Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe offers a way to use up all that zucchini from the garden or frozen shredded zucchini. These are great cookies and your children will not even realize they are eating a vegetable in this little treat.

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup honey

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups zucchini, grated

1 cup raisins

2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup walnut pieces

Cream shortening and honey, add eggs and beat well. Mix in flours, spices, and zucchini and continue mixing. Fold in oats, raisins and nuts. Drop by tablespoons on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 3 to 4 dozen depending on size you make cookies. Enjoy!

Notes: My husband bought a 12-oz. squeeze-bear of honey and it barely poured into an 8 oz measuring cup. However, the cookies didn't suffer in terms of taste or moisture. I was nervous about the fact that all the sweetness would come from an all-natural source like honey (especially since I am not a fan of honey). I shouldn't have been. The sweetness was just right and the extra spices evened out the honey flavor. I omitted raisins (because I don't like those either), I used pecans instead of walnuts, and I used old-fashioned oats instead of quick cooking.

All of these changes made no difference at all. The cookies are delicious. The one kind of weird thing about them is that they have very little body. You pick one up and take a bite and the rest of it sort of crumbles in your hand. So I've solved this by storing them in Tupperware in the fridge and/or freezer.

Courtesy: The Southern Lady Cooks

Mary's Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter

1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp cream of Tartar

Mix the sugar and the butter. Add the egg and the vanilla. Mix in the flour, soda and cream of Tartar.

Chill 2-3 hours. Use flour to coat hands before forming into 1" balls.



Flatten with sugared glass bottom and sprinkle with colored sugar.



Bake at 375 degrees 4 1/2 minutes tops. Cool before removing.

Notes: I have no idea who Mary is, it's just what we've always called these cookies.

This is a very simple recipe. What I always do is put the sugar into the mixing bowl while the butter softens in the microwave, and then put the egg and vanilla into a cereal bowl until I need them, and keep the flour, soda and cream of Tartar in another bowl in the counter, pre-measured and ready to go for when I need them.

The hardest bit of this recipe is dealing with your very tired arm because stirring once all the flour is in there isn't a piece of cake. It's totally worth it in the end, though. These are the best sugar cookies I've ever eaten.

Mom's Awesome Gingersnaps

3/4 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
2 1/4 c. flour (2 c. for less fat cookie)
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
granulated sugar

Mix thoroughly: shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses. Blend remaining ingredients except for granulated sugar. Cover and chill for one hour.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Dip tops in granulated sugar. Place balls sugar side up 3-inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake ten to twelve minutes or just until set. Immediately remove from baking sheet.

Notes: I think these are my all-time favorite Christmas cookies. I only used 2 cups of flour and I didn't refrigerate them like the instructions say, and to get a flatter, softer cookie, once I had shaped balls of dough on the cookie sheet I flattened them somewhat with the sugared bottom of a regular kitchen glass. Ten minutes was the maximum I let them stay in the oven and they turned out perfectly.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. stick margarine or butter, softened
1 large egg
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
granulated sugar

1. Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, margarine and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate about two hours or until firm.

2. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

3. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place about three inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in criss-cross pattern with fork dipped in granulated sugar.

4. Bake 9-10 minutes or until light brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes: I completely forgot to refrigerate for one hour and there is no difference whatsoever in the way the cookies turned out. Go figure. Also, for me, nine minutes is perfect, any longer and it's too long.

Source: Betty Crocker

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 c. shortening
2/3 c. margarine
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 oz. semisweet chocolate pieces

Mix shortening, margarine, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients and then the chips.

Used two spoons to drop the dough in two-inch balls onto a cookie sheet about two inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool before removing from sheet.

Notes: 8 minutes max in the oven, and these babies come out perfectly!

Source: Betty Crocker