Back in the 70’s I had a recipe for corn flake cookies. They were light, crispy, and so delicious. I don’t have the recipe anymore, but I haven’t forgotten about how good they were. I’m always looking out for cookies that include corn flakes because I know they will have the nice crunchy texture I love. I was skimming through a local magazine (I don’t recall the name of the magazine) that had a recipe for Grandma’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Corn flakes were listed as an ingredient so I quickly jotted down the recipe. I thought it was interesting that lard was listed as an ingredient as well. I don’t cook with lard and used Earth Balance Buttery sticks instead. You could try the original recipe that uses half lard and half butter, or use butter only.
The original recipe left out the amount of salt to use and didn’t specify how long to bake the cookies. No matter, the cookies turned out so well. Though they are considered oatmeal cookies, the corn flakes are present and add such a nice crunch along with peanuts. They are my new favorite cookie.
Crispy Oatmeal Corn Flake Cookies
Updated 11/08/15
Adapted from the original recipe: Grandma’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes about 40 cookies
Ingredients
1 cup Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (or 1 cup unsalted butter), room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (1 teaspoon kosher salt if using unsalted butter)
1 cup corn flakes
2 cups oatmeal (regular, not quick cooking)
1 cup peanut halves (unsalted, do not chop)
1 cup raisins
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°
Cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and stir to combine well. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Fold in corn flakes, oatmeal, peanuts and raisins into the batter.
Drop rounded mounds of dough (about 1 heaping tablespoon, or more for larger cookies) on un-greased non-stick cookie sheets flattening the dough slightly before baking.
Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating pan once during baking period, until cookies are golden brown.
Let cookies cool on the pan for several minutes after baking before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve right away or freeze in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper.
‘Tis the season to dig out the cookie cutters that are tucked away in the cupboard. Almost every holiday season I set aside a full day to bake and decorate gingerbread cookies. Of course I have to eat at at least one or two of these crunchy cookies, before packaging them up to give away to friends and family.
After baking the cookies, I grab a stool and sit at my kitchen counter and decorate the cookies. Now I can see why my mom (who was a school teacher) asked me to help her decorate her gingerbread cookies (she made them for her young students). Depending on how many cookies you bake, it may take a full day from start to finish.
The recipe for these cookies came from my husband’s Aunt Frieda. I’m not certain where she found it (the original recipe is entitled “Gingersnaps”). The dough is a bit tricky to work with because it’s quite soft. Chilling the dough well in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, then a brief stay in the freezer helps to firm it up a bit. It’s better to use smaller cookie cutters that have simple outlines. My gecko cutter is pushing the limit!
Crunchy Gingerbread Cookies
Makes about 45 cookies
Update 12/15/18: I have a new oven and found that that my cookies take about 14-15 minutes to bake to ensure a crispy cookie. The cookies should cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely before decorating.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups shortening
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup strong hot coffee
1 cup molasses
7 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Preparation
Cream shortening and sugar thoroughly in a very large bowl. I find it best to use a firm spatula or wooden spoon and cut the shortening into the sugar. It will make it easier to cream together the two ingredients.
Pour the molasses into a 2 cup measuring cup or bowl and add the hot coffee. Stir to combine then add to the creamed mixture. Stir well.
Sift dry ingredients together and gradually add to the liquid mixture. Stir well to combine ingredients. The dough will be quite soft however you can add a bit more flour if you feel it needs it. Divide dough into 5 pieces, pat into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Chill for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight for convenience. Place the chilled dough disks in the freezer for about 15 – 30 minutes prior to rolling the dough. Then remove them one at a time to roll out.
Preheat oven to 340 degrees. The original recipe calls for 350 degrees however my oven seems to run hotter than it should.
Tear off large pieces of waxed paper to roll the dough on. Flour the paper and roll the dough thin, about 1/8 inch thick. I flour my rolling pin often too. Remove the extra pieces of dough around the cut outs and form into a disk, wrap in plastic, and place back in the freezer to use later. To transfer cut out shapes to cookie sheet, simply place your hand over the cut out and lift the waxed paper up and gently flip the cookie onto your hand loosening the edge of the dough from the waxed paper. Carefully turn your hand over placing the cut out dough on to the cookie sheet. Once the dough is on the cookie sheet, it can’t be moved so do your best to space the dough so that you can fit others on the pan making use of most of the space. It takes a bit of practice but it works. I usually roll out enough dough for 4 gingerbread men on one piece of waxed paper. Start with a new piece of waxed paper each time you roll out the dough and remember to lightly flour it.
Bake the cookies for about 12 – 14 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through the baking process and check for doneness after 12 minutes. The cookies should have a nice dark brown color. Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 – 10 minutes until they firm up and can be easily transferred with a spatula to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before decorating.
Icing & Decorating
4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 egg whites (I use pasteurized eggs)
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Assorted cookie sprinkles
Currants
Combine all ingredients and stir well. If the icing is too thin, add more sugar. If the icing is too thick, add a few drops of water or lemon juice. Place icing in a squeeze bottle with a narrow tip. Start decorating!
Cookies can be stored in a air tight container at room temperature for a day or two, after which they should be frozen in Ziplock bags. They can also be sealed individually in cellophane bags as gifts.
These little melt in your mouth Russian Tea Cakes make great gifts for the holidays. With just a few ingredients they are quick to make and are so pretty wrapped up in bright, cheery packages. I made these vegan using Earth Balance Buttery Sticks. They turned out great.
The tea cakes are tossed in powdered sugar after cooling for a short time then tossed once again before serving.
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together. Add flour and salt, stir to combine. Stir in walnuts.
Shape into small balls and bake at 375 degrees about 15 – 20 minutes until edges are very lightly browned (check for doneness after 15 minutes). Do not let cookies brown too much.
Allow cookies to cool slightly, about 15 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar while still slightly warm. Toss cookies in powdered sugar once more. Let cool completely before storing in an air tight container.
Crunchy or chewy? This is the eternal cookie question. Personally I cannot resist a crunchy cookie. I found this delicious recipe which incorporates tart cranberries, chocolate chunks and toasted pecans on the Nook and Pantry blog. Amy adapted her recipe from Cook’s Illustrated and called them the Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever. I agree.
Pecans are terrific dessert nuts and toasting them intensifies their flavor (you can substitute walnuts for the pecans). Dried cranberries add a bit of tartness and chocolate, of course, adds richness to the cookies. I have found that adding a few tablespoons of coconut flakes to certain dessert recipes raises the level of decadence. Such is the case in this recipe.
The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate but I used these semisweet chunks that I had in my pantry.
I made smaller cookies than the recipe called for and ended up with about 26 cookies that were the perfect size.
Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chunks, Pecans, Dried Cranberries and Sweet Coconut
Adapted from Nook and Pantry
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 1/4 cup dried cranberries
4 ounces bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate chunks
2 tablespoons sweet coconut flakes
1 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, preferably dark
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
If cranberries seem dry, pour 1/2 cup boiling water on them to rehydrate and soften them. Let stand for 10 minutes then drain well.
Toast the pecans in an oven or a toaster oven at 275 – 300 degrees for about 5 minutes. Watch closely so they do not burn. Cool, then chop nuts and set aside.
In one bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, toss the pecans, chocolate chunks, and oats.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer beat the butter until fluffy. Add the brown sugar and beat again. Add the egg and vanilla, scrape down the bowl and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour mixture and mix until the dough starts to come together. Then add the oats mixture, cranberries and coconut and continue to mix until everything is evenly distributed.
Using a quarter cup ice-cream/cookie scoop, divide the dough into 16 portions (this is per the original recipe, very large cookies). Roll them into a ball then flatten them until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Stagger the cookies about 3 inches apart. (I made 26 smaller cookies, 9 fit on a cookie sheet).
Bake for about 10 minutes, rotate the sheet and bake for another 5 – 6 minutes (oven temperatures vary so check to see that they are not over baking). This baking time was used for the smaller cookies I made. It may take up to 18 minutes to bake the larger cookies. The cookie edges should be nicely browned. Remove cookie sheet from the oven, let cookies set for two minutes then remove them to a cooling rack.
Back in the 70’s I had a recipe for corn flake cookies. They were light, crispy, and so delicious. I don’t have the recipe anymore, but I haven’t forgotten about how good they were. I’m always looking out for cookies that include corn flakes because I know they will have the nice crunchy texture I love. I was skimming through a local magazine (I don’t recall the name of the magazine) that had a recipe for Grandma’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Corn flakes were listed as an ingredient so I quickly jotted down the recipe. I thought it was interesting that lard was listed as an ingredient as well. I don’t cook with lard and used Earth Balance Buttery sticks instead. You could try the original recipe that uses half lard and half butter, or use butter only.
The original recipe left out the amount of salt to use and didn’t specify how long to bake the cookies. No matter, the cookies turned out so well. Though they are considered oatmeal cookies, the corn flakes are present and add such a nice crunch along with peanuts. They are my new favorite cookie.
