Welcome to #cookieweek my little cookie monsters! Susan of The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen and Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic have joined together this week with 23 of their blog friends (me being one) to present to you a week of cookie treats! We have every type of cookie you can think of listed this week, including something for our furry friends! Now is the time to bookmark these recipes for the upcoming holidays and cookie swaps! Make sure you enter the giveaway with some fabulous prizes from KitchenAid, King Arthur Flour, OXO, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar to help with your cookie making needs!
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Anyone that has read my blog for a minute knows that my Granny was the most influential person in me becoming me….the days spent at her house were long, tortuous days—days filled with cream of wheat with butter and sugar and half and half….endless hours of cartoons, and Little Rascals, and the Three Stooges….baking mud pies on the bricks lining the driveway….awaking from a long afternoon nap to find they had magically become actual chocolate chip cookies. You know, a real hell on Earth.
Obviously, my childhood spent in my Granny’s home and kitchen was idyllic. It would be my greatest wish that every child had such love and warmth in his or her life.
For breakfast, she would prepare Cream of Wheat, with some sugar and butter, and just a dash of cream. And I’m not talking about that quick- junk either…Actual 10 minute Cream of Wheat…I liked the lumpy bits the best. Sometimes, instead, she would make boiled potatoes smashed up with soft-boiled eggs and a liberal lashing of butter. So simple and so delicious.
We would go to the grocery store, usually once a week, and usually stopped by the health food store for vitamins and healthier stuff. I would get a strawberry banana smoothie sweetened with honey–so ahead of my time. She would by carob, for a healthier chocolate substitute, and supplies for making her own yogurt and yogurt popcicles….One time, after such a trip, she made some cookies that I have never forgotten, and also never had again. All I can remember is that they were made with sunflower seed in some form. I don’t know if it was sunflower seed meal, or just the seeds, or some of both. Both I remember them. They were like a thin, crisp oatmeal cookie, but had a definite sunflower seed flavor to them, which I loved.
I thought I would try to recreate something like them for #cookieweek, and came up with something very close. I have no idea how similar this is to her recipe, but it DOES take me back there……I also added raisins for sweetness and some different texture.
I named these Kitchen Sink Cookies NOT because of what all is in them, but because I remember her having me eat them over the kitchen sink–they were so crunchy.
Kitchen Sink Cookies
Kitchen Sink Cookies
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt** (omit if using roasted salted sunflower seeds)
- 2 cups quick cooking oats
- 1 cup high protein granola cereal, crushed coarsely
- 1 cup honey roasted sunflower kernels (in the salad aisle–use regular salted ones if these aren’t available)
- 1 ½ cups raisins
Preheat oven to 350*
Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour, soda and baking powder, stopping once to scrape down your bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients, mixing well. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto parchment or silicon lined baking sheets, at least 3” apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the center of the oven, until the edges are browned. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Hint: for a batch of cookies that are uniform in size and shape, invest $15.00 in a stainless steel cookie dough scoop…They come in a few sizes, and make for very fast cookie making, as well as perfectly round cookies that are the same size.
Using a 1 1/2″ cookie scoop
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Check out these other cookie recipes, brought to you by my friends:
- Black Forest Sandwich Cookies by Cravings of a Lunatic
- Chewy Cocoa Fudge Cookies by Food Lust People Love
- Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies by i heart eating
- Macadamia and White Chocolate Chip Cookies by In The Kitchen With KP
- Maple Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cups by Beyond Frosting
- Maple Cookies by Total Noms
- Nutella Cookies by NinjaBaking.com
- Nutmeg Logs by Love and Confections
- Oatmeal Raisin by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
- Peanut Butter Blossoms by Like Mother Like Daughter
- Pumpkin and Apple Dog Cookies by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
- Raspberry Streusel Bars by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Cinnamon Frosting by Chocolate Moosey
- Spicy Ginger Chews by Crumb
- Vodka Cookies by Masala Herb
We have an amazing giveaway lined up this week thanks to our fabulous sponsors, KitchenAid, OXO, King Arthur Flour, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar.
Four lucky winners will win one of the following:
Prize #1: 1 (one) KitchenAid 9-Speed Hand Mixer plus 1 (one) 4lb bag of Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
Prize #2: 1 (one) OXO gift set including the following: 1 (one) 3-in-1 Egg Separator, 1(one) Cookie Press, 1(one) Autumn Cookie Disk Set, 1(one) 3 piece Cookie Cutter Set, 1(one) Bowl Scraper, 1(one) 2 Cup Adjustable Measuring Cups
Prize #3: 1 (one) King Arthur Flour gift set including the following: 1(one) King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour -5lb bag, 1(one) Snowflake Cookie Cutter Set, 1(one) King Arthur Flour Pure Vanilla Extract, 1(one) Sparkling Sugar Collection, 1(one) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Wafers – 16oz and 1(one) 4lb bag of Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
Prize #4: 1 (one) Silpat Halfsize Mat and 1(one) 4lb bag Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
This giveaway is open to US residents and will be picked from random draw. The winners will be notified via email and have 72 hours to respond, if not their prize is forfeited and another winner will be chosen.
A little about our sponsors:
The iconic Kitchenaid stand mixer was born in 1919, from there stemmed an entire kitchen of high-performance appliances -all created with the same attention to detail and quality.OXO’s mission is dedicated to providing innovative consumer products that make everyday living easier.King Arthur Flour was founded in 1790, as America’s oldest flour company they provided pure, high-quality flour to residents of the newly formed U.S., still going strong, they are the nation’s premier baking resource.Silpat was founded in 1965 by M Guy Demarle in Northern France. He was an experience baker seeing a better way to bake bread with forms using non-stick silicone coatings. He invented the first non-stick baguete baking trays and a few years later invented and created the original Silpat.Zulka Pure Cane Sugar is a Non GMO Project Verified “Morena” sugar – a term used to described granulated sugars that do not undergo conventional refining processes. Zulka is perfect for baking, it tastes better, is less processed and is a cup for cup replacement.
Disclaimer: KitchenAid, OXO, King Arthur Flour, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane are providing the prizes free of charge. All opinions stated are my own.
Texana's Kitchen 
COOKIES!! I so believe you need a cookie taste tester and I am just the pig for the job my friend. AND I’m cheap. I eat for free 😉 winks. These look awesome. I could easily snarf down one or a dozen. XOXO – Bacon
aw this is so cute! Love how you tried to recreate your granny’s cookies! They look pretty daaarn delicious!
Love the cookies. I love hoilday baking
I love hoilday baking
Some childhood memories are just precious. Your relationship with Granny sounds wonderful. You were a lucky child to have her in your life.
I also share your memories of Cream of Wheat for breakfast. I can still see the pool of melted butter in the center of all that white goodness. You are right, the lumpier the better.
I can’t wait to try these cookies.
I love my cookie scoop which was a gift from a dear friend so it does the double duty of reminding me of someone I love and making baking easier with more uniform cookies and less messy muffins. Great story of shopping and baking with your grandmother, Christine, and those cookies look crunchy and delicious!
Oh yes! I use my big scoop for muffins and cupcakes. It really changed my life when I figured that out. So much cleaner. So much faster…..
Aw, such lovely memories! I have a special fondness for sunflower seeds, too…and what a yummy addition to your cookies! I promise to eat these over the sink if you share some with me 🙂
What a lovely post, Christine…Thank goodness for caring grandmothers…And thank you for the scrumptious cookie recipe!
How fun! Granola and sunflower seeds! I never would have thought.
Yummy cookies!:)
What great memories you are lucky enough to have of your grandmother! And I was way cuted out by the “kitchen sink” part of these cookies 🙂
A cookie tastes better when there’s a story behind it! Love the sunflower kernels in it.
Ahh wish I’d known about this sooner. I made orange and lemon cookies last week. Very proud of the end results but then can cookies ever taste bad?
Orange and lemon cookies sound heavenly!
They were very delicious