PB Scotcharoos

I received this recipe from my friend (and boss) at Fort Stevens, Teri Wing. They are simple and quick to make, which is one of the reasons I used to make them to sell at Mom's store (Ocean Park Crab and Seafood). They're also pretty tasty!

PB Scotcharoos

Cousin Terri

1 cup sugar

1 cup white Karo™ Syrup

1 cup peanut butter

7 cups Special-K™ cereal

some margarine to grease pan

1/2 11-oz pkg Butterscotch Chips

about 1-1/4 cup Chocolate Chips

Stir sugar, syrup and peanut butter in a very LARGE pan over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat and quickly* stir in Special-K cereal. Quickly use margarine to grease a 9x13 inch pan. Do not clean off your hands! Spread mixture into pan and use your hands to press into place.

Melt chips in bowl (I use microwave at about power 4, stirring every 1-1/2  minutes until smooth).  Spread over cereal mixture and let stand until firm.

*Note: you should measure the cereal out ahead of time so you can stir it in quickly, as the mixture becomes hard to spread as it cools. When I used to make these for Mom's store I found it easiest to measure in a 2-quart pitcher.

Number 1 Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes, the recipe is correct--there is NO flour in these cookies! For those who doubt if the recipe works let me assure you that it does. I have made these cookies for years and they were a favorite when we sold them at Mom's store (Ocean Park Crab and Seafood). I use Jif™ Peanut Butter for these cookies--I don't think the healthier organic types would work for this recipe.

I call these "Number 1" for three reasons: all the ingredients are measured in equivalents of one (so it is easy to remember), it is super quick and easy (who doesn't like that?), and because of the great peanut-butter flavor (because there is no flour or margarine/butter to dilute the PB).

Number 1 Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper. Mix all of the above ingredients together thoroughly.  Drop by well-rounded spoonfuls 2 inches apart.  Flatten in criss-cross pattern with fork dipped in sugar (I also usually sprinkle a little extra sugar on top to make them sweet and sparkly!). 

Bake 14 to 16 minutes until lightly browned.  Cool on rack. Makes about 16 good-sized cookies.

Note: trying to double this recipe doesn't seem to work that well--maybe because it is harder to mix all the ingredients together thoroughly (dough is pretty stiff). However, it is easy enough to just measure the ingredients into the bowl a second time to make more cookies.

Dad with Mom on his left & friend Yvonne on right

Bird Nest Cookies

For some reason in my family we only seem to make these cookies around Christmas, but they are too good to be reserved for just one season. There are other similar recipes out there which call these "Jam Thumbprints" but we always called them Bird Nest Cookies. A food processor speeds the process by quickly and more finely chopping the nuts. Back in the 1960s when Mom made these cookies she used to fiddle about using a teaspoon to fill the center of the cookies with jelly. It is so much easier to just spoon the jam or jelly into a decorator's tube with a medium to large tip and pipe it into the cookies. If you don't own one, it is well worth the investment to just buy a cheap plastic one.

Rick, Sherrie, Terri 12-25-1954

Bird Nest Cookies

1 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks

2 cup flour

2 egg white, slightly beaten

2+ cup very finely chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks and mix well.  Add flour and mix.  Shape into small balls (about 1‑1/4" in diameter). Dip cookies in beaten egg white and roll in nuts to cover. Place on cookie sheet and press indentation in center. 

Bake in 350  oven for 8 minutes; remove, press center again (use end of a wooden spoon or some other implement so you don't burn your fingers) and fill with a tart jelly (currant or red raspberry).  Bake an additional 10 minutes.

Coconut & Macadamia Nut Cookies

Back in the late 1970s or early 1980s there was a fabulous cookie shop in Long Beach, Washington named "Plain Jane's" which sold huge, delcious cookies. Unfortunately Jane moved away, leaving me no recourse but to try to reinvent these soft and chewy cookies to which I had become addicted. 

Nieces Teena & Treeva, June 1979
on Carousel in Long Beach, WA

Coconut & Macadamia Nut Cookies

1 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1‑1/3 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1‑1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp Brandy
(optional; can also use Frangelico or Rum)

2 cups flour (can include some Oat flour)

1‑1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

7 oz flaked coconut

1 cup macadamia nuts , coarsely chopped

Cream softened margarine together with sugars.  Add eggs, beating well after each.  Add vanilla, lemon juice & brandy. Mix flour, baking soda and salt together; stir into butter mixture. Add coconut and nuts to dough.  Chill for about 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.

Drop by heaping soup spoonfuls onto cookie sheet to make large cookies.  Bake 14 to 16 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Hazelnut Balls

These cookies are quite similar to Russian Tea Cakes (aka Mexican Wedding Cakes), but with the more distinctive flavor of hazelnuts.

Uncle Lee and Aunt Peggy
South San Francisco, Jan 1959

Hazelnut Balls

1-1/2 cups hazelnuts

1 cup sifted flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Powdered sugar, to coat

Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.

Blender-grind hazelnuts until very fine; combine with flour and salt and set aside.  Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together. Add flour mixture and stir until combined.  Refrigerate dough at least one-half hour.  Form dough into 1-inch balls and place one inch apart on cookie sheet.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until set but not brown.  Cool partially on wire rack and roll in powdered sugar while still warm.  Re-roll in sugar just before serving.  Makes 24.

$3,000,000 Cheesecake

For those people who don't have large families and don't want to make a "whole cheesecake," this recipe is just as good but only half the size of the $6 million dollar cheesecake. It is baked in a 10-inch pie plate.


$3,000,000 Cheesecake

CRUST:

6 Tbs Butter

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

FILLING:

1 lb. Cream cheese (preferably Philadelphia brand)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

TOPPING:

1/2 pint sour cream

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp lemon juice

Melt butter, mix together with remaining crust ingredients in 10" glass pie pan (I usually just nuke the butter on a low setting in the pan and then add remaining crust ingredients). Press to form crust.  Mix filling ingredients until smooth, pour into crust.  Place in cold oven.  Turn to 350° degrees.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Mix topping ingredients together, pour over cake and bake for an additional 8 minutes.  Cool at room temperature for about one hour, then chill for at least four hours before serving.  Can be topped with cherry, strawberry, etc. toppings.

Note:  for ease in serving, dip bottom of pie plate in hot water for about 15 seconds so crust doesn't stick to pan, then cut and serve.

My nieces Treeva and Teena at Indian Beach, Ecola State Park

$6,000,000 Cheesecake

This makes a rich and creamy cheesecake.  I received it in the 1970s from a friend who got it from a cook at a restaurant in Eugene, Oregon.  Mom made this for many years for the Frank Glenn's Ark restaurant in Nahcotta, Washington, and later at her own market (Ocean Park Crab and Seafood--so naturally we had to have desserts too!).

$6,000,000 Cheesecake

CRUST:

3/4 cup butter

2-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

FILLING:

2 lb. Cream cheese (preferably Philadelphia brand)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2  tsp almond extract

TOPPING:

1 pint sour cream

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Melt butter, mix together with remaining crust ingredients and press in bottom and up sides of 9-inch spring form pan.  Mix filling ingredients until smooth, pour into crust.  Place in cold oven.  Turn to 350° F.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Mix topping ingredients together, pour over cake and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Cool at room temperature for about one hour, then chill for at least four hours before serving.  I prefer my cheesecake "unadulterated" but it can be topped with fruit toppings such as sweetened strawberries or a cherry topping.

My niece Treeva, who requested this recipe for the blog

Notes: I usually prepare pan by cutting a cardboard circle for the bottom, then smoothly covering that with foil and placing it in the bottom of the pan. Also, to avoid any of the butter melting out and leaking on the bottom of the oven, wrap the bottom exterior  of the pan with foil.