Potluck Recipe: Sesame Tahini Cookies

(picture to come soon)
My mission to finish off my jar of tahini was a success, thanks to these cookies! we are having a retreat on friday and were all assigned a type of food to bring by region. Luckily for me, my region was assigned desserts.

The cool thing about these cookies is that they are flourless, too! I've never tried a flourless recipe before, but the dense texture really works for it.

ingredients:
1 cup tahini, stirred well
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sesame seeds

directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat tahini, sugar, egg, baking soda and salt together to combine well. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls. Dampen your hands with water to prevent sticking. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten slightly by making cross-hatches on top with the tines of a fork. Sprinkle tops with sesame seeds. Bake cookies until golden on bottom but still soft in the center, about 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

yields 2 dozen cookies

Bake Sale Recipe: Maple Snickerdoodles

These cookies are very similar to those I made for my potluck on friday, except the dough is rolled in cinnamon sugar before they are baked. The original recipe is from the livejournal bakebakebake community.

ingriedients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp real maple syrup
1 egg
2 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon

directions:
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, lemon juice, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the maple syrup and egg until combined. Add dry ingredients. Beat until just mixed.
Refrigerate dough for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Arrange balls on cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake until tops are crackly, about 9-12 minutes. Remove from oven and leave cookies on sheets to cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Bake Sale Recipe: Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

These cupcakes were the hit of the bake sale. Everybody was convinced I bought them at a bakery!

Banana Cupcakes
ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup milk
3/4 tsp lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla, bananas, milk, and lemon juice. Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda; add to banana mixture. Fill 18 paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Peanut Butter Frosting
ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp milk
2 cup confectioner's sugar

directions:
Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl and beat well. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

yields 18 cupcakes

Bake Sale Recipe: Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

We had a Kirtan group do a performance at the therapeutic riding facility I volunteer at yesterday, so naturally I offered to bake some goodies to sell. I made two kinds of cupcakes and some cookies. The next few posts will be devoted to the goodies I brought.

I never tried this vanilla cupcake recipe before, but I have made the frosting in the past. It actually comes from a brownie recipe. The cupcakes turned out nicely and worked well with the frosting.

Vanilla Cupcakes
ingredients:
2/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup superfine sugar (see note below)
1 1/4 cups + 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each one. Stir in the vanilla and flour mixture just until mixed. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter.

note: I didn't have superfine sugar, so I measured out 3/4 cup of granulated sugar into a blender and put it on pulse for 15 seconds.

Chocolate Frosting
ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar

directions:
combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl

Potluck Recipe: Cinnamon Cookies

I've been craving cinnamon hardcore this week, so I decided to make cinnamon cookies for this month's potluck. I deviated from the original recipe a bit, so these were a bit of an experiment. They came out delicious, though!

ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Mix in egg and maple syrup, blending well.
4. Mix flour, baking soda and cinnamon; add to creamed mixture, mixing well.
5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

yields 3 dozen cookies

Potluck Recipe: Maple Peanut Butter Cookies

So those cookies I mentioned yesterday were a success. I couldn't really taste the maple syrup, even though I doubled the amount in the original recipe. Next time, I'm going to cut down the sugar. The recipe I'm posting is the one I followed.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 10 oz package peanut butter chips

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in syrup and vanilla. Combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in peanut butter chips.
2. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks.

yields 30 large cookies