Pinter Test Kitchen 1: Cookies & Salsa

I found another fun blog that does another fun linky party. Something to keep me motivated to cook and post about it for ya'll. (Yes, I'm from the south).

First up: Lemon Crinkle Cookies

These won the LDS Living Best Cookie award. I've had a motto my whole life, "If it doesn't have chocolate, I don't eat it". In my later years I've started branching out...and...there are some good non-chocolate things out there. AND since Amy said these were the BEST COOKIES EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to try.

The first time I made these I forgot the baking soda. I think they turned out better that way. You may want to give that a whirl...

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest 
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoons baking soda
• 1-½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

I won't say they're the best ever, but for a non chocolate dessert, they were pretty dang good.

Next: Quick and Easy Salsa

I love my own Mexican food. However, I don't make a good salsa. My favorite restaurant salsa is probably Taco Surf. You can buy theirs in a huge containers for like $10, so that is what I usually do when hosting a party needing salsa. However, when I needed salsa for the tostadas I was making for Boston's birthday, I left getting over to Taco Surf until the last minute, and they were closed :( So...Pinterest to the rescue!

You can click on the link above for the original recipe. I've made it a few times and altered a couple of things.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 1- 10 oz can orginal Rotel or the lime and cilantro variety is yummy too.
• 1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded or not (depends on how spicy you like it)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• medium size handful of cilantro leaves, washed
• juice of 1 lime

For non chunky salsa, just throw all of that in your food processor and blend it up. If you like some chunk, set aside 1/2 of the tomato, onion and cilantro and chop it up to your desired chunkiness. Blend the remaining ingredients, and then add in your chunks. Make sense?

Super easy, super yummy.

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