mapley walnut cookies

Having a rough day? Bake something. 'nuff said.

Cookies are my quick, easy way to escape my troubles and woes. I've been making cookies forever and ever, so I like to utilize my no brainer 'base dough' (in which I heavily modify, depending on what kind of cookie I want to make).

Oh baking, the 'exact science.' ::rolls eyes, clicks tongue, sighs:: Whatever. Honestly, it's trial and error. I learned by "ish"ing my way through recipes--and seriously, there's a billion recipes out there, and they're all different. So really, when it comes to recipes, I bend a lot of rules. I generally browse a couple of similar recipes, use good judgement, and play with them to make my own. If X doesn't work this time, try Y next time. Eventually, you'll get into a "routine" of what works for you...and then you can contribute to the sea of recipes on google. But I digress.

So on with it. Mapley walnut cookies rolled in cinnamon and sugar.

::gathering my raw materials::

Ingredients
1 stick butter, softened (if using salted, skip salt addition below)

1 cup white and brown sugar mixed together (however you wanna split this, is entirely up to you. I prefer more brown sugar for flavor and chewiness)

1 egg

1/2 tsp maple flavoring

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt (if not utilizing salted butter)

1 1/2 to 2 cups flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup cinnamon sugar for rolling


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, beat together your butter and sugars until fluffy. Add your egg and maple flavoring, and continue to beat.




Set aside for now, and chop your nuts if you haven't already. Mini choppers or hand mixers (with the chopper attachment) work wonders for nuts, and make a great addition to your kitchen gadgets. Sure beats lugging out the food processor.



Add your baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the wet mixture and mix. I do this first to ensure that all the main levening ingredients get into the mix, as you may not use all 2 cups of your flour. Begin to add your flour a little at a time to the mixture, and continue to mix. You want the dough to be soft, but not super sticky. If you're after a chewy cookie, too much flour will prevent this from happening, so touch your dough at the 1.5 cup flour mark.


Finally, mix in your chopped walnuts with a wooden spoon, and make sure they're well incorporated into the batter.


Once you feel comfortable enough with the dough, begin rolling into little 1" balls. Pour some cinnamon sugar in a small bowl and coat the dough balls before placing on a cookie sheet. Give enough space for the cookies to expand/flatten during the baking process.



Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and remove from heat. Enjoy when cooled, or slightly warm.

So there you have it...very easy, quick cookies. The maple flavoring is a nice addition to the cookies, and you can't go wrong with walnuts. You can use the "core" cookie dough recipe over and over for different recipes (everything listed above, besides the maple flavoring and walnuts).