Clinton Street Baking Company's Black & White Cake

Pumpkin?  In a chocolate cake?  Sounds weird.  omg.  It's totally delicious!  You don't taste the pumpkin at all, it's just used to keep the cake moist and dense.  And what a great job it does.  This cake is not your fluffy, spongy, i-can-crush-this-thing-into-a-ping-pong-ball-sized-piece-of-cake cake.  It's heavy.  Thick.  Dense.  Chocolatey.  and delicious.  It sounds like a lot of ingredients, but it was pretty straight forward and easy to make.  I only made one change, to the amount of milk in the frosting.  Mine didn't need more than 1/4 cup, even though the recipe calls for 1/2 a cup.  Add it slowly, in case you don't need all the milk.  You don't want runny frosting!

Original Recipe Here

Ingredients

Cake

• 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup buttermilk 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• ½ cup whole milk (I only used about 1/4 cup)

Chocolate Glaze

• ½ cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ½ cup semisweet chocolate chunks (52–62% cacao)

Directions

 

Make the Cake

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and yolk and combine. Whisk the remaining dry ingredients together, in a separate bowl. Whisk the pumpkin puree together with the buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl. Alternate mixing dry ingredients with the pumpkin mixture into the egg mixture. Start with dry and end with wet. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool and unmold.

Make the Frosting

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter together until soft. Add the confectioners' sugar, blending in 1 cup at a time. Add the milk slowly, as needed, and mix until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

Make the Glaze

Heat the heavy cream, corn syrup, and butter in a saucepan until boiling. Place the chocolate in a bowl. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate until it is completely melted, mixing gently with a rubber spatula until the glaze is smooth.

Assemble the Cake

Slice each cake in half with a long serrated knife to create 4 thin layers. Place 1 bottom layer on a cake plate. Ice the top with 3 to 4 tablespoons frosting and repeat with the remaining layers. You will have a 4-layer unfrosted cake. Then use a cake spatula to mask the top and sides until the cake is evenly frosted. Set it in the fridge for 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from the fridge and pour the chocolate glaze over the center of the cake until the top is covered and the glaze runs over the sides, still showing some frosting. Let the glaze set and serve.

Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies

Wow.  Someone sent me this recipe and how could I resist?!  Oreo?  Chocolate chip cookies?  Together?  Sign me up!  They were SO easy to make.  I made them while Lily napped and only had about 45 min to prep, mix, bake and taste test one.  They are quite rich, as it's 3 cookies in 1 (1 Oreo, and 2 choc chip cookies), but they're delicious anyway.  Grab a glass of milk, a cold Diet Coke, or whatever your beverage of choice is.  You'll need something to wash these down with.


Original recipe from Bon Appetit.


Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.
4. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Reese's PB Cookies

The best way I can brighten someone's day is by sending a giant box of homemade goods their way.  I knew I wanted to include my signature chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and a care package isn't complete without brownies, but I wanted to try some new recipes for the other cookies.  Headed to Allrecipes.com and found this quick and easy recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.  I never really made those Peanut Butter Blossom cookies that everyone makes at Christmas, but I suppose these are a pretty similar style of cookie.  Tender peanut butter cookie, stuffed with a dark chocolate Reese's peanut butter cup, and absolutely delicious.  They only bake for 8 minutes, and take about as long to prep.  I'd say the most time consuming part is unwrapping all those candies!  

The only change I made, was to unwrap the candies first, and place them in the freezer while I prepped and baked the cookies.  Besides that, I made the recipe exactly as stated, though I cut it in half, and I got exactly 20 cookies.  FYI, a bag of peanut butter cups has approximately 40 pieces, so for the full recipe, you'll need 1 bag.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
   
2. Unwrap peanut butter cups and place on a plate in the freezer until cookies are done (this helps keep them from falling apart otherwise).
3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
   
4. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
   
5. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
   
6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes (do not overbake.  These really are done after 8 minutes). Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.
   

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake Cookies

When it snows, there's really nothing else to do but eat! So I went on a mini cooking spree yesterday. We made chocolate chocolate chip cake cookies, garlic breadsticks, and some other random goodies for dinner. These cookies are delicious! Follow the directions exactly. Cream the butter for 10 minutes, don't overbake, cool slightly before moving to a rack and wait til they're cool to eat one. Oddly enough, these cookies are MUCH better when they're cool. They're fudgy, and chocolatey and absolutely perfect for a cold snowy day!

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This should take about 10 minutes! Add the eggs one at a time and mix to incorporate. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
3. In a 1 gallon plastic food bag, place the all-purpose flour, baking soda, kosher salt and cocoa powder. Seal the bag and massage the ingredients to combine. The mixture will appear homogenous with no separate ingredients showing.
4. Add the flour and cocoa mix to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix together until the dough appears completely combined - about 3 minutes. Add all the walnuts and chocolate chips and stir them into the dough. Drop by two teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Or roll into balls, place about two inches apart on the sheet, and flatten slightly with your fingers.
5. Bake for 11 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). The cookies will appear to be just barely firm with a sheen to their surfaces. Allow to cool on the sheet for about one minute before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Chocolate Sauerkraut Cookies

I know, I know. They sound dreadful. But really, they're quite delicious! Very chocolatey, and the sauerkraut gives just a hint of bitterness. They end up being a very cake-like cookie. Dense, but still soft, if that makes sense. The flavor of the sauerkraut isn't overly pronounced, so you could probably frost these with just about anything, or eat them plain like we've been doing for the past half hour. I posted a mocha icing recipe below, which I think would be delicious, but I just realized I don't have chocolate chips, so I can't try it tonight. Bummer!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sauerkraut (drained, and rinsed)

Directions

1. Rinse the sauerkraut with cold water in a strainer. Make sure it's rinsed well! Let it sit in the strainer while you prepare the remainder of the ingredients.
2. Beat the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until creamy and well incorporated.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder and baking soda. Beat on low speed until well mixed.
4. Add half the buttermilk and half the flour, beating until smooth. Add remaining buttermilk and flour, beat until smooth.
5. Pour the sauerkraut onto a cutting board. Spread out and blot dry with a paper towel (it will take several paper towels before kraut is dry). Then chop into small pieces. It's very important that the kraut is chopped finely.
6. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies rest on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack. When cool, frost with mocha icing.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Mocha Icing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2-3 tsp strongly brewed coffee
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate chips with 2 tsp of the coffee in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir, and if the mixture is still lumpy, remove the spoon and microwave for an additional 20 seconds. If the mixture is still lumpy, microwave for an additional 20 seconds. When you are able to stir themixture smooth, set the bowl on the counter to cool to room temperature.
2. Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the softened butter until smooth.
3. Whisk in the powdered sugar and stir until the mixture is of spreading consistency. If it's too thick, add the remaining 1 tsp of coffee. If it's too thin, stir in a little more powdered sugar.
   

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A coworker frequently brings in various baked goods to share with us all, and this recipe has been brought in several times. I finally got the recipe and decided to give it a try. It yields a chewy cookie, that's sweet and a bit salty, and superbly delicious. I've tried making these in smaller sizes, but they just don't bake right. I'd recommend using an ice cream scoop for these, to make a nice giant sized cookie. I did make a few adjustments to the original recipe, which are noted below.

Ingredients

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
  
• (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
  
• 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt (I used 1/2 tsp salt and it was plenty)
  
• 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter (I use salted butter)
  
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
  
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
  
• 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (I use Ghiradelli's 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips)
  
• Sea salt

Directions

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt (I omit this, as they are plenty salty without this step) and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

   Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Black Bottom Goat Cheese Cupcakes

So I subscribe a fantastic cupcake blog, titled "Cupcake Project." The creativity that Stef has is just unbelievable! This girl can make any ingredient into a cupcake. And I find that fun! So being a goat cheese addict like myself, I decided to try her recipe for Black Bottom Cupcakes with Goat Cheese. They may sound a bit weird, but they're delicious! The goat cheese bakes into a puffy, creamy, cheesy goodness that makes these cupcakes perfect just as they are. No frosting necessary. I did have to make a few ingredient changes, just because I didn't have yogurt or unsweetened chocolate on hand. But they still turned out perfectly!

Ingredients
Cake

• 2 C flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 3/4 C butter, room temperature
• 1 1/3 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 C plain yogurt (2/3 C buttermilk)
  
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/3 C milk
• 5 oz baking chocolate, melted (15T cocoa + 5T butter)
  

Goat Cheese Topping

• 8 oz goat cheese
  
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and milk until blended.
4. Alternately fold in flour mixture and melted chocolate, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.
6. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the goat cheese topping.
7. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the topping onto the center of each cupcake.
8. Bake at 350 F for thirty minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.

Still in the pan...cooling.

Ready to eat!!

Rolo Pretzels

This is pretty much the easiest and fastest dessert recipe out there. It came about because every year for Christmas, I get a giant box of Rolos. That's 36 rolls of Rolos! So I figured it was time to get busy trying out some recipes involving the Rolos, so we don't just sit in front of the TV pigging out.

Ingredients

• Small pretzels -- twists or circles work best
• Rolos - you'll need 1 Rolo per pretzel (FYI - 8 Rolos come in each roll)
• Toasted walnuts -- halves or chopped, or you can use pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil. Spray with non-stick spray and wipe with a paper towel.
2. Arrange pretzels in a single layer on sheet pan. Top each pretzel with a Rolo.
3. Bake at 325 for 5 minutes, until Rolos are soft, but not melted.
4. Remove pan from oven and using nuts, smoosh the Rolo and press the nuts into it. Let them cool completely on the parchment/tin foil, then store in an air tight container.

Final Shower goodies

So the goodies for the baby shower are complete! I ended up making an apple spice cake with pumpkin spice buttercream, chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes, and vanilla sugar cookies for favors. The baby's room will be lavender and sage, with a daisy and lamb theme. So I ran with the colors and daisies and tried to make something Springy and fun for the shower this weekend.

Justin's Birthday Cake!

He requested a GIANT cupcake this year for his birthday. So off to Michael's I went, coupon in hand, and picked up the pan to make said cake. I made a chocolate mocha cake, and plan to do chocolate icing on the bottom, and vanilla buttercream on the top. I haven't iced it yet, that's tomorrow's project. But I ended up with the giant cupcake and 12 regular sized cupcakes leftover. Damn tasty.

For the cupcake pan, the bottom part bakes much slower than the top, because of the cavity size difference. I filled the bottom about 2/3 full, baked for 10 minutes, then filled the top and continued baking for 40 minutes at 325. It came out perfectly. You'll see in the pictures, where the nonstick spray discolored the cake slightly, but it's getting covered in icing, so I don't care too much...

Cake recipe: From Sandra Lee
Ingredients

• 1 cup ground espresso
• 2 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 6 eggs
• 2 boxes of chocolate cake mix (I used a Dark Chocolate mix)

Directions

1. Brew espresso and water in standard coffee pot. Set aside.

2. Combine other ingredients in large bowl and mix on low until combined. Slowly add in hot coffee, while mixing on medium. Mix for 2 minutes until batter is light and fluffy.

3. Fill pans accordingly. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes, then invert to wire rack and cool completely before frosting.
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Frosting Recipe
Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk
  
• food coloring, if desired.

Directions

1. Combine butter and vanilla in medium bowl. Use whip attachment and mix on medium-high for 4 minutes, until butter is light and fluffy.

2. Add in confectioners sugar and milk. Whip another 5 minutes, until frosting is fluffy and sugar has completely dissolved (taste the frosting -- if it's still grainy, mix a little bit longer). Mix in food coloring, if desired.

** Depending on the thickness you require (thicker for piping, thinner for frosting), you may need to add milk and/or sugar to achieve the desired consistency.
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We also had some incredible, homemade cinnamon ice cream.

Ingredients

• 3 cups half and half
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Heat medium sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Add sugar and half and half. Stir occasionally, and remove from heat just as it begins to simmer (takes about 10 minutes or so). Slowly combine half of the mixture with the beaten eggs, whisking quickly to combine, preventing the eggs from scrambling. Pour egg mixture back into saucepan with remaining half and half mixture. Bring to 170 degrees, over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add in vanilla and cinnamon. Whisk quickly to combine. Set aside to cool. When mixture reaches about 70 degrees, refrigerate 2-3 hours.

2. Pour cooled mixture into ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

** Note: I used the Kitchenaid 2 quart ice cream maker. This recipe has to be made in 2 parts, because it is too large an amount for the KA attachment. If you place the full recipe in the ice cream maker, it won't freeze properly.

Finished cake, without the candles

Unfinished...still needs frosting!

Leftover batter I made into cupcakes. Also added some chocolate chips to them.

Brownie Ice Cream

So earlier in the week I had a slight mishap with some brownies and ended up having about 4 or 5 rejects that I couldn't sell. Rather than eat them or give them away, I figured I'd make a batch of ice cream and toss in the chunks of brownie. I used Alton Brown's ice cream recipe along with my Kitchenaid ice cream attachment. I swear by AB's recipe. It is THE BEST. This recipe makes about 1 quart.

Ingredients

• 9 ounces sugar
• 8 egg yolks
• 3 cups 1/2 & 1/2
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups brownie bits
  

Directions

1. Over medium heat, bring the cream and 1/2 & 1/2 just barely to a simmer.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks until they're light and creamy. Slowly whisk in the sugar until light and THICK. You want the mixture to fall from the whisk slowly and sort of clump when it reaches the bowl. If it's runny, keep whisking. It takes a while to get it to the right consistency.

3. Slowly add 1/3 of the cream into the eggs while whisking constantly. Once that's mixed and the eggs are tempered, slowly add the remaining cream into the eggs and whisk to combine.

4. Return cream/egg mixture to the heat, and stir on medium low until it reaches 170 degrees. Move mixture to a metal bowl and cool in sink filled with cold water. Once mixture reaches room temperature, refrigerate to 40 degrees.

5. Add mixture to ice cream machine and follow manufacturer's directions. When ice cream is finished mixing, add in the brownie pieces and enjoy!

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday of the year. I love dressing up and especially baking festive desserts! Today, we decided to frost some cupcakes to munch on during our carving get-together tomorrow night. The cupcakes are a standard diet coke cake recipe with a triple chocolate cake mix, and the frosting is as follows:

Ingredients

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter (do not substitute margarine)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• food coloring

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, then turn to high until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl often. If frosting is too thick, add milk in 1 tsp increments and beat, until desired consistency.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

I got this recipe from my college roommate. I've never made them, but she would always bake these in the middle of the night when we were bored. For some reason, I was craving something chocolatey and coconutty, so I whipped out this recipe and gave it a shot. Oh my gosh, they are delicious! Soft on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside, and just sweet enough. I used an ice cream scoop and ended up with a dozen cookies.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Diet Coke Cupcakes

So I finally decided to try the Diet Coke Cupcakes -- apparently, it's a WW recipe and has become quite popular, even with those not on a WW diet. These came out incredibly soft and fluffy. They definitely don't taste like a typical box mix cake.

Ingredients

• 1 box of triple chocolate cake mix
• 12 ounces diet coke
• 1 large egg white

Directions

1. Beat on low for 2 minutes until ingredients are fully combined. Scoop batter into muffin cups, about 2/3 to the top. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Cool completely, then cover with your favorite frosting!

This picture is before they were frosted.

Frosted with a nice thin layer of Grandma's Chocolate Frosting.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a wicked chocolate craving this evening, so Justin suggested we bake some cookies. I will never pass up an offer to bake cookies with my husband! So I used a recipe that I found in my recipe box. No clue where I got it from, but it's damn good!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. (I dropped them by 1/4 cupfuls, as we wanted BIG cookies!)

3. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. For the larger cookies, bake about 12 minutes.

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Everybody on The Nest raves about these cookies! So hubby and I are planning to make them tonight. The recipe is originally posted on AllRecipes.com and has over 1500 positive reviews! To make them even chewier, let them completely cool on the cookie sheet before moving to a wire rack. Or, refrigerate the dough for 2-4 hours, until completely chilled, before baking.

This is by far, the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever made. The only change I made was using Special Dark chocolate chips instead of semisweet. These are SO good, but quite sweet. 1 cookie is about all we could handle, before running to the fridge for a glass of soy milk.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield 1 dozen cookies

German Chocolate Cake Cookies

If you're a fan of German Chocolate Cake, you will love these cookies! They taste just like the cake, but are much easier to eat. The frosting actually gets put on the cookie BEFORE baking, so once they're in the oven, there's no frosting, no decorating, nothing but enjoying the wonderful cookie.

Cookie Dough

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup milk choc chips
• 2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cup flour

Frosting

• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped pecan
• 1/4 cup chilled butter
• 2 egg yolks beaten

1. Add butter and chocolate chips in a small pot over medium low heat. Stir until melted and smooth.

2. In a bowl, mix sugar and eggs. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla.

3. Stir melted choc until it's warm, but no longer hot. Add to mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.

4. Add flour and mix well. Dough will be stiff and a bit crumbly. (I did this in my KA mixer and it was a lot easier than by hand!)

5. Cover dough and set aside while you make frosting.

6. Combine sugar and coconut in food processor. Mix with steel blade until coconut is in small pieces.

7. Add chopped pecan. Cut butter into 4 chunks and add to processor. Process until butter is in small bits.

8. Separate yolks, place in small dish and whip with fork. Add to processor bowl and process until thoroughly incorporated.

9. Preheat oven to 350 with the rack in the middle position.

10. Chill frosting while oven preheats. It will make it easier to work with (I put it in a piping bag first, then in the fridge to chill).

11. Use cookie scoop to make 1 inch balls, or use a tablespoon to make them this size.

12. Place balls on greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. press in the middle of each cookie to make a small indentation (dip thumb in water so it doesn't stick to dough).

13. Pipe small amount of frosting in each indentation (maybe 1 to 1.5 tsp of frosting per cookie)

14. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes

15. Cool on sheet for 2 min and move to wire rack to finish cooling.

yield 5 dozen

** Photo coming soon **