Recipe: Ranger Cookies Redo

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Juliet Tiu

While we were visiting our friends last week, I thumbed through their cookbooks one evening. Just something I do. Some people like reading fiction, non-fiction, I peruse cookbooks. So I stumbled upon a cookie recipe that reminded me of monster cookies, or everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookies. What caught my attention was the crispy rice cereal (okay, Rice Krispies, everyone!). I thought the texture might be a weird, interesting contrast. I also thought, will all the rice get crunched up and smooshed into dust? They did not… the cereal added a fun crunch and for my kid and me who have nut allergies, it’s a welcome change!

I checked out a few recipes and found that three cups of flour would make the batter very crumbly and dry, so I took out a cup. Original recipes did not include chocolate chips either. In this batch we made it festive and added spring colored M&M’s. I also used butter instead of shortening, and omitted one cup of shredded coconut. Please feel free to put it back in, I just didn’t want my son’s friends complaining. Next time around I’ll add it.

Ranger Cookies
Yields 24-36

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened at room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups rolled oats, not instant
1-3/4 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup M&Ms or chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut (Optional, and if you add this, decrease the chocolate chips by 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream butter and sugars until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl and add to the butter-sugar mixture. Add oatmeal, cereal, and chocolate chips (and/or coconut). Mix well. Drop by tablespoons on slightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Mugshot Monday: Fall, Change, December

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

Happy December. And here we are kicking it off with some Joe-Joe’s.
The shame of it is, I should’ve bought more.

And a bonus mugshot taken the other morning. No snow on the ground… yet.

Having Thanksgiving late last month is messing with me… we’re closing in on Christmas and I need to accept that the 50,000 projects I have swirling in my head aren’t going to happen in three weeks. I’ll be busy with:

Prepping for our cookie party (next weekend),
Decorating and decluttering (tidying up, I try to do every day and fail),
Teaching a gift wrapping class this week (which I’m really looking forward to).

Then there was my idea of handcrafting all my Christmas gifts this year. Yeah. And I wonder why I get so “cray, cray” at myself this time of the year, every year. I used to really, really, love Christmas. I do still love Christmas. It is my favorite holiday. But it’s different, or I’ve changed.

I find myself doing things that need attention do versus the things I want to do – and that’s because in years past, oh I’d forgotten some bills in the piles of mail on my desk. Oh, there’s loads of neglected laundry to do because I’d been out and about enjoying the sights, shopping, etc.

Gotta say, not big into shopping so much – at least on weekends, and that’s when my husband can go out. I’m finding it harder and harder to go to the malls, the big box places. I would much rather go to art and craft fairs, small stores, or even make things myself (of course, that’s what I really want to do). But, realistically, it’ll be another, “I’m gonna do that next year…”

It has been a good year, losses and all. Wrote more postings, made friends along the way. I did submit my first article to GeekMom (yay!)… link to my pillow tutorial here!

Starting next week, I’ll share some gift wrapping lessons from my class prep, and then after about 10-12 tips, we’ll call it a day. I’m “closing up shop” from the website to focus energy on family, home, holiday activities. I’ll still be active on the Facebook page, and I would soooo love it if you joined me there.

See you all back here next week!

Lemon-Ricotta Cheese Cookies

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Juliet Tiu

Since we don’t typically eat or cook ricotta cheese in our home, and we had some ricotta cheese left in the refrigerator after our dinner party last weekend, I looked up a friend’s recipe for ricotta cheese cookies.

I just don’t like wasting food, you know? Here’s my twist on it… taken from the lemon-ricotta cheese blinis we made for our dinner party, I added lemon to the cookie recipe. And, it was lemon-y delicious!

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
15 oz. ricotta cheese
zest of three lemons
6 tsp. fresh lemon juice (juice taken from the lemons – save the extra juice)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour

Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, extra lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, sugar and cheese. Add zest and 6 teaspoons of lemon juice to butter and sugar mixture, blend well. In separate bowl, mix salt, baking soda and flour. Incorporate the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Dough will be very sticky. Using a small teaspoon scoop (or just two teaspoons), drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until bottoms turn golden brown. After removing from oven, cool for 1 minute, then transfer to cooling racks.

Make glaze by slowly adding juice to the powdered sugar. Thin consistency will probably only need a couple of tablespoons of juice. Spread over cooled cookies.

Yields about 84

Cookie Exchange

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Juliet Tiu

Another year of over indulging. Another year of amazing cookies, and a little, just a little, unspoken competition. More cameraderie, I’d like to think. Another year of seeing our friend’s children grow a few more inches. Another year of welcoming new friends into our lives. Another year of opening our home to loved ones, another year of laughing and catching up on all that has happened.

We paid tribute to John Hughes, writer, director of movies that define moments of high school in the 80s: Ferris Buehler’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. He holds a special place with some of us because we graduated from the same high school he attended, Glenbrook North High School.

So, our friends brought their best cookies. We tried to name them accordingly, too, (i.e. Cookies-when-you’re-“Home Alone”, or “Ferris’s thumbprint cookies”, Sloane’s Sugar Cookies, Blaine’s Butterscotch shortbread, Abe Froman cookie) Still, it was a Christmas cookie swap, so if the creative mood didn’t strike them, it was okay.

After sharing two dozen to sample, we swapped six dozen (plus some leftovers) more. Seventeen households/families… it was quite a party! We recognized the best theme-related, best tasting, best decorated, best-in-show, and best haiku.

See some pictures here taken by my brother-in-law and my pictures below. If you roll your cursor over the pictures, you should be able to see their names. Want recipes? Let me know. Enjoy!