Category Archives: Cookies

Feb 3

Dark Chocolate Cookies With White Chocolate Chips

Is it ever going to stop snowing around here? Yesterday was so nice I decided to take my son out for a walk…and today it’s snowing again. It’s snowing a lot. And I’m tired of it. Thank goodness I have cookies. Cookies make everything better.

These cookies are really easy to make, and I like the contrast of the white chocolate chips with the dark chocolate base. I especially like dipping these babies in hot chocolate while watching the snow fall from the comfort of my living room.

darkchoccookies

Dark Chocolate Cookies With White Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened (but not melted)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups AP flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Very lightly grease a few baking sheets and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
  3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until well-combined.
  5. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
  6. Drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls onto your cookie sheets.
  7. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the outsides of the cookies get crisp (the centers may still be somewhat soft but they will firm up during the cooling process).
  8. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheets for two minutes; then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
Dec 18

Holiday Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies

More often than not, I tend to forego traditional cookies in favor of cookie bars. I just find that they’re quicker and easier to make, store, and transport. But as yummy as my bars tend to be, there’s just something about that classic cookie shape that screams “holiday season” to me. So in the spirit of wanting to spread some joy around the office this week, I brought in a batch of sugar cookies with chocolate chips.

As far as cookie recipes go, this one couldn’t be simpler. It’s your basic sugar cookie flavored with vanilla and studded with festive holiday chocolate chips (if you can’t find the red and green chips in the supermarket, you could always use regular chips or red and green M&Ms instead). Also, chilling the dough in the fridge is optional, but recommended. I know some people don’t like having to chill dough because it makes the process take longer, but I found that a quick 10-minute chill was all it took to get this last batch just right.

holsugcookies

Holiday Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, and then stir in the vanilla.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the four, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet until well-combined. Then, stir in chocolate chips.
  4. Refrigerate dough for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare several baking sheets.
  5. Remove the dough from the fridge and use your hands to form small rounded discs. Be sure to leave enough space for the cookies to spread.
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn golden. Let the cookies cool on their sheets for a minute or two before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Note: This recipe makes about 2 and 1/2 dozen cookies but can pretty easily be doubled if you’re feeding a larger crowd. These cookies will keep for a good 4-5 days if stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Nov 20

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Yes, I’m still doing the pumpkin thing. No, I haven’t gotten tired of it yet, as evidenced by these moist, cakey pumpkin oatmeal cookies. Feel free to get creative with the mix-ins, though I personally think white chocolate chips and dried cranberries were the perfect choice for this easy recipe.

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Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 cups oldfashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, spices, and salt in medium bowl. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
  3. Add in the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, mixing well to combine.
  4. Add the flour mixture; mix until well-incorporated.
  5. Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
  6. Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons onto your prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. When stored in an airtight container, these cookies should last a good 4-5 days (if you don’t polish them all off before then).
Oct 30

Pumpkin Pie Cookies and Impromptu Brownies

Sometimes things don’t go the way we plan in the kitchen. Case in point: these pumpkin pie cookies. Don’t ask me what happened, but basically I used the same recipe I do every year (one of my favorites, at that), and this time around my cookies came out looking like miniature pancakes. Thankfully, they still tasted delicious – as in, think pumpkin pie in a moist, cakey cookie form. But they were kind of unattractive to look at, and relatively tricky to transport. So when I found myself with about two dozen extra pancakes – er, cookies, I decided to get creative.

A few days ago I made pumpkin brownies, and so I decided to use that same recipe and incorporate my leftover cookies into the batter. The result? One incredibly awesome combination. In fact, even if your cookies don’t come out as pancake-like as mine, you can still crumble up a portion of your batch and bake them into your favorite brownies – that is, if you manage to stop eating them long enough to reserve a few for experimentation.

pumpkinpiecookies

Pumpkin Pie Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a few baking sheets with greased foil or parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening until light and fluffy.
  4. Add the sugar, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, and beat well.
  5. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients and mix until well-blended.
  6. Scoop into small, round balls, making sure to leave a decent amount of space between each cookie (these babies will spread).
  7. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown and the tops start to brown ever so slightly.
  8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a minute or two, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. You’ll get anywhere from 24 to 36 cookies out of this recipe depending on how big you scoop.

 

pumpkinpiecookiebrownies

Pumpkin Pie Cookie-Stuffed Pumpkin Brownies

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (dark or light – either will work)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons AP flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
12 pumpkin pie cookies, flattened and/or crumbled up

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 pan and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugars, butter, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the flour mixture until well-combined.
  5. Pour half of the batter into your prepared pan. Evenly spread the pumpkin pie cookies on top, and then pour remaining brownie batter on top of the cookie layer.
  6. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for at least one hour in the pan before cutting and serving.
Sep 9

Apple Pie Cookies

To me, Labor Day marks the official end of summer and beginning of fall. I know the calendar might say otherwise, but there’s just something about the start of September that puts me into a fall state of mind. And the string of cooler weather in New Jersey this past week definitely contributed to that effect. We had several days of what I’d describe as perfect weather—low 70s and sunny during the day, cooler and breezy at night without actually being cold.

Being a lover of all things fall-related, I decided to bake up a batch of one of my favorite cookie recipes. I found this recipe online a long time ago and at this point, I honestly don’t remember where it came from. What I do know, however, is that it works really well with all types of apples. This year, I used a combination of Gala and Granny Smith apples to make my cookies, but in previous years, I’ve used McIntosh, Delicious, and Braeburn apples as well. The key, I think, is to include at least one tart apple (like the Granny Smith) to balance out the sweetness a little.

While these cookies do take a little time to put together, they aren’t overly complicated and are well worth the effort. I love the fact that they come out soft, cakey, and incredibly moist. If you’re a fan of apples, pecans, and fall flavors, you should definitely give this recipe a try.

applepiecookies

Apple Pie Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
1 cup butter, at room temp
1 and ½ cups brown sugar (I like to use half dark brown and half light brown)
2 large eggs
4 tbsp maple syrup (though I prefer to stick to the quality stuff, you could use your basic pancake syrup in a pinch)
2 and ½ cups fresh apples, peeled and diced
1 and ½ cup toasted pecans, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper (this recipe yields anywhere from four to six dozen cookies depending on how big you make them, so plan accordingly).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
In a large bowl (I use a stand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then blend in the maple syrup.
3. Gradually blend in the flour mixture at a low speed. Once incorporated, stir in the apples and toasted pecans by hand.
4. Drop by ¼ spoonfuls (or your desired size) onto your prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

When stored in an airtight container at room temperature, these can last up to a week.

May 17

M&M Sugar Cookies

Do you like M&Ms? I do. In fact, I think they’re wonderful. And while I’m definitely happy to eat them on their own, there’s just something about the presence of M&Ms in baked goods that makes me feel like a kid again.

It had been awhile since I’d made cookies, so I decided to try this recipe for M&M cookies. The process was fairly quick and easy, and the cookies came out tasting really yummy in the end. My only gripe is that they didn’t wind up as soft and chewy as I would’ve liked—but I blame myself for that, not the recipe.

If you’re looking for a fun cookie recipe to try, give this one a shot. Even if your cookies end up a little more on the crispy side like mine did, you’ll probably still get plenty of takers when you offer them up. I even caved and let the baby have a bite of one. Not shockingly, he loved it.

mandmcook

M&M Sugar Cookies
Recipe from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling
2 oz cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1/3 cup vegetable (or canola) oil
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cup M&Ms

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper (see note below).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Combine 1 1/2 cups of sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl (no need to stir them together yet).
4. Put the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a pie plate and set aside.
5. Pour the warm butter over the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine. The mixture won’t be completely smooth yet, and that’s okay.
6. Whisk in the oil, and then whisk in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
7. Use a rubber spatula to start folding the dry ingredients into the wet. When the dry ingredients are partially incorporated, add 3/4 cup of the M&Ms to the dough. Continue mixing until a soft dough comes together. (Don’t wait to add the M&Ms until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated, or you’ll end up over-mixing.)
8. Portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a cookie scoop. Working quickly (if you handle the dough too much, you’re more likely to wind up with flat cookies—which is what happened to me), roll the dough into a ball with your hands, and then roll in the sugar set aside in the pie plate. Repeat until you’ve used all of the dough, placing 12 cookies on each baking sheet. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the dough balls into discs that are about 2 inches in diameter (or don’t, and see if this helps your cookies come out softer and fluffier). Gently press 2 or 3 more M&M’s into the top of each cookie.
9. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, or until the edges are set. The tops will be puffy and slightly cracked.
10. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes; then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.

Note: The original recipe says it’ll yield about 24 cookies, but I easily got 36 decent-sized cookies out of this batch.

Mar 20

Coconut Carrot Cookies

Something wonderful but dangerous happened last week: My Girls Scouts cookies were delivered. This means that for the past five days or so, I’ve been stuffing my face with Thin Mints and Samoas galore—to the point where I decided I need to take a break from my boxed delights and add a new kind of cookie to the mix.

I decided to make these coconut carrot cookies, and I’m really glad I did. The cookies have a moist, almost cake-like consistency, and since they’re not overly sweet, you can easily get away with eating them for breakfast. (Try doing that with Girls Scouts cookies—somehow it’s just harder to get away with.)

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Coconut Carrot Cookies

Recipe from Needful Things

Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1.5 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup raisins (dark or golden)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, preferably toasted (I left these out to keep the cookies nut-free and didn’t miss them)

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line 3-4 baking sheets with parchment.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. Beat the butter on medium speed until it gets smooth and creamy. Add the sugars and beat on medium for 2 minutes; then add the egg and beat for another minute.
4. Reduce your mixer speed to low and beat in the vanilla.
5. Continuing on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches. Beat only till they just disappear into the mix.
6. Mix in the carrots, coconut, raisins, and pecans.
7. Spoon the dough onto baking sheets in heaped tablespoonfuls, leaving an inch of space between them. (I found that these didn’t spread very much.)
8. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the cookies are light brown and just firm on top.
9. Let cookies cool on a wire rack.

Feb 27

Hamentashen

As part of last weekend’s baking extravaganza, I made several batches of hamentashen. For those of you who don’t know (and you wouldn’t be alone), hamentashen are triangular-shaped cookies that are typically filled with prune, apricot, or raspberry jam. They also happen to be one of my favorite things ever.

Now I will warn that hamentashen are fairly time-consuming as far as cookies go. The classic dough recipe I use is easy enough and takes no time to throw together, but the process of rolling out the dough, filling it, and shaping it requires a decent amount of time and patience. And the dough sometimes doesn’t like to cooperate. And the cleanup is atrocious (imagine sticky, caked-on dough particles all over your countertop and flour everywhere). But the end result is undeniably delicious, so if you’re up for the challenge, go ahead and make these one day. If anything, the people you share them with will get a kick out of the fun shape.

I like to make a variety of hamentashen, including some non-traditional variations. This year’s batch included classic prune, Nutella, apple-caramel, peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and chocolate chip, and pumpkin. To create this assortment, I used three separate dough recipes, the most challenging of which is by far the classic one.

As far as my favorite version of the hamentashen goes, that’s hard to say. I really enjoyed the peanut butter and jelly combination, but there’s just something about classic prune-filled hamentashen that makes me keep going back for more. It’s a good thing I made almost 200 of these bad boys over the weekend. No, I’m not kidding. I gave most of them away but kept a few dozen on hand for myself…most of which are already gone…

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Classic Hamentashen (my mom’s recipe)
Ingredients:
5 eggs, plus one more for brushing on the dough
1 and ½ cups vegetable oil
3 tsp baking powder
1 and ½ cups granulated sugar
¾ cup orange juice
6 cups AP flour
1/8 tsp salt
Water as needed, up to ¾ of a cup

Method:
1. Combine eggs, oil, baking powder, sugar, orange juice, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use a spoon and then your hands to form a dough that is soft but not too sticky. Add water as needed if the dough is too crumbly. If you end up incorporating too much water, you’ll need to compensate by adding more flour.
2. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees once the dough has come out of the fridge. Prepare as many baking sheets as you can by lining with aluminum foil and lightly greasing. (This recipe makes anywhere from four to six dozen hamentashen depending on big you make them, so unless you’ve got an endless supply of cookie sheets, prepare to bake these in several batches.)
4. Divide the dough into four sections and roll it out on a well-floured surface to ¼ inch thickness.
5. Cut the dough into circles using either a cookie cutter or a regular drinking glass (the latter is my preferred method). Place the circles on the prepared baking sheets.
6. Place a small amount of your desired filling in the center of each circle. Be careful not to overfill your hamentashen.
7. Form the circles into triangles by folding the dough over one side at a time. Lightly pinch each corner to seal the hamentashen.
8. Lightly brush each formed hamentashen with beaten egg.
9. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Baking times can vary based on the size of your hamentashen as well as your oven, so be sure to check on them frequently once you hit the 20-minute mark.
10. Let the hamentashen cool on their baking sheets for 2-3 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

I used this classic recipe to make my prune, Nutella, and caramel-apple hamentashen. For the caramel apple, I simply used apple pie filling for the cookies and then drizzled them with a caramel sauce I made by heating about 15 Kraft caramel squares with a few teaspoons of milk.

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Peanut Butter Hamentashen

Ingredients:
2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups Ap flour
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 and 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:
1. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add in the peanut butter and beat on medium for 2-3 minutes, or until well-combined.
2. Whisk together your flour, salt, and baking powder; then add to the peanut butter mixture and beat at low-medium speed until well-combined. Add your vanilla and mix well.
3. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Then follow the steps above to roll it out and form it into triangles. (No need to use an egg wash for this dough).
4. Bake for 18-22 minutes at 350 degrees, or until the tops are golden brown. Follow the instructions above for cooling.

I filled my peanut butter hamentashen with grape jelly, strawberry jelly, and chocolate chips. I also threw in a couple of smashed-up Butterfinger bars as a filling. Feel free to get creative by adding raspberry jam, Nutella, white chocolate, or your favorite crushed-up candy bar.

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Pumpkintashen (Pumpkin Hamentashen)
Recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 AP flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Method:
1. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and orange zest.
2. Stir in the pumpkin.
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla; mix well.
4. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt; stir into the pumpkin mixture.
5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. Follow the steps above to roll out the dough and form it into triangles. (No need to use an egg wash for this dough).
7. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
8. Follow the instructions above for cooling.

I filled my pumpkintashen with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. I think a sweet cinnamon-cream cheese filling would taste fantastic with these, but I kept things simple and stuck to the chips.