Strawberry Basil Cookies

I know that this may not be the most natural combination in the world for most people, but I can't recommend this enough. Little do my friends know I'll be bringing these cookies to pretty much every event for the forseeable future.

A note on strawberries. If you are serving these right away, fresh strawberries are fine. If you are storing them, even for a little while, dried will be better. The fresh strawberries are so moist if you put them in a closed container, the cookies get soft and soggy. I am also experimenting with freeze dried strawberries. I'll let you know how that works.

Strawberry Basil Cookies

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup diced strawberries
1 bunch basil, chopped
3/4 cup Basil Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Cream together the olive oil and sugars. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk the baking soda, salt and flour together. Add to wet ingredients in batches, making sure that everything is well combined before adding more. Add the strawberries and the basil.

Drop by tablespoonful on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. The edges should brown, but not all of it.

Chocolate Chip Chipotle Cookies

Okay, this one might not be as heart healthy...But its cookies! And we should never apologize for cookies. Unless you don't tell someone what is in these and make them eat them anyway... Then apologize. A lot. And get that person a glass of milk stat!

Chocolate Chip Chipotle Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Chipotle Olive Oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips.

Heat the oven to 350degrees.

Cream the butter, oil and sugars together until it is nice and creamy. Add the egg.

Sift the dry ingredients together, except for the chips. Slowly add to the wet ingredients, stirring well until everything is well combined. Fold in the chips.

On lightly greased cookie sheets, place little balls of dough 1 inch apart. You probably want to make these a little smaller than usual cookies. Bake about 12 minutes.

Cool for at least five minutes. Serve, with a warning.

Balsamic Swirled Shortbread

Shortbread is considered lucky. I have no idea why, and can't find out in a casual internet search. It has been a staple of my childhood new years eve's. If you know why it's lucky, please comment and let me know. It's baffling.

Maybe because it's golden and coin shaped?

I have made olive oil shortbreads before. They were spectacular. But I can't make them the same way twice! So this time I started with a standard shortbread and swirled some fun inside.

So what is your New Year's lucky tradition?

Balsamic Swirled Shortbread

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tbsp Tangerine Balsamic

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the flour in gradually and mix until the dough sticks together nicely.

Make a well in the center of the dough and sprinkle the balsamic in. Stir around, but not too well.

Break off pieces in tablespoon sized chunks and flatten into discs.

Bake for 11-13 minutes.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

The original recipe I adapted this from was my sister in law's signature thanksgiving cookie. She makes these with chocolate chips. Chocolate is nice....But I thought these would go better with butterscotch!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Vanilla Olive Oil
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, the sugar and the egg together until creamy. Gently stir in the pumpkin and molasses. Take all the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk them together in a medium sized bowl. Combine that with the wet ingredients slowly, mixing well in between each addition so that it is well combined.  Stir in the chips.

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets in rounded tablespoonfulls. Bake 12-13 minutes. Their color is already a bit darker because of the pumpkin, so don't wait too long for them to brown.

Apricot Sugar Drop Cookies

These sugar cookies were a last minute thing. I made an apricot paste for thumbprint cookies but found out that the intended recipient was allergic to apricots! In the interest of not killing them, I used some of our Fig Jam instead, but it did leave me with a bunch of apricot paste. I contemplated sandwich cookies, but I was out of time.

So this is another cookie made from a box. With Vanilla Olive Oil of course. But still from a box. I still have a bunch of apricot paste leftover from this. Look for some more recipes with it coming up. I'm thinking chicken! But then, I always think chicken.

Apricot Sugar Drop Cookies 

1 bag of sugar cookie mix
the eggs it calls for
instead of butter or vegetable oil, use Vanilla Olive Oil in the same amount
1/2 cup apricot paste

The apricot paste makes these too sticky to roll out into shapes. But a drop cookie is nothing to be sneezed at.

Bake for the recommended time. Checking at the minimum time to make sure the apricots aren't burning.

Apricot Paste

1 1/3 cup (8 ounces) dried apricots, finely diced
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup white sugar

Put the apricots and water in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan. Heat up to just under a boil and simmer until the water is mostly absorbed and the apricots are just about falling apart. Stir every few minutes so that it doesn't scorch. Should take about 20 minutes.

Add sugar and reduce the heat just a little bit. Stir constantly until it forms a thick paste. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Can be kept for a few weeks in the fridge or a week or so out of it.

Oatmeal Cookies with Goji Berries and Pecans

You can make these cookies with any berry and any nut. I happened to have pecans and a whole bag of dried goji berries hanging around. And I love they way they taste together. Nutty and sweet, but in a more subtle way than a cranberry.

Oatmeal Cookies with Goji Berries and Pecans

3/4 cup Casa Ligaro VERDONE Olive Oil
1 cup, packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup goji berries
1/2 cup warm water or bourbon

In a small bowl, stir the goji berries and the water or bourbon together. By the time you need them, they should be ready.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a large bowl, combine the olive oil with the sugars, stirring until the oil is well incorporated. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until smooth.

In a separate bowl, stir all the dry ingredients together, except the pecans. Slowly add them to the olive oil and sugar mixture. When combined, fold in the pecans. Drain the excess liquid from the goji berries and fold them in as well.

Drop in tablespoon sized rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. They do not spread over-much, but it is always better to be safe than to have giant blob cookies.

Bake for about 11-13 minutes. They should be golden brown.