These really are the best cookie recipes from scratch.
I offer the BEST malted milk ball cookies, cheesecake cookies, oatmeal filled peanut butter cookies and so many more below.
Best Cookie Recipes
Following are great homemade cookie recipes. They will soon become your favorites too.
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Cheesecake Cookies
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Best Chocolate Cookies
Lemon Cookie Recipes
Malted Milk Ball Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Pumpkin Cookie Recipe
Sugar Cookie Recipes
Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
Filled Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
No Bake Cookie Recipe
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Before you dive in to make my some of my best cookie recipes, I want to give you some tips that are worth reading by Dorie Greenspan. After reading these tips, you will have perfect cookies EVERY time.
Cookie Baking Tips
Cookie jar cookies are the chunky sweets of lunch boxes and afternoon snacks, the grab-’em cookies of kids on the run and the midnight snacks of just about anyone old enough to be up late.
They are easy to prepare with children because, other than the measurements, there’s almost nothing precise about these sweets. They are either spooned out onto baking sheets or shaped into balls.
What does count is how you bake them. Always start with a cool baking sheet – pull one that’s just out of the oven, and your dough will ooze and melt before it bakes. Choose sturdy baking sheets that won’t twist or warp under heat.
Avoid insulated baking sheets – they bake more slowly than standard sheets and while they’ll never give you burnt bottoms, they usually won’t give you beautifully golden ones either.
Always line the baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, which will not only make clean-up easy, but will help the cookies to bake more evenly.
Using the same amount of dough to shape each cookie will guarantee even baking of your cookies. You’ll also get cookies of roughly equal size, so you’ll avoid any arguments about who got the biggest one.
Some cookies like to spread out in the oven, but even non-spreaders shouldn’t be crowded on the baking sheet; all cookies need space so the oven’s heat can bake their edges properly.
When you are making one of my best cookie recipes, don’t be in too much of a rush when you bake them either, no matter how eager you are to eat them. Just as it’s important now to crowd the dough on the baking sheets, it’s also important not to crowd the oven in an attempt to reduce the number of batches. If you do, the heat won’t circulate evenly around the baking sheets.
Some cookies do fine when you bake two sheets at a time and rotate them at the midway point, while others do best when they are baked one sheet at a time in the center of the oven.
Finally, if the little (or big) monsters haven’t devoured your cookies straight off the cooling racks, you might actually have some to pack into a cookie jar.
If that’s the case, here’s a word of advice: keep crunchy kinds in one jar and the soft, chewy ones in another – mix them up, and you’ll end up with a jar full of softies, since crisp cookies are defenseless against moisture from neighbors.
When making my best cookie recipes – Use high quality ingredients and you will have the most flavorful cookies.
Do NOT sift the flour, but lightly spoon it into a measuring cup and level it off with a butter knife. Please measure accurately. Use large eggs, unsalted butter and pure vanilla extracts; no imitations.
When baking, use parchment paper (curl side down) on the baking sheets; no greasing and easy clean up. Space cookies two inches apart to they can spread without touching the next cookie. Chill the dough for at least two hours before doing cut-outs.
Is your cookie dough too soft? Refrigerate it or add additional flour (1 tablespoon at a time), until dough is stiff enough to handle. Or is your cookie dough too dry? Mix in one to two tablespoons of milk.
If you bake them a couple minutes less than the time specified, you will have a chewier cookie. Add two more minutes and your cookie will be crunchier. Cool cookies completely before frosting.
Unbaked cookie dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours or frozen in an airtight container for 9 months. Thaw until soft enough to handle.
The next two of my best cookie recipes were published in the Wisconsin State Journal; Cooks’ Exchange. Catherine Murray posts some of the best cookie recipes. This is Catherine’s recipe, and was popular in 1937.
CRYBABY COOKIES
1 cup plus 2 TBS shortening (lard)
1 cup plus 2 TBS white sugar
1 cup molasses
2 eggs, well beaten
5 cups flour
1 TBS baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup milk
Frosting
Mix ingredients together:
1 stick softened margarine (or butter)
4 cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 TBS milk
1 tsp homemade pure vanilla extract
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix first three ingredients and add well beaten eggs. Mix dry ingredients together and add 2 to 3 cups to the first mixture. Add milk and the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.
Drop by teaspoons onto baking sheets and bake for approximately 12 minutes. When cooled, frost with the powdered sugar frosting – which does not need to be very stiff to spread. Makes 8 dozen cookies.
Another one of her best cookie recipes, this cookie is for date lovers. Delicious.
RECIPE FOR AFGHANS
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped fine
1/2 cup boiling water (or more to cover dates)
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp homemade pure vanilla extract
2 cups cornflakes
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.
Place chopped dates in a small cup and cover with boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Drain and discard liquid – set aside.
Combine flour, cocoa and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the dates. Beat in the vanilla extract.
Gradually add the dry ingredients. Fold in the cornflakes. Break off walnut-sized pieces of dough, roll into balls and place 1-1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until firm to touch. Transfer to wire racks and cool.
Note
These balls can be rolled in finely chopped nuts before baking. They can also be dredged in powdered sugar after baking, but these are quite sweet, so taste one before you decide to roll in sugar. Makes 3 to 4 dozen.
FOR PERFECT CUT-OUT COOKIES:
Roll out cookie dough between two pieces of parchment or waxed paper. You can also roll them out on a powdered sugar surface.
Using light pressure roll evenly from the center of the dough to the edges, lifting the rolling pin at the edges. Roll chilled cookie dough in parts, keeping the rest in the refrigerator so it doesn’t become too warm and sticky.
Dip cookie cutters in powdered sugar, and shake off excess before cutting. For chocolate dough use cocoa powder.
Lift cut dough to the prepared cookie sheet using a scraper or turner that is at least as wide as the cookie to prevent stretched cookies.