Malted Milk Cookies

Malted Milk Cookies
This was a little fancier when I first saw it, but I made it simpler and added the nuts. Really good for a recipe not involving chocolate. The cream cheese is a nice touch.

Ingredients:

Flour- 2 3/4 cups
Malted milk powder- 3/4 cups
Baking powder- 1 tsp.
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Butter- 1 cup, softened
Cream cheese- 3 oz., softened
Sugar- 1 cup
Egg- 1
Vanilla- 1 1/2 tsp.

Nuts- 1 - 1 1/2 cups, chopped (Optional)

Directions:

1. Mix flour, malted milk powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy.
3. Add sugar and mix until creamy again.
4. Add egg and vanilla.
5. Gradually add flour mixture until combined.
6. Mix in nuts. (Optional)
7. Place teaspoon size balls of dough on parchment paper on cookie sheets, about 2 in. apart.
8. Bake at 350 deg. for 15-18 min.

Malted Milk chocolate chip cookies

I love malt flavored treats, but the malt flavor is not strong in these cookies. People really seem to like them.

Ingredients:

Butter: 1 cup, softened
Brown sugar: 3/4 cup
Sugar: 3/4 cup
Eggs: 2
Vanilla: 2 tsp.
Malted Milk Powder: 1 cup
Flour: 3 cups
Baking Soda: 1 1/4 tsp.
Salt: 3/4 tsp.
Chocolate Chips: 1 12 oz. package

King Arthur brand makes malted milk powder that is all natural and I think Carnation also makes it.

Directions:

1. Beat butter until creamy, then add sugars and mix well.
2. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
3. Add malted milk powder and combine thoroughly.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients gradually and mix in.
6. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Place teaspoon size balls of dough on parchment paper on cookie sheets. Leave enough space because they flatten out and spread.
Bake at 375 deg. for 13-16 minutes.

Optional: Refrigerate dough overnight before baking.

Oatmeal Spice Cookies
These are good, soft cookies that are tasty even though no chocolate is used. Raisins and nuts are optional. Another recipe with pudding mix and chilling involved.

Ingredients:

Butter- 1 cup, softened
Brown sugar- 2 cups
Eggs- 2
Vanilla- 1 tsp
Flour- 1 3/4 cup
Baking soda- 1 tsp
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Vanilla Pudding Mix (dry)- 1 package (approx. 4 oz.)
Cinnamon- 1 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg- 1/2 tsp
Cloves- 1/2 tsp
Quick cooking oats- 3 cups

Options: 

Raisins- 1 1/2 cups
Chopped Nuts- 1 1/2 cups

Directions:

1. Cream together butter and brown sugar, Mix in eggs one at a time, Then add vanilla. This can be done most easily with a nice mixer.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, pudding mix, and spices. Mix into the batter.
3. Mix in the oats, do this by hand. Even better, really do this with both hands, i.e. get messy. (wash your hands first).
4. Add optional raisins and/or nuts, if desired.
5. Cover and chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.
6. Make balls of dough about 1 in. in diameter and partially flatten them. Place them about 2 in. apart on parchment paper on cookie sheets.
7. Bake at 375 deg. for 15-18 minutes

Chocolate chip: Kicked up a notch

A little more prep time than average, but it's worth it.

Ingredients

Softened Butter: 1 cup

Sugar: 1 cup

Brown sugar: 1 cup

Eggs: 2

Vanilla: 1 tsp.

Flour: 2 cups

Oatmeal: 2.5 cups

Salt: 1/2 tsp.

Baking powder: 1 tsp.

Baking soda: 1 tsp.

Chocolate chips: 2 cups

Dark chocolate, grated: About 4 oz. (I use Whole Foods dark chocolate mini-chunks)

Optional:

Chopped nuts: 1 cup

Directions:

1. Grind up oatmeal in a blender until it is a powder, like flour.

2. Freeze chocolate chunks for about 2 hrs., then grind them in a blender. Freezing makes it easier to grind.

3. Mix butter and sugars in a bowl or stand mixer.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and add vanilla.

5. In a separate bowl, Mix the flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

6. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, and mix together.

7. Add the grated chocolate, chocolate chips, and optional nuts.

8. Place balls of dough, 1-1.5 in. diameter, onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. You can refrigerate the dough for 4 hrs. or longer, but this is not required.

9. Bake at 375 deg. for 15-18 min. If the the edges start to brown a little, they may be overdone. 

I usually store cookies in the fridge and eat them cold, but  I think these are better at room temp.

Chocolate Peanut Butter stuffed cookies
These are somewhat labor intensive, but fun to make and mucho delicious. Found in an old magazine with some modifications, of course.

Ingredients

Flour: 1.5 cups
Cocoa: 1/2 cup
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Butter: 1/2 cup, softened
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Brown sugar: 1/2 cup
Peanut Butter: 1/4 cup
Egg: 1
Vanilla Yogurt: 1 tblsp
Vanilla: 1 tsp

Powdered Sugar: 3/4 cup
Peanut Butter: 1/2 cup
Vanilla: 1/4 tsp

Sugar: About 2 tblsp

Directions

1. Mix flour, cocoa, and baking soda in a bowl
2. In a different large bowl or the stand mixer, beat together butter, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup peanut butter. Mix in egg, yogurt, and 1 tsp vanilla.
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and combine.
4. Form dough into balls, about 1.5 in. in diameter. Set out on wax paper.
5. Make the filling: Combine the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 1/4 tsp vanilla.
6. On wax paper, flatten a chocolate dough ball a little and put a 3/4 in. blob of the peanut butter filling in the center. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling to completely cover it. Roll the dough back into a ball. Repeat until all of the dough is used up. You may have some extra filling, but that's better than not having enough.
7. Place the dough balls on parchment paper on cookie sheets, about 1.5 in. apart. Lightly coat the flat bottom of a glass (or other small flat surface) with cooking spray, so sugar will stick to it. Dip in sugar, and slightly flatten each dough ball with the coated glass bottom.
8. Bake at 350 deg., convection, for about 12 min. A little longer for regular bake. Some cracking on the surface means they're done.

Chocolate Brownie Cookies
This has been modified slightly from the original recipe. This is a very rich chocolate cookie, a little brownie-like.

Ingredients:

Unsweetened Chocolate: 4 oz.
Semisweet Chocolate chips: 1 cup
Butter: 6 tablespoons
Eggs: 3
White sugar: 1 cup
Vanilla: 1.5 tsp.
Flour: 1/2 cup
Cocoa: 2 tbsp.
Baking powder: 1/4 tsp.
Salt: 1/4 tsp.
White Chocolate chips (or Chocolate chips): 1 cup
Chopped nuts: 1 cup

Directions

1. In the microwave, melt the unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup chocolate chips, and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Stir frequently. When smooth, set aside to cool to room temperature. You could also do the melting in a double boiler.

2. In a separate, large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes.  Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

3. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in another bowl.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate/egg/sugar mixture gradually, and mix together. Add the white (or chocolate) chips and the nuts. I prefer the white chips, Whole Foods brand is good.

5. Cover dough with wax paper in the bowl and refrigerate 8 hrs., or overnight.

6. Roll dough into 1 to 1.5 in. balls and place on parchment paper, on cookie sheets about 2 in. apart.

7. Bake at 350 deg. for 16-18 min. Let them cool for 5 min. on the cookie sheets before moving to cooling racks.

Nuts

You can enhance the flavor of chopped nuts and give them more crunch by roasting them before adding them to the mix. Spread the nuts out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 5-10 minutes.