Tag Archives: patriotic cookies

GIANT M&M COOKIES

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It’s a sleepy 4th of July here, which is OK by me.  The morning began with our community’s annual 4th of July parade, with a couple of boy scouts from our troop leading the festivities.  I love seeing the families turn out with their kids, wagons, pets, and bicycles decked out in red, white, and blue.  It’s a small town celebration right smack in the middle of the fourth largest city in the U.S.

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My daughter and I spent some time together this afternoon making Giant M&M Cookies for her to bring to a cookout.  We used a recipe from joyofbaking.com (this is probably the first cooking video I have ever watched all the way through, and I found it helpful — boring, but helpful), decorated them with red, white, and blue M&Ms, and they came out great.  The introduction to the recipe included a little history of M&Ms that I found interesting.  They were invented by Forrest Mars, Sr., who traveled to Spain during the Spanish Civil War and noticed the soldiers eating small rounds of chocolate with a hard sugar coating that prevented the chocolate from melting.  Back home, he paired up with Bruce Murrie, the son of the president of the Hershey company, to invent a similar candy.  The M&M name came from the partners’ names — Mars and Murrie.  Production began in 1940, and the candies were immediately popular.  They were even included in the U.S. soldiers’ rations during WWII.  It’s hard to beat eating them out of hand, but this recipe puts them to good use.

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GIANT M&M COOKIES
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup M&Ms
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Place butter and sugars in a large bowl, and using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and beat to combine. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing thoroughly.
  4. Using a ¼ cup ice cream scoop, scoop out dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Do not put more than 6 cookies on a sheet, as they spread a lot. Flatten balls slightly with palm of hand. Cover top of cookies completely with M&Ms, gently pressing the candies into the dough. Bake for 13-17 minutes, until cookies are golden brown and set around the edges (they will firm up as they cool). Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on cookie sheets, then, using a metal spatula, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
  5. Makes approximately 12 giant cookies.

 

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Cover the top of the cookie completely with M&Ms

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Wow — they really spread!

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I think my daughter will be quite popular at the cookout, don’t you?

Cheer for your team with team colors (Go Astros!)

CREAM CHEESE SPRITZ COOKIES

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First post.  So nervous!  Is there anything in my teeth?  Deep breath — here goes.

 

This vintage platter, with its cheery blue cherries, was made in Manchester, England by the EIT English Ironstone Tableware Co., in the EIT20-Blue pattern.  The manufacturer must have just given up when it came to naming this pattern.  I mean, really — EIT20-Blue?  What’s wrong with, oh say, the Blue Cherries pattern?  EIT operated from 1982 until 2000, and the EIT20-Blue pattern was discontinued in 1999.

This platter reminded me of the Wild Berry blue maraschino cherries by Roland that I’ve been curious about for some time now.  (Roland also makes maraschino cherries in lime, passion fruit, lemon, and chocolate flavors.)

I’ve seen them at the grocery store in the baking section, the mixed drink section, and the ice cream topping section.  It’s as if they have an identity crisis.  Maybe they should be located next to the self-help books.  They’re a little creepy, like some kind of cryogenic experiment.  The blue cherry platter inspired me to finally use them in a recipe.

With the 4th of July just around the corner, these Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies made with red and blue maraschino cherries would be a welcome treat at a patriotic celebration.

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CREAM CHEESE SPRITZ COOKIES
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract
  • 2-1/4 cups flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Red maraschino cherries, cut in half (approximately 20)
  • Blue maraschino cherries, cut in half (approximately 20)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese, using an electric mixer. Add sugar, egg yolk, and extracts, and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and salt, mixing until thoroughly combined.
  3. Fill a cookie press with dough, and press cookies out on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press a half of a maraschino cherry into the center of each cookie.
  4. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies are lightly golden brown on the peaks and on the bottoms. Allow to cool on sheets for 1-2 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

 

Patriotic jewels ready to go in the oven

Ta da — Christmas in July

UPDATE:  Since I first posted this recipe, I’ve made this recipe dozens of times.  Our current favorite variation uses 1 teaspoon of almond extract instead of the 1/2 teaspoon each of vanilla and lemon extracts (which are still really good).  I now have a Wilton cookie press, which is easy to use, and I’ve learned that the dough should be room temperature if you want it to work and SHOULD NOT BE COLD.  I like to use the flower disk and put an M&M in the middle.

Pretty for spring

School colors — Hook ’em!