Cookie #32 - Idaho Potato Chip Cookies

I find it intersting that Idaho is nicknamed the "Gem State" because nearly every gem known has been found there.  That's pretty darn cool.  I've never known Idaho to be famous for gems, just potatoes - and boy, do I love potatoes.  I can only think of one way I don't like potatoes:  potato salad (and that's only because of my irrational fear of mayonnaise. 
I heard about potato chip cookies quite a few years ago during a cookie swap.  I thought the idea was intriguing.  I'm a fan of chocolate covered potato chips, so why not in a cookie? 
I'm going to be brutully honest here.  I was not impressed.  I thought the potato chips got soggy - like potato chips do after being left in a bowl all day outside at a barbeque.  Kind of squishy.  Perhaps it was the humidity or the moisture from the cookie in general.  The flavor itself was good.  Salty and sweet and not at all potatoey.  It was just the texture that threw me off.

Idaho Potato Chip Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 cup crushed potato chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth.  Mix in egg.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt, then stir into butter mixture. Stir in potato chips.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, about 2" apart.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until light golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Cookie #31 - Hawaii White Chocolate Macadamia

In 1882 macadamia seeds were first brought to Hawaii by William H Purvis.  Macadamia nuts became a commercial crop in Hawaii in the 1920's.  The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Company is the world's largest processor of macadamia nuts.  The Mauna Loa plantation was established in 1946, with the first commercial crop harvested ten years later.

I love macadmias.  I love the rich taste and the almost creamy texture.  I especially love them covered in chocolate.  My second favorite way is in a cookie.  A white chocolate chip cookie, to be exact.  The white chocolate has the same creamy texture of the nut, just softer. 

These cookies are delicious.  They are soft and sweet.  I like mine just slightly overdone, with a nice crispy bottom and soft top. 

Hawaiin White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugars together until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, until well combined.  Add vanilla.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add slowly to the butter sugar mixture until well combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. 

Drop by rounded tablespoons full onto parchment lined baking sheets about 2" apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on the edges (or slightly longer if you like them overdone like me).  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Cookie #30 - Georga Coca-Cola Spice Cookies

On May 8, 1886, Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia sold the first Coca Cola.  I initially had planned a peach cookie for Georgia, but thought Coca Cola would be different and give me the opportunity to experiment with an ingredient I've never used in a cookie.  I chose a spice cookie to carry the Coca Cola and I was honestly pleased with the results.
The cookie itself does not taste like Coca Cola.  The syrup really just added a spicy sweetness to this crisp cookie.  The addition of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper make this cookie warm on the palate and the coating of turbinado sugar adds a crunchy texture to an already crisp cookie. 
I used my usual spice cookie recipe and just replaced the molasses with coke syrup that I made by reducing a can of Coke in a saucepan.  This spice cookie is one of my favorites to make and one of the first recipes I ever wrote myself.  It doesn't require the use of an electric mixer as it uses vegetable oil instead of butter.  I haven't tried it with applesauce as a replacement for the oil (as I do in my carrot cake), but I think I might have to give it a shot. 

Coca Cola Spice Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup Coca Cola Syrup*

1 egg

2 cups AP flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginge

1/8 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

1 pinch fresh ground black pepper (roughly one quick grind of a pepper mill)

1/2 cup turbinado sugar for coating (I use Sugar in the Raw)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix brown sugar, oil, Coca Cola syrup and egg together in a large bowl until well combined.

In a medium bowl, sift togehter flour, baking soda, salt and spices.  Add to sugar/oil mixture and stir until well combined.

Roll dough into 1" balls (it will be very soft) and roll in turbinado sugar.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2" apart (these cookies spread). 

Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies spread and just start to brown on the edges.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

**To make Coca Cola syrup, heat one can of Coke until boiling, allow to simmer and reduce to about 1/4 cup.  It took about 25 minutes.

Cookie #29 - Florida Key Lime

The one thing I remember from my first and only trip to Key West was the abundance of key lime flavored delights.  Key lime ice cream, cheese cake, martinis, and, of course, pie.  What better way to represent Florida than with a key lime cookie. 
For the key lime cookie, I took my traditional recipe for Russian Tea Cakes and added the key lime flavor.  I thought the light, crumbly texture of the Tea Cakes would be the perfect vehicle for the Key Lime flavor.  I traded out the walnuts for macadamias to keep with the tropical feel.
Unfortunately, in my area of Pennsylvania, there seemed to be a shortage of key limes.  After trips to 4 different grocery stores I came up empty handed.  I had to resort to using regular limes. Hopefully in your area, key limes are a little more abundant.  That's one thing I miss about living in the NYC metro area - the ability to get almost any ingredient you need at almost any time of day. 

Key Lime Cookies

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon fresh squeeze lime juice (preferably from Key Limes)

1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest (again, Key Limes are preferred)

6 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
2 cups flour

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar for decoration.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter, juice and lime zest until smooth.  Combine flour and confectioner's sugar together and add to butter mixture until blended.  Stir in macadamia nuts.

Roll dough into 1" balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the bottoms are just golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

When cool, roll gently in powdered sugar twice, allowing the cookies to rest between coatings. 

Cookie #28 - Delaware Peaches

I have to admit, when it came to Delaware I was a bit stuck.  The state drink is milk, but I just couldn't find or come up with a milk cookie that I really liked.  Then I came across this little historical tidbit:  in the 1800's Delaware was the leading producer of peaches in the United States.  Perfect!  A peach cookie!! 
In my search for the ideal peach cookie, I came across a traditional Croatian cookies called breskve.  These cookies consist of two richly dense cookies sandwiched together with a mixture of cookie crumbs, nuts and peach jam (or Nutella, as you'll see).  When you cut these little beauties in half, they look just like the inside of a peach.
I have to warn you:  these cookies are labor intensive.  I skipped the coloring and sugar step in the recipe I used and I still found them to take a lot of time.  The next time I make them, I'll also have to try to make the balls I rolled smoother so they look more peach like.  Despite the amount of work they took, the flavor was well worth it!  I will definitely be making these cookies again.  I can't wait to experiment with different flavor fillings.  I also will serve them already cut in half, because a whole one can be a little overwhelming - plus I think they are cuter sliced. 
The source for this recipe was a fellow blogger:  Melita at Cafe Chocolada.  Oh my what a beautiful blog.  It is what my small, little blog aspires to be. 
After seeing Melita's breskve, I'm almost embarrassed to post pictures of mine, but that wouldn't be keeping with the point of this blog.  This is a learning experience for me and I promised to share with you everything:  the good, the bad and the ugly. 
I did follow this recipe exactly (with the exception of the coloring and sugaring).  This meant that at 8:30pm, I had to run to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy a food scale since the ingredient measurements are given in grams.  I'm glad I did because I've used it several times already since buying it.
So here are my breskve, using Cafe Chocolada's recipe here.

Cookie #27 - Colorado Chocolate Snowcaps

Recently, one of my nearest and dearest friends picked up her roots and moved to Colorado.  Denver doesn't know how lucky it is to have Elena (and Brian, too).  I miss her terribly.  Even though I didn't see her as often as I'd like (we lived over an hour from each other), it was nice to know she was there if I needed her.  She still is and I have to remind myself she's only a phone call/email/text away.  I'm happy for her and the new life she and her hubby are making for themselves. 

When I think of Colorado, I think of snow.  The snow capped mountains hovering over the towns and cities.  I found it fitting that Colorado's cookies should represent that.  These cookies have a decadent chocolate flavor.  Crispy and sweet on the outside, deep, dark and rich on the inside. 

Colorado's Chocolate Snowcaps

2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used 60% )
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Melt bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler and set aside to cool.
Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs until well combined.  Add cooled chocolate and mix well.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
Transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll dough into 1" balls and then in powdered sugar, twice.  I like to roll all the balls first, then roll them all in the powdered sugar individually the first time, then again.  This makes a nice thick coating of powdered sugar.
Place about 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies have spread and the coating has crackled.  The cookies will look underdone and soft to the touch - you want them that way.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To store these cookies, don't stack them on top of each other.  They are very soft and will stick to one another.  I store them in a rectangular resealable container with a piece of parchment between the layers - if they last that long!  They are so delicious and really rich - super good with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.  Yum!

Cookie #26 - Connecticut Nutmeg Icebox Cookies

Connecticut's nickname is "The Nutmeg State."  According to Wikipedia, the origins of this nickname are unknown.  Even so, I decided a nutmeg based cookie would represent Connecticut. 

Nutmeg itself is kind of funky looking:

From the nutmeg tree two spices are harvested:  mace and nutmeg.  I don't think I've ever cooked with mace so I can't speak about it's flavor.  Nutmeg, on the other hand, I've used many, many times.  I have two whole nutmegs in my pantry and they are well loved.  The flavor of fresh ground nutmeg is leaps and bounds better above the pre-ground jarred stuff (this is true with most spices). 

For this nutmeg cookie, I used a traditional icebox cookie and added the nutmeg flavor.  The cookie has a wonderful flavor and the spicy nutmeg adds a nice warmth to the sweetness.  These cookies were really easy to make - the whole batter went together in just minutes.  After chilling them, I sliced and baked and the aroma of sugar and nutmeg filled my kitchen reminding me of fall.

Connecticut Nutmeg Icebox Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

Cream butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and egg until well mixed.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, salt, and nutmeg.  Add slowly to butter and sugar mixture until well combined.  Transfer to a sheet of waxed paper (or plastic wrap) and roll into a log about 2" thick.  Wrap tightly and refrigerate at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into 1/4" rounds.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2" apart.  bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.