Cold, rainy days best spent baking cookies

Sometimes it appears that true spring will never get here! I find solace from the cold, rainy, cloudy skies in the kitchen where the warmth of the oven and good smells from baking waft away thoughts of the weather.

Though I’m admittedly not much of a cookie baker now (I became jaundiced about it in the days of baking them for my six school-age kids) I do occasionally weaken and make a batch or two. Today I’ll share some long-time favorites. Enjoy!

Our first is the famous Bonner General Health delight served at many of the BGH-Hospice Healing Garden events.

Fresh Orange Cookies

3 cups sugar

2 cups soft butter

2 cups sour cream

4 eggs

8 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups orange juice

1/3 cup grated orange peel

Beat sugar and butter till light and fluffy. Add sour cream and eggs; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup; level off. Stir into batter with remaining ingredients. Mix well. Drop dough 2 inches apart onto lightly oiled or sprayed cookie sheets; bake at 375 degrees (or 350 in a convection oven) for 8-10 minutes. Frost with the following icing.

Frosting

1/2 cup melted butter

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

4-6 tablespoons orange juice

Mix all ingredients well to spreading consistency and frost slightly cooled cookies.

Super Chunk Jumbles

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup firm-packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 package (6 squares) Baker’s premium white chocolate, chopped

2 cups chopped walnuts, toasted

1 1/2 cups raisins

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour, soda, and salt; stir in white chocolate, walnuts and raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoons 1 1/2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks. Makes about 3 dozen.

One-Bowl Brownies

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup (1 1/4 sticks) butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups chocolate walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees if using a glass baking dish). Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler over simmering water until the butter is melted, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir sugar into chocolate mixture until well blended.

Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and walnuts until well incorporated. Spread in greased foil-lined 13x9-inch baking pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out with fudgy crumbs. DON’T overbake! Cool in a pan; cut into squares. Makes about 24 fudgy brownies.

Maple-Spice Cookies

1 cup vegetable shortening (use half butter if desired)

1 cup firm-packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar1/2 cup dark pure maple syrup

2 eggs

4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. Cream shortening and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy; beat in maple syrup and eggs one at a time. Combine flour, soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture to shortening mixture a little at a time, mixing until well blended. The dough will be sticky.

Sprinkle granulated sugar onto a sheet of waxed paper.

With buttered hands, roll dough into 1&1/2-inch balls and dip tops into the sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until light golden brown and the center is set; do NOT overbake.

Let cool on a baking sheet for 1 minute or so, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

(Editor’s note: For many years, Valle Novak wrote gardening and cooking columns for the Daily Bee. “Weekend Gardener” and “Country Chef” became renowned for their humor, information, and common sense advice on how to do everything from planting to cooking. While she recently passed away, she has left behind a number of columns to share with and delight her many fans. This is one such column and was originally published on April 11, 2010.)