Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook: Favorite Recipes from America's Most-Trusted Kitchens

An Introduction filled with helpful information for successful-every-time cookie baking precedes the chapters that cover every type of cookie. There are Drop Cookies, Hand-Formed Cookies, Refrigerator Cookies, Rolled Cookies, Bars and Brownies, Holiday Cookies, and, of course, Bake-Off(R) Favorites. And with the Pillsbury name behind the recipes, cooks can be assures that they are reliable and delicious.

Each recipe is accompanied by easy-to-read sidebars with headings such as Ingredient Substitution, Make It Special, Storage Tip, and Holiday Fact, which provide all sorts of information for making cookie baking easier and more fun. The recipes are also tagged with bullets: Editor's Favorite, Kid Pleaser, and Chocoholic's Choice, which help readers find exactly the recipe they're looking for.

Dixie Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting

In case you haven't noticed, we like to celebrate things at the office. We use pretty much anything as an excuse to have cake. This time it was Alison's birthday. She has gotten away with not celebrating her birthday for the last two years. I put a stop to that this year and she was a very good sport about it.

I really like spice cake. I think it has to be one of my favorite kinds of cake. It is also the only kind of cake I actually enjoy eating cream cheese frosting on. This particular spice cake was good, but I have definitely had better and will need to continue my search for the perfect spice cake recipe. The caramel frosting was very rich and was a nice change of pace from the cream cheese frosting you usually find it paired with.

Dixie Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting
(Source: Pillsbury Baking)

Cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Caramel Frosting:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Generously grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray; lightly flour.

2. In large bowl, beat all cake ingredients except walnuts with electric mixer on low speed until moistened, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter evenly in pan.

3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar. Cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk; cook until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. If needed, add a few drops of milk for desired spreading consistency. Spread over cooled cake.

Serves 24

Fudgy S'mores Bars

After a much needed vacation, I am back in the kitchen with a recipe that is sure to please any crowd. I brought these over to dinner at the in-laws house tonight and they were a hit.

The bars are very simple and come together really quickly, especially if you have a stash of graham cracker crumbs tucked away in the pantry. The recipe takes no more than 30 minutes from start to finish, even less time if you've got graham cracker crumbs on hand. The bars are best eaten within several hours of coming out of the oven, but will keep for several days in an airtight container.

When it comes to graham cracker crumbs, I have found it's easiest to break the graham crackers into smaller pieces before placing them into a large Ziploc bag. Be sure to let all of the air out of the bag before you close it, otherwise you are liable to pop the bag. :) Once sealed, place the bag on a firm surface and run over the crackers with a rolling pin until they reach your desired consistency. I have found that 12 squares (6 full sheets) equals about one cup of crumbs.

Fudgy S'mores Bars
(Source: Pillsbury Baking)

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (12 squares)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

Topping:
4 cups miniature marshmallows
3/4 cup M&Ms
1/4 cup hot fudge topping, heated

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9 inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat crust ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until coarse crumbs form, scraping bowl occasionally. Press mixture evenly in bottom of pan.

2. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over crust; bake 1 to 2 minutes longer or until marshmallows begin to puff.

3. Sprinkly M&Ms evenly over marshmallows; drizzle warm topping over top. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Make 32 bars.

Cinnamon-Oat Scones

In addition to making another batch of oatmeal raisin cookies for my dad, I decided to be bold and attempt making scones for the very first time. Scones sound hard to make, but I found them surprisingly simple. This particular recipe, I admit, yielded scones that were a little dry and too bland for my taste, but otherwise fine. What little flavor they did have was the result of the cinnamon-sugar topping, which was quite tasty but not enough flavor for me. If I were to make this particular recipe again, I would add more spice to the scone batter itself. However, it's more likely that next time (yes, there will most definitely be a next time) I will try something else. This seems right up my alley. :)

Cinnamon-Oat Scones
(Source: Pillsbury Baking)

Scones:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk

Topping:
1 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray. In medium bowl, mix flour, oats, brow sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. With pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture is crumbly. Add milk all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

2. On floured work surface, gently knead dough 5 or 6 times. Place on cookie sheet; press into 6-inch round, about 1 inch thick. Brush top with melted butter.

3. In small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over top. Cut into 8 wedges; separate slightly.

4. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

From the moment I first laid my eyes on these M&Ms, I knew I had to make them into a cookie.

But what kind of cookie?
Peanut Butter?
Oatmeal?
Chocolate Chip?

In the end, I settled on a recipe for M&M cookies, which is basically your ordinary chocolate chip cookie. This recipe yields a cookie that is not overly sweet, but just as tasty as any other cookie. At some point I might try an oatmeal or peanut butter (or a combination of both) with the other bag of M&Ms I purchased.

A few things to note:

1. The original recipe is supposed to yield 50 cookies. Mine yielded about 3 dozen average sized cookies. Clearly we have very different ideas of what is meant by "heaping teaspoonfuls." I think I would have ended up with bite-sized cookies if I had followed their idea of "heaping." Quite frankly, I am much happier with my interpretation. :)

2. The recipe calls for the cookies to be baked for 10-13 minutes. I enjoy a softer cookie, so I always go slightly under what they consider to be the minimum baking time. But to each his own.

Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

(Source: Adapted from Red's Ultimate M&Ms Cookies)

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M’s
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt; blend into butter/sugar mixture. Stir in M&M’s and chocolate chips. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and centers are still soft. Do not overbake. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. Store in tightly covered container.

Make approximately 3 dozen.

Cookbooks

I have a serious love-hate relationship with cookbooks. I love the idea of them - a bunch of great recipes, all in one place and organized in a way that always makes sense. But the reality of it is, in any given cookbook, there are always only a handful of recipes that make it onto my "must try" list and this frustrates me to no end.

I have finally found the perfect solution to my problem.

The library.

The freaking library.

It's the best solution a baker like me could ask for. You can check out as many books as you want for 3 weeks as many as 3 times in a row (that's 9 whole weeks, providing no one else wants the book during that period), which gives you ample time to try as many or as few recipes as you please. If you're anything like me, you will get a little carried away and wind up with 7 different cookbooks (6 of them baking-related) at once that need to be plowed through.

The best part is this: when I have tried all of the recipes I am interested in, I can simply return the cookbook and pick out a new one. It's no big deal if I only try one or two recipes out of a book because I didn't spend a ridiculous amount of money on it. And, let's face it, cookbooks can be expensive. And of course, if I like the book enough, I can always add it to my personal collection later on.

Below is a helpful list of cookbooks broken into 3 pretty self-explanatory categories: My Personal Collection, Tried-and-True, and Must-Try. At some point I may get into reviewing cookbooks I've used, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

My Personal Collection:
The Essential Wok Cookbook
The Essential Asian Cookbook
The Essential Baking Cookbook
The Newlywed's Cookbook
Betty Crocker's Cooking for Two
Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook 14th edition
Stir Fries: Best-ever Wok & Pan Recipes
If I Gotta Cook Make It Quick!
Fix-it & Forget-it Slow Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker
Pancakes & Waffles
Cupcakes!
Recipe File

Tried-and-True:
Betty Crocker Cookie Book
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook
Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook: Favorite Recipes from America's Most-Trusted Kitchens
The Candy Bar Cookbook
Pillsbury Baking
Best Ever Cookie Book
Mrs. Fields Best Cookie Book Ever!

Must Try:
Muffin Bible
Baking By Flavor
The Essential Christmas Cookbook
Pillsbury Holiday Baking: Treats Filled With Cheer For A Magical Time of Year
The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook: Recipes from the Classic Cookie to Mocha Chip Meringue Cake
Big Fat Cookies
Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies
KitchenAid Baking Companion
Kitchen Aid Great Baking and More
Ultimate Mixer Cookbook
The Mixer Bible: Over 300 Recipes for Your Stand Mixer
Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook: Recipes from America's Favorite Cooking Contest
The All-American Cookie Book
The Good Cookie: Over 250 Delicious Recipes from Simple to Sublime
Cookies: More Than 70 Inspiring Recipes
Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets
Bake Me I'm Yours...Cookie
Field Guide to Cookies: How to Identify & Bake Virtually Every Cookie Imaginable
S'mores: Gourmet Treats For Every Occasion
The Weekend Baker: Irresistible Recipes, Simple Techniques, and Stress Free Strategies for Busy People
How Baking Works: Exploring the Fundamentals of Baking Science
Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share
101 Easy Peasy Cookie Recipes
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking
King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook
Crazy About Cupcakes
Cookies, Brownies, and Bars
Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make
500 Best Muffin Recipes
The Ultimate Muffin Book
Pillsbury Best Muffins & Quick Breads Cookbook
Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook
Martha Stewarts Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat
Mom's Big Book of Cookies
Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, & Savory
Betty Crocker Cookies Cookies: 100 Recipes for the Way You Really Cook
Betty Crocker Cookies Cookies
Bite-Size Desserts
The Complete Baking Cookbook
500 Cookies
No-Bake Cookies
Betty Crocker Just Cupcakes
Betty Crocker Simply Dessert
Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats
Cupcakes
Cupcakes, Cupcakes, & More Cupcakes!
The Cake Book

S'mores Cookies

The key to making these cookies is to omit the marshmallows and Hershey's bars until the cookies are almost done baking. This ensures 1) the marshmallows don't get too chewy and 2) the milk chocolate does not get dried out, resulting in a cookie that tastes just as good as the real thing.

S'mores Cookies
(Source: Cookie Madness)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate (I used milk chocolate and only 1/2 cup)
1 cup miniature marshmallows (approximately)
2 Hershey Bars, broken into pieces (or other favorite milk chocolate)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Cream butter and both sugars with an electric mixer; beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in salt and baking soda making sure they are well distributed and free of lumps; stir in the flour, followed by graham cracker crumbs. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove and quickly press marshmallows and chocolate into cookies. Return to oven and cook until done (about 3 or 4 more minutes)

Makes about 2 dozen

Cinnamon-Caramel Swirl Shortbread

You may think pairing cinnamon and caramel is odd, but in reality it is a perfectly matched combination of flavors. I've never made shortbread before, but I found this recipe to be surprisingly easy. The topping was probably the hardest part, mainly because you have to constantly stir the mixture so it doesn't stick in a clump to the bottom of your pan and I had some serious issues with the drizzling. I would have liked to see a little more detail on what they think the best way to drizzle is. Using a spoon to drizzle resulted in blobs of caramel, which was not as aesthetically pleasing but still resulted in a tasty treat.

Cinnamon-Caramel Swirl Shortbread

(Source: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)

1/4 cup cinnamon sugar

Dough:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:

14-16 vanilla caramel candies

1 Tbsp cream or milk

1. Preheat the oven to 35o°F. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Sprinkle the bottom of each pan with about 1 Tbsp cinnamon sugar.

2. In a medium sized bowl, cream together the butter, salt, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in the flour. Divide the dough in half, and press it into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with your fingers. Sprinkle the top of both pans with the remaining cinnamon sugar. Prick the dough with a fork in an attractive pattern.

3. Bake the shortbread for 35-4o minutes, until it's golden brown around the edges. remove from the oven and loosen edges with a knife. Wait 5 minutes, then carefully turn the shortbread out onto a clean work surface, all in one piece.

4. Using a pizza wheel, baker's bench knife, or sharp knife, cut each round into 12 wedges (Do this while the shortbread is still warm; if you wait until it's cool, it won't cut easily). Transfer the wedges to a rack to cool.

5. Heat the caramels and milk in a microwave-safe bowl, or in saucepan set over low heat. Stir until the caramels melt and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle the topping over the cooled shortbread wedges. If it becomes too thick to drizzle, reheat briefly. Allow the caramel to set before wrapping the shortbreads for storage.

Makes 2 dozen wedges.

Great Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My Great Grandma loved to bake. Perhaps that's where I got my own love of baking. She made wonderful birthday cakes for all of the kids and would frequently stop by with a fresh batch of cookies.

For my dad's birthday (which is today), I decided to bake him his own personal batch of his all-time favorite cookies, using the same recipe my Great Grandma used. This recipe is from the back of the Quaker Oats box which, my uncle swears, is the recipe she always used.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
(Source: Quaker Oats Box)

1/2 cup + 6 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup raisins

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Our Favorite Blueberry Muffins

I haven't made muffins in practically forever...I think since Christmas. I love them, especially hot out of the oven with a tall glass of cold milk.

Did you know the Blueberry muffin is the official muffin of Minnesota? While that's not the reason I made them, it would certainly be a compelling reason to. I just like them. A lot. Even though I otherwise hate blueberries.

Our Favorite Blueberry Muffins
(Source: King Arthur Flour)

6 tbsp butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups All-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 - 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 tbsp sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease muffin cups.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in milk, vanilla, and almond extract, mixing only until smooth. Quickly stir in the berries.

3. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 to almost full. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar (I used white sparkling sugars). Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown. Place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of one muffin, and try to lift out of the pan. If the muffin lifts out of the pan without crumbling, remove all of the muffins and cool completely on a wire rack. If the muffin sticks or the top peels off, allow them to cool an additional 10 minutes, then try again.

Makes 12 Muffins (or 6 Jumbo Muffins)