Try using dried cranberries and white chocolate chips for a nice change of pace. Also, I omitted the white sugar completely, used 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, plus 1 cup of white flour. Makes a terrific cookie!

Perhaps I did something wrong, or perhaps the recipe was just not to my taste. It was too sweet for me (even after omitting the raisins), and just not a pleasing combo.

This recipe is much easier if you puree the soup using an immersion blender right in the soup pot, before adding the cream. Also, you can use chopped, frozen onions to save time. Lastly, for a nice flavor, roast the peppers ahead of time in a foil pan or foil-lined roasting pan in a 450 degree oven, turning once or twice until brown and puffy on all sides. Cool, peel, remove stems, and as many seeds as you can. Add to sauteed onions and garlic and proceed with the recipe. Cayenne pepper is great in this, as suggested by others. THANK YOU!

This is a great recipe but a little on the bland side, so try adding white pepper, ground red cayenne pepper, black pepper, and ground dry yellow mustard to your taste. I also added some freshly shredded parmesan, doubled the Velveeta, and I used a mixture of Colby and Monterey Jack cheese instead of Cheddar. Though I intended to make this for the kids at a cocktail party, quite a few adults grabbed the kids bowls and ate it too!!! For the party, I quadrupled the recipe and added about 1/2 tsp white pepper, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 teaspoons of dry mustard, and a few shakes of cayenne pepper. This came out a bit on the spicy side but it gave it a nice kick and everyone ate it. The Velveeta makes this smoother than most baked mac and cheese recipes, with a texture closer to the "instant" variety. Thanks!!!

Thank you so much for this perfect recipe!!!! My family LOVES these. If you don't boil the syrup enough, the nuts come out cloudy and the sugar forms crystals that are kind of powdery but they still taste good. Try using pecans and substituting a 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom or Chinese five spice powder instead of 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Also, I dump the nuts out on a SILPAT or on parchment paper to "dry". Last time I made them I must have not boiled the syrup enough, and I didn't think they were ever going to set, but I left them out on the parchment paper overnight, and they turned out perfectly. Thanks again.

The taste of these cookies is good but I had a tough time keeping the dough together. It turned out a little crumbly, though I admit I used butter flavor Crisco since I didn't have any margarine. Has anyone tried to make these with butter?

These are much drier than a typical cookie but that is how they are supposed to be. The name of the cookie comes from the word "polvo", meaning "powder" in Spanish. These cookies are exactly that - powdery. The topping definitely makes too much, so try rolling the cookies in the leftover topping while they are still warm. This recipe worked out fine!

I forgot to mention in my previous review - Try sauteeing the chicken in a tablespoon of sesame oil along with a few chopped garlic cloves and some fresh chopped ginger root ... tastes great!

If your bread gets too brown, tent it with foil the last 15 minutes of baking. This is a great recipe. I usually add walnuts. THANKS

Butter flavor Crisco shortening works great in this recipe. If you want a healthier cookie with more flavor, use half brown sugar and half white sugar, half whole wheat flour and half white flour, decreasing the shortening to 3/4 cup. For a spicier cookie that tastes more like pumpkin pie, use 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, and 1/4 tsp ginger (or just use 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice). Cream cheese frosting goes very nicely with these cookies, per suggestions from prior reviews. Thank you for a great eggless cookie recipe!!!

Couple tips: No need to fry the sausage meat in a frying pan first. Saute it in a stock pot (Le Creuset dutch oven pots work great for this dish) and then add the rest of the ingredients in the same pot. Also, I don't use any milk or cream and it makes a ice "brothy" soup. I have made this many times and it always comes out great. You can vary the amount of any of the ingredients to your taste and it still tastes terrific. For a change of pace, substitute 2 cups of cooked rice into the soup instead of the potatoes. I like to use a mix of white and wild rice when I do this, but any rice would work well. Thanks for a great-tasting, quick, and easy recipe!!!

I used 1 lb of shrimp, 4 ears of corn, 2 lbs of potatoes, 1 lb of sausage, a tablespoon of Zatarain's liquid crab and shrimp boil, and a few shakes of Old Bay since I don't like Old Bay that much. It came out terrific! Loved trying something new.

I ended up using water instead of orange juice since I didn't have any, and increased the vanilla extract to 1 tablespoon. I baked mini cupcakes for 11 minutes and regular cupcakes for 17 minutes and they came out terrific! I frosted them with cream cheese frosting to make the cupcakes a little healthier. UPDATE FEB 8 2009 - I now use this for my daughter's birthday cake every year. Use cake flour and you will get a much finer texture. Also, I now replace 1/2 cup of the butter with 1/2 cup of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. It won't be greasy this way.

A tip that will make this terrific recipe even better: If you find your bread is browning too much on top, cover the top loosely with aluminum foil ("tent" it) for the last 15-20 minute of baking. This way, the bread will look and taste amazing. I have made this recipe so many times and have stopped trying other banana bread recipes. This is IT. I add mini chocolate chips or walnuts most of the time, and have added coconut on occasion as well. I always add a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract. I have also used butter flavor Crisco instead of the butter if that is what I have on hand, and it comes out fine.

This recipe is so easy and makes an impressive dessert for company. Best of all, the ingredients can be kept on hand for a quick treat without a trip to the store. I have made these twice already. One tip: If you have a Calphalon or any other heavy hard-anodized aluminum saucepan, you can melt the butter and the chocolate together over very low heat, without a double boiler. The butter will melt first. Once the butter melts, shut the flame off and leave it on the warm burner for a few more minutes. Then give it a stir to complete the melting process. The mixture does not get very hot this way and you will not need to worry about "cooking" the eggs. Be sure the mix is at room temperature before baking. I baked the cakes for 8 minutes and then let them sit for 2 minutes before unmolding. This method worked well for me, using four 4-ounce Pyrex custard cups.

I have been looking for an eggless cookie recipe since my daughter is allergic to eggs - these cookies are excellent. I used 1/2 cup of butter flavor Crisco shortening since that is what I had on hand but next time I will try butter and see how they come out. I also cooked them slightly longer. Great cookies!

These cookies came out exactly like the big bakery cookies. I almost didn't want to bring them to a friend's house since they looked store-bought! They taste great and are really fun to make. I used mini-M&Ms for a batch instead of chocolate chips.