cookies

• Preheat oven at 300-degrees. In a large bowl, beat together butter and shortening. Add both sugars, maple syrup, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat for about 2 minutes, scraping bottle of bowl often. Add egg yolks one at a time, followed by vanilla extract and maple flavor. Mix in flour until just combined.
• Use a scoop or spoon to dollop dough onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, spacing out to account for spread. Bake for 11 to 16 minutes. Let set on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to completely cool.
• Once all cookies are baked and cooled, move them back to the parchment-covered pan, close together, before mixing glaze.
• In a small bowl, melt butter in microwave. Add the confectioners' sugar to bowl, followed by half & half and maple syrup. Stir. Add more sugar, if needed, to form a thick consistency. Drizzle all over cookies. Let set for 30 minutes to 1 hour before moving to sealed containers.

OM NOM NOM!

• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 baking pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
• In a big bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping bottom of bowl as necessary. Follow up with the eggs, vanilla, and cookie butter, until blended.
• Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder.
• Spread about 2/3 of the batter in the prepared pan. Spread the jelly but not quite to the edges. Dollop the remaining dough all over the top.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the surface is golden and not jiggly, with the middle passing the toothpick test.
• Cool completely at room temperature or in the fridge. Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board to parcel into bars. Store in a sealed container with waxed paper or parchment paper between the layers, either in the fridge or on the counter.

OM NOM NOM!

• Preheat oven at 300-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
• In a bowl, sift together flour and cornstarch; set aside.
• In another bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon zest. Using fingers, break apart the zest within the sugar to distribute the threads and release the oils. The result should be more yellow in coloration and quite fragrant.
• In a big bowl, beat together the butter, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla extract until it becomes creamy, scraping bowl as needed. Gradually mix in the sugar and zest. Slowly work the flour/cornstarch mix into the big bowl. The dough should become pliable and cling together, until it can be formed into a ball.
• Press dough evenly into the pan. Bake for 40 minutes.
• Immediately make glaze. Stir together everything to form a thick, spreadable glaze; thicken with more sugar, if necessary, or add extra lemon juice or water to loosen it. Spread glaze over bars.
• Cool completely, stashing dish in fridge to speed process if desired.
• Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board. Slice into bars. Store in a sealed container, with waxed paper between stacked layers, either at room temperature or in the fridge. Keeps for at least 2 days.

OM NOM NOM!

• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Zest and juice lemon. Set aside zest, and soak cranberries in juice.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs with white sugar. Add oil, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and zest. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients.
• Drain lemon juice out of cranberries; discard juice. Fold cranberries into dough to equally distribute.
• Divide dough in half. Place each piece spaced out on parchment. Dough will be very sticky, so shape with plastic spatula or greased or floured hands into 1-inch high flat rectangular logs.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes. Use a long bread knife and slice down--don't saw--into long, even cookies. Space out cookies upright, if possible, or lay on sides.
• Bake for another 20 to 25 minutes; if cookies are laying on sides, flip them to other side halfway through. Biscotti should be golden and somewhat crisp.
• Let biscotti sit out for anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours so that they can cool off and dry out even more.
• If adding white chocolate on top, melt chocolate in microwave or on stovetop (keep in mind, white chocolate can burn fast!). Use a fork to drizzle chocolate, or dip an end of each biscotti into the chocolate. Let set again for an hour or so, then pack into sealed bags or plastic containers.
• Biscotti can keep in sealed containers for as long as a month.

OM NOM NOM!

• Preheat the oven at 350-degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar until they are light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
• In another bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add this dry mix to the creamed mix. Stir in oats. If you're using a stand mixer, you'll probably need to stir the last of the oats in by hand. This is a lot of dough!
• Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out the dough onto a cookie sheet, keeping two inches between each spoonful. These will spread.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes; they brown very fast, so keep an eye on them at the end. Remove them when they are turning golden brown. Let sit on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transitioning them to a rack to cool.
• To make the filling, start by sifting the confectioners' sugar into a large bowl. Add the shortening and marshmallow crème. Add a tablespoon of milk and gradually add more as needed to get it to spreadable consistency. Use a heaping teaspoon to dollop filling onto the base of a cookie. Spread it with a knife, top with another cookie, and press together to get cream to the edges.
• End result: about 30 large sandwich cookies.
• OM NOM NOM!

• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
• Gradually mix dry ingredients into the wet, until just combined. Fold in the dried cranberries.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and even out. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until middle passes toothpick test. Cool completely.
• To make the glaze, in a small bowl melt the butter. Add the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Stir to create a thick, spreadable consistency, adding more sugar if needed to thicken or more lemon juice or water to thin. Spread atop bars. Sprinkle zest over the top. Let glaze set before cutting.
• Store bars sliced, with waxed paper between layers, in sealed container in fridge. Note that these bars taste even better after chilling for a day! They keep well for several days, too.

OM NOM NOM!