5 Summertime No-Bake Cookie Recipes

Author: Shelly Hill
When it comes to making cookies in the Summertime, I prefer to use the stove-top method. Not only is the stove-top method quick and easy, but it saves on heating up your kitchen.

I find it best to line my countertop or tabletop, with some parchment paper. You will want to 'drop' your cookies onto the parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat, to let them cool. After they have cooled to room temperature, store them in an airtight container.

Here are 5 of my favorite no-baking involved cookie recipes.

Raisin No-Bakes

2 c. raisins
2 c. Chinese noodles
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. honey

Mix raisins and Chinese noodles in bowl. Put peanut butter and honey in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until smooth and hot (no need to boil). Pour over raisin mixture, toss with a fork until evenly coated. Shape rounded spoonfuls into size of golf balls pressing gently with fingers. Let cool.

Chocolate Cracker Cookies

Round Crackers (like Ritz)
1 1/2 lbs. almond bark
peanut butter
12 oz. bag of chocolate chips

Spread peanut butter on crackers. Top with second cracker. Melt almond bark with chocolate chips. Dip sandwich cookies into the chocolate mixture using tongs. Drop onto waxed paper and let cool.

Chow Mein Bites

1 c. peanut butter
12 oz. pkg. butterscotch chips
4 c. miniature marshmallows
4 c. chow mein noodles

Place peanut butter and butterscotch chips in the top of a double boiler. Heat over hot water until melted. Combine with marshmallows and chow mein noodles. Mix well and drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Chill for 1-2 hours.

Sunshine

1 box vanilla wafers
1 stick butter, softened
1 sm. can frozen orange juice
1 box of powdered confectioners sugar
shredded coconut

Crush vanilla wafers to make crumbs. Mix with a stick of butter, orange juice, and sugar. Roll in small balls about the size of walnuts; roll in shredded coconut. Chill for 1-2 hours, until firm.

Chocolate Oatmeal No Bakes

2 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 c. margarine
pinch of salt
1/2 c. milk
3 c. quick oats (oatmeal)
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large pan and boil for 1 minute, stirring often. Turn off the heat and stir in the oatmeal, peanut butter and vanilla. Drop by the spoonful onto wax paper. Let them cool and they will harden as they cool.

Have Loads Of Fun With Easy-To-Make Cookie Recipes!

Author: Jaydon Parker
Most people love to eat cookies because they are sweet, flavorful and yummy especially when they are properly prepared and baked. Cookies are great desserts. If you like munching on cookies, then now is actually a very good time to learn how to bake cookies. You may start with easy-to-cook recipes.
Personally, I always look at those easy-to-cook recipes because my 2 year old son also enjoys cooking and baking. He owns a small toy kitchen furnished with stove, sink, fridge and oven. He often stands over a small footrest and puts on his little apron.
He measures, mixes and pours as if he's really baking. The funny thing is when he cooks inside his little kitchen, my son becomes like 1 of those food network stars on TV cooking and making funny anecdotes.
It was only recently when I discovered my eagerness to search for easy- to-prepare sugar cookies because I thought these cookies will be an interesting shift from my typical choco-chip cookies. Nothing's a miss with our choco-chip cookies. In fact, everyone in our house loves them. However, I thought to myself that it will also be nice to expose my son to a broader scope of easy-to-make cookies. Besides, lots of easy-to-cook sugar cookies are found online.
Although the Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookie recipe seems difficult to make, I still consider it as an easy-to-bake recipes. You only have to combine the ingredients, put it inside the refrigerator and roll them in sugar after. After the dough has chilled, you just slice it according to your preferred sizes and then bake them. The best portion of doing this recipe is when you are about to decorate your cookies. Your kids will definitely enjoy this part. You may decorate it with colorful food paint.
During my search for easy-to-bake recipes, I found lots of recipes that do not entail baking. The recipes call for minimal stove action but still no baking in the oven is needed. Since summer is fast approaching, no-bake recipes are really good and fun ideas. They are relatively easy to do and almost all the recipes have similar main ingredients. Finally, my kid will also experience actual cooking.
My boy loves doing lots of mixing when he does his play-cooking, so what I do is allow him to scoop the mixture and place it over the parchment or wax paper. This activity will be fun and interesting because the kitchen will become a big mess. It's totally fine as long as my son enjoys the day.
So what are you waiting for! Check out the World Wide Web for those easy to make recipes and have fun making them with your kids.

Top 3 Delicious Sugar Cookies Recipes

Author: Mary Kerr
Top 3 Delicious Sugar Cookies Recipes

Delicious Sugar Cookies

Ingredients :
Sift together
3 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
11/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs unbeaten

Directions
Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the flour gradually and knead into a soft dough. Roll thin, cut into small round shapes and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400° F. for eight to ten minutes.

Soft Sugar Cookies
This is another cookie recipe that is said to be very old Dutch.

Ingredients :
Sift together
4 cups flour 2 eggs unbeaten
1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup lard
1 tsp. soda 21/2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. Vanilla

Direction :
Blend the lard into the flour. Be careful to keep the mixture cold. Mix in the sugar. Add the eggs, buttermilk and flavoring and mix quickly. Knead slightly. Roll medium thick, cut into large cookies and bake at 450° F. about twelve minutes.

Zucker Plaetzchen
(Sugar Cookies)

Ingredients:
Dissolve in
1 tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups flour sifted
2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
creamed
2 eggs unbeaten
Direction :
Add the sugar to the butter and cream ten minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend in well. Add the flour, the soda and cinnamon and knead into a smooth dough. Roll thin, cut into small cakes and bake at 400° F. until light brown.

By Mary Kerr

About the Author,
Mary Kerr is the author of new ebook which contains Delicious Recipes for making cookies from America, England, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Russia & Numerous Other Countries! http://www.bestofnetmarketing.com/Cookies/

Three Tips for Finding Healthy Cookie Recipes

Author: LWJF
Here's a breakdown of what healthy ingredients to look for and which ingredients to stay away from when searching for healthy cookie recipes.
Look for whole grain flours; stay away from bleached, refined flours. Unbleached, whole grain flours instead of white flour will vastly improve the healthiness of the cookie, especially since flour is a core ingredient. Only whole grain flour keeps most of its natural nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber, while bleached white flour retains very little. This is because whole grain flour uses the entire grain while the latter uses just the endosperm which is the starchy part of the grain. Regular white flour is still healthier than bleached white flour. Bleached white flour becomes bleached because it's highly processed with chemicals to speed up the aging process of the flour with chlorine, chloride, nitrogen oxide and others. Enriched (adding back what was taken out in processing) flour is also not the healthiest choice to use. Enriched wheat flour is not whole grain.
Look for sea salt; stay away from table salt. If a healthy cookie recipe has nutritious ingredients but contains table salt, opt to substitute sea salt instead. Both have the same chemical makeup of sodium and chloride, but sea salt undergoes very little processing so trace minerals aren't lost like they are in traditional salt.
Look for healthy sweeteners; stay away from refined white sugars and artificial sweeteners. Refined white sugar is void of nutrients; recipes with this ingredient make the cookies unhealthier. Artificial sweeteners cut calories but again, have no nutritional value and often change the taste. For healthier alternatives there's a wide variety of options. Maple syrup, honey, dates, molasses, and evaporated cane juice are a few. These choices also provide a positive taste difference; often times refined white sugar overpowers other flavors. Don't miss out on the other wonderful flavors that might be hiding in your cookie underneath all that white sugar!
If you are looking for healthy cookies, healthy cookie recipes and other healthy snacks with these beneficial ingredients, check out The Wholesome Junk Food Cookbook by Dr. Laura Trice.

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes One Recipe - Many Variations

Author: Karen Ciancio
There are so many Christmas cookie recipes around but often so little time to bake during the busy holiday season.

The solution? A great tasting basic cookie recipe that quickly and easily turns into such a variety of easy to make Christmas treats, friends and family will think you poured over all your favorite Christmas cookie recipes.

Let's start with the basics:

Basic Cookie Dough Recipe

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) butter (or margarine) at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the flour. Beat with an electric mixer, scraping the sides of the bowl several times, until the mixture is light and fluffy. With mixer at a low speed, add the flour gradually, beating just until everything is well blended.

Place the mixture on a baking sheet using a tablespoon measure and press down with a spoon to flatten a bit. Or roll our and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake at 350ºF for about 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.

This basic cookie mixture is also the base for the following cookie recipes (all baked in a preheated oven at 350ºF).

Orange Cookies
(Makes about 32)

Add 1 tablespoon of grated orange zest to the recipe. Shape into a log that is about 1 1/2" in diameter and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Slice dough into 1/4" thick slices. Place on cookie sheet. Cookies can be decorated with candies, rolled in colored sugar, or cut into pretty holiday shapes before baking. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cherry Coconut Chocolate Squares
(Makes about 54 squares)

In addition to the basic dough you will need:
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, well drained and coarsely chopped

Line a 13"x9" baking pan with foil.

Stir cocoa powder into basic dough mixture. Press evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the crust looks dry.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, almond extract and baking powder until well blended. Stir in coconut and cherries. Pour over the baked crust.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until top just begins to brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Lift it out on to a cutting board using the foil ends and cut into 1 1/2" squares. Squares can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Coconut Pineapple Cookies
(Makes about 36)

In addition to the basic dough you will need:
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 cup pineapple preserves (use raspberry or apricot if you prefer)

Add 1 cup of the flaked coconut to the basic dough mixture and mix well. Shape the dough into 1 1/2" balls and roll in the remaining coconut to coat them. Place the balls 1" apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Make a deep indentation in the center of each cookie with your fingertip.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookie is firm and the coconut is lightly toasted. When cooled, fill each hole in the center of the cookies with the preserves.

You can vary this basic dough to make a wide variety of Christmas cookie recipes. Add other flavorings like maple, ginger or cinnamon. Add chopped dried fruits like apricots or dates. Or bake them plain in holiday shapes and decorate with colored icing.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. Here's hoping these quick and easy Christmas cookie recipes help keep the pressure off the cook.

Make Your Own Healthy Cookie Recipes Using Dates and Other Natural Sweeteners

Author: LWJF
You don't have to give up your favorite cookie recipes—just transform them into healthier versions using natural sweeteners. By following a few simple rules, you can make healthy cookie recipes in no time.  Remember, the cakier the texture, the more your wet and dry ingredients impact the texture.  (Things like oil, milk eggs count as wet ingredients while sugar, flour and cocoa are dry.) That means, go ahead and use an alternative sweetener in your favorite cookie recipe, but it may not work as well in angel food cake, which is cakey, fussy and might fall.  You have more flexibility replacing white sugar with brown rice syrup in a pudding or cookie than in a cake.
Since cookies are not cake like and instead are dense and can be either crunchy or gooey, go ahead and experiment.  So, consider not using white sugar or high fructose corn syrup anymore and instead try these better sweeteners.  Here are a few refined sugar and fat alternatives and how to incorporate them into your baking:
Dates - use dates to replace white or brown sugar. A sweet tree fruit, dates can be pitted, chopped and mashed to make date paste. Or, just use them finely chopped. Dates can also be blended in the blender with water, milk, oil or a combination of them to add as a sweetener.  You can also use date sugar; substitute equal amounts to replace granulated sugar.  Dates add a sweet and gooey richness.  Vegan appropriate.
Bananas - mash them up and substitute equal amounts for the butter or shortening in a recipe.  They add texture, sweetness and taste.  Vegan appropriate.
Applesauce - use as an alternative for butter or shortening, to create a healthy cookie recipe. Can generally replace up to ½ of the fat in most recipes. If using sweetened applesauce, reduce the amount of sugar you add to compensate. When possible, use unsweetened.  Also, when mixing the recipe add the applesauce with the liquid ingredients. You may need to decrease the baking time.  Just watch for the signs it is done.  Vegan appropriate.
Brown Rice Syrup - Since this is less sweet than regular white sugar, substitute 1 ¾ cup of brown rice syrup for each cup of sugar and reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup.  Vegan appropriate.
Evaporated Cane Juice - whole sugar containing all of the nutrients and trace minerals normally processed out of granulated white sugar. Use measure for measure.  Since it has a light brown color, cakes that were white or yellow may have a slight tan color but taste great.  Chocolate cakes do not show any color change. Vegan appropriate.
Maple Syrup or Raw Agave - replaces corn syrup measure for measure. Or, use ¾ cup maple syrup or agave plus ¼ teaspoon baking soda for each cup of granulated sugar. If using to replace granulated sugar, you will also need to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 3 tablespoons.  Vegan appropriate.
Molasses - if you like the distinctive flavor of molasses, you can substitute up to half of the white sugar with it. For each cup of sugar, use 1 1/3 cups molasses plus 1 teaspoon baking soda. You will also need to reduce the amount of liquid used in the recipe by ¼ cup and lower the oven temp by 25 degrees to prevent overbrowning.  Vegan appropriate.
Honey - replace white sugar with this healthier alternative. Use between ½ to ¾ of a cup of honey for each cup of sugar and reduce the amount of liquid in your healthy cookie recipe by about a ¼ cup. To prevent overbrowning, you will also need to reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees. Vegetarian appropriate.