Carrot Cookies

52 Weeks of Cookies:  Week 16

I've had the website for these cookies preloaded on my phone (and no, not simply bookmarking it) for at least a couple months now.  So I figured it was high time I made them.

You can find this recipe on All Recipes

Plus, everyone is digging up their gardens around these parts and perhaps that means that in addition to an abundance of tomatoes some of us also have quite a few carrots... here is one way to use them!

The dough

the cookies

I served these to my friends and I think most of them (maybe all of them) loved them.  I'm not so sure though.  They taste more like orange than carrot and maybe that is what has thrown me off.  However, they are definitely better than the Strawberry Cookies I made in the summer (which tasted more like a muffin).  So I'm going to give these an 8/10

For those of you wanting to make a fall type cookie, last week I made some pretty good Pumpkin Cookies.

Pumpkin Cookies

52 Weeks of Cookies:  Week 15

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Readers!

In honour of this very special long weekend I needed to make some pumpkin cookies and my cousin insisted these ones were delicious!

The recipe comes from The Food Network

The dough

The cookies (sans icing)

The cookies - with icing and cinnamon

 I used a different pumpkin cookie recipe last year and I must admit these are better.

In fact, I'm currently enjoying one right now with some homemade pumpkin spiced latte

(I guess today I'm having dessert before dinner)

My rating: 9/10

They are delicious and the cookie/cake part is really good.. I don't think you'll be disappointed in these!

Last week I made some basic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Life Lately

So I'm a little (a lot) behind... what else is new?

I'm sure I'm forgiven though?

I've been busy subbing lately.  Today I got home by 4pm... it's kind of nice.

Subbing has FINALLY picked up 

Last weekend we had Thanksgiving and as it is with most big family events... I managed to get a cold just for the weekend.

it was a lot of lying in bed and Watching Modern Family.  

Can you spot the super moon?  John and I watched it!

Super moon

I had one day off last week, luckily it was a lovely day!

More walks in the park

I made John and I breakfast for dinner one day (don't worry, we also had some slightly over cooked bacon and fruit salad)

Pumpkin Pancakes

But the highlight of the last couple of weeks was that last week John and I went to see Odysseo!

I thought it was great!

After the show we went to the stables to see the horses (we weren't allowed to touch them though)

This just seems like a slightly better than ordinary breakfast but in reality it was dinner.  John was away and normally he has to make the omelettes because, well... I can never seem to get it right.  But on Saturday that all changed.. it was delicious!

Probably about 6 months ago my friends and I made some bowls with what was pretty well paper mache and balloons. But there was never a time when we could all get together to paint them... until Saturday evening.  

Mine is the purple one in the front.  It now holds my keys by the door.

paper mache balloon bowls!

All summer John and I have been reading The Scorch Trials and we finally finished it!  Then yesterday John and I spent a couple hours at the mall waiting for Scorch Trials to start at the theater... and about an hour  before the movie was set to start alarms started going off at the mall.  Shops started closing and firemen were walking around with a hose and an axe... but no one seemed to be in any kind of panic so we kept wandering.  Then we got trapped inside Chapters which was when they said we had to leave the mall.  

But don't worry!  We just took a drive to the next theater and caught it somewhere else.

And that's been my last couple of weeks!  

Looking forward to more Thanksgiving festivities (this time with John's family) this weekend.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

 52 Weeks of Cookies: Week 14

No link for where I got the recipe for these guys because it came off the back of the chocolate chip bag

fun fact: there is also a recipe for brownies on there that I've made and taste delicious

Anyways,

I figured it was time to do something basic.

No caramel

No bits of chocolate bars

And no special trips to the grocery store needed to make these cookies.

These used to be a huge hit when my friends and I would get together for games and then I stopped making them because they just weren't turning out the same.  I always blamed the different ovens I was using and well I am happy to report that I have an oven that bakes these cookies to perfection once again!

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 regular sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 salt

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375

Beat softened butter, shortening, brown sugar, and sugar in a bowl.  

Add in eggs and vanilla and continue to beat.

In another bowl stir flour, baking soda, and salt.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir together

Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and let sit in fridge overnight.

Using a teaspoon scoop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet (feel free to make that teaspoon a heaping one).  Roll the dough into balls.

Bake for 10-12 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Notes:

The actual recipe calls for 1 cup of butter and no shortening... I could have sworn it used to give shortening as an option and I've always done it half and half... but feel free to use only butter.

The actual recipe does not say to let the dough sit in the fridge overnight but that's what I did.

The actual recipe also recommends using a tablespoon to scoop the dough but I never do... this way I get smaller cookies and can eat at least 2 and only feel the guilt of eating one (except I never feel guilty eating a cookie).

There is really nothing special about these cookies but I've never strayed from this recipe when making chocolate chip cookies (that may have to do with the fact that the recipe is conveniently located on the back of the bag though).

I know I'll be making these again and again so they get 10/10

Last week I didn't have to bake my cookies.  

Click here to check them out!