Cookies

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugars. Beat in eggs until well blended. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually add to creamed mixture.
• Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Chai Spice

• In small bowl mix together all ingredients for spice blend. Store in airtight container for up to a year. (Note: this blend can also be bought in specialty stores such as King Arthur Baking Company).

Brown Butter

• This step is technically optional but adds to the depth of the flavor.
• To make brown butter, melt unsalted butter over medium heat, stirring frequently. Watch closely for the butter to develop brown specs and a nutty aroma. Once you start seeing brown specs, let cook for just a few seconds longer (watch very carefully or it will burn). Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl so that it doesn't continue to cook. Set aside and let cool for about 20 minutes in the fridge until soft and pliable.
• Recommend making the brown butter the night before you make the cookies, so that it has time to fully cool to room temperature! Note: For every ½ cup (1 stick or 113g), you'll lose about 1 tablespoon (14g) to evaporation while cooking. So you can either add in an extra 1 tablespoon before browning, or if you're browning big batches, just make up the weight difference in your recipe with regular unsalted butter if needed.

Cookie dough

• Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
• Add in the eggs and vanilla bean paste and beat until light, fluffy, and pale in color. This should take 2-4 minutes which seems like a long time, but you'll see a huge difference in the texture afterwards.
• Stir in the flour, chai spice, baking soda, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and chai spice for the topping. Spoon a generous 3 tablespoons of dough and then roll cookie dough balls in chai sugar.
• Cover the dough balls and chill in the fridge overnight (or 1 hour in freezer if you can't wait).
• Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place dough balls at least 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheet (they will spread). Place the rest of the cookie dough balls back in the fridge while the first batch cooks.
• Bake cookies for on the center rack of the oven for 9-11 minute or until the edges are set and the centers are still soft.
• Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Glaze

• Use any remaining topping and add glaze ingredients into a small saucepan.
• Heat until sugars are melted. Brush onto cookies and let glaze dry.

• Preheat oven to 375°. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• In large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, vanilla and egg together with mixer.
• Add flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Beat well until dough forms.
• Add rhubarb and beat again.
• Scoop dough into 1 inch balls and place on parchment paper.
• Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes or until baked through.
• Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes then move to wire rack to cool completely.

• In saucepan or top of double boiler melt chips and butter, stirring until melted.
• Add marshmallows and peanut butter and stir until dissolved.
• Mix in noodles, quickly.
• Drop by spoonsful onto waxed paper or shape into balls.

• Preheat oven to 375F
• Cream the butter, sugar, cardamom, vanilla, and salt in a stand mixer or with electric beaters. You can also do this by hand.
• Gradually add in the flour, with the mixer on low, until all the flour is incorporated and the dough comes together.
•  Use a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop to portion out the dough. Roll the dough into balls and coat in granulated sugar.
• Stamp the balls of dough with your cookie stamp, or dip bottom of glass in sugar and press cookie to flatten to about 1/2 inch. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle your stamped cookies with a little more granulated sugar.
• Place the tray of cookies in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Bake 14-16 minutes until just starting to turn faintly golden around the very edges. The cookies will still be quite pale.

• PREP: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) and prepare a 9-by-13-inch baking pan by lining with parchment paper, leaving enough of an overhang for easy removal. Set pan aside.
• COOKIE BASE: Add butter (softened, but not melted), white sugar, and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and salt; mix until just combined. Add in all the flour and mix until just combined and a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
• BAKE: Press just a little over half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. (Refrigerate the rest, tightly covered, until it is time to use it). Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove from the oven.
• CARAMELS: While the base is baking, combine the unwrapped caramels and heavy whipping cream in a medium-sized pot over medium-low heat. Gently stir until melted and smooth, about 5-8 minutes; pour over the cookie bar. Use a spoon to spread the caramel gently to cover the cookie base. Remove the reserved cookie dough from the fridge and crumble the remaining dough into bits and sprinkle it over the caramel.
• BAKE AGAIN: Return the pan to the oven for an additional 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges; be careful to not overbake. Cool completely at room temperature and then cut into small squares. Store leftovers, tightly wrapped, in the fridge.

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
• Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and molasses and mix on high until combined. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Beat in the oats, raisins, and walnuts (if using) on low speed. Dough will be thick, yet very sticky.
• Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator (do the full hour if you’re afraid of the cookies spreading too much). If chilling for longer (up to 2 days), allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking.
• Roll balls of dough (about 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie) and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft and under-baked. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will continue to “set” on the baking sheet during this time.

• Mix sugar, cocoa, and oil together in a medium bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Stir in vanilla.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl. Gradually stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Cover dough and refrigerator for at least 4 hours. 
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll or scoop chilled dough into 1-inch balls. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar and place 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.
• Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to make remaining batches.

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• In an electric mixer cream together butter and sugar until well combined and creamy. Add in egg and vanilla extract and beat until everything is fully incorporated.
• Mix in cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and flour until it forms a batter. Pour in melted chocolate and stir until well combined.
• Scoop dough, form into balls and place onto a lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until cookies are just dry on top. Be careful not to overbake.
• Remove tray from oven and leave cookies on baking tray to cool completely.
• Once cookies are completely cool prepare icing. In a saucepan melt butter. Add remaining ingredients, whisking until smooth and pourable. If mixture is too thick add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time to get to a pourable consistency.
• Pour frosting over cooled cookies on baking tray. Let cookies sit for a couple of hours for icing to completely set.
• Remove and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

• In mixer, cream together butter and vanilla extract.
• Add powdered sugar and salt and mix until combined and smooth.
• Slowly add flour and mix well. Scrap down bowl as needed.
• Fold in cranberries and pecans (dough will be crumbly).
• Transfer dough to plastic wrap and press into round log.
• Put in freezer for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°. Take dough out and unwrap. Let set for 5-10 minutes if it's too hard to cut.
• Cut dough into ½ inch slices and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating once after 5 minutes.
• Remove from oven when bottom of cookies start to brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

• Line a 9×13-inch pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

  Melt the butter in a large pot over medium low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir in cereal and stir to coat with the marshmallow mixture. Pour into pan. Press firmly to compact.

  Tip: spray wax paper with nonstick cooking spray so you can press without it sticking to your hands. Let set until firm then slice into bars.

  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 
• Toast your pecans: If you want, take the time to toast your pecans a bit before they go in your bars. I like the extra flavor this adds, and your oven is preheating anyway, but it's not necessary. Spread 2 cups of pecans out onto a dry baking sheet and put it into the oven at 350. Stir the pecans every 2-5 minutes. Leave the pecans in the oven for 7-10 minutes total (How long it takes will depend on if they are already chopped.) When the pecans are fragrant and toasty, take them out and set aside to cool.

Shortbread

• Line a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper, or foil that you spray with nonstick spray. (You can also spray the pan itself no problem, but I like to be able to lift the bars out for easy slicing.)
• In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat 1 cup of butter to within an inch of it's life. You want it to be light and fluffy, should take at least 2-3 minutes, plus breaks for scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy, again making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Beat well.
• Add 2 cups of flour. Beat it all in, it's going to feel like too much at first. Use your spatula to get the crumbs at the bottom if necessary. Don't over beat, once the flour is incorporated, stop mixing.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared 9×13 inch pan. I like to section out the dough into pieces and spread them over the bottom of the pan for easy pressing, see photos. Wet your hands just a little bit, and press the dough evenly into the pan. Don't form an edge crust, just press it all flat, wetting your hands again as necessary.
• Bake the shortbread at 350 for 18-20 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside if your filling is not ready to go.

Pecan Pie Filling

• Begin by browning your butter. This gives your bars that deep, nutty flavor that is so perfect for fall. In a small saucepan, add 1/2 cup butter. Turn the heat to medium and let the butter melt. Keep the heat on medium and don't walk away. Stir occasionally. Soon the butter will bubble and form a thick white foam on top. After that, the foam will recede a little bit and you will start to see little brown "bits" forming on the bottom of the pan. Stir them up and take a whiff. If you see brown specks and your butter has taken on a nutty aroma, your butter is browned. Take it off the heat right away. It goes from browned to burned real quick, so pay attention! Set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, scrape out any crumbs from the same bowl that you mixed your shortbread in. (It's Thanksgiving people, we don't have time for extra dishes!) Add 3 large eggs to the bowl and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the eggs have lightened up in color a bit. (You're whipping air into them. Use a whisk attachment if you have one.)
• Once the 3 eggs are well beaten, add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup light corn syrup, and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat well.
• When your butter has cooled a reasonable amount, add it to the egg mixture. If it is still pretty hot, you can tempt fate and add the hot butter while your mixer is running, to make sure you don't curdle the eggs. (That's what I always do. These are the kind of risks that make me feel like I'm living a dangerous life.) But if you're nervous, wait til you can stick your finger in the butter without it hurting. Beat the butter in well.
• Add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (don't skip it! Lemon is the best secret ingredient to a great caramel sauce!), and 1 tablespoon flour. Beat it all together, whisking out any flour lumps.
• Coarsely chop your pecans. Add the chopped pecans and 1/2 cup toffee bits to the egg mixture, and fold in with a spatula.
• Pour the mixture on top of the baked crust. It's okay if the crust is still warm, even hot. Spread the mixture out evenly.
• Bake the bars at 350 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes. When it is done, the edges of the bars will be light brown. The center of the bars may wiggle a little bit when you shake the pan, but it should not look sloshy. The bars from about 2 inches away from the edges and further out should not wobble. Your bars will bake a few minutes faster in a metal pan, a couple minutes slower in a glass pan.
• Let cool completely to room temperature. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of salted caramel!

• Preheat ove to 350° degrees
• Mix first 4 ingredients in order mixing well after each. Add dry ingredients alternating with milk.

  Drop by spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with water glass dipped in sugar OR roll out and cut with cookie cutters.

  Bake until light brown around edges approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

  Can be frosted with Grandma Heather's Almond frosting.

• Mix all dry ingredients
• Mix corn syrup and bourbon
• Add to dry mixture slowly. Mix until well blended.
• Roll into 1 inch balls then roll in powdered sugar to coat. Chill if too sticky to roll into balls.

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line cookie sheet with parchment or lightly butter.
• Mix ingredients in order, mixing well between ingredients.
• Roll about a tablespoon into a ball and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with fork creating a cross hatch on the cookie.
• Bake for 7-8 minutes until lightly brown around the edges.

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a standing mixer, cream softened butter, sugar, and vanilla extract. Gradually mix in flour, salt, and food coloring until your batter is well-combined and a rich green color.
• Stir in chopped pecans and cranberries until evenly distributed.
• Form dough into 1 inch balls and place onto a prepared baking sheet (or two baking sheets depending on how large they are).
• Bake cookies for 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from oven before they start to brown.
• Allow cookies to cool enough to handle, then roll each in a small bowl of powdered sugar until fully coated.
• Use melted white chocolate to secure a red heart sprinkle to the top of each cookie. Or if you can't find heart sprinkles skip this step.
• Allow cookies to cool completely and chocolate to set before serving or storing.

• In mixing bowl mix together peanut butter and honey.
• Stir in dry milk powder, sesame seeds and wheat germ until well mixed.
• Using a teaspoon at a time, shape the peanut butter mixture into ovals to look like bees. Place on waxed paper on a baking sheet.
• Dip a toothpick in the cocoa powder then press gently across top of bees to make stripes.
• Stick almonds on the sides for wings.
• Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

• Mix together all ingredients in order mixing well between each. Press into cake pan. Bake until lightly golden brown.
• Cut into squares while still hot. Then let cool.

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly spray or butter your 8×8 9r 9×9 baking pan. I like to line it with parchment paper so I can remove the brownies easily for glazing and slicing, but that's optional.
• Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
• Blend in the eggs, one at a time.
• Mix in the lemon juice and zest. Note: the batter may look curdled at this point, but no worries, that's normal and it will resolve itself when you blend in the flour.
• Stir in the salt, and then fold in the flour, stirring just until everything is well incorporated, but don't over mix.
• Spread into your prepared pan, evening out the surface with an offset spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or just until set in center. Note: Try not to over bake these, you want that fudgy texture! The surface will not be a 'springy' as a cake is when these brownies are done. 
• Let the pan cool for about 20 minutes before lifting the brownies out using the parchment paper 'sling' to finish cooling on a rack. If you didn't use parchment, let the brownies cool in the pan on a rack.
• Mix the sugar and enough lemon juice to make a thick but pourable glaze. Spread over the top of the completely cooled brownies. Top with a little lemon zest if you like. Let the glaze harden before slicing.

Cookies

• In a large bowl, beat the buttery spread, sugar, applesauce, and lemon juice on medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Add the gluten free flour blend and lemon zest, mix to combine. Add the poppy seeds and mix. (If the dough seems too wet, add a bit more flour. Texture can vary with different gluten free flour blends).
• Divide the dough into two parts, and shape into discs. Wrap the discs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or freeze for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Lightly flour a rolling pin and rolling surface with gluten free flour. Place the dough on the surface and roll to about a ¼ inch thickness. (If the dough is too cold and stiff, you may have to let it warm up just a little bit before rolling.
• Using a round cookie cutter, (or a different shape – flowers would be pretty!) cut out cookies, and quickly transfer them to the cookie sheets.Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.
•  Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Glaze

• Sift the confectioner's sugar into a mixing bowl.
• Add the lemon juice, or water, depending on if you want a lemony glaze, or just a sugary glaze, and whisk. If the glaze is too thick, add more liquid.
• Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.

• Mix sugar, syrup and salt together in large saucepan. cook over medium heat to boiling. Boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in peanut butter untl melted. Add cereal mixing quickly. Press into greased pan. Let cool.

  For fancy presentation, shape into round cookies. Melt small bag of chocolate chips and drizzle over cookies.

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and extract. Combine the flour, nutmeg and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
• Divide dough into 3 portions. Roll each portion into 3/4-in.-thick logs; chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut into 2-in. pieces. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350°, until bottoms are lightly browned, 12-16 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
• For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, extract and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Frost cookies. Press down with tines of a fork, making lines down frosting to simulate tree bark. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• In a small bowl, add the currants and orange-flavored liqueur, or water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain and discard the liquid. Set aside.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
• Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to combine.
• Gradually add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until incorporated, (the mixture will look curdled). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the flour mixture all at once and mix again on low speed until a dough forms – scrape again including the beaters. When a dough forms add the currants, zest, and polenta and mix on low until thoroughly combined.
• Roll into small 1-inch balls, and arrange on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.

• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Whisk dry ingredients:

  In a medium bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
• Cream butter & sugar:

  In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 2–3 minutes).

  Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add dry ingredients:

  Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until a dough forms.
• Fold in peaches:

  Gently stir in diced peaches. (Pat peaches dry with a paper towel first if extra juicy.)
• Make cinnamon sugar:

  In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar.
• Shape and roll:

  Scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough and roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
• Bake:

  Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until edges are set and tops are slightly crackled.
• Cool:

  Let cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cream together peanut butter, mashed banana, and brown sugar until smooth.
• Add egg and vanilla. Mix to combine.
• In small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
• Add flour, mix well.
• Roll into 1 inch balls and place on prepared sheets.
• Dip for in sugar and press down on each ball of dough in criss cross pattern
• Bake for 8 minutes.
• Sprinkle warm cookies with sea salt (optional). Move to wire rack to cool completely.

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease pan with butter.
• Mix all ingredients except pecans together on low speed for 2 minutes.
• Spread into greased 13 x 9 pan.
• Sprinkle with pecans.
• Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Cool. Drizzle with frosting.

Frosting

• Melt together brown sugar, butter and milk.
• Stir in powdered sugar until smooth.

• Preheat oven to 190°C | 375°F. Prepare two baking trays with parchment/baking paper and set aside.
• Combine together peanut butter, sweetener (or sugar), egg and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl and mixwell. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of cookie dough per cookie; roll into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand (or use a fork).
• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Remove and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• While cookies are cooling, melt chocolate and butter (or shortening) together, mixing until smooth. Dip each cookie halfway into the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl.
• Place onto waxed paper; sprinkle with salt flakes and allow to set.

• Cream butter, vanilla, and both kinds of sugar until light and fluffy. Add both eggs and blend well.
• Whisk all of the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the butter mixture, combining until the dough pulls from the side of the bowl.
• Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Roll out dough to 1/4" or 1/8" thick and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

For Speculas Spice

• Combine the spices in an airtight container and shake until well mixed. Store remaining mixture in airtight jar.

• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a large bowl with an electric hand mixer), add the butter. Beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add the granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, another 1-2 minutes.
• Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
• Add the gluten-free flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix on low speed, then after 30 seconds increase the speed to medium. Mix for 2-3 minutes until a thick dough forms.
• Line a flat plate or small baking sheet with parchment paper. (One that will fit in your freezer!) Using a one-tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon, measure out the cookie dough, roll into balls, roll each one in granulated sugar (optional), then place on the parchment-lined plate.
• Use your thumb (or the handle of a large wooden spoon) to press an indentation into each ball of cookie dough. Smooth any seams or cracks on the edges of the cookie.
• Freeze the cookie dough balls for 20 minutes.
• Spoon a scant 1/2 teaspoon of preserves/jam into the indentation in each one. (You can make this easier by scooping the preserves into a small ziplock bag and clipping the edge of the bag, then piping a little bit into each cookie. Do not overfill.)
• Freeze for another 15-20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Place the cookies at least 2" apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown.
• Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Repeat baking the remaining dough.