Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

The first time I made these cookies I thought, oh boy, these are some red cookies!  But if you're a lover of red velvet cake, you're sure to be a fan of these red velvet cookies.  They're very red, very yummy and very easy to make.  And I'm noticing they disappear very quickly!

I can't help but think they'd be perfect to make for your Valentine, or for the Christmas holidays.  Very festive cookies in their red velvet finery!
  

Ingredients:

• 1 red velvet cake mix
• 6 tblsp of melted butter
• 2 eggs

Place the powdered sugar and cornstarch in a bag - shake to mix.

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Just 5 ingredients

In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, melted butter and cake mix.  That's it!

This is 3 times the recipe

Use an ice-cream scoop to form the cookie dough ball.  I make big cookies because seriously, who doesn't like a big soft chewy cookie?!  

Use an ice cream scoop to form dough balls

After forming the dough balls, roll them in the powdered sugar/cornstarch mix, place on tray and freeze.

Ready for the freezer

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Bake frozen dough at 350 degrees for 18 - 20 minutes.  Place on cooling rack and let cool completely.  Cookies will crack as they bake.

Frozen - ready for the oven

Really red!  Really good!

Not Too Sweet

You're probably thinking, "Oh geez, she got out the cake mix cookbook again."  I can't help it, I love this book!  I've only had it for a few months but every recipe thus far has been a big hit with me and with our guests, judging by the empty plate that comes back to the kitchen.  For those of you who don't like the overly sweet, these knots (although I think mine looked a little more like pretzels) will suit you just fine, so let's get to baking!

Cinnamon-Sugar Knots 

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 package spice cake mix

1.  Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Combine sugar and cinnamon.

2.  Beat cake mix and cream cheese together in large bowl with electric mixer until well-blended.

3.  Shape dough into balls; roll each ball into log about 6 inches long.  Gently coil dough and pull up ends to form "knot."  Place about 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

4.  Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets.  Remove to wire racks.  Serve warm or cool completely.

TIP: (from the book) If making the knots seems like too much work, these cookies are also delicious when baked as simple 1" balls.

Love this cookbook!

Page 94 - Cinnamon Sugar Knots

This is it, just 4 ingredients!

Cinnamon and sugar

Easiest way to mix, put in a zip-lock bag and shake it up!

Blend together cake mix and cream cheese

Roll out

Bring ends together

These are supposed to look like knots, but I think mine look like pretzels - give em a little pinch.  I think the trick is to bring the ends together more tightly.  If you look at the picture in the cookbook, you don't see as much air between the curls, making it more like a knot.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, ready for the oven!

Out of the oven and ready to eat!

These are really nice, not overly sweet.

Crazy for Carrots

In Las Vegas, at the Wynn Hotel and in the buffet restaurant, they serve the best ever (seriously, the best) sauteed carrots, which literally swim in butter and as I always say, "Everything's better with butter."  This little family believes the Wynn buffet to be the best in Vegas, but that's just our opinion and actually, this little tidbit of silly yet delicious information has absolutely nothing to do with today's post, other than I love carrots.  So, when I came across this recipe for carrot cake cookies, I knew I had to try it. Those who delight in the deliciousness of carrot cake, will totally enjoy these cookies!

Carrot Cake Cookies ~

1 spice cake mix

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

1 egg

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans)

1/2 cup raisins (optional - I opted out)

Prepared cream cheese frosting

1.   Preheat oven to 350, line cookie sheet with parchment paper

2.  Combine cake mix, flour, oil, water and egg in large bowl and mix.  Stir in carrots, nuts and raisins  until well-blended.

3.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.  Bake 14 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown.  Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before moving to wire racks.

4.   Frost and enjoy!

Remember, embrace the mix!

Carrot cake cookies - page 4

This is it, all you need!

I usually put my cookie dough in the fridge before baking. Keep the dough in the fridge for a few days and bake just a few at a time for always fresh warm cookies.  Oh my!

 

These disappeared quickly and I was asked to share the recipe with our guests, gladly!

Pine, Indian, Pinon, Pignolia...

When I was a kid growing up in rural Nevada, one of my favorite things to do was to go pine nut gathering every year, usually around September, October.  My mother would take us up in the hills and we'd spend hours picking up pine cones full of nuts.  We'd take the cones home and pick them clean of the nuts, then the nuts were washed, salted and roasted in the oven.  In my memories I can still smell the aroma of the nuts roasting and the smell of the pine cones which we burned in the fireplace.  And to eat freshly roasted pine nuts, oh my... it is nothing like what we buy in the stores; not even close.  Check out the photo of the Nevada soft shell pine nut (in comparison to the others) and I think you can understand where I'm coming from.  Why all the talk about pine nuts, also known as Indian nuts, Pinon nuts and Pignolia? Well, let me introduce you to the most heavenly cookies and guess what was the star ingredient?  That's right, you got it, pine nuts!

You'll notice this is a vegan cookie cookbook.  It was a gift, given to me by my son who understands my love of baking and cookies, and who knows that I am lactose intolerant. It should be noted that I am intolerant of that fact. Nonetheless, one of my creeds to live by is, "Everything's better with butter."  It's true, there is no denying it.  So, I will give you the vegan recipe as printed in the cookbook, with my substitutions.  I think the cookies would be as heavenly, either way.

 

A must-have cookbook for cookie lovers!

 Pignoli Almond Cookies (page 73)

7 ounces almond paste, sliced into 1-inch cubes
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, softened. * I used 1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cups pine nuts (you really only need 1/4 cup)
2 to 3 tblsp almond milk for dipping * I did not do this

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pulse almond paste, salt, baking powder and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a food processor until mixture is crumbly. * I just used my mixer
3. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and remaining 1/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the almond paste mixture and almond extract and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Sift in the flour and beat until a slightly crumbly yet soft dough forms.
4. Pour the pine nuts into a shallow bowl and pour 2 tblsp of almond milk into a small saucer.  For each cookie scoop 1 tblsp of dough and roll it in your palms and form into a ball.  Dip one end of the ball in the almond milk and press this moistened end into pine nuts.  Place the dough balls, pine nut side up, on a baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.  Bake for 14 minutes until cookies have puffed and spread a little and the nuts are just slightly toasted.  * I skipped #4
5. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes to firm up. Cookies are very fragile when first out of the oven, so let cool completely.

Pine nuts are usually costly, ($18.00 for this bag) but I find Costco has the best prices if, like me, you buy in bulk.  Otherwise, you can find pine nuts in most grocery and/or health food stores.  This 7 oz tube of almond paste was $7.95 at Safeway.  These cookies are a bit pricey to make, but well-worth every bite of yumminess.

The dough will be crumbly, but molds easily.

I like to bake big cookies!

Heavenly!

And because I tend to be a bit accident prone in the kitchen...

Embrace the Mix!

I like to read other blogs.  I want to read what others are writing about, gain inspiration, wonder - what were they thinking when they wrote that (just kidding), kind of and basically to just read what is out there.  I recently became mildly obsessed with a blog written by someone who lives in the Midwest and who is in the stages of burgeoning fame with a new reality show.  I won't name the blog/person but most of you probably know who I'm talking about.  I like her, I'm not overly impressed and most likely I won't tune in too often, but I like her.  What I find to be the most fascinating though is the negative reaction to her on the Internet. I don't know how anyone has the time to develop a website for the sole purpose of negativity, to them I say, "Get a life!" Nonetheless, one of the most interesting things I read was an outcry about the fact that a cake mix was used in a recipe, along with a few other items found on most grocery store shelves.  And I'm thinking (as I read) is it just me, cuz I don't have a problem with using a prepared mix as a base ingredient, which of course got my mind to whirling.

I will say it aloud, "I am not embarrassed to use a mix because quite frankly, it's just another ingredient."  That's not to say I can't cook/bake from scratch because I can and I can do it well (no brag, just fact) but you know what?  Life is short and so if I can start with an ordinary off the shelf cake mix and turn it in to something fabulous, then I'll do it.  And you should too, and brag about the fact that it is homemade while you're at it!

And I'm not the only one.  Someone wrote an entire cookbook, see!

And to prove my point, a couple of nights ago I used this cookbook and made the most ridiculously good cookies and these are just a few of the off the shelf ingredients I used.

Don't get me wrong, I would never claim this recipe to be my own... always give credit to where credit is due, that's my motto.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used a full cup)

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter (softened)

1 egg

1 devils' food cake mix 

1 jar (12 ounces) chocolate hazelnut spread

powdered sugar for dusting

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Chop the pecans.  The recipe calls for you to roast the pecans but I was too lazy to do so.

3.  Beat the butter and cream cheese together until reasonably smooth, add egg and beat until well blended. Add in cake mix, blend, stir in pecans. The dough will be heavy and sticky.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls, place 1-inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  (I always bake on parchment paper)

*  I put my dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes before baking.

4.  Bake 8 minutes.  Cookies will appear undercooked (this is true).  Cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheets before moving to wire rack and cool completely.

5.  Spoon 1 teaspoon chocolate hazelnut spread on top of each cookie; sprinkle with powdered sugar.  

Seriously good cookies!

Using a mix is just another ingredient in a well executed recipe, so embrace the mix!