Treats: Snickerdoodles

The Original Mrs. Fritz sent us home from Thanksgiving with a container filled with some of Mr. Fritz's favorite cookies: Snickerdoodles. He's been enjoying them ever since. I asked her to share her recipe, and here's what she sent along. Thank you, Original Mrs. Fritz!

Snickerdoodles
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 Tbs.
2 eggs
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsps. cream of tartar
2 3/4 cups flour
3 tsps. cinnamon

Mix butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs. Sift together and add the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. Roll into size of walnuts. Roll in mixture of 3 Tbs sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees 8 to 10 min. Makes about 4 dozen 2" cookies.

Treats: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the cookies my mom made for my family when I was growing up. One bite takes me immediately back to my childhood, hanging out in the kitchen while she whipped up a quick batch. I thought they were the best cookies ever. In fact, when I was in high school and college, I used to give these to my friends for Christmas. The first year of my cookie gifting, I gave each of them a full-to-the-brim, personalized glass cookie jar, and then each year afterwards, I collected the jars, refilled them and redistributed them. When Mr. Fritz was deployed to Iraq a couple of years ago, these cookies made it into one of the many care packages I sent his way. And tonight, I made them just because. (They'll find their way into Mr. Fritz's lunch this week and possibly next...) So, if you're looking for a sweet treat to share with someone you love, give these beauties a try. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from the Quaker Oats canister recipe

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups flour (scooped - NOT spooned - into a measuring cup)
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 whole bag of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 375. Beat the butter until it's light. Add sugars. Beat until fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla and beat that well. Add the flour, baking soda and the salt. Mix well. Stir in the oatmeal and the chocolate chip until thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are just set. Let cool for one minute then transfer to a wire rack. Do not overbake.

Treats: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

This afternoon I made these excellent cookies for Mr. Fritz. The recipe is from Real Simple and it's easy enough that even I couldn't screw it up. The hardest part (or rather, the part that takes the longest) is unwrapping all of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. But honestly, the result is worth the effort. My only issue with the recipe: it claims to make 48 cookies. I was able to get 24 out of the first batch of batter I made a few weeks ago and just 18 (albeit pretty big) cookies out of today's batch. Regardless, if you have a bag of mini Reese's leftover from last night's festivities, I definitely recommend giving this recipe a try!