Doo-Doo Bombs

Doo Doo Bombs

(a.k.a. Granny Geisinger Cookies)

This is a recipe that Mom passed down to us. She originally got it from "Granny Geisinger", a family friend from church. But they became known as Doo Doo Bombs...

When Mom was in college at UC Santa Barbara, she cooked up a pan of the cookies with her best friend Betty Ann. The cookies needed to sit and cool when they came out of the oven, but they didn't want any of the other college students stealing some of the cookies. So they put a note on the pan:

"Do Not Eat the Doo Doo Bombs!!"

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbs milk

Topping:

12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 egg whites

1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugars, then add egg yolks and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Then add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir until crumbly. Add up to 3 tablespoons of milk, as needed, to hold the dough together. Press into the bottom of an oblong pan lined with parchment paper.

Now comes the unusual step! Take the chocolate chips, and press them pointy side down into the dough, until it is dotted with chocolate but flat on the top. You won't use the entire bag. 

To make the meringue topping, beat the egg whites until firm but not dry. Gently fold in the brown sugar, 1/3 at a time. Spread over the top of the cookies. Bake for 25 minutes.

Let cool before eating. A warning sign to ward off college students is optional, but can be a wise idea. These are delicious!

Chocolate Chip Bars

I find it hard to decide which I like better - chocolate chip cookies, or chocolate chip bars. These little bites pack a huge punch of brown sugar & chocolate flavor.

Chocolate Chip Bars

3/4 cup butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

2 cups packed dark brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (1 bag)

Heat oven to 350° F.  Grease and flour a 13x9 inch baking pan.

Beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir until just barely combined, then mix in the chocolate chips.

Dump it into the pan and smooth the top as best you can. (It'll be quite thick, so this can be a challenge.)

Bake 20-25 minutes until firm - test by sticking in a toothpick to make sure it comes out with only crumbs.

 

Shortbread Cookies

 

My kids love shortbread, and it's a handy cookie recipe if you know any kids who are allergic to eggs. 

You can make shortbread with nothing but butter, sugar and flour. But a few extra ingredients can make them even more yummy!

Shortbread

1 stick butter, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup whole wheat flour (optional; you can substitute all-purpose flour)

1 cup all-purpose flour

Blend together the butter, brown sugar and vanilla, then mix in the cornstarch and flour.

Let the dough rest for 30 minutes in the fridge, while you heat the oven to 350°.

Either roll and cut with cookie cutters, or just press into a round or square pan. I sprinkle turbinado sugar on top, but you could use sanding sugar or colored sprinkles too.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to turn brown.

Brownies

This is Joy taking a turn on the recipe blog today! Brownies were always one of our favorite quick and easy desserts growing up. Mom used to say that she couldn't understand why anyone ever bought brownie mixes - there are really only five main ingredients in brownies, plus a little salt and vanilla to enhance the flavor.

Officially the recipe (originally from the Joy of Cooking) contains 1 teaspoon of vanilla, but Mom always doubled it.

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave or double boiler, then cool slightly. If you use a microwave, heat for 30 second intervals, stirring in between, to make sure you don't burn the chocolate.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs together in a bowl until well mixed, then add sugar, salt and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the melted chocolate, and then the flour.

Pour into an oblong top, smooth the top, and bake for 25 minutes. Brownies are done when a toothpick comes out with only crumbs.

It's not safe to eat the batter, since it contains a lot of raw egg. However, I don't think that has ever stopped us.

Acorn Cookies

This is a recipe I got from my sister Joy. While I suppose I ought to save it for the fall (It's a great Thanksgiving treat), I thought the blog was due for a good cookie recipe and this is one of my favorites.

Acorn Cookies

Makes about 45 cookies 1 cup Butter, melted

3/4 cup Brown sugar, firmly packed

1¾ cups Pecans, chopped fine

1 teaspoon vanilla

2½ cups All-purpose flour, sifted

½ teaspoon Baking powder

2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375(F.

In a large bowl, stir together butter, brown sugar, 3/4 cup chopped pecans and vanilla until well blended. Add flour and baking powder and mix well.

Shape dough into slightly elongated 1-inch balls. Stand the cookies on ungreased cookie sheets; pinch the tops into a point to resemble acorns.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375(F. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

In top of a double boiler over simmering water, melt chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat; keep double boiler over water. Dip large ends of cooled cookies into melted chocolate, then roll in chopped pecans. Chill to set chocolate.

Enjoy!

Recipe from www.yumyum.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies (!!!)

I think this is perhaps the most classic recipe in my family's cookbook, although I think we could easily have a good long debate over it at dinner some day - that is, if we ever all managed to be in the same place for dinner.

My mom was a nurturer. It was just built into her nature. And one of the ways she showed love and care to people was through baking. when we were growing up, and friends came over, my mom would chat with them for a little while, learn about the things going on in their lives, and then she would disappear off into the kitchen for twenty minutes, then come back out as if nothing had happened.

And then 10-20 minutes later, a magical scent would come wafting out of the kitchen, usually brownies or these chocoloate chip cookies.

I probably had this recipe memorized not long after I had grade school, I spent so many afternoons cooking them with my mom. When I feel the need to feel a little closer to my family, this is the recipe I pull out. I have my own technique, and I'm sure each of my sisters does as well. I am not jeopardizing future bake-off winnings by sharing my secrets, so instead I will just post it the way our mom made it.

(OK, I will share one tip - I mix everything by hand, I never use a blender. I find this turns out soft, dense cookies, rather than cake-like ones.)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 375F. In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. In a blender, mix shortening, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes until light and creamy. Mix in flour mixture on low speed until just combined.

Remove bowl from blender and stir to make sure there are no pockets of flour. If dough seems too sticky, add a little extra flour. Stir in chocolate chips. (Here's my mom's secret - use a butter knive so that the it doesn't get too stuck in the dough). Drop 1½ - inch balls of dough onto nonstick cookie sheets, at least 2” apart.



Bake cookies. For soft cookies, bake for about 9 minutes and remove cookies from the oven when there are just barely beginning to turn golden. For crunchy cookies, bake for about 12 minutes and remove cookies from the oven when they have turned golden. If you remember, switch the cookie sheets halfway through baking and they will cook better.



Makes about 45 cookies.

Chocolate Crinkles

The last couple of days have been pretty stressful around here. What were meant to be peaceful demonstrations around the country erupted into angry riots, after courts took away the protesters' right to march.The high court eventually over-turned that order, but by then, the damage had been done.

What this meant for us is that for the last two days we have effectively been locked down in our home, discouraged from venturing out into the city for fear of getting caught up in the mayhem.

I don't really like being cooped up. It makes me anxious. And then, add to that worries over a situation that in my childless days I would have probably laughed off, but now, with two vulnerable little ones to look after, I couldn't stop obsessing about....well, let's just say I was a wee bit stressed.

So, true to my genetics, I did what my mother did too, when she had something heavy on her mind...I baked.

And I didn't bake just anything - I baked Chocolate Crinkles, a delicious brownie in a cookie, which I have been making since about the time I was first able to crack open an egg. My sister and I were known, as children, to make these cookies just to eat the raw batter (there was no fear of salmonella in my house, I guess). The cookie dough is even better after it has been rolled in powdered sugar:

After baking, the powdered sugar forms a lovely, cracked coating on top, hence the name.

Chocolate Crinkles

4 sq. unsweetened chocolate (4 oz)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon Salt
about 1 cup of powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a microwave or double boiler.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the sugar and the melted chocolate and butter. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the chocolate mixture. Chill several hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350 F. Sift some of the powdered sugar onto a plate. Using 2 spoons, drop teaspoonfuls of dough into the powdered sugar. Roll the dough in the sugar, shape into balls, and shake off the excess sugar.

Place about 2” apart on greased baking sheet. Be careful not to over-bake!

Makes about 50 cookies.