Cookies

    Makes: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup of butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces), room temperature

• ½ cup of sugar

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

• Pinch of salt

• 2 cups of flour

• 1 cup of chopped nuts (optional)

• ¾ cup of your favorite jam

• Parchment paper

Cream the butter and sugar on high speed for about 3 minutes.

Separate the eggs. Add the yolks and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. If using nuts place the egg whites in a shallow dish on the side and whisk them until bubbly and frothy (the egg whites will be used to keep the nuts on the cookies).

Add the flour and salt. Mix until just combined. Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350F.

Roll the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter. If using nuts, dip the balls into the egg whites then roll them into the nuts until covered. Place the balls on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Press down with your thumb to make a small well in the center of the cookie. Do not press too hard or the cookie will fall apart. Fill with 1/2 teaspoon of jam.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly firm. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet to firm up before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

   Makes: 20 cookies

You can make these cookies with wild black walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, hickory or butternuts -- all will work fine.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour

• 1 ½ cups walnuts, finely chopped

• 2-3 Tbsp sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ pound butter (at room temperature)

• Pinch of salt

• Powdered sugar, to coat (about 1 cup)

Preheat the oven to 300°F and prepare a large cookie sheet.

Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, walnuts, salt, sugar) in a large bowl. Add the vanilla extract. Add the butter in little pieces, and combine everything together with your (clean!) hands until the mixture looks like a coarse meal with nut bits in it. Form the dough into small balls no larger than a walnut and place on the cookie sheet, spaced at least an inch apart from each other.

Bake for 35 minutes. When they are still warm, but cool enough to touch, roll the cookies in some powdered sugar. Set aside on a rack to cool completely. When cool, dust again in powdered sugar.

    Makes: 2 ½ dozen

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter

• ½ cup sugar

• ½ cup brown sugar

• ½ cup peanut butter

• 1 egg

•  1 tsp. vanilla

•  1 ¾ cup flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

• Hershey Kisses, 1 for each cookie

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cream the butter, both sugars and peanut butter together. Add egg and vanilla in. Then, mix in the flour, baking soda and salt.

Roll together 2 tbsp's of dough then roll in white sugar and place them on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes - immediately after baking push a Hershey kiss into each cookie's center.

Makes: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ c flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs(1 full, 1 yolk)

• ½c white sugar

• 1 c brown sugar

• 1 cup butter(2 sticks), room temp.

• 1 ½ cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla extract. Once light and fluffy, mix in the eggs one by one, mixing well each time. Next, at a low speed,add in the dry ingredients ⅓ at a time, until well combined. Then, add in your chocolate chips. Place 2 tablespoons of cookie dough on pan 2 in. apart.

Bake for 9-11 minutes.