WOW!  Here is an easy snack!  I was just talking to my friend Barb in Georgia and she gave me this recipe.  Just follow the simple directions.

box of Ritz crackers

jar of peanut butter

chocolate chips

Melt chocolate chips in double boiler VERY CAREFULLY.  While melting chocolate spread peanut butter between Ritz crackers making little sandwiches/cookies. 

Dip each little sandwich/cookie  into melted chocolate.  Remove and let cool on waxed paper.

This is sure to be a hit with both the young and old!!!!  Thanks Barb  for this quick and easy recipe.

You all enjoy,

Gogi

I just finished making the crust for a cookie pizza.  I took a package of sugar cookie mix from the cupboard, mixed as directed and spread it on an ungreased round pizza pan and baked according to directions.  It is cooling now and later I will put the topping on it. 

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts

Mix together first 3 ingredients and spread on cooled crust.  Sprnkle peanuts over top.  Take chocolate ice cream or carmel topping and drizzle across the top.  Makes a great snack or dessert for family or company.  Refrigerate leftovers.

If you are going to eat this right away, slice some granny apples, dip in lemon juice and scatter across the top of pizza before adding the topping.  I prefer not to unless I know it is going to be used right away because the apples might not look so great after a while even if you dipped them. 

Enjoy,

Gogi

Combine 1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cuup brown ssugar

2 unbeaten eggs

Sift together

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Add to creamed mixture above.

Then add to that mixture

1 cup coconut

1 cup oats

i tsp. vanilla

Drop from a spoon onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

This is  a really quick and inexpensive recipe to make.  You can add raisins, nuts, cranraisins, or any other cut up dried fruits or just leave it plain.

LIKE I ALWAYS SAY- BE CREATIVE!!!

Gogi

1 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup molasses

2 cup flour

2 cup chopped walnuts

 powdered sugar

Bake 325 degrees for 20 minutes.

Roll into approx 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Remove from oven to rack and cool.  Roll in powdered sugar.

I do not know where this recipe came from but I have had it for a very loooooooooong time!.  It is great.

Gogi

2   8 ounce pkgs. shredded coconut

1   15 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

2    tsp. vanilla

Mix ingedients.  Drop from teaspoon onto well greased cookie sheet (or use brown paper liner).  Bake 10-12  minutes.  Cool slightly and remove from pan to rack.  Bake at 350 degrees.  Makes about 4 dozen.

This is certainly an easy recipe and very, very good.  This was given to me by a friend, Judy Boyd, who moved away a few years ago to North Carolina.  We miss her but still get to taste her wonderful recipe.

Thanks Judy.

Enjoy

Gogi

This is something the kids would probably just love to help you bake. 

1 tube of refrigerated cookie dough (16 ½ ounces)

1/3 cup cocoa powder (not sweetened)

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Chocolate icing to dip cookie in:

¼ cup water

1 ½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix to consistency that will stick on cookies when dipped.

White icing dip:

¼ cup water

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Roll heaping teaspoons of dough one at a time into a ball.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 9 inch rope.  Form into pretzel right on an ungreased cookies sheet.  Place cookies two inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet for one minute.  Move cookies to wire rack to cool.  Out a piece of waxed paper under the wire rack so when you are dipping and putting the cookies back on the rack to firm up, the excess icing will fall on the waxed paper.  Decorate with nonpareils, coconut, ground nuts or whatever you choose. 

Enjoy,

Gogi

PART 4

FLOUR

FLOUR is the foundation of the cookie, but the flavor should never be apparent when you taste the baked cookie.  Cookies with too much flour have a pasty taste and a tough dry texture

Most recipes call for all-purpose flour, which is a mixture of soft, low-gluten wheat and hard, high-gluten wheat.  The combination gives the flour just enough gluten to produce light, tender cookies without making them elastic, like bread. 

Some recipes specify using other types of flour, such as whole wheat or cake flour.  Whole wheat is more nutritious and nutty-tasting than all purpose flour because it includes bran and germ.  But too much bran and germ can make the cookies heavy and dry; even whole wheat cookies should contain at least ¼ cup of all purpose flour.  If the recipe doesn’t call for ¼ cup of all purpose flour plus the wheat flour, then subtract ¼ cup wheat flour and add ¼ cup of all purpose in its place.

CAKE FLOUR is made from very finely milled, low gluten wheat.  It produces the lightest, most tender results.  Cake flour is appropriate to use in cookies that undergo a lot of handling, such as those formed by pressing or rolling the dough.

Regardless of type of flour used, it should be added last and mixed as little as possible.  Overmixing the flour forces air out of the dough and created tough, hard cookies.

Few cookie recipes call for sifting the flour, but it should be carefully measured.  For accuracy, spoon flour lightly into the appropriate-sized measuring cup and scrape away the excess with the back of a knife.

Gluten- water soluble sticky protein- gives strength, structure, and cohesiveness to dough

Part four of six