INGREDIENTS

1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon orange zest

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a microwave-safe dish, melt the unsweetened chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Divide dough in two. Mix orange zest into one half, and melted chocolate into the other half. Use a bit of each mixture to form a ball about 1 inch in diameter.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until center is set. Cool on wire racks.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
DIRECTIONS

1. Cream the butter until light. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and almond extract.
2. Gradually blend in the flour. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, using lightly floured cookie cutters. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Decorate as desired.

Source: Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Melt the shortening in a large pan on the stove, and cool.
Add sugar, eggs, and molasses, beat well.
In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together and add to the pan. Mix well and chill 3 hours or overnight.
Form into walnut-size balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes.
Store in an airtight container to keep from getting overly crisp. If they do lose their softness, an easy way to restore it is to place one slice of fresh bread in the container with the cookies for a couple of hours or overnight and they will be soft again!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening, sugar, and egg. Stir in syrup and melted chocolate. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon; add to creamed mixture. Chill 1 hour.
Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on a well-floured pastry cloth. Cut into shapes.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10 to 12 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups peanut butter chips
1 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer until well blended. Beat in both sugars. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir in half of the dry ingredients into the mixture. Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir in peanut butter chips.
For each cookie, roll 1 heaping tablespoon full of dough into 1 3/4 inch diameter ball. Arrange balls 2 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using the back of fork, flatten dough balls and form a crosshatch on tops.
Bake cookies until dry on top, about 15 minutes.
Cool cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 5 3/4 ounces sourball hard candies

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter or margarine, brown sugar and molasses until smooth. Blend in water. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture; blend well.
2. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
3. Cut out paper stars, bells, or other christmas motifs. Trace onto a sheet of aluminum foil.
4. Roll pieces of dough into ropes about 1/4-inch wide. Outline the designs with ropes of dough. Press ends lightly together.
5. Separate candies by color. In a blender or food processor, coarsely crush candies. Fill in dough outlines with the candies.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 4 to 5 minutes or until cookie is set and candy melts. Cool on baking sheet.

Source: All Recipes

Baking cookies is relatively straight forward, but there are a few things you can do to make sure you turn out the perfect batch. Ten things you can do, as a matter-of-fact!

1. Use the best quality ingredients. They’ll produce the tastiest cookies.
2. Always use large-sized eggs, unsalted butter and nuts, and pure extracts of vanilla or almond.
3. Successful baking relies on the correct ratio of ingredients, so be sure to measure accurately.
4. Most cookie recipes call for all-purpose flour. For the best results, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Do not sift unless the recipe specifically says to do so.
5. Unless you are baking with non-stick pans and cookie sheets, use parchment paper for stick-free baking and easy clean-up.
6. Chill dough for cut-out cookies. Soften it up at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling out.
7. Leave two inches of space between cookies so they don’t spread into each other.
8. Adjust baking times to achieve the cookie texture you crave. A little less time produces chewier cookies; a little more time makes them crispy.
9. Bake bar cookies in the pan size indicated in the recipe.
10. Cool cookies completely before decorating.

Source: All Recipes