Favorite Cookie Recipes

Fellow Cookie Monsters, look alive. Here's a collection of our favorite cookie recipes. It's never the wrong time to bake cookies, so find a recipe you love and get baking!

Adorable Wilton Halloween Cookie Cutter Set PLUS Tips for Baking with Children

October 21, 2022 By Joi Sigers

Wilton Halloween Cookie Cutters (Amazon link)

While I have always loved to cook and bake, it have never been more enjoyable and rewarding for me than when I am in the kitchen with one of my daughters (when they were children or today!) or grandbabies.

Children make the entire affair messier, slower, and considered (by some anyway) to a bit less “Instagram-worthy” – however, they also make it all a perfect and absolute joy. More about cooking and baking with children in a moment, but first I want to show and tell you about a wonderful set of Halloween Cookie Cutters (Amazon link) from Wilton. They’re pictured above and in many of the photos shown below of me and Maddox (4) in action yesterday.

Halloween Cookies by Maddox!

His little brother Jacoby (3) fell asleep just as the cookies were coming together, so we plan to make more next week so he can take part. That ought to be worth the price of admission!

This adorable set of Halloween cookie cutters includes pumpkin, ghost, and candy corn shapes. We actually ran out of yellow food coloring, so we pivoted mid-cookie decorating and turned the “candy corn” into witches hats.

Pumpkins, Ghosts and an Unexpected Witch’s Hat

As Maddox said, “That works anyways!”

When we went shopping for our sugar cookie and icing ingredients, we grabbed some really pretty sparkly sprinkles for the ghosts… they’re very much glamour ghosts, you understand. Fortunately we (somehow!) still had some of the Wilton Sprinkles I told y’all about yesterday. Jacoby was (wide) awake for that one, so (trust me) having sprinkles left is thisclose to a miracle!

The Wilton Halloween Cookie Cutters (Amazon link) are extraordinary – VERY well-made and comfortable to use (for small hands and larger hands). Some cookie cutters are floppy and awkward, these are an absolute dream. I know they’ll be used for years and years and years with my grandbabies… all three will will make memories with me with these and that fills my heart with all kinds of sweet joy.

Tips for Baking with Children

Maddox Rolling Out the Dough

Through out boy/girl stereotypes. As a mother of three girls who always helped in the kitchen and three grandabies who are all boys (ages 2, 3, and 4… how cool is that?). I will admit that there are many things that are quite different between the two. However, cooking is wonderful fun for everyone! Helping clean up, afterward, isn’t quite as fun, but with the right energy, you can make it as fun as possible (putting on a song they love like “Monster Mash” helps). Never assume the little boy(s) in your family won’t enjoy cooking and baking just as much as the little girls. After all, think of all the male chefs in the world. Their passion very well may have started in the kitchen with their parents, aunts/uncles, or grandparents.
Supervise, don’t smother! When cooking with children, you want them to enjoy the experience… you want them to, hopefully, fall in love with both cooking and spending time with you. One sure way to keep that from happening is to criticize or hyper-direct their every move. Let them get creative…. let them do as many (safe) things by themselves as possible…. let them have an eye-level view of everything going on (a chair helps with the real short ones!)… let them have fun… and, for goodness sakes, let them be kids! When my girls were small and now with my grandbabies, I obviously knew that if I rolled the dough, it would be more even and if I chose the colors or did the icing, it would look more “professional” but where’s the fun in that?! Maddox decided halfway through the icing that he wanted some ghosts that were his favorite color (blue), so by gosh, we made that happen. He said they were “Sonic the Hedgehog ghosts” and he even put red shoes on one of them! Unfortunately, he bit the shoes off before I could get a picture (the shoeless Sonic ghost is pictures somewhere above.. just look for the bite marks!). If you make a child feel successful and confident, he/she will be much more inclined to want to pursue the interest. Make him/her feel like they’re letting you down or that you have to “correct” or “fix” their every move and you’re going to lose the cutest help you could ever hope for.
Obviously, keep them safe. This almost goes without saying, but I have to say it. Be sure they stay away from knives, hot pans, hot water, and the stove.
Use it (and everything!) as a FUN learning experience. Turn off the tv, apps, and the outside world and just live totally in the moment with your child(ren). Count cookies, use math, teach color combinations, shapes, etc. When making cookies, all sorts of opportunities for new words come up (rolling pin, flatten, dusting with flour…). I also love the fact that lessons for “planning” and “reasoning” comes up… for example, when cutting cookies, deciding which shape can be used as the dough dwindles down or which shape can be used the most often. Maddox figured out at one point (as I watched silently… the best learning is ALLOWED to happen after all) that turning the triangle shape “opposite” ways allowed him to keep from rolling the dough again…. not that he didn’t love doing that!

Maddox, Concentrating on His Ghosts!

Also, keep in mind that (to a very large degree) people love to be around us because of the way we make them feel. Make the children in your kitchen feel loved, welcome, and downright cherished!

I want to extend a large, heartfelt thank you to Wilton for sending me their WONDERFUL products in exchange for telling you about them. They helped me create extra special memories this Halloween and I know they will for many years to come.

Find Wilton’s Phenomenal Baking Products on Amazon (Amazon link).

Wilton Halloween Sprinkles and a SIMPLE Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

October 20, 2022 By Joi Sigers

Jacoby (3) With One of His Creations!

Two of my grandbabies and I made Peanut Butter Cookies recently and decided we simply HAD to use our Wilton Halloween Sprinkles on top… it is the Halloween season after all! Like all Wilton sprinkles, they’re perfectly delicious and have ZERO hint of an artificial flavor (some non-Wilton brands do taste a little artificial).

Peanut Butter Cookies and LOTS of Sprinkles

Our Gluten-Free 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg

SIMPLE Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix your ingredients – sugar, peanut butter, and egg – in a bowl. You don’t even need a mixer!
Spoon cookie dough into heaps onto an ungreased cookie sheet (use parchment paper for easier cleanup).
Cust fork in sugar and use the tines to make criss-cross pattern on each cookie before baking.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Do not overbake! They’re best soft.

Maddox (4) with Sprinkle Lips!

Now, obviously, you can use these sprinkles judiciously and make VERY eye-catching cookies, candies, pies, cupcakes, and cakes… but if you’re lucky enough to have little kitchen elves, you can make a joyful, chaotic, and beautiful creation!

Let the Sprinkles Rain AND Reign!

You can find a great number of Wilton sprinkles and sanding sugars (Amazon link) on Amazon. The one my little kitchen elves and I used, here, is available on their website and in stores.

“Candy Cookies” – No Bake Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies (With Gluten-Free Option)

September 26, 2019 By Joi Sigers

Over the years, I have baked, sliced, cut, and molded every kind of cookie imaginable. Given that I am the human equivalent of Cookie Monster who also happens to love to bake – this is completely understandable.

Expected, even.

What isn’t understandable or expected, however, is the fact that one of my absolute favorite cookies is one of the simplest.

What’s more, it doesn’t even have to be baked. No need to turn the oven on for these guys!

Most people refer to this type of cookie as “No Bake Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies” or “Haystacks.” When my daughters were little, I would actually shape them into little haystacks because they got such a kick out of how they looked.

Today, however, I just drop them by a tablespoon onto parchment paper and allow them to spread. I have always referred to them as “Cookies that are Really Candy,” I recently began calling them Candy Cookies. I mean… that’s what they are after all.

Below is the easy as it gets recipe.

Notes:

For gluten-free cookies, use gluten-free oats. I use Quaker Gluten-Free 1 Minute Quick Oats… available online or in just about any store.
If you want “haystacks,” use a teaspoon when you drop onto the paper. As the mixture cools, shape the cookies into cute little haystacks.
For the “Candy Cookies” pictured here, use a tablespoon to drop the mixture onto the parchment paper.
Keeping the ingredients for these cookies on hand at all times is always the right thing to do – especially during the months leading up to Christmas. You never know when you’ll need to whip up a batch of something delicious to give as a “Well.. of course I got you something too!” gift. Been there, cooked that.

I preach a lot about parchment paper and it’s many, many, many, many wonders but, when it comes to candy and cookies, it is all but downright necessary. I give a lot of my candy and cookies to family members and having parchment paper on hand to put between layers makes my life easier and everything neater for those who dive right in.

Seriously, once you start using parchment paper regularly, you’ll wonder how in the world you ever got along without it.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies: One of the Easiest Recipes of All Time

June 12, 2017 By Joi Sigers

Before I had to give up gluten/wheat (health reasons), I baked cookies almost weekly. That’s what we Cookie Monsters do. Once I had to swear off all of the traditional cookie ingredients, I pretty much had to swear off making cookies weekly (gluten-free flour and other ingredients are much higher).

I did not, however, at any time swear off being a Cookie Monster – so I have certain favorite recipes I use again and again. The Peanut Butter Cookies recipe below is a favorite – of mine as well as everyone else that gets within reach of these delicious cookies.

While their flavor is the best thing about them, their few (cheap) ingredients and level of insane easiness to make run a close second and third.

You’re going to love these cookies for all of these reasons. You’ll want to keep this cookie recipe handy for Christmas, birthdays, game days, and any day that calls for a yummy peanut butter cookie.

Gluten-Free Sandwich Cookie Truffles with Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies

December 28, 2016 By Joi Sigers

Gluten-Free Cookie Truffles with Glutino Chocolate Creme CookiesChocolate? Check!

Cookies? Check!

Gluten-free? Check!

Cream Cheese? Check!

Que the song, “… these are a few of my fav-O-rite things…” – is it any wonder I’m obsessed with these cookie truffles?

These truffles call for Glutiono Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies (which are beyond delicious on their own, by the way – they’ll rock your world with a glass of milk). The traditional truffles call for a package of Oreo cookies – but they’re certainly off-limits for those of us who have to avoid wheat/gluten.

Thanks to Glutino we don’t have to miss out on chocolate sandwich cookie truffles. I’ve actually found that, thanks to companies like Glutino, we can pretty much have and enjoy anything our counterparts have. It just takes a little more planning and creativity.

Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme CookiesI normally sprinkle the tops of these truffles with reserved crumbs from the cookies, but these were made last week for Christmas, so colored sugar festivities ensued.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Sandwich Cookies Truffles Recipe

1 pkg. (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened
1 pkg Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies, finely crushed
1 pkg white chocolate chips, melted

Mix softened cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended (if you want to top the truffles with crumbs, reserve some to the side).
Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. This makes them hold up better when it’s time to dunk them in the white chocolate.
Melt the chocolate when it’s almost time for the truffles to come out of the freezer. I melt them either in a double boiler type situation (big bowl over a pan of boiling water) or in VERY short intervals in the microwave. Burning the white chocolate is a miserable, ugly thing – so go slowly… as in 30 seconds at a time.
Dip each ball into the melted chocolate and quickly top with either cookie crumbs, sprinkles, or colored sugar. You could also drizzle melted caramel on top and sprinkle it with a little sea salt – if you’re feeling fancy, you know.
Allow the truffles to hang out in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to set.

I hear of people storing these truffles in the refrigerator but, in my house, it never comes to that. They’re gone before I could even open said refrigerator.

You can find Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies in just about any grocery store. You can, of course, also find them on Amazon.

Cookie Mixes from Krusteaz Makes Christmas Gift-Giving (and Baking) Quick & Easy

December 4, 2016 By Joi Sigers

Some of Krusteaz’s Cookie Mixes

Since I am gluten-free (health reasons – body dictated/brain didn’t get a vote) and I write a lot of gluten-free reviews and recipes on Get Cooking, I always like to point out when a product or recipe is NOT gluten-free – in the vein of it’s always better to be overly safe than uncommonly sorry. These cookie mixes from Krusteaz are not gluten-free, although Krusteaz does have a great line of gluten-free products, including a gluten-free flour that is as big a staple in our kitchen as I am. More about their gluten-free products in the next post.

These beautifully quick & ridiculously easy cookie mixes are a dream come true for those who bake a lot at Christmas and throughout the year.

I received these cookie mixes for taking part in Krusteaz’s National Cookie Day promotion. As a human cookie monster, I had the day marked on my calendar and jumped at the chance.

While Krusteaz Gluten-Free flour is a constant in my life (even listed on the side under my “Can’t live without”s), I had NO idea they made so many mixes. This opens up a whole new world, if we’re being honest. Their gluten-free mixes are on my radar, now, so watch for reviews of them in the future.

As for the mixes you see in this post, they could not have been easier to make and bake. The thing that came to my mind was how IDEAL they are for both…

busy bakers with a million and one things to do
bakers who have eager “little hands” ready to help

These mixes don’t even require a mixer (you can use your hands AND put those little eager hands to work!). When you use mixes, it frees up the list of ingredients needed for the cookies – allowing you to go crazy with the decorating.

Decorated Christmas Cookies

Little hands and big hands, alike, love getting artsy! When I’m decorating cookies, it takes me back to decorating them with my mom AND to decorating them with my own three daughters when they were little.

When they were little, nothing. My youngest helped me with a batch just a few days ago. Girl talk over cookies… there’s nothing like it.

A Few Icing Suggestions:

If time is an issue, it’s perfectly okay to use icing from a tub. Vanilla or cream cheese are delicious on cookies.
Marshmallow Cream is fun and yummy on cookies (kids, especially, love it). It’s bright white color (Marshmallow Cream is on the cookie in the picture above with a Christmas tree in the middle) stands out in a crowd of cookies and, let’s keep it real here, it’s as easy as it gets. Open the jar, insert knife, spread. When icing with Marshmallow Cream, start in the middle of the cookie and gently spread outward.
I actually didn’t do it this time around, but you could easily use the Krusteaz Shortbread Cookie Mix and make a Quick & Easy version of Almond Scandinavian Bars. Simply bake the cookies and ice (Stir together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and 3-4 teaspoons of milk. Drizzle on top of the cookies and top with chopped almond slices).
The Krusteaz Shortbread cookies have a recipe on the back for Raspberry Thumbprints that look as delicious as they are beautiful.
On the back of the Krusteaz Butter Vanilla Sugar Cookies is a GREAT recipe for icing (See Below). These cookies can be baked and cut with cookie cutters with a simple tweak to the recipe on the back. Complete, easy instructions are provided. While they make gorgeous cut-out cookies, these cookies couldn’t be any more beautiful than they are, as pictured on the front of the box.

Krusteaz Iced Cutout Sugar Cookie Icing: In a small bowl, stir together 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 TBS warm water, 1 TBS light corn syrup, and 1/4 almond extract until well-blended and smooth. If adding food coloring, start with a few drops until desired shade is achieved.

Krusteaz Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies – A Work of Art All By Themselves!

The Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix makes beautiful and delicious cookies that need no introduction or decorating. You could, of course, perch a reindeer, Santa, or elf on top to make them extra festive but.. personally… I love them just like they are.

The Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix will be a sure favorite with everyone – Everything you need to make them is provided in the box. I added more red sugar to the coating mixture (cinnamon sugar) to make them even more festive.

Kids Helping in the Kitchen

Kids love to help make Christmas cookies and the time spent with them will be among your most cherished memories. Naturally, adults should always supervise every step and keep little hands from being burned. One of the first things I thought of with these cookie mixes were how simple they’d be for kids to make “all by themselves” (which of course means with adult eyes nearby!). Again, these mixes don’t even require electric mixers – and the measuring is as minimal as it gets.

Their favorite part might just be icing and decorating the cookies and adults should allow them complete freedom to decorate the cookies however they want. If their idea of “beautiful” is a polka dot haphazard mixture of colors you would’t personally have ever selected…. applaud them and tell them how proud you are of their creativity. Better yet, take pictures of their works of art and put them all over your social media!

Not only are there endless color options for icing, you can find a crazy selection of decorations these days. Take your time and look around at several different stores. I found the adorable little green trees (pictured below) at Kroger and I threw just about every box into my cart. They’re just too cute perched on top of the Snickerdoodles.

You’ll also want to grab a few icing in tubes for borders or swirly patterns. Make no mistake about it, I’m all about the swirl.

As I said earlier, Marshmallow Cream stands out in a crowd! Maybe it’s just me, but I think it makes a gorgeous, shiny, icing.

Other fun ideas for topping cookies:

Crushed candy canes or peppermints
M&M’s (Mini M&M’s are especially cute on cookies)
Nuts
Colored Sugar
Dried Fruit (a bigger hit with adults than kids… trust me, here)

A Few Extra Cookie-Baking Tips:

Whether you’re using Krusteaz’s great cookie mixes or a recipe, below are a few tips for smoother sailing.

Always read through a recipe or instructions entirely before beginning.
When softened butter is called for, be sure it’s really, really, really soft. IF you soften it in the microwave, be sure to do so in intervals of just a few seconds. Melted butter isn’t going to do you or the cookies any good.
If the recipe calls for butter, use butter… not margarine.
Always place cookie dough on cool cookie sheets. If you place them on warm sheets, they’ll spread like… oh, nevermind.
As a general Cookie Rule, place cookies containing leavening 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Unleavened cookies can be placed 1-1/2 inches apart.
Unless otherwise instructed, remove cookies immediately from cookie sheets after they come out of the oven, as they will continue to cook if they’re allowed to hang out on the pan.
Cool cookies on a wire rack for the best air circulation.
When baking, use the middle oven rack.
I’ve become obsessed with using parchment paper – it’s a bakers best friend… okay, second, behind butter.
Pre-Heat your oven for at least 10 minutes before cooking.

If you have to eat gluten free, thanks to Krusteaz Gluten Free Flour, you can bake any darn cookies you want. See my Gluten Free Cranberry Pecan Cookies for inspiration.

More Information:

I have found Krusteaz products at Kroger, Meijer, and (of course) on Amazon. See where to buy Krusteaz on their website for your own personal stores.
Follow Krusteaz on Twitter.
Follow Krusteaz on Facebook.
Follow Krusteaz on Instagram.
Follow Krusteaz on Pinterest.

Gluten Free Cranberry Pecan Cookies

November 23, 2016 By Joi Sigers

Gluten-Free White Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

Gluten Free White Chocolate Chip and Pecans CookiesBefore getting to the two gluten free cookie recipes, I just want to express my yuuuge gratitude to food companies who keep churning out exceptional gluten free products. Krusteaz, Udi’s, Glutino, Pamela’s CedarLane, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Amy’s… the list goes on and deliciously on. I am so very thankful for them – and I plan to keep letting them know – all over social media, through e-mail, here on the food blog… anywhere and everywhere I have an opportunity to sincerely thank them, I’m going to take it. I’d love to see everyone in the gluten free (for health reasons, especially) community do so. We don’t hesitate to point out when a company or restaurant drops the ball – we should be even faster with gratitude.

Seems fair, right?

Okay… off the soap box! One of the companies I am most thankful for is Krusteaz. Their products are first rate – as in perfect every single time – and they are SO affordable. Let’s face it, not all gluten free products can be called “reasonably priced” let alone “So affordable,” but Krusteaz (and Pillsbury, for that matter) are as fair as it gets.

I just made a couple of batches of cookies using Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. I tweaked their wonderful Choclate Chunk Cookies recipe (below). In place of the 1-1/2 chocolate chips or chunks, I made the following cookies with the following SIMPLE alterations. The first (with dried cranberries) was made for my youngest daughter who cannot eat chocolate (poor baby!). She loves cranberries like crazy, so I thought this would be ideal.

Cranberry Pecan Gluten Free Cookies – (pictured below) instead of the 1-1/2 chocolate chips or chunks, I added 3/4 dried cranberries and 3/4 coarsely-chopped pecans.
White Chocolate Chip Pecan Gluten Free Cookies – (pictured at the top) again, 3/4 cup white chocolate chips and 3/4 cup coarsely-chopped pecans (yes.. as a matter of fact, I am obsessed with pecans)

Below is Krusteaz’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies recipe (it’s perfection, by the way). It’s the easiest chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll ever find – you don’t even need a mixer. Tweak as I did (above) or go with the orgiinal (below). Either way, you’re going to be blown away.

Krusteaz Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 ¼ cups Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
¼ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips or chunks
2 eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together flour with remaining dry ingredients. Add eggs, butter and vanilla and blend until dough forms, kneading by hand if necessary. Scoop rounded 2 tablespoon portions of dough and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly.

Bake 10-11 minutes or until light golden brown on the edges. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. – Recipe from Krusteaz

Gluten Free Cranberry and Pecans Cookies

Gluten Free Pecan Sandies Recipe

December 31, 2015 By Joi Sigers

Gluten Free Pecan Sandies

When it comes to Christmas cookies… or any cookies, for that matter… one of my absolute favorites is Pecan Sandies (sometimes called Mexican Wedding Cookies). My favorite cookies are usually “nutty” and always extra-sweet and these cookies more than fit the bill.

When I had to give up gluten/wheat (my body’s decision, not my mind’s), I was pretty sure the days of being a cookie monster were behind me. Fortunately a lot of food companies have been busting their rears perfecting All Purpose Gluten Free flours and have, as a result, opened up a whole new world to the gluten free crowd that we once thought was closed for good.

Granted, some of these “1 to 1” all purpose gluten free flours can be pretty expensive, but the one I recently discovered is, shockingly, just a bit more than regular flour. The fact that I’ve used it in A LOT of old favorite recipes as a substitute for traditional flour with spectacular results just blows me away.

Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour is a a dream come true for this gluten free cookie monster and the fact that it’s also affordable is even sweeter.

I used my favorite Pecan Sandies recipe, from my favorite cookies cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens Cookies for Christmas, 1985. You should see this cookbook! I’ve used it so much over the years (throughout the year, like any self-respecting cookie monster would) that the pages are discolored, stained with who-knows-what and filled with notes like…

Brittany’s favorite cookie!
Emily loves these so much, they’re worth the extra effort..
Michael’s fave..
Stephany can’t get enough of these…

It’s pretty easy to tell my favorite cookbooks from the rest.

Below is the recipe, as it appears in the cookbook EXCEPT that I replaced “all purpose flour” with Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. If you have another gluten free all purpose flour you’d like to use, by all means, give it a try! I personally haven’t tried other gluten free flours so I can’t promise they’ll be as great as these were.

Needless to say, if you don’t have to eat gluten free, simply switch out the gluten free all purpose flour for the traditional one. Either way, you’ll have a cookie that’s as delicious as it is pretty.

T-fal… As Good as Good Gets

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