Quick Easy Sugar Cookies

 I love sugar cookies! A friend of mine brought these to an event, and they were great. She says they don't roll out well to make shaped cookies, but great to use a cookie scoop and bake. The dough does not need to be chilled first.

Sugar Cookies   (Betsey)

3 cubes butter, softened

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

4 c. flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp. Baking powder

Cream together the butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Scoop onto a greased cookie sheet and Bake at 350 for 9 minutes.

Frosting

¾ c. butter

6-7 TBS. milk

1 tsp. Almond extract

Powdered sugar (enough for a light consistency)

Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza

Sugar cookie dough
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1/4 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. cool whip
Fruit (bananas, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, etc)

Roll out dough like pizza crust and bake according to directions.  Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip together.  Spread over crust and top with fruit. 

Yummy Lemon Bars

These are really good!  I think the fresh lemon juice and the lemon zest make a huge difference.

Lemon Bars

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
zest from one lemon (or more if you'd like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, mix butter 1/2 c. sugar, 2 cups flour, and salt until a crumbly dough forms.  Press lightly into the bottom of a 9"x13" pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling.  Mix whisk the eggs, 1/4 c. flour, 1 1/2 c. sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together.  Set aside, and then whisk it really good again once the crust is done.

Poor the filling mix over the hot crust and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with a light powdering of powdered sugar.  Cool slightly before cutting.

Note: these are good warm, but even better after they are completely cooled.  

Homemade Oreo Cookies

These only look like Oreo's, they don't actually taste like them.  They have their own delicious flavor. Super easy cookies!

Oreo Cookies (Yields about 20-22 cookies which will make 10-11 sandwiches)

1 box Devil's Food cake mix

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

Mix all together and then either roll into balls or scoop with a cookie scooper.  Place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten the balls just slightly with the bottom of a glass.  Try to keep all the cookies uniform in size and shape so that they match together well.  

Bake at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes.  Cool completely on a rack, and then fill with frosting.  

Frosting:

1/2 package cream cheese, softened (4 oz)

2 Tbs. butter

1 tsp vanilla

Powdered sugar

Mix together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth.  Slowly add powdered sugar to the right consistency that you like.  Add a little warm milk if you put too much powdered sugar in.  

Roll the dough into balls and the. Flatten just slightly with the bottom of a glass.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

I really like the pumpkin spice cookies that are made with a spice cake mix and pumpkin because they are extremely easy.  But this Halloween I found myself without a spice cake mix, so I had to come up with another solution.  My children wanted a pumpkin treat as they carved their pumpkins.  These were a good alternative. 

Soft Pumpkin Cookies:
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened (1 stick)
1 c. pumpkin puree (Libby's is the best)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla

**Mix all together and then add the dry ingredients:

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

--Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 13-15 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet for a minute before moving cookies to a cookie rack to cool completely.  Drizzle glaze over cookies.  Makes about 3 dozen.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
3 tbs. milk
1 Tbs. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Neiman's $250 Cookie Recipe (Dee and Nellie)

You've probably heard the silly story behind this recipe; I'm not sure if it's true or not, but these are some very rich cookies!

Neiman's $250 Cookies

small batch, makes about 28

1 cube soft butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. flour

1 1/4 cup blended oatmeal

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

6-8 oz chocolate chips (i use a combo of butterscotch, white, and mini semi-sweet)

1/2 c. coconut

2/3 c. chopped nuts

2 oz. hershey bar, grated

Cream butter and both sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and bakiong soda.  Add chips and nuts.  Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake 6 minutes at 375 degrees.  

Notes:  The original recipe was 4 times this one!  If you want to make the whole thing (112 cookies), the extra dough freezes wonderfully.  Just roll into balls prior to freezing.  

Soccer Bars

I got this recipe on the back of a 25 lb. Western Family sugar bag.  

Soccer Bars

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1/3 c. peanut butter

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. flour

1 c. oatmeal

1 c. chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars.  Add egg and peanut butter; mix well.  Stir in dry ingredients. Press into 9"x13" pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

Banana Cookies

I like the alternative way to use up brown bananas rather than just making banana bread all the time.  

Banana Cookies

3/4 c. soft butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 c. mashed banana

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 3/4 c. oatmeal

raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips

Mix all together in the order shown above.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.  

Soft Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

This is the recipe that my mom always uses.  It's great, and the cookies are really soft.  

Soft Sugar Cookies

2 c. sugar

2/3 c. butter

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sour cream

5 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients in the order above.  Chill dough at least an hour.  Roll out on floured surface.  Bake at 400 degrees 5-7 minutes.  

Deluxe Sugar Cookies (Kristie Westover)

I love the almond flavor in these cookies!

Deluxe Sugar Cookies

1 c. soft butter

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 egg

 1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

-Mix the first 6 ingredients, then blend in the flour, soda, and cream of tartar.  Cover and chill 2-3 hours.  Bake at 375 7-8 minutes.

Notes: I got this recipe from a friend and she told me (and I've tried this and it works) that she rolls the dough into small balls and then flattens them with a glass on a cookie sheet rather than rolling the dough out and then cutting it into cookies.  This saves a good deal of time and mess.  

Sugar Cookie Bars

When I was young, my  mom made really, really, yummy and soft sugar cookies.  I lloved to help her cut them out and frost them.  I was suprised to learn that my boys don't share quite the love for sugar cooking making.  What they like is to slap on the frosting (usually way too much), devour the cookie, repeat 2-3 times and then run outside or move on to something else.  Once they've had their fill, they have no interest in frosting any more cookies.  And to be honest, making sugar cookies takes a lot of time.  So  here is a recipe for sugar cookie bars where you get the same great taste without having to refrigerate the dough, no cutting out cookies, and everything is baked and frosted at once.  

2/3 cup soft butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4  teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter and sugar together, and then add the egg and vanilla.  Add the other ingredients and mix.  Press dough evenly into the bottom of a cake pan.  You can line the pan with waxed paper if you desire.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  

Rollo Cookies (Jan Walker)

I first tried these cookies in high school when my best friend's mother made them.  She is an exceptional cook, and I always loved going to her home where she always had freshly baked bread to snack on.  I also remember her canned dilly beans, her two pantries with flour and other baking staples, and her really good Sunday dinners.  She is an amazing cook!  She was also one of my church leaders when I was a youth, and her testimony of Jesus Christ was apparent in everything she did, which I really appreciated.  Her, as well as many others, helped me gain my own faith in Jesus Christ.  

These cookies are a little bit of a pain because I have never found Rollos that were not wrapped in foil. Consequently, each one has to be unwrapped individually.  There is a lot of time put into these cookies; they are something I rarely make anymore because I have plenty of other demands on my time.  

Rollo Cookies

2 3/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. cocoa

1 c. white sugar

2 cubes butter

2 eggs

1/2 c. walnuts and/or pecans (optional)

almond bark for drizzling

Mix all together except the nuts.  To make cookies, roll a small amount of the dough over each Rollo.  Dip the balls into sugar and then nuts.  Bake at 375 for 6 minutes.  Yields 72 small cookies.

When cookies are done and cooled, melt almond bark and drizzle it over the cookies (just a small amount to make them look nice; don't cover the whole cookie). 

Pumpkin Spice Cookies (SUPER EASY!)

Pumpkin Spice Cookies:

1 box spice cake mix

1 small can pumpkin pie filling (15 oz)

chocolate chips, raisins, craisins, and/or nuts

Mix together and drop onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes.  

Gorilla Poops! (No-Bake Cookies) Jill Adams

My oldest sister always made these and called them gorilla poops.  As I got older, I realized that nobody else calls them this (including my husband), and really, it's not a very appetizing name.  I began to believe that my sister made up this name on her own until one day not too long ago a Facebook friend of mine referred to them by the name of gorilla poops.  I was surprised, and a little excited to know that my family was not the only ones.  For all the rest of you, here are "No-Bake Cookies".

Gorilla Poops, No-Bake Cookies

1/2 c. butter

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. milk

2-3 tbs. cocoa (I use 3)

Bring to a boil, turn to low, and cook for 3 minutes.  Immediately add:

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

4 or more cups of oatmeal, depending on your preference.  

Drop by spoonsful onto waxed paper.  

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I especially like these cookies because they don't just all melt into a big blob when ou cook them.  They keep their shape well.

Chocolate Chip Coookies

3/4 c. butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

1/4 c. shortening

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 c. flour

1 ttsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 package semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like mini the best)

Cream together butter, shortening, and sugars.  Add  vanilla and egg. Mix in remaining ingredients.  Bake at 375 degrees about 8-10 minutes.  The trick is to take them out of the oven just before they brown.  They may look a little undone, but they will be perfect.  These are great balled and then frozen.

YIELDS: 2 1/2 dozen

Yummy Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies:

1 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar 

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. peanut butter

3 c. flour

1 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Cream shortening with sugar.  Stir in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in peanut butter and mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl.  Mix in dry ingredients.  

Roll into balls.  Roll in sugar.  Press down on the dough balls using either the flat end of a glass or pressing with a fork.  Bake at 375º for about 7 minutes.  Yields about 40 cookies.  

Fudge Cookie Bars

From Jessica Henderson
Crust:
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

*Cream all together, then add:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
3 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned)

Spread 2/3 of the crust in the bottom of 9x13" pan.  Set aside.

Filling:
1 pkg. milk chocolate chips
1 Tbs. butter
1 can sweetened condenswed milk
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
*combine all together and melt, either in the microwave or over the stovetop.

Poor melted filling over top of the oatneal crust.  Spread it evenly, and then drop the remainder of the oatmeal crust by small spoonfulls over the filling.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes.  The oatmeal crust on top will be golden brown.

Notes: IF you don't have five boys like I do or a large family, plan on taking some of these to the neighbor or you'll eat them all yourself and be sick!
Also, last time I made these I only had semi-sweet chocolate chips on hand and they turned out just great!  The fudge may even be a little softer set with semi-sweet versus milk chocolate.