#38 - Bake 100 Different Cookies Update

I made some of my very favorite cookies today! In fact, after One Girl Cookies Orange Butter Drops, these are my second favorites :p I have so many memories attached to these cookies. They're basically mexican wedding cookies but instead of using crushed almonds, I use crushed pecans. There was a chain of bakeries in New Orleans when I was growing up called McKenzies and my aunt Shirley would take us there every Friday and we'd get to pick something to eat. I'd get these :p McKenzies is long gone but any New Orleans native can tell you tons of memories associated with this bakery and what their favorite pastry was from there.

They're SUCH an easy cookie to make too! Here's how you make them. You need:

1 Cup (2 sticks) of butter at room temperature
1/2 Cup of white sugar
2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 Teaspoons of water
2 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Cup of chopped pecans (you can use different nuts if you want)
1/2 Cup of confectioner's sugar

Start by creaming the butter with the sugar.....I use an electric mixer and beat the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes on medium until it's light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla and water. Slowly add in your flour while the mixer's on and then add in your chopped pecans or other nuts. Refrigerate the dough for 3 hours. It looks like this afterwards!

 

I used a cookie scoop but you don't have to, just scoop out round balls onto an unprepared (non-greased) cookie pan and bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I baked mine right in the middle there for 17 minutes and 30 seconds and they came out perfect! They look like this:

 

Now comes the best part! Put your powdered sugar into a paper bag or ziploc bag and very gently shake the cookies in the sugar coating them. Don't be too rough or they'll crack. Also, don't try to do too many at once. I shook up three cookies at a time and it worked just fine. They look like this:

 

Last step...enjoy!

#71 - Get Donuts From 25 Different Donut Shops Update

Oh Krispy Kreme...you are not my favorite donuts by far, but you are still donuts and therefore you are still good :p Krispy Kreme is basically where I go when I'm really craving donuts. Sadly, there really aren't many donut shops around me at all. I have to make it a special trip to get donuts. Unless I want Krispy Kreme. We have one of those close to my mom's house. To me, Krispy Kreme tastes totally different from any other donut shop. But same premise...fried dough with sugar :p What I will give them is they have EXCELLENT frozen coffee!

Me and my mom were out shopping today so we picked up some donuts on the way home...two of those are hers and the other four are mine XD I LOVE their chocolate covered glazed crullers. Now those I will say they do a damn good job with. My mom took one of those and the other two are mine :p The other donut that was hers is the powdered jelly. That's my moms favorite donut wherever she goes. I also got a regular glazed because they were hot! And a raspberry filled glazed. Like I really need these calories :/

#38 - Bake 100 Different Cookies Update

 

I LOVE these cookies. They remind me of being a little kid and of holidays. In the family, we call them "Aunt Elma's Cookies" or "Winn-Dixie Cookies" but they're actually called Yellow Cake Cookies and I feel a bit like I'm cheating by counting them for this goal because they're so simple :p The family name for the cookies is because my Aunt Elma who's long passed away was famous for making these cookies and she always made them with Winn-Dixie brand yellow cake mix. Here's how easy they are:

In a bowl mix a box of yellow cake mix, two eggs, 1/2 cup of oil and 1 cup of whatever the hell you want to put in them! For this batch I used a mix of white chocolate chips, chocolate chips and heath bar candy pieces. Bake them at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. Ta-da!

Seriously....simplest cookie ever and SO GOOD! If you want to feel less like you're cheating you can make your own yellow cake mix of course, but I always just buy one, lol. Ah well.