I decided to clean out some goodies in my baking cabinet and throw them all into some cookies!  These cookies are absolutely bursting with flavor.  They are chewy, melty, soft, buttery and . . . well . . . just delicious!!

Oatmeal Toffee Chocolate Coconut Cookies!
Adapted from the Heath Toffee Bits package recipe

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1 1/3 cups (8-ounce package) toffee bits
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a large electric mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, and stir until completely combined.  Stir in the oats, the toffee bits the coconut, and the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute before removing to a wire rack. Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

A good meal is good no matter which side of the aisle you eat it on. Yet another example of how food brings us all together!

I made these wonderful cookies for a political-themed election night dinner this past fall. (Don’t worry! There were dishes that were blue-state-oriented, too!) Since then, this has become a go-to recipe for me when I’m craving a super-chewy and delicious oatmeal butterscotch cookie! I’ve made a few small tweaks to the original, but Cindy McCain definitely knew what she was doing when she whipped these cookies up!

Chewy Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
adapted from Cindy McCain via Family Circle Magazine

3/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking – just regular)
1 12-ounce package of butterscotch morsels

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Next, add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition so that they are completely incorporated. Beat in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and rolled oats. Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture into the creamed mixture. Then fold in the butterscotch morsels into the cookie dough.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between the cookies because they will spread. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks. Enjoy!

After college, mom and her two best friends lived together in a one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta. The apartment came with 2 cats. None of them knew much about cooking, but they would make these cookies together from Kay’s grandmother’s special recipe.

This cookie has a delicate crumb, a cakey texture, and a subtle spice. Warm out of the oven is the best way to eat them. They are also amazing with chocolate chips in place of the raisins. I have grown up eating these delicious scone-like treats. This comforting, old-fashioned cookie goes perfectly with a tall glass of cold milk!

DoDo’s Oatmeal Cookies
from my mom’s friend Kay’s grandmother Dodo

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups chopped raisins
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
8 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the oatmeal. Sift flour, soda, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Then gently stir in the raisins and the nuts – do not overmix. Drop on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

These are the perfect chocolate cookies, made only better by the molten chocolate mint candies that nest in the center of them. I am so glad that a friend recommended this recipe to me. You can tell just by reading it that it is a true retro recipe!

These chocolate cookies are chewy, with just a slight crunch around the edge. The texture is perfectly satisfying – chewy and gooey – and the mint centers melt in your mouth to make the perfectly decadent dessert after a weeknight meal. Their colorful swirls were a match made in heaven for our St. Patrick’s Day feast this week.

Chocolate Mint Paddies
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
36 chocolate covered mint candies (i.e. Andes Mints)

In a heavy saucepan, heat the butter, the sugars, the molasses, and the water until melted and completely combined. Remove from the heat, and pour in the chocolate chips, stirring until melted and incorporated. Set the mixture aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Next, beat in the eggs, one at a time with the vanilla. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring until completely incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 large cookie sheets. Roll the chilled dough into walnut-sized balls, and place them about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and press a chocolate-covered mint candy into the center of each cookie. Allow the candies to melt for about 1 minute. Then, using a toothpick, swirl the mint portion of the candy in a decorative fashion. Remove the cookies to racks to cool completely. Yield 3-4 dozen cookies. Enjoy!

I think I need to start out by admitting the truth: I love Alton Brown. I have even considered going to stalk him in the finer grocery stores of north Atlanta. I’ve always been a bit of a science nerd, so his scientific approach to cooking and baking really appeals to me. I’ve been wanting to try his recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies, and over the weekend, I got my chance! They turned out beautifully – fluffy, doughy, chewy, delicious.

The only change I’ve made to his original recipe is to decrease slightly the amount of chocolate chips – when it comes to cookies I like to highlight the flavor of the dough so that it isn’t overpowered by the chocolate.

The Chewy
from Alton Brown

1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

In a large electric mixer bowl, measure the butter and the sugars. Blend until light and fluffy. Add milk, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Blend together again until completely combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt). With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg and butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the dough and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and spray the paper with cooking spray. Using a 1/3 cup scoop, drop balls of dough onto the greased parchment paper, allowing about 3-4 inches in between the cookies because they will spread while baking. Bake for 13-15 minutes. I like to cool them on a plate instead of a cooling rack so that they stay extra moist, but it’s up to you. Enjoy!

These are a special treat I made for my valentine this year. Tender, buttery shortbread hearts sandwiched with red raspberry preserves. Delish!

So, let me tell you everything I know about shortbread. First and foremost, it’s a simple cookie with not very many ingredients. In order to get the best flavor, you have to use high-quality ingredients, especially when it comes to the butter – I used Kerrygold Irish Butter in this particular batch. Land ‘o’ Lakes is alright, but if you can splurge on some organic or Irish butter, then you will not regret it. It would be a mortal sin to try to use a butter substitute or even margarine, so just don’t go there.

Second, shortbread is extremely versatile. We love to make it at Christmas time with all of our favorite cookie cutters. Then we decorate them with festive colored sprinkles. But you can also flavor these cookies by adding any number of things: finely ground nuts, zest from oranges or lemons, chocolate chips, or instant coffee powder. Here, I’ve made sandwich cookies with seedless red raspberry preserves, but you could use any sort of fruit filling you desire, or use a cream filling or your favorite icing. The possibilities are endless.

Why do they call it short, you ask? Well, the answer is twofold. First, the “short” in shortbread refers to the “shortening” (or in this case, butter) that is used to produce a crumbly texture. Second, a crumbly texture is actually called a “short” texture. Think about it – shortcake has a crumbly texture, too!

And the final, and most important, thing that I can tell you about shortbread is that it is the absolute BEST treat that you can have with your afternoon tea. One of my greatest joys in life is a cup of Earl Grey tea with a nice shortbread cookie to dip into it. Heaven!

1 cup butter, completely softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour

Seedless red raspberry preserves (for making raspberry hearts)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large electric mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This step is particularly important since shortbread cookies have no leavening agent (i.e. no baking soda or baking powder), so the tiny air bubbles you’re beating in now are the only source of fluffiness in your cookies. Add the flour, and continue mixing until a stiff dough forms. If your mixture is too crumbly, add a tablespoon of butter, softened, until a nice pliable dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about a 1/4″ thickness. Cut the dough into desired shapes.

For these cookies, I cut all of the dough into hearts. Then I took half of those hearts and cut a smaller heart out of the center of each of them. That way, I had an equal number of solid-bottoms and window-tops to make my sandwiches! And I baked the smaller hearts, too, and made mini-sandwiches out of them.

Place your cookies on ungreased baking sheets, about 1/2″ apart. Shortbread cookies don’t spread like some cookies do, so they hold their shape well and you don’t have to worry too much if they are close together on the cookie sheet!

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cookies are “set” and starting to puff slightly. They do not need to be brown – just a very light golden color is good. Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to racks to cool completely.

Once your cookies have completely cooled, it’s time to assemble them! Place a large solid heart on a plate, spread about a tablespoon of your raspberry preserves around the center of the cookie. Gently place your window cookie on top and press down lightly. Voila!

And here is a photo of a few of the mini-heart sandwiches I made as well. I love how the jam is dripping out the edges! Are you drooling yet???

First of all, here is my recipe for super-simple icing for decorating cookies:

Super-Simple Cookie-Decorating Icing
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 drop vanilla

Blend ingredients in a small bowl with a fork. If icing is too thick, add a drop of milk until it reaches the desired consistency. If it is too thin, add extra icing sugar. A drop of food coloring may be added to create any color you wish!

Spoon the icing into a ziplock bag. Close the bag securely. Using a sharp pair of scissors, snip of a very small bottom corner of the bag. Pipe the icing through the corner onto the cookies. Allow the icing to set before stacking your cookies.

Second, let’s talk about what cookie equipment you will need. If you don’t have a football cookie cutter, then DON’T WORRY! We can’t all be as lucky as me and have a set of 101 cookie cutters. In fact, I accidentally left mine behind when I went to my parents’ house to make these this year, and they ended up turning out perfectly even though I just used a sharp knife to cut out the shapes.

And thirdly, let’s talk cookie recipes. In the past, I’ve made football cookies just by using my football cookie cutter with my regular sugar cookie recipe. Then I iced them with chocolate frosting and drew on the laces with some plain white icing. But that was sort of a lot of different flavors, and I’m not a huge fan of chocolate icing on sugar cookies, so the search continued.

Recently, I discovered this wonderful recipe for Brownie Roll-Out Cookies from Smitten Kitchen’s blog. I knew immediately I’d found a new recipe for my football cookies! No need for chocolate icing, just draw on the laces like so . . .