Question of the Day, Sunday, November 6, 2016

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micknsnicks2mom

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I'm not really into store bought cookies but I do like the fudge striped shortbread cookies and Reese's peanut butter cup Oreos. Otherwise I prefer my moms. She makes a really good batch of chewy oatmeal cranberry walnut coconut cookies. And they are hearty and filling. I love cookies with nuts so probably why I don't really like store bought.. she makes really good everything basically and chocolate chip walnut cookies or peanut butter walnut cookies. We usually make butter sugar cookies with the cookie press for the holidays and frost them. We don't frost each one though since she's diabetic so she has some when her blood sugar is low in the morning. I also love the cranberry sweets raspberry tea cookies. But I'll probably never see them again because my friend I'm not friends with any more always got them for me and I can't justify $12 for shipping for a small package. We could probably make our own.
oh, i remember those fudge striped shortbread cookies from when i was a kid! 


wow! chewy oatmeal cranberry walnut coconut cookies! 


does this recipe sound like it would be similar to the cranberry sweets raspberry tea cookies -- https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=174317
 

Columbine

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It was pounded into people's heads for years to bake with unsalted butter. I have been baking from scratch since 1980 and have never used it. IMO, if something doesn't make sense, it's probably not right. Salt + sugar = true love. Add the the butter and some high quality vanilla extract and the warmth of that love just became a 4 alarm blaze. :heart4:  :9:  :love:

I think all the cooking schools teach not to use salted butter, but then why do the recipes then add salt separately?  Why not just use salted butter to start with?  Makes sense to me.  But what little salt they do add at these bakeries is not enough to taste, if they even add it.  

Same with cakes.  Salted butter plus whatever salt is called for in the recipe.  I learned a long time ago to NEVER use anything but butter, not margarine, and for sure not that "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" (well I sure can! - it's horrible!) and use vanilla extract not the cheap imitation stuff.  If you want a cheap cookie just use cheap ingredients.  
The reason for choosing unsalted butter when baking is simple - the amount of salt in salted butter varies. By choosing unsalted butter, you have absolute control over the amount of salt in the finished recipe ;)

I'm really on the horns of a dilemma. Thanks to this thread I want some homemade cookies but I'm wondering how on earth to make crunchy gluten free ones?  I can't stand the typical gluten free combo (potato/rice/tapioca) because it's tasteless.  And for sure I'll be using non-GMO organic sugar.  It'll still be junk food but it'll be a higher quality junk food!  

Does anyone know of a gluten-free flour that produces a crunchy cookie?  Because almond and coconut make cakey cookies.  It's way more tasty than the potato/rice/tapioca flour but it's not crunchy.  I'm wondering if I'll have to go with buckwheat or maybe some kind of flour that starts with an A.  Not amaranth.  Maybe it starts with a C.  Cassava....or a derivative of it?  I'll have to do some searching around.  

I just thought of another kind of store bought cookie I love!  Here's a pic of it.  I like the pretzel shaped ones with sugar on top and the rectangle ones with sugar on top.  The rest...eh.  And no it's not organic/non-gmo.  Lol.  

I love Dove's Farm gluten free plain and self-raising flour blends. The addition of buckwheat makes a big difference to the taste, and the maize helps with the crunch factor too (though it makes fabulous chewy cookies if that's what's wanted ;) ). Even a basic shortbread cookie tastes good with it, and it makes better pastry than regular wheat flour! I haven't tried it myself (it's harder to find locally), but Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose flour blend looks like it should be good too.
 

ginny

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You might want to give Kerrygold butter a try sometimes.  It's really good but expensive!
 

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You might want to give Kerrygold butter a try sometimes.  It's really good but expensive!
:yeah: Another plus is that the cows are out in pastures, not locked up and fed grain. You can taste the difference, so it's not just a matter of conscience, either.
 
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Willowy

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Kerrygold is awesome, my mom buys it but only for spreading/eating. She says it would be a waste to use it in baking, lol.

I think most milk cows are allowed out in the pasture when their milking for the day is done. At least around here :dk:. I guess the Kerrygold cows ONLY get grass though.
 
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ginny

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Kerrygold is awesome, my mom buys it but only for spreading/eating. She says it would be a waste to use it in baking, lol.

I think most milk cows are allowed out in the pasture when their milking for the day is done. At least around here
. I guess the Kerrygold cows ONLY get grass though.
I think that is right but to be honest I'd have to do some research first.  It is really good butter and your mom is right it does seem to be a waste to use it in baking.  It's so smooth and it's softer than say Land O' Lakes. 

Many farmer's market vendors here in my town advertise that there cows are grass-fed.  Well of course they are.  But when asked, they admit the cow is grain-finished - which sometimes means they are fed a combination of grass and grain for the last 2 months of their life.  (That came from the Food Network Tyler Florence, I believe.)  This might be true of Kerrygold but I do not know.  
 

Willowy

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Beef cows and milk cows are different. Beef cows are born on the range, the farmers go out, catch all the calves, castrate the males and give vaccines, etc. to all of them, and turn them loose again. They stay out in the pasture for a year and a half and then they go to the feedlot to be finished on grain for a few months. The majority of beef cows are 2 years old when slaughtered. They aren't raised with longevity in mind, just fattening them up quickly.

Milk cows can have a milking career of 20+ years. I know that at least some are put out in the pasture in between milkings, because I see them at the dairy near my house. I'm not really sure what they're fed, but it must be designed to optimize milk production and longevity, instead of just quick fattening like beef cows.

Haha, rambling. But yes! Whatever the Kerrygold cows are fed, it really makes a difference in the taste of the butter.
 
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micknsnicks2mom

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mmmmm, chewy ginger cookies sound like they'd be very tasty! 


those marshmallow sandwich cookies sound so good, especially with the very thin layer of fruit spread on them! 
  i think i've already said this once, but why do so many of the really good, tasty cookies get discontinued? 
 
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micknsnicks2mom

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OMG LOVE these.  We have someone from Canada in our office and when he goes home he brings boxes of these to the office. I think there's a slight ingredient difference but maybe not.  These are about as addictive to me as Milano's.  I love everything maple.
it's been many years since i've had any Dare Maple Leaf Creme cookies, but they remain one of my favorites.

i love everything maple too! i like those maple sugar candies, they're so good! 
  and even though i try to lead a very frugal life, i do buy real maple syrup. i just can't 'do' the imitation flavored ones.
 
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micknsnicks2mom

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Probably Cinnamon Oatmeal Rasin cookies. Or just Oatmeal Rasin.

Maple cookies also.
interesting! 
    i've never tried cinnamon in oatmeal raisin cookies, but that sounds like it would be a great addition! 


another of us who likes maple cookies! 
 

neely

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great choices! 


i'm going to have to make (my first batch of) snickerdoodles. i know i'll love them, because i just love cinnamon!
Ditto, I put cinnamon in everything from coffee to oatmeal to most desserts.  Great minds think alike!
 

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I LOVE cinnamon too!  I put in in my coffee too and I put it in my brownie mix and chocolate frosting mix too.  Chocolate and cinnamon are made for each other!
 

neely

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I LOVE cinnamon too!  I put in in my coffee too and I put it in my brownie mix and chocolate frosting mix too.  Chocolate and cinnamon are made for each other!
When my daughter was younger we would bake brownies and put cinnamon in them all the time.  Chocolate and cinnamon definitely are made for each other.
 

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You might want to give Kerrygold butter a try sometimes.  It's really good but expensive!
Kerrygold is awesome, my mom buys it but only for spreading/eating. She says it would be a waste to use it in baking, lol.

 
I'll try some Kerrygold for our Christmas dinner table. The Finlandia is for our Thanksgiving table. And then ask people what they think. 
 They're used to me asking all kinds of questions! 
 
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micknsnicks2mom

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Favorite homemade cookie:  iced butter Christmas cookies.  Boy, are they a lot of work.

Favorite store bought cookie:  any sandwich cookie stuffed with lemon cream.  
mmmm......iced butter Christmas cookies! those sound heavenly! 


yes, lemon sandwich cookies are one of my favorites too! 
 
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micknsnicks2mom

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Please, please, please add your favorite recipes here: http://www.thecatsite.com/groups/show/151/the-recipe-exchange There's a thread there for cookies and you can find a lot of really good recipes there!

Favorite store bought cookie: Double Stuf Oreos

Favorite homemade cookies:

Snickerdoodles

King Arthur's Chewy Chocolate Chip 

King Arthur's Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Biscotti

My mom's recipe for drop sugar cookies

Lemon Sponge Cake Cookies

Killer Pumpkin Bars (with an orange/cream cheese frosting, they are to-die-for)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunkers

Killer Toffee Bars

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Chocolate Crinkles (but they must be made with chocolate, not cocoa)

I could go on and on. We are big cookie monsters in this house
that's a great list of cookies there!

ahhh, biscotti! 
  yummy!

and peanut butter sandwich cookies! 
 
 
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micknsnicks2mom

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A lot of cookies tastes weird to me now that they removed all transfat. Oreos and Chips Ahoy aren't the same anymore.

Though I've since gone gluten-free.. and Tate's Bakery gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.. OMG So yummy! I could eat the whole bag in one sitting (and I do.. oops)
i agree! they change something in the ingredients or recipes for cookies, and they just don't taste right anymore. 


i'm so glad you found tasty cookies that are also gluten-free! 
 
 
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