In this week’s edition of “What’s for Lunch,” we offer cookies. These are not the Internet-type cookies we might write about here at ProfHacker, but real cookies. What better way to celebrate the end of so many year-end events? This a time of endings. The semester has almost ended for most of us. Almost. It’ll be over when all those grades are submitted. The year has almost ended. Almost. It’ll be over when all the holidays are past and life has returned to a manageable pace. Almost. We are almost there.
In this time of rushing, stressing, ending, it’s important to remember to take a moment to breathe. Take a moment to relax. Take a moment and just be. And have a cookie. Besides, who says we can’t have cookies for lunch?
These recipes come from ProfHacker readers (with one of my own thrown in for fun).
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Forgotten Cookies (the best kind for absent-minded professors)
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 cups of any two of the following (chopped unsalted nuts, chocolate chips, chopped dried fruit)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat egg whites until stiff, gradually add sugar and beat until stiff again. Add, salt, mix it in. Fold in additional ingredients. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Drop mix by teaspoon-full on trays.Place in oven and turn the heat OFF. (Note: I normally leave the oven on for five minutes after putting in the trays to allow the oven to return to 350 degrees and retain heat better.) Leave the trays in the cooling oven overnight. Makes 24 generously-sized cookies.
Janice Liedl
http://blog.jliedl.ca
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Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup raisins
Directions:
Place one oven rack in the top third of the oven, and one oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugars until creamy and smooth (about 2 – 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Stir in the nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, and raisins. Form dough into balls, using 1/4 cup (55 grams) for each cookie. Place six balls of dough on each baking sheet. With moistened hands, gently flatten each ball of dough into a 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick cookie. Bake the cookies for about 14 – 16 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. The cookies are done when they are golden brown around the edges and just barely set in the center. They should still be soft. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. Makes about 20 large cookies.
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Spice Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup dark corn syrup
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup whole blanched (skinned) almonds
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black or white pepper
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
Directions
Place the corn syrup, sugar, and butter in a large saucepan (6 cup capacity). Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Let the mixture boil for about 2 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Toast the almonds for about 8-10 minutes, or until the nuts are lightly colored and fragrant. Set aside to cool. In a medium sized bowl sift, or whisk, the flour, baking soda, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper Set aside.
Remove about 20 of the toasted almonds and chop them into small pieces. Set aside to use as garnish for the cookies. Place the remainder of the almonds in a food processor, fitted with a metal blade. Add about 1/4 cup of the sifted dry ingredients and process for about 30 seconds or until finely ground. Place the finely ground nut mixture and dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
When the corn syrup cools to tepid, stir in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and lemon rind. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour or until the dough is firm enough to roll out. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of l/8 inch. Use a 3 inch round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
Transfer cookies to the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart, and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly colored. Do not over bake or they will be too hard. Cool cookies on wire racks and then store in an airtight container. Makes about 36 cookies.
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If you have a favorite cookie recipe that you’d like to share, please leave suggestions in comments below. In the meantime, take a breath, and have a cookie. The semester and the year are almost over. Besides, our new year’s resolution will be to eat healthier lunches.
[Image by Flickr user StevenBisson. Licensed under Creative Commons.]
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