Sugar Babies Molasses Cookies

Recently I stopped in to visit my sister while I was in Kingston and I knew that I wanted to take a special treat to her. With the weather still being on the chilly side, I wanted to make her a chewy, spicy cookie that would be sure to warm her up on her last few weeks of university. These chewy molasses cookies were perfect because of one little ingredient that made them so much better...

Sugar Babies!

I love these candies and often pick up a box while I'm in the United States. I found this recipe on the Sugar Babies website and it turned out really good. They were a little more crunchy than chewy, so when I make these again, I'm going to lower the baking time.

What you'll need:
3 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1 stick (4 oz) Butter, room temperature
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 cup Molasses
1 tbsp Corn Syrup
5 bags of Sugar Babies (1.7 oz bags)
1/2 cup Sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 375° and spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and spices. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in egg, molasses and corn syrup until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix thoroughly.

Fold in the Sugar Babies.

Roll 1-inch balls of cookie dough in hands and place on the prepared cookie sheet, setting them 2 inches apart.

Place 1/2 cup of sugar in a small dish. Wet the bottom of a drinking glass. Dip the bottom of the glass into the sugar.

Use the sugar coated glass to flatten the cookies. Dip the glass in the sugar again after flattening each cookie. Cookies should be about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Don't be surprised if your Sugar Babies melt like mine did on the pan. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Next time I might line the baking sheet with parchment to make the clean up easier afterwards.

The best bites are the ones that have the chewy Sugar Babies in them. Yum!

This recipe makes about 24 large cookies.

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Trail Mix Applesauce Cookies

I have said it in the past and I'll say it again: I love Enjoy Life Trail Mix! For a nut allergy person like me, this is a great wholesome and delicious snack. So what better than to make this into Trail Mix Applesauce Cookies! They are sweet, crunchy and nutty without actually using nuts. The texture of the cookie part is more spongy than chewy, but the trail mix makes up for the dough not being so dense.

The hardest part about making these cookies is resisting the urge to eat too much of the trail mix while I'm making these.

The raisins are too tempting as well. Chewy and sweet...I can never get enough of these. A great addition to the cookies to make them extra sweet without adding a ton of refined sugar.

What you'll need:
1 cup Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Quick Oats
1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Trail Mix (I used Enjoy Life's Nut Free Mountain Trail Mix)
1/2 cup Raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F

In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and oats in a bowl.

In a medium bowl, mix applesauce, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. 

Stir in trail mix and raisins.

Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool on a drying rack.

Enjoy with a big glass of milk! I know you'll be back for seconds :)

Makes about 24 cookies.

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Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

This week my cravings were all over the place. I wanted chocolate. Then something chewy. Then something tart. I decided to tackle all three by making these chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies with mini chocolate chips in them. They are almost more like a muffin top than a cookie, but they are just what I needed. I used fresh cranberries because I had some in the fridge and I'm glad I did. They had a lot of moisture to the cookies and are nice and juicy.

What you'll need
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Butter, at room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup Oats
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 cup Mini Chocolate Chips (Semi-Sweet or Milk Chocolate)
1 1/2 cups Fresh Cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar, butter and vanilla until well mixed.

Add in egg.

Continue to beat until fluffy.

In separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients.

Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well combined.

Add mini chips and cranberries to mixture.

Fold into mixture until well mixed.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place 1 tbsp scoops of dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes or until they look set.

Allow to cool for a few minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Optional: Drizzle white chocolate over the top.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

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White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Last weekend I had someone visiting me and I told them I'd make any cookie, brownie, dessert etc that they wanted. And what was their only request: Chocolate Chip Cookies with white chocolate chips. The idea intrigued me. Why hadn't I thought of that before? I conveniently had white chocolate chips in the cupboard, so while I was routing around for them I found a little bag of shredded coconut. And idea was born. Why not put white chocolate chips AND coconut in it? Bingo.

White Chocolate is a relatively new phenomenon, only being first introduced in Switzerland a few years after World War I. The first white chocolate produced was by the Nestlé company in 1930 and it wasn't until a year later that the M&M Candy company started manufacturing it in New Hampshire and introduced it in the United States. Its hard to believe its only been around for about 70 years. What did they make white chocolate bunnies out of before then?

Thats your history lesson for the day. Now onto the recipe!

What you'll need:
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 Egg
1 tbsp Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 3/4 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Shredded Coconut
1 cup White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 3 minutes.

Add in the egg, milk and vanilla and continue to mix for another 2 minutes.

Mix mix mix!

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix for another minute.

Mix in the coconut and white chocolate chips until just combined. (I may or may not have stolen some cookie dough at this point. Sorry Mom! I know you hate that, but I can't help myself!)

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Press down slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Let the cookies sit on the pan for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

These delectable little cookies come right out of the oven buttery and creamy. I made some chewy and some a little more crispy, and I have to say that they taste fantastic both ways. Its just your texture preference.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

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Carrot Cake Cookies

The other day I was on one of my favorite blogs, Carrots 'n' Cake, and I saw that Tina had posted about making Carrot Cake Cookies. I was instantly intrigued. Raisins + Carrots + Maple Syrup = One Delicious Cookie.

I did the cookie tasting test on my date the other night and he loved them. So much so that I sent most of what was left of the batch home with him. Thanks Tina! :)

What you'll need:

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Old-Fashioned Oats
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 cup Grated Carrots
1/2 cup Raisins

(Note: the recipe also called for 1/4 cup chopped walnuts but I didn't add them in because, well, it could possibly kill me with that whole nut allergy thing. But feel free to add them in if you'd like)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well until batter is blended evenly.

Use a tablespoon to portion cookies on a greased baking sheet, approximately 1-2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes until cooked through. Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool on wire rack.

The recipe was such was not only easy to make, but also easy to clean up, using only one bowl. It made about 15 cookies, which were gone in no time. Chewy and delicious...but my date suggested putting cream cheese icing on them, like real carrot cake. May just have to do that next time!

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