Tag: desserts (Page 7 of 8)

Lemon Drop Cookies

March 6, 2015 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 21 Comments

These cookies are moist and subtly sweet with that uplifting zing that lemons give. Sometimes I wonder, when I crave lemons, why lemons are so appealing when their juice alone is quite bitter and sour. But many of us love lemon-flavored food and drinks. There is something so bright and cleansing about lemon juice. When I was a young girl, I had a picture in my room of a basket of pretty lemons, and it said, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I have heard that quoted countless times since then, and other similar quotes as well. And yet, there is a lot to it. Lemon juice alone is not so easy to drink (except for maybe a few, like my husband), but when mixed with enough sugar, the resulting drink is one of the most refreshing I have ever tasted. The bittersweet quality gives lemonade more complexity and substance than a syrupy-sweet drink. The same goes for these cookies. They are sweet, but with a hint of powerful flavor from the lemon juice and rind. When difficult things happen to us, it is human nature to be drawn into sadness of it. We often feel like we are the only ones to experience such a difficulty. It is hard to take the high road and keep a philosophical viewpoint. Maybe that’s why symbols of making good out of bad are so powerful: lemonade out of lemons; the phoenix rising from the flames. Lemons are a beautiful, bright yellow color, and to me, symbolize the beautiful complexity and bittersweet aspect of life. This cookie recipe is easy and fairly quick to make. The cream cheese and bit of butter keep the cookies moist, and the sugar and lemon flavors balance each other nicely. Because the weather forecasters are calling for above-freezing temperatures next week, I took a couple of the photos in the snow and ice, since we may not have it much longer! With it being Friday, I am celebrating Fiesta Friday with the talented bloggers at The Novice Gardener, co-hosted this week by Caroline at Caroline’s Cooking and Elaine at Foodbod. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Lemon Drop Cookies

Servings: about 36 cookies
Time: approximately 45 minutes
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Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup of cream cheese, also at room temperature
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 eggs
the grated rind of a lemon
1 cup of sugar
1 and 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, lemon juice, eggs, lemon rind, and sugar until smooth (you may use an electric mixer if you prefer, but it is not necessary if you stir vigorously!). Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir well until completely combined.

Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake in your preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden/brown and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Repeat until all the batter is used. Store the cookies in the refrigerator between layers of wax paper. Enjoy!

Rich, Chocolate Brownies with Powdered Sugar and Cinnamon

January 30, 2015 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 20 Comments

Chocolate in the heart of wintertime. There is something special, yet completely crucial about having chocolate in the bleak mid-winter. It is an inexpensive luxury that we should not live without. My mouth is watering as I go over the photos for this post. I think I will have to make another batch of these brownies very soon. This may be old news to some of you, but to me it was a pleasant surprise–making brownies from scratch is not that difficult or time-consuming! I am not someone to shy away from cooking and baking from scratch–I love to do it when I have the time, and I often make the time–but for some reason, I always made brownies from a box mix. I guess I imagined making brownies from scratch took forever, or that I needed a double boiler to melt the chocolate, or that it made a huge mess. But really, this recipe is not that much more time-consuming than using a mix, it doesn’t make a huge mess, and this way, you know exactly what is in your brownies–just the basic ingredients many of us have on hand, plus that magic ingredient–chocolate. No food cheers me up like chocolate does, and this time of year, many of us can use a bit of extra cheer! Though I have made some changes, the recipe I am using is adapted from Susan Branch’s “From the Heart of the Home: Autumn,” an inspiring cookbook my cousin gave me years ago. I feel that making a special batch of brownies is a treat we can offer to those we love, and a way we can treat ourselves too. I am taking this pan of brownies over to Angie’s blog, The Novice Gardener, where part 2 of a very special celebration is taking place. She has been coordinating Fiesta Friday for one whole year, and the connections she has fostered through this link party are incredible. The bloggers who take part in this are kind, supportive, and not least of all, talented. I love to look at their photos and read their posts. This week’s celebration is co-hosted by Nancy from Feasting with Friends, and Selma, from Selma’s Table. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Rich, Chocolate Brownies with Powdered Sugar and Cinnamon

Servings: 12 brownies
Time: about 15 minutes preparation, plus about 30 minutes for baking
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Ingredients:

2 ounces (2 squares) of unsweetened chocolate (baker’s chocolate)
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla
powdered sugar and ground cinnamon to sprinkle on the top

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with butter. In a large saucepan, gently melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring often. Stir the rest of the ingredients into the pan, in the order they appear above, until everything is well combined. With a wooden spoon or a spatula, scrape the batter into the baking pan. Bake for about 30 minutes in your preheated oven. Allow the brownies to cool, and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Enjoy!

Heartwarming Orange and a Recipe for Pumpkin Cookies

October 14, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 2 Comments

Orange seems to be one of the most popular and celebrated colors during the fall. We are drawn to orange foods, such as pumpkins, carrots, and squash in the fall. I have always loved orange–according to many sources, it is the color of joy and creativity. When I eat orange foods, I feel like I am infusing my body with the energy of orange, and with it giving myself more vitality and inspiration. Pumpkins are full of vitamin A, iron, potassium, and phosphorous. Sometimes when I am feeling too blue, orange is a good balance, since orange and blue are complementary colors in the color spectrum. While orange is bright and inspiring, blue is calming and relaxing. According to the talented artist Vincent Van Gogh, “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” Nothing exists completely on its own–we feel what we feel, or see what we see, in relation to everything else around ourselves. It is good to try to maintain a healthy balance between the two opposite ends of the spectrum, because too much of anything can be detrimental, and I must say, sometimes the beautiful fall weather brings on the bittersweet, wistful blues. To add some orange to my life, and just because I like pumpkin cookies and I know my husband and kids like them too, I often turn to the following recipe in the fall. The recipe I posted below is easy, tasty, and quite healthy (cookies with a vegetable in them!). The pumpkin puree keeps them nice and moist and the spices give them the great flavor. The chocolate chips are optional, but I personally like to add chocolate to as many things as I can, and the chocolate tastes great in these cookies. They are a perfect snack, and easy to pack in lunches.

Pumpkin Cookies

Servings: approximately 3 dozen cookies
Time: about one hour
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Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose, unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tablespoon softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 to 1 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the vanilla, butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, and eggs. Stir vigorously until completely combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Stir until the batter is well-combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, if using. Drop the batter onto a cookie sheet in rounded teaspoons, and bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are puffy and golden, but not too brown. Continue until all the batter is used. Enjoy!