Cookie Review

Doesn't my title sound like a good vaudeville show? I would love to see some dancing macaroons right now. Leggy ones, preferably! Today is my favorite nephew's birthday.  E will be 13! The above picture happens to be my favorite although he was probably 8 or 9. I just love it though. Below is a more recent, more adolescent one. Typical middle schooler, right?

What better way to welcome him into his teens than with some sugar butter orbs in varying flavors? Plus I am poor and can bake moderately well. E said he didn't have any major aversions to typical cookie ingredients, so I thought I'd try three from sites online and then review them here. My three choices are:

Chocolate Chip Brownie Decadence
Thumbprints
Healthy Ginger Snaps

 Chocolate Chip Brownie Decadence

 This first one was a pin my buddy Tara put up on Pinterest. Beyond that, we don't know where it came from. But the recipe was attached with the pin lucky enough. To be honest, this was super easy! I even got Little Pea to help me. It's basically chocolate chip cookie, a peanut butter cup with brownie on top. I used mini muffin tins for mine which worked out just fine. I would say to use a tin with teflon like the one on the left since it was ten times easier to pop them out and keep their shape.

Recipe

Preheat oven to 350; smoosh 1.5 squares of break-apart refrigerated cookie dough into the bottom of each well. Place Reese cup upside down on top of cookie dough (or an Oreo!). Top with prepared box brownie mix, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes.

The next two are from allrecipes.com, but I included the recipes for all lazybots.


Thumbprint or Rosenmunnar

This cookie requires only four ingredients, but I recommend making on a cool day as you can see the pool of jelly is more like a puddle. Or don't be as impatient as me and put refrain from sticking butter in the microwave to soften.

 

 

 

 

Recipe

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

1/2 cup fruit jam or jelly

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add sifted flour, and mix well. Shape dough into 1 inch diameter balls and place on cookie sheets. Imprint your thumb in the center to make a 1/2 inch indentation. Fill with your favorite preserves.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown at the edges. 

Ginger Snaps 

This one ended up being my favorite! It uses whole wheat flour and 1 batch makes several dozen.

Recipe

1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup molasses
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 cup white sugar for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar until smooth. Mix in the eggs, and then the molasses. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, heaping the measures if you like a lot of spice. Stir the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture just until blended.
3. Roll the dough into small balls, and dip the top of each ball into the remaining white sugar. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are cracked. Bake longer for crispy cookies, less time for chewy cookies. Cool on wire racks.

The package arrived at E's on his big day and his reaction was satisfying especially since he said thanks several times with no coaxing from his mom.