baking cookies Archives | Mama Harris' Kitchen

Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze

December 23, 2016 by MamaHarris 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I was on a roll with the cookie recipes. I made these delicious chewy chocolate cookies with coffee glaze as a part of a 25 days of cookies countdown. When I made those I also made these Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze and I didn’t know which one I would include in that cookie post. I ended up sharing the chocolate ones because they were ready first, which left me extra time to photograph these pretty babies. On a sidenote, I’m obviously into creating a glaze for all my baked goods this season, don’t mind me – I’m just on a sugar high for the holidays.

Seriously though, these cookies are like a grown up version of everyone’s favorite cookie. The sugar cookie is a classic year round, and adding this chai spice flavoring really takes these over the edge. One of my favorite teas is Vanilla Chai, and these cookies really are the essence of that flavor. I love all of the flecks of vanilla bean in the glaze and the spices that show in the actual cookie too. The pepper and cardamom bring out that chai flavor in addition to the use of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. This recipe uses the same sugar cookie base as my Bing Bong Cookies from my Inside Out Party, I just added the extra spices for that warm vanilla chai flavor.

These are the absolute perfect cookie to enjoy with your favorite coffee or tea!

(Scroll down for recipe measurements and print options)

We’re going to start by combining all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and combining them. Set that bowl aside and cream the butter and sugar in another bowl, then add the eggs and extract. Mix in the dry ingredients, then refrigerate.

Once the dough has been chilled, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a cookie dropper, form the cookies the dip them in sugar.

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, then add the formed cookie dough and flatten sith the bottom of a glass or a flat spatula.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 7-9 minutes. We want the edges golden and the centers soft. Next, remove the cookies from the oven and let them rest on the sheet for a few minutes until they’re slightly cooled, then place on cooling racks until completely cool.

Now it’s time to make the glaze! Add all of the ingredients for the glaze into a small bowl and mix until the glaze is smooth.

Get creative by piping or drizzling the glaze, then add some festive fun using your favorite choice of sprinkles.

Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Enjoy!

Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze

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These chai spiced sugar cookies with vanilla bean glaze are the grown up version of everyone's favorite cookie! They're perfect served with tea or coffee.

Serves: 24 cookies

Ingredients

Ingredients for Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies:

2½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for Vanilla Bean Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
1½ teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
2 vanilla beans, scraped

Instructions

Begin by adding the flour, baking powder, salt and spices to a medium bowl and mix together until combined, then set aside. In a separate mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture and mix until the are combined. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Form the cookie dough with a cookie dropper to keep the sizes uniform, then dip in granulated sugar.
Place on prepared baking sheet and flatten the cookies just a bit with a flat spatula or the bottom of a clean glass.
Bake in the preheated oven for 7-9 minutes, until edges are golden. After the cookies are out of the oven for a few minutes, place on cooling racks until they are completely cooled.
While the cookies are cooling off, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl mix the powdered sugar, milk, cream cheese and vanilla beans until it forms a smooth glaze.
Drizzle or pipe the glaze onto the cookies, adding festive sprinkles in your color of choice.
Once the glaze has set they're ready to serve.
Enjoy!

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1-2 cookies

What’s your favorite holiday cookie?

Coconut Cookies

November 30, 2015 by MamaHarris 1 Comment

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeMagicMoments #CollectiveBias

I remember one of my first time making cookies from scratch. I’d heard it was super easy, only a few steps more than the mixes you can buy so I found a few recipes to try. I remember reading through them and one of the first things was to “cream” the butter.

Yeah, I had no idea what that meant! I called one of my good friends and asked her what that means, how to do it, etc. She went over some of the basics of baking, and surprisingly my cookies came out pretty good. Ever since then I’ve loved making my own cookies from scratch and have even ventured out and created some of my very own recipes. One of my very first cookies that I created on my own were these coconut cookies. I’m a huge fan of coconut and this is such a fun recipe for something different than your typical sugar or chocolate chip cookie. It’s also easy to dress up, you can add nuts, chips or dried fruit. They’re great dipped in chocolate or even with a pretty pecan pressed right into the middle.

Rather than choose one of those variations, I decided to just share the original coconut cookie recipe as is, how I fell in love with it. You can get fancy with it by adding any of the ingredients I mentioned, or even a few spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or anything else. It’s fun to customize baked treats to your tastes.

What’s also fun is finding new products for my favorite things (cookies) that also help make my life easier. I recently discovered Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets at my local Target store in the food storage section. The sheets are made out of parchment paper and are pre-cut to 12″ x 16″ and fit perfectly on my favorite cookie sheet. They lay perfectly flat on your baking sheet and are perfect for any of your cookie baking needs, but you can also use it when you dip fruits or cookies in chocolate and need to lay them on something nonstick so the chocolate to dry. I also used these sheets to line a cookie tin to gift a few of these cookies to friends, there’s just so many easy ways to use them!

My cookies came out just how I like them. The parchment sheets helped them to cook evenly and they didn’t stick at all on the bottom. Even better, there’s less of a mess to clean! During this time of the year I like to make a lot of different types of cookies for my family and also to gift to friend and coworkers of my husband and son. The easier the process, the better!

If you love coconut, these cookies provide just the right amount. They are made with brown sugar and sweetened coconut flakes, and I only use a quality, pure vanilla extract. In the past they have had a tendency to flatten, so I refrigerate them for a bit to let the dough cool and I’ve had no problem with flat cookies ever since. These would be great to have the kids help you make and then leave on a plate for Santa!

Ingredients for Coconut Cookies:

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

Directions:

Begin by combining the flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and whisking together until combined.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter on a medium/low speed with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Once butter is smooth, add the sugar and continue to cream until whipped. Beat in the egg and vanilla, then slowly add in the dry mixture. Mix until just combined.

Add the coconut, mixing on low or by hand. Once coconut is just barely mixed throughout, cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate for about 10-20 minutes.

While the cookie dough is chilling in the refrigerator, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line your cookie sheet with Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets. I love that they are pre-cut to fit my half sheet perfectly.

Once the dough has chilled sufficiently, using a cookie dropper measure out the cookie dough. Carefully roll into a ball and place on the Reynolds Baking Sheets at least 3 inches apart.

Sprinkle the tops with a little bit of extra coconut.

Then bake for 13-15 minutes, until entire cookie is golden. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 or 3 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks until fully cool.

Serve on a platter to enjoy.

You can also line a cookie tin with the Reynolds Baking Sheets for a pretty presentation when gifting cookies.

Just fold the excess paper over the tops of the cookies before placing the lid on the tin.

Enjoy!

Coconut Cookies

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: about 18 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Coconut Cookies

It's holiday cookie time, and these coconut cookies provide a tasty cookie as is or a great base to customize with nuts, fruits or chocolate!

Ingredients

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

Instructions

Begin by combining the flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and whisking together until combined.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter on a medium/low speed with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Once butter is smooth, add the sugar and continue to cream until whipped. Beat in the egg and vanilla, then slowly add in the dry mixture. Mix until just combined.
Add the coconut, mixing on low or by hand. Once coconut is just barely mixed throughout, cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate for about 10-20 minutes.
While the cookie dough is chilling in the refrigerator, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line your cookie sheet with Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets. I love that they are pre-cut to fit my half sheet perfectly.
Once the dough has chilled sufficiently, using a cookie dropper measure out the cookie dough. Carefully roll into a ball and place on the Reynolds Baking Sheets at least 3 inches apart.
Sprinkle the tops with a little bit of extra coconut.
Then bake for 13-15 minutes, until entire cookie is golden. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 or 3 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks until fully cool.
Serve on a platter to enjoy.
You can also line a cookie tin with the Reynolds Baking Sheets for a pretty presentation when gifting cookies.
Just fold the excess paper over the tops of the cookies before placing the lid on the tin.
Enjoy!

https://mamaharriskitchen.com/2015/11/coconut-cookies/

What are some of your beginner baking moments?

For more recipe inspiration you can get some recipe inspiration on the Reynolds Pinterest Page or follow along on Facebook or Twitter! I purchased my baking sheets at Target, but they are also available at Walmart as well as many other retailers nationwide.

Butterscotch Snickerdoodle Cookies

November 23, 2015 by MamaHarris 2 Comments

There’s certain smells and tastes that take me back to my childhood, and butterscotch is certainly one of the most vivid. My mother used to make this pudding and serve it in the cutest little pudding cups with long stems on them and I just couldn’t wait to dig in after dinner. Butterscotch was always my favorite flavor pudding, and now I try to incorporate the luscious flavor into as many treats as I possibly can, it’s such a simple but happy memory for me.

Recently I wanted to try my hand at a new butterscotch cookie, so I used my chocolate chip cookie recipe as a base. I’ve made butterscotch cookies before, however I wanted to combine some traditional favorites so I opted to make a butterscotch snickerdoodle cookie.I’ve also made a variation of snickerdoodles before, but it wasn’t a cookie. Viola, the butterscotch snickerdoodle was born, and it is just as amazing as you would imagine.

This recipe combines everything I love in one. The perfect texture of my chocolate chip cookies, chewy and soft in the middle with a delightfully crispy edge, warm butterscotch chips that bring a different flavor to these cookies, and the kicked up spice of nutmeg and cinnamon in the cookie batter. It’s taken to an entirely new level when the cookie dough is rolled in cinnamon sugar, then baked just as snickerdoodle should be.

With flavors like these, this is definitely a recipe for the holiday season. Whip up a batch of your own to add to the cookie tray or gift to your favorite person with a sweet tooth. Although the flavors are decidedly Fall themed, this cookie would be delicious year round!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups butterscotch chips
cinnamon sugar (2 tablespoons sugar PLUS 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugars using a stand mixer* on low speed, continuing to mix until smooth. Add vanilla and egg, beating until combined. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Once mixed together, slowly add to the creamed mixture until just incorporated. With a wooden spoon, carefully fold in the butterscotch chips, leaving a handful of chips aside to add to the tops of the cookies.
Using a cookie dropper*, scoop your cookie, then carefully roll into a ball with your hands before adding to a bowl of cinnamon sugar. Roll generously in the cinnamon sugar mixture until all sides are covered.

Place the rolled cookie dough on a baking sheet* lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat*, then add a few of the extra butterscotch chips to the tops.
It’s not necessary but it makes them pretty.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until golden. The centers will still be soft for a few more minutes, but the edges will be just starting to crisp.

Remove from baking sheet, then place on cooling racks* to cool completely.

Once cooled, serve or store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Butterscotch Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups butterscotch chips
cinnamon sugar (2 tablespoons sugar PLUS 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and sugars using a stand mixer on low speed, continuing to mix until smooth.
Add vanilla and egg, beating until combined.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Once mixed together, slowly add to the creamed mixture until just incorporated.
With a wooden spoon, carefully fold in the butterscotch chips, leaving a handful of chips aside to add to the tops of the cookies.
Using a cookie dropper, scoop your cookie, then carefully roll into a ball with your hands before adding to a bowl of cinnamon sugar.
Roll generously in the cinnamon sugar mixture until all sides are covered.
Place the rolled cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, then add a few of the extra butterscotch chips to the tops. It's not necessary but it makes them pretty.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until golden. The centers will still be soft for a few more minutes, but the edges will be just starting to crisp.
Remove from baking sheet, then place on cooling racks to cool completely.
Once cooled, serve or store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!

https://mamaharriskitchen.com/2015/11/butterscotch-snickerdoodle-cookies/

Do you have favorite cookie flavors as the seasons change, or do you prefer traditional recipes?

*this contains an affiliate link that I may receive a small percentage of if you make a purchase.

M&M’s Peanut Butter Magic Bars with Chocolate Ganache

December 7, 2013 by MamaHarris 7 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that D-Man has a deep affinity for peanut butter. Another of his favorite treats are M&M’s. He loves those plain M&M’s in the brown bag. It never fails, when we’re in line getting groceries or checking out at our local Walmart store, he always has to have the M&M’s. So I had the bright idea to create an easy but delicious dessert
that incorporates the two, and even included a layer of chocolate ganache (which is so simple to make!). What goes better than peanut butter and chocolate, right? I also combined graham cracker crumbs with crushed pretzels for a crust and a layer of coconut underneath some sweetened condensed milk. One thing is for sure, this isn’t diet food! This is for that moment you want to indulge, and you want that rich, sweet and slightly salty flavor. Yes, this is the perfect dessert for those moments. Perfect for an office party, potluck, or even a kids party!

The usual location where we pick up our M&M’s, right in the checkout aisle of Walmart!

I love that you can switch out the M&M’s for various seasonal ones and use this recipe for the dessert for any special occasion or holiday. If you’re a Pinterest user, there’s even a fun contest right now with the Baking is Better with M Sweepstakes. You can win one of 3 $250 Walmart Gift Cards, see the end of this post for additional details.

Crust Layer Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1-1/2 cups crushed pretzels
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup shredded coconut
one 12 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Peanut Butter Layer Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Ganache Layer Ingredients:

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

M&M layer:

one 1.69 ounce bag plain M&M’s
one 1.74 ounce bag peanut M&M’s

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine graham cracker crumbs with crushed pretzels in a medium bowl.

Add sugar and melted butter, mix to combine.

Press crust into an 8×8 baking dish, lined with parchment paper.

Top with shredded coconut, then pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top.

Bake in preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes.

While crust is baking, combine peanut butter and butter, mixing on medium low until combined.

Add powdered sugar and whipping cream, mixing until smooth.

Once crust is removed from the oven and cooled for a few minutes, spread peanut butter mixture evenly over the top. Refrigerate to set.

While letting the peanut butter set on top of the crust, begin to make the ganache. It’s so easy!

Just add the chocolate pieces to a microwave safe bowl, and add whipping cream. Heat in microwave for one minute, at 12 second intervals to stir it just a bit each time.

Once it’s cooked whisk well until smooth.

Pour ganache over the peanut butter mixture and spread evenly.

Top with M&M’s, using both flavors and spreading evenly.

Place in refrigerator to set for at least an hour.

Once firm and cooled, remove from refrigerator. Using the parchment paper, lift out of baking dish to slice.

Cut into 9 pieces.

Serve with a cold glass of milk, these are rich!

Enjoy!

Baking is Better with M Pinterest Sweepstakes

Pin for a chance to win one of three $250 Walmart gift cards! It’s as easy as submitting your email and pinning an image. Simply complete the following steps:

1. Enter your email in the form below and click “Enter”
2. Pin the contest image to any of your own Pinterest boards
3. Visit the Baking with M Pinterest board and Re-Pin your favorites to enter http://www.pinterest.com/cbsocially/baking-with-mms/

Three (3) Winners will be selected at random – One (1) entry per person.
Contest runs 12/06/13 – 12/31/13