With my downsizing to a much smaller home and there only being me on my own now, I have developed a huge interest in small batch recipes for two, or even for one. To cook more than that is just wasteful for just me, in all honesty.
I know that from time to time I will have more people to feed, but most of the time it is only going to be myself. And even when I was living in the UK, there was only the two of us and I had moved more and more towards small-batch cooking and baking.
I don't want to be that person who only buys ready made stuff from the shops because I can buy them in smaller quantities. I want to be able to make and bake my own things. I want to know exactly what is going into my food, and I want to be able to control the portions and sizes of what I make.
With that end in mind over the past year or so I have slowly been moving towards cooking and baking in smaller quantities. I thought it would be fun to share with you today some of my favorite recipes for cookies and bars that I have been able to successfully downsize.
Each is delicious and none are lacking in any of the scrummy deliciousness of their full sized versions. I can totally promise you that! You can look forward to more recipes like this in the future!
Let the baking begin!
Sweet & Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies
These are an incredibly moreish cookie with just the right combination of salty and sweet. Crisp edged and stuffed with crunchy potato chips, broken pretzels, chewy coconut, wholesome oats and ooey gooey chocolate chips.
This small batch recipe, makes only 10 beautiful cookies. This is perfect for the smaller family or for those of you who don't want a whole lot of temptation hanging around the house! (Me on both counts!)
Quarter Cup Cookies
These were originally called Ten Cup Cookies. They were given that name because they were composed with 10 (1 cup in size) ingredients.
Butter, creamy peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, flour, chocolate chips, quick cooking oats, shredded sweetened coconut, chopped pecans and raisins. Ten simple ingredients. Ingredients most of us have on hand most of the time.
I have successfully managed to downsize this recipe so that it makes only 13 cookies. Each one is crisp edged. Each one is buttery. Each one is delicious.
Loaded Cowboy Cookies
This tasty recipe makes only one dozen (LARGE) cookies. They are lovely, crisp edged and nice and chewy in the middle.Filled with toasted pecans, chocolate chips, sweet flaked coconut, old fashioned oats . . . Perfect to be enjoyed with a glass of cold milk while you are in the throes of a colouring fest . . . or with a nice hot cuppa when you are taking a well deserved mid morning break.
Small Batch Amish Sugar Cookies
This is a cookie I used to bake for my children quite often when they were growing up. I used to try to have some kind of a treat waiting for them every day when they got home from school.
This is a great recipe. I actually won a ribbon at the county fair back home one year with them, so you know these are really good cookies.
You can leave them plain, or you can glaze them if you like. I actually really like them both ways! Delicious, delicious, delicious! Recipe makes 2 1/2 dozen.
Lydia's Junior Cookies
These delicious drop cookies are wholesome and old fashioned . . . almost like little cakes. Not greasy and filled with the homey flavours of warm baking spices . . . cinnamon, ginger . . . nutmeg . . .
They are also flavoured with molasses and brown sugar and studded with lots of raisins and toasted nuts. These scream home sweet home! You will get 2 dozen tasty bakes from this recipe.
Lemon Frosted Gingerbread Cookie Bars
These lush bars are crisp edged and chewy middled. The recipe makes exactly 8 nice sized bars. No more, no less.
I suppose you could cut them larger, but there is such a thing as too much goodness, and that would be it.
These tasty bars are buttery and flavoured with molasses and vanilla, as well as plenty of warm baking spices. I do so love the warm baking spices, don't you??
Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Allspice . . . they are all in there . . . you could also add a touch of ground cardamom as well if you wished. It would not go amiss.
Homemade Fig Bars
Let me tell you . . . these are infinitely better than the fig rolls that you buy. No, the filling isn't totally encased and rolled up in a biscuit dough . . .
These are more like a bar. There is plenty of filling to cookie dough ratio I think it is the perfect amount.
You get the sweet brown sugar dough, crumbly and buttery . . . both on the bottom as a bar and on the top as a crumble. These are moist and crumbly and incredibly moreish, from that buttery crust to that sweet and sticky filling.
This fabulously tasty recipe makes 8 perfect sized bars.
Magic Cookie Bars
These eagle brand magic cookie bars are nothing new. I've been baking them for my family for years and years. I am sure you have as well. They are delicious!
I think I got the original recipe from a magazine advert back in the 1980's for Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.
These are so easy to make and always a hit. They are a classic dessert which everyone loves. I believe they are also called Hello Dolly Bars.
The original recipe makes 16 large bars. I have downsized it to make only 8, and actually you could probably cut them in half and make 16 small bites if you wanted to. They are delicious any way you cut them!
And finally . . .
Jam Crumble Bars
These Small Batch Jam Crumble Bars are the bomb! With their plain cake bottoms, sweet jam filling and crumble topping, they never fail to please!
You can use whatever jam you want in the filling. On the day I baked these, I used Bonne Maman's Berries and Cherries. But we also love Strawberry Jam in it as well as Raspberry Jam. OH and Peach . . . Peach Jam is lovely when I can find it.
This delicious recipe recipe makes 8 bars and depending on how greedy you are, they will you last up to a week when stored in an airtight container!
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I think I'm going to have to make each of these cookie recipes in turn starting with the salty chocolate chip ones. Yummy! Have a beautiful restful, peaceful Sunday, my friend. Love and hugs, Elaine
ReplyDeleteThanks Elaine! I hope you enjoy them! Happy Sunday, love and hugs, xoxo
DeleteThere are some fabulous recipes here, Marie. I'm particularly drawn to the Lemon Frosted Gingerbread Cookie Bars, the Homemade Fig Bars and the Jam Crumble Bars. All very much my kind of treat.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I like a smaller bake these days. There are only the two of us and while we like something sweet to go with the afternoon cuppa, I don't want huge quantities of biscuits or bars around to tempt me at other times. I don't know about your biscuits, but mine call to me from the biscuit tin! It's ideal to bake up a smaller sized fresh treat and try something new each time.
Though when it comes to cake, I often do a slab cake and then freeze it wrapped in single serve sizes. I can then take it out as needed and it means we can each have our favourite cake. My husband gravitates to chocolate while I love citrus, so we often have different cakes for afternoon tea.
I love all of these Marie. I could easily scarf the lot down! I have no willpower. Thanks for the tip about baking slab cake and freezing it in single serve sizes! xoxo
DeleteSmall batch cooking is such a wonderful idea. I can see a cookbook with all these recipes in the future.
ReplyDeleteYou never know what the future holds Linda! xoxo
DeleteIm very thankful that you're doing the small batch. Just Keith and I here and he likes a little something sweet in the evenings, where I'd rather have salty. Much love - Raquel XO
ReplyDeleteIts nice to know they are appreciated Raquel! xoxo
DeleteI love when you do small batches. I think you should write a recipe book with small batches. I think there would be a market.
ReplyDelete