This time of year we are making so many cookies it’s unreal. Lars made a batch last night for his scout troop today- I made a batch today for friends - last week I think we went through 12 pounds of butter just making and frosting cookies.

These are ones you will want in heavy rotation. They are in heavy rotation at our house - this is literally what Lars made last night, they are a huge favorite in our house. Jud told me today that he waits all year for these! Who knew?

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

8 candy canes

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush up the candy canes until they are very small pieces.

STEP 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the eggs, vanilla and cocoa powder and blend until light and fluffy.

STEP 3

Blend in flour and baking powder until the dough comes together. Roll a scoop of dough and dip the top into the crushed candy canes. Place candy side up on a lined baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes. The cookies will seem cake-y. It’s ok. Let them rest on the pan for about five minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container for up to one week!

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Peanut Butter + Chocolate is a tale as old as time. It’s literally the best combination of flavors. I can’t actually come up with a better one. Unless we’re taking queso and chips - but that’s totally different than PB&C.

Rumor has it my husband made peanut butter cookies when he was a kid. He used to put chocolate chips in them because he is smart and knows PB&C is the best combination. The hilarious part of this rumor is that I have known my husband for 25 years and not once has he even attempted to make a cookie.

These are perfect to take to a party or for a Big Cookie Friday celebration. I can’t get enough of them.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

makes two dozen

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 egg

1 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 tablespoon shortening

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Set aside.

STEP 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Blend until well combined.

STEP 3

Scoop the dough out and flatten each scoop. Bake 10 minutes until brown on the edges.

STEP 4

Microwave the chocolate chips with the shortening in 30 second bursts until smooth. Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate. Let cool on waxed paper until the chocolate has set. It will not set completely hard.

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Have you ever had the Cranberry Bliss Bar at Starbucks? I resisted for years because it did not look delicious, but oh boy was I wrong. Cranberry Bliss Bars are SO GOOD. It’s dried cranberries, white chocolate, cream cheese and a cookie layer which meant it was perfect to turn into a cookie!

I made these and ate quite a few immediately. Then I froze a bunch of them to see what happened. They were perfect! Which means you can make these cookies today - freeze them - and defrost them in time for Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. Or a Tuesday board meeting - which is what I will take them too :)

Cranberry Bliss Cookies

makes 2 dozen

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

12 ounces white chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together shortening and sugars. Whip in eggs and vanilla and blend until smooth and fluffy.

STEP 2

Combine all dry ingredients and add them to the stand mixer. Blend them together slightly.

STEP 3

Pour in the chocolate and cranberries and blend until the batter is totally mixed. Scoop on baking sheets and bake 12 minutes until browned. Let cool on the baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack.

STEP 4

Warm cream cheese in the microwave for a few seconds until soft. Whisk in powdered sugar. Drizzle the top of cooled cookies.

Eat immediately or store in an airtight container for up to one week.

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I know most people think Pumpkin Spice is THE fall flavor. But they’re wrong because that’s disgusting. The flavor of fall is this molasses cookie. Before you say they aren’t, bake them first! I promise it will change your mind.

These have the perfect flavor - they stay chewy - which is mandatory for a molasses cookie. I stick them in the kid’s lunches during these early months of fall - and then make sure there are enough left over for you to have one in the morning with coffee. I cannot recommend them enough with coffee!

Let me know if you make them and what you think. Happy fall!

The Best Molasses Cookies

makes about 2 dozen

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar + more for rolling

2 eggs

1/2 cup molasses

2 1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars. Whip until the mixture is fluffy.

STEP 2

Whisk in the egg and molasses and whip until fluffy.

STEP 3

Add all of the dry ingredients to the mixture and combine until just mixed.

STEP 4

Scoop out cookie dough and roll in sugar to coat. Place each cookie dough ball on a lined baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet.

Store them in an airtight container for about a week.

HOT TIPS

• This dough is super sticky. It does best when chilled or baked immediately. I like to chill it so it can roll in the sugar easier.

• If your cookies start to spread too much, chill the dough.

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Fall just feels like oatmeal cookies to me. I used to make them for football games, because my mom made them for football games, so I’m sure that’s a part of the reason. This week I started to wonder how I could make them even more “fall” feeling. So I swapped out the raisins for craisins and added butterscotch chips (which are literally what fall tastes like). I think they are a pretty epic fall cookie. What do you think?

Fall Oatmeal Cookies

makes about two dozen

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup quick oats

2 cus butter scotch chips

1 cup craisins

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Whip until light and fluffy.

STEP 2

Combine together the flour, baking powder and oats - then blend into the stand mixer. Blend until just barely combined.

STEP 3

Toss in butterscotch chips and craisins and blend until totally incorporated.

STEP 4

Scoop on to a baking sheet and bake 12 minutes until browned on the edges. Let cool on a wire rack and keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

These go perfectly with a cup of hot apple cider. 😉

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Apple Cider Cocktail

4 ounces fresh apple cider

2 ounces bourbon

1/2 ounce allspice dram

Fill two cocktail glasses with ice. In a pitcher, stir together all ingredients. Pour the cocktail over the ice dividing it equally between both glasses

Cin cin!

I had completely forgotten about these cookies until I was looking for a totally different recipe this last week and ran across this gem! These are my Grandma Leona’s cookie bars. Grandma Leona died before I was born, but I have been told by many that she and I were kindred spirits. She was crafty, a cook, made things overly fancy for no reason - so clearly she was great.

There are a handful of things that have come down from her that are clear memories of my childhood; gaudy Christmas ornaments and these cookie bars are the top two.

My mom used to make these regularly when fall began and they still make me feel all the cozy fall feels. They are quirky to make, because they begin with cooking down the raisins. My mom always made them in the pan the raisins cooked in because that’s how Leona made them. I put them in a stand mixer because I’m lazier than both of them.

The key is to make sure the raisin mixture is hot when you use it so the shortening melts. I still use shortening because we are mostly dairy free around here - so that’s easy. If shortening is not your thing, they cook equally as well with butter!

Let me know what you think. Did your grandma have cookie bars that she made?

Grandma Leona’s Raisin Bars

makes 2 dozen bars

1 cup raisins

1 cup water

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small sauce pan, cook together the raisins and water over low heat until the water is half evaporated.

STEP 2

When raisins are still warm, pour them into the bowl of a stand mixer and immediately add the shortening - you need it to melt down.

STEP 3

Whisk in eggs and sugar and beat until completely combined.

STEP 4

Add all dry ingredients - I usually mix them in a small bowl first, but you don’t have to. Stir until the dry ingredients are incorporated. It takes a minute so be patient. But don’t over mix!

STEP 5

Pour the batter into a greased 9x12 pan. The batter won’t look like it’s enough, but spread a thin layer and have faith. It will fill the pan! Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until golden brown on top.

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Who doesn’t love a churro!?! We’ve made them before but they’re messy and greasy. So I stick to cookies. And churro cookies seemed like the perfect way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!

So you’re going to say - aren’t these just a snickerdoodle? Well, kind of. But also these are crispier on the outside and smooshy on the inside which makes them an amped up version of a snickerdoodle - which in my opinion makes them a Churro Cookie! Also, isn’t a fun name 90% of making something fun?

Churro Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and 1 cup sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and whip on high until light and fluffy.

STEP 2

Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cream of tartar and add it to the butter mixture. Beat until mostly incorporated. It will be a dry mixture.

STEP 3

Slowly add the milk to the mixture and incorporate until the batter becomes smooth and blends together. If it still seems dry, add another teaspoon of milk.

STEP 4

Scoop batter into balls and roll through the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake 10-12 minutes until brown on the edges. Let cool slightly before moving the cookies to a cooling rack.

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Continuing the tropical theme this January…. the ultimate coconut sugar cookies. These with a little spike of lime zest make for a little ray of sunshine in the middle of this very grey, very rainy, very cloudy month. I brought them to my kids as they got out of school today - it was the end of finals week - any they were loved. Well, mostly - I got some “input” too. Kids are great!

You’re going to love these incredible sugar cookies even more than my teenagers did. I promise.

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

2 cups flour

1 cup ground coconut

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lime zest

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Then add the eggs, vanilla, coconut extract, and lime zest. Beat until fluffy.

STEP 2

Add the flour, coconut, and baking soda. If you wish to mix them in a small bowl first, you may. I just mix them together in the bowl to make sure the soda is evenly distributed.

STEP 3

Scoop onto a lined baking sheet. Press each scoop down slightly and sprinkle the top with sanding sugar or turbinado sugar. Bake 12 minutes until just browned on the edges. Let cool before eating.

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I am pretty sure those caramel apple pops came out when I was a kid. I remember them being a hit one year in elementary school - and I think that’s because that’s when they were first invented? I thought they were the best. It was the best of both worlds - gooey caramel and the jolly rancher type green apple candy. I loved them. But I don’t really eat candy anymore - or even really like it. But what I do like is cookies.

I had this idea for a caramel apple cookie and I must have tried a dozen versions of this before I finally figured out those flavors are incredible when turned into a snickerdoodle. It also seems the apples you use are important too. The red apples get smooshy and weird. Even the honeycrisp which - ironically - make the best actual caramel apples. The green ones are the ones you need for these cookies. Ideally, peeled and chopped small.

If you can’t find the caramel bits - I found them at the grocery store and at Target - you can cut up the caramel squares and use those. They will just take a little longer to prepare.

Caramel Apple Snickerdoodles

Makes two dozen

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup room temperature butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 cup finely chopped green apple

1/2 cup caramel bits

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar and beat unril smooth. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until fluffy.

STEP 2

Combine together the dry ingredients - then add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until just combined.

STEP 3

Add the greek yogurt and mix until smooth. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

STEP 4

Add the apples and caramel bits and mix until fully incorporated.

STEP 5

Prepare a small bowl with sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the dough into balls (it’s sticky!) and roll it through the sugar mixture. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes until golden on the edges.

Let cool on the baking sheet a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

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My daughter loves Harry Potter. She loves everything about it. Every time we go to the grocery store, we pick up a bottle of a ‘butter beer’ look alike and she pours it into the cup we bought at Harry Potter land in California.

It seemed only necessary that I turn her favorite soda into a cookie. It’s the perfect Halloween/fall cookie flavor since butterscotch naturally lends itself to fall. Adding the pudding adds a dash of flavor but more importantly, it keeps the cookies really soft.

Butter Beer Cookies

1 cup butter, room temeprature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

3.4 oz butterscotch pudding mix

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

12 oz butterscotch chips

STEP 1

In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat until combined.

STEP 2

Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat well until the mixture gets lighter in color and is fluffy.

STEP 3

In a small bowl, combine flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and baking powder. Add it to the stand mixer and blend until mostly combined.

STEP 4

Pour in the chips and turn the mixer back on. Let it run until the dough looks like a cookie dough.

STEP 5

Scoop onto a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to continue to cool.