Reasons to buy Girl Scout cookies

Besides, how could you say no to those faces?

It’s cookie sales time in the Girl Scout world, which means that you’re bound to be asked by a little girl in a be-patched uniform (my daughter included) to buy a box of cookies, please. Maybe you made a resolution to not eat sweets this year, or you don’t even like the cookies much. They’re only $3.50 a box, however, and they’re for such a good cause. They fund camps, Girl Scouts programs, programs for Scouts whose mothers are in jail, and so many more worthy endeavors. If you need a reason to buy cookies this cookie season, here are a few you might want to consider.

You can cook with them. There are tons of Girl Scout cookie recipes all over the web. Just google the type of cookie you have alongside the term “recipes” and you will find dozens of ways to use them.

They freeze. So if you want to skip them now and enjoy them down the road or serve them at a spring party, you can do just that without feeling guilty.

They make great gifts. You are bound to know a cookie fanatic in your family or friends; buy a few boxes for him or her to support the cause. Again, they freeze, so if you need to save them for a surprise down the road like a birthday celebration, feel free.

They’re great to share. You can take them to work and put them out for folks to enjoy at office parties or just because. Help increase the camaraderie between people using the copy machine! Maybe you’ll make a new friend or two.

They teach kids great skills. Tell moms and dads that you’ll only buy from the kids (with parent present, of course) so the kids can learn about business skills, communication, entrepreneurship, money handling, and more. The Girl Scouts is the largest organization that teaches these skills for girls in the world.

Help the young girls in your life attain their goals. My daughter selected a goal that’s not completely undoable, but that’s still challenging. I’m pretty proud of her for picking this level—even though it’s mostly because she wants a stuffed dolphin. Ask your scout about her goals and offer tips for how she might be able to make the goal.

They support female leadership, friendship, citizenship and so many other worthwhile concepts. The Girl Scouts is one of the best places where girls can become strong, independent people who grow into community leaders. Your support helps makes this happen!

Cinnamon pinwheel cookies

Another great Christmas recipe

One of my favorite things to do during the month of December is to bake cookies. I love cookies and I love trying new recipes. This is a recipe I found that I think is absolutely wonderful for Christmastime. These cookies are made with cinnamon red hot candies and they look absolutely terrific. You will feel great serving these to guests and bringing them to parties you attend.

To make these cookies, you will need:

  • 2 c. flour
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ¼ c. cinnamon red hot candies
  • 1 ½ sticks butter, softened
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • Red paste food coloring

Making these cookies may take a little longer than other types of cookies, but it is well worth the time you spend. The first step is to take out a small bowl. Place the flour, baking powder and salt in it.

Next, take the cinnamon candies and grind them in a mini food processor. A coffee bean grinder works great for this too.

Take a large bowl and beat the butter and sugar together until it is creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again. Gradually add the flour mixture to this until it is just blended. Divide the dough in half and remove one of the halves and place it in a small bowl. Add the ground up candies to this half and mix well. Add some red paste food coloring to achieve the color of red that you would like.

Take out two 20-inch sheets of waxed paper. Place the red dough between the sheets and roll it out into a 15-inch by 10-inch rectangle. Remove this dough and then do the same thing to the other ball of dough.

Refrigerate the dough for around 10 minutes and then remove. Place the plain rectangle on your work surface and keep the waxed paper under it. Place the red dough rectangle on top of the plain rectangle. Start with the long side and tightly roll the rectangles together. Place the log in your refrigerator for an hour or more until the dough is firm enough to slice.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a cookie sheet. Cut the log into ¼-inch thick slices and place them on the cookie sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until lightly browned.

Peanut butter cup cookies

Try these cookies for the holidays.

If you love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, Peanut Butter Cups are the cookies you may want to try. These cookies are great all year round, but they are especially good around Christmas. If you are thinking of trying some new cookie recipes this year, add this one to your list.

The ingredients you will need are:

  • 1 ¾ c. flour
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ½ c. butter, softened
  • ½ c. white sugar
  • ½ c. peanut butter
  • ½ c. brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 T. milk
  • 40 miniature peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees before you begin. Take out a medium sized bowl and mix the flour, salt and baking soda in it. Set this bowl aside and grab another bowl. Cream the butter, white sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar together until it is light and fluffy. Beat the egg in next, as well as the milk and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture to the second mixture and combine well. Shape the dough into 40 balls and place one ball in each opening in an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake the cookies for approximately 8 minutes and once you remove them, press a peanut butter cup in the top of each one.

Cool these completely before removing from the pan and store in an airtight container. Your family will love these cookies and they also look great. You can bring them to parties and functions and everyone will enjoy them.

Pumpkin pie squares

Wonderful alternatives to pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin is a key ingredient for Thanksgiving recipes and there are many great pumpkin recipes. If you are looking for a recipe for a pumpkin dessert to try instead of making pumpkin pie, this is a great alternative. Pumpkin pie squares are very similar to pumpkin pie, but yet they are slightly different.

The ingredients you will need to make these are:

  • 1 c. flour
  • ½ c. quick oats
  • ½ c. brown sugar, packed
  • ½ c. butter
  • 2 c. pumpkin
  • 1 (12 ½ ounce) can evaporated milk
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. ginger
  • ¼ tsp. cloves
  • ½ c. pecans
  • ½ c. brown sugar, packed
  • 2 T. butter

To make pumpkin pie squares, you will need to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Next, place the flour, oats, ½ c. brown sugar and ½ c. butter in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Spread this mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13 pan and push down evenly. Bake this crust in the oven for around 15 to 20 minutes.

Then you will need to combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, salt and spices in a large bowl. Mix really well and pour this into the baked crust. Bake for around 20 more minutes.

Finally, combine the pecans, ½ c. brown sugar and 2 T. butter and mix well. This will be a crunchy topping for the bars. Spread this over the bars and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Frosted pumpkin cookies

Wonderful cookies to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.

If you are looking for some great festive cookies to bring to Thanksgiving dinner at your relative’s house, here is a recipe to try. Pumpkin is a wonderful ingredient for fall recipes and it is used to make pies, cakes, muffins and even cookies. These cookies are exceptionally moist and delicious. They are frosted with cream cheese frosting and they are just perfect for this time of year. Some people love these so much that they make them year round.

The ingredients you will need for this are:

  • 1 c. butter flavored shortening
  • 1 c. white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 c. canned pumpkin puree
  • 2 c. flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 16 oz. container cream cheese frosting

To begin, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the cookie sheets you will be using. Mix the butter flavored shortening and sugar together in a bowl. Next, beat in the egg, vanilla and pumpkin puree.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and instant vanilla pudding mix. Gradually add this to the first mixture. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and place them two inches apart on the grease cookie sheets.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer them to wire racks to cool completely before frosting with the cream cheese frosting. Serve these for dessert around the holidays and enjoy. They go well with a tall glass of milk too!

Gingerbread cookies

These are great cookies to make with kids.

Gingerbread cookies are great around Christmas, but they are also good at other times of the year too. These cookies are fun to make with kids because you can decorate them after you bake them. To make Gingerbread cookies, you will need the following ingredients:

  • 6 c. flour
  • 1 T. baking powder
  • 1 T. ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 c. shortening, melted
  • 1 c. molasses
  • 1 c. brown sugar, packed
  • ½ c. water
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Take a large bowl and stir together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

Take another bowl and mix the shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg and vanilla. Mix these things until they are smooth and fluffy. Add the flour mixture slowly to this mixture and stir until it is well mixed.

Divide the dough into three equal pieces and pat each piece down until it is approximately 1 ½ inches thick. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least three hours.

After the three hours is up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out until it is ¼-inch thick and cut out gingerbread shapes. Place the gingerbreads on ungreased cookies sheets and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes.

You can then make frosting or use pre-made frosting to frost the cooled gingerbread men. After you frost them, you can use candies and other types of sprinkles and decorations to decorate the cookies.

More cake mix cookie recipes

When you don't have a lot of time, try these recipes.

Making homemade cookies is fun and rewarding, yet it takes time and you must have the appropriate ingredients on hand. Cake mix cookies are easier to make than regular homemade cookies because they require less ingredients and this makes it faster to whip up a batch. Here are two great cake mix cookie recipes.

First:

To make this one, you will need one cake mix in any flavor, 1 stick of butter and one egg. All you have to do is mix these three ingredients together and drop the dough by rounded tablespoonsfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Keep the cookies at least two-inches apart for spreading. Bake the pans of cookies in the oven at 350 degrees for 9 to 12 minutes. If you would like to add other ingredients such as chocolate chips or nuts, that works out great too. You can also frost these cookies and they will taste like small little cakes.

Second:

This recipe requires several more ingredients, but the results are great. You will need:

  • 1 pkg. Devils food cake mix
  • ½ c. oil
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • ½ c. pecans, chopped

To make these, mix all of the ingredients together and drop the dough in teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and remove to wire racks.

Both of these recipes are very easy and the results are great. If you don’t have a lot of time or if you don’t have all of the ingredients to make regular cookies, try one of these recipes.

Cake mix cookies

Try this easy recipe for cookies that uses a chocolate cake mix.

I have tried several cookie recipes that involved adding a cake mix before. Some of these have turned out good, while others I didn’t care for a lot. This is one of the better ones I have tried and it is easy to make because it involves adding a cake mix. Here are the ingredients you will need:

  • 1 chocolate cake mix
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 c. chocolate chips

As you can see, only four ingredients are needed for these wonderful cookies. They are easy to make, and you probably already have these four ingredients in your home.

To begin, preheat your oven to 350-degrees. Take out a bowl and pour the dry cake mix into it. Add the softened butter and the eggs and mix well. After this is mixed good, add the chocolate chips. This makes the dough for the cookies and you can then drop the dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake each pan for around eight to 10 minutes and transfer the cookies to wire racks after letting them cool for around five minutes.

If you don’t have a lot of time to bake cookies, this is the perfect recipe. It is a great chocolate recipe for chocolate lovers and it will not take a long time to make these. After trying this recipe, you may agree that this is a great cookie recipe that involves using a cake mix. If you like this one, there are many others that also use cake mixes.

Pecan Sandies

If you like pecan sandies, you will love this recipe.

If you like pecan sandies, you will love these cookies. They are easy to make, and you will most likely have all of the ingredients needed on hand. You can make a double batch of these if you like them a lot, and this will result in a large amount of cookies. These are great to bring to potluck dinners or to a friend’s house for a gathering.

The ingredients for these are:

  • ¼ c. powdered sugar
  • 2 c. flour
  • 1 c. pecans, finely chopped
  • 1 c. butter, softened
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 T. water
  • Additional powdered sugar for coating

For this recipe, you will need to preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Take out a large mixing bowl and place the butter and powdered sugar in it. Mix these ingredients together well with an electric mixer, until they are light and fluffy. Next, add the vanilla and water and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda together. Add this to the first mixture and mix well. Finally, add the chopped pecans.

Take the dough and form one-inch balls with it. Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheets and then flatten each one slightly with your hand. You can also place the dough in the refrigerator for an hour or so before you do this because it will help make it easier to work with.

Bake the cookies for around 20 minutes and let them cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. When they are completely cool, place two or three in a bag filled with additional powdered sugar. Shake the bag gently to coat he cookies and then store them in an airtight container.

Pumpkin bars

Pumpkin is a great ingredient for fall baking.

As fall sets in, I love making recipes that involve pumpkin. Pumpkin is not a flavor that everyone enjoys, but I know that I do and my family does as well. This recipe is for Pumpkin Bars. These are cake-like bars and they are absolutely delicious.You will need these ingredients to make the bars:

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 2/3 c. sugar
  • 1 c. oil
  • 15-ounce can pumpkin
  • 2 c. flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. baking soda

To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin in a bowl and beat until it is light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add this slowly to the first mixture and beat until it is smooth. Place this batter into a greased 10 x 13 inch baking pan and bake for around 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While this is cooling, prepare the frosting. For the frosting, you will need:

  • 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 2 c. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the cream cheese and butter together until it is smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix again. Spread this on the cooled bars. Before spreading this, I like to cut the bars first. I do not spread frosting over the entire top, but I prefer to place a small dollop of frosting on top of each of the squares that I had cut.

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