No-Crumb Spice Cookies

Well.
It's that time of year again.
When I must start thinking of (and cooking!) holiday blogging ideas so I can get them posted in a timely manner.

There is just something wrong about needing to think about Christmas in mid-October.
Especially with all this lovely fall weather we've been having lately.

My kids actually went swimming last week.  On October 15th, for crying out loud!

I don't *feel* like thinking about Christmas.
I don't.  I don't.  I don't.

So, I think I'll show you what's been going on around here, instead, since the last time I posted.

Here goes:

 

Little One turned 6

 

 

 

It was our final year on the committee for the PSC Chicken BBQ for our school.

Many, Many, Many Thanks to each of you who came--we appreciate your support!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, T & I were able to get away for the weekend to Lake Tahoe.

Neither of us had ever been there before and we can't wait to go back and take the children.

Beautiful.

Simply Beautiful!

 

And on our way there we stopped at Apple Hill for lunch and an apple turnover (of course!).

 

 

 I love the evening Alpenglow...

 

...and the mountain Sunrise.

 T says that I don't take "selfies," but "we-ies"

 



 

 Tahoe Queen

 



 Emerald Bay

 

Vikingsholm was closed for the season

 but we did enjoy the walk down to and around the grounds

 

The spider webs beside each horn caught my attention

 

My breakfast crepes at Heidi's Pancake House, a fun Swiss-style place for breakfast and lunch.

 

We also ate at Cup of Cherries (which I would recommend over Heidi's--the Island Pancakes, oh my!  Melt-in-your-mouth pancakes with coconut syrup, caramelized macadamia nuts, and sliced bananas!  drool...  And, they do really awesome artwork in your latte or cappuccino,

which is always an added bonus any day), and had dinner at Primo's Italian Bistro.  We really, really enjoyed our dinner at Primo's and highly recommend the restaurant--don't be put off by the surroundings: it's next door to a Laundromat.

 

 And then on the 3rd & 4th Grades Field Trip on Amtrak to the Zoo!

 

 Feeding the Giraffes

 

 Big Sister turned 9

Daddy does such a good job getting special Birthday breakfasts!

 

And then there was a family party for the three girlies with birthdays in a three-week span:

 

 Kristi does throw such lovely parties, doesn't she?

 

 

And that brings us up to date!

And here is the proof that yes, the kiddos did go swimming in mid-October.

October 15th, to be precise!

 

 

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

 

 "Come, and let us

go up to the mountain of the Lord,

and to the house of the God of Jacob;

and He will teach us of His ways,

and we will walk in His paths;

for the law shall go forth from Zion,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

...and we will walk in the name of the Lord,

our God, forever and ever."

Micah 4:2,5

 

 

 

And now, back to our featured presentation:

No-Crumb Spice Cookies

 

Ok. That sounded kinda silly.

Anyway.

 

This recipe is one that T's Mom and Grandma made a lot.  It's a really good, buttery spice cookie which, as the name suggests, really doesn't make a lot of crumbs.  And if you're a mom with little kids, this is always a good thing.

 

 

 

Before I get on with the recipe, I do want to clarify a few things:  This is a cut-out cookie recipe and because of the high amount of Butter, it can tend to distort shapes in the oven.  To minimize this, the instructions call for refrigerating the dough several hours or overnight but then it's almost too stiff to roll out.  Keeping the Butter cold slows down the spread or distortion in the oven but it makes the dough really hard to work with.

 

 

 

I'm giving you the recipe as written, but I have been playing around with the dough to try to minimize or eliminate the need to refrigerate.  So far what I've come up with is to eliminate the Baking Soda and add an additional 1/2-cup Flour but then the scraps toward the end have too much Flour and I don't like this extra-floury flavor.  You could, of course, make the recipe as written, eliminate the refrigeration, and pop the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies into the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking--this works well--but I don't usually have that much freezer space.  If you play around with this and come up with a solution, let me know.  I'd love to hear what you did!

 

 

 

No-Crumb Spice Cookies

 

2  Cups  Butter

3  Cups  Sugar

2  Eggs, beaten

1  Tablespoon  Dark Corn Syrup (light works, too; the cookies just won't have as dark of color)

5 1/2  Cups  Flour

4  Teaspoons  Baking Soda

2  Tablespoons  Cinnamon

4  Teaspoons  Ginger

2  Teaspoons  Ground Cloves

 

Icing:

2  Egg Whites

1/4  Teaspoon  Almond Extract

4  Cups  Powdered Sugar

Mix all together and ice cookies as desired

 

Preheat Oven to 375*.  Cream Butter and Sugar.  Add beaten Eggs and Corn Syrup.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Refrigerate dough until thoroughly cold, about 3 hours or overnight.  Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.  Bake 8-11 minutes, until firm but not crisp.  Excellent without Icing (my preference), but if you wish to decorate, use the recipe above.  Makes about 6 Dozen cookies.  Keeps very well in the freezer.