Cheesecake Cookies

Gastronomically speaking, there are few things I enjoy more than cheesecake.  I was skeptical when I saw this recipe because, in my experience, when something is labeled as cheesecake when it really isn't cheesecake, it usually leaves a lot to be desired. 

I am happy to report these little morsels of goodness are the exception to the rule.  They really do taste like little bite size pieces of cheesecake.  Kind of like those little individually wrapped cheesecake squares one would find at the discount wholesale clubs, only better.

They are easy to make, too.  If there is one thing I have learned looking through these family recipes, it's that we are big fans of cookie squares.  Why bother dishing out individual portions when you can make them all at once in one pan and just cut them up when they're done?  Simplicity is key.

These cookies are a real timesaver when you have that cheesecake craving but don't have the time to make a traditional cheesecake.  Although there is nothing like a real piece of cheesecake, these little cookies come pretty darn close.

Cheesecake Cookies
Printable Recipe

1 /3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup flour
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix brown sugar, nuts and flour together. Stir in melted butter and mix until light and crumbly. Save 3/4 cup to be used as topping. Place remainder in 8 inch square pan and press firmly. Bake at 350 degrees about 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in egg, lemon juice, milk and vanilla. Pour this mixture over baked crust. Top with reserved crumbs. Return to 350 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes. Cool thoroughly, then cut into 2 inch squares.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Known more as a Christmas staple, we actually made these cookies for the first time around Halloween.  Valerie received a big box of cookie cutters for her birthday, and we were inspired to make cookies in the shapes of ghosts and goblins.

The recipe comes together much like a standard cookie recipe.  I can't stress chilling the dough enough, as it is quite sticky prior to putting it in the refrigerator.  I worked in batches, rolling out a portion of the dough while leaving the rest to keep on chilling.  The dough warms up and becomes sticky again the more it is worked, so swiftness is key.

The end result is worth it though; these cookies are delightful.  Light, chewy, sweet, with a slight crunch around the edges, they really are a treat.  The sour cream gives the cookies a subtle tang while the nutmeg flavor is a welcome surprise.

They live up to their moniker of 'old-fashioned', too.  Emilie took some cookies to her pre-school and her teacher said they reminded her of the cookies her grandmother made.  Valerie's mom, Julie, also said they were like the cookies her mom made when she was a child.

We sprinkled some with sugar, and put icing on others, and they were delicious either way.  So break out the cookie cutters, and whip up a batch before Christmas!

 Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies
(Makes About 5 Dozen Cookies)
Printable Recipe

4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift flour, measure; resift with salt, soda, baking powder and nutmeg.
Cream butter with sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream, mix until smooth after each addition.
Blend in vanilla.
Wrap in wax paper until firm enough to roll.
Roll on floured board to about 1/4 inch thick, cut with large cookie cutter; place on ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar; bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes, or until brown. Take from baking sheets promptly.

Sour Cream Cookies

I'm always excited to find a new cookie recipe, especially on as simple as this.  With ingredients that I normally have in my refrigerator and pantry, these cookies are easy to whip up in a pinch, and they taste good, too!

These cookies are like little pillows.  Delicately light, fluffy, and a little tangy, they have a uniqueness all there own.  The nutmeg adds a nice warmth, too, making it hard to eat just one. 

Sour Cream Cookies

Printable recipe

1/3 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or mace

Blend butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla thoroughly. Stir in flour, soda and spice. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a well greased sheet. Flatten balls by pressing with a wet knife. Bake on top shelf at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I have tried a number of different peanut butter cookie recipes over the years, never finding one that I would happily make again and again.  The cookies would always turn out too dry or too crumbly, too dense or too crunchy.  I wanted a soft, moist, and chewy cookie where the peanut butter was the star of the show. 

Based on my past experiences with peanut butter cookies, it was with a little hesitation that I tried this family recipe.  The recipe card looked well-loved, so I figured it got a lot of use.  Still, I was not optimistic as I creamed the butter and sugar.  I was feeling a little better when I tried the raw dough, but I knew the proof would be in the finished product.

Still warm from the oven, I took my first bite.  This is the cookie I was looking for!  Or, maybe, rediscovered?  This being a family recipe, maybe I had this cookie as a child and not remembered it, so I always had a preconceived notion of what a peanut butter cookie should be.  Soft, moist, chewy, peanut-buttery and not too sweet.  The perfect little bite, and I will happily make this cookie again and again.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter or shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)

Cream butter and sugar together. Add beaten egg, mix well, then add peanut butter, vanilla and sesame seeds. Add flour and baking soda, blending well.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press them flat with a fork making a cross-hatch pattern. Bake at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

Spritz

The memories embedded in these little tree-shaped cookies make them so dear to my heart.  My mom used to make these every Christmas and they were such a treat.  I remember sitting down to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (back before it was on DVD) and eating these cookies.  It just didn't feel like Christmas until I popped the first spritz cookie into my mouth.

I took on making these cookies myself probably when I was about sixteen.  I used a cookie press with a twist top to extract the cookies.  A couple years later I got a cookie press with a trigger mechanism that uniformly extracted the cookies with a single click.  My cookie production increased dramatically with that in my arsenal.

I still make these cookies every year for Christmas and Ari has become quite the fan.  He even declared it his favorite cookie this year, much to my delight.  He also is strong enough this year to pull the trigger on the cookie press so he was able to help this year. 

Christmas is the only time of year I make spritz cookies, and I think I have only used one other shape besides the tree in my cookie press.  They just carry such a strong connotation to Christmas for me, I have a hard time making them for anything else.

Spritz

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

5 or 6 drops of green food coloring

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Beat butter and sugar until combines.  Add sugar and baking powder.  Beat in egg, almond extract, vanilla extract.  Add the flour and food coloring and mix until thoroughly integrated.

Place the dough into a cookie press and extract cookies into an ungreased cookie sheet.   Bake for 8 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

Snickerdoodles

I tend to make snickerdoodles during the holidays.  I don't know if they are a traditional holiday cookie, but they are easy to make and one batch of dough makes a lot of cookies.  Since we like to give boxes of cookies to our friends and family, these little beauties are a perfect fit.

Snickerdoodles pack a punch in flavor, too.  They are not too sweet, and the cinnamon adds just the right amount of spice.  They have a chewy texture and have just the right amount of crisp around the edges when baked right.

This is another recipe that may have found it's way into our family through the St. Joan of Arc recipe book.  Complete with annotations, this recipe looks like it has had a lot of use.

There was also a typed recipe card in the recipes I sorted through.  This card doesn't take into account the annotations and calls for the cookies to be bakes in a 400 degree oven for 7 minutes.

I have found the cookies bake best at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.  I also use butter instead of shortening and the cookies turn out just fine. 

Snickerdoodles

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup butter or shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon and sugar to coat

Directions

Mix thoroughly butter or shortening, sugar and eggs.  Sift together and stir in dry ingrdients.  Roll into ball the size of small walnuts.  Roll in mixture of:

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake until lightly browned, but still soft.  Cookies puff up, then flatten out.  Bake 8 minutes in 375 degree oven.  Makes about 5 dozen.

Mud Pie Cookies

This is a recipe my mom told me about when she gave me a box of Nonna's old recipes.  She said they were one of her favorite cookies and Nonna used to make them for her when she was young.  She was surprised when I told her I had never had them before.  When I found the recipe card in the box, I knew I had to give them a try.

What makes them unique is the almond extract.  I am a huge fan of almond extract in cookies, namely spritz, but I had never had them in a chocolate cookie before.  The cookies are delicious, and I can see why my mom liked them so much when she was a child.  I can definitely taste the almond extract, but it is not overpowering.  The cookies aren't overly chocolaty either.  They are very light and chewy, which is also an interesting combination.

I am so glad I found these cookies and it is always nice to add a delicious recipe to the cookie arsenal.  This being a family recipe makes it much more special.

Mud Pie Cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

½ cup shortening
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
4 tablespoon cocoa
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup evaporated milk.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, cream sugar and shortening, add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Add milk and dry ingredients alternately to the creamed mixture. Drop by teaspoon on greased baking sheet and bake at 350˚ for 8 to 10 minutes.