3 and cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup
when you measure it)
1 cup crushed corn flakes (it takes about 2 cups corn flakes
to make 1 cup of crushed corn flakes)
30 red maraschino cherries OR 30 pecan or walnut halves
to garnish your cookies
Hannah"s 1st Note: Unless you have a very strong stirring arm, use an electric mixer to make this cookie dough.
Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Place the b.u.t.ter, which must be softened to room temperature, on top of the sugar.
Turn the mixer to LOW and mix for one minute. Gradually increase the speed of the mixer, sc.r.a.ping down the sides of the bowl frequently and beating for one minute at each level, until you arrive at the highest speed.
Beat at the highest speed for at least 2 minutes or until the resulting mixture is very light and fluffy.
Turn the mixer down to LOW and add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Continue to mix on LOW speed while you add the salt and the baking soda. Mix until they are thoroughly incorporated.
Measure out a cup and a half of lemon pie filling. With the mixer on LOW speed, add the pie filling to your bowl and mix it in. Then add the lemon juice and lemon zest and mix that in.
Mix in the flour, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. (You don"t have to be exact - just add the flour in 4 increments.) Shut off the mixer and sc.r.a.pe down the sides of the bowl. Then give the mixture a final stir by hand. The resulting cookie dough should be fluffy, but not at all stiff like sugar cookie or chocolate chip cookie dough. Let the bowl sit on the counter while you. . .
Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. It"s the easiest way to bake these cookies. If you don"t have parchment paper and you really don"t want to go out to get any, grease your cookie sheets heavily, or spray them thoroughly with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
If you haven"t already done so, crush the corn flakes and measure out one cup. Place the finely crushed corn flakes in a shallow bowl. This is what you"ll use to coat the outside of your Lemon Softie dough b.a.l.l.s.
Using a teaspoon (not the measuring kind, but one from your silverware drawer), drop a rounded teaspoon of cookie dough into the crushed corn flakes. Use your fingers and a light touch to form it into a ball. Lift the ball gently and place it on your baking sheet. Continue to form dough b.a.l.l.s covered with crushed corn flakes, 12 to a standard-size cookie sheet. Top each dough ball with a maraschino cherry half (rounded side up) or a walnut or pecan half, and press it down gently.
Bake your Lemon Softies at 375 degrees F., for 12 minutes. Take them out of the oven and slide the cookie-laden parchment paper onto a wire rack to cool. If you used greased cookie sheets, you"re going to have to let the cookies sit on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack with a metal spatula. Let the cookies cool completely before you attempt to remove them from the wire rack.
Yield: Approximately 4 to 5 dozen soft and moist cookies, depending on cookie size.
LISA"S WHITE CHOCOLATE SUPREMES Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 cup melted b.u.t.ter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, pound)
cup white (granulated) sugar
cup brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you
measure it)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and teaspoons baking soda
teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a gla.s.s with a fork)
2 and cups flour (don"t sift pack it down in the cup
when you measure it)
2 cups white chocolate chips (I used an 11-ounce package)
1 and cups chopped macadamia nuts (measure BEFORE
chopping)
Melt the b.u.t.ter in a microwave-safe bowl or in a saucepan on the stovetop.
Mix in the white sugar and the brown sugar, beating until the resulting mixture reaches a smooth texture and is a uniform color.
Stir in the vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
Feel the sides of the bowl. If it"s not so hot it"ll cook the eggs, add them now. Mix thoroughly.
Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing after each cup.
Add the white chocolate chips and the macadamia nuts to your bowl and mix thoroughly.
Hannah"s 1st Note: Macadamia nuts are expensive. Feel free to subst.i.tute pecans in this recipe.
Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto an UNGREASED cookie sheet, 12 cookies to a standard-sized sheet. (You can also line your cookie sheets with parchment paper if you wish.) Bake at 350 F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until nicely browned.
Take the cookies out of the oven. Let them cool for 2 minutes, then remove them from the baking sheet and transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Hannah"s 2nd Note: Lisa developed this recipe, and it"s just like they say in the potato chip commercials - you can"t eat just one.
LITTLE s...o...b..a.l.l.s.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 and cups melted b.u.t.ter (3 sticks, 12 ounces, pound)
cup powdered sugar (that"s confectioner"s sugar)
1 and teaspoons vanilla
teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
teaspoon salt