28 April 2010

Cookie Emergency

Uh oh!

I realized a couple of days ago that the month was fast a-waning and I hadn’t yet published a “Twelve Cookies of Christmas” recipe for April.

So I had to make cookies. Naturally, my family was devastated. Nevertheless, we valiantly forced ourselves to eat them.

I recently ordered some cinnamon mini-chips from King Arthur Flour for making scones (that recipe will be posted next week). I threw some into a basic cookie recipe.

The resulting treats were lovely. The chips are so tiny that the cinnamon flavor is a bit subtle—but I love subtle! Next time I may try them in oatmeal cookies.

This version would make a tasty addition to any May Basket you might be planning to deliver to a special someone on Saturday!

Cinnamon Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour (I used half all-purpose and half white whole wheat)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cinnamon mini-chips

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together the butter and the sugars. Beat in the egg and mix thoroughly.

Beat in the baking soda and salt; then stir in the flour, followed by the vanilla and the chips.

Drop teaspoons of dough onto an ungreased (or parchment covered) cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies brown around the edges.

Makes about 20 cookies. This recipe may be doubled.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider taking out an email subscription to my blog. Just click on the link below!

Subscribe to In Our Grandmothers' Kitchens by Email.



7 comments:

  1. As usual I scrolled through today's post before settling in to read it, and what caught my eye was the plate of cinnamon chips. Without reading the caption I assumed they were chocolate chips left in the cupboard too long or perhaps some sort of bizarre and unfortunate nut. Cinnamon chips? Who knew? I'm fascinated: your photographs make it clear how the chips work in terms of their final appearance in the baked cookie, and I was relieved by your comment that the taste was "subtle" (although perhaps perplexed at your preference for the subtle: that is always my reaction to people who adore shocking pink and then espouse modesty and a preference for the subtle). But I have a question - what on earth is in those chips besides cinnamon? What variety of cinnamon does the manufacturer use? And finally, can one use regular ground cinnamon instead, or is the idea to have bursts of cinnamon? Can you detect the cookie part separately from the nugget of cinnamon? Living as I do with someone for whom homemade cinnamon toast represents the pinnacle of fine living, I'm destined to make these cookies soon, but may embark on the baking project before I can place an order with King Arthur. Hmmm... I like the idea of "sending orders to King Arthur"! At any rate this morning proved once again that there's always something new under the sun and in our grandmothers' kitchens. Thank you for yet another enlightening accompaniment to my first cup of coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Flaneur--Here is the nutritional info, which alas does not tell you where the cinnamon comes from:
    http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/nutrition.jsp?id=1604.
    I would maybe add a little cinnamon to the cookies but not substitute it. The sugar in the chips does a little caramelization in the oven, which really helps the cookies. And of course you might lose the subtlety!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the idea of cinnamon chips! I had to make Cuban cookies for a dinner party last weekend and found a recipe that was really just a shortbread recipe with 1/2 a cup of ground almond, and 1/4 t. of almond extract. It is always interesting how a slight change in a recipe can give you something newly delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh how I love King Arthur cinnamon chips. I've used them only in oatmeal cookies. I wish subtle meant something to me but I'm of the personality that I have to be bludgeoned to notice anything so I also add cinnamon to the cookie recipe. I thought that cinnamon chips were available at the regular markets along with the 78 other kinds of chips that seem to lay in their bags awaiting to snare a shopper, but I've never seen them in Albuquerque, so King Arthur has been my only source. The King also sells Cinnamon-Flav-R-Bites which I think are too hard for cookies.

    ReplyDelete
  5. For someone who loves, loves, loves cinnamon (and snickerdoodles) this looks like a great addition to the Xmas cookie lineup.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tinky, I'm going Virginia in May to visit my son (who will have just returned from Afghanistan after a 6-month deployment) and my grandson, who just turned two. John said his son is just old enough now to make cookies with Grammy! Funny he should say that. It's what I was thinking, too, and what I loved doing with my kids when they were small. Probably won't make these since I doubt I'll have the cinnamon chips, but will look back over the last few months to find one you've posted.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, Grad, you're going to have so much fun! Commonweeder, Jean, and Donna, we have to form some kind of cinnamon club......

    ReplyDelete