Lemon Sugar Cookies

Posted by: Maggie

What you'll need:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of one large lemon, finely minced

4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

At this point I chilled the dough for about 40 minutes, but it's optional. My butter was extremely soft when I started the recipe, so I thought it was necessary based on the consistency of the dough.

Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Let stand on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack.

Source

Hello Dolly Bars

Posted by: Maggie



Here's what you'll need:

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
9 graham crackers (5 ounces), crushed
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup butterscotch chips
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang to act as handles for lifting the bars out of the pan. Spray with non-stick spray.

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake until the outer flakes just begin to brown, about 4 minutes. Pay close attention to it, as it can go from brown to burnt very quickly. Set aside.

Melt the butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Toss with your fingers until the butter is evenly distributed. Press the crumbs evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan.

In order, sprinkle the walnuts, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and coconut over the graham crumbs. Pour the condensed milk evenly over the entire dish.

Bake until the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Remove from the pan using the parchment handles, and transfer to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into 18 bars.

Oreo Truffles

Posted by: Maggie


This recipe is seriously one of the easiest, most delicious things I've ever made. I got rave reviews from my coworkers and boyfriend, which I almost felt guilty about accepting since these "truffles" require only three ingredients, and zero minutes in the oven. The most difficult part is waiting for the chocolate to set so that you can eat them without making a total mess.

Here's what you'll need:

1 package of Oreo cookies, finely crushed, 9 reserved for garnish
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
2 8 oz packages semi-sweet chocolate, melted. (I used Baker's brand)

Thoroughly combined crushed Oreos and softened cream cheese. Form mixture into approximately 40 1-inch balls, and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Freeze balls for 30-45 minutes. Dip into melted chocolate, and garnish with reserved crushed Oreos.

These taste better when they've been out of the fridge for about an hour, but I recommend keeping them cold the rest of the time, since the cream cheese is perishable.

Also, these aren't pictured but I decorated some of them with melted white almond bark, dyed with pink gel food coloring. I just funneled it into a squeeze bottle and drizzled!