Leesh & Lu's Recipe Box (2024)

Recently I emailed family to ask for their favorite recipes to compile in our own food family history book. I love food and how it brings our family together. I mean every time we get together we eat - so we know it brings us together. But really, I love the memories that come with food and the times of year we eat it, etc.

And since we love food and family and friends! We've teamed up with DiOro Living for another deal! They are just amazing to reach out to us with these great deals! We aren't getting paid to share this, we actually reached out to them for the spatula giveaway from a few years back, when they offered Leesh & Lu's Recipe box readers, followers and friends, their amazing seamless silicone spatulas for $1. And you guys loved that! So they are back with the launch of a new product, and love our readers. We're so excited! These silicone baking mats! They'll be only $3.75 - with free shipping * and ship through amazon. So free shipping for you * amazon prime members*. What a steal!

Here is the PAGE TO GO TO FOR THE PRODUCT AND COUPON CODE. It'll direct you to Shop Otter Deals, which is Di Oro's Facebook Fan Page where they do promotions for their products - and that will lead you to Amazon.com - then you'll just use the coupon code they provide to purchase it for $3.75.

I love how the mat has the cut corners so it will fit completely flat on an 11x17 baking sheet. And I think the color and "BAKE IT" is so good looking! It also helps get an even bake and no sticking to the pan. Which I love. And bonus - you don't have to wash the cookie sheet! It keeps the sheet clean underneath.

It also comes with a free storage snap-wrap. I thought it was a slap braclet at first - haha! But I love that it keeps the mat rolled up for storage! How convienent! So no need to save the box for storing it! And it also has a lifetime warranty. They make great products and stand by them.

Back to the recipe:

So my family is sending me lots of recipes to try and photograph (which is something I love to do) and then create a book and also post the recipes so we have them digitally. So I think it's going to be a fun project. This is my first official family history recipe for my husband's side of the family.

My sister-in-law, Jayna, send me this cookie recipe this week and I just had to make them. They are seriously good! I don't usually cook with crisco--I'm a butter girl! But I know some people just rave about it in cookies. And I was seriously happy with the results. It's still got butter - and more butter than crisco. But crisco gives it this slight crisp that butter can't. So I think these are the best of both worlds.

Jayna said this recipe comes from Preston City's Centennial Cookbook. That's where her husband's family lives. So I think this is a great first recipe of my family food history series. Because chocolate chip cookies are a big thing in our family and they are acceptable anytime of the year (everyday????).

Anyhow I hope you love these are much as we do!

We love sinckerdoodles! Lately I can't decide between a fresh warm snickerdoodle and a chocolate chip cookie!!! But sometimes I don't want to take the time to roll out those perfect little balls of delicious dough. That's where these Snickerdoodles in bar form come in handy. We get the fix without too much work. And hey, you don't have to hang out around the oven until the last pan of cookies is finished baking either. Win-win! Snickerdoodles from start to finish in 30 minutes! I'll take it!

Don't you love a good snickerdoodle? I do! To me a "good snickerdoodle" equals a tangy cookie that is baked to a chewy crisp on the outside and still soft in the middle. Mmmm, these bars give you the best of both worlds. The outside of the pan gets that nice chewy crisp, and the middle stays perfectly soft.

We thought the cinnamon chips added the perfect touch here. They are optional, but if you're looking for them, they can be found at most specialty kitchen stores. They make the most amazing cinnamon chip bread for french toast, too!

Make sure to serve them warm with a glass of cold milk and they'll be sure to hit the spot!

Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars

Yield: 9x9 baking dish (9-12 cookie bars)

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, melted

½ cup white sugar

⅓ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

¾ teaspoon salt

Topping:

1 tablespoon white sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons mini cinnamon chips, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to incorporate. In a separate bowl whisk together: flour, soda, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, cream of tartar and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture until smooth.

Line a 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish with foil so it slightly hangs over the edges on two ends for easy removal - and lightly spray grease. Press the cookie dough mixture into the pan, you can leave a ½ inch space around the edges - as it bakes it will travel to the edge and climb up the edge less if you leave the gap.

In a small bowl stir together the topping mixture of cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle evenly across the top of the cookie dough. Sprinkle the top with mini cinnamon chips if desired (they are a fun garnish - but not necessary for the taste).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack until completely cool. Lift the bars out by the tin foil onto a cutting board and carefully remove the foil. Cut into bars. Enjoy with a glass of cold milk!

Recipe Source:

When I think of St. Patrick's day, green obviously comes to mind. And I'm a huge fan of no food coloring added as much as possible. So when I'm coming up with a St. Patrick's day menu, I'm looking for things that are edible looking. No green pancakes, no green eggs and ham. I have to be able to want to eat it when I look at it. These Chewy Andes Mint Cookies are right up my alley of ok (green-ish, they really don't have a ton of green in them, just bits of Andes mint pieces) food to eat. Chocolate mint screams St. Patty's day to me. You?

These also make a great holiday cookie around Christmas time too!

These cookies are seriously amazing! Just check out what's in them!

First is the blended oats. Blending up the oatmeal gives you the chewiness that only oatmeal can add to a chocolate chip cookie, but with a smoother texture that makes for a pretty and irresistible cookie.

The second thing that makes these different than your average chocolate chip cookie is the grated chocolate bar. I can't even find words to explain it, but it makes these cookies exponentially better. More chocolate in every bite is never a bad idea. Just try it and you'll understand. It also doesn't hurt that this makes one GIANT batch of cookies-perfect for gifting to neighbors, saving cookie dough for snitching, or storing baked cookies in the freezer for unexpected guests!

These cookies got rave reviews at both of our houses! Santa or Mr. Leprechaun is sure to love them, too!

Chewy Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

5 cups oatmeal, blended (measure before, then blend in blender until powder)

1 ¾ cups Andes mint pieces

1 ¾ cups dark chocolate chips

3 cups chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts, optional)

1 (6-8 ounce) chocolate bar, grated

Sea salt for sprinkling

Notes:

I added ½ cup extra flour to the original recipe b/c we are at about 5,000 feet above sea level. If you are below 5,000 feet you can probably get away with 4 cups of flour.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment, silicone baking mats or just on the cookie sheet (un-greased is fine).

Cream butter and sugar on high in a mixer for 3 minutes, until light creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix one more minute. Measure 5 cups oats into a blender jar and blend until a fine flour. Mix all soda, baking powder, salt, flour, blended oats together in a large mixing bowl. Add the dry mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix together and add Andes mint pieces, chocolate chips, grated chocolate bar and nuts, mix until combined.

Make golf ball sized cookies place 2 inches apart. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 6-8 minutes. Let cool on a cookie sheet for 2 minutes and the on a wire rack until completely cool. Store in an air-tight container. Freeze for longer lasting cookies. Makes 112 cookies.

Recipe Source:

Slightly adapted from a recipe from our grandma and mom - added Andes mint pieces, ½ cup flour, and sea salt. Originally posted on Eigtheen25.

How fun would these rainbow sprinkle cookies be for St. Patty's Day? Cookies on a stick are a fun tradition in our family and the kids go crazy for them. Especially this colorful version! Really they can be adapted to any holiday/season by changing up your sprinkles. They are perfect for parties or gifting. They package up nicely and transport easily. Our mom used to bring them to school on our birthdays. They are happiness on a stick.

These cookies can be summed up in 6 simple steps:

1) Start with a snickerdoodle cookie dough base. 2) Roll in your favorite sprinkles. 3) Insert popsicle sticks and flatten slightly. 5) Bake until they begin to set up. 6) Be the coolest mom/neighbor/friend ever!

Quick tip on the sprinkles: you can often ask for seasonal sprinkles at your local bakery and they will sell any amount you need to you in a little tub super inexpensively! We have tried this successfully at both Smith's/Kroger and Wal-mart.

Is it wrong (or lame?) that this gif is so fun for me to watch?

Sprinkledoodles {on a stick}

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sprinkles
Popsicle sticks

Directions:

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and mix until well combined. Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll into balls (about golf ball sized). Roll each ball in sprinkles. Insert popsicle sticks about halfway into cookie dough balls. Place on a lined baking sheet. Gently press each cookie with a glass or other flat surface.

Bake until edges begin to set up, about 8-10 minutes.

Notes:

I safely can bake 6 cookies per sheet (11x17 pan) - golf ball size is much bigger than most cookies I do. And since you don’t want the cookies running into the other popsicle sticks as they spread and bake is a good reason to bake fewer per sheet. Arrange the sticks and cookies so they don’t spread into each other.

Recipe Source:

A Leesh and Lu original, by Lu. Originally posted on landeelu.com

Okay, if you don't know Leesh and I very well yet, let me just make one thing clear. WE LOVE COOKIES! Leesh's go to chocolate chip recipe is this one. I, on the other hand haven't really committed to having one until these were brought back into my life. These cookies date back to our childhood. Coming home from school to fresh cookies was always my favorite!

These cookies! Seriously! Our mom made them when we were growing up and I can't believe I've lived away from home for so long and not ever made them in my own kitchen until recently. Leesh sent me the recipe a few months ago, saying, "remember these?!?!". I did and immediately added the ingredients to my shopping list.

I know you can only have so many chocolate chip cookie recipes. But this one is a keeper for sure. And it's different than all the others I've made. We love oatmeal chocolate chip and regular chocolate chip. And these are kind of a mix between the two with a few extra special things added, like blended oats, a grated chocolate bar in addition to the chocolate chips and some yummy sea salt sprinkled on top. I think another batch is in order right now!

I love these cookies so much because they still have that yummy hearty taste of oatmeal, but are much lighter since the oats are blended into a flour. And the grated chocolate and sea salt just do something magical. I like to make them a little bigger than usual. 2 inch balls. This recipe makes a lot, I usually half it and it's still PLENTY! But we love to freeze them and pop one or two out each day and enjoy them for a while. I love them frozen, and they are also delicious nuked in the microwave for 20 or seconds, just enough to soften the chocolate and pretend it's fresh from the oven.

If you like cookies morning, noon or night, we hope you'll give these a try next!

-Leesh and Lu

Mrs. Field’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour (I like half wheat and half all-purpose)

5 cups oatmeal, blended (measure before, then blend in blender until powder)

24 ounces chocolate chips

3 cups chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts, optional)

1 (8 ounce) chocolate bar, grated

Sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment, silicone bake bats or just on the cookie sheet (un-greased is fine).

Cream butter and sugar on high in a mixer for 3 minutes, until light creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix one more minute. Measure 5 cups oats into a blender jar and blend until a fine flour. Mix all soda, baking powder, salt, flour, blended oats together in a large mixing bowl. Add the dry mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix together and add chocolate chips, grated chocolate bar and nuts, mix til combined.

Make golf ball sized cookies place 2 inches apart. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 6 minutes. Let cool on a cookie sheet for 2 minutes and the on a wire rack until completely cool. Store in an air-tight container. Freeze for longer lasting cookies. Makes 112 cookies.

Recipe Source:

slightly adapted from a recipe from our grandma and mom. Originally posted on landeelu.com