< SHAPED COOKIE'S RECIPE >

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Almond Icing (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In large bowl beat shortening with electric mixer 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Add half flour mixture. Beat until combined. Stir in remaining flour mixture with wooden spoon. Cover; chill dough 1 hour until easy to handle.

2. Divide dough into thirds. On lightly floured surface, roll each third 1/4 inch thick. Cut with shaped cookie cutters. Place cookies, about 1 inch apart, on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from sheet and cool on wire racks. Dip into white Almond Icing (see recipe below). Place on rack set over waxed paper. While icing is moist, drizzle design with blue Almond Icing. Let excess drip onto paper. Let cookies stand at room temperature at least 2 hours to allow icing to dry.

Almond Icing: Stir together 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and enough milk (3 to 4 tablespoons) in a large mixing bowl to make icing of drizzling consistency. Tint one-fourth of the mixture blue with food coloring.

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PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE

1 cup of sugar

· 1 cup of brown sugar

· 1 teaspoon of baking soda

· 1 teaspoon of baking powder

· 1 teaspoon of vanilla

· 1 ½ cups of flour

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.

2. Add sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Beat until combined and scrape the side of the bowl as needed.

3. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.

4. Beat in the flour. You might need to stir remaining amounts.

5. Cover and chill the dough for one hour.

6. Place small dough balls on and ungreased cookie sheet. Press down with a fork on two sides, making a criss-cross pattern.

7. Preheat oven and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 7-9 minutes. Remove tray and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Peanut Butter Cookies Made Simple

And there you have it. Peanut butter cookies made extremely simple. This is a great recipe to use when you’re having a bake sale or it’s your turn to provide something sweet for fellowship time after church. And there’s no rule that you can’t sneak some cookies for yourself. The aroma that will fill your kitchen will likely break down your resolve not to eat some yourself.

Peanut Butter Cookies from Scratch

The benefit of baking food from scratch is that is much more fun that way. You can brag to others about the killer recipe that you made yourself and that you didn’t have to go to the store. In fact, you can even argue that your cookies are better than what one can find at the store.

Also, you have the benefit of knowing where all the ingredients came from, and you needn’t worry about additives and preservatives that come with processed food. A recipe such as this should yield around 30 cookies. If you need more, you can double the recipe. The positive here is that the recipe has a short baking time.

Now that you know the basics, you’re ready to knock ‘em dead with your killer peanut butter cookie recipe. Enjoy!

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Baby Boy's New Years Day Cookies


100g (4oz) Brown Sugar (make sure it is sifted
75g (2oz) Granulated Sugar
40g (1.5oz) Butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
1 Egg
175g (16oz) Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
225g (8oz) Mini Smarties (or M&M's or mini hard shelled chocolates)

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 (350oF or 180oc) mix together the two sugars, the butter and the Vanilla and the egg. Once they are mixed add the flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate.

Put a heaped teaspoon of the mixture on to a baking tray and then bake for ten minutes. When they come out of the oven they will be soft, so let them cool for a few minutes before you move them on to a wire rack. They will keep nicely in an air tight tin for a week... if they last that long!

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