Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Blueberry muffins were a Sunday morning staple in our house – so easy to throw in while scrambling eggs and maybe cooking up some bacon.  I still find blueberry muffins to be such a comfort food – and nothing is better than when you have fresh berries to make them in the spring/summer!  This cookie spin on the old classic gives you all that soft, comfort food goodness and elevates it with a bright, scrumptious glaze and a little kick of lemon in both the cookie and glaze. You aren’t going to believe you’ve made it your whole life up to now without these.  ~Kathy

Cookie Ingredients:

  • ½ c. salted butter, softened
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • ½ c. light brown sugar (packed)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 heaping T. lemon zest
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 ⅓ c. all-purpose flour
  • ½ c. sour cream
  • 2 c. fresh blueberries
  • 2 T. coarse sugar

Glaze Ingredients:

  • 1 ¼ c. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla
  • 2-3 T. lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
  • pinch of salt

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Mix (hand mixer or stand mixer both work fine) until light and fluffy.
  • In above bowl, mix in eggs and vanilla well.
  • With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour (about ¼ at a time). Mix until mostly combined (a few dry streaks are ok). Mix in half of the sour cream followed by another portion of your flour. Mix in the last half of the sour cream and then the last couple of portions of your flour slowly until well-combined (no dry flour when you are mixing).
  • Add the blueberries and fold in gently (do NOT use the mixer for this portion – a spoon will do).    
  • Scoop the batter in large mounds (two or three tablespoons) and place well apart to accommodate spreading during cooking. Sprinkle the tops of the cookie dough with coarse sugar.
  • Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until the top springs back lightly. 
  • Move to a cooling rack once cookies are cool enough to relocate (a few minutes should be okay).  
  • For the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. It should thicken but definitely needs to be a consistency that you can drizzle over the cookies.
  • If needed, add a little powdered sugar (a tablespoon at a time) to thicken; add a little lemon juice if you need to thin it (just a teaspoon at a time – don’t want to overdo it).
  • Generously drizzle the tops of the fully cooled (otherwise it will melt off) cookies with the glaze but don’t try to heavily coat them; you still want to be able to taste those beautiful cookies too! 

Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

SkilletCookie

Posted by Erin

Here’s a fun fact about me:  I love to bake but I have no self-control around really good homemade desserts.  Like, NONE.  I’ll nibble and take a bite here and there throughout the day and, before I know it, I’ve eaten the majority of the pan of brownies or half a pie.  It’s why I’ve been in Weight Watchers going on 17 years!  I recognize my own weaknesses so I’ve learned to make portion controlled desserts.  My favorite is this skillet cookie.  On a night when I need something rich, warm, and decadent but don’t want a pan of desserts sitting around all weekend to tempt me, I make this cookie.  It’s big enough for my husband and me to share but, I’m not going to lie, I usually eat it all by myself with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  So, go ahead and make one for you and one for your husband.  Wait until your kids go to bed and that will save you from having to share.  Ha!  Oh, don’t act like you haven’t done it.  😉

I always make this cookie in small cast iron skillets that I got one year for Christmas.  They were part of a little skillet brownie kit.  That mix’s brownies were BLECH (if you haven’t tried our family brownie recipe, you really need to do that for yourself), but the skillets are awesome so if you see any of those sets around the after-Christmas sales this year, grab a few!  If you don’t happen to have a cast iron skillet yet, you can just make these in a regular baking pan too.

Ingredients:

  • 2 T. butter (I always use real butter for baking.)
  • 2 T. firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 T. granulated sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 egg yolk
  • ¼ c. all-purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ c. roughly chopped pecans, optional (but SO good – I usually add extra!)
  • Non-stick cooking spray

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Spray a 7″ or larger skillet/pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.  In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the butter in 10 second increments until it’s soft and just beginning to melt.  Blend softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla together with a spoon.  Add the egg yolk and stir until it’s well blended.  Add flour and baking soda and stir again until combined.  Lastly, stir in chocolate chips (and pecans, if desired).  Heap the dough into the center of skillet/pan and flatten slightly.  No need to spread it to the edge; it will spread as it cooks.  Bake for 10 -12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly.  Do me a favor and wait until it’s not scalding hot before you dig in.  It will be the longest few minutes of your life.  Top it with ice cream, and eat it straight from the pan!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Drop Cookies

I found the original of this recipe on the back of some package when I was really little, and I begged Mom to give it a try ASAP. Luckily, it never took much begging at our house for Mom to bake.  After some minor adjustments, I humbly submit this as the best oatmeal cookie out there; its simple appearance is deceptive. This cookie is so chewy (even after a few days, though I bet you’ll have a hard time keeping them around long enough to confirm this) and melt-in-your-mouth amazing, this will be your go-to oatmeal cookie standard for life.

These cookies lack the traditional raisins or chocolate chips, but I guarantee with this recipe you will not miss them.   These will be one of your favorites too! ~Kathy

OatmealCookiePlated

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 T. molasses
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 2 cups quick oats
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, molasses, and vanilla, scraping the bowl as needed.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, and baking soda.

Add the mixed dry ingredients (except oats) to butter mixture.

Stir in oats (and nuts, if adding) last.

Drop by teaspoonful on ungreased cookie sheet; space well on your cookie sheet, as they will spread a little more than most cookies. Bake for 11 minutes or until edges are just golden brown. Do not over bake!  Allow to cool slightly; then remove to cooling rack. Store in airtight container.