Mama B's Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe comes courtesy of my sweet daughter-in-law. Her beloved grandmother on her mom's side, Mama B, used to make these. Isn't it great to have a recipe like this from someone special? Every time you make it, you can almost feel the person next to you...guiding you and approving. I have a recipe like that from MY grandmother so I know how my DIL and her family must feel every time they make a batch of these cookies. Mama B isn't here anymore but a little bit of her lives on in this recipe. Give these a try....they are SO yummy! I was always a Tollhouse girl...thinking THAT recipe couldn't possibly be improved on. Boy, was I wrong. Mama B's CCC's shine above Nestle's. Plus...as an added bonus, I get to imagine Mama B next to me in the kitchen...maybe telling me the story of how her family used to beg her to make these and how happy it made them. I hope these cookies make MY family happy too. And from the look on their faces yesterday, I'd say I succeeded. Thanks, Mama B!


Mama B's Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

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

Ingredients:

Wet:
4 Eggs2 Sticks Butter-Flavored Crisco2 teaspoons Vanilla

Dry:
 4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 Box Light Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 12-oz. Bag Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (or substitute chips for your favorite candy pieces; ie- butterscotch chips, m&m minis, chocolate chunks, walnuts, etc.)

Combine wet ingredients first into large mixing bowl.  Then slowly add dry ingredients one at a time.  Mix well.  Drop tablespoon-size pieces of dough on prepared pans.  Bake for about 10-11 minutes.  Recipe makes a LOT of cookies - probably at least 6 dozen, if not more.

(Because my family cannot eat 6 dozen cookies (or maybe they could but I chose not to give them that option) I cut this recipe in half when I made it.)

The goods!

 

Creaming the wet ingredients.....

 

...adding the dry.

 

Coming together!

Add the chocolate chips!

 

Plop on the cookie sheets.

 

Bake 'em!

 

I loaded this pan with dough balls 

and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours.

 

Cookie dough balls all frozen and 

ready to be baked at a moment's notice!

 

Who wants a cookie?

Caramel Pecan Shortbreads

Cookie # 29 is:

Caramel Pecan Shortbreads

These cookie bars are very good....a tiny bit labor intensive but definitely good! If I were going to make them again, I would probably cut the bars a little larger than I did. I would also make an indentation in the center to hold the caramel filling a little better. Other than that...I wouldn't change a thing! They are VERY yummy!

Caramel Pecan Shortbreads



Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper

Shortbread:

¾ cup butter, softened
¾ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
¼ salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add flour and salt gradually to butter mixture. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 2 inch x 1 inch strips. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheets.

Filling:

28 caramels
6 tablespoons evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup powdered sugar
¾ finely chopped pecans

Combine caramels and milk in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until caramels are melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter, sugar and chopped pecans. Cool for 5 minutes. Spread 1 teaspoon of filling over cooled cookies.

Icing:

1 cup chocolate chips
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Pecan halves

Melt chocolate chips and milk in a microwave safe bowl. Heat until smooth. Stir in the butter, sugar and vanilla. Cool for about 10 - 15 minutes. Spread 1 teaspoon icing on each cookie. Top each cookie with a pecan half. Let stand until set. About 4 dozen cookies.

Let's get going on this!

 

Mix the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.

 

Add the evaporated milk and vanilla.

 

Add the dry stuff. Then chill.

 

Melt the caramels with the evaporated milk.

 

Stir in the butter, pecans and 

powdered sugar. Let it cool.

 

Chocolate!

 

Melt the chocolate then add the 

butter, vanilla and powdered sugar.

 

Give it a stir!

 

Roll out the dough.

 

Cut into bars. If I were doing these 

again, I'd cut them a little wider than seen here.

 

But they sure are purdy....

 

...and tasty!

White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies

Cookie # 28 is:

White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies

Okay, okay....I know I've posted this recipe before but that was WAY back in August so I figured it might be time for a rerun. Besides, this recipe is SO good, it's worth repeating. If you didn't try it THEN...you must try it NOW!

White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies



Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper

¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ¼ cups flour
1 14-ounce jar maraschino cherries, drained, rinsed, chopped and dried
1 cup macadamia nuts, coarse chopped
1 14-ounce bag white chocolate chips

Cream together sugars and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and beat well. Add salt, baking soda and flour then stir. Add cherries, nuts and white chocolate. Stir to mix. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased or papered cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes until lightly golden. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Here's the goods to get going....

 

Make sure you drain and chop the 

cherries well. Otherwise your dough will be too wet.

 

Mix up the dough...

 

...plop onto the cookie sheet.

 

Bake 'em up!

 

Yum!

Copyright © 2010 Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. All rights reserved.

Millionaire Shortbread Cookie Bars

Cookie # 27 is:

Millionaire Shortbread Cookie Bars

This bar cookie is easy AND delicious! Very rich....and why it's named MILLIONAIRE. Cut these little gems small unless you enjoy going into sugar-shock! Really they are tasty and with a cold glass of milk...can't be beat!

Millionaire Shortbread Cookie Bars



Shortbread:

1 ½ sticks butter – room temperature
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Caramel Filling:

1 can Dulce de Leche (found in the Mexican food aisle)

Chocolate Topping:

4 ounces chocolate chips
1 teaspoon butter

For the shortbread:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour and salt and beat just until the dough comes together. Press into the bottom of a greased 9x9 inch baking pan. Bake for about 20 minutes or until pale golden brown. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool.

For the caramel filling:

Open can of Dulce de Leche and place caramel in a microwaveable bowl. Heat for about a minute until warmed through. Stir to smooth. Pour over cooled shortbread crust.

For chocolate topping:

Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwavable bowl and heat at 30 second intervals, stirring each time, until smooth. Pour over set and cooled caramel. Let chocolate set up. Slice into bars.

Makes about 16 bars.

Here are the goods!

 

Fluff up the sugar and butter. 

Then beat in the vanilla.

Beat in the dry stuff....

 

...then pat into the pan.

 

Bake!

 

Here's the caramel-y goodness. 

Warm in the microwave...

 

...and stir until smooth. Then....

 

...spread over the cooled crust.

 

Melt the chocolate chips. Then....

 

..spread over the cooled caramel.

 

Yum!!

Copyright © 2010 Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. All rights reserved.

Cherry Icebox Cookies

Cookie # 26 is:

Cherry Icebox Cookies

Does anyone ever use the term "icebox" anymore? Does anyone even know what it means? Does anyone even care? Moving on. These cookies are SO yummy. And so easy to whip together. The finished product yields a light cookie with a slight cherry flavor....IT Guy couldn't get away from them. I made a whole recipe, but only cooked one "log" and froze the rest. If he knew there was more cookie dough in the freezer, I'm sure I'd be baking today. Since IT Guy is pretty hands-on with SFFS, I'm sure those cookies will not be frozen for long! I think I just ratted myself out.


Cherry Icebox Cookies



1 cup butter – 2 sticks
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
2 2/3 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ salt
¾ candied red cherries

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients then add to the butter mixture. Mix just until a dough forms. Stir in chopped cherries.

Divide the dough into thirds. Place each third on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper. Smooth and shape dough into evenly shaped rectangles measuring about 7 inches long and 2 inches wide. Then thoroughly wrap the shaped logs in the paper, twisting ends to seal. Chill at least three hours or up to three days. Or freeze for up to one month.

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

Using a thin bladed knife, slice logs into ¼ inch slices. Place on prepared pans about 2 inches apart and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

About 6 dozen cookies

Let's get going!

 

Beat the sugar and butter until fluffiness occurs. 

Five minutes or so. Then add in the egg and vanilla.

 

Add the dry stuff....

 

..then the chopped cherries.

 

Turn the dough out and...

 

....divide into thirds.

 

Wrap each one and chill or freeze.

 

Slice and bake.

 

Cherry goodness.

Copyright © 2010 Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. All rights reserved.