Its a frosty 4 degree morning and a little dusting of snow fell overnight and while there is not enough to have snowballs outside, we can definitely have them inside.  What could be better than to help warm the kitchen with some cookie baking! Grab your apron and let's get to baking.

These little gems are addicting, so consider yourself warned!  They are buttery, melt in your mouth, toasted pecan bits of heaven.

This is a vintage recipe and I've seen it everywhere, so it is hard to know who to attribute it to.  I will say this is recipe is a little different than many of the recipes in that it requires the pecans to be ground very fine, almost to the same consistency as the flour.  The pecans toast during the bake and your kitchen will smell so delicious.

Snowballs

Preheat Oven:  300 Degrees Fahrenheit

Yield:  4 dozen or so, depending on the size you make them

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter softened 

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups ground pecans

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1.  Preheat Oven to 300 Degrees Fahrenheit.  Line baking sheet with parchment.

2.  Cream butter until softened.

3.  Add sugar, pecans, flour and mix until blended.

4.  Using a tablespoon of dough for each cookie, shape into balls.  I use a small cookie scoop to make this easier.  You can put these close together as they do not spread.

5.  Bake 40 minutes.

6.  Cool for 10 minutes and roll in powdered sugar to coat.  Set back on parchment.

7.  When cookies are completely cool, give them a second coat of powdered sugar.

Grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy.

......that's what's Cooking at Cathy's ~Enjoy!

Mom's Snickerdoodles

I've been obsessed with Snickerdoodles lately.  I've made regular ones, low carb ones and ice cream!
All have been tasty and the regular ones that I took to work disappeared in minutes!

The low carb ones, I used in an ice cream recipe that I'll be posting soon.

Here's my go to recipe for Snickerdoodles.  It is the one we always made at home.  I have always had success with it and hope you enjoy it to nosh on with your hot tea or coffee!

Pecan Shortbread Cookies

These are nice light crispy cookies.  I'd put these up against anything made by little elves in a tree!

Banana Foster Cookies

Happy New Year!

It has been a brutal week for me as I'm trying to fight off a cold.  At this point, I think the cold is winning!  

So I've been drinking a lot of fluids eating soups, etc. and as a result, the organic bananas I bought at the store have gone from a shining golden yellow to a not so lovely black.  So I knew there was some baking in my future!  I didn't want to toss the entire bunch of bananas and immediately mom's banana cookies came to mind.  My brother was always a bigger fan than I of those cookies, but with dying bananas begging for use on the counter, I decided I'd dig out the recipe and make them and freeze them for later.

Well, that was a great plan, but it had one fatal flaw.  I could not find the recipe!!!  I went through every possible place that I would have stashed the recipe and came up empty.  I even texted my brother asking him go through the cupboards in mom's apartment and go through her green recipe card file and email the recipe to me.  He complied and had the same result that I did....no recipe!  So I'm thinking I'm going to be making banana bread, right?  No, I didn't want banana bread, so I went to Pinterest in search of banana baked goods.

I found this recipe on http://www.sotipical.com/bananas-foster-cookies.  As with most recipes, I can't leave well enough alone and I had to monkey with the ingredients just a bit.   I amped up the spices and flavorings and added chopped pecans to the recipe.  It is a super easy recipe that uses a yellow cake mix as a base.  

The kitchen smells divine while the cookies are baking and you'll be anxious for them to cool so you can get them frosted and sample them!

The next time you have multiple bananas that are no longer aging gracefully,  give these cookies a try!

Connie's Sugar Cookies

It's the time of year when visions of all kinds of sweet things dance through our heads.  Our tried and true favorites we make every year plus the new recipes we're enticed with on Pinterest, in magazines, or cook books.  Like most of you, I have my favorites.  One is a drop sugar cookie that is so light and crispy, you can snarf down the whole batch before you realize what you've done!  Cut out sugar cookies have never been my favorite.  I remember making them with mom as a kid, and we ate them, but as a kid...it was about the sugar.  I didn't care much about things like texture, lightness, or that they were mostly like eating sweetened cardboard.  

Now that you knowing my feelings about how most cutout sugar cookies have texture and taste like cardboard, this post will seem odd.    I had not planned to make sugar cookies this year, and definitely not cut out sugar cookies.  However, I found these beautiful cookie cutters at William's Sonoma and well, I have to use them.  I plead my case for a tasty Sugar Cookie recipe asking my Facebook friends if anyone had one they would be willing to share and my friend Connie came to my rescue.  Connie and I grew up in the same small town and played together as children.  I remember swimming in her backyard pool and us gushing over teenage heart throbs Bobbie Sherman and David Cassidy (yes, that has been a few years ago), but all good memories!

Not only did Connie come to my rescue with her recipe, the recipe is super easy to make!  If you have a food processor, you will have your cookie dough mixed up and ready to go in less than 10 minutes and clean up is easy too because it's all done in the food processor.

I have to admit in looking at a lot of sugar cookie recipes, this is the only one I've seen that is made with only egg yolks.  Don't discount the recipe because you don't know what to do with the egg whites.  You can use the leftover egg whites to make some Cinnamon Sugar Pecans.

I am so excited to have a rolled Sugar Cookie recipe  and with Connie's permission, you can have it too!  Thank you Connie!  Merry Christmas!

Janet's Christmas Gingerbread

How many of you are like me and running behind with your holiday preparations this year?  It won't be long and the reindeer will be flying and the jolly old man in the red suit will be visiting our homes and comparing notes on the cookies and milk left on the hearth for him.

This weekend I made gingerbread men, or as I've been saying, gingerbread boys and girls.  

I'm making them for a really special group of first graders as a treat on the last day of their Junior Achievement class.  

I've never made gingerbread men before and they are a lot of work,  I also will confess that I had a few casualties, but they are so cute and tasty they were worth the trouble and  I am sure the kids in the class will love them.

Since I don't have a tried and true recipe for gingerbread, I put out the call to my Facebook friends to see if anyone had one that they would share.  Paula, a friend from the town I grew up in, shared her recipe.   

This isn't just any recipe, it is her mother's recipe and is a treasure.  Growing up her mom and dad lived kitty-corner across the street from us and later they were backdoor neighbors to my mom and dad.  I asked Paula if she minded if I shared the recipe on my blog and she said "go for it".

I hope you will try this recipe.  It has lots of wonderful memories for their family.   Start a new tradition at your house this year. I bet if you make these cookies you will get brownie points from your family and also Santa might just decide the cookies he got at your house are the absolute best!

I wish I could share a plate of these with Janet and her daughters!

Almond Cookies

Today was a busy kitchen day that included lots of cool tasty treats, one of those being lemon ice cream.  As a result of making the lemon curd, I had egg whites I needed to use and was reminded of a recipe for these fabulous little almond cookies that I enjoyed on a trip to Italy.  While this isn't quite the same, they are good and I've altered the recipe to be more carb friendly so they can better fit into my way of eating.  

Almond Cookies

Yield: 48 Cookies

Ingredients:

6 egg whites

1 1/2 cups erythritol, or sweetener you prefer

4 1/2 Tablespoons Almond Flour

2 cups almonds

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In a food processor bowl, add the almonds, almond flour, 1 cup of the sweetener and process to a fine powder.  Add the baking powder and lemon zest and pulse to mix well.

In another mixing bowl, add the egg whites and beat until frothy.  Gradually add the remaining sweetener and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.  I use my Kitchen Aid for this job.

Sprinkle about 1/3 of the ground nut mixture over the beaten egg whites and gently fold them in.  Repeat 2 more times until all the nut mixture is folded into the egg whites.

Drop tablespoons of batter onto the parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.  (My time was closer to 15, but keep an eye on them because they brown fast once they start.)  Cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to complete cooling.

Store in an airtight container.

Per Cookie:  29 Calories; 2 grams fat; <1 net carb if using erythritol

...and That's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies

COOKIES!!! I want COOKIES!!!  I have quite the sweet tooth and cookies have always been my favorite sweet treat (well, pie too.....).  Anyway, as my venture into low carb eating continues, I need something to replace cookies to keep my carb intake lower.  Replace cookies....NO!!!   I'd never be able to stick with any alternative eating plan ever...period.  So, it's now time for me to add some new baking tools to my toolbox because life without cookies...well, that's not happening for me!

I have thought dozens of times about trying to convert the recipe, but opted for trying recipes I found on the web where others had already done the conversion work.  Yes, I will admit that is lazy, but the ratios and quantities are different and well, it's just scary.  Ingredients for the low carb versions are a little on the pricey side and rather than risk an epic failure and trashing the whole batch of cookies, I became a follower rather than a leader in the recipe conversion department.

Today, I decided to pull myself up by my apron straps and give it a try.  I spent a bit of time looking at other recipes, analyzing the ratios of almond and/or coconut flour, eggs, etc. to try to decide what would be best.  Shoot, I even went all out and made my own low carb brown sugar because I wanted something lower carb than the Splenda Brown Sugar substitute in effort to keep the cookies as low carb as possible.

Baking with almond flour (I used Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour) for this recipe along with a little coconut flour is definitely a skill I need to perfect.  The resulting cookies are not the same as the original recipe, but were definitely a very nice, satisfying and tasty low carb chocolate chip cookie.

If you aren't doing low carb, you can find the original recipe here and they are awesome!
Otherwise, for my low carb baker friends or those who want to convert....start your ovens!  Get ready to sample some raw cookie dough (I know, I can't stay out of it either) and bake yourself and your loved ones some cookies to enjoy and ones you feel good about serving.

Low Carb Cranberry Bliss Bars

I follow several blogs and this recipe is directly from one of those, All Day I Dream About Food.  I love the flavor combination of cranberry and orange.  It sounded amazing and I just had to try it.  I will admit that I have never had the original Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars, which I'm  sure is terrific after tying this recipe. I'm also sure it is loaded with sugar and carbs.  Whatever the reason, if it is merely to eat a little healthier during or after the holidays, give this recipe a try because it is awesome.  The flavor of cranberry and orange are sublime and who doesn't like cream cheese frosting?


I altered the recipe just a bit because I didn't have time to make her sugarless dried cranberries.  I used Crasins in a lesser quantity to help keep the carbs down.  I also substituted in orange extract since I didn't have any oranges on hand for fresh zest.  Even with my alterations these bars turned out amazing and I would encourage you to whip up a pan soon!  While the post is a little late for your Christmas cookie tray, these would be a lovely addition, so bookmark it for next year!

Lemon Rosemary Butter Cookies

I love lemon and I love rosemary so when a FB friend of mine told me he was making shortbread cookies with those two ingredients, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the recipe.

Well, true to my style, I just can't leave well enough alone and I've made several adjustments to his recipe as I was making it.  Sorry Craig, I just couldn't help myself!

You can find his recipe here if you are interested in seeing or making the original.  Following is my adaption of his recipe.  

Low Carb Snickerdoodle Cookies

In effort to support my change in eating habits and at the same time satisfy my love for the occasional sweet treat, namely cookies, I've been trying out different recipes.  While most are okay, these are more than just okay.  This may become my go-to cookie recipe.

I found the recipe on food.com and it had 5 stars and the reviews were good so I decided to give it a trial run.  While I didn't get the 30 cookies out of the recipe it touted as the yield, I did get 20.  These little guys look like little donut holes.  They didn't crack and flatten out like my traditional recipe, but they were light and very tasty.

So if you are watching your carbs, diabetic or just want to lighten up but not sacrifice sweet treats over the holidays, these little gems are just the ticket.  Each cookie has 93 calories, 1 net carb, 2 grams of protein and 9 grams of fat.  So leave these for your Santa and he will appreciate your help on a night when he has a lot of cookies to eat!

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

It's a classic.  Lemons and blueberries.  They just go together naturally.  What better way to enjoy the combo than in a cookie!

I found this recipe at Domesticfits.com and just had to give it a try.  I had to tweak the baking time a bit to get the lightly golden results and that change is reflected in the directions below.  Keep a close eye on the oven when you bake them, the time may vary slightly oven to oven.  This is a great recipe and these cookies are fantastic!

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into cubes
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/3 cup sour cream
 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven 350 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl mix together the flours, baking soda and salt.  Set aside
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat both sugars and butter until light and fluffy.  This took about 8 minutes to achieve a good fluffy consistency.

Add in the egg yolk, beat until well combined.
Add in the sour cream and lemon juice and mix until well combined.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients and lemon zest over the creamed mixture.  Stir until just combined.
Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer.
Add the blueberries and gently stir them into the dough.








Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop the dough into golf ball sized mounds into the parchment.
Bake in the 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the top just starts to turn light golden brown.
Slide the parchment onto cooling racks and let the cookies cool to room temperature.

and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Browned Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies

How about opting for a little change this holiday season and  putting a new spin on a traditional cookie recipe?  I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  I love the nutty taste of browned butter and couldn't help but think these cookies would be wonderful.  I was not disappointed.  Matter of fact, I think I'll pour myself a big glass of milk and have a cookie or two right now!

Caramel Pecan Bars

Who likes caramel and pecans?  Yes!  I can envision the hands in the air.  Combine that with a buttery crust and you have a wonderful bar that will make you do back flips with each and every bite.

These bars remind me of pecan pie...sort of,  but just not quite.
This is a nice alternative to pecan pie for those of you who break out in a sweat at the thought of having to bake a pie or make pie crust.  Fear no more.  The crust for these bars does not require a rolling pin.  You pat the crust into the pan with your fingers.  How simple is that! 

I have gotta warn you though, you will need to bust out your stretchy waistband pants or loosen your belt a notch because these babies will blow you diet!  They are loaded with butter, brown sugar, cream....you get the picture. Do not skimp on the ingredients, use real butter and real cream.  You'll be glad you did. 

Although I didn't try it, I believe that the topping mixture would be amazing served warm over vanilla bean ice cream. Yup, I sampled it. I admit it.  I intentionally left a little in the pan so I could indulge....hey, quality control right?

These bar cookies travel well and would be great for a Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering, a Cookie Exchange or to take to work for Goodie Day.  If you have new neighbors, they would make a great housewarming gift.  I'll likely whip of a batch of these this winter for the neighbor who clears my driveway with his snow blower (please oh, please let there be that much snow this year)!

Happy Birthday What's Cooking at Cathy's!

It is hard to believe that yesterday was the one year birthday for What's Cooking at Cathy's!


It has been fun trying and sharing new recipes with you and I hope that you have found the photos helpful and recipes tasty.


A first birthday deserves a party, don't you agree?  I thought so too, but with impending vacation plans, kitchen time is limited, so I had to compromise.  I decided the best option would be to share which recipes were the top hits for my readers and followers.


So without further adieu.....drum roll please.....the top three posts for the last 12 months were...

Nutella Icebox Cake

Grilled Turkey Breast with Date and Apricot Stuffing

Carrot Cake Cookies

Am I surprised that the Nutella Icebox Cake was #1?  Absolutely not! 
If you haven't tried it, what are you waiting for?  Go to the grocery and buy yourself a jar of Nutella and get started!  Summer is coming soon and the Nutella Icebox Cake is a perfect chilled treat on a warm summer day.


I don't think that you will be disappointed with any of these three recipes, so give them a try if you haven't already.  If you have tried them, add a comment and let me know how you liked them, I'd love to hear from you!


There will be an upcoming birthday celebration recipe. I promise! I have been noodling an idea for a while now, something I hope will be spectacular.  
When I recover from jet lag and get back into the swing of things, the kitchen will return to its chaotic state and I'll begin working on the new creation.


and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Gluten Free and Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies

If you are a lover of peanut butter and especially peanut butter cookies, you most certainly will like this recipe.  It is simple and you only need a handful of items to make them with an added bonus of being low sugar and gluten free!


I found this recipe via Pinterest which led me to a blog which linked  to Food.com.  I'm a big Pinterest fan and have pinned oodles of things that I want to try "someday".  


Anyway, as most of you know, I've been trying to eat healthier.   One of the things I have done is reduce the amount of "white" flour in my diet as well reduced the amount of refined sugar I consume.  Since this recipe was gluten free, I figured I would make a few modifications to reduce the sugar and give it a whirl.  


The result was a decadent, soft peanut butter cookie with a touch (okay, a slathering) of chocolate on the base....go with me for a minute and think Peanut Butter Milano's.  Yeah!  Great Results and to top it off, two cookies weigh in at just 115 calories!  So I can have two cookies with my coffee and not just one, which is much more satisfying!


If you aren't counting calories and don't mind eating the sugar, you can substitute 1 cup of granulated sugar or split the cup into equal portions of both granulated and brown sugar for a richer colored cookie.  Either way you decide to make them, the result will be addicting little cookies... and I'll bet you can't eat just one!  


Gluten Free & Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Yield: 36 cookies 


Ingredients:

1 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup Whey Low Granular
1/2 cup Whey Low Gold
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda


Optional Glaze:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease the cookie sheets.  (I prefer parchment paper for easier cleanup!)

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the peanut butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

Add the beaten egg and soda to the peanut butter mixture and beat until well blended.

Using 1 teaspoon (measuring teaspoon) roll the dough into small balls and place them one inch apart on the cookie sheet.

Flatten the dough balls with the tines of a fork.  Dip the tines in the sugar to prevent them from sticking and ruining your lovely crisscross patterns.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool.

At this point, you can decide if you want to add the glaze on the bottom of the cookies.

Flip the cookies so their bottoms are up.

In a saucepan, heat the cream until it reaches a boil.

Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate chips.  Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes then stir and stir and stir.  It will look awful initially, but it will come together and create a lovely chocolate glaze.

Using a pastry brush (yes this is messy), paint the bottom of each cookie with a generous amount of chocolate. 

Let these cool and store between sheets of waxed paper.  The chocolate will keep the cookies nice and soft. If you are looking for a crisper cookie, omit the chocolate glaze.  You can also make sandwich cookies out of these by sticking two cookies together with the chocolate glaze. Either way is yummy!

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for around 5 days....of course, that's assuming they last that long!

....and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Famous Oh! Cookies

Psst!  Need a great cookie recipe to use for leaving by the hearth when Santa comes to visit your house?

If so, I guarantee the man in red will be searching your kitchen for seconds if you leave him a plate of these cookies!  I'm betting he might even leave you an extra something in your stocking because these are so awesome!

This recipe came with rave reviews and I am here to tell you, these cookies deserve every word of praise uttered.  They will vanish from your cookie jar in record time!

I inquired about the name of the cookies and am told that originally the cookies didn't have a name but everyone  who tasted them would exclaim "oh man (or insert various expletitives) these are good!"  One bite and you will agree!  You will equally love the dough if you are inclined to snitch cookie dough (yes,I eat cookie dough, I admit it).  The baked results have a marvelous light and crisp texture that is addicting.

A big thank you to Lynn Ogle, the creator of the recipe and also to Andi Miller for sharing the recipe with me!  Lynn's recipe can also be found in the Junior League of Evansville cookbook.

Before we get baking, I want to pass along a little tip.  If you're like me and decide on a whim to bake and your butter is rock hard from the refrigerator, pull out your soft cheese grater and grate the butter right into your mixing bowl.  It will work like magic, creating more surface space allowing the butter to soften up faster.

Famous Oh! Cookies
Makes approximately 4 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter (don't substitute margine, use the real thing)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup chunky peanut butter (must be chunky)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the two eggs and mix well.

Mix in the peanut butter until well blended.  Be sure to use Chunky, not smooth.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla and salt.  Mix thoroughly.


Stir in the oats and chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
Drop by rounded (heaping) tablespoon fulls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

I also found that my dark baking sheet resulted in a better browning of the cookies, so use a dark baking sheet if you have it.  If not, you can lengthen the baking time by a minute or two to compensate. 

...and that my friends is What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Nutella No-Bake Cookies

I'm sure you all have had the traditional no-bake cookies at one time or another. This recipe includes one of my all time favorite things Nutella.  I became hooked on a trip to Italy in 2007 and I'm never without a jar in my pantry.  Next time you have the urge to bake, don't heat up the oven!  Give these gems a try.

Nutella No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Nutella
3 cups quick cook oats

Directions:

Over medium heat, cook sugar, cocoa, milk and butter until it reaches a boil.
Boil one minute.
Remove from heat.
Stir in vanilla, salt, peanut butter and Nutella.  Mix thoroughly.
Add the oats to the mixture and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper line cookie sheets and cool.
Refrigerate...Eat...Repeat...

 

....and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Nutella Meringues

I've been on a baking kick and along with it a Nutella kick.  I see nothing wrong with it!  I quite like Nutella.  Anyway, I had some egg whites I was saving and tried this recipe this afternoon and it is very very good.

Nutella Meringues


Ingredients:

3 large egg whites, at room temperature
a pinch of cream of tartar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon, granulated sugar
1/4 cup Nutella

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Make sure you have one oven rack in the bottom third of your oven and one in the upper third of your oven.

This is important....Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 

Warm the Nutella through and then set aside while you make the meringue. I used the microwave for this, warming it for 1 minute 30 seconds on 50% power.  If you don't have a microwave you can accomplish the same thing by using a double boiler. 
Let the Nutella cool while you are mixing up the meringue.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, place the egg whites. Beat on medium-high speed until the whites are completely foamy. 
Add the cream of tartar and the salt and continue whipping at medium-high speed until when you lift the whisk attachment, soft peaks form. This should take a few minutes.

Once you have reached the soft peak stage, increase the speed to high and begin adding the sugar a few spoonfuls at a time (this should take a few minutes).  Once all the sugar is in, the meringue should be very thick (almost stiff) and when you left the whisk firm peaks should remain.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and drop in all the Nutella. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the Nutella into the meringue three or four times. You’re aiming for a swirled effect so don’t over mix. This will also help avoid deflating the meringue.

Using two spoons, drop the meringue onto the parchment-lined baking sheets in large dollops. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, immediately lower the heat to 200 degrees F. and rotate the trays. Bake for an hour.

After an hour, check the meringues. If they are completely dried out then turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven for a few hours to cool with the oven. If the meringues still look a bit “wet”, then continue baking for another 20 minutes or so. Either way, once fully baked, turn off the oven and leave the meringues in there for a few hours.

When you remove the meringues from the oven they should be completely dry and cool and will sound hollow when you tap the bottoms.

The meringues will keep in an airtight container for a week, if they last that long!

......and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Cookies

Carrot Cake Cookies

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy good carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  When I found this recipe, I kept it to try "someday".  It had never made it to the top of my list because it is a sandwich cookie which requires the cookies to be reasonably the same size and shape so they sandwich together nicely.  That is a bit more trouble than I typically want to fuss with for cookies.  To help achieve uniform cookies, I used a small ice cream scoop that produces melon ball sized dollops of cookie dough and it worked out very well for this recipe.

When I knew I'd be going home over the July 4th holiday and attending a friends annual holiday cookout, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try this recipe out.  Because of the heat and the cream cheese frosting, I almost didn't take them because I didn't think they would hold up well in the heat, so I put them in tupperware and stuck them in the fridge and made some different cookies that wouldn't wilt in the heat and humidity.
When I was packing up to leave, I decided to go ahead and take them along.  I packed them in an insulated grocery bag (the reuseable kind) and they made the 8 hour trip just fine and I ended up taking them to the cookout after all. 

The cookies received a big stamp of approval from the folks attending the cookout.

I hope you enjoy them as much as they did!

Carrot Cake Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained and the juice reserved
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease 4 cookie sheets
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt together in a mixing bowl and set aside.
4. Beat the butter, shortening, white and brown sugar together until smooth. 
5. Add 1 egg and allow to blend into the butter mixture before adding the second egg and vanilla.
6. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
7. Fold in the crushed pineapple, carrot, raisins and nuts.
8. Mix just enough to evenly combine.
9. Drop onto the prepared baking sheets by heaping teaspoonful, allowing 2 inches of space between the cookies.
10. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden 10-12 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:


Ingredients:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon reserved pineapple juice

Directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of butter with an electric mixer until smooth.
2. Add the powdered sugar and pineapple juice.
3. Beat until no lumps remain.
4. Spread the frosting on the cooled cookies and allow to dry completely before storing.