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.

Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

I was asked to make some sugar cookies for a baby shower, and wanted to try a different recipe than the last time. Why, you ask? Because I like trying new recipes. Simple as that! This recipe is awesome, and works perfectly for sugar cookie cutouts. I used a round cutter, and they did flatten a bit, but they definitely kept their shape, which can be a real challenge with sugar cookies. The original recipe was a tad bland, so I added an additional cup of sugar and I think they're perfect.

I also used a new frosting from AllRecipes, again, because I like trying new recipes! It's very thick. I was expecting a thinner icing that I could dip the cookies into, but this definitely needed to be applied with a pastry brush. Not sure how I feel about that. I love the way it dries -- a glossy smooth finish with a nice shine, but the application process could be a bit frustrating for the average at-home baker.

Cookies
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar (I used 3)
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick (instead of flour, I use confectioners sugar to keep the surface from sticking while I roll it out). Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Frosting
Ingredients

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• assorted food coloring

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

Baked cookies - I rolled dough to 1/2 inch thick and they definitely flattened a bit. Still chewy and soft on the inside though.

Frosted cookies - I used a pastry brush to paint the frosting on. These will be clocks when they're finished, but I'm waiting for the base to dry before using tempered chocolate to pipe on the numbers and clock hands. Updates to follow...

Finished clock cookies

Chocolate Banana Chip Cookies

Everyone knows when your bananas start turning black, it's time to make banana bread! This time though, it was time to make banana chocolate chip cookies. These little babies are SO delicious and versatile! You could add chocolate chips, toasted walnuts, dried banana chips, etc. The original recipe is from the Golden Book of Chocolate. The only change I made was to omit the chopped dried banana chips, and use banana extract instead of vanilla extract, just to punch it up a bit.

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used light brown, as it's all I had)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp banana extract)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large banana, peeled and mashed
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried banana chips (I omitted)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (I recommend convention, instead of convection. For some reason, these just don't bake as well in convection.). Butter 3 baking sheets, or line with parchment.
2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
3. With mixer on low speed, beat in the banana and mixed dry ingredients, followed by the chocolate and banana chips. Drop teaspoons of the dough 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. (You can use a cookie scoop for standard size cookies, or an ice cream for Bickford sized cookies!! We like our cookies jumbo sized...)
   
4. Bake until just golden, 15-20 minutes. Cool on the sheets until the cookies firm slightly, about 5 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool completely.

Rolo Cookies

I was in Barnes & Noble right after Christmas and came across the most eye-catching chocolate cookbook ever. It was a deep, dark, rich chocolate brown, with a shiny gold cover, appropriately titled, "The Golden Book of Chocolate." A good 30 minutes were spent browsing through the book, with its shiny gold coated pages and intriguing photographs. About 3 days later, when I found myself still dreaming of the book, I ordered it through B&N.com, saved about $12, and anxiously awaited for it to arrive on my doorstep.
After flipping through 800 some pages of delectable desserts, I decided to try the Caramel Cookies, mainly because they called for Rolos, of which I have plenty. They are just dreamy. Sweet, fluffy, tender, crumbly, gooey, chocolatey, and warm! Simple to make with standard ingredients on hand (nothing's worse than a cookbook that constantly calls for specialty ingredients that you don't have in the pantry), and damn tasty.

The recipe does call for dried banana chips, which I omitted, because it didn't sound appetizing to me. Next time, I would probably add a bit more Rolos, but for now, these will have to do.

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp firmly backed dark brown sugar (I used light brown again, as I didn't have dark brown on hand)
• 2 large eggs
• 8 oz caramel-filled chocolates, such as Rolos, chopped (I used 4 rolls of Rolos, but next time would use 5)
• 3 oz dried banana chips, coarsely chopped
  
• 2 Tbsp milk

Directions

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Beat the butter and brown sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer, at high speed, until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just blended.
3. With mixer on low, beat in mixed dry ingredients, chocolates, banana chips and milk.
   
4. Divide the dough in 2 and form 2 8-inch logs. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, sprayed with non-stick spray. Slice the dough in 1/2 inch thick pieces and place 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake until the edges are firm and the centers are still slightly soft, 15-18 minutes. Cool on the sheets until the cookies are firm slightly, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Martini Cookies

So a friend of mine is getting married in about 3 weeks, and I've been asked to make her wedding favors. A crab shaped sugar cookie! I made the same ones for my wedding, so it shouldn't too difficult. But at the last minute, she also asked me to make some cookies for her bachelorette party. Gotta love Christy's flexibility, since she said "just make something cute. Surprise me!" So I went with the martini glass, figuring that was appropriate for the party. Her wedding colors are teal (and something else, which I can't remember, as it's only 5:40am!), so I made the tops of the martinis teal, to run with the theme. All in all, I think they look great! Congratulations Christy!! Have fun at your party! :)

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.

Root Beer Cookies

As Justin continues to work 16 hour days in front of the computer, feverishly writing his thesis, I continue to bake random goodies that I think will keep his spirits up. His all time favorite flavor is root beer. So I made my basic sugar cookie recipe, but substituted root beer flavoring for the vanilla extract. They actually came out pretty well! Not a super strong root beer flavor, but they definitely leave an aftertaste of root beer. He liked them, so I guess that's all that matters with this recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons root beer flavoring
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and powder in a bowl.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and flavoring, mix to combine. Slowly blend in dry ingredients. Mix just until flour is absorbed, being careful not to overmix.

3. Using a cookie scoop, place rounded scoops onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on pan 10 minutes before moving to wire rack.

Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

Cookies
Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1.5 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1.5 teaspoons butter flavored extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and flavorings and mix well. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to batter and mix well.

2. Chill 3-4 hours or overnight before using.

3. Roll cookies out approximately 1/4 inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters of choice. Re-roll any scraps and continue cutting out shapes.
4. Place cookies on cookie sheet, and freeze for 20 minutes. This helps the cookies keep their shape while baking. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. The dough keeps well in a covered container in the fridge for a couple of weeks, if desired.

Royal Icing - used to outline cookies, and Pourable Icing - to fill in the cookies


Ingredients

• 1.5Tablespoons Meringue Powder
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 Tablespoons warm water

Directions

1. Beat all ingredients until icing forms stiff peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty stand mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer). Recipe makes 1.5 cups.

2. Pour icing into plastic piping bag, fitted with a #2 or #3 tip. Carefully outline each cookie, and leave out to try for 12 hours.

3. For pourable icing, mix 1 teaspoon warm water with royal icing. Stir until thick, pourable consistency is achieved. Tint with desired color.

4. Pour into a paper cone and barely cut tip off, leaving a pin-head size hole for icing to come out of. Starting at the top of the cookie, trace inside of outline and, in a back-and-forth motion, fill in cookie. Stop periodically and use cone tip to push icing around, otherwise you will end up with too much icing on the cookie. Let dry for at least 24 hours before packaging.

Iron Skillet Cookies

One of my Christmas gifts was a cast iron skillet set for making cookies. Well, not just cookies. You can use the pans for fried eggs, omelettes, fajitas, personal pan pizzas, etc. But when I test drove them yesterday, I made some chocolate chip cookies. Using a standard cookie recipe, I put 1/2 cup of batter in each skillet, pressed it to the edge, and baked at 375 for 12 minutes. Out came a deliciously baked cookie that's HUGE!

This would be a great presentation for dessert, with a scoop of ice cream on top, or to make a giant cookie cake for a birthday, giant ice cream cookie sandwiches, the possibilities are endless. They came out a little crispy for my liking, so my next batch will probably be 3/4 cup of batter to make them a little bit thicker and more doughy.

Overall, I'm in love though. The pans are great, nothing sticks, and they have a thousand uses! If you want some of your own, go to Linens and Things and pick up the box of Skookie skillets.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

After the last batch of mediocre pumpkin cookies, I decided to go on a mission to find a good recipe that wasn't too soft, too runny or too chewy. It took 4 attempts but I think I've finally nailed it. This recipe is so good! They're chocolatey and slightly sweet with a nutty crunch and pumpkin spice aftertaste. Dee-licious, if I do say so myself!

I used a small cookie scoop because I was afraid if they were too big, they would just cook as a lump instead of spreading out. Can't wait to serve these at our invite-only VIP Halloween party!

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
  
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
  
• ½ tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1 tsp milk
  
• 1 T vanilla (I omitted because I didn't have any)
  
• 1 cup chocolate chips
  
• ½ cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil and egg. Mix well. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Dissolve baking soda with the milk and add to pumpkin mixture. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.

3. Drop by tablespoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes, or until lightly brown and slightly firm.

Pumpkin Cookies

Since Fall is right around the corner, I figured I'd better make something with pumpkin in it to kick the season off right. These are really easy to make. Not the BEST cookies I've made, but they're good.

Ingredients

• 1 box Spice Cake mix
• 1 15 oz can of Pumpkin
• 1/2 cup chopped Walnuts
• 1 cup dark Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place cake mix and pumpkin in mixing bowl. Gently mix together with a wooden spoon. Be careful not to overmix or the cookies will be chewy.

2. Add nuts and chocolate chips, stirring to combine.

3. Scoop dough onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes before placing on wire rack to cool completely.

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.

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 **