Root Beer Cookies

Hey look who it is! I'm back twice in one week!

I bookmarked this recipe about a year ago. It's been just sitting in my favorites, patiently waiting for me to finally decide it was time to make them.

I'm not sure how I happened to browse to it. But I found it on a Betty Crocker blog, who noted it was from the Minneapolis Star Tribune Food Section.

My son Bobby LOVES root beer. He drinks gallons of the stuff. So when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make them.



Root Beer Cookies slightly adapted
Cookies
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup flat root beer
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon root beer extract or concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla

Icing
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons flat root beer
2 teaspoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon root beer extract or concentrate

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Cream together, butter and sugars. Add eggs and mix. Add root beer, root beer concentrate and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture, until just combined.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls, about 2 inches apart, onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375F for 9 - 11 minutes. Cool on rack.

For icing, whisk together all ingredients and spread over completely cooled cookies.

Enjoy!

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Ok, first what you wanna do is make the root beer flat.


I poured it into a glass and just stirred until most of the bubbles were gone.


Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.


Cream butter & sugars, add eggs, then rootbeer, rootbeer concentrate & vanilla.



Mix in flour until just combined.


Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.


Bake for 9 - 11 minutes at 375F.


Cool on racks.


To make icing whisk together all icing ingredients and spread over cookies. I think next time I might leave out the butter. I think the icing would look a little smoother without it.



These cookies were really good! I wasn't sure what to expect from a root beer flavored cookie. I've only had root beer or root beer flavored candy; but never a baked good.

For the concentrate... since I was having a hard time finding it, I was going to just cook down some root beer until it was a thick sticky syrup, but since I had never seen the concentrate, I wasn't sure if that would work. Now I think it would have been totally fine. So if you're having trouble finding the concentrate, you could try to just cook it down from root beer.

Before icing the cookies, I tasted one. I wanted to see how much root beer flavor was in the cookie itself, because I was thinking they might be better with a vanilla glaze to make them root beer float cookies. The cookie itself had a mild root beer flavor, so you do definitely want to use the root beer icing. I was a little nervous about the icing too. I tasted that on its own and it was really strong. I was afraid it would ruin the cookies, but it was really perfect! They totally taste like root beer cookies!

If you wanted to try to make a rootbeer float cookie, I think maybe you could swirl the root beer icing with a vanilla icing. I'll have to experiment with that the next time.

But everyone really liked these. At first I was thinking.... "yeah, they're good, but I probably won't make them again." It was mostly the novelty of them. But they really are good! And they're really different. They're be great for a cookie exchange. Something than the same old sugar/chocolate chip/butter cookie.

If you like root beer, I highly recommend you try these!

Press Drop Cookies (that's Spritz Cookies to the rest of the world)

These are cookies that are made with a cookie press. I've had a few different styles of cookie press over the years, but I have to say my absolute favorite is the old style one my mom had. I ended up getting this beautiful tool on eBay a couple years ago.


My first cookie press was the ratchet style.


Then I had a couple of electric ones.


I hated the electric cookie press and to a lesser degree the ratchet style. The dough from the ratcheted press never seemed to come out at a consistent rate. The electric ones were even worse. I like the nice even turn of the screw from my vintage press.

Anyway... these cookies have been on Mum's Christmas Cookie trays for as long as I can remember. I know, you're saying, "Come on now Spryte, it's almost Valentine's Day." But really, even though I've only made these cookies at Christmas time, I'm going to make a concentrated effort to make them throughout the year this year!

The cookie discs are definitely usable for the whole year!

The only problem is I tend to forget which cookie discs I actually have. None of the discs from my previous presses are interchangeable and sometimes I end up looking for a disc from the past.

These are my current discs.


Of course there's the star for cheese straws and the little spikey line thing for bar cookies.

I have all the suites from a deck of cards. I could be making these every time we have friends over for an evening of cards & food.

The hearts and flowers would be great for Valentine's Day.

Butterflies & flowers are good all spring and summer, plus tea parties or bridal showers, or the Cookie Table at a wedding.

The dog, well.. maybe you could make some as a gift for your dog walker or vet... or those hard working people at the humane society.

The camel... hmmm... ummmmm... ok... I know! Hump Day! Everyone needs special cookies for Wednesday right?

I've been making these my whole life and I know this will sound dumb, but I only found out they were called Spritz Cookies within the past couple of years! Mum always called them Press Drop Cookies. So that's what I call them!

Press Drop Cookies
1 C shortening
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp extract (almost is my favorite)
2 1/4 C flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375F
Cream together shortening, sugar, egg and extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix into shortening & sugar mixture until completely blended. I always color the dough. So when it's thoroughly mixed, add food coloring and mix until desired color is reached. Select a shape, load dough into barrel of cookie press. Press cookies out onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Decorate with jimmies or colored sugars if desired. Bake at 375F for 7 - 10 minutes. Cool on racks.

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So cream together shortening, sugar, egg and extract. I almost always use almond, but really, you can use whatever you like! Lemon, peppermint, rootbeer, coconut, butter... it's totally up to you... ya know... just typing this out kinda makes me wanna change it up a little next time!


Mix in the flour mixture.


Time for color!

Green, Red & Blue


I was making Green for Christmas trees, Red for Poinsettias, and Blue for ummm.. for some reason I was thinking they were going to be Stars.. but they turned out to be diamonds... so Blue Diamonds! (aren't there Blue Diamonds in Lucky Charms?)


It takes a lot of mixing to get the colors worked through the dough.


But it does eventually get blended.


Insert your disc of choice.


Load the barrel with the appropriately colored dough.


Screw down the press until dough is firmly packed in the barrel.

I find 1/3 of a turn to be the perfect amount for this dough.




You can sprinkle with sugars or jimmies or other decorations if you like.




Bake at 375F for 7 - 10 minutes and cool on racks.


Enjoy!


These are definitely one of my kids favorite cookies. They'll be pretty psyched to see them pop up throughout the year.

Hey! I just thought of another occasion for the diamond shaped cookie!!

Yellow, Red & Blue Diamonds...


Go Steelers!!

Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

Yup... I said Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

This recipe showed up on my Facebook news feed from The Cooking Channel last week. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make them! Jon wasn't quite as excited as me, but he definitely wanted to try them!



Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies
12 oz bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C reserved bacon fat, chilled
3/4 C granulated sugar
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1/4 C packed dark brown sugar
2 TBLS bourbon liquor
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 ounces dark chocolate 65-percent or higher cocoa content, chopped into small pieces

In a large pan, cook the diced bacon until the bacon pieces are golden and crisp. Remove the bacon pieces from the fat and drain on a paper towel. Strain the fat through a fine sieve and measure out a 1/2 cup bacon fat and chill the bacon fat until it congeals and is set.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Beat the butter, chilled bacon fat, granulated sugar, light sugar, dark brown sugar, bourbon, and vanilla, in a large mixer bowl, until it is well combined.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the cooked bacon pieces and chopped chocolate bits. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets at least 3-inches apart.

Bake in the oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Keep in a dry, airtight container for up to 5 days.

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A few notes. I had drippings from 2 pounds of bacon chillin' in the fridge when I first read this recipe. So I knew I'd be making it very soon. When I cooked the 3/4 of a pound that the recipe calls for, I definitely didn't have 1/2 cup of drippings from it. It might have been close, I didn't measure, but I'm sure it would have come up short. So if you're gonna make these... have a some bacon with breakfast... then maybe make some BLTs for lunch... then fry up the bacon for the cookies... just to be sure you have enough fat. *shudder* Is sounds so gross when you call it fat instead of drippings! But FAT is definitely what it is!! If you spill some on your recipe, it becomes see-through and a little slippery! These are definitely ~not~ heart-healthy cookies. But they are definitely cool every once in a while!

The starring ingredients for these cookies, ladies & gentlemen, I give you Bacon & Chocolate!


Dice up your bacon and get it into the frying pan.


Chop up that chocolate and set it aside.


I only used 7oz of chocolate because those bars were 3.5oz each. But the cookies were definitely not lacking in chocolate flavor for the missing ounce.

Drain your bacon pieces (and try not to eat them all)


I don't keep paper towels in the house... so I used a paper bag.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream together chilled bacon fat & butter.


Beat in sugars.

I didn't have any dark brown sugar, so I just added a little bit of molasses.

Beat in vanilla and bourbon

I used Fighting Cock Bourbon


I like to buy the little airline sized bottles of booze and usually pick them by if the bottle is cool... or if I like the name.

Fighting Cock... yeah... I'm immature... but I had 2 tablespoons of bourbon when I needed it! Plus 2 extra tablespoons that Jon sipped while I baked cookies!

Beat in eggs one a time.

Ugh... that left me with one egg from an 18-pack! I hate that! Now I have that big box in my fridge with one egg in it! At least we roll through eggs in my house. So it shouldn't be in there, takin' up all that space for long!

Ok... now gradually beat in flour mixture.

When that's well combined, stir in cooked bacon pieces and chocolate bits.




Now drop by spoonful onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.


Now bake for 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown.


Cool on wire racks.


That's it!

So when you tell people you're making Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies the reaction seems to be either "Hell yeah!!" or "WHY would you do that???".

Jon and I tried them first.

My initial reaction was that they are too chocolatey. I really don't care for chocolate. But you totally get the bacon flavor. The bacon pieces are a little chewy, so it's kind of an odd texture thing, but not off-putting. At least not to me. I think I might have liked this cookie if it had craisins (dried cranberries) instead of chocolate. I also wished a little more of the bourbon flavor was in the baked cookie. It made the batter smell amazing!!

Jon thought they were interesting. But he did eat a few of them. So I guess not bad!

Lilly was one of the "WHY would you do that???" reactions and really didn't give the cookie a fair taste and didn't like it.

Bobby didn't like it. But he doesn't like dark chocolate, so I didn't expect him too.

Tawny & Ryan thought they were weird.

I brought some to work. My co-worker Bill says he's never met a cookie he didn't like. These didn't change that! He also brought some home for his kidlets to try. He gave them to two of kids without telling them what they were, but that there was a special ingredient in them. His teen daughter knew immediately bacon was the ingredient. Both liked them. His other teen daughter tried them after being told what was in them and didn't like them. Her boyfriend didn't even want to try them.

My boss George liked them. He said you could taste the bacon. My co-worker Ed was another one of the people with the "WHY would you do that???" reaction, but did give them a fair taste and didn't like them.

Jon also brought cookies to work. His co-workers, Jamez, Carrie and Matt all liked them. His boss Lester thought they were odd, but brought one home for his wife to try. She didn't like it. Jon's co-worker Linda LOVED them and brought some home to her husband who also LOVED them!

So it's really a split. But I guess you get that with any kind of cookie right?

If you love bacon and you love chocolate you should definitely try these! If nothing else, they are are interesting conversation starter!

It's-Its ~ the San Francisco Treat!

So Jon has been asking me to make It's-Its for him for probably over a year. I'm kind of a slacker... or procrastinator.

I like to try to recreate the foods he remembers.

Anyway... what's an It's-It you ask?

If you're not from the Bay Area, you probably have never heard of them. I know I hadn't.

An It's-It is a Chocolate Covered Ice Cream & Oatmeal Cookie Sandwich.



It's-It
Oatmeal Cookies
Vanilla Ice Cream (or any flavor you like)
Chocolate

That's all you need.

Unfortunately I missed that they were covered in Dark Chocolate, so mine ended up being covered in Milk Chocolate. But they still turned out yummy.

Since I was making them at home, I used Homemade Oatmeal Cookies and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. And since Jon loves chocolate, I made some with chocolate ice cream too. But I only have one ice cream maker... so only the vanilla was homemade!

First, get the chocolate melted.


Now you have to work kind quickly.

Warm melty chocolate & cold ice cream, don't play nice out in the hot kitchen.

So start with cookies, flat side up.


Top with a big scoop of ice cream.


Top with another cookie.


It helped that these cookies were pretty flat and chewy, so they didn't snap when I pressed everything together.

Now into the melty chocolate...

This super fast action shot is kinda blurry...


That came out way better than you thought it would, didn't it?


Ok, it came out way better than I thought it would!

Working with warm chocolate and ice cream was a little more challenging than I anticipated.

I did a couple of vanilla... now time for some chocolate.




And into the chocolate.


Ok... two of each.


Now quickly into the freezer!

Fast forward a couple of hours after dinner...


Ok... some leakage definitely occurred.


It kinda looks like it has a tongue!

At a couple/few hours... these were still kind of a melty tasty mess.


But Jon definitely liked them.

But, the next day, after sitting over night in the freezer, the remaining It's-Its were much better looking. And they held together when you ate them!


Less leakage...and neat and tasty!


Jon considered this a win!

If you're longing for this San Francisco treat, you can totally make it at home!