Mrs. Ekoff's Molasses Cookies

Mrs. Ekoff was an older woman who attended my childhood Methodist Church with her husband during the 1960s and early 1970s. Everyone young and old called them Mr. and Mrs. Ekoff. My Granny Mitchell called her "Miz Ekoff" and always sat next to her in church. Although they didn’t talk much, they really liked each other. Mrs. Ekoff was often called on to "lead us in prayer" because she prayed the most articulate and meaningful (and not too long!) prayers. She was kind, warm, and gracious. Everyone fought over her molasses cookies, which she brought to our “church suppers”. I recently found the recipe in our old church cookbook and made it with the addition of ginger and vanilla for my granddaughters. They were delicious - buttery and chewy with slightly crisp edges and fragrant with molasses and ginger. I have included the original recipe and instructions as well as my adaptation of both. I love her simple directions!

Mrs. Ekoff’s Molasses Cookies

Original recipe:
1/4 cup sorghum or honey
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix together and chill dough. Form in small balls. Roll in sugar if desired. Bake in moderate oven 8-10 minutes.

My adapted version:
6 tablespoons shortening
6 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons soda
Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
heaping 1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Cream shortening and butter until smooth, add sugar and mix. Add egg, vanilla, and molasses and mix until light. Whisk together flour, soda, salt, and spices; add gradually to batter. Form in small balls. Roll in sugar if desired. Bake in 350 oven 8-10 minutes.

Quilty Birthday Cake

My oldest granddaughter Sydney will be 14 on Monday, and I was delighted when her Mom told me she requested my cookies as her birthday treat.

Since she didn't choose a cake, I decided to make her a quilty one. I found this online pattern, which is from Lori Holt's Quilty Fun. Although I don't own the book and the pattern only included cutting instructions, it was easy to figure out how to sew the pieces together.

I made some minor changes to the pattern. The cake consists of two layers and a "filling", but my fabric had a natural "chocolate" filling, so I made a solid piece instead of three.

I added 1/4 inch to the top part of the pattern to fit a "flame" for the candle. After trying embroidery and fabric, I wasn't satisfied with the look of the flame. My husband suggested I use various colors of embroidery threads to make a sparkler effect, and I love the way it turned out. Thanks Honey!

I outline-quilted the cake, stand, and candle and then did an overall wavy line quilting to emulate party streamers.

I blogged about these pumpkin cookies with praline icing on one of my older blogs, and they are still a family favorite. On Monday I'll take Sydney a batch of them on a clear serving plate and set them on top of her quilty cake.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

For years one of my favorite cookie recipes has been these Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies from Allrecipes.com. My husband is somewhat of a cookie purist and prefers either chocolate chip pecan, oatmeal pecan, or peanut butter, but I like a combo of the three.

I think my few changes to the recipe - almond butter and peanut butter, white whole wheat, almond flavor, toasted pecans, grated chocolate - make it even better.

Using an ice cream scoop, for me this recipe makes 15 nice-sized cookies that are slightly crisp on the edges and soft and melty inside.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the Allrecipes version here

1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup almond butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rolled oats, pulsed a few times in food processor
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 oz grated German chocolate
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In medium bowl, cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add peanut butter, almond butter, vanilla, almond extract, and egg until well blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; mix on low speed just until combined.

Mix oats,chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and pecans; add to dough and mix on low speed until evenly distributed.

Use cookie scoop and drop dough on prepared pans, about 3 inches apart. Slightly flatten, and bake 10 to 12 minutes until edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets about 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

banana chocolate chip breakfast cookies

My second flourless cooking experiment was this healthy banana breakfast cookie recipe. This one features almond meal as the binder, and I like the texture and flavor it added to the cookies. I purchased mine at Trader Joe's, and the price was far less than other brands I've seen on the internet. I can't wait to try it in other recipes.

The original recipe is from the blog of 101 Cookbooks, but I liked the inclusion of maple syrup that I found on eat, live, run blog. I used a combination of both recipes and made it my own by adding freshly ground nutmeg, Mexican vanilla, ground flaxseed, and sunflower seeds.

These were nutmeg-scented, delicious, and filling - the bananas, maple syrup, and chocolate chips provided the perfect amount of sweetness. My kitchen smelled wonderful while they were baking. I ate two for breakfast and froze the rest.


Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies
Makes 12 large cookies or 18 smaller ones

3 large ripe bananas, completely mashed
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla
1/4 cup coconut oil, slightly warmed
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup roasted salted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Stir together oats, almond meal, flaxseed, coconut, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt; set aside. In another bowl combine bananas, vanilla , coconut oil, and maple syrup. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in sunflower seeds and chocolate chips. Drop dough about an inch apart, and flatten slightly. Bake for 14 - 16 minutes, or until starting to brown on edges.

flourless chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

A recent interest in flourless cooking prompted me to try a cookie that has been labeled various names on the internet, from "amazing" to "3-ingredient" to "gluten-free". I looked at several recipes before deciding on King Arthur Flour's version, which includes chocolate chips.

Although the recipe specifies smooth peanut butter, I used chunky because I prefer the crunch it lends. I made some without chocolate chips for my husband, who is a peanut butter cookie "purist", and he declared them "excellent". I thought they were surprisingly good, chewy with lightly crisp edges. Although I will eat peanut butter straight from the jar, the peanut butter flavor in the cookies was a bit too pronounced for me. I will probably tweak this recipe a bit with some oat flour to see if that mellows the strong peanut butter flavor. A friend suggested I might try it with almond butter for a more delicate flavor.

Flourless Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from King Arthur Flour
Makes about 18 cookies

1 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips or mini chips
Granulated sugar to sprinkle tops of cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix peanut butter, sugar, baking soda, and salt at medium speed of mixer. Add egg and vanilla and blend at low speed until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough by tablespoonful onto baking sheet and gently flatten top of dough; sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes until tops are slightly cracked and edges have just started to brown. Cool completely on baking sheet.