Free Jingle Bears: A Pacific Northwest Bear Novella: (Shifter Romance) by Moxie North

Minutes
    Directions:
    1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Sift flour, baking powder and salt onto a sheet of parchment.
    2. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, sugar and zest until light, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed; beat in egg and carrot puree. Scrape down sides of bowl. (Mixture will look curdled.) Stir in flour mixture and currants.
    3. Drop dough by tablespoons 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, switching sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely.
    4. Make icing: Mix juice and butter. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth. Transfer to a ziplock bag. Snip off a corner; drizzle icing over cooled cookies. Let stand until icing hardens, about 15 minutes.
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    F ran’s German Chocolate-Pecan Pie Bars
    1 ¾ cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour 
    ¾ cup powdered sugar
    ¾ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
    ¼ cup unsweetened baking cocoa
    1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
    ¾ cup packed brown sugar
    ¾ cup light corn syrup
    ¼ cup butter, melted
    3 eggs, slightly beaten
    1 cup flaked coconut
    3 cups broken pecans, toasted

    D irections :
    1  Heat oven to 350°F. Line bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with heavy-duty foil, extending foil 2 to 3 inches over 2 opposite sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray.
    2  In food processor, place flour, powdered sugar, 3/4 cup butter and the cocoa. Cover; process with quick on-and-off pulses until consistency of coarse meal. Press in bottom and 3/4 inch up sides of pan.
    3  Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 30 minutes.
    4  In medium bowl, mix brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter and the eggs with whisk until smooth. Stir in coconut and pecans. Spoon over crust. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and set. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 1 hour. Refrigerate 1 hour. Use foil to lift out of pan onto cutting board. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.
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    R oxie’s Bomb-Ass Gingersnaps
    1 cup sugar
    3/4 cup butter, softened
    1 egg
    1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
    2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
    2 teaspoons baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    At least 1 tsp ground ginger (see note)
    2 teaspoons cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon cloves
    1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    1/2 cup crystallized ginger, chopped into little bits (optional)
    cinnamon-sugar for rolling - 1/4 cup sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon
    Directions:
    By hand or in a mixer, combine the sugar and butter. Add the egg and mix until the egg is completely combined. Stir in the molasses.
    In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and all the spices. Whisk these dry ingredients to make sure everything is evenly distributed, then pour it on top of the wet ingredients. Use a folding motion to gently combine the wet and dry ingredients. Continue until no more flour is visible.
    Turn on the oven to 375° and refrigerate the gingersnap dough while the oven is preheating.
    When the oven is hot, measure out rounded teaspoons of dough. Roll the dough between your hands to shape balls, and then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Position the balls about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the cookies have puffed and collapsed back on themselves.
    Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store cookies in an airtight container.
    NOTE: I really, really love ginger, so I grate fresh ginger and use that (a microplane works the best for this), and also firmly believe the correct amount of ginger is "However much ginger I have in the house right now." I routinely use 2-3 TBSP of fresh ginger for these, but I've got a very high spice tolerance. I also usually use more nutmeg and cinnamon than this.

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