Stephanie's Fruit Pizza (Dessert)

This recipe comes from one of my students who is an awesome cook. Ever since watching Jamie Oliver's video on superb salads, she has made her own salad dressings for lunch. She has tried out her own oreo truffles. Most recently, she brought this wonderful dessert to a shared meal. It was wonderful because it had a little bit of sugary sweet (from the 'crust') with the rest of the flavor from the fruit.

This dessert would work well with many kinds of fruit, as long as they are firm, like kiwi, apples, or bananas. Watery fruit such as peaches or oranges would not be good.

Ingredients

• 1 package premade cookie dough (usually in the refrigerated section)
• vegetable oil spray
• one 13.5 oz tub of cream cheese fruit dip, such as T. Marzetti brand
• 1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 1 pint fresh blackberries
• 1 pint fresh red raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven according to temperature on cookie dough package.
2. Very lightly, spray your pizza stone or cookie sheet.
3. Roll out sugar cookie dough into one large pizza size circle.
4. Bake according to package directions.
5. Once cookie 'crust' is completely cool, spread most / all of the fruit dip onto your cookie.
6. Evenly spread your fruit topping over the entire cookie.
7. This pizza can be covered with aluminum foil and placed in the fridge to be served later in the day if needed.

Cinnamon Chip Cookies

First things first - the winner of my first blogiversary giveaway (a jar of homemade blackberry jam), who was chosen randomly, is Kate, who said about her favorite homemade item: "I love love love anything with peanut butter. I have kind of a problem with it. Hi, my name is Kate and I'm a peanut butterholic." Kate, I will be contacting you via e-mail for your info!

On to the deliciousness...

Cinnamon chips, unlike chocolate chips, don't really taste great on their own. But after baking in a hot oven and melting a little, they become one of my favorite additions to a cookie. They're more like cinnamon sugar really, and since they're so tiny they help create a cookie that much resembles snickerdoodles in flavor. I was able to find my bag of cinnamon chips at a local independent grocery store that sells bulk products. You may be able to find some at a food co-op or specialty baking store if they're not at your regular grocery store.

The trick with these, and any cookie, is when you remove them from the oven. To get a crunchier cookie, wait until the edges of each cookie have just browned. For a chewier cookie, check on them as the minimum time gets close. Remove them as soon as they look firm, regardless of their color. They will continue to cook for another minute or two out of the oven until they cool completely.

Recipe adapted from The Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett.

Ingredients (makes 25-30 cookies)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature (not melted)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 lb cinnamon chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar.
3. Add vanilla and eggs.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
5. While stirring / mixing sugar mixture, slowly add flour mixture until completely incorporated.
6. Add cinnamon chips and stir well.
7. Grease two cookie sheets.
8. Place dough balls the size of golf balls onto cookie sheet, spacing them about 2" apart.
9. Bake, one tray at a time, at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and place cookies on a cooling rack for at least five minutes.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think the most beautiful, classic cookie ever invented was the one involving oatmeal. I loved oatmeal raisin cookies as a kid, and upgraded my favorite when I began making my own oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. My favorite kind of chips to use are Nestle's white "Swirled" morsels, or what I like to call zebra chips. Each chip was a twist of milk chocolate and white chocolate. They are hard to find but apparently are still made. If you ever find them in the store, be sure to try this recipe using them!

Anytime you use oats in baking, be sure to use real "old fashioned" oats. This means they are not instant, partially cooked (like "quick oats"), or cut in a way to reduce cooking time. You want them to take the full amount of time to cook so they can absorb the proper amount of liquid and leave you with a cookie, rather than a blob. 

I've made this recipe so many times I don't really remember where it came from, but if I had to guess I would probably say that this is my own twist on a recipe found in the The All-American Cookie Book.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 bag chocolate chips, or chips of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, and brown sugar until blended.
4. Add vanilla and eggs and mix.
5. In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking soda.
6. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Stir well.
7. Add oats. Stir well.
8. Add chocolate chips. Stir well.
9. Roll into golf ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet.
10. Bake 9-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Centers should be slightly soft when taken out of oven.
11. Let cool on rack for at least 5 minutes before eating or packing into containers.

Comments

The trick with baking these is removing them at the perfect time so you get soft, chewy cookies. I usually remove mine at around 10 minutes when the centers still look gooey but the outsides seem almost browned. I kept them in a sealed tupperware container and even a week or so later they were still very moist. This recipe makes about 30-40 cookies at the size specified.

Cardamon Spice Cookies with Chocolate Glaze

Cardamom is a lesser known member of the ginger family, and is fantastic in cooking as well as baking. These cookies are in the style of icebox cookies, which are rolled up into a log, refrigerated, and sliced into thin discs. I suggest preparing the dough the night before you wish to bake.

The recipe is great plain, but also consider them paired with the chocolate glaze recipe that follows. Chocolate must be melted slowly to prevent the fat from separating itself (hence the low heat).

This recipe was adapted from Mary Engelbreit's Cookies Cookbook.


Cookie Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Cookie Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and cardamom.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer or stand mixer (on medium speed) until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Turn the mixer to low speed and gradually beat in the flour mixture.
3. On a floured surface, form the dough into a 14-inch log and wrap in waxed or parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, then unwrap and reroll to refine shape. Return to fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/4=inch slice and place about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Glaze Ingredients

• 6 oz chocolate (I used 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate and 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (or another flavorless oil)

Glaze Directions

1. In a small saucepan, melt half the chocolate over low heat. Remove from the heat and add the remaining chocolate and the oil, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
   
2. Scrape into a small bowl and dip each cookie halfway into the chocolate and place on a wire rack until chocolate sets.

Comments
These baked up crunchy, and paired well with a cup of tea. Cardamom cookies are great for someone who wants a twist on a traditional gingerbread cookie, or perhaps doesn't want as intense a spice flavor as gingerbread provides.

Carrot Cake Cookies with Lemon Glaze

This recipe was my birthday cake this year! Rather than making myself a cake, I opted for these cookies. My friends were gracious enough to grate the carrots by hand, but injuries occurred, so if you are intimidated by sharp objects, I suggest buying pre-grated carrots.

The lemon glaze really makes these cookies, so don't skimp! Also, don't be worried if these seem too "healthy" - if it's a testament to how tasty these cookies were, they disappeared within 30 minutes at the party.

The only photo I have of these cookies is this one of me blowing out the candle on it, so I apologize for not having a close up of the beauty of these tasty little desserts.

Cookie Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (if you've got it, make this using 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 5 Tbsp milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Glaze Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• juice from 1 lemon
• zest from 1 lemon
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a cookie sheet.
   
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, carrot, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
4. With a mixer, or by hand using a spatula, beat in egg, milk, oil, and syrup until just blended.
5. Drop small blobs of dough (about 1/8 cupfuls), about 2 inches apart, onto a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake 10 minutes or until just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
7. While cookies are baking, whisk together glaze ingredients in small bowl. Add a Tbsp or two more powdered sugar if you desire a thicker, more frosting-like glaze.
8. Once cookies have cooled, spread glaze on top of each cookie and let set.

Comments
These were light and a little chewy, so it wasn't hard to eat more than one. The lemon glaze really brightens up the flavor - I wouldn't recommend them without it.