Last night I was in the mood for baking. I picked a random recipe from the Magnificent Cookies Cookbook by Kathryn L. Ramsay. I chose the pecan cookies recipes, and set to work baking. Since so many recipes from this cook book that I have tried have ended up too crumbly or dry, I decided to add an extra egg to this recipe.  I used ground pecans in the cookies rather then pecan chunks that the recipe called for (only because there were not enough pecans left). I did however place a full or part of a pecan on top of each cookie before baking. This turned out to be a nice touch both in taste and appearance.

The cookies turned out really well. They have a lovely almond flavor, and the pecan on the top is a tasty bonus. The cookies are soft, jus the way I like them. The only crunch in the cookie is the pecan on top.

Here is my adapted recipe.

Pecan Cookies

1 cup olive oil margarine
½ cup not packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 extra large eggs
1 tsp pure almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup ground pecans
about 30-40 pecans (shelled) whole or pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl add the margarine, and sugars. Cream. Add the eggs, and almond extract. Cream until blended. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the whole pecans or pecan pieces). Beat until smooth.  Form cookies by making balls and flattening them. Add pecans to the top of each cookie before baking. Bake for about 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Enjoy.

The cookies before baking

This evening I was in the mood to do some Christmas baking. I decided to make some shortbread cookies. I compared three recipes, and in the end came up with my own. Here it is.

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

(Makes about 60 cookies depending on the size)

4 cups all purpose flour

4.3 oz olive oil margarine

2/3 cup not packed brown sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

5-6 tsp semi warm water (as needed)

Combine the flour and sugar, and mix well (make sure there are no clumps of sugar). Add the vanilla extract and margarine. Beat the dough with an electric mixer. Now knead the dough until it is a consistency that allows for it to be rolled. You will likely need to add the water at this point. Add enough water to just make it a consistency that allows for it to be rolled (knead it into your dough). Preheat your oven to 320 degrees F. Roll dough into snake like rolls. Cut cookies to desired thickness (I made mine on the thick side so they were less likely to burn). Bake for about 15-20 minutes in your preheated oven (I baked mine for 17 minutes and they were the perfect texture). Enjoy.

Here is a recipe I tried from fellow blogger friend Fahriye. The cookies turned out yummy. Crunchy, yet soft, and not too sweet. The recipes makes about 40 cookies. Enjoy.

I did modify the recipe slightly. I searched all over the small city where I live and was unable to find rose water. Instead I made a very concentrated rose hip tea and used about ¼-½ cup of this instead of the 2 tbsp rose water.

I also used 4 tbsp raisins instead of two, and 4 tbsp hazelnuts (flaked) instead of two.

I used strawberry and raspberry yogurt because we didn’t have any plain yogurt.

Finally I added baking powder 3 tsp, because we don’t have self rising flour (only all purpose).

Here is Fahriye’s Blog. http://www.fahriyeskitchen.blogspot.com/

Hazelnut Cookies

1 cup natural yogurt

1 cup sugar

2 eggs ( keep one yolk for the top of the cookies )

Half a cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp chopped hazelnuts

2 tbsp raisins

2 tsp cinnamon

2tbsp rose water

4 cups self raising flour

First mix the sugar and oil well together, add the beaten eggs. Mix well. Add the hazelnuts, raisins, cinnamon to the flour and mix with all the ingredients into a smooth dough with the rose water. Shape into rounds, brush it with egg yolk and decorate with whole hazelnuts. Cook in pre-heated oven on 175C for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

¾ cup margarine

1 ½ cups brown sugar

3 eggs

¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups uncooked rolled oats

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp Kahlua liquor

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda. Blend. Add the margarine and brown sugar (cream this mixture). Add vanilla, eggs, Kahlua, and beat well. Add rolled oats, and mix well (you may need to knead the dough). Once the dough is well formed knead the coconut and chocolate chips into the dough. Drop the cookie dough onto cookie sheets and bake until slightly golden in color (about 12 minutes). Makes about 36 medium sized cookies.

The cookies turned out well and were a household hit.

Below is an image of one of the cookies.