Week 20: Vanilla-Glazed Apple Cookies

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Vanilla-Glazed-Apple-Cookies

These would make a great cookie in the fall or during the holidays. They made the house smell wonderful!

They wouldn't be my cookies without some kind of mishap. I usually cook two pans of cookies at the same time. During my first batch, one pan looked ready, but the other pan looked like it needed more time. I didn't reset the time, and I forgot about them.

Oops.

week 19: Raspberry Delights

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Raspberry-Delights

This was my first experience making a bar cookie, and my first experience using jam in a cookie. I used Smuckers Simply Fruit. I really like these. They are very tasty. I wish I had used a little less jam than I did, because the cookie part tastes so good that the jam takes away from it. I also liked that I could put all of the cookies in one pan and bake them once, rather than having to bake them in batches. I put a layer of parchment paper down in the pan, which slid out very easily, and made slicing the pieces much easier.

week 18: Scottish Shortbread

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Scottish-Shortbread

I originally planned to make a different cookie in honor of Valentines' Day, but I didn't have some of the ingredients, and I wasn't in the mood for something complicated. I wanted something easy, with ingredients I had on hand. I thought these would be the perfect, simple cookie. Not many ingredients, and not very many directions.

I think it would have been easy had I listened to my own advise from last week...let your butter soften before trying to cream it with the sugar. This recipe is ALL butter, and I tried to cream it with the hand mixer before it was soft enough, which burned out the motor. Thankfully, I also have a stand mixer that I could transfer it to, but I like using the hand mixer so much better. I guess I know what I'm doing with the gift card my husband gave me for Valentines Day.

The cookies turned out very good, and I dipped a few in chocolate just for me. I just can't get enough chocolate these days.

Week 17: Butter Cookies

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Butter-Cookies

I chose this recipe so I could try out my new cookie press that I found for $5 after Christmas. I have mixed feelings about the cookie press. I think I just haven't gotten the hang of it yet. I do like how it made little bite sized cookies. But when they're so small, it's hard to keep track of how many you've eaten.

I did cheat on the icing. I used store bought icing, since I had some stock piled in my pantry. I added red food coloring to about half of them. I took them to share at a birthday party at the bowling alley, and everyone seemed to like them. My husband is not a fan of the sweet icing, so I should have made a few more for him without icing. He was, after all, complaining that my cookies are making him fat. Yeah, they're making me fat too. I think I need to find a Splenda, whole wheat, fiber cookie in the near future. :)

Week 16: Coconut Drop Cookies

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Coconut-Drop-Cookies

I usually choose a cookie recipe based on what I already have in my kitchen, rather than pick a recipe, then go to the store. I found some walnuts on sale a few weeks after Christmas and I put them up in the freezer. I decided to pick a recipe this week that used the walnuts. Once again, my husband did not want me to share these cookies with anyone. He wanted them all to himself. I added some chocolate chips to the last batch, but my husband prefers them without.