Peanut Blossoms

There are a lot of versions of this; mine came from an old coworker named Katie: your basic can-cook-anything grandmother!

1 and 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate Kisses

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar.
Beat well the egg, milk and vanilla; beat into the butter and sugar mixture.
Blend in the dry ingredients gradually and mix thoroughly. Shape into balls, roll into additional granulated sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Remove from the oven and place an unwrapped chocolate Kiss on top of each cookie, pressing down so the cookie cracks around the edges. Return to the oven and bake an additional 2 minutes.
Bake for 8 minutes at 375 degrees.

Gingersnaps

There was a time, long long ago, when I had a crush on this guy I knew; so I made him cookies, lots of different kinds of cookies, almost every week. Never 'got the guy' but I did learn a lot about cookies!

3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 and 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
granulated sugar

Cream together butter, sugar, molasses and the egg until fluffy. Mix together all dry ingredients; stir into the butter mixture. Shape into small balls and roll them in the granulated sugar. Place two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from the cookie sheet. Makes about five dozen.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Years ago, I was flattered when my Aunt Mary told me that she liked my chocolate chip cookies so much that she wanted the recipe. No problem, I wrote it out and sent it to her. Next thing I heard was that Aunt Mary had called my mother/her sister, to complain that if I didn't want to tell Mary the recipe, I should have just said so, not lied about it!

To keep peace in the family, I called Mary to find out what the problem was...... and it turned out the problem was Mary: she didn't want to 'waste' all that 'expensive' butter, so she used Crisco instead. She saw no reason to use both granulated sugar AND brown sugar: too complicated. Finally, she didn't have any semi-sweet chocolate on hand, so she used milk chocolate. And so, it was all my fault her cookies didn't taste as good.

Please, don't be Mary.

1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (I like dark brown)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups (about 24 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Mix together flour, salt and baking soda; stir thoroughly into creamed mixture.
Add chocolate chips and nuts, mix well.
Drop spoonfuls about two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes, remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.
Makes about 6 dozen.

Pfeffernuesse (German spice cookies)

My father said that the proper way to shape these into balls was to roll a lump of dough in each hand against your belly, while wearing a clean white t-shirt. He claimed that this is why all REAL bakers have big bellies: the better to roll pfeffernuesse, apparently.

4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup finely-chopped citron
1 teaspoon shredded lemon peel
4 eggs
2 cups sugar

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Mix in the citron and lemon peel.
Beat the eggs with the sugar until very thick; blend into the flour mixture. Chill at least six hours; overnight is fine.
Roll into 1 and 1/2 inch balls.
Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. If desired, roll in powdered sugar after baking.
Makes about five dozen.