BRENDA'S DROP SUGAR COOKIES

 What a beautiful week so far! It is so warm (mid 50s to 60) that it didn't take long for the snow to melt everywhere. The car wash places are making a killing this week. I had about 10 cars ahead of me when I got it washed yesterday. I had planned to do it on Sunday but the lines were so long it would have taken me quite a while to finally get up to the building. 

But my car is clean now and I am even out with Friend Janice today. I think this is our first outing this year. There were no estate sales in the Northland so we are heading 21 miles in the Southland to the nearest one.

I also got my new glasses yesterday - the first in three years at least and am dealing with getting them properly adjusted to fit comfortably. Fun to look at a different person in the mirror.

Today I am sharing another recipe from the Cafe Treats that I especially enjoy. It is for a sugar cookie but one that doesn't have to be rolled out. The dough is dropped and then pressed down with a glass, etc. Baker Brenda makes good cookies for us and they are always well received at the "Cafe". She dropped the scoops of dough into a bowl of red sugar to make them festive for the month.

PRINT RECIPE.

SUGAR COOKIES

2     sticks of butter or margarine, softened

1      cup white sugar

1      cup powdered sugar

1      cup oil

2     eggs

4     cups + 4 tablespoons flour

1      teaspoon cream of tartar

1      teaspoon baking soda

1      teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugars and oil.

Add the eggs, one at a time beating well.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add to the wet mixture, mixing well to blend.

Drop by a tablespoon measure (cookie scoop works well) onto cookie sheet and press down with a sugared glass bottom. (You can roll the scoop in decorative sugar if you like for the occasion first if you like and then place them on the cookie sheet to flatten.)

Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

These cookies freeze very nicely.

I'M BACK

 My last post was on January 6. Seems longer actually. Our January and February have been cruel to us and everyone is eagerly looking forward to spring and warmer temperatures. Actually this week is going to feel like spring with temperatures in the mid to high 50s. By the end of the week we might even see 60.

The cold temperatures (try low as low as -10 and the high only 4 or 5 degrees F) is just one of the reasons I have been away from my blog. I needed to take a break with everyone going on in the country, but probably the main reason is my depression and busy-ness with the repercussions of falling for a scam. 

I won't go into details of the scam but just issue a few warnings. When you suspect an email isn't for real, DON'T respond to the email - just delete it and move on. DO NOT OPEN any links. (I think this one is publicized a lot, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need repeating.) DEFINITELY do not call a number that is listed in the email. Always go to the source and find number to call. This is what I did or didn't do. The address he told me to go to brought up a legitimate looking website for the company, of course, which gave me a false sense of security. 

The bottom line is I froze my credit with the credit bureaus and had to get three new credit cards, change my bank accounts, yes accounts with an S, and order new checks. That might not sound like too much, but if you use bill pay with your bank to pay your bills, that has to be dealt with which means some bills might not go through because of changing account numbers. Anyone who direct deposits paychecks, etc, for you has to be notified of new account numbers and sometimes that might take a while to process and don't forget if you use a credit card to pay for bills and you replace the credit card, you have to notify them of your new number.

I guess another biggy I forgot to mention and it's the main reason I haven't been writing any posts...I thought my laptop was not fixable but I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy and they wiped the hard drive clean and so I have my laptop back.

 It just make me tired going through it again, but I felt like I had to warn you so maybe you wouldn't make the same mistake I did. I also won't mention to my husband the next time I receive getting a suspicious email and just ignore it like I always (well, almost always) do.

To celebrate my return to My Patchwork Quilt, I'm going to share a really delicious cookie that Cafe Treats Baker Linda brought to church yesterday to share in the Cafe. She said she just searched the internet until she found a recipe that she had the ingredients for. 

Gooey Butter Cookies is what she came up with and they were delicious. Since I always like to share a way to reduce the sugar in recipes, you could make this sugar-free if you used a Zero-Sugar yellow cake mix and Sugar-free powdered sugar. I know the latter sounds like an oxymoron, but you can make powdered sugar in the blender using Splenda or stevia. If you don't want to go to all that trouble, you can buy it already made. How sweet!

PRINT RECIPE

GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES

1      stick (1/2 cup) softened butter

8     ounces cream cheese

1      egg

1/4  teaspoon vanilla extract

1      box yellow cake mix

1      cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, egg, and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Stir in the dry cake mix until the dough becomes thick but smooth.

Pour the powdered sugar into a separate bowl.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop a flat spoonful of the cookie dough and form into a ball in the palm of your hand. Drop ball into the powdered sugar and roll around until it is fully covered. (If the dough is too soft to deal with, chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before forming dough balls.)

Place cookie balls on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for 12 minutes.

Cool slightly before removing to a rack to cool completely.