Basic 'Swig' Sugar Cookie

I can't remember when I first heard about Swig - but it was definitely after the fact. As in everyone else knew about them and loved them. I heard about them when I started hearing about Dirty Coke's last year and then I heard about the cookies. 

By the time that I heard about them last year there were Swig locations outside of St. George so Don and I went and and got Dirty Coke's and the pink swig sugar cookies. They were good, huge, but good. Just in case you were confused by that last statement - this is goofy, but I like smaller cookies. I'd rather eat 2 smaller cookies than one large cookie, but that's just me, ha! :) Apparently the current version of cookies are different from when they originally started serving them in St. George. The one that everyone initially fell in love with. Not to say that people don't still love their cookies - they're just a different recipe now. All the pictures I had seen of them previously had cracked edges etc and when I went to Swig they were clean edges and I had read in a couple of places that they didn't taste like they did before. 

And that made me curious to try the 'original.' Or at least try a cookie recipe based off of the original. I looked up recipes for 'swig' cookies - and I found a TON. Like I said, late to the bandwagon.  I'm going to say this right off. I've never been the biggest fan of sugar cookies. Something about the texture? But I like 'swig' style sugar cookies. They're kind of like a cross between a sugar cookie and shortbread? But I'd say they're less finicky to make than shortbread cookies. I like them. 

I've seen quite a few adaptations that have made lemon or lime ones, even chocolate versions. For the basic recipe you can add a little extract, which I'll be honest I don't always add, but I like the reminder to maybe put it in. I also separated out the wet and dry ingredients. I accidentally added the powdered sugar with the dry ingredients once and it did not turn out as well as when you mix it with the wet - the dough was super crumbly.

I'm not listing a frosting recipe just yet and that's simply because I haven't found one that I'm in love with. I need to experiment with a few others before I commit to one. But FYI, the 'original' recipe calls for a sour cream frosting. 

INGREDIENTS:
Wet:

• 1 cup butter - room temp, soft
• 1¼ cup sugar
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp water - on recipes with flavored variations I've seen this replaced with lemon or lime juice and then adding the zest of one lemon or lime
• 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (optional)

Dry:

• 5½ cups of flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp salt - sometimes I half this or leave it out because I use salted butter

PREPARATION:

1. Cream butter and sugars together. Mix in eggs, oil and water and mix until smooth. 
2. Mix all dry ingredients in another bowl and add a cup or so of dry ingredients at a time into the wet ingredients. 
3. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
4. Form into balls and flatten with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in sugar (and a teensy bit of salt if you like - that's from Vintage Revivals, I don't always do it because of the whole salted butter thing)
5. Bake for 7 - 12 min. This will vary depending on how chewy you want the inside of the cookie. The longer the bake time the dryer the cookie. 

NOTE: Makes approx 2 dozen medium cookies or 3 dozen small cookies

Gingerbread-White Chocolate Blondies

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook. We love it. Bought the cookbook awhile back from Costco around Christmastime when they have a ton of different cookbooks stocked. Hands down we use this recipe the most! Granted we have only tried a handful of them... It's almost like we found this one and stopped looking, ha! 

The first time we made these we were in Portland and it was for a Sunday dessert after dinner with our friends Paul & Wendy. Didn't realize how many the recipe made until after the fact so there were a ton of leftovers and we left them for them to keep. They decided it was too much for them and Paul ended up bringing them into where he and Don worked. People started coming in from other offices asking about them!

Anyhow, they are fabulous year round, but particularly around fall because of the spices. I usually end up cutting them into triangles because the spacing works out better for me. I cut them into rows of 4 and then 6 bars per row then into triangles to get the 4 dozen. They finish up quick because you don't have to form individual balls, just spread it all out and bake it!  

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 3/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yoke
• 1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 3/4 cups coarsely chopped best-quality white chocolate (10 oz)

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 17" x 12" rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
2. Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares or desired shape. Makes about 4 dozen.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

So this is the recipe I've taken to making lately when I make Ginger cookies. It has a few more spices than the previously posted recipe, (which I'm leaving up because it's Mom's original one) but for the most part though, they are incredibly similar ingredient and even measurement~wise. I've just found I prefer the taste of these ones...warm and chewy and filled with Christmas~y memories!

DRY INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp water (some people recommend using orange juice)
• 1/4 cup molasses

• 2 Tbsp white sugar for rolling cookie dough balls

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Cream together butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg then stir in water and molasses. Gradually add sifted ingredients to wet ingredients. Shape dough into balls and roll in 2 Tbsp of sugar to coat. Let chill in fridge for an hour or so, even overnight if convenient.
3. Place cookies 2" apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake w/o flattening balls to get a crackle on top.
4. Bake for 8-10 min. in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet to settle, approx. 5 min. before removing to wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Puffed Wheat Squares!

It's kind of funny, the things that you discover are 'Canadian' treats once you leave Canada. Like things you don't even give a thought to and sometimes don't even notice are missing. I remember one time a few years back when Don was working with a fellow Canadian at work he came back asking me about something called a 'Ninamus" and I had no idea what on earth he was describing. Turns out he was talking about Nanaimo Bars, hahaha. Eventually I will have to make those and share that here, but today, this is about Puffed Wheat Squares!

Who knew that these were a Canadian treat? I remember bringing it up one time saying I liked them and Don had no clue what they were. We then searched the internet for them and discovered that apparently it is something that is more common/popular in Canada. Curious and Curiouser! So for anyone who has not had them before, let me *formally* introduce you! They are similar to a Rice Krispie treat, but they are instead of Rice Krispies they use Puffed Wheat and instead of a marshmallow base, it's chocolate, yum! I found a couple of recipes and then narrowed it down to one where the amounts and ratios seemed most reasonable to me and tried it out last night. They were delicious and chewy! If not maybe a little bit too sweet? Checked a couple other recipes and here is my  ever so slightly adapted version of The Casual Bakers recipe. One of the wonderful things about these are that they whip up fast and you don't even have to use the oven at all! 

Oh, and one last note. I remembered this treat awhile back but never attempted it because I couldn't find any Puffed wheat locally - which could be why it's more popular in Canada, you can get Puffed wheat easily in your regular grocery store. Recently though, when Don and I were walking our local Walmart cereal aisle I noticed they had started carrying it! It was stashed away in the corner at the very end of the aisle! Success!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup corn syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (Original recipe called for 1/2 cup. I think it would be fine going for half that, Don thinks that's too extreme and maybe 1/3 cup?)
• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 6-8 cups puffed wheat (I used 6, but I can see stretching it out over 1-2 cups more to spread out the concentration of chocolate/gooeyness. You'll have to try it out for yourself. Maybe start with 6 and then add more as you're mixing if you want to?)

PREPARATION:

1. Lightly grease a baking pan. We did ours in an 8x8, which left us with 2" thick squares. You could use a 9x13 I think for 1" squares if you're wanting to spread them out and cut more squares for serving a crowd.
2. Measure out puffed wheat into a large mixing bowl. I'd say you would only want it about half full with your puffed wheat or else when you mix it you'll send puffed wheat flying all over your counters!
3. Combine all  remaining ingredients except for the vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring constantly. Original recipe says to use a wooden spoon. I ended up using a silicon spatula. I think pretty much anything that can withstand the heat and won't add a taste to your base would be fine.
4. As soon as recipe starts boiling continue mixing over heat for 2 min. If you want your squares to stay chewy and gooey you have to be careful here. If you over boil your mixture it'll end up tough!
5. Remove mixture from heat and add in vanilla and stir a couple times to combine.
6. Pour entire mixture over puffed wheat in large mixing bowl and quickly stir to evenly coat.
7. Pour coated mixture into greased pan and press the mixture evenly into pan using spoon, or spatula. Original recipe says you can also use your hands to press into pan, but dang, that mixture is hot so I don't know if I would recommend doing it that way.
8. Cool, slice and keep stored in an air-tight container. I'm thinking I might try and do puffed wheat balls around the holidays similar to popcorn balls!

Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg) chocolate chips

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit 
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets
4. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies. 

Oreo Truffles

Seriously quick and easy dessert.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pkg of OREO's (15.5 oz.)
• 1 pkg of cream cheese (8 oz.)
• 2 pkg BAKER's semi-sweet chocolate. melted (16 oz. total)

PREPARATION:

1. Crush entire package of OREO's. (Reserve about a cup of crushed cookie crumbs to use as topping for finished truffles.)
2. Combine remaining cookie crumbs with cream cheese. Mix until well blended.
3. Form mixture into 1" balls.
4. Dip into melted chocolate and sprinkle tops with reserved cookie crumbs.
5. Refrigerate until firm, approximately 1 hour. Store in airtight container in fridge. 

Brownies

So this is a recipe I originally found on allrecipes.com and it is perfect for when you are craving just a little something and you really don't want to make a big batch. They are super quick to whip up and they are perfect for baking up in a toaster oven which is what I usually do. I love that I can just heat up something small instead of a large oven - it makes me feel like I'm cooking in a little Easy-Bake-Oven, ha! Also, when I went searching for Brownie recipes a lot of them called for actual baking chocolate you had to melt down first, which I never have on hand. For this recipe all you need is cocoa powder for the chocolatey flavor, which I always have, so it really is perfect and easy to do. The original recipe calls for a frosting/topping you can do, but I usually just leave them without, they really don't need anything extra. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder. 

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8" square pan. 
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Do not overcook. 

Granola Bars!

The first time I made this was w/ Bernice at Char's house, and they were good! So good I got a copy of the recipe right then, and then haven't tried making it since. Until tonight. We bought a large thing of oats awhile back and haven't used much of it except on no-bake cookies, which are great, but definitely not on the healthy side so I went looking around the internet for something to use it up on. Turns out there's also a copy of this recipe on allrecipes.com which totally reminded me about this recipe and inspired me to finally get around to making them. And on the plus side, we had practically all the ingredients for it, just had to go out for the wheat germ.

Anyways, while I was looking around on the internet I saw an awesome photo of someone using a muffin pan to make pre-portioned pieces. Thought that was definitely a GREAT idea as I really hate cutting bars - it's messy and I forget about them and they end up too hard to cut etc. I was determined to make a whole batch  fit in 24 cups of our mini-muffin pan and managed to do it... But unfortunately I packed it in way too tight and we managed to forget to set a timer for it, so I really have no idea how long they were in there for for sure, but we're thinking it was probably close to the recommended half an hour. Which ended up being definitely WAAAAAAY TOO LONG! They were really dense and kinda hard. Still edible and flavorful, but not really enjoyable to eat. On the upside though, they really were the perfect size. So next time, no packing it in and probably will cook 10 - 15 min. only. We figured on this batch, if they start getting too dry we'll just crumble it in a bowl and have it with milk and eat it like cereal! Kinda fun having pre-portioned sizes like that. 

INGREDIENTS:
Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (Try with just 1/2 cup next time?)
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup honey (Increase to 1/3 to compensate for less sugar?)
• 1 egg - beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla

OPTIONAL MIX-INS:

• 3/4 cup raisins or 1/2 cup craisins
• 1/3 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup peanut butter

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 pan. Mix oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, mix-ins and salt. Make well in center and pour in honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well and pat into pan. Bake 30-35 min. Cool for 5 min. Cut into bars and serve.

Ginger Snaps

I'm pretty sure these are the cookies that Mom used to make. I found this in my random recipe binder and it was on a sheet entitled 'Mom's Holiday Recipes' - so I can't really imagine it being anything else! :0) It was during the time when I asked Mom one year when I came for Christmas all the recipes she used and she pulled out all those index cards and we went through them. Little bit of Christmas from home!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
  

PREPARATION:

1. Beat butter, sugar, salt, and egg until nice and creamy
2. Add the remaining ingredients
3. Form into balls and roll in sugar
4. Bake at 350 for 10 min.

Lemon Bars

INGREDIENTS:
Crust:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups flour
• dash salt

Filling:

• 4 eggs beaten
• 6 Tbsp lemon juice or juice from 3 lemons
  
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup flour or 5 Tbsp
  

PREPARATION: 

Crust-Mix all ingredients together and bake in oven at 350F for 15 min. or until golden brown. Set aside and let cool.

Filling-Whisk flour and sugar together. Incorporate eggs and lemon juice into flour and sugar mixture. Pour over cooled crust and bake in oven at 350F for 25 min. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bag chocolate chips
  

Dry:

• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Wet:

• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 4 eggs

PREPARATION:

Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients in separate bowls. Add dry to wet in gradual amounts. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-9 minutes.

Whipped Short Bread

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb butter (2 cups)
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• red and green maraschino cherries (optional)
  

PREPARATION:

• Whip butter for 10 min.
• Add icing sugar and mix well.
• Cream mixture together with cornstarch and flour. Then add salt.
• Mix well.
• Roll out dough and form into desired cookie shape.
• Top cookies with little piece of maraschino cherries for festive decoration.
  
• Bake at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 min.

Mom's Note: I usually do not whip the butter that long and I don't add any salt. I also bake it at 350 for about 10-15 min. I use a small cup to cut the cookies after rolling it out; you can use a small cookie cutter.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This has got to be one of the easiest recipes that I've ever made. They end up looking kinda chunky weird, but they still taste great! I randomly decided to try using cream cheese frosting on them--it worked out great. I managed to find a website that actually made them into these cute little sandwiches. (When I did it I just put the frosting on top.) Also-this goes really well with just plain vanilla ice cream. I know, not at all healthy options, but at least the cookies are healthy--I've heard a rumor that they are a weight watchers recipe! :0)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 box of spice cake mix
• 1/2-1 bag of chocolate chips
• Cream cheese frosting (optional-but sooooo good!)
  

PREPARATION:

• Mix all ingredients together
• Pan out on greased cookie sheet-careful, they don't really spread out at all while baking so make sure to do it while you're panning them out
  
• Pre-heat oven to 375-bake for 15-20 min.