24 Cookie Recipes from Scratch That are Brilliantly Tantalizing

There are fewer things more tantalizing than the smell of freshly-baked cookies. And thanks to the great culinary inventions taking place everyday, there is no dearth of varieties when it comes to the cookie department.

A cookie is a flat, small, baked treat, usually made with eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and a number of ingredients that add flavor and texture to it. A perfect cookie is crisp on the outside and slightly chewy and soft on the inside. The word cookie has been derived from the Dutch word koekje, which means ‘little cake’. Cookies are easy to bake, and they can be made by using a few basic ingredients.

Baking is an art that requires practice to attain perfection. For a novice, start with easy sugar or milk cookie recipes, and as you get the hang of it, you can try out the ones that use exotic and unusual ingredients. The aroma of freshly baked cookies wafting from the kitchen is something that will tantalize anybody. There are many varieties of cookies, and they can be broadly classified as drop cookies, pressed cookies, rolled cookies, bar cookies, molded cookies, sandwich cookies, and refrigerator cookies. Some cookies laden with calories are like sinful treats to be indulged in, occasionally, while some other cookies like oatmeal cookies are healthy and nutritious. Cookies can be enjoyed as a snack with a glass of warm milk, or you can eat them as is.

Best Cookie Recipes from Scratch

For 8 delicious cookies in 45 minutes, assemble:
Egg, 1 (large)
All-purpose flour, 1¼ cups
Sugar, ½ cup (granulated)
Buttermilk, ⅓ cup (well-shaken)
Butter, 5⅓ tbsp. (unsalted, softened)
Baking soda, ½ tsp.
Salt, ½ tsp.
Vanilla extract, ½ tsp.

For the Icing:
Confectioner’s sugar, 1½ cups
Dutch-process cocoa powder, ¼ cup (unsweetened)
Water, 1 to 2 tbsp.
Corn syrup, 1 tbsp. (light)
Lemon juice, 2 tsp. (fresh)
Vanilla extract, ¼ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Loosely commingle the flour, baking soda, and salt with a spoon and keep aside. In a cup, combine the vanilla extract with the buttermilk. Next, whisk sugar and the softened butter until fluffy for 3 minutes.

Add egg to it and whisk again until smooth. Now lower the mixer’s speed and pour the flour and buttermilk into the concoction in alternating batches. Remember, you have to begin and end with the flour mixture.

Now, pour about ¼ cup of batter onto buttered sheet pans, maintaining a 2-inch gap between cookies. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the centers puff up. Let the cookies cool for 7 minutes.

In the meanwhile, commingle cocoa with a little water and the confectioner’s sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and a tablespoon water separately. Both of them should be of the same consistency.

Now all that is left to do is flip the cookies puffed-side down and spread the black and white icing equally on the flat side. Let the cookies cool down naturally until the icing sets. Preferably, do not refrigerate.

For 18 to 24 no-bake cookies in 40 – 50 minutes, gather:
Butter, 1 stick (softened)
Sugar, 3 cups
Cooking oats, 2 cups (old-fashioned)
Whole milk, ¾ cup
Peanut butter, ½ cup
HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa, 4 tbsp.
Vanilla extract, 1 tsp.
Salt, ½ tsp.

Preparation:
In a thick-bottomed cooking pan, pour in the butter, sugar, milk, cocoa, and salt. Heat the ingredients on medium and stir continuously. You will need a steady and thorough boil (not simmer, but boil), to set in.

Line rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Remember, if the mixture is over-boiled and becomes glutinous, it will result in dry cookies. However, if it remains under-boiled, it will not harden at all.

Once the mixture is optimally cooked (say about 6 minutes or until the temperature of the concoction reaches about 238° F/114° C) turn the heat off and fold in the oats, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Commingle thoroughly with a balloon whisk.

Finally, drop tablespoonfuls on the mixture on to the sheet pan and let the arrangement stand unperturbed in a cool, dry place until the cookies are set and hard.

Note: Vegans can enjoy this by using soy milk and vegan butter.

Make 6 servings of these delicious, cheesy and crisp biscuits with:
Egg yolk, 1
Flour, 3.5 oz.
Cheese, 3.5 oz.
Butter, 3.5 oz.
Water, 1 tbsp.
Caraway seeds/cayenne pepper/cumin seeds/fennel seeds/paprika/poppy seeds/sesame seeds, enough to top the cookies with

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190°C). Whip the butter, cheese, and flour in a food processor until you get a firm but soft dough. Wrap in cling film, and refrigerate the dough for half an hour. After that, roll it out into a ½”-thick sheet on a lightly-floured surface.

Use heart-shaped cookie cutters to cut out your cheese biscuits and place them on two ungreased sheet pans lined with a wax paper, maintaining a 2-inch gap between cookies.

Commingle the egg yolk and the water with a balloon whisk and use a brush to apply it over the about-to-be-baked cookies. Mizzle a topping of your choice onto the glazed biscuits and then put them to bake until golden-brown (approx. 4 – 5 minutes). Serve when cool or store in an airtight jar.

In just 25 minutes you will get 35 chocolate chip cookies. You must have:
Egg, 1 (beaten)
Chocolate chips, 12 oz.
Flour, 1¼ cups
Brown sugar, ½ cup
Nuts, ½ cup
Butter, ¼ cup (softened)
Shortening, ¼ cup
Sugar, ¼ cup
Water, 1 tbsp. (hot)
Baking soda, ½ tsp.
Vanilla extract, ½ tsp.
Salt, ⅛ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Now whip the butter and shortening with the brown and white sugar varieties until light and fluffy. Add egg and whip again.

Now, mix the baking soda in the hot water and add it to the concoction along with the vanilla extract. Stir to mix. Next, add the flour and salt to it and blend again. Finally, fold in the nuts and chocolate chips and refrigerate the dough for an hour. That will make it easier to work with.

Grease a sheet pan with cooking spray. Now use an ice cream scoop to drop batter blobs on the sheet pan, maintaining a 1-inch gap between cookies. Bake for 10 minutes and you are done!

A Mischievous Twist: When adding the vanilla extract, pour in about ½ a cup of any red wine variety – Merlot, Pinot noir, red Zinfandel – and give it a deep, decadent twist!

To make 28 cookies in 30 minutes flat, gather:
Butter, 4.4 oz. (chopped, softened)
Cornflakes, 1½ cups
Self-raising flour, 1¼ cups (sifted)
Caster sugar, ⅔ cup
Sultanas, ½ cup
Milk, 1 tbsp.
Vanilla essence, 1 tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 356° F (180° C). Whip the butter and sugar with a hand mixer at medium speed until the mix is fluffy and light. Add vanilla essence and whip again. Now pour the flour into the concoction, bring the mixer speed down to low, and whip for 30 seconds.

Next, add milk, keep beating, and you will see the dough getting formed. Keep the mixer aside. Fold in the sultana raisins using a spatula.

Line two large flat baking trays with non-stick baking mats. Use a cookie scoop to make balls from the cookie dough and then flatten each one using your palms.

Place them on the sheet pan, maintaining a 2-inch gap between cookies. Bake until the cookies become light golden (approx. 12 – 14 minutes). After that, let them stay on the non-stick baking mats for 5 minutes and then remove them to cool before storing in airtight containers.

For a batch of 66 cookies, lay your hands on:
Eggs, 2 (large)
Butter, 1½ sticks (unsalted, softened)
All-purpose flour, 3 cups
Sugar, 1½ cups (granulated)
Buttermilk, ⅔ cup (well-shaken)
Lemon zest, 1 tsp. (grated)
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp.
Baking soda, ½ tsp.
Salt, ½ tsp.

For the Glaze:
Confectioner’s sugar, 1½ cups
Buttermilk, 3 tbsp. (well-shaken)
Pure vanilla extract, ½ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350° F (177ºC). Commingle the baking soda, flour, salt, grated lemon zest and keep aside. Whip the butter and sugar with a hand mixer at medium speed until fluffy and light. Add one egg, whip, second egg, whip, vanilla essence, and whip again. Now bring the mixer speed down to low and pour the flour and buttermilk into the concoction in alternating batches. Remember, you have to begin and end with the flour mixture.

Keep whipping until a uniform dough is formed. Grease two large sheet pans with butter. Use a cookie scoop to drop cookie dough on the pans, maintaining a 1½-inch gap between cookies. Bake until the cookies puff up in the center and get a golden tinge at the edges (approx. 12 – 15 minutes). Bake in batches.

Once you get these babies in the oven, make the glaze by blending all the glazing ingredients using a hand mixer. After the baking part is over, let them stay on the sheet pans for a minute and then move the cookies on to wire racks in order to glaze them. You have to then let the cookies cool completely for the glaze to set.

40 minutes. 36 cookies. You’ll need:
Chocolate bars, 30 (small)
Egg, 1 (large)
Rolled oats, 1 cup (“old-fashioned”)
All-purpose flour, ¾ cup
Butter, ¾ cup or 1½ sticks (unsalted, softened)
Mini chocolate chips, ¾ cup
Whole-wheat flour, ¾ cup
Pumpkin purée, ½ cup (unsweetened)
White sugar, ½ cup (granulated)
Dark brown sugar, ½ cup (packed)
Vanilla extract, 1½ tsp.
Kosher salt, 1 tsp.
Pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp.
Baking soda, ½ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Loosely commingle all-purpose flour, kosher, pumpkin pie spice, and baking soda using a spatula and keep aside. Cream the butter with the sugar varieties using a hand mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.

Bring the speed of the mixer down to low and add the large egg, vanilla extract and continue whipping. Next, add the pumpkin purée, mix for a minute, and pour the dry mixture. Whip for a while longer until you are left with a uniformly mixed dough.

Fold in the rolled oats and chocolate chips. Line sheet pans with a non-stick baking mat. Now use a cookie scoop to make balls from the cookie dough and drop them on the baking mats, maintaining a 12-inch gap between cookies.

Bake for 9 – 11 minutes. They will be of golden-brown hue when ready. Remove the sheet pans from the oven and immediately top every cookie with a chocolate cube. After 10 minutes, remove the cookies from the non-stick baking mat and allow them to cool on a wire rack. Best served warm with the chocolate melting on top. Ummmmmmmmm!!!

Excellent to serve during a party, to make these cookies, just lay your hands on:
Confectioner’s sugar, 1 cup
Peanut butter, 1 cup
Dates, ½ cup (ground)
Nuts, ½ cup (finely chopped)
Chocolate chips, enough for melting and coating

Preparation:
Commingle all the other ingredients to obtain a dough and then make 1-inch balls out of it. Refrigerate the balls for about an hour.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler and then dip the hardened peanut butter delights in the molten chocolate. Put these back in the freezer to set and store it there until just before serving.

For 12 – 15 delectably rich and chewy cookies, you will need:
Egg, 1
All-purpose flour, 1½ cups
Butter, ½ cup
Sugar, ½ cup
Brown sugar, ½ cup
White chocolate chips, ½ cup
Cocoa powder, ⅓ cup (unsweetened)
Baking soda, 1 tsp.
Red food coloring, 1 tsp.
Vanilla, 1 tsp.
Salt, ¼ tsp.

Preparation:
Begin by preheating the oven to 375° F (190ºC). Use a hand blender to commingle the butter and brown and white sugar until a fluffy, creamy concoction is formed. Next, add in the egg and the vanilla extract. Keep blending until you have a uniform and smooth mixture.

Add the food coloring and blend again. Now add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and whisk the mixture to obtain a dough. Mix in the chocolate chips gradually while whisking the mixture. Refrigerate the dough for an hour.

Lightly grease a sheet pan with cooking spray. Now use an ice cream scoop to make balls from the cookie dough and then flatten each one using your palms. Place them on the sheet pan, maintaining a 1-inch gap between cookies. Bake for 13 minutes and voila! Not only do they look exquisite, they taste heavenly!

For 4 – 5 dozens, gather around:
Eggs, 2 (large)
All-purpose flour, 2¾ cups
White sugar, 1½ cups (granulated) + ⅓ cup (granulated)
Butter, 1 cup (unsalted, softened)
Baking powder, 2 tsp.
Cinnamon, 2 tsp. (ground)
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp.
Salt, ½ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204ºC). Loosely commingle the flour, baking soda, and baking powder with a spoon and keep aside. Next, whisk 1½ cups of sugar and the softened butter until fluffy for 3 minutes. Add the eggs one after the other and vanilla extract to it and whisk again until smooth.

Now add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and knead gently to make a dough. Refrigerate the dough for an hour. After that, scoop tablespoonfuls off the cookie dough to make round 1-inch balls. Commingle the cinnamon with the remaining ⅓ cup of sugar with a spatula and spread this out on a plate/tray.

Roll the balls on the cinnamon and sugar mixture and then place them on a non-greased sheet pan lined with a wax paper, maintaining a 5-inch gap between cookies. Flatten each ball using the bottom of a glass until only ½-inch thick. Place the sheet pans in the oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes.

Once golden-brown with firm edges and slightly soft centers, let the cookies remain inside the oven for a minute of two and then let them cool before serving or storing (14 days max).

Just 25 minutes for 48 pieces of delicious sugar cookies. Just gather:
Egg, 1
All-purpose flour, 2¾ cups
Sugar, 1½ cups
Butter, 1 cup (softened)
Baking soda, 1 tsp.
Vanilla extract, 1 tsp.
Baking powder, ½ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Loosely commingle the flour, baking soda, and baking powder with a spoon and keep aside. Next, whisk the sugar and softened butter until fluffy. Remember, the butter has to be super soft and mush-like in order to prevent the cookies from becoming too dry.

Add the egg and vanilla extract to it and whisk again until smooth. Now add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and knead gently to make a dough. Refrigerate the dough for an hour.

Scoop tablespoonfuls off the prepared cookie dough to make balls and then flatten each one using your palms. Place them on an ungreased sheet pan lined with a non-stick baking mat, maintaining a 1-inch gap between cookies.

Place the sheet pans in the oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Once golden, let the cookies remain inside the oven for a minute of two and then let them cool before serving or storing.

This crunchy delight is actually a traditional specialty of New Zealand! Another peculiar feature of these tiny delights is that no leavening agent is employed while making them.
Make them with:
Butter, 7 oz. (softened)
All-purpose Flour, 6 oz.
Caster sugar, 3 oz.
Cornflakes, 1.8 oz. (unsweetened)
Cocoa powder, 1 oz. (unsweetened)
Walnuts

For the Icing:
Icing sugar, 1 cup
Water, 3 tbsp.
Cocoa powder, 2 tbsp. (unsweetened)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350° F (177ºC). Whisk sugar and the softened butter until fluffy for 3 minutes with a hand mixer at medium speed. Next, add the flour and cocoa and keep whipping. Now bring the mixer speed down to low and commingle the cornflakes with the mixture. The flakes should not break down completely.

Grease a sheet pan with cooking spray. Now use a cookie scoop to make balls from the cookie dough and drop them on the sheet pans, maintaining a 2-inch gap between cookies. Flatten them slightly with a spatula. Bake for 15 minutes.

Let the cookies dry on a wire rack and in the meanwhile, you prepare the icing by commingling all the icing ingredients with the help of a balloon whisk. The result should be a creamy, lump-less, smooth mixture.

Once the cookies are cold, top them with a bit of the icing and a walnut on top. You can also use flaked almonds if walnuts are not available.

While the Mongolians dip it in tea and eat them, boortsog are enjoyed as a snack and as dessert.
To make these deep-fried delights in 35 minutes, gather:
Wheat flour, 35 oz.
Sugar, 5.3 oz.
Butter, 3.5 oz.
Salt, a pinch
Water, 16 fl. oz. (warm)
Oil or mutton fat, enough to fry

Preparation:
In a thick-bottomed cooking pan, pour in the water, butter, sugar, and salt. Heat the ingredients on medium and stir continuously until the butter and sugar have dissolved completely. Take it off the heat and pour the concoction on the wheat and knead to obtain a dough.

Roll it out into a 1½”-thick sheet and then use diamond-shaped cookie cutters to get you cookie pieces. Heat about 4 centimeters of oil in a deep pan and fry the pieces until golden-brown.

Do it in batches for convenience. Before serving, let the boortsog rest on some paper napkins for a bit in order to soak out the extra oil. Serve hot with some butter, cheese, honey, or jam.

Want to know something weird? Fortune cookies are the most popular desserts served in all Chinese restaurants in the US. But, they are not found in China at all! Fortune cookies are perfect for children’s parties. You can write inspirational quotes, words of wisdom, or fortunes in 3½”-long and ½”-wide strips of paper and put them inside these cookies. You can also fold up money longitudinally and put the notes inside.

With the following ingredients, you will be able to make 10 of these fantastic cookies in just 30 minutes.
Egg whites, 2 (large)
All-purpose flour, 8 tbsp. (sifted)
Sugar, 8 tbsp. (granulated)
Vegetable oil, 3 tbsp.
Water, 3 tsp.
Cornstarch, 1½ tsp.
Pure vanilla extract, ½ tsp.
Pure almond extract, ½ tsp.
Salt, ¼ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 300ºF (149° C). Loosely commingle the flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt with a spoon and then pour the water into the bowl. Lightly whip the egg whites, vegetable oil, almond and vanilla extracts using a balloon whisk until a frothy yet not-stiff mixture is formed.

Now pour this into the flour mixture and mix to form a not-runny yet drop-able batter. You can add some food coloring to the concoction at this juncture and mix until uniform. Use a wooden spoon to drop the semi-liquid mixture on two greased 9″ x 13″ sheet pans, maintaining a 3-inch gap between batter scoops.

Hold one sheet pan using both your hands and tilt it from side to side and back and forth in a circular motion so that the batter scoops spread out into round 4″ discs. Do the same thing with the second sheet pan as well. Now bake the batter discs for 10 – 15 minutes until ½ an inch from their rims or outer edges turn golden-brown.

Spade one hot cookie up with a spatula, flip it, place the fortune strip at the center, and fold it to form a bulging semicircle. Now, using a glass rim, lightly pull the edges downward. Let it stay there for a while until it hardens, gets crispy, and sets in that shape. Repeat with all the other cookie discs.

16 cookies. 15 minutes. Can be stored in an airtight jar for 7 days. Just need:
Egg, 1 (beaten lightly)
Butter, 3.5 oz. (high quality, molten)
Wheat flour, 1 cup
Brown, cane or demerara sugar, 1 cup
Milk, 3⅓ tbsp. (lukewarm)
Sugar, 2 tbsp. (granulated)
Instant yeast, 1½ tsp.
Salt, ¼ tsp.

Preparation:
In a large, glass bowl, add the yeast, granulated sugar, and salt to the flour and pour in the butter, milk, and egg. Mix well and then transfer the mixture onto a lightly-floured surface and continue kneading until left with a non-sticky, soft yet firm dough.

Place the dough in a bowl, cover the bowl with cling film, and let it stand unperturbed in a dry and warm place. Once it has risen to double the volume, it is ready to be made into pretzels.

Segregate the brown/cane/demerara sugar into three equal parts. Pour one part onto a clean and dry sheet pan while the two other parts need to be spread out on a dry plate. Now use your fists to punch the puffy dough down and deflate it to make it smooth again. Use your hands to make a log out of the dough and then tear off 16 equal chunks to make balls out of them and dredge each of them evenly in the sugar on the sheet pan.

Take one sugar-coated ball and on an non-floured, dry surface, roll it back and flour with your palms (the same way you use a rolling pin). You will be left with a thin, round, and tube-like strip about 12 inches in length.

Dredge it through the plate sugar, coating it evenly and well. Then fold the strip into half and repeat the rolling pin action to get it back to its original length (12 inches) again. Place it on the sugared sheet pan and repeat the same thing with each of the other 15 cookie dough balls.

Line another sheet pan with a non-stick baking mat, loop each strip to resemble a knot that is loosening (pretzel shape that is), secure the ends in the supple dough, and place them on the sheet pan. Cover with cling film and let the pretzels rise and double in size.

Preheat the oven to 390ºF (200ºC) and bake the ready pretzels for any duration between 10 to 15 minutes. Take the cookies out as soon as they turn golden-brown or the sugar will caramelize, char, and ruin the krakelingen. After that, let them stay on the non-stick baking mats for 5 minutes and then remove them to cool on wire racks, before storing in airtight containers.

For a batch of 32 cookies, you shall require:
Oblatens (baking wafers), 32 (3-inch size)
Eggs, 4
White flour, 3 cup
Almonds, 1¾ cup (ground)
Sugar, 1 cup
Milk, 1 cup
Candied lemon peel, ½ cup (chopped)
Butter, ½ cup (softened)
Raisins, ½ cup (soaked in rum, chopped)
Coconut, ¼ cup (shredded)
Cocoa powder, 2 tbsp.
Lebkuchen spices (Lebkuchengewürz), 1 tbsp.
Rum or orange liqueur, 1 tbsp.
Double-acting baking powder, 1½ tsp.

To make the Lebkuchengewürz:
Cinnamon, 2 tbsp. (ground)
Cloves, 2 tsp. (ground)
Allspice, ½ tsp. (ground)
Anise seed, ½ tsp. (ground)
Cardamom, ½ tsp. (ground)
Coriander, ½ tsp. (ground)
Ginger, ½ tsp. (ground)
Nutmeg, ¼ tsp. (ground)

For the Glaze:
Sugar, ½ cup (granulated)
Sugar, ½ cup (powdered)
Water, ¼ cup
Rum or liqueur, 1 – 2 tbsp.
Vanilla extract, ½ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C). Commingle the Lebkuchengewürz spices together and keep aside. Next, beat the eggs, butter, and sugar with a hand mixer at medium speed until fluffy and light.

Now bring the mixer speed down to low and alternate the addition of flour, the Lebkuchengewürz, cocoa powder, and baking powder with milk. Once uniformly mixed, fold in the nuts, lemon peel, the soaked raisins, coconut, and the rum.

On each Oblaten, drop three tablespoons worth of the mixture, spread it out with the back of a spoon, but make a slight mound at the center. Place the Oblatens on sheet pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. If they become brown way too soon, lower the temperature to 350° F (177ºC).

Make the glaze by filling ¼ cup of water in a saucepan and adding ½ a cup of granulated sugar to it. Let a steady boil set in and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the rum/liqueur. Stir continuously.

Dust the powdered sugar over the syrup using a sieve and stir. Once the cookies are baked, brush the glaze on the warm Lebkuchen pieces. Let the glaze set completely by allowing the cookies to stand unperturbed for a day.

For 40 lace cookies, you must have:
Butter, 1 stick (unsalted, molten)
Rolled oats, 1¼ cups (“old-fashioned”)
Light brown sugar, ¾ cup (firmly packed)
All-purpose flour, 2 tbsp.
Milk, 2 tbsp.
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350° F (177ºC). Use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until a fluffy, creamy concoction is formed. Next, add in the flour, milk, and the vanilla extract. Keep blending until you have a uniform and smooth mixture. Add the oats and stir with a spatula.

Drop tablespoonfuls of the prepared mixture on the sheet pans lined with wax paper, maintaining a 3-inch gap between cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies turn golden-brown. After that, let them stay on the sheet pans for a minute more and then remove for cooling. Serve freshly-made.

A must for St. Patrick’s Day, make 12 of these colorful cookies with:
Egg, 1 (large)
All-purpose flour, 2 cups
Irish butter, ¾ cup
Sugar, ¾ cup
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp.
Salt, ¼ tsp.
Green food coloring
Green sugar crystals

Preparation:
Begin by preheating the oven to 325° F (163ºC). Commingle the flour and salt loosely using a spatula. Use a hand blender to whip the butter and sugar on medium speed until a fluffy, creamy concoction is formed.

Add in the egg and the vanilla extract. Keep blending until you have a uniform and smooth mixture. Add the food coloring and blend again on low. Now add the dry mixture and whisk the mixture to obtain a dough. Refrigerate the dough for an hour wrapped in cellophane.

Roll the dough out on a surface well-dusted with flour until you have flattened it out to a ¼-inch thick sheet. Now, use a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter to carve out cookies and place them on non-stick baking mats. Mizzle green sugar onto the carved cookies and get it baking for 12 to 15 minutes. On taking them out of the oven, instantaneously transfer them onto a cold surface.

For beautifully colorful cookies in 20 minutes, just have around:
Eggs, 6
Butter, 2 sticks (softened)
All-purpose flour, 4 cups
Sugar, ¾ cup
Baking powder, 6 tsp.
Lemon extract, 3 tsp.
Salt, ½ tsp.
Yellow food coloring, 2 drops
Lemon rind (grated)

For the Icing:
Icing sugar, 1 box
Milk, 3 tbsp.
Lemon extract, 2½ tsp.
Nonpareils (multicolored)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Loosely commingle the flour, baking powder, and salt with a spoon and keep aside. Next, whisk ¾ cup of sugar and the softened butter until fluffy and light for 3 minutes. Add the eggs one after the other and whisk again until smooth. Now add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and commingle until smooth and uniform. Add food coloring. Refrigerate the sticky dough for an hour.

Drop tablespoonfuls of the prepared cookie dough on an non-greased sheet pan lined with a wax paper, maintaining a 3-inch gap between cookies. Place the sheet pans in the oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes. After that, let the cookies dry on a wire rack and in the meanwhile, you prepare the icing by commingling all the icing ingredients with the help of a balloon whisk.

The result should be a creamy, lump-less, smooth mixture. Once the cookies are cold, top them with a bit of the icing and mizzle nonpareils from top.

For 24 crisp biscottis that can be stored for 2 whole weeks, you must have:
Eggs, 2 (large)
All-purpose flour, 1¼ cups
Yellow maize meal, 1¼ cups
Almonds, 1 cup (chopped)
Dates, 1 cup (chopped, pitted)
Sugar, 1 cup
Butter, 6 tbsp. (unsalted, softened)
Orange zest, 1 tbsp. (finely grated)
Pure orange extract, 2 tsp.
Anise seed, 1 tsp.
Baking powder, ½ tsp.
Salt, ½ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Loosely commingle the flour, baking powder, maize meal, and salt with a spoon and keep aside. Next, whip sugar and the softened butter for 2 minutes with a hand blender at medium speed, until fluffy and light. Add the eggs one after the other and the orange zest and extract and keep whisking until smooth.

Now bring the mixer speed down to low and add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and commingle until smooth and uniform. Fold in the almonds, dates, and anise seed. After that, place the cookie dough on an non-greased sheet pan lined with a wax paper and use a rolling pin to flatten it out to a 15″ x 4″ sheet. Bake it for 30 – 35 minutes. The top will have cracked slightly when you take the sheet pan out. Let the sheet remain on the pan for 15 minutes to let it cool.

On a cutting board, cut out ½”-thick longitudinal slices from the sheet. Place these back on the lined sheet pan and bake for 15 – 18 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through until the biscotti slices brown only around the edges. Cool and serve with tea.

You will need:
All-purpose flour, 2 cup (sifted)
Vegan cane sugar, 1 cup
Earth Balance, 1 cup
Flax egg, 1 (made by whisking 1 tbsp. ground flax seed meal with 3 tbsp. water and letting it stand for 10 minutes)
Baking powder, 2 tsp.
Vanilla powder, ½ tsp.
Organic strawberry fruit spread

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350° F (177ºC). Use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until a fluffy, creamy concoction is formed. Next, add the baking and vanilla powder to the flour and mix loosely. Then commingle the dry mixture with the creamed one. Keep blending until you have a uniform and crumbly mixture.

Add the flax egg and stir with a spatula to obtain the cookie dough. After that, roll the dough out on a surface well-dusted with flour until you have flattened it out to a ¼-inch thick sheet. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to carve out cookies and place them on sheet pans lined with wax paper, maintaining a 3-inch gap between cookies.

Make a slight indentation at the center of every cookie using the backside of a ¼ teaspoon measuring spoon, fill the indentation up with the fruit dip, and bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the cookie edges turn brown. After that, let them stay on the sheet pans for a minute more and then remove for cooling.

Made mostly during weddings, make 8 of these crumbly and soft no-bake cookies from scratch with just:
All-purpose flour, 4 cups
Milk, 2 cups (powdered)
Sugar, 1½ cup (granulated)
Butter, 1⅛ cup (softened)
Pinipig, ¾ cup (crushed)

Preparation:
Heat a large skillet on medium-low and toast the flour. Keep stirring continuously for about 15 minutes. It will turn golden-brown. Transfer it on a large plate after that and spread it out for it to cool down.

Wipe clean the skillet and pour the butter into it. Heat it for 5 minutes without stirring at all. Now, add all the other ingredients one by one to the flour and then pour the lukewarm butter to it and knead. Once it is all mixed well, let the dough stand unperturbed for 10 minutes.

In the meanwhile, spread out eight pieces of square cellophane, Japanese paper, or waxed paper. Use a polvorón mold to scoop up eight chunks of the dough one by one and place each one of them on individual sheets of paper. Wrap and store.

Also known as hårt bröd, hårdbröd, and spisbröd in Swedish and primarily made of wholemeal rye flour, crisp bread or hard bread is known to have been baked in Central Sweden since 500 AD.
You can make 12 of these at home with:
Rye flour, 14 oz.
Water, 12 fl. oz. (warmed to 72ºF/22ºC)
Yeast, 2 tsp. (fresh)
Sea salt, 1 tsp. (fine)
Anise/caraway seeds/nigella/blue-gray poppy seeds/pumpkin seeds/sesame seeds, a pinch

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 392ºF (200ºC). Loosely commingle the flour and salt with a spatula and keep aside. In a cup, combine the yeast with the heated water and keep stirring until the solution turns cloudy.

Pour the yeast water in the flour mixture, add a pinch of anise or caraway seeds or nigella or blue-gray poppy seeds or pumpkin seeds or sesame seeds and knead until you are left with a sticky and firm dough. Now, cover the bowl in which you have kneaded the dough with a cling film and let it stand unperturbed for a whole hour. The flour will rise slightly during this time.

Once the dough is ready, use your fists to punch the puffy dough down and deflate it to make it smooth again. Use your hands to make a log out of the dough and then tear off 12 equal chunks to make balls out of them.

Now, use a rolling pin to roll each dough ball out into perfectly circular discs as big as side plates on a surface lined with wax paper. Poke them with a fork to make holes all over, mizzle a little caraway seeds (or whatever your choice of flavorant) on the rolled-out bread, and press them gently in with the back of a spatula.

Now, line three sheet pans with non-stick baking mats, place the rolled-out dough pieces on them, and bake for a good 15 – 18 minutes, in batches. The bread needs to get real crisp and you can store these in airtight jars for 14 days once baked and allowed to cool down.

Special Treat:
Crisp bread can be served in a number of ways and each is more innovative than the other. You can serve it smeared with herbed creams and fresh cheese flecked with dried tarragon; or with delicious smoked mackerel or smoked salmon pâté or a slice of fumed eel. However, try the following piquant dip to serve with this slightly sour delight.

Try this-
Just peel and deseed half a small, ridged cucumber and then slice it up into really thin and long strips. Place these on a sieve which in turn is placed on a large steel bowl. Muzzle some salt over the cucumber and let the arrangement stand unperturbed for at least 20 minutes. At the end of this, you will see water draining out of the cucumber.

Place the strips on some paper napkins after this. Cube three gherkins and commingle with a teaspoon of thoroughly rinsed and dried capers, 3.5 ounces of crème fraîche and mayonnaise each, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and half a teaspoon of grainy mustard. While mixing with a spatula, fold in a small bunch of chopped up dill in batches. Finally, add 5 ounces of shredded smoked salmon, mix well a final time, and chill before serving atop the crisp breads.

For 18 (53 kcalories/serving) pink meringues, gather:
Egg whites, 4
Caster sugar, 8 oz.
Cornstarch, 1 tsp.
White wine vinegar, 1 tsp.
Rose water, ¼ tsp.
Food coloring (red or pink), ¼ tsp.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 284° F (140° C). Use a hand mixer to whip the egg whites to form really firm, stiff peaks. Add 4 ounces of caster sugar to it at this point. Keep whipping the mixture until a very shiny and thick consistency is obtained.

Add the remaining sugar, the vinegar, cornstarch, rose water, and the food coloring and keep whipping until the mixture is firmer and thicker. After that, fill up a pastry bag that has a medium-sized star nozzle with the mixture.

On sheet pans lined with baking parchment, squeeze out coiling circles about six centimeters wide and three layers high, maintaining a 3-inch gap between cookies. Bake for 60 minutes. Remember to reduce the temperature to 248° F (120° C) after the first 30 minutes. After that, let them stay on the sheet pans for a minute more and then remove for cooling. Can be frozen for a duration of 3 months if kept between layers of wax paper or stored otherwise for seven days in airtight jars.

Tips to make perfect cookies:

To perfect the art of baking, you need to follow some rules. Here are some tips and tricks to make the perfect cookies –

• The proportions of ingredients used for making cookies or any other baked goods should be strictly adhered to for the best results. Never vary the amount of flour, baking powder, or number of eggs that is specified in the recipe. Avoid substituting ingredients as it may affect the taste and texture of your cookies.
• When you mix your wet ingredients (egg, buttermilk, softened butter) with your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cocoa powder), make sure that you do not overwork the mixture. Over-mixing the cookie dough or cookie batter will produce tough and heavy cookies.
• If your recipe calls for 20 minutes of baking time for a batch of cookies, then it is a good idea to take them out two or three minutes earlier. The residual heat from the cookie sheet will continue to cook them and they will not become overdone.
• Before rolling out the dough for making cookies, chill the dough for a couple of hours. This will ensure that the cookies do not spread too much on baking. It is also easier to roll out chilled cookie dough.
• If you are making rolled cookies, then slightly dust the surface with flour before you use the rolling pin to flatten the dough. This will prevent the dough from sticking. However, make sure that you do not use too much flour as it will get absorbed by the dough and cookies will become tough and dry.
• Place the cookie dough at least two inches apart on the cookie sheet. This will allow the cookies to spread optimally and will ensure that they do not stick to each other during baking. Try to make the cookies as uniformly sized as possible so that they cook evenly.
• Before you store the cookies, make sure that they are completely cooled. Storing warm cookies will make them soggy. Always store cookies in air tight containers or cookie jars to ensure their freshness.

By following the tips given above, you can perfect the art of baking cookies in no time. These cookie recipes from scratch will bring lots of compliments your way, and don’t forget to send some my way for letting you into the world of yummy cookies – all in one place.

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