Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake Cookies

I made this. I really wanted something chewy like a cookie when I made this. Then I realized we were out of eggs! I didn't have a car and it was cold out, not going to ride the bus.

I had to improvise in some of the items. I used only half of the items. I did need to each a bunch of them. I didn't have vanilla, so thrown that out of the needs. I used hot chocolate cocoa powder, that was what I had. I thought we didn't have butter either and I was going to sub it with olive oil but found a same container of butter. This was really easy and quick recipe to make.

Taste: I enjoyed the few first bite, I could taste the peanut butter, but then it became too sweet to my liking. I loved the texture the oatmeal add to it.

Need:
2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa

1 stick butter

1/2 cup milk

1 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 cups oatmeal

Waxed paper

Directions:

In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/chocolate-peanut-butter-no-bake-cookies-recipe/index.html

Lemon Sugar Cookies

http://www.marthastewart.com/333938/old-fashioned-sugar-cookies

I made Lemon Sugar Cookies, it's fresh out of the oven cooling and they smell lovely. I didn't have a lemon but I did have lime. I have a cheese grater and they don't grate zest very well, so I only got a teaspoon overfull of lime zest from 2 limes, but I did get a tablespoon of juice from half of a lime. I didn't know what to do with the other half so I just squeeze some extra juice into the butter/sugar mixture. I had no idea what was sanding sugar so I just used brown sugar to sprinkle on some of the cookies.

These taste pretty good. A buttery flavor with zesty tang. My cookies were moist, soft, and not too sweet. I'm also happy that they're not bitter!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened

2 large eggs

Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop;  space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.

Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Baking Cookie Probelms and Facts

LINK: http://www.joyofbaking.com/CookieMaking.html

BATTERS:

Creaming - 
The fat and sugar are placed into a mixing bowl and creamed together.  The eggs and any liquid are added.  Finally, the flour and leavening agent are added and mixed just until combined.

One-Stage - 
All the ingredients are placed into a mixing bowl and blended together until a smooth batter is formed.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

If cookies brown too quickly - 
check to see if your oven is calibrated properly and not reading too high.  You can do this with a free standing oven thermometer.  Another reason for over-browning is from using dark-colored baking pans or sheets which promote browning.  Either reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees F (15 degrees C) or use aluminum pans or sheets.

If cookies brown too quickly on bottoms -  
the same reasons as above but also your oven rack may be too low or the batter has too much sugar in it.

If cookies brown too quickly on top and the bottoms are not cooked enough -
the oven rack may be too high, the temperature is too high, or you are using dark-colored baking pans or sheets.

If cookies spread too much - 
dough may be too soft.  This is remedied by placing the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.  Also, never place cookies on a warm baking sheet as the batter will start to soften and spread even before you place them in the oven.  Cookies can also spread too much if placed on a greased baking sheet, when the recipe states using an ungreased baking sheet.  Cookies made with butter have the tendency to spread more than cookies made with shortening.

If cookies are too dry and hard -
it may simply be that the cookies were over baked.  Also, if the oven was not hot enough, they will take too long to bake and this causes them to dry out.  The batter could contain too much flour or not enough egg or liquid.