lemon thyme shortbread cookies | recipe

It's been a while friends!  We are starting to adapt to our new routine (with the shop) and it feels so good to be back to baking and cooking, tending to the yard and cleaning my home!  Last Friday night I hosted an Herb Gardening Class.  We planted container gardens, shared tips and tricks and enjoyed rosemary + grapefruit water and lemon thyme shortbread cookies.

The lemon thyme shortbread cookie were so good!  Something about the hint of sweetness with the lemon thyme.....yummy!  I thought I would share the recipe!  And FYI, I made a double batch so that we could enjoy some at home and they freeze beautifully.

Lemon Thyme Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients 2 c All-purpose flour 1 c Butter, unsalted, room temp. ½ c Powdered sugar 1 Tbsp Thyme, finely chopped 1 Tbsp Lemon zest ½ tsp Vanilla extract ½ tsp Lemon extract ¼ tsp Salt Lemon Icing 1 lbs Powdered Sugar 2.5 Tbsp Meringue powder 1 - 2 tsp Lemon extract ¼ - ½ c Water 3 - 4 drops Yellow food coloring Get Ingredients Instructions Lemon Thyme Shortbread Cookies Preheat oven to 350 °F. In your mixing bowl beat room temperature butter until it is creamy. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly. Add thyme, lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and salt and continue to mix until ingredients combine. Add the flour 1 cup at a time until the mixture just starts to come together. Create a ball of dough and flatten it slightly before wrapping it in plastic wrap and chilling it for 1 hour. Remove dough from refrigerator. Lightly flour your surface and roll the dough out to ¼ inch thick. Use cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Place cookie cut-outs on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Place cookies in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely and then ice them. Let icing harden before serving. Lemon Icing In a mixer combine powdered sugar, meringue powder, and slowly add water while mixer is on low until you reach the consistency you want. Add lemon extract and food coloring and mix thoroughly. recipe from www.homemadeinterest.com

Enjoy!!!

MONSTER COOKIES || a sweet treat recipe

This weekend my sweet hubby pressure washed the garage roof for me.  It's a really steep roof, and it was really dirty, so it was a really big deal to me.

I love to pressure wash!  It's instant gratification....from yucky to clean, in just a matter of minutes.  Matt won't let me get up on a ladder to pressure wash {he is smart man}.  By the time he got the harness, his big ladder, and had pressure washed the roof, the afternoon was gone.  He spent his entire weekend afternoon doing a yucky chore for me.  Such a sweet man.  Anyways, I made sure to have cookies baking in the oven when he walked in the door.

They may be our new favorite cookie.  And we LOVE our chocolate chip cookies around here.

There is something so special about the yummy smells coming from the kitchen.  Bread, cookies, dinner, whatever is cooking, it just makes a home cozy.

Go bake these cookies soon.  Your family, especially your sweet little babies, will love you for these!!

There is something about warm, baked goodness.  It makes hearts happy and makes your home a little extra cozy and sweet.

These cookies take less than 5 minutes to make, and the oven does the rest of the work.  Make them today, and maybe give away half because they make a big batch...and who doesn't love fresh cookies?!?

MONSTER COOKIE RECIPE::

Pre-heat oven to 325.

Mix 1 cup butter softened, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup packed brown sugar.

Add 2 eggs and 1 ½ tsp vanilla, mix blend.

In separate bowl: mix 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt.

Combine all ingredients and then ADD:

1 cup choc chips, 1 cup walnuts(or pecans), 1 cup peanut butter chips, and 3 cups quick oatmeal.

Mix all ingredients by hand and drop large, rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheets.

Bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes.

Take them out before they fully cooked.

Enjoy!!

DARK CHOCOLATE CHUNK OAT BARS :: a {very easy} sweet treat recipe

Tomorrow afternoon I am hosting a Chalk Paint® class.    I really enjoy teaching classes.  It's an excuse to meet new people and get our creative juices flowing.  I like providing refreshments, even if I am the only one eating them ;-)

For tomorrow's class, I am having sliced apples, this yummy dip and tasty, dark chocolate chunk oat bars.  I made them last night and they are sooooooo good, especially warm and right out of the oven!!

I love to keep sweet treats around for me and my little family.  I usually we have sweets that are sweetened with honey, made with oats, and so on.  I try to go for a bit more wholesome than a traditional chocolate chip cookie. {I do love me some chocolate chip cookies!}

These fit the bill perfectly!

Healthy Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bars  (original recipe)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 18 bars

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted (if need you may sub canola oil)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into chunks (about 1 1/2 cups)  ** I didn't have dark chocolate, I used 1 cup of dark chocolate chips and 1/2 of a hershey bar.**

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish or line with foil or parchment papper.
3. In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add the oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, melted coconut oil, eggs and vanilla and beat until combined and the dough holds together (the dough will seem oily, this is good). Mix in about 1 cup of the dark chocolate chunks.
4. Turn half the batter out into prepared pan, pushing the dough into pan. Sprinkle on the remaining dark chocolate chunks and then place the remaining half of the dough over the chunks. Some of the chunks will most likely be sticking out, that is fine. Don't worry about it looking perfect. If desired you may even add more chocolate to the top.
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, just do not over bake.  Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!!

HOME MADE PEPPERMINT OREOS :: a holiday treat

 

I thought I would share my cookie contribution for the cookie exchange tonight.

HOME MADE PEPPERMINT OREOS.

The website I found the recipe from has much prettier pictures, but they sure taste good!!

HOME MADE PEPPERMINT OREOS

****

Ingredients

• {batter}
• 1 box devils food cake
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter softened
• {frosting}
• 1 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 TB milk, or heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon Peppermint extract
• Andi's crushed peppermints

Instructions

1. Combine egg and butter in a large bowl. Mix until combined. Pour in devil's food cake and mix until the batter is smooth (about 2 min). Roll dough into a ball and push flat onto a lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Remove to cooling rack and allow cookies to completely cool.
2. For frosting: Mix together butter. Next add milk, vanilla and peppermint extract. Then slowly add powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.
3. Frost one cookie on the BOTTOM and then sandwich another cookie on top. I like to use a lot of frosting (make sure it's coming out the sides). Then dip the sides of the cookie into crushed peppermint andis.

Enjoy!!!!!  I prefer mine with a tall glass of cold milk ;-)

SWEET TREAT :: home made ice cream sandwiches

We love ice cream at the Haney house.

We also love home made cookies.

The highlight of my day is {usually} snuggling on the couch with my handsome hubby and eating a big bowl of ice cream and a cookie {or two}.  I know it's not a healthy habit, but it sure is one of my favorite habits!

This weekend, I combined two of  my {many} loves and made

peanut butter and chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches.

I used this peanut butter cookie recipe, but I left out the chocolate chips.

I usually have my frozen chocolate chip cookie dough on hand, so I thought we would make chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches too.  You know, so we can compare which cookie/ice cream combo we prefer ;-)

I made a fresh batch of my honey vanilla ice cream.

It's seriously the easiest ice cream to make....and it always tastes so good!

When you are making ice cream sandwiches, it's easiest to let the ice cream soften a bit, then scoop it into a baking dish.  I wanted my ice cream centers about 1/2" thick, so I spread the ice cream about 1/2" thick over the entire dish.  Toss it back in the freezer.  When you are ready to assemble your sandwiches, cut the ice cream into the same shape/size of your cookie.  Layer them up, then pop them back into the freezer until you are ready to indulge!

This summer, we will experiment with different cookie and ice cream flavors.  Until then, I am quite happy with the simple, but classic flavors of vanilla, peanut butter and chocolate chip!

Do you have a favorite ice cream sandwich combination??

AND THE WINNER IS :: a giveaway

At the Open House last weekend, we had a little drawing for gals who signed up to receive periodic newsletters from MD HANEY & CO.

The winner receives 2 dozen freshly baked chocolate cookies {I am thinking double chocolate chip with sea salt, but I haven't quite decided}, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers!  All delivered to the front door, or place of work.

So fun....right?!?

And, the winner is....

Betsy, I will email you to get your address and find out when I can drop off "the goods!"

Have a lovely weekend ladies!

PS~  If you would like to sign up for the newsletter, just leave a comment and I will be sure to add you to the list!!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIE WITH SEA SALT

 I may {or may not have} eaten three of these warm, chocolate-y cookies right out of the oven.  They are so good!  If you are looking for an extra special chocolate treat, these are super easy cookies to make.

The sprinkle of sea salt balances out the sweetness and adds just a bit of crunch.  A sweet friend, just brought me a bag of sea salt from Hawaii, it was just perfect for these cookies!

Ingredients::

1 c all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

5 Tbsp unsalted butter

7 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 c granulated sugar

1/3 c packed brown sugar

1/3 c plain yogurt or sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions::

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat. Stir in cocoa powder and both sugars. The mixture will be very grainy and thick.
3. Add yogurt and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Let the mixture sit 5-10 minutes, so that the chocolate chips don't melt.
4. Add dry ingredients with chocolate chips, stir until all is moistened and there is no streaks of flour in the dough. Do not over mix.
5. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes {or up to 2 days} for puffier cookies.
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 {I used convection, so I set the oven to 325}
7. Drop by tablespoons onto prepared sheet. Sprinkle each ball of dough with sea salt. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on the sheet, then gently transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!!  Preferably with a cold glass of milk!

xoxo~

Darci