Cookies

For an afternoon jewelry party, I thought the perfect culinary road to travel would be one of confectionery.  I sifted through my recipes and decided on three.  A variety of sweet and savory; of light and rich. 

When Aunt Joan titled this recipe "Delicious Cookies", she could not have been more accurate.  Dressed with a simple royal icing, they are rich in texture with a hint of anise to refresh the taste buds. 


4 cups flour
1 cup sugar 
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 extra large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 sticks margarine (softened)
1 tsp. anise extract 
2 tbsp. baking powder


By hand (or, by cheating and using a stand mixer), beat eggs.  Add margarine, sugar, sour cream and anise extract.  Mix the baking soda, baking powder and flour.  Add a little at a time to the egg mixture.   Allow to chill in fridge for 45-60 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 365-375.  Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Roll into 1 tsp. balls and place on sheet.  Bake 7-8 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.


Note: For icing, mix enough powdered sugar and water until thin enough to drizzle.  Add 1/2 tsp anise extract.  Frost cookies and allow to dry. 


Simply by sampling, one would never know that contained in these Flourless Brownies are an entire can of nutrition packed black beans.  Their creamy consistency and moderate sweetness are just enough to satisfy a sweet tooth craving.  Thanks Jenny for sharing!


15 oz. black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large eggs
1/3 cup melted butter, more for baking dish
1/4 cup cocoa powder 
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cane sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Butter an 8 inch baking pan.  Place the black beans, eggs, melted butter, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.  remove blade and gently stir in chocolate chips.  Transfer to prepared pan.  Bake 30-35 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting. 


Note: For some reason I had brain freeze on my first attempt and forgot to add the sugar.  They taste MUCH better with sugar :)  


If you thought Oreos couldn't get any better, try this recipe.  Adding cream cheese and smothering them in white chocolate takes them to a whole new level of deliciousness.  I have Bridgette to thank for the recipe for Oreo Truffles.  


1 package Oreos
1 package cream cheese, softened 
1 package white chocolate chip morsels 


Crush entire package of Oreo cookies into a fine powder.  Mix together cookie crumbs and cream cheese.  Melt white chocolate chips over a double boiler.  Make cookie mixture into 1" balls.  Dip into melted chocolate until they are covered.  Place on a tray and refrigerate.


Note: Because I don't have a double boiler I used a sauce pan to heat the chips.  Without the luxury of a double boiler, I wasn't able to keep a constant heat source (for fear of burning the chocolate). So, I thinned the melted chips with a little bit of cream.  This kept it thin enough to dip and cover the cookie balls.  They were still yummy, however, stickier since the chocolate didn't harden into a nice shell.  I will definitely be making these again!