Apricot Bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

• 3/4 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 large egg, room temperature

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1-1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut

• 1/2 cup chopped almonds

• 1 jar (10 to 12 ounces) apricot preserves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Fold in coconut and almonds.
2. Press two-thirds of dough onto the bottom of a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Spread with preserves; crumble remaining dough over preserves. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

*You can use any preserves. I also made it with Lemon pie filling.

Recipe adapted from Taste from Home

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Spice Cookies:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
• 2 Cups Flour (I used Old Mill Gluten Free)
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp Ginger
• 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans (optional)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 8 oz block of Cream Cheese
• 3 tsp Vanilla
• 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

Pumpkin Spice Cookies:

Preheat Oven to 350°F

1. In a mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs and pumpkin and mix well.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and fold into cookie batter.
4. Mix until well blended.
5. Drop a spoonful of the cookies batter onto a cookie sheet.
6. Bake in a 350°F oven for approximately 15 minutes.
7. Allow to cool.
8. Frost with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a mixer until blended.
2. Add powder sugar a cup at a time and continue to mix until sugar is incorporated.
3. Finally, add cinnamon
4. Place frosting in large Ziplock bag, cut small portions of corner off of bag, and frost cookies.

Recipe Adapted from Two Sisters Crafting

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - GF, Dairy Free, Egg Free

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup coconut milk (rice, or almond)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup white rice flour
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 2 Tablespoons GF Starch
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (you can buy dairy free chocolate chips, the brand I've seen is Simple Joy)

Directions:

1. Mix together the sugar and oil.
2. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until combined
3. Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture. Just mixing until you don't see flour. (don't over mix).
5. Add the chocolate chips.

Allow the dough to rest 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake cookies on a well greased cookie sheet or silicon mat. Bake 10 minutes or until desired doneness is reached. Let cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before moving to wire rack. *This is to allow cookies to be firm enough to hold shape.

~Recipe adapted from Yammies Guten Freedom

Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest (from about 2 medium lemons)
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 tsp lemon extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy (occasionally scrape down bowl throughout entire mixing process if not using a paddle attachment that constantly scrapes bowl). Mix in egg then blend in egg yolk. Add lemon juice, lemon extract, vanilla extract and optional yellow food coloring and mix until combined. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
3. Pour powdered sugar into a small bowl. Scoop dough out about 1 1/2 Tbsp at a time and shape into a ball, then drop in powdered sugar and roll to evenly coat. Transfer to a parchment paper or selicon lined baking sheet, repeat with remaining dough and space cookies 2-inches apart on baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven 10-13 minutes. Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe from cookingclassy.com

Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam

Directions:

1. Using a handheld or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Switch mixer to medium speed and add the sugar, vanilla, and almond extracts. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer off and pour the flour into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer on low and slowly beat until a very soft dough is formed. Press the dough down to compact it and tightly cover with plastic wrap to chill until firm.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Shape the cookie dough into balls. Mine were about 1 Tablespoon of dough per ball. Make sure they're nice and smooth. If you find the balls of dough are sticky and/or have gotten a little soft after rolling- place the balls of dough back into the refrigerator to firm up. You absolutely DO NOT want soft dough. Make an indention with your thumb into each ball. The dough may crack slightly when you press your thumb into it. Simply smooth it out with your finger if you can. Otherwise, it's perfectly fine to have a few cracks. Fill each with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of jam. (Or however much it can hold.)
3. Bake the shortbread thumbprint cookies for 14-15 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the edges. The cookies will puff up and spread slightly. Do no over bake. In fact, I only baked mine for 13-14 minutes. I prefer them a little soft. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wore rack.

~Recipe from sallybakingaddiction.com

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep. time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yields: 60 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups (12- ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
• nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.
2. Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. 
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. 
4. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. 
5. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on a wire rack.