Cookie Carnival!

I recently joined Cookie Carnival hosted by The Clean Plate Club - every month members are sent a new cookie recipe to try out.

The timing of when I received this month's recipe was uncanny. Just the day before I had agreed to participate in my local nest board's "Secret Baker" swap - where we were paired up with another nestie and were to send them baked goods of our choice. This recipe reminded me of a blueberry muffin and I figured it's rare that you can go wrong with a blueberry muffin!

I halved this recipe and unfortunately it only made 1 dozen so I'm not sure how much I buy into the fact that this recipe supposedly makes 4 dozen. I also found the batter a tad dry so I added some butter to it (about a tablespoon - remember, I halved the batch). All things being said though, they passed the taste test I had prior to sending out these cookies to my secret recipient. I was fairly happy with the outcome. They did, indeed, remind me of a blueberry muffin!


Blueberry Drop Cookies
(courtesy of Emeril Lagasse)

One-half cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
One-fourth cup milk
One-half teaspoon almond extract
One and one-half teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
One-half teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and picked over

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, sugar, egg, milk, almond extract and lemon zest, mixing well after the addition of each ingredient. Slowly add the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in the blueberries and mix until well blended.

Cover and chill for 4 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls, one and one-half inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing them with a spatula.

Makes about 4 dozen.