Back to School? Maybe. But there’s always Milk and Cookies, right?

Back in the day, when I was a young girl, I walked home from school and before I did any homework or piano practice I had a snack. My Mother was a cookie baker so invariably, the snack was milk and cookies. We didn’t have little bags of chips or puffs or granola bars back then.

I remember one time my mother veered away from her usual Fannies, peanut butter cookies and kichels. That was the day I brought my friend Joseph Lieberman (no, not that Joseph Lieberman) home to do homework together. I was happy my Mom had baked something new because Joseph had been to the house several times and maybe he was bored with the same old stuff. I had asked her if, sometime, she could bake something else. And so she did.

She made sugar cookies.

They were a great success. She made them occasionally after that but usually went back to the old favorites.

I’ve made my Mom’s recipe a few times over the years. Depending on the time of year I cut them into different shapes with cookie cutters (Hearts for Valentine’s Day usually).

This isn’t my Mom’s recipe though. I fiddled with it because hers included butter and I wanted to make it non-dairy. Also, I just bought some new jars of date honey (silan) and wanted to use that instead of the regular honey. She also added citrus peel and I didn’t.

But it is more or less her recipe.

Whether or not our children actually go back to school this season, milk and cookies is always a good treat.

In addition, these cookies, with the traditional holiday dates and honey, are a delicious choice for Rosh Hashanah (whether you use old fashioned honey or silan).

Shanah Tovah.

Date Honey Sugar Cookies

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening

• 1/2 cup solid coconut oil

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup date honey

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 large egg

• 1 large egg yolk

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine the shortening, coconut oil, sugar, honey and vanilla extract and beat at medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well blended. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the honey mixture and beat at medium speed until a soft dough forms. Roll the dough on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out shapes with 2-inch round or heart-shaped cookie cutters. Place the cookies prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown. Let cool. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes about 36

Coconut Cookies

Almost everyone I know is baking more these days.

Me too.

Also, everyone I know is complaining about gaining weight from all the stuff they are baking.

Me too.

But, okay, this Covid thing will be over one day and I can go on a diet then.

In the meantime I am baking more.

Because of all the extra baking I needed to branch out a little. I was overloaded with my usual Grand Finale cookies, Fanny cookies and peanut butter cookies. It’s like watching Casablanca or Tree Grows in Brooklyn again. I love those movies and have seen them a zillion times and will watch them again. But enough is enough — for a while anyway.

So I decided on coconut cookies. These are really really good. One of the grandkids said they are better than all the others.

That is a huge endorsement!

The recipe calls for shredded coconut but I actually used Bob’s Red Mill coconut flakes instead, because I happened to have some. But I’ve made them with shredded coconut too. Good either way.

Glass of milk — iced tea — iced coffee. Your choice.

Coconut Cookies

• 1 cup butter

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup quick cooking oats

• 1 cup shredded coconut

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• confectioners’ sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another minute or until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add this mixture to the butter mixture and beat for about 2 minutes or until well blended. Place blobs of dough about 1-inch in diameter (heaping tablespoon) on ungreased cookie sheets, leaving space between dough for the cookies to spread. Gently tap the tops of the dough blobs to flatten them slightly. Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool and decorate with sifted confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Makes about 30

Banana Muffins with Buttermilk or Yogurt

Today is National Muffin Day and it reminds me of what happened long ago when I first started working full time as a low-level attorney at a high-power firm, right after law school. All the other associates came to work carrying coffee and cartons of breakfast, which they proceeded to eat at their desks. Eggs, and everything with it.

I was always a yogurt woman, even back in the day when Dannon was the only one you could buy and there were only about 5-6 flavors.

But then someone told me about the blueberry muffins from the deli downstairs and unfortunately I tasted one. That was the end of my days of never even thinking about whether I gained a pound or two. I added a blueberry muffin to my yogurt breakfast.

Every day.

I gained a quick “freshman ten” and that was no small thing because back then I was really slim.

Alas, I gave up the morning muffins our of sheer vanity. But not my love of them.

Over the years I’ve occasionally made some at home. Blueberry. Cranberry-Orange. Pumpkin Spice. Zucchini. But it’s usually when we have sleepover guests because the muffin indulgence and the memory of how quickly they added to my girth has tempered my desire to eat them as often as I would like to.

Buying muffins is a no-no for me because the store-bought ones have become so ENORMOUS since the days when I had those luscious things from the deli.

I prefer the old-days size. The kind that comes out of a normal household muffin tin.

I made these Banana Muffins recently. They’re a lot less sweet the the typical muffin and have a vaguely robust hint of molasses. I’ve made these with stirred, plain yogurt for the times I didn’t have buttermilk on hand.

If you love muffins as much as I do, there are plenty of recipes on my blog. Type “muffins” in the box under “search my recipes” and you can find them.

Btw, if you give away food for Purim, these make a lovely gift.

Banana Muffins with Buttermilk or Yogurt

• 1-3/4 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed

• 3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk

• 1/4 cup molasses

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 large egg

• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2-3 tablespoons old fashioned oats

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 9 muffin tins. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the bananas, buttermilk molasses, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix only long enough to combine thoroughly. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Scatter the oats evenly on top of each muffin. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 9

Banana Cake with Dates and Orange

Tu B’shevat is not one of the more well-known Jewish holidays, but it certainly is one of the more delicious ones. It’s known as “new year of the trees” and although it comes in mid-winter it’s a reminder that tree fruit is forming, that winter is nearly over, that warmer weather and new crops will be here soon.

And so, on Tu B’shevat we eat fruit. Our meals typically include some or all of the 7 species mentioned in the Torah: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.

What a perfect occasion for banana cake studded with sweet, dried dates! I use medjool dates, but any variety will do. Or, you could substitute dried figs or raisins (dried grapes, right?)

Banana Cake with Dates and Orange

• 2-1/2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup butter, margarine or vegetable shortening

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup date syrup (silan)

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed

• 3 large eggs, slightly beaten

• 1 cup chopped dates

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a (10-inch) 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, orange peel, baking soda and baking powder together in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until well blended. Add the date syrup and bananas and blend them in thoroughly. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the flour mixture and beat until batter is well blended. Fold in the dates. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes one cake serving 12-16

Flavorful - yet Salt-Free - Blueberry Muffins

People frequently joke about the fact that after you reach a "certain age" -- whatever that is -- you get "conditions." So you have to watch what you eat because maybe your LDL cholesterol level is too high or your blood sugar is too high or your weight is, well, let’s not discuss that…. 

But when you think about it, however old and/or fit you are, it's always a good idea to eat more or less healthy food. Especially at this time of year when we’ve spent the last month or so indulging through the holidays.

I'm not suggesting that we never indulge in rich, fattening, sugary or fried food. I have posted recipes for fried onion strings and chocolate cake, haven’t I?

Just as a general matter, I think it's smart to be aware of your body and the consequences of what you feed it.

Over the new year weekend, I had to prepare recipes that contained less salt because one of our guests has high blood pressure and needed to cut down on salty foods.

Not a problem. In many cases, for multitudes of recipes, other flavor enhancers come in handy — think citrus peel, extracts, ground spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon, herbs such as thyme and basil, chili peppers, fresh ginger, hot sauce — there are loads of choices.

Here’s the recipe for Blueberry Muffins I served. I added both cinnamon and orange peel as well as vanilla extract (I recommend pure Bourbon vanilla extract, not imitation). You could also stir some chopped nuts into the batter.

No salt necessary. They were terrific for breakfast.

Remember these next Purim — they make excellent edible gifts!

Salt-Free Blueberry Muffins

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 3/4 cup milk

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon or orange peel, optional

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin tins. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk the ingredients until well blended. In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs, peel, if used, and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter into the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly blended. Fold in the berries. Spoon equal quantities of the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly golden brown. 

Makes 10 muffins

Kourabiedes

Years ago, before even floppy disks, I would bake zillions of cookies for the Hanukkah-Christmas season and give baskets of different kinds to the editors of the various local newspapers and magazines that I wrote for.

There were always: butter cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chippers, oatmeal raisin, gingersnaps and Chinese cookies.

Occasionally: Dutch Butter cookies, St. Cupcake Brownie cookies, Orange Marmalade cookies and Fruit Roll cookies.

My house smelled as fabulous as any bakery. Various and sundry repair people, delivery people and dog walkers would occasionally stop by and ask if there were any “seconds” — you know, not pretty enough for the gift baskets — that they could sample.

I always gave away (still do!) a lot of food.

One year I added kourabiedes (Greek almond-butter cookies) to the assortment. They got rave reviews and I always included them after that.

Of course time passed and, thanks to technology, I no longer deliver hard or floppy disks to editors. Everything is sent over the internet. To places far and wide.

So, no more editor-and-media staff cookie baskets.

Less work (baking cookies, that is), but also less personal contact with the people I write for.

I still give away a few cookie baskets but I don’t bake the variety of cookies I once did. Hadn’t made kourabiedes for a year or three until a few days ago.

So glad I did! They are as delicious as I remember. A few simple ingredients. Not fancy or fussy. I like to think of them as “the coffeecake of cookies” — the kind you reach for with afternoon tea or coffee. Lightly sweet and buttery but not overly rich. Freezable. Perfect for giving away. Or not.

Kourabiedes

• 1 cup butter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup ground almonds

• 1 egg yolk

• 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• confectioner’s sugar for coating

• ground cloves, optional

Beat the butter with an electric mixer set on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, or until it is light and fluffy. Add the flour and almonds and mix for a minute or two until the ingredients are well blended. Add the egg yolk, confectioner’s sugar and salt and beat until ingredients are well blended and a uniform dough has formed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Take off pieces of dough and shape them into balls about 1-inch in diameter. Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 25 minutes or until they are lightly tanned. Let cool. Roll the cookies in confectioner’s sugar to coat the entire surface. Place on a serving tray and sprinkle with ground cloves if desired. 

 Makes 4 dozen

Zucchini Bread

When we were first married, Ed promised me 50 years. That was in 1969. We were young and 50 years seemed like a REALLY REALLY long time.

Grandparent stuff.

But here we are. A few months short of 50.

Wasn’t it yesterday that I fit into that long white dress?

We wanted to celebrate with two other couples, all close friends, who are also at 50.

But we didn’t want to have a big party. Not even an intimate dinner party for six. Although those are lovely, it seemed like the same-old, same-old. 50 years deserved something special.

So we decided to have a 150th Anniversary Afternoon Tea.

It was festive, fun and celebratory.

We started with champagne and tea sandwiches.

Then: scones, clotted cream and jams.

Finally, dessert: several kinds of cookies, Lemon Buttermilk Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake and this: Zucchini Bread, (made with zucchinis from my garden!).

Just us 6. It was a good day.

We all talked about how amazing it is at how quickly 50 years go by.

Zucchini Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup applesauce

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups grated fresh zucchini

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan. Place the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk the ingredients until they are evenly distributed. Place the brown sugar, sugar, eggs, applesauce and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a hand mixer) and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in the zucchini. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the muffins onto the rack to cool completely.

Makes one loaf

Fruit Roll Cookies

Our family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but we do celebrate cookies, which are as ubiquitous during the Christmas season as doughnuts during Hanukkah and matzo balls during Passover.

Every December I make a load of cookies. I give most of them away as gifts, but of course, keep (in the freezer) a container or two of family favorites for us.

Depending on how much time I have, I make these oldies but goodies: Fannies, Grand Finale cookies, Dutch butter-almond cookies, peanut butter cookies, lemon bars, cheesecake cookies, Chinese cookies and Orange Marmalade cookies.

Last year I added these Fruit Roll cookies, based on my mother’s wonderful “frozen dough” nut roll. They were a big hit, so I’m going to make them again this year.

Fruit Roll Cookies

Dough:

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 pound butter, cut into chunks

• 1 cup dairy sour cream

Filling:

• 2 cups mixed diced dried or candied fruit (such as cherries, pineapple, orange peel, cranberries, apricots, dates, figs

• 1 cup raisins

• 3/4 cup chopped nuts

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 cup orange marmalade

To make the dough: place the flour in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the butter and beat at low speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is crumbly (you may also do this by hand or using the pulse feature of a food processor). Add the sour cream and mix it in to make a smooth, uniform and slightly sticky dough. Dust the dough with flour, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

To make the filling: Place the dried fruit, raisins, nuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and toss the ingredients to distribute them evenly. Add the marmalade and mix it in to coat all the fruit.

To assemble: Lightly grease a baking sheet. Cut the dough into 5 pieces. Working separately with each piece of dough, roll the dough on a floured surface to a rectangle about 12-inches by 6-inches. Place 1/5 of the filling on each rectangle, forming the mixture into a strip along one of the long sides and to within 1/2-inch from the ends of the two short sides. Roll the dough and place each roll, seam side down, on the baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Score each roll along the top with a sharp knife at 1-inch intervals. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven, let cool, then cut along the score lines.

Makes about 60

Orange-Vanilla Flavored Cheese Stuffed Dates

Sometimes I think life is a bunch of holidays with not much in between. Except for the entire month of January.

I suppose that's a good thing, because holidays are happy and celebratory.

Also, there's the food. Except for Yom Kippur, every holiday has food. And even when it comes to Yom Kippur, there's the break-the-fast when it's all over and the break-the-fast is all about food. 

As far as holidays go, at this point of the year, we've just finished Thanksgiving. So what’s next up?

Hanukkah!

Hanukkah is a really delicious holiday. Lots of fried stuff like latkes and doughnuts.

It's also a dairy holiday because of the story of Judith, which you can read about it here. 

For our family, in honor of Judith, I make lots of dairy items in addition to the usual potato latkes and doughnuts. I have served cheese latkes and potato latkes with a yogurt based sauce laced with lemongrass. And also Potato Galette with Caramelized Onions and Cheese and Almond Crusted Winter Squash and Noodle Kugel (actually that one’s a favorite). 

Desserts? Maybe Meyer Lemon Yogurt Pie (you can use regular lemons) or Baked Goat Cheese with Honey Sauce and Cranberries. Maybe even cheesecake. Or some fabulous cheesecake cookies!

And also these stuffed dates! Easy to make, not too sweet (no added sugar), these little morsels are perfect for the holiday. If you don't want to use almonds for garnish, crushed, toasted coconut will do nicely.

Btw, these make a nice tidbit for New Year’s, either as hors d’oeuvre or late night snack. 

Orange-Vanilla Flavored Cheese Stuffed Dates

• 12 medjool dates

• 1/2 cup cream cheese (4 ounces)

• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt

• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3 tablespoons crushed toasted almonds (or pistachios or crushed, toasted coconut)

Cut the dates through the center, but not all the way through to the bottom. Remove the pit and spread the date slightly to form a hollow for filling. Mix the cream cheese, yogurt, orange peel and vanilla extract in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth and soft. Fill the dates with the cheese mixture. Sprinkle with the nuts.

Makes 12 

Cherry Muffins

Today is George Washington's actual birthday (also my grandmother's) and when I was a kid, we used to celebrate on this day. It was always when we ate something with cherries because, well, as far as Washington was concerned, everyone knows the story about the cherry tree and all. And also my grandma loved cherry-vanilla ice cream.

I just happened to have a jar of cherries in the house so I figured I'd make something with it to wish happy birthday to my grandmother and also our first president.

These muffins.

Fortunately Purim is only a few days away, so I can give them away for mishloach manot. Otherwise I might eat all of them and that wouldn't be very good.

 

Cherry Muffins

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1- 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt or dairy sour cream or buttermilk
• 1/4 cup fruit juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped fresh cherries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffin tins. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon peel in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix the eggs, melted, cooled butter, yogurt, juice and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ones and mix to combine ingredients. Fold in the cherries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 12