Caramel Squares

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
3/4 cup margarine or butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix together and spread mixture on bottom of lightly greased 9X13 pan.  Make another 1/2 of this recipe and set aside for crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until top is golden brown.

32 caramel squares
3 TBS. margarine or butter
3 TBS. of milk

Melt caramels, margarine, and milk together over medium heat on stove.  Stir and mix well so mixture will not burn on bottom of pan.  When it is melted, pour over the baked, cooled oatmeal crust.  Do not pour over the crust when the crust is hot.

16 oz. bag semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Sprinkle chocolate chips over caramel mixture.

Sprinkle reserved crumb topping over the chocolate chips.  It will not cover all of it, so sprinkle it evenly with gaps in between. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This was a really yummy cookie. I liked the combination of cranberries and white chocolate chips. I'm not going to put the cookie recipe here because I really like my oatmeal cookie recipe better. So use my oatmeal cookie recipe and add 1 cup white chocolate chips and 6 ounces of dried cranberries instead of the chocolate chips it calls for.

Cookie Baking Day

So, finally, here are the recipes for the cookies we baked after Thanksgiving! We had a fun time and pretended we had an audience as we demonstrated our recipe. Hope you enjoy and get at least one new recipe idea. Happy holidays!

Heath Bar Cookies

This is the cookie Karissa made.

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

12 oz. chocolate chips

Skor or Heath bar pieces

Combine first five ingredients. Mix flour, oats, baking powder, and baking soda and mix with wet ingredients. Add chocolate chips and candy bar pieces.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from baking sheet immediately after baking.

Pinwheel Cookies

My mother made these cookies. She has memories of her mother making these cookies. They are rather time intensive. My grandmother says it is important to put the chocolate layer, which is more dry, on top of the white layer before you roll it and cut it out.

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 egg yolk

1 TBS. milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 oz. square unsweetened chocolate, melted

1 TBS. milk

Cream together shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Blend in egg yolk and milk. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half; to one half, add chocolate and milk. Mix.

Chill both layers 1 1/2 hours. Roll out dough separately to similar size. Place chocolate layer on top of white layer. Roll up dough into log and cut. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

This is the recipe I decided to try. They are more difficult than I wish they had been; you have to roll the dough into balls and then place cherries on top. The recipe says to frost the cookies before baking, but I found the frosting stuck to the pan and then I couldn't get the cookies off. If I make them again, I will frost the cookies AFTER I bake them.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
48 maraschino cherries (about one 10-ounce jar), undrained
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter medium-to-high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press down center of each ball with your thumb. Drain cherries, reserving juice. Place a cherry or cherry half in the center of each cookie.

For frosting, in a small saucepan combine chocolate pieces and the sweetened condensed milk. Heat until chocolate melts. Stir in 4 teaspoons of the reserved cherry juice.

Spoon about 1 tsp. frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover cherry. (If necessary, thin frosting with additional cherry juice). Bake in preheated oven about 10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks, cool. Makes 48.

Grandma Jenning's Oatmeal Cookies

This is the cookie Jill made. Her Grandma Jennings keeps this in the freezer for visitors. I must say these are the best oatmeal cookies I've ever had. I think I'll keep a roll of these in the freezer too and bake as needed.

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 cups oatmeal

Cream together shortening and sugars. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Roll into a long tube about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and place in plastic wrap. Make two logs per recipe. Freeze for at least 24 hours. Cut cookies from log as needed and cook at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

Candy Corn Cookies

This is a great fall cookie, thanks to bettycrocker.com.

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
orange food color
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted, cooled

1. Line 8x4-inch loaf pan with waxed paper, extending paper over sides of pan (I didn't have any and used plastic wrap--you will not bake the mixture in the pan). In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, and egg until soft dough forms.

2. On work surface, place 3/4 cup dough. Knead desired amount of food color into dough until color is uniform. Press dough evenly in bottom of pan.

3. Divide remaining dough in half. Gently press one half of remaining dough into pan on top of orange dough. On work surface, knead chocolate into remaining dough until color is uniform. Press over plain dough in pan, pressing gently to edge of pan. Refrigerate 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until firm.

4. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove dough from pan. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut each slice into 5 wedges. On ungreased cookie sheet, place wedges 1 inch apart.

5. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set and edges are very light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container.

Jelly Bean Thumbprint Cookies

This is another recipe I want to try at Christmas. It would be great to make at Easter too with the pastel jelly beans. You could also use other candies, like red and green M&Ms for Christmas. I thought it would be a fun recipe to do with the kids. However, you do need to do it over the course of 2 days because the dough has to be refrigerated for 8 hours. It's from Christmas With Southern Living 2007.

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 TBS. heavy whipping cream
assorted jelly beans
additional powdered sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks and vanilla, beating until blended.

Combine flour and salt; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Cover and chill dough 8 hours.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press thumb into each cookie to make an indentation.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 13 minutes. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; remove to wire racks. Make thumbprint indentations again while cookies are still warm; let cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar and heavy cream in a small bowl; stir with a fork until smooth. Spoon icing into a zip-top freezer bag; cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and squirt a small amount of icing into indentation in each cookie. Press jelly beans into center of each cookie. Let set. Dust cookies with powdered sugar. Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies-Small Recipe

This is actually a different recipe than I normally use; I usually use the recipe off the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag (which I can post later). I tried this recipe because it was in a recent magazine and had the title "the perfect cookies." The taste was similar, but what I really liked about it was that the recipe made only 20 cookies. So this is a great recipe to use if you don't want to have a lot of leftover cookies. Sometimes I freeze the extras or share them with others, but you don't have to worry about it if you use this recipe.

1 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl and set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, 2 inches apart, on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden around edges. Cool on wire rack.

See cookie tip here.

This is T after eating one of these cookies:

Butterfinger Cookies

When I used to do Achievement Days, one of the girls brought these cookies-and they were so good!

½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 egg whites
1 ¼ cups peanut butter (chunky)
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
5 Butterfinger candy bars (2.1 ounces each), crushed

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I got this recipe off a computer program. It’s my favorite cookie and has become a family favorite.

1 cup margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 ½ cups quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream first three ingredients together. Add sugar and brown sugar. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture and mix until combined. Stir in quick oats and chocolate chips until combined. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Monster Cookies

My mother made these cookies when we were growing up. The recipe makes a ton of cookies!

12 eggs
2 pounds brown sugar
4 cups sugar
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS corn syrup
8 tsp. baking soda
1 pound butter
3 pounds peanut butter
18 cups oatmeal
1 pound M&Ms
12 oz. chocolate chips

Mix ingredients in order given. Bake 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.

Forget-Me-Not Cookies

This is the cookie recipe we always use for Santa Claus. The kids love making these and opening the oven in the morning to see how they turned out. My mother and grandmother both make these cookies too. I usually double or triple the recipe.

2 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

Beat 2 egg whites with pinch of salt. Add sugar gradually. Beat until very stiff. Add chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper; mixture does not spread. Put in oven that has been preheated to 350°. Turn oven OFF and leave the cookies in for 4-5 hours (it’s easiest to leave them in overnight).

The Softest Sugar Cookies Ever

My college roommate Sarah had a grandmother who baked the best sugar cookies. She shared the recipe with me. The secret ingredient is the pudding. The key is putting the dough in the refrigerator to harden; it is impossible to roll out the dough without doing this.

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 small box vanilla pudding
4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix pudding, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add mixture to butter mixture alternately with the milk. Allow dough to sit in fridge for at least an hour so it will be easier to work with. Cut cookies and bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

Cookie Tip

The secret to good cookies is to get them out of the oven when they still look doughy. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. They will be very soft and delicious!

Cake Mix Cookies

I got this recipe from a roommate at college. It is such a quick, easy recipe that can be used for a variety of cookies. My favorite combination is a chocolate cake mix with M&Ms in them.

1 box favorite cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 tbs. flour

Mix ingredients together and add favorite candy (M&Ms, chocolate chips, etc.). Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.