Danish Butter Cookies

[Originally published Nov. 2010. Edited]

After I’d expressed a desire for homemade cookies several times, one evening my husband suddenly decided that we would make some (despite the lateness of the hour).  Was I ever glad he did!  We chose this recipe (the origin of which I no longer know) since I didn’t have any brown sugar at the time.  It is quite simple, but doesn’t make a lot of cookies.  One warning – once you’ve eaten these homemade Danish butter cookies you’ll probably never really like the store bought variety again!

Also, you might try adding some shredded coconut or dipping half of each cookie in chocolate coating to make them a bit fancier or to offer variety.  I think that you could refrigerate them and put them through a cookie press as well to make prettier shapes.  They taste great without any of this, though, so it may not be worth messing with!  Simpler is often better in my opinion. :-)

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1 C. butter
1 egg
1 C. sugar
1 tsp. almond extract  (or vanilla)
2 C. flour (or 1 C. white whole wheat and 1 C. white flour)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and almond extract and mix. Whisk dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add a little at a time to the butter mixture until it is all mixed in.

Roll into walnut size balls, place on an ungreased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork or spoon.  Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired.  Bake at 350F for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Allow to cool slightly on the sheet before moving to a rack.  Completely cool before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies.

Note: These cookies freeze well.

Mocha Texas Sheet Cake

 

Ok, I’m very tempted to call this “The BEST Texas Sheet Cake Ever”, but that might be a bit over ambitious!  Anyway, it’s the best I’ve ever had. :-)  My friend Elisabeth shared the recipe with me.  I don’t know where she got the original, but I understood that her mom made some changes to it.  So, here’s how to make the “yummieness” as I’ve experienced it. :-)

Mocha Texas Sheet Cake

In a large saucepan add:
2 sticks butter
1 cup water
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp instant coffee granules

Heat the above ingredients, mixing well, until butter is melted. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking baking SODA
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk above ingredients together until well-combined.

Add:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1-1/2 tsps vanilla
2 eggs

Mix well. (It helps to use an electric hand mixer). The batter will be very thick and sticky.

Add warm cocoa mixture. Mix well, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Pour into greased cookie sheet (15"x10"x1" is a standard size) and bake at 375F for 20 minutes.

For icing:

In a saucepan add:
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsps instant coffee granules
1/3 cup buttermilk

Mix well and heat until mixture barely bubbles, then remove from heat.

Add in:
Approximately 3-1/2 cups of sifted confectioners sugar.
You may need more or less depending on the consistency you want the icing to be.  Spread on the cake.

Enjoy!

NOTE:  This cake freezes well in a single layer with the pieces pre-cut.  It can be eaten frozen or thawed and is good either way.  I would recommend not leaving it in more than a month, or two at the most.

(Note: I think when I made the ones used for the photo above I used two cake pans of a smaller size, so mine might have come out a little deeper.)

Below is one my friend made and served with fresh strawberries.  It was very good! :-)  (The photo was taken at my parents’ house where we had gathered for a meal and fellowship.  Happy times.)

Recipe: Gluten-free Gingerbread Cake

My mom was having a lot of stomach trouble for awhile and my brother and sister-in-law finally convinced her to try going off of gluten to see what happened.  (My brother is gluten intolerant himself.)  She discovered that her stomach felt better when she ate less wheat, so she is avoiding it most of the time.  She made this change shortly before Mother’s Day, so I decided to try to find a gluten-free gingerbread recipe to make for her since that is her favorite cake.

This is the one I found. 
Gluten-free Gingerbread Cake

My husband actually ended up making it since he has made it his job to do the cooking on Sunday mornings in our house, and he likes baking particularly. :-)  It turned out really well.  It was rather heavy, but then gingerbread often is.  We had bought Bob’s Red Mill brand “one-for-one” gluten free flour which is what he used.

 
The cake does have a distinct molasses flavor, so if you dislike molasses, this might not be for you.  The nice thing is that it makes two cakes, so you can freeze one for later use if you like. :-)  By the way, since I didn’t have two 9x9” pans, I think he ended up using two 7x11” pans.

Chocolate Dump Cake

 

This recipe came to us from my aunt.  It is very simple since you mix the cake up right in the cake pan!  No bowls, no other messes.  It is not the cheapest or most low-fat cake you will find, but if you need a cake in a hurry this one will certainly go together quickly.

Our family is no longer particularly worried about the oil issue as it turns out oil is not nearly as “unhealthy” for us as the so-called experts claimed at one time.  I do recommend that you use a healthy oil such as grape seed or something similar.  Some olive oils might have an odd flavor in a sweet dish like this, but it could be used as well.  I have not tried coconut oil as yet, but I hope to do so.  I am not sure if melted butter would work or not, but I will probably try that as well at some point just to see.  (That would make an extra dirty dish, though.)

If you want the edges of the pan to look better than this, you will want to wipe them off before you bake the cake. :-)  I used a chocolate butter frosting to frost this cake.

I made this cake in a disposable pan to take to an event where we were asked to help provide cake.  As you can see, I still use some sprinkles occasionally just for fun.  We get very few food colorings in our food any more, so I figure it’s OK for a once-in-awhile treat. :-)

Chocolate Dump Cake

Dump into a 9x13 cake pan:

2 C. flour
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. cocoa powder
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. oil
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix fairly well. 

Add 1 C. boiling water.

Mix thoroughly.

Bake 30-35 minutes at 350F.

Note: The last time I made this I reduced the oil to about 3/4 C. and it still turned out fine.  I think I also reduced the sugar to 1 C.  I also used peppermint flavoring instead of vanilla, but I was not impressed with how that worked in this recipe, so be forewarned.  Almond would probably be fine.  This cake also keeps well in the freezer.

Cherry Pound Cake

 

My husband made this for my birthday a few years ago.  It is one of **the best** cakes I have ever eaten.  Not low in sugar and a lot of (chemically altered) maraschino cherries are included, but – for once in a lifetime – it is SO good! :-)

Cherry Pound Cake

This link it so Taste of Home’s web page.  My copy is from one of the Reiman magazines and is in my recipe file. :-)

It made a thick, lovely batter…

…and a beautiful, golden cake.

The imperfections were not a problem because they covered by the lovely pink frosting – which my husband applied very carefully. :-)

Such a beautiful, yummy cake!

The cake was so rich we ended up cutting the slices quite thin and we got a lot of slices from one cake.  We froze part of them and they did really well.  I think I sliced it (perhaps after refrigeration), put a slip of waxed paper between each slice to help them stay separate and froze the slices in a plastic sealing container.

Chocolate No Bake Cookies

 

This is an old family recipe.  My family has eaten a lot of these over the years – for more than one generation.  I love the simple way old recipes are sometimes written.  They get straight to the point and don’t bother with all the “expanded” directions.  Obviously they were written in a day when women were expected to know the basics. :-)

Someone told me that these are also called “Haystacks” or something like that.  Some alterations that have been made in our family over the years include using coconut instead of nuts and using extra dark cocoa powder (pictured above) instead of regular.

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No Bake Cookies

In a heavy sauce pan mix:

2 C. sugar
6 Tbl. cocoa powder
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. milk

Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often, and remove from heat.

Stir in:

3 C. quick oats
2/3 C. chunky peanut butter OR chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix thoroughly and drop by spoonsful on waxed paper to cool.

Almond Butter Cookies

 

This recipe came about as the result of allowing my almond butter to get too old.  It was near it’s expiration date and we hadn’t even opened the jar yet!  I started with a peanut butter recipe and made a lot of alterations, including doubling the recipe.  You may wish to half it for a single recipe.  You may also use peanut butter in place of the almond butter and then use 2 tsp. of vanilla extract instead of the almond extract.  Enjoy!

Almond Butter Cookies

2 C. butter
2 C. almond butter
2 2/3 firmly packed brown sugar
2 – 3 tsp. almond extract
6 eggs
3/4 C. white whole wheat
1 C. oats
4 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. chocolate chips
1 C. coconut flakes

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, almond butter and sugar.  Add almond extract.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add whole wheat, oats, salt and baking soda, mixing well.  Add all-purpose flour gradually mixing till is well combined.  Shape into 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. (I recommend lining it with parchment.)  Dough should be slightly sticky, so you may need to flour your hands.  Flatten with a fork.  Bake at 375F for 7-8 minutes or until golden.  Remove to wire racks and cool.  Store in air tight container.

Yield:  This makes a large batch.  I did not count them.  You can half the recipe for a single batch.

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These cookies kept well in the cupboard in a sealed container. They seemed to me to stay fresh longer than the average chocolate chip cookie.

Also, I pressed some of the cookie balls onto squares of parchment and stored them in the freezer.  The dough froze well, but I recommend bringing the cookies completely to room temperature before baking them.  This does not take long if you set them out on the cookie sheet preparatory to baking.

Me in my new-this-year cotton apron. :-)

Coconut Fruitcake

 

I’m pretty sure this is the Coconut Fruitcake since
I can’t remember making any other kind in recent years. :-)

This is probably my family’s favorite fruit cake.  The original recipe came from the Nov/Dec 1993 issue of “Country Woman” magazine but, as usual, we made some changes of our own. :-)  Here is our version.  (See my ideas for making in healthier at the bottom.)

2 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. total candied cherries, candied pineapple and fruitcake mix
1 1/2 C. flaked coconut
1 C. raisins (golden or brown)
1 C. chopped pecans
1/2 butter
1 C. sugar (reduce to 2/3 C. if desired)
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 C. orange juice
Additional candied fruit or cherries for top (optional)
Marzipan (almond paste) for cover (optional)  Note: Make sure it is as room temperature before working with it!

In a large bowl, combine flower, baking powder and salt.  Add all candied fruit, coconut, raisins, and nuts and mix till well coated.  In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and extracts, mixing well.  Stir in the fruit and flour mixture alternately with the orange juice.  Pack into a greased 10-inch tube pan which is lined with waxed paper or baking parchment.  Or, you can pack into greased, lined loaf pans.  Bake at 250F for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the cake tests done.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes.   Loosen edges with a knife and remove from pan to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Garnish with candied fruit if desired, or roll the marzipan to a large thin circle, big enough to cover the cake.  Place gently over the top and cut out the center carefully.  Mold the marzipan to fit the cake and trim away excess around the bottom edge.  You may out candied fruit on top, or you may wish to put some flowers or fruit in the center of the of the cake.  You may also use nuts or molded marzipan to decorate the top of the cake.

For loaves roll the marzipan into rectangles that will fit the loaves.  Gently press it into place.

Yield: 12-16 servings

Store, well wrapped, in the fridge or freezer.

Note:  Next time I make this fruitcake I hope to add miniature chocolate chips to it as per a recipe we used to make.  I think it will make a nice addition. :-)

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This is a Coconut Fruitcake that I made for my dad’s birthday some years ago.  As you can see I covered it with marzipan and tinted the extra marzipan with food coloring. Then I molded roses and leaves to fill the hole in the center of the cake.

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Healthier:

For those of you who are are concerned about the high-fructose corn syrup and food coloring that is in candied fruits, you can make your own candied fruit!  My mom and I did it a couple years ago.  Here are two locations to find information: DIY Candied Orange Peel, and Food Network’s Candied Orange Peel.  My mom and I actually made it with a pomelo, so we got a lot of candied peel for our effort, but it took awhile to cook it too.

Also, when I make this fruitcake recipe next, I hope to switch out some of the candied fruit for good quality dried fruit.  I want to use the nicer kind of dried pineapple in place of the candied type, and I want to use some good dried cherries for the candied cherries.  I think it will give the fruitcake a more interesting flavor also because these types of preserved fruits taste more like they were meant to than the candied varieties.  I’ll try to let you know how this works out. :-) 

Brazil Nut Sensation

This was one of my Gramma Hoover’s recipes.  It was one of my dad’s favorites, but others of us like it really well too. :-)  It is rather pricey to make with the cost of Brazil nuts being what it is, but it makes a great rare treat.  I haven’t made this cake for some years now, and I interpreted her somewhat cryptic method of writing down recipes the best I could.

Brazil Nut Sensation

Sift together:

3/4 C. flour
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl put:

3 C. shelled Brazil nuts (whole)
2 8 oz. packages pitted dates
1 C. well-drained maraschino cherries

Sift flour mixture over nut mixture.  Mix with hands until nuts and fruit are well-coated.

In another bowl:

Beat until foamy: 3 eggs
Add: 1 tsp. vanilla

Stir this into nut mixture.  Spread evenly in 2 9x5x3 bread pans, greased and lined with waxed paper.

Bake: 1 hr. 45 min. (or 1 hour to 45 minutes?) – or until cake tester comes out clean.

Cool, wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate up to 5-6 weeks.  (Or freeze.)

Graham Crackers

My sister made some graham crackers once years ago.  They were pretty good, but quite different than “store bought”.  We never made them again.  A couple years ago or so I told a friend I’d try to find that recipe for her.  Turns out it wasn’t in the book my mom and I both thought it was in.  I found this one in a magazine I’d saved, but I’m not sure it’s the one my sister made since there were no smudges or telltale marks to show it had ever been used before. ;-)  Anyway, I finally got around to trying this recipe out this year, and here it is.

Graham Crackers

1/3 C. oil
1/2 C. honey
1 Tbs. molasses
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 C. wheat flour (presumably meaning whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 C milk

Mix liquids first except milk.  Add dry ingredients alternately with the milk. If dough is too sticky, add more flour.  Roll into smallish walnut size balls and flatten with your hands.  Place about 1/2 an inch apart on lightly greased OR parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Prick with a fork.  Bake a 300F until edges are slightly browned.  Cool on cookie sheets about 5 minutes before removing to wire racks.  Can be frozen in airtight containers.

Note: I added a bit of lemon juice to this recipe to try to make it taste more like the graham crackers my friend and I enjoy at a restaurant.  The change may have added some flavor, but it didn’t make these taste more like the restaurant’s variety.  These are good, not very sweet, and quite filling.

I also changed the method of rolling them.  The recipe calls for rolling them out and cutting them into squares.  The dough seemed to me to be of the sort that would stick to the surface, so I opted for rolling them into balls and flattening by hand.  It worked very well, and saved some frustration I suspect. :-)

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies

I had quite a bit of leftover oatmeal recently, but I wasn’t that keen on making Cooked Oatmeal Cake.  The thought crossed my mind that there should be a recipe for making cookies from cooked oatmeal, so I looked it up online and sure enough there was!  It looked good, though, as usual with a few changes. ;-)  (I reduced the sugar already, in case you like to do that with cookie recipes.) 
Most of my family here enjoyed these quite well.  Ahem!  There was one dissenter who takes exception to raisins in his cookies, but that makes more for the rest of us, right?  My husband liked them at any rate, and after all, that’s what counts for me. ;-)

2 C. brown sugar
1 C. butter
3 eggs
2 C. cooked oatmeal
2 C. all purpose flour
2 C. white whole wheat (or regular whole wheat)
[Note: You can use 4 cups of all purpose flour.]
3 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. vanilla
3 C. chocolate chips
1 C. coconut
1 C. raisins
Cream sugar, butter, eggs and cooked oatmeal.  Mix in the flour, baking soda and salt; then the coconut, chocolate chips and raisins.  Scoop onto baking sheets by tablespoonsful about 1 – 1 1/2 inches apart and flatten slightly. Bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes or until cookies are set and starting to brown slightly.  Allow to cool on baking sheet about 5 minutes before removing to racks.
(I put mine on parchment, so I had no trouble with them sticking.  I don’t know if the baking sheets need to be greased.  The original recipe said nothing about it, but it was a little short on instructions.)
These cookies freeze well.