Kid-friendly Cooking Project for Stir-Crazy Adults

For those of you with functioning ovens and kids home from school, here is a tasty time consumer.  For creative great tasting "homemade" cookies in a pinch, try this shortcut from Jennifer Spaide of Greenchic.com.

As a chef it’s important to know your weaknesses in the kitchen.  And I am fully willing to admit that mine is baking.  If it’s more complicated than emptying a mix into a bowl, cracking a few eggs, and whisking, don’t expect me to do it well.  So you can imagine the panic that pulsed through me when I was asked to bake cookies for some gift baskets. 

What, me?  Really?!  But I was up for the challenge… or the cheat.  Don’t tell, but I decided to pull a Sandra Lee and take some “semi-homemade” help from the grocery store by purchasing premade sugar cookie dough.  I chose an all-natural brand because it’s a little healthier (no trans fats or high fructose corn syrup).   

With the basic batter under control, and a little stress off my shoulders, I was free to get creative with the flavors & fillings.  I decided to make three different kinds of cookie:  Chocolate Cherry Almond, Ginger Sesame Coconut, and Orange Fig Thumb Drops.  These recipes are so simple it's genius (not to toot my own horn, but “Toot toot”).

Chocolate Cherry Almond Cookies

(makes 24 cookies)

14 oz premade sugar cookie dough

3 oz dark chocolate chunks

2 oz sliced almonds

4 oz dried cherries

½ tsp cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Chill dough for 30-60 minutes then place ping-pong sized balls of the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.    

Ginger Sesame Coconut Cookies

(makes 24 cookies)

14 oz premade sugar cookie dough

¼ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

¼ cup chopped crystallized ginger

¼ tsp powdered ginger  

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Chill dough for 30-60 minutes then place ping-pong sized balls of the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.    

Orange Fig Drops

(makes 24 cookies)

14 oz premade sugar cookie dough

Zest of ½ orange

8.5 oz fig spread

Dash of nutmeg  

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine fig spread, orange zest and nutmeg in a bowl.  Place ping-pong sized balls of sugar cookie dough on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Gently press your thumb into the center of each ball to create a little pocket for the filling.  Fill each pocket with fig spread (about ½-1 tsp per cookie).  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.