember when I stumbled upon this recipe like it was yesterday. I was in college, trying to find a “healthy” cookie (I know I know…) and somehow came across this gem. The recipe stated that it is 99 calories per cookie (and that the recipe makes 48 cookies…); which I don’t believe applies to when I make cookies because A) I make real-sized cookies and B) these taste simply divine.

Michigan Ingredient: Big Chief Sugar and Meijer Brown Sugar.

Please keep in mind that I am in the process of getting fresh ingredients for recipes, as fruits and veggies are starting to become more in season. In Michigan, not many fresh ingredients are in season during this time of year BUUUUUUUTTTTTTT….. once more items are in season here, it will be glorious.  

First things first, cream your butter and your sugars. Add the vanilla and the egg. Combine your flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add your dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat.

Combine your oats, chips and nuts and add to creamed mixture. Make sure all yummy goodness of nuts, chips and oats are distributed all throughout.  You should now have heaven in a bowl.

Preheat your oven and start getting your cookies prepped. I actually have one of those cookie scoop thingers (technical term) because I would get annoyed with using the two spoon (or let’s be honest, when no one is looking, spoon and finger) method. It works well with some cookies, and sometimes it does not as the dough will coat the inside and the cookies will get smaller and smaller as the scoop gets “clogged.” Luckily, with this recipe you shouldn’t have a problem; but if you do, my apologies.

You can tell a lot about someone by the way their cookie sheet looks. If it looks brand spanking new they either just A) bought it, or B) do not really bake a lot…or C) have one of those slip-mat things. Now I’m not saying you should JUDGE someone just by their cookie sheet…. but….. you know… with baking comes love <3

Bake your cookies for 10-12 minutes. Now keep in mind what your oven temperature is like. Mine runs a little hot sometimes, so I always check in 9 minutes to be safe.

This recipe should make roughly 18 medium sized cookies. If you want to make more, simply double the recipe.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 18 cookies

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

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Ingredients

• ½ cup Butter, softened
• ½ cup White Sugar
• ½ cup Brown Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1½ cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1½ cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 cup Chopped Macadamia Nuts
• 1 cup White Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream together your butter and sugars until smooth.
2. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture.
4. Combine the oats, nuts, and chips. Add to the mixture until evenly combined.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drop cookies by whatever size you want onto a cookie sheet.
6. Bake until the tops start to become slightly golden, roughly 10-12 minutes.

Notes

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

3.5.3208

This is the type of cookie that you can eat all year round. Snickerdoodles are actually known as the poor man’s cookie, as there are minimal ingredients and you don’t have to have any form of chips to add. Usually that is the most expensive part of the cookie, the chip; as they are somewhere close to $3.50+ for the name brand and a little under $3.00 for the generic brand.

Every household (at least where I’m from) has their own version of the Snickerdoodle. This is the version my parents would make all the time because it is that good of a cookie. It’s light, fluffy, and puffy. One of the tricks to making the cookie so puffy is to chill the dough when  your oven is preheating before baking.

Michigan Ingredients: Big Chief Sugar, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg.

For some reason, whenever I buy sugar, I am always looking to see if it is sugar from Michigan. Big Chief and Pioneer are typically my go to brands when it comes to sugar since they are Michigan based. The Cinnamon and Nutmeg were an added bonus (because when I gathered my ingredients, I noticed that this company is a Michigan company :).  Not only do I love buying my spices in “bulk;” I will now be trying to use this brand more often).

First things first, grab your softened butter (which, if you are like me and not think ahead to soften your butter, please feel free to use the microwave… BUUUUUTTTTT…. don’t over do it  because you do not want to have melted butter and the cookie to fail. Use 10 second bursts) and cream the butter with either your stand-up mixer or hand mixer. Creaming the butter ahead of time helps aid in the fluffiness of the cookie.

Add your sugar and cream together until there is no graininess. I know it might be hard to wait that long; but trust me, it is worth it.

Once your creamed mixture looks like the photo above, add your flour, baking powder, and nutmeg to the mixture. Beat until the cookie dough is fluffy and place the dough in the fridge to chill out while your oven preheats.

Now one would note that this recipe creates a dozen cookies. Trust me that this is a minimum amount as you can make your cookies however small or somewhat large you want. One thing that gets on my nerves is when you are making cookies and the recipes advises that you should “drop by tablespoonfuls.” Seriously? Adults will have self esteem issues as they will have to eat 3-4 cookie to satisfy that sweet tooth that encouraged them to even make the cookies to begin with. Keep in mind for future reference, that this site will make medium to large cookies so that one does not feel as guilty eating cookies. Now by all means, if you are dieting or making cookies for a crowd/your child’s class, then abide by the “tablespoonfuls” guideline to make your cookie dough stretch. OTHERWISE, realize that you are making an indulgent treat, and make it worth while (lol).

ANYWHO….While you are waiting for the oven to preheat, create your cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar mixture. This is where you can make the cookies taste more unique to your family’s taste by playing with the ratios. Some people like a balance, some like it to have a more cinnamon-y or nutmeg-y taste.  Experiment!

Once the oven is preheated, grab your chilled cookie dough and drop the cookie dough onto a baking sheet by whatever sized cookies you are going to make (please see rant above) and then sprinkle the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar mixture over your cookies and bake for 8-10 minutes until the tops are golden.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Snickerdoodles

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 1 dozen

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 30 mins

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Also known as the poor man's cookie, every family should have a homemade snickerdoodle recipe. The secret to this recipe is the nutmeg

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 1 cup of Michigan sugar (white)
• 1 Egg
• ½ cup of Milk
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• additional sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Cream the butter until fluffy; gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in the egg and stir in the milk.
2. Add your flour, baking powder, and nutmeg to the creamed butter mixture and beat until fluffy.
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and place your cookie dough in the fridge to chill. This will help create a fluffy/pillowy cookie.
4. Meanwhile, create a cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg mixture for sprinkling. This is where you can experiment with family taste. I usually do ½ cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of nutmeg.
5. Drop cookie dough onto a pan and sprinkle the cookies with the cinnamon/sugar/nutmeg mixture.
6. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until cookies are slightly browned on top.

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